Savannah Comes Undone

Chapter One ;My mother is in chains. Chained to what or for what I have no idea. Thomas only said, "Mother is chained to it." ; I didn't ask. ; I looked down at the denim bow that tied up my wrap dress. It was slightly tilted, so I straightened it. Now, the bow is an amazing accessory, the way it holds things together. Tying a bow is one of the first achievements of childhood. How unfair: a child, learning how to hold things together. I traced the perfectly symmetrical loops with my index fingers. I thought of childhood and sanity. ; The phone rang. Again. I jumped. I snatched up my ringing satchel off the hood of Old Betsy and found my phone conveniently resting on the bottom. ; "What?" ; "Where are you?" my younger brother, Thomas, asked. ; "I'm on my way." ; "You said that five minutes ago." ; I plopped into the driver's seat. "Are you the clock police?" ; "Get down here now. Are you a human-interest writer or not?" ; "I am and I'm coming. Just take a breather. I'll be there in a minute." ; Welcome to my world. The world of Savannah, where a mother in chains for any reason is no great cause for my alarm. ; I pointed my declining Saab away from the newspaper office and toward the courthouse. Something off-kilter hovered in the muggy Savannah humidity. Today I suspected something other than the steamy afternoon sun lured people outside their stores, cooling themselves with makeshift fans. I was certain it had to do with "the woman in chains." ; A plump, elderly, floral blur almost attached herself to my front bumper. "Watch where you're going!" I hollered at the closed window. She scampered on up the street, oblivious to the fact that she had narrowly escaped a lovebug's fate. ; As I tried to pull up to Wright Square--where both Dad's coffee shop and the U.S. Courthouse stand--I encountered an impassable bottleneck of cars, SUVs, trolleys, and a few unhappy horses toting gawking spectators. This jam was a phenomenon not even experienced on parade day, because cars aren't allowed into the historical district on parade day. But today Savannah had apparently plunged into the depths of downright delirium. ; I pulled into the covered parking place at the back of Jake's. My little brother (or rather, younger brother; the child stands six feet tall and towers over my five-foot-four-inch frame like a bamboo stalk over a tulip) snatched open the car door. ; "Vanni, get out of the car! You've got to get to the courthouse." ; "How did you even see me?" ; "I've been looking for you for fifteen minutes." ; "You only called five minutes ago." ; "I called you twice." He grabbed my arm and slammed the door behind me. Thomas, the only one in the world allowed to call me Vanni, dragged me out of the alley and onto the sidewalk in the direction of the courthouse. "What were you doing anyway?" ; "I have a job, Thomas. An important job. I have things to finish up before I can just run from my office and jump to the streets." ; "Give me a break. You were probably checking your hair." ; I would die a thousand deaths before admitting how close he was to the truth. ; "Just come on, because you are not going to believe what Mom has done!" ; I tried to keep pace with him and actually talk at the same time. "Trust me, I'll believe it. And slow down, I don't run well in heels." ; "You shouldn't beHildreth, Denise is the author of 'Savannah Comes Undone', published 2005 under ISBN 9780849944567 and ISBN 0849944562.