Fly the Rain by Robert Burton Robinson

jacks,
right?”
    “ You don’t honestly think
somebody deliberately tried to hurt Edsel, do you?” said
Angie.
    “ Maybe,” said
Greg.
    “ Does he have any enemies?”
said Cynthia.
    “ No. Everybody loves Edsel.
Well, I guess that’s not true. But I can’t think of anyone who
would want to hurt him.” Just as the last word
left her lips, she remembered the argument with her father earlier
in the day, and how he had stormed out of the restaurant after
discovering Angie was going to the birthday party with Edsel. That
had happened only a short time before she found Edsel. Her dad
hated him—there was no question about that. But surely he wouldn’t
try to kill him.
    Then she remembered the confrontation
between Edsel and the two band members. One of them had long black
hair! “I think I know who the woman was.”
    “ The one the nurse was
talking about?” said Cynthia.
    “ Yes. She and another woman
came to the restaurant Saturday trying to force me to hire their
group. They’re in that all-girl band that plays at Billy-Eye’s new
place out on Highway 87. But why would she come here to Edsel’s
room?”
    “ To finish off the job?”
said Greg.
    Angie panicked. She jumped up to check on
Edsel. “Do you think she did anything to him?”
    “ No,” said Cynthia, glaring
at her husband. “The nurse was here. She wouldn’t have had a chance
to do anything. Besides, he looks fine.”
    “ Do you know if that band is
playing tonight?” said Greg.
    “ I think so. Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday nights I believe.”
    Cynthia knew what Greg was thinking. She
would be there with him to make sure he didn’t get himself into
trouble. She turned to Greg. “Well, since he’s doing okay, maybe we
should try to catch the end of your dad’s birthday party.”
    “ But I don’t want to go off
and leave Angie here alone.”
    “ It’s okay. I’m fine. Y’all
go on.”
    “ Well, okay,” said Greg. He
walked over to Edsel’s bed. “Fly the rain, Uncle Ed.”
    “ Do you know what it means?”
said Angie.
    “ No. Do you?”
    She picked up her purse and took out her
wallet. “He gave me this—years ago. It’s a poem he wrote during his
senior year. They had to read them in front of the class. He told
me his classmates were laughing out loud by the time he got to the
end of it. But I think it’s beautiful.” She handed the small
laminated card to Greg.
    He and Cynthia read it silently.

    I dreamed I was a speck of dust
In a beautiful puffy cloud;
A warm and comfy home forever,
High above the ground.

    But then the darkness swallowed the
light;
The sky began to groan.
And my mother ship spit me out
On a raindrop of my own.

    But I was not alone in flight;
I saw others on their rain.
One hit a bird, died instantly;
One collided with a plane.

    Right then and there I made up my mind,
I wouldn’t let life just happen to me.
I took control, I fought the good fight.
Nobody can take that away from me.

    So, you can sit back and ride your
raindrop
To wherever it may fall.
Or saddle up like me and Fly the Rain,
Have no regrets at all.
    **********
    “ He’s gonna be okay,” said
E. Z.
    Sondra closed her car door and locked it.
“Who?”
    “ Edsel. The
mechanic.”
    “ I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”
    “ I passed you on the road
today, and decided to turn around and follow you.”
    Sondra got in her face. “Why would you do
that?”
    “ Just curious.”
    “ Well, just remember the old
saying, Honey: curiosity killed the
cat .”
    E. Z. just stared at her.
    “ So, stay out of my
business.” Sondra walked off, toward the entrance of
Billy-Eye’s.

    Chapter 16

    By the time Greg and Cynthia
made it back to The
Biscuit , Norma was nearly finished
bagging up all the presents.
    “ I’m sorry we missed your
party,” said Greg.
    “ Yeah, well I figured you’d
find some way to weasel out of it,” said Ralph.
    “ Ralph! They had to check on
Edsel,” said Norma. “How’s he doing?”
    “ Pretty