by Fannie Flagg
As the carriage had driven away, Lenore ran after it, calling out to her mother to stop, but she had not turned around, and the carriage kept going. She had never seen her mother again. Lenore never knew why she had left. She could have been unstable or had simply not loved her children enough to stay. Either way, it was easier to pretend it had never happened. As far as she was concerned, Sookie was her daughter, and she really had been in labor for over forty-eight hours.
THE IRISHMAN
SCOTT FIELD, ILLINOIS
1944
IT WAS LATE WHEN FRITZI ARRIVED ON BASE, BUT SHE SAT DOWN AND wrote a letter to Billy. He had been on her mind.
Dear Billy,
Landed at Scott Field a few hours ago, and the place was packed. Finally got a bed in the nurses’ quarters, so am dropping you a quick line before I hit the sack. I’m feeling a little worse for the wear tonight, after flying all day in headwinds and fighting with a faulty odometer that I had to kick all the way across the country.
Also, too much fun the night before. When I was in Wilmington, I ran into two old flying pals, Nancy Batson and Teresa James, who were headed to Orlando. Boy, did we do that place up good. Nancy is the beautiful blonde from Alabama I told you about, so we didn’t lack for dancing partners … mostly guys waiting to dance with “Alabama.” And Jamsie’s from Pittsburgh and a real kick in the pants … and she can hold her liquor. I was doing okay until we went to some joint and Jamsie ordered us some concoction called a gin rickey.
Don’t remember much after that. Didn’t get in until four A.M. and had to leave at six. But it sure was great to see those gals again. Besides Sharpie, they are two of the best fliers in the entire outfit, and when we go military for real, I wouldn’t be surprised if both don’t turn out to be generals. As for me, I’ll be happy just being a plain private. Wouldn’t know what to do if I couldn’t go on cussing officers.
Me
What Fritzi failed to mention to Billy was at one of the last bar stops, she had run into that big redheaded Irishman Joe O’Connor from home. He was now in the marines and was shipping out the next day on his way overseas. It really was good to see him again. She just wished they hadn’t wound up at the Pink Cloud Motel. But as he said, the way the war was going, he might not ever see her again.
WARTIME ROMANCE
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
As THE WAR PROGRESSED, FRITZI STARTED DELIVERING THE P-47, THE heaviest fighter plane that the WASPs flew. It weighed 12,500 pounds and had a 2,400 horsepower engine. It was twice the size of a British Spitfire. The cockpit had enough room for only a single pilot, so her first flight had to be solo. She had flown the smaller AT-6, but it had a much smaller 450 horsepower engine, and so she was a little nervous the first time she flew the P-47. It had so much power on takeoff that it pushed her back in the seat. But after she got the gear up and leveled out, she found that it was actually easy to handle. She had heard so many tales from the guys about how hard the P-47 was to fly, but to her, the thing was a pussycat. From then on, it was her favorite plane.
In Long Beach and Newark and at all the stops at the air bases in between, Fritzi and Willy met a lot of cute guys. Many of the fellows they met and danced with were headed overseas, and a few thought they were in love and tried to get serious, but Willy was engaged to her hometown boyfriend, who was a captain in the army, and Fritzi had decided no more Pink Cloud Motel situations. Even so, the guys really got a kick out of them. Word got back to the states that a lot of the bombs being dropped over Germany had either “Willy” or “Fritzi” written on them.
It seemed that romance was in the air that year, even back home in Pulaski. The next time Fritzi landed in Long Beach, she had four letters waiting for her: three from Tula and one from Momma.
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Dear Billy,
How’s by you, honey? Sorry I haven’t written much lately, but have been up to my ears. Then we had a love crisis going on back at home, and I got stuck right in the middle. It was touch and go there, and it could have blown up into a pretty serious situation.
A few months ago, Nard Tanawaski, Gertrude’s fiancé, came back home from the army on a hardship leave and was missing Gertrude so much, he started hanging around our house all day. They said they hadn’t meant for it to happen, but he and Tula fell madly in love with each other and want to get married. What a big mess! And everybody, even Momma, was afraid to tell poor Gertrude. So you guessed it. They tapped yours truly to do it the next time I stopped in at Sweetwater. I sure was dreading giving the poor kid the bad news, but when I told her, it turns out she was as happy as could be about it. She says she realized she wasn’t in love with Nard a long time ago and had been trying to think of a way to let him down easy, and if Tula wants him, that’s just fine with her. So it looks like it will be the same brother-in-law, just a different sister.
Whew! I’m glad that’s all over, but speaking of love, it looks like Sophie has it bad for some English pilot she met. Sure surprised me. I didn’t know she had any interest in guys at all. Oh, well, we’ll see. In the meantime, I’m not telling Momma.
I’m a little tired, so I will sign off for now. I need to hit the hay. Hughes Aircraft had a backlog, so I am making three or four deliveries a day to San Francisco from Long Beach. I know each one is headed out to our boys in the Pacific, so I leave a little good luck note for the lucky pilot. I swear, Billy, those planes are flying off the assembly line every ten minutes now, but we need them, so no complaints.
Love,
Fritzi
YOGA SOUP
POINT CLEAR, ALABAMA
MARVALEEN WAS TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED WHEN SOOKIE TOLD HER the truth. “You mean all that stuff about the sailors wasn’t true, either?”
“No, honey, and the young man I’m meeting every week is not my boyfriend.”
“Well, who is he then?”
“If I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone?”
“Of course.”
“Well, I’ve started seeing a psychiatrist.”
“At the Waffle House?”
“Yes, among other places. It’s not that I’m ashamed, it’s just that I’d rather not have it get around town. And there is no way we could meet at his office without being seen. So he agreed to meet me outside for my sessions.”
“Oh. But why are you, of all people, seeing a psychiatrist?”
“Well … uh … I’ve just been under a lot of stress.”
“Childhood issues?”
Sookie said, “Yes, that’s right. Childhood issues.”
“You know, Sookie, when I first started seeing Edna Yorba Zorbra, I had a stiff knee, and she said that sometimes the body holds stress from early childhood trauma and that yoga is one of the best ways she knows to release it. And, really, it’s done wonders for me.”
After that, Marvaleen started dropping brochures by the house from Yoga Soup, the yoga studio she went to. Sookie usually threw them out, but lately she had been feeling a little stiff, and she wondered if maybe it was a holdover from early childhood trauma. Lord knows she’d had her share.
And it had started at a very early age. Sookie remembered being only seven when Lenore, true to form and ignoring all facts, had taken it upon herself to write, direct, produce, and star in an original historical pageant entitled The Saga of the Simmons of Selma. The opening scene had taken place on a large Southern veranda where Lenore (playing her own grandmother) was discovered with her two grandchildren (played by Sookie and Buck) at her feet. To this very day, Sookie could still remember how terrified she had been when the curtain had gone up at the big auditorium. She had only one line, “Oh, Grandmother, you fought off all those Yankees all by yourself. How brave.” But when the time came for her to speak, she had such a bad case of stage fright, she froze. Luckily, Buck had said the line for her. And then there was the Junior League Mother-Daughter Beauty Pageant. That hadn’t gone very well, either. No wonder she was so stiff. So she thought she might give yoga a try
. She bought a mat and leotards and signed up for Yin Flow for Beginners.
Bright and early the next morning, she showed up for class ready to begin. She did just fine during the sun salutations part, but she must have done something wrong during the hip opening stretch, because that afternoon when she went for her session with Dr. Shapiro, she could hardly walk.
Dr. Shapiro was already waiting for her at the new spot she had found called A.J.’s Steak and Ale House, located on U.S. Route 78. He was alarmed when she limped in the door and over to the table. “Are you all right?”
“Oh, yes.” She sat down and winced in pain. “Have you ever done yoga?”
“No.”
“Well, if you ever do, take my advice, and watch out for the hip opening stretches.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind,” he said.
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Dear Wink,
Sorry I haven’t thanked you for the great Brown Betty teapot you sent all the way from merry old England. You will be happy to know that it arrived here safe and sound. I would have written sooner, but time’s just gotten away from me. The last few months have gone by so fast, I even forgot to send something for Poppa’s birthday, and I could kick myself around the block and back for that.
Speaking of time going by, Angie sent me the latest photo of little Wink. What happened? In the last one she sent six months ago, he was still a baby, and now he is a little boy in short pants. We all sure miss you over here, buddy. Momma said that Angie is just counting the days until you get back. Me, too. And if we have our way, it shouldn’t be too much longer. The whole country is throwing everything they have behind the war effort.
Seriously, Wink, I wish you could see with your own eyes how hard people at the factories are working around the clock to get as many planes to you boys as possible. Tell your guys that they would be proud to see how the whole country is pulling together and doing everything they can to help get this war over and get you boys home safe and sound.
All of us in uniform get all the glory, but my hat’s off to all those guys and gals showing up day after day, working on an assembly line, doing their job. And you never hear a complaint. Poppa always said this was the greatest country in the world, and now I see how right he is.
Fritzi
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Dear Billy,
It is late here, but I can’t seem to sleep tonight. Flew through a big rainbow today. Was delivering another sweet new P-59 to San Francisco, and it was foggy and gray all the way down, until I hit the Santa Ynez Valley, north of Santa Barbara, and then bang, all of a sudden, the sun comes out. I looked down, and the hills below me have turned a bright lemon yellow, and there was a big rainbow right in front of me, and when I flew through it, I swear, Billy, I looked out, and my wings were glowing pink and green and blue, and I felt so damn happy I wanted to stay up there all day.
I feel sorry for the poor people that don’t fly, don’t you? Anyhoo, this sure is beautiful country. After my ride on the rainbow, I circled around a bit and saw some windmills and scared a few cows, but what a sight. I just wish you could have been there to see it with me. You have been on my mind so much lately, Billy, and I wonder if you ever feel that way. Things that used to seem important to me, like being famous and just having a good time, don’t seem to matter all that much anymore. I used to laugh at all those gals who talked about wanting to put down roots and settle down somewhere. But lately, it doesn’t seem like such a bad idea at all. Didn’t mean to get all corny on you. Guess I might still be up there flying around in that rainbow or it could have been all those damn cows. Anyhow, honey, as you might have noticed, I miss you.
Fritzi
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Hi, Momma,
All is well. Still busy as ever. Stopped in at Sweetwater the other day to see Sophie and Gertrude, just in time to share the box of goodies you sent from home. Sure do miss your cooking. All the girls in Sophie and Gertrude’s bay started hanging around, hoping to get a homemade doughnut. We shared some, but hid the rest.
Sophie says to tell you not to worry. Seems like she caught a bug down here. Got a little run-down and needs to take it easy for a while. Darn it all, why couldn’t I have caught that bug, so I could loll around in bed and be waited on hand and foot? That gal gets all the luck. But the docs say it shouldn’t be too long till she’s up and at ’em again.
Also, Gertrude won’t tell you, but she has been chosen to go to Camp Davis and fly tow target, so the boys on the ground can practice their shooting. Don’t worry. They won’t be shooting at her, just at the target she will be pulling behind her. A pretty swell job, and only the best gals were chosen. Tell Poppa hello for me. Gotta run.
Fritzi
P.S. Don’t know if it’s all this Mexican food out here in California, but you will be happy to know that I am gaining weight. If I don’t slow down, I could give Gertrude a run for her money.
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Dear Billy,
I just got word that I am coming out your way. On the fourteenth, I am taking a B-24 Liberator across to Biloxi, Mississippi, and will have a few days off before I have to pick up another and fly it back. Can you meet me somewhere in between? I know you are busy, but I sure do need to see you, honey. Let me know.
Fritzi
THE BUBBA GUMP SHRIMP CO.
SOOKIE AND DR. SHAPIRO WERE MEETING IN THE BACK ROOM OF THE Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant out on the Causeway. After he came in and sat down, she looked at him and asked somewhat apologetically, “Dr. Shapiro, would you think I was terribly rude if I ordered something to eat? I don’t know if it’s all right to eat a meal during a session or not.”
“Of course it is. Order anything you want.”
“Oh, thank you. I was so busy working out in my yard all morning, I lost track of time and completely forgot to eat breakfast, and I’m just starving. I got so behind I didn’t even have time to change.”
The waitress who took their order informed her that, unfortunately, it was too late to order breakfast.
“The grill’s already off, hon. We just have what’s on the luncheon menu.”
Sookie looked it over. She knew shrimp was their specialty, but she had just made shrimp and grits last night, so she ordered the fried oysters, hush puppies, coleslaw, and a side order of fried zucchini sticks.
Dr. Shapiro stuck with his usual cup of decaffeinated coffee. He had not quite come to terms with Southern cuisine. You could hardly get a thing that wasn’t fried.
After Sookie’s food came she took a few bites and was in the middle of telling him what she had said to Marvaleen about the twin sailors. “Honestly, Dr. Shapiro, I just don’t know what possessed me to say a crazy thing like that. I’ve never even dated a sailor, much less—” Suddenly Sookie’s eyes flew wide open and she turned white as a sheet. “Oh, my God,” she said. “I’ve got to go.” She then jumped up from the table and ran back to the ladies’ room as fast as she could.
Dr. Shapiro had no idea what was wrong, and she didn’t have time to tell him. Sookie was sitting facing the door and had suddenly spotted Pearl Jeff, her mother’s friend, coming in the door with a group of ladies. Other than her mother, Pearl Jeff was the last person in the world she wanted to run in to.
When Sookie did not return to the table after fifteen minutes, Dr. Shapiro became concerned. She must have eaten a bad oyster, and it could be a case of seafood poisoning, because it had certainly hit her fast. He waited a little while longer, then walked over to the table of women sitting in the corner. “Excuse me,” he said. “My friend is in the ladies’ room and I think she may be ill. Could one of you please do me a favor and check and see if she is all right?”
“Why, certainly,” said Pearl Jeff, as she picked up her purse and headed back to the restrooms. One door was marked “Buoys,” and the other said “Gulls.” She entered the door marked “Gulls.”
Sookie was hiding in a stall, and the minute Pearl sp
oke she recognized the voice.
“Hello,” she called out. “Is there a lady in here?” When she didn’t get an answer, Pearl marched over to the stall where she saw two feet and banged on the door. “Hello? Are you all right in there? Your gentleman friend is worried about you.”
Sookie panicked. She didn’t know what to do, so she just kept flushing the toilet over and over again.
A FEW MINUTES LATER, Pearl came back out and asked Dr. Shapiro, “Was your friend wearing pink tennis shoes with pom-poms?”
“Yes, I think so,” said an anxious Dr. Shapiro.
“Well, she’s in there all right, but from the sound of things, I don’t think she’ll be out for quite a while.” Now he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just leave, so he sat there and waited.
Finally, after the table of women left, he went up to the counter and asked the waitress if she would go in and check on his friend. After a moment the waitress came out and handed him a note that Sookie had just scribbled on her check pad.
Dear Dr. Shapiro,
I am so sorry! I know my time is up for today, but I will see you next week and explain. Don’t worry. I am not sick.
The waitress had informed Sookie that the table of ladies had left, but she was afraid to come out too soon. Pearl and her friends could still be out in the parking lot.
By the time Sookie did think it was safe to come out, the place was empty. Her lunch was ice cold and she had missed her session. Sookie sat in the booth almost in tears. There was just no escaping, no matter how hard she tried. Being Lenore Simmons Krackenberry’s daughter in a small town was like having a tracking device attached to your body. Somebody was always going to know where she was at all times. She had always felt so sorry for poor Princess Anne of England. No wonder she lay low. Sookie knew just how she felt.
