She Only Speaks to Butterflies by Sandy Appleyard

healthy and happy, except when she has these episodes, am I right?”
    Sherry agreed.
    “Talk to Dr. Malcolm,” Doug urged. “He’ll have better input.”
     
    Chapter 9
     
    Sherry pulled into the fire station parking lot, noticing Martha’s car was there. She poked her head over, behind the passenger seat, addressing Denise. “Oh, look, Luke’s here too. You’ll have someone to play with while all the adults talk about borin’ stuff.”
    Martha exited her car and both she and Luke walked to Sherry and Denise. “Feelin’ better?” Martha joked, referring to their drunken night at the bar.
    Sherry rolled her eyes. “Fine.  Did you find the other fifteen dollars?”
    “Shut up.”
    Luke looked up at his mother, surprised at her use of the ‘sh’ word. “Oh, now, you go play with Denise, Luke.”
    Denise took Luke’s hand as they ran inside the fire station.
    “So I hear the new fireman and Jenny Martin have hit it off.”
    “What?” Sherry was surprised. “He just moved here a week ago, how is that even possible?”
    “Misery loves company,” Martha surmised. “They’re both divorced. Maybe he’s got a trouble-makin’ kid, too.”
    “Who’s this?” Sarah said, eavesdropping from behind. “Who’s got a kid?”
    Before Sherry could answer, Lina Groves’s head appeared out the side entrance. “You wanna come watch your kid, Sherry? We don’t need her poppin’ no veins today, ‘specially with all these people around.”
    Sherry’s blood boiled. “How the hell did she find out?” she seethed.
    “Find out about what?” Sarah asked.
    “Is this about the grocery store?” Martha asked cautiously.
    “How the hell did you find out?” Sherry gaped. “Is nothin’ that happens in my life sacred? Is my poor kid gonna be the laughin’ stock every time she has a bad day?”
    Sarah butted in front of Martha, draping her arm around Sherry’s shoulders. “Now don’t you go gettin’ upset, sweetheart,” she soothed. “I’m sure Martha didn’t mean any harm.”
    “I-I didn’t,” Martha pleaded. “I heard from Wendy in the bakery at the Food Mart,” she explained. “She was askin’ if Luke ever suffered somethin’ like that.”
    Sherry shook her head in disgust.
    “She didn’t mean any harm,” Martha insisted, trying to keep up.
    “Hurry now,” Lina coaxed cruelly.
    “Is that really necessary?” Sarah warned, glaring at Lina. “The child is no harm, she’d save a fly if it needed it.”
    It took everything in Sherry’s power to stop herself from punching Lina’s lights out right there. As she passed Lina, she gave her an icy stare.
    Inside, the fire hall was emptied of all trucks; they were lined up in the parking lot outside to save space in the garage for the meeting. On one wall was the fireman’s pole leading to the upper barracks and on the other wall was the lunch room where the kids were coloring. There was also a meeting room and a storage area on the same wall. All the doors were open to allow fresh air in on the hot summer day.
    When they entered the fire station, Luke and Denise were sitting at a children’s table inside the lunch room, coloring in a book that said. ‘Fire Safety from Joe the Fire Safety Bear’. The room was partitioned off with a glass enclosure from the garage where the trucks were kept.
    All the firemen wore blue cotton uniforms with ‘Fire’ written in yellow on the back of their shirts and ‘State of Arkansas Fire’ emblems sewn on their right bicep, their surnames were sewn on their left bicep. Alan, the Fire Marshall, was the only one wearing a vest with ‘Fire Marshall’ printed in plain white letters on the back.
    There were no chairs in the hall, so when Alan noticed Sarah waddling in, he grabbed her an office chair from the meeting room, inviting her to sit. Sherry found Luke, Denise and a couple of other kids playing in the lunchroom, including Jenny Martin’s son, Kevin.
    Karen Stainer walked in a moment later with her