Inside Out

59

Rush Massey was at the computer with his fingers on the keyboard. As he typed, a pleasant electronic voice spoke the words.

DEAR SIRS COMMA IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION THAT YOUR BREAKFAST FRUIT BARS CAN CAUSE FIRES IN TOASTERS PERIOD AS AN UNSIGHTED PERSON I BELIEVE I HAVE ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT FLAMING DEATH RESULTING FROM MY DEEP AFFECTION FOR YOUR TASTY BREAKFAST PASTRIES PERIOD I HAVE SOME IDEAS FOR FIRE-RETARDANT FOODS PERIOD

Rush heard a snort from behind him. He hadn't smelled Mrs. Holland's perfume and was unaware that the principal had snuck up behind him.

“Rush, you could be a comedy writer.”

“I'm going to be a federal judge so I can sentence the men my daddy catches. And when you're a judge, the blinder the better. Like when you're an umpire.”

Mrs. Holland chuckled and placed her hand on Rush's shoulder affectionately. “Your father is out in the hall waiting to see you.”

Winter led Rush into the auditorium and took seats close to the entrance. “I have something to tell you.”

“Okay.” His son's face remained emotionless. Rush was preparing himself mentally for virtually anything.

“What I am going to tell you is a classified secret, so I have to ask you to keep it between the two of us.”

Rush crossed his heart.

“You know the USMS airplane that crashed Thursday night?”

“Yes.”

“Right.” God give me the strength to do this. “Those WITSEC marshals were taking a witness to Washington to testify.”

“WITSEC like Uncle Greg?”

“Greg was…” Winter's voice broke. He hadn't felt the emotion coming. “On that flight.”

Rush was silent as he absorbed the information.

“He's in heaven, right?”

“I'm sure he is.”

“Then Mama will have somebody for company that's her friend.” Rush smiled. “So we should be glad about that.”

“Greg loved you. He was so proud of how grown-up you are. He said so the other day. Here's the thing,” Winter said. “The plane didn't accidentally crash. It was hijacked and blown up by some men who didn't want the witness to testify. The men who did it got away. That's the biggest secret.”

Rush contemplated the direction the conversation was taking. “Are you going to go catch them?”

“The FBI is supposed to do that. They are trying to blame Greg to explain how the bad men found the witness.”

“It's not fair, to blame someone who can't defend himself. And Uncle Greg wouldn't do anything wrong on purpose.”

“I agree. The FBI has some evidence they say proves Greg did what they say he did. I know it's a lie, but it looks like they might make it stick.”

“You can't stop them?”

“There's nothing I can do. Sometimes, no matter how bad we want to, we just can't set things right.”

“Why don't you try-tell the FBI that Greg was good? Go get some evidence.” Rush seemed confused.

“I'm not an investigator. I just wanted to tell you that even if people say it's true, we know it isn't. We know Greg was a good guy.”

“Yeah, sure. What else?”

“That's all I had to tell you. And that I love you more than anything on earth.”

Winter hugged his son to him.

“I'm sorry you feel so sad, Daddy.”

Rush reached into his pocket and handed Winter a folded red bandana, one of Eleanor's cotton handkerchiefs. “I want you to take this one.”

“That's yours.”

“It'll make you feel less sad, like it does me.”