Bad Reputation

“Franklin, you have got to move to town. It’s too hard out here all the time. The job market is terrible and the people are selfish.”

“Come on, Emma. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I don’t need to know. I’m a mother and I’m saying this. You’ve got to heed my advice or you’re going to get hurt.”

Franklin kept well back in the shadows watching the woman he had been in love with for over a year. As she stepped under the dim orange light of a street lamp, he could see she was crying.

“Emma,” Franklin began stepping towards her.

“Stay the hell away from me,” she yelled at him.

This stunned him. “What? Why?”

“I thought we could somehow move forward, but every time I see you, you are surprised I still think of you.”

“I never said that I didn’t think you should think of me.”

“You didn’t have to say it. Your actions speak enough.”

“I love you, Emma. Don’t ever think that I don’t love you. We will have a wonderful time,” Franklin was trying as hard as he could to control his emotions.

“You said that once before and I took you at your word. You see, some things are not meant to be together. You’re just like everyone else. Everyone wants something for nothing and you know what I think? I think you’re a liar.”

“Emma, you have no proof to say that. If you don’t want to move with me, then fine, I will go. I’ll move away.”

“I don’t want to live in your world. I won’t even come for your funeral.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re crazy, stupid, and faithless.”

“Are you saying that you don’t love me?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” she mumbled, walked away.

Later that night, the preacher told Franklin that he had seen a lot of people approached by the girl.

“That girl? Why is she coming to me? She’s got a lot of guts.”

“She’s a beautiful girl. I know that you’ve been in love with her. I don’t think you’re going to be able to fight this thing.”

“What is she going to do if I leave here?”

“You won’t leave here. But she will get over this thing. This is a good city with a great mayor. I think that if you look at the facts, this would be the right thing to do.”

“I love her though. I love her very much and she says that I will visit her in heaven.”

“Franklin, you have to have faith. You have to have faith in something bigger than yourself and if you have faith, it will be alright.”

Cory Hall, the mayor in their small town, had introduced Franklin to his sister, Caroline. Franklin hoped that Caroline would help him.

“Caroline,” Franklin kept his voice down so that no one would hear. “I really want to do what’s right by Emma. If she doesn’t want to come with me, I’ll leave.”

“I hope you will leave. She’s having a hard time right now, Franklin. I think that you should understand that she wants to leave.”

“And if I don’t leave?”

“I won’t tell you that again.”

After the fair closed, there was much talk of Franklin leaving. It was a sad day for all of them. The man was not just leaving, he would be taking all of the work that had been put into the fair with him. They put up a good fight. After a few days, the man had left town. They figured that Franklin just left. They saw him walking down the main road towards the main highway leading out of town.

They never saw him leave. He was never seen again. They heard about him for about a year after he had left. They did not hear from him again and neither did the world.

Six years later, Emma and her daughter moved to town. They made a lot of friends and never said a word about Franklin.

Emma seemed to heal just a little bit. She still preferred to avoid Franklin and his world. She got married, they had a baby, and had plenty of money. When her daughter was three, she started to have trouble. Emma took her daughter to the doctor. The doctor found a sarcoma in the blood….

The man helped Emma move into the center of town, so that it would be easier for him to watch her. His family and his children moved in along with the housekeeper and her daughter and son. They settled in north of the town.

Emma died two years later of breast cancer. Her daughter was in the hospital, dying, when Emma died. The son, the girl’s father, was not in the town, but he shared her death. He had a wake and her daughter was buried in the center of town. People would stand in line for days just to get anywhere near her casket.

The man was called a saint. He joined a monastery in the mountains, where he would live the rest of his life. He never visited the town again.

Almost forty years later, Franklin walked out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, to find Emma standing in the doorway.

“Franklin, you’re back?”

“Yes, I’m back,” Franklin smiled.

“I honestly have no reason to be here. Why are you here?”

“I love you. I’ve always loved you,” Franklin kissed her cheek and smiled.

“I needed to come back and give you this,” he unwrapped his towel and showed her the three year old cancer. Emma was shocked and she walked back a little and touched the cancer. She had been wrinkled and she was old.

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