When church services were over Barbara and Charlotte hurried behind Audrey. Barbara sat in the front seat and Charlotte took the back seat again. They both saw she wasn’t herself. She was fussy at times, but not like this. This was overboard for her. They looked at each other and Barbara signaled to Charlotte to not say anything.

“I made it out of the parking lot with no one seeing me. Good. Amen. I didn’t want to say hello to any of them right now.” She took off her hat and placed it on the front seat of the car. “Okay, anyone wants coffee and doughnuts at The New Café near our street? It seems like a nice place. They just opened. There’s a ramp for people who can’t climb the steps. My artist friends say the food is good.”

They both agreed to go to the donut shop and didn’t speak a word.

“It’s not far from here. Take your hats off. Why didn’t any of you take them off yet?”

Barbara said. “Oh, we just forgot.”
Charlotte echoed the same words. Silence. There was complete silence in the car. Not even one Kumbaya from Charotte.

“Hello? Is everyone still inside the car? I sure hope no one opened the door and fell out.” Audrey had changed the tone of her voice. She was back to her old self again. She was even smiling.

Charlotte looked at Barbara in the front seat not knowing what to say. She was the oldest and was usually the one who spoke first, so she spoke up.

“Audrey, what’s wrong with you? Ever since you stopped to pick up Charlotte for church you’ve been in a pesky mood. I noticed that when you picked me up too. Spit it out. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong with me. I just didn’t want to be late. That’s all. Did you see that the congregation turned around to judge us by what we were wearing and how our hair was fixed? I told you that would happen. It’s been like that for 40 years and I don’t like that. When I’m late, that always happens.”

“I didn’t see that. Did you see that, Charlotte?” Barbara turned around to ask the youngest sibling.

“Well, now that you ask, no I didn’t see that. My thing is that I don’t like wearing these damn hats. I must have at least 15 hat boxes in my closet.”

“Well, I noticed,” answered Audrey as she pulled in at The New Café. “Let’s get a window seat where we can relax and enjoy some small chatting,” she smiled.

They asked for a window seat and were led to their table. The waitress took their order of one donut and a full cup of coffee with cream. No sugar.

“When I take my hat off, I have to fluff up my hair. Those hats do that to all of our hair,” said Charlotte. “I learned that in beauty college. When you put a hat on your head it flattens your hair. So always fluff it up after.”

“That’s a good thing to know, Charlotte. What else did you learn in beauty college that we need to know?”

“Audrey, that was a sarcastic remark that was uncalled for. Shame on you! I know something’s bothering you more than me being late. You were yelling for me to hurry in front of my house. That was embarrassing, Audrey. Tell us what’s wrong.”

Audrey squirmed in her chair. “I just don’t like being late. You know that.”

Barbara saw the look on her face.
“You’re lying, Audrey. Nothing gets by me, and even Charlotte noticed, now tell us what’s wrong or…”

“Okay! I don’t like going to church anymore and I feel such guilt inside of me for feeling this way. There… I’ve said it.” She wanted to cry. “I have enough.”

“What?”

Barbara and Charlotte were speechless. For forty years they attended church together every Sunday only missing mass when they were sick. It was a shock to hear her say that but Audrey saw their “what in the hell” look.

“You both heard me. I’m not going to raise my voice in this café. Let’s eat our breakfast and head home. We’ll talk about it there. I’m sure our husbands have the dinner ready for the grill, don’t you think?” Audrey forced a smile as she sipped her coffee. “Did you ever notice how some people say… breakfast, lunch, and dinner? But we say breakfast, dinner, and supper?”

“Yes, I noticed that, “ answered Charlotte. “I think it’s just a Southern thing. Supper time was always at night.”

Confused at what Audrey said about the church, Barbara began talking about the barbeque that they were going to have and how they loved her potato salad. Small talk as she watched Audrey eat. She didn’t like what Audrey said, but she kept quiet about it.

Charlotte didn’t seem to be confused at all, but she was the free spirit who went along with what anyone wanted in their life. Audrey was a bit stunned that she said what she said and never entered the conversation.