it out, too. So...basically, God did it."
Darlene swallowed. She couldn't—wouldn't—let Gracie see the horror she felt.
"So, I guess that's why there are no knobs on the stove."
"Pretty much," Gracie said. "And now it's too hot to cook, so I had no need to put them back on. Come to the table. We can spread everything out here where the air is moving."
Darlene started across the floor, then paused, looking down at the dark splotches in the wood.
"Did it catch the floor on fire, too?"
"No. That's my blood," Gracie said.
The sack fell out of Darlene's hands.
"It's okay. I survived," Gracie said, then picked up the sack and carried it to the table.
Darlene wasn't a redhead for nothing. All of a sudden, her blue eyes were blazing and the flush on her neck had nothing to do with a hot room.
"What the fuck happened to you?"
"Come sit with me," Gracie said, and so she did.
"I'm sitting. Talk," Darlene said.
"I was doing dishes. Mama liked to put up the flatware, so I laid it on the table for her, then opened the drawer in the sideboard and walked away. Next thing I know, Mama is screaming at me and stabbing me with a knife."
Darlene was wide-eyed and shocked to the point her voice was shaking.
"What in the name of all that's holy did you do to get away?"
Gracie shrugged. "Basically, I knocked her on her ass and managed to call 9-1-1 before I passed out."
"Oh my God! Why didn't you call me? I would have come. I would have come. What happened to Delia then?"
"I was in the hospital a week, and they put Mama in the psych ward of the hospital for a month so I could heal. I came home, and after I was well enough and strong enough to cope, I started looking for a place to put her. But it didn't work out, so I got her out of the psych ward and brought her home. She didn't remember anything, and after she came back, she didn't really remember much about the farm, either."
"That's what I felt when I hugged you, isn't it? The scars." Darlene asked.
Gracie shrugged. "Yes."
"Do they hurt?" Darlene asked.
"Not anymore. One shoulder twinges when it's cold. Some nerves and muscles were cut, but I survived, and now she's gone and I'm free."
"I saw suitcases at the door. You're leaving here, aren't you?" Darlene asked.
"Tomorrow, right after my siblings and I have our 'Come to Jesus' meeting."
"Where are you going?"
"Where things are green, and rain is not a rare commodity. I wouldn't mind some mountains with it. I'm thinking Missouri."
"We don't lose each other," Darlene said. "Understood?"
Gracie nodded. "Understood. Now can we eat? I'm suddenly starving."
Darlene had a thousand more questions, but right now, none of them mattered. Gracie was too thin, and the shadows in her eyes broke Darlene's heart.
"They sent hot and mild sauces," Darlene said.
"Hot for me. Always hot," Gracie said, and liberally doused her smoked brisket sandwich, then took a big bite. "Oh my God, this is good. So good. Thank you."
"Of course," Darlene said.
They ate in mutual silence for a few minutes, and then Darlene finished and watched Gracie. She ate like she was starving. And she was so thin.
"Did you all go hungry?" Darlene asked.
Gracie shrugged. "It's over, honey. No need to drag up what can't be changed."
Darlene's eyes were blazing again. "I will say it now, and only to you, but your siblings have to be the most self-centered, selfish creatures on the face of his earth, and I officially hate them for what they left undone."
Gracie laid what was left of her food aside and looked up, emotionless, her voice calm, the words delivered in a stark, matter-of-fact tone.
"Hate was the first four years without them. After that, they ceased to exist."
Darlene shivered, then quietly stood and helped Gracie clean up before they both went out onto the back porch. The bleakness of the view put a knot in Darlene's gut.
She turned and gripped Gracie by the shoulders.
"Look at me, girl."
Gracie shifted her gaze.
"You are the strongest woman I will ever know. You have more honor in your little finger than your whole family combined. You will go far, and be happy, because you deserve it. Do you hear me?"
"I hear you. I just hope God's listening, because His attention has been otherwise occupied when it came to me and Mama for a long, long, time."
Darlene sighed. "Come inside. The kids sent you a present."
Gracie smiled. "They're not