Above the Vaulted Sky

Four

My friends and I continued to see Constantine after school. She never called us our real names. My friends were "honey" and Davy was "sugar." I must have been special, though, because ever since I had made that first pie I was "babygirl." Some Saturdays, when my friends were busy and Davy was with his family on outings they'd started after his brother had killed himself, I would go alone. After the first few times, it didn't bother me. Constantine was always there with her smiling face and a fresh-baked pie. After a week, she started teaching me how to make the sweet desserts and breads she prepared. I was a much better baker than I was a vegetable picker, although she made me do that plenty as well. My shoulders tanned a bit from all the time in the sun and one morning I found myself glowing in the mirror. I smiled and felt great until I looked at my phone and received a notification about rising deaths as a result of skin cancer. I fought off nausea and pulled on a sweater. Then I thought about all the sweet desserts I had been eating and scheduled a dentist's appointment as well.

Sundays at church got more interesting, too. My friends and I started noticing Constantine and all the roles she had in the church. She, of course, dragged us into volunteering. I was a shit altar girl - I was bad at reading silent cues - but it turned out I was a natural reader. It was strange that it was so easy for me to stand at that podium because I usually hated being in front of crowds, but reading those poems and stories in front of hundreds always felt right to me.

I never told my mother I was visiting an old lady in my free time. I didn't know how to tell her. She probably figured out I was doing something new by the time I baked bread at home for the first time.

"Why? What's wrong with the stuff from the store?" she asked as she sat at the table and reviewed my textbooks for factual accuracy and content.

I shrugged. After my mother tried the bread, though, she agreed it was better than the storebought stuff and didn't question it again.