The Weight of Blood (69)

No one knew it would be the last time that most of them would be seen alive, and the students had no clue they were participating in their own funeral procession as they headed to prom.





Eighteen


MADDY DID IT

EPISODE 10

“The Prom”

Michael: It’s Prom Night, so let me set the scene for you here: You have two proms—the white prom and the All-Together prom—happening simultaneously within yards of each other, separated by the railroad tracks.

The Black Student Union is lined up in front of the country club, protesting its racist practices. Mrs. Morgan, their advisor, is standing by, supporting the students’ constitutional rights. She was the only teacher present at prom, as the dances typically had no adult supervision.

Four police units were on the scene, blocking the front gates of the club to “maintain peace,” leaving one officer at the station, located on Main Street.

Two camera crews parked near the country club.

Two volunteer firefighters slept in their bunks.

There were approximately forty students at the white prom, mostly seniors. Their dance was held inside the ballroom toward the back of the country club.

At the Barn, there were approximately eighty students, seniors and their dates.

The overflow from the Barn parking lot took up most of the front lawn, stretching almost to the train tracks, fifty yards from the door.

The surrounding area consisted of thick woods and marshlands. Days prior, heavy rains had left the ground muddy.

A half mile south of the proms was the Springville transformer station. Five miles north was Springville Power Plant. You could see the lights of the reactors from the parking lot.

As students arrived at prom, no one in the town had any idea what was about to go down that night.

May 31, 2014

Kenny pulled into the last free space in the crowded parking lot of the Barn, the building lit up with spotlights. He turned off the engine, dropping them into silence. His stomach twisted, that familiar achy dread he felt almost every morning before walking into school.

Maddy sat quiet and pensive. He took one final sip of free air, bracing himself for another performance, and grabbed the door handle.

“Kendrick,” Maddy said, touching his arm. “Can we wait a minute? Please.”

Her eyes glimmered in the moonlight. He’d give her just about anything she wanted if she’d only look at him that way for the rest of their lives.

“Yeah, sure.” He exhaled, relaxing into his seat with a small smile. “We can stay as long as you want.”

She nodded and stared out the window. They watched kids decked out in their formal wear amble down the red carpet to the Barn’s front entrance. While the door had Maddy’s attention, she had his. He hesitated before reaching out, tucking a strand of hair blocking her face behind her ear, pinky grazing the scar on the nape of her neck.

“You look beautiful,” he whispered, aware he sounded like a lovesick puppy, but couldn’t help himself.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, never taking her eyes off the Barn. She fidgeted with her purse, unsnapping and resnapping the clasp over and over, before nibbling on her thumb.

She does this when she’s nervous, he thought, and he liked knowing that about her, liked being attuned to her emotions. He hated seeing her so skittish and timid, regressing to old Maddy when she was finally starting to warm up to him.

What if I just drove away? Went somewhere so we could just be alone. Who cared about some stupid dance anyway? He sure didn’t. He only cared about Maddy. Glancing at the Barn door, he gripped the steering wheel, a finger hovering over the push-to-start button.

“Have you ever seen Madame Bovary, with Jennifer Jones?” she asked. Maddy stared out the window with the strangest longing in her eyes. The soft light from the Barn bounced off her pale skin, as if she glowed in the dark.

“No,” he admitted. “Is that on Netflix?”

She sighed, leaning her head against the window. “It’s a real old movie. Jones plays this girl named Emma, who lives with her father on a country farm, longing for the perfect life with a man who adores her. She marries a local doctor but isn’t satisfied with his modest salary. She wants to live a life of luxury, desperate to be in high society. There’s this scene where the doctor is finally invited to a ball, and Emma is wearing this gorgeous white tulle gown with sparkles in her hair. All the men fight for her attention. The waltz comes on and a dashing aristocrat takes her hand, leading her onto the dance floor. He spins her round and round, and she grows dizzy, but she doesn’t care because she’s having the time of her life. It’s all she ever dreamed of. Ever since I saw that . . . I’ve always wanted to go to a ball.”

Kenny glanced back at the door for several heartbeats, still debating before releasing the wheel with a nod. “Then let’s go to one.”

She gripped her dress with both hands. “I’m . . . scared,” she whimpered.

Her voice snatched the beating heart out of his chest. Kenny leaned across the console, resisting the urge to scoop her up into his arms, searching for the right words to comfort her.

“Um, hey. Can you look at me for a second?”

Maddy tore her eyes away from the busy entrance and met his, their faces so close he’d only have to move a mere inch to kiss her lips. And damn, how badly he wanted to. The need sucked all the air out of him.