The Atonement by Lawrence Cherry

rooms were empty since many of
the summer tourists had checked out weeks prior headed for their
homesteads near and far to settle back into their routines to
commence the fall season. There wouldn’t be any real uptick in
rentals until early November when people started to arrive for the
impending holidays. Davis and Allen had completed the work orders
for the occupied rooms, and now they could take their time on the
ones that were vacant. They were in a suite on the
6 th floor. Davis was checking the lighting fixtures and fixing
them when necessary, while Allen was screwing in light bulbs and
engaging in other sundry tasks. Allen was at a vanity screwing in a
bulb when he was beginning to lose track of what he was
doing.
    “You just replaced that one already,” said
Davis who was looking over at him from a few feet away where he was
inspecting an outlet.
    “Oh, right,” said Allen realizing his
mistake. “Sorry, my brain’s a little scrambled today. I didn’t get
a lot of sleep last night. I was up until 3 am studying for class
tonight.”
    “Man, and I thought my program was stressful.
I take it that even part time, law school is no joke.”
    “You can say that again. Sometimes I feel
like I don’t have time to even breathe.”
    This was an understatement. Most times, Allen
didn’t know whether he was coming or going. Law school was totally
different from his days as an undergraduate. He was totally
unprepared for his experience with the Socratic method and it’s
deep probing interrogation like style of questioning. This meant he
had to be more than prepared when he showed up for class, which
included generating extensive outlines on readings that totaled
more than 200 pages a night. When included with his
responsibilities to the church, Callie, Darius, and his family and
friends, Allen felt like he was running a marathon with no end in
sight.
    “That’s because you’re stretching yourself so
thin trying to take care of everybody else. Just remember you have
to take care of yourself, too.”
    “I know, but I felt like I had to stop by and
see Jim, given everything he’s going through.”
    “I thought he was getting better.”
    “Physically he is getting better. In fact,
he’s going to be getting out of the hospital this Saturday. It’s
just mentally, he seems a little down.”
    “I feel that. I was the same way when I got
out years ago. Tryin’ to start over is hard.”
    “That’s why I want to throw a little welcome
back celebration when he gets out. I’m not going to have much time
to plan it, but I’m willing to do what I have to. Maybe a couple of
us could meet after I get out of school tonight…”
    “Hold up – you’ve already got a lot to do as
it is, and you want to add planning a celebration on top of it? You
need to cut back. Let your mom and dad plan it this time.”
    “And it will be boring. Besides, after
everything that’s happened between us, I want to do this for Jim.
No, I need to do this for him.”
    “Al, I think Jim knows you got his back. You
wouldn’t be burning up the carpet at the hospital if you
didn’t.”
    “But I wanted to personalize this for him –
you know?”
    “So you plan it and then let me, Miko and Tim
and them handle the details. You could tell me what you want to do
and I’ll fill them in and we’ll organize everything. Then all you
have to do at the end is show up.”
    Allen took a moment to deliberate on the
matter. It sounded like a good idea, but he was afraid of what
might happen if he wasn’t there to be the mediator amongst his
friends various and sometimes conflicting personalities. Then
again, he desperately needed more time to concentrate on his
schoolwork, which, unbeknownst to his family and friends, had been
suffering. He had only been in law school for three months and
already he felt as if he was falling behind.
    “Alright. We’ll work out the major details at
lunch and you can get the others to help you.”
    “While you’re