Copper Angels
Joseph Paul Haines

* * * *
[Insert Pic copperangels.jpg Here]
* * * *

The worst pains are the ones we never intend to inflict. Yet when we draw lines in the sand, when we insist on taking a stand somewhere and making that stand permanent, we can’t really help but hurt someone in the process. Even those closest to us—for reasons we’d have never expected, nor believed possible—are at risk. This story grew out of watching it happen, over and over again. A little pavement on the road to hell. 

* * * *

1.

THE DEKE LADY WAS NICE. She had pretty hair like Mommy’s, only not as bright. Mommy’s hair shined like it had a little bit of the sun in it. Well, it used to. Mommy didn’t wash her hair as much anymore. Not after that time she fell down.

I didn’t know what to do, and I was sad that Mommy got scared by the Dekes, but they tell us at school that if something isn’t right you have to tell a Deke about it. Sometimes they were scary; all dressed up in all that plasticy stuff they wear and a big black sunglass that comes down from their helmets so you can’t see their eyes. But this lady wasn’t like that. She wore a long black dress and I could see my reflection in her shoes. She smelled like nice soap.

“Is Mommy going to be okay?” I asked her.

She smiled at me and put her fingers together, like a church steeple. There was a desk in her office, but she didn’t sit behind it to talk to me. She sat in a chair right next to me and stroked my hair. It felt nice. “Your Mommy is going to be fine, Mary. They’re both going to be fine.”

“Where’s Daddy?” I asked. He wasn’t home when the Dekes came.

“Your Daddy is in the next room. We’re talking to him about your Mommy now.” She picked up a tape player from her desk and pushed a button. “Do you mind if I ask you some questions?” she asked.

I shook my head. I had to explain, after all.

“You’re a good girl, Mary,” she said. I wasn’t afraid at all. She had a picture of Jesus on her wall and other than the desk the office reminded me of Daddy’s office at home. “How old are you, Mary?”

“I’m almost seven. But I’m in the third grade already.” I knew I shouldn’t brag, but I had to tell the whole truth to a Deke. “Mommy says sometimes being too smart isn’t the best thing, but God made me smart so that I could learn to be a better person.”

“I’m sure that’s just what He did, honey. And you know what?” she asked.

I shook my head no.

“It worked,” she said.

I smiled at her. She was really nice.

“So why did you call us?” she asked.

It got real quiet all of a sudden. I could hear the hum of the tape recorder. “I was afraid the man from under the ground was going to stop the angel from coming,” I told her. “Daddy wasn’t home, so I called the Dekes—” I covered my mouth when I realized what I said, but the words were already out. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to...”

The Deke lady just smiled at me. “It’s okay honey,” she said, and she rubbed my arm. Her hands were so soft. “I’ve heard it before. Don’t worry about that now. Why don’t you start from the beginning, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

So I told her about the time Mommy fell down.

* * * *

2.

“...Barthomew, Thomas, Matthew, James, Simon, Labbaeus and ... um...”

“Judas,” Mommy said.

I never had been good at history, but Mommy always helped me whenever we had the chance. On the day she fell down, we were going over schoolwork while we rode into town for Mommy’s meeting with Daddy’s boss. She looked real pretty that day. She had on a new skirt that Daddy said was too short for her, but I thought it looked good. Her hair was bright and shiny blonde in the warm sunshine, like Jesus’ hair, and she had it braided around her head like a queen’s crown.

We were in the new electric car, so we didn’t have to shout or anything to hear each other.

“I always forget Judas!” I said.

Mommy smiled at me and her eyes were blue, so I knew she was happy. Whenever Mommy gets mad, her eyes turn bright green. “Most people wish they could,” she said. It was a grown-up joke, so I didn’t get it, but I laughed anyway. Since daddy got his promotion, we could afford a tutor, but Mommy said she liked helping me herself. Daddy kept trying to get her to hire a saved-maid, too, but Mommy said she didn’t want some harlot running around her house.

We pulled up next to a restaurant just before you cross the bridge into town, where they make the cheesy-bread. Anyway, Mommy told me to wait in the car ‘cause she was only going to be a minute or two. Mr. Alpheus had left his ring at our house the last time he was over for dinner ‘cause he took it off when he washed his hands and forgot to put it back on. He called Mommy that morning and asked if she could bring it over to him where he was having lunch.

Mommy leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, then went inside.

She was in there for a long time, but I stayed put, like I was supposed to. Mommy left the keys in the car so I could listen to the radio if I wanted, but I just watched all the people driving by instead. I started to get dizzy from moving my head back and forth and trying to see people’s faces as they sped by, so I stared at the angels on the bridge for a while. I always liked those angels. They’re so shiny, like an old republic penny when it’s brand new. I figured that’s what they made them out of anyway. Bunches of old republic pennies. They weren’t much good for anything else, anymore. Why not make angels out of them?

I was trying to figure out how many pennies it took to make each one when I heard the car door open. Mommy climbed into her seat.

Her hair hung down onto her shoulders, but bunches of it were still tangled from where she had her braids in. Her knees were all scraped up and bright red, like when you skin yourself but not enough to bleed? And her shirt was torn.

I got real scared. Mommy’s eyes were bright green and she had tears in them.

“What happened, Mommy?” I asked.

Mommy looked at me like she hadn’t known I was there. She tried to smile, but it didn’t stay on her face very long. “I just fell down,” she said. But her voice was funny, like she had a cold or something. “Fell down real hard.”

I went to hug her, ‘cause I know when I fall down the best thing in the world is a hug, but Mommy jerked away from me. Her lips opened a little bit, like she was surprised, but then she started crying harder and hugged me for a long time.

“It’s okay,” I said. “We’ll go home and put band-aids on it and you’ll be all better, okay?”

She just kept hugging me. After a long time, I started wondering if the people passing by could see us and what they thought. Mommy was a much bigger cry-baby about falling down than I was, that’s for sure.

A long time later, Mommy let go and started the car. We drove straight home. She didn’t talk to me any more that day.

* * * *

3.

The Deke lady crossed her arms. “What happened when you got home?” she asked. Her lips got real small while she waited for me to answer.

“Nothing, really,” I said. It’s wasn’t exactly the whole truth but I couldn’t figure out how to explain it very well. Mommy just started acting strange, is all.

“Well ... did she help you with any more of your homework that day?”

I shook my head. The lady Deke smiled at me and pointed to the tape recorder. “No,” I said, pointing my mouth toward the microphone. “She just went home and then took a bath.”

The Deke lady tilted her head and squinted her eyes together. “Really? She didn’t do anything else?”

I didn’t understand why Mommy did what she did that day, but I got the idea that I’d better tell the Deke anyway.

* * * *

4.

Well, Mommy came right home and took a bath. She told me to go play upstairs for a little while and her voice sounded like it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell her that I really didn’t want to. I didn’t have anything I really wanted to play with, but I went upstairs anyway and drew in my notebook for a while.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the shiny angels on the bridge, so I started drawing angels. I must have drawn eight or nine angels with swords in their hands like you always see, but after a while that got old so I started drawing them bringing new babies down from heaven.

Each one I drew kept getting better and better, but I knew I had to use the colored pencils if I was going to get it right. Mommy always talked about how maybe one day I’d get a baby brother, so I started drawing them real carefully. I thought if I drew then angel perfect with a little blue bundle in his arms, and then drew Mommy and Daddy and me down on earth waiting for him ... It’s silly, I know. But I drew it perfect anyway. Daddy always told me how happy Mommy was all the time when I was a baby. If God sent Mommy another baby, she could be twice as happy. To tell the truth though, I really wanted a little brother. I love playing with Mommy, but sometimes I wish I had a brother to play with when Mommy had to do grown-up things. I held the picture in my hands and prayed. Not for me, but for Mommy and then, at just that moment, the sun came out from behind the clouds and shined in through my bedroom window.

I carefully tore the page from my notebook and took it downstairs to show Mommy. I got down the first three stairs and was just about to call for Mommy when I saw her crouched down beside the fireplace.

It was the middle of the day, and it was hot out too, but Mommy was building a fire. I couldn’t figure out why she would want to do that, but I didn’t want to upset her, so I just watched.

She just got the fire going good and that’s when she started acting really strange. She pulled a bundle of clothes out from under her bathrobe and threw them on top of the fire. I tip-toed down the steps until I could see past her shoulder.

It was her new dress and blouse she’d just bought. The one Daddy didn’t like.

I wanted to ask her like a hundred questions, but I couldn’t figure out which one to ask first, so I just went back upstairs.

I hung my picture above the pillows on my bed.

Mommy could see it later. When she felt better.

* * * *

5.

“How long did she continue to act like that?” the Deke lady asked me. She was leaning in close again. She smiled as she talked, but it looked like she didn’t really want to be smiling.

“Well, she got mad at me later but she was better after Daddy came home.”

The Deke lady tilted her head. “She got mad at you?” she asked. “Why?”

I didn’t want to talk about it, but I didn’t have much choice.

* * * *

6.

Mommy put on one of her nice Sunday dresses after she finished making the fire. She called me down from upstairs when lunch was ready. Usually she makes me a hot lunch on the days that Daddy’s at work and I don’t have school—I’m in a special class and only go to school three days a week—but that day I remember she just made me two pieces of toast and poured me a glass of orange juice. I kept waiting for her to pull macaroni and cheese out of the oven or to open a can of ravioli or something, but she just stood over me and said, “Eat.”

She looked really mad so I didn’t question her. I’m not supposed to question her anyway. That’s what improper little boys and girls do, so I try not to do that. Mommy crossed her arms and it looked for a minute like she was going to start crying, but she just turned around and left me alone in the kitchen. She never does that. Even if she doesn’t eat with me she always sits down at the table and talks to me while I have lunch.

I figured she was just mad because she ruined her new clothes when she fell down and had to burn them. It sure would have made me mad. I figured I’d just better leave her alone for a little bit.

I said grace and then finished both pieces of toast pretty quick but I was still hungry so I got up and opened the ‘fridge to see if there was something in there that I knew how to make for myself. I had just decided to have one of Mommy’s yummy yogurts and was reaching for it when I heard Mommy yell something bad. I’d tell you what she said, but I’m not allowed to say words like that.

I ran back over to the table without the yogurt and sat down with my back straight like I’m supposed to. I heard her run down the stairs and before I knew it she came into the kitchen. She was crying, but it was angry crying. Her face was really red and she kept taking short breaths through her nose. She slammed down my picture of the angel on the table. She yelled, “What’s this?”

I didn’t know what I’d done wrong, so I just shrugged my shoulders.

“You want a baby brother?” She asked. “Is that it?”

I shrugged my shoulders again. Mommy stared at me for a long time. I just kept my eyes on the plate full of bread crumbs. I didn’t want to make her any more mad on accident. Finally, she picked up the picture and started tearing it into little pieces.

I couldn’t believe she was doing that. It was so mean and Mommy was never mean, except when I did something really bad, but this wasn’t bad so I didn’t understand why she was so upset. It felt like someone had just hit me in the tummy. I thought for sure that Mommy didn’t love me any more.

When she finished tearing up my picture she stared right into my eyes and said, “Don’t make wishes for things you don’t understand.”

Then she threw the pieces of paper into the garbage under the sink. “You just sit here at the table until I tell you to get up again.”

I sat there for at least an hour until I finally had to pee so bad that I couldn’t wait any longer. I was scared to ask her if I could get up, but I knew she’d be even madder if I peed my pants at the table.

“When you’re done,” Mommy called to me from the other room, “go upstairs and play. I’m still upset with you.”

So I did. I grabbed the pieces of my picture from the trash can and stuffed them in my pockets.

* * * *

7.

“Why did you do that?” the Deke lady asked me. “Your mother just tore up your picture. She obviously didn’t want it around. Weren’t you afraid you’d get into trouble?”

“Yeah, kind of.” I said. “But I thought that maybe this was one of those times that Mommy was just in a bad mood and would say she was sorry after she got over being mad.” That didn’t happen too often, but sometimes it did. It was the only thing I could think of that made sense. I really didn’t do anything wrong.

“Sometimes parents do that, honey,” the Deke lady said. “It’s not easy to be a Mommy sometimes.”

“Yeah.”

“But you say she got better when your father came home?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What happened?”

“Well,” I said. “She was just, you know, happy. But it was weird, too.”

“How so?”

I tried to figure out the best way to explain it. “Well, it was like she was really happy, you know? Like it was Christmas or Easter or something.”

The Deke lady crossed her arms and tilted her head to the side. “She burned her new clothes, yelled at you for drawing an angel, and then she was happy again when your father came home?”

“Uh-huh,” I said. “She really loves Daddy. Daddy’s a very important person, did you know that? He works for the Ministry of Prevention and he—”

“I know who your father is, sweetie. Let’s get back to your mother.”

“Okay.”

“Did she stay happy?”

I shook my head, then remembered the tape recorder. “No, she didn’t.”

* * * *

8.

She was fine until Malachai, Daddy’s driver, showed up to take him to work. As soon as he left, Mommy went into the living room and called Elizabeth, her friend from next door. “Come over,” Mommy said. “It’s important.” And then she started crying again. She hung up the phone and saw me standing there.

She didn’t smile at all. “Upstairs until I tell you to come down,” she said. I must have sulked because Mommy yelled, “Now!”

I ran up the stairs as fast as I could and slammed my bedroom door behind me. I waited for Mommy to come up and scold me for that, but after five minutes or so hiding under my covers I figured that she wasn’t coming.

I reached under my mattress and pulled out the pieces of my drawing. I had some scotch tape with my school stuff, so I got that out and started to tape my picture back together.

I did a good job, too. It was almost perfect. In one or two spots you could see the rough part of the paper, where it had been torn, but it wasn’t too bad at all. I slid the picture back under my mattress and I was trying to figure out what to do next when I heard the doorbell ring.

I tip-toed over to my door and opened it a crack.

Mommy was at the front door and I heard her talking to someone. It was Elizabeth. “Hi, honey, you sounded like ... oh God, what happened?”

Mommy was crying again. In between sobs she said, “In the den.”

I waited a couple of minutes before I went downstairs.

* * * *

9.

“You weren’t afraid that you’d get in trouble?” the Deke lady asked.

I shook my head. “It didn’t matter if I did,” I said. “Mommy was sad and I didn’t know why. I thought that if I could figure out even a little bit, then maybe I could help. I always made Mommy happy before, so I figured that I just didn’t know what was wrong but if I did...”

The Deke lady nodded and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry, go on,” she said.

* * * *

10.

When I got down outside the door to the den, I heard Mommy crying some more. The door was open a bit, so I made sure that I stayed to the left side, so I wouldn’t be seen. I peeked into the den and saw Elizabeth hugging Mommy.

She was stroking Mommy’s hair and going, “Shh. Shh. It’ll be okay, honey. It’ll be okay.”

Mommy was shaking her head. “And how is that?” she asked. “Tell me, how is it ever going to be okay again?”

They were quiet for a long time after that. Finally, Elizabeth said, “Alpheus, huh?” And then she called him some names I’m not allowed to say.

Mommy nodded.

“Now I understand why you did what you did. He’s untouchable.”

Mr. Alpheus always shook Daddy’s hand and mussed my hair when he came over, so it didn’t really make sense, but adults are strange sometimes.

“I may need you to do something for me,” Mommy said.

Elizabeth pulled away from her then. She looked a little scared, actually. She mumbled for a minute and I couldn’t understand what she said, but then I heard her say, “I don’t really know what I could—”

Mommy interrupted her. She looked really mad again. “Don’t play games with me, Elizabeth,” she said. “Just understand that I may need you.”

Elizabeth was chewing on her lower lip, but she didn’t say anything back. She just nodded and squeezed her eyes shut real tight, then hugged Mommy again. After a while she said, “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.”

They talked a little bit more, but most of it I didn’t understand. I think Mommy really hurt herself when she fell down, though.

She said something about being ripped.

* * * *

11.

The Deke lady leaned forward in her chair. “Honey, this is very important,” she said. “Okay?”
I nodded my head. I was a little afraid at how serious she looked.

“Do you know Elizabeth’s last name? Where she lives?”

I told her. “But sometimes I think she lives someplace under the ground,” I said.

The Deke lady tilted her head to the side. “You said that before, about the man you were afraid of. What do you mean she lives under the ground?”

“I heard Mommy and her talk about it the next time she came over.”

“Okay,” she said. “Take your time and tell me the rest.”

* * * *

12.

I still didn’t understand what was wrong with Mommy. She acted happy whenever Daddy was around, but as soon as he’d leave she’d start getting strange again. Like once, when we were sitting in church, the preacher started telling the story about Jesus on the cross, when he doubted God, and I looked over at Mommy and there were tears in her eyes.

It’s a sad story, but Mommy’s heard it lots before so I couldn’t figure out why she was crying over it now. When service was over, Mommy made Daddy hurry up and take us home.

It made Daddy a little mad ‘cause he and Mommy normally stay around and shake hands with lots of people there afterwards, but Mommy didn’t talk to anyone and she actually pulled away from one lady when she went to shake Mommy’s hand.

When Mommy got home she threw up. Daddy stopped being mad when he realized she was sick, so everything was okay again. She got sick a lot, but most of the time it was when Daddy wasn’t home. She’d be really white in the morning, like when your stomach feels like it’s full of butterflies or something?
But Daddy didn’t seem to notice too much, or if he did, he didn’t say anything. Besides, Mommy was happy whenever Daddy was around so I didn’t want to say anything that might change that.

About a month after the last time Elizabeth came over, Mommy called her again. I heard Mommy yell at her on the phone, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying.

I got sent to my room again, but I snuck down after Elizabeth got there. They didn’t say anything to each other when Mommy opened the door. Elizabeth just came inside and the two of them went right to the den.

When I got close enough to hear them, Elizabeth was talking. “No, I can’t.”

Then, Mommy got real close to Elizabeth and whispered, but it wasn’t like she was trying to tell her a secret or anything. It was scary. “Elizabeth,” she said. “I know you can do this. I know that you know people. You’re my friend and you’re mostly harmless so I’ve ignored it. But if you don’t do this for me, there’ll be Dekes coming through your door before you get home.”

Elizabeth stepped away from Mommy and crossed her arms. After a second, her head dipped and she started to shake a bit. “No one from the underground is going to touch this,” she said. “Your husband is too powerful. It’ll smell like a trap.”

“Convince them,” Mommy said. “And get me and Mary new traveling papers, just in case. You know I’ve got the money. I’ve loaned you enough in the past.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Someone will be here tomorrow morning,” she said. “Have the money ready. They’ll bring your papers. You have pictures?”

Mommy nodded and handed Elizabeth an envelope. “There’s twenty grand in there. There’ll be twenty more tomorrow. It’s more than the going rate. And Elizabeth?” Mommy said. “Don’t even think about running. If someone isn’t here tomorrow morning, my husband finds out about you. You can’t get far enough away by then.”

Elizabeth just stared at Mommy, then said, “When did you get so cold, anyway?”

Mommy didn’t even move. “The minute that man put this thing in me,” she said. “I want it out, understand?”

Elizabeth nodded, then turned to leave. I ran back to the stairs and up into my room.

* * * *

13.

The Deke lady looked up as a young man opened the door to the office. He had on a very nice suit, but not near as nice as the ones Daddy has. “Yes, Crawford?” she said.

The man glanced down at the floor for a minute, then said, “I’m sorry to interrupt Deacon, but I thought you’d like to know that we picked up Ms. Bartlow at the Alabama border crossing ... Elizabeth Bartlow? She was traveling under a false identity.”

The Deke lady smiled, but her lips were real tight, you know? She said, “Thank you Crawford. Anything else?”

He shook his head and then left. He closed the door real soft.

“I’m sorry, honey,” the Deke lady said. “Now tell me what happened this morning, and it’s real important that you try hard to remember exactly what was said.”

* * * *

14.

Mommy got real upset this morning when I reminded her that school was cancelled today due to a teacher’s conference. She knew about it for weeks, but sometimes she forgot to check the schedule. She was acting really weird, though. She tried to get Daddy to take me to work with him. She said she needed a day by herself.

But Daddy told Mommy that she knew he couldn’t take me to work with him and Mommy giggled a bit and said, “Of course. I was just being silly. I thought I might do some shopping or something this morning.”

And that really confused me, you know? ‘cause I knew Mommy had someone coming over this morning to take the bad thing out of her. I felt a whole lot better, that’s for sure. At least now I knew why Mommy had been so upset lately.

That happened all the time in the bible. Like when Jesus cast the evil spirits out of that man? Mommy just had something bad inside her and a good man was going to come over and take it out and Mommy would be okay again.

But then Mommy got really weird after Daddy left for work. She made me a huge breakfast. Eggs and bacon and pancakes and potatoes and milk. I ate as much as I could. I even made myself a little sick trying to clean my plate, but I couldn’t finish everything. But instead of Mommy getting mad at me like she would sometimes when I didn’t finish my meal, she just took the plate away and then walked me up to my room.

“Now listen and listen good,” she said. “Do not come downstairs until I tell you to. Even if you get hungry or thirsty or anything, do you understand?”

I nodded. “Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

She shook her head, and it looked like she was going to start crying again. “Just don’t come downstairs.”

I nodded my head and Mommy closed my bedroom door as she left.

And I meant to keep my promise, too. I don’t know why I didn’t. I really don’t. Mommy was going to be okay again and everything was going to be like it was but for some reason I just couldn’t stop worrying. What if the man hurt her when he was trying to take the bad thing out of her? What if he hurt her and then left and I couldn’t come downstairs to help her because I’d promised not to?

So when I heard the doorbell ring, I made up my mind. I’d stand at the top of the stairs and listen. That way, I could hear if Mommy needed my help and called for me but I wouldn’t be breaking my promise not to go downstairs. I knew that it was fibbing a little bit, but I just hoped that God would understand that it was because I loved my Mommy so much.

I didn’t see the man come in the front door, but I heard his voice easy. He had a very deep voice, and it was scratchy, you know? After the front door closed I heard the man say, “Do you have the envelope?”

It was quiet for a minute, and then the man said, “I just want you to know that I’m only doing this because you were ... well, you know. If this were under any other circumstances, I’d leave you to your fate. Your husband has hurt enough of my friends in the past that I still had to think twice about coming over here.”

Mommy said, “I understand, and I’m sorry about your friends.”

“Ma’am,” the man said. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe that. We’re standing here in this grand house and you’ve got two expensive cars and your husband travels to work every day in a chauffeur-driven limo and I really think that the only reason you’d even talk to someone like me is because of what’s in it for you.”

Mommy cleared her throat. “I see,” she said. “Well then, you’ve made yourself perfectly clear. Is there anything else?”

It was quiet for what seemed like a long time, but it was probably only ten seconds or so. Then, the man said, really mean like, “I want to hear you say it.”

Then Mommy said, “I don’t want to have this baby.”

* * * *

15.

The Deke lady took my hands. “Now you’re absolutely certain that’s what she said?

I nodded my head up and down real hard. “Yeah, ‘cause I got real scared then. I knew that the under ground man was going to try and stop the angel from bringing my baby brother down. I just couldn’t figure out why Mommy was going to let him do it!”

“So you went into your Mommy and Daddy’s room and called us?”

“Uh-huh. I was going to call Daddy but I couldn’t remember his phone number at work. I just wanted to make sure that someone came and stopped the under ground man before he stopped the angel. Mommy was sick. She didn’t know what she was doing. She wouldn’t have let him into the house if she were well, I know that.”

The Deke lady looked at me for a moment and then smiled. “You did the right thing, Mary. We got there in time. Your little brother is going to be just fine.” She reached over and switched off the tape recorder.

“Is Mommy going to be okay? She’s not in trouble, is she?”

The Deke lady stared at me for a while. ldquo; That’s between her and God, sweetheart.”

I was so glad to hear her say that. I knew that God would understand.

A few minutes later, another lady came into the office. She had on a long black dress, too, but she was older and her hair was tied back in a bun.

“This is Mrs. Overton, Mary. She’s with child support services. You’re going to stay at her home for a little bit while your Mommy gets better, okay?”

I nodded my head. Mrs. Overton took my hand and helped me out of my seat.

“Hold on a second,” the Deke lady said. She stepped behind her desk, opened a drawer and pulled out a shiny Deke badge. “Here you go, Mary. You did a wonderful thing today. I hereby proclaim you an honorary Deacon.”

I took the badge from her. She was such a nice lady. I know I shouldn’t have, but I dropped Mrs. Overton’s hand and then gave the Deke lady a hug.

She hugged me back.

* * * *

16.

Mrs. Overton had a car waiting outside the Deke station. I looked back over my shoulder at the sign on the building.

MINISTRY OF PREVENTION 

EVANGELICAL FELLOWSHIP OF ATLANTA 

CHILD PROTECTION DIVISION 

There was also a statue of the holy mother holding the baby Jesus in her arms. An angel sat in the air above them, protecting them with his sword. It made me smile.

At the bottom of the statue were the words:

FOR THOSE WE COULDN’T SAVE. 

MAY GOD GRANT MERCY UPON THEIR SOULS.

I climbed into the back of the car with Mrs. Overton. I looked at the badge the Deke lady gave me and pinned it to the front of my shirt.

Everything was going to be okay now. Soon, my brother and Daddy and Mommy and me would all be together again, and Mommy would be well. I knew that because the Deke lady told me so, and because I knew that Jesus would make sure of it.

God would understand.

He always understood.