Chapter 18: In Front of Everyone

For a second the hall made no sound at all.

Then somebody near the back said, "That's them," and the booing started.

It wasn't loud at first, but it spread from row to row.

Cormac raised both hands and smiled his easy smile.

"Please," he said. "Please, we're not here to fight."

An usher at the end of the aisle, who was probably nineteen, looked at me for permission.

I nodded.

I didn't want to hide from them.

The usher handed Cormac the roving microphone, and he walked down the center aisle with Cecelia a step behind him.

The boos faded into a hush, because the hall wanted to hear what he would say.

He stopped at the foot of the stage and turned to face the people.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Cormac. Most of you know me."

"We came tonight because we love Em."

"Cecelia and I want to say publicly that we are proud of him, and that we hope he finds what he's looking for."

He said it warmly, with a catch in his voice on the second word of the last sentence.

I had watched him practice that catch in a bathroom mirror when we were nineteen.

Nobody in the hall knew that.

They would in a minute.

"Can I answer something?" I asked.

Cormac turned and smiled up at me. "Of course."

"Your lines are famous. I want to make sure everybody here knows what they mean."

"I'd love that."

I stood up from the stool.

"The lantern speech from Pine Ridge," I said. "The one that made a lot of people cry."

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