Prairie Fire

by Djuna Shellam

  “I agree with you one hundred percent!” Dot laughed again. “I am as far from the Hollywood type as they come, gal, and so was Ivey. But, you know, we wanted to live someplace where we could just be us, Ivey and me, and not have to pretend anymore. We had enough of all that cow dung in the service. Enough!” She immediately became serious, adding, “It was Ivey who suggested we look out here. We had the same mind when it came to what we wanted out of life once we got out of the service. Without question, she was always right, Ivey was.” Dot was quickly lost in remembering, as were Eve and Em.

  The three women fell silent as they each mentally reminisced about Dot’s long-time companion and love, Ivey James. It had been twelve years since her untimely passing, but for each of the women, they could still close their eyes and hear her voice, see her smile, and easily imagine the gentleness of her spirit that enveloped everyone around her. The collective magnitude of their loss still bit them all to the quick.

  Eve stood and raised her glass, heading off the threatening tears, “Here’s to our dear departed Ivey—long may she live in each of us evermore.”

  “I’ll say amen to that, dear girl,” Dot said, quickly wiping a tear away, as she and Em also stood solemnly and raised their glasses. They moved toward each other and together softly clinked their glasses.

  “Why all the sad faces?”

  The three women, almost all the same height, momentarily lost in their collective grief, turned toward the warm tenor voice that belonged to the young man sauntering toward them from the guesthouse. Wearing nothing but damp swim trunks, showing off his well-built and tanned physique, he walked with relaxed confidence. His disheveled sandy hair was still wet, and looked at least two haircuts overdue. His square jaw sported a three-day old growth. At five foot nine in bare feet, he was one to two inches shorter than any of the three women.

  “Wave, darlin’,” Dot acknowledged Ivey’s twenty-four year old son, Waverly. Considering him as her own from the moment she and Ivey got together when he was just four years old, she adopted him shortly after Ivey’s death. “The girls and I were just talkin’ about your mama and got a lil’ dewy-eyed. That woman could always bring me to tears,” Dot smiled to herself, wiping the moisture from both eyes with her fingers and thumb. “You’re looking particularly handsome this morning, son,” she added, somewhat embarrassed at her exposed emotions.

  Waverly playfully rolled his eyes. “Aw, c’mon, Ma.”

  “You get everything done this morning?” she asked softly. “Everything good?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Wave replied quickly, and then greeted the two women who had been like aunts to him over the years with hugs and kisses to their cheeks, “Hey, Aunties.”

  “Hi, sweetie,” Eve hugged his neck and gave him a peck on his scruffy cheek as he stuck out his chin to let her. “It’s been a while. Last two times we’ve been here you’ve been on duty.”

  “They let you look like this in the Guard?” Em asked, playfully chiding him as she also returned his hug with a kiss.

  “Yup. They changed all their rules so I could be comfy.” He grinned mischievously.

  “Wave has his weekend next week,” Dot said with authority, “and he’ll be clean shaven and groomed like the fine military officer he is, won’t you honey,” she stated more than asked.

  “Ma’am, yes Ma’am!” Waverly saluted Dot, then gave her a bear hug, lifting her off the ground.

  “Dadgummit!” she protested as he spun her around. “Put me down, child!” she demanded, squealing.

  “Put me down, O Captain! My Captain!” Wave teased. “C’mon, say it and I’ll put you down.”

  “Waverly James Baverstock…” Dot laughingly warned. “I’m about to smack the Walt Whitman right out of you if you don’t put me down this second!”

  Waverly laughed out loud as he gently set the woman he thought of as his bonus mother down on the ground. Dot made a point of straightening her clothing while giving Waverly a pretend stink-eye. “Kids these days,” she muttered playfully as Em and Eve giggled at the two of them playing around.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, smiling at Dot. “I’m here to rustle up some vittles for you three ladies. The Waverly Café is now open for business!”

  A cacophonous chorus broke out with all three women making requests at once.

  “Hold on, hold on,” Waverly laughed as he motioned with his hands and arms for them to be quiet. “Shhhh! Shhhhh!” He waited for quiet, then announced with authority, “I’ve made an executive decision. I will decide what’s for brunch. Now, you girls continue your little hen party and I will take care of the man’s work.”

  A collective groan was directed at Waverly as he sauntered through the open french doors and headed for the kitchen.

  “He really has gotten full of himself, hasn’t he?” Dot teased barely loud enough for Waverly to hear.

  “I heard that,” he said from the kitchen.

  “Ears like a bat,” Dot quipped, shaking her head.

  “He’s beautiful, Dot,” Em said lovingly. “Ivey would be so proud of him, and you, too, for doing such a great job with him. I know I am.”

  Dot immediately had one of those moments when she wished more than anything that Ivey was still with them. It was on such occasions she missed Ivey the most. Dot wiped a threatening tear from her eye. “All right, all right, that’ll be enough of that mushy stuff. Good golly,” she murmured under her breath, embarrassed by her emotions. Quickly composing herself, Dot turned her attention to Em and Eve.

  “Why don’t y’all sit down and tell me what y’all have been up to since I saw y’all last.” Em and Eve grinned at Dot, filled with love for her and her rare vulnerability. At the same exact moment, they each mentally vowed to not let their visits be so far apart in the future. Sitting next to each other, Em and Eve took each other’s hand as if they had read each other’s minds.

  3.2—Waverly

  Waverly donned his favorite chef’s apron and began to assemble his ingredients: eggs, lemon juice, fresh salmon, new potatoes, english muffins, butter and seasonings.

  As he prepared brunch for the three women, Waverly couldn’t help but think of his mother, Ivey—especially after walking in on a conversation about her. She’d been gone since he was twelve, half his life already, but he still thought of her all the time, especially when working in the kitchen. They had spent most of their one-on-one time together in the kitchen where she taught him most of the cooking basics that were now a part of him.

  Waverly hated seeing Dot get emotional over Ivey. He knew how much Dot missed her, and how much she and his mother loved each other. He rarely showed it, but his grief was deep and heartfelt—he knew her pain. Dot came off as a tough cookie most of the time, but when she got teary-eyed, Waverly knew the grief was hitting her hard and it pained him. If not for Dot, Waverly didn’t know what might have happened to him when Ivey died. Dot always told him he saved her, but he felt it was the other way around.

  Until he was barely four, Waverly was raised solely by his mother, Irene Veronica “Ivey” Waverly James, an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He was her everything. Though he carried the last name of his father, the Englishman Ronald James, until Dot adopted him, Waverly never knew his father, nor did his father know him. Ronald didn’t even know Waverly existed as Ivey and Ronald had separated shortly after he was conceived.

  When Ivey approached her estranged husband upon learning of her pregnancy, and suggested repairing their broken marriage for the sake of the baby they’d been trying to conceive for four years, Ronald James refused. He said he had changed his mind about wanting children, and told her to get an abortion—he didn’t want anything to do with her or a child. He then returned to England, never to be seen nor heard from again.

  Waverly stopped what he was doing. He’d been completely lost in thought and had no idea how long he’d been whisking the sauce. “Damn,” he said to himself softly. “Pay attention to what you’re doing, Wave.”

  He look
ed out onto the veranda. Dot, Em and Eve were laughing hysterically and dancing to Twist and Shout playing on the radio, amusing Waverly to no end. They sure loved to have fun, he thought. Watching them together also comforted him. He knew that no matter what, they would always be there for each other, including him. He regretted that when he was born, his mother wasn’t nearly as fortunate.

  Stunned, alone, and without family for support, his mother was undaunted. One week after Waverly’s birth, Ivey took a six week leave from the Air Force, and left for Reno, Nevada. With Waverly in tow, Ivey established residency in order to seek a quick and uncontested divorce, citing “Unreconcilable Differences.”

  When she returned to active duty, Ivey reported to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, where she began Officer Training School. While she trained for nine weeks, Waverly was cared for by Ivey’s former supervisor and his wife. Dot was a guest lecturer at OTS where she and Ivey met for the first time. They fell in love almost from that very moment, and maintained a long-distance relationship for two years.

  Dot couldn’t take the stress of living in secret, worrying about what might happen to her career if they were ever found out. With deep regret and sadness, Dot finally broke things off between them. Two years later, almost immediately after Em’s accident, Dot contacted Ivey to ask her if she still loved her and if she did, would she follow Dot into retirement? Without hesitation, Ivey gave Dot the answer she wanted.

  Once Ivey and Dot were together again, Waverly and Dot immediately bonded. She became Waverly’s bonus mother, and he became Dot’s only, precious, son. He smiled to himself. His heart always beat a little faster when he thought of Dot and how much she loved him. He knew how fortunate he was. Practically everything he knew about himself and his birth mother and their history was because of Dot. She kept Ivey alive for them both with memories.

  “Almost ready,” Waverly hollered out to the veranda as he plated each of the dishes. English muffins were buttered, salmon was poached, hollandaise was ready. There was just one thing missing… Ah! Orange juice. When Ivey was still alive, Waverly’s job was to squeeze the orange juice. It was his first kitchen duty and he loved it. The ladies would have to suffer with O.J. out of a carton this time, he thought, disappointed. As he continued preparing the meal, his mind wandered back to his mother as it always did whether he was working alone in the kitchen or in the wine cellar—his thoughts always went back to her. Many times he wished she had talked to him more about things that mattered, or would matter to him when he got older. Thank goodness for Dot, he mused.

  Until Dot sat down with Waverly when he turned sixteen and told him about his history and his mother and father’s history, he knew little about himself or his heritage. Ivey never told him about his father and how he came to be, or how he almost didn’t come to be if his father had had his way. He also never knew about Ivey and Dot’s earlier relationship when he was a baby. Dot explained that Ivey wanted to spare him from learning about what she felt was unpleasant or irrelevant history, but Dot was adamant that Waverly had a right to know. It was a long, protracted discussion, but in time, she and Ivey agreed they would tell him when he turned sixteen. Satisfied at the time by the compromise, Dot never dreamed she would be alone in telling him.

  It was difficult for Waverly to learn his father was a heartless monster, but in the years that followed, he was grateful for the knowledge about him. Thankful, really. He no longer had any compulsion to find his father. When he was younger, all of his friends had fathers. Waverly used to fantasize about finding his father someday and forming a life-long bond with him, and then he’d have a father, too. After learning the truth, Waverly was cured for good of any notion of a father/son reunion, fond or otherwise.

  When Ivey was tragically killed while Waverly was off at summer camp, Dot and Waverly were left traumatized and devastated. It was years before their lives had any semblance of normal. Their mutual love for Ivey and each other cemented their bond even more than they ever thought possible. Dot had always loved Waverly as if he was hers, thinking of him as her own flesh and blood. She was his anchor and his only connection to Ivey, as well as his adopted mother. If there was one thing Waverly was certain of in life, that gave him comfort beyond measure, it was that he and Dot were family with a deep and unbreakable bond.

  Waverly closed his eyes so he could see Ivey the way he always thought of her: smiling, with a twinkle in her eye. He smiled to himself, remembering.

  Waverly finished plating breakfast, banged a clean metal spatula on one of the hanging pots in the kitchen, and barked out for effect, “Chow time!”

  3.3—To the Pines

  “Wave, honey, that was so amazing,” Em said as she sat back in her chair almost as if she was exhausted. “Where on earth did you learn to cook like that?” She looked to Dot and Eve. “I mean, how does he turn seemingly ordinary ingredients into something so…”

  The late morning had lazily turned to early afternoon as they finished the brunch prepared by Waverly. Expertly prepared Eggs Benedict with poached salmon, baked rosemary potato wedges and virgin mimosas were but delicious memories.

  “Mom taught me the basics,” Waverly admitted, “but this was all me… oh, and a little bit of Bon Appétit magazine,” he admitted, laughing.

  “That was Ivey’s favorite magazine,” Dot said. “You did a fine job, as always, my boy. Golly! I’m about to bust outta my shorts here.” Dot patted her flat abdomen.

  “Me, too,” Eve said, chiming into the conversation. “I don’t think I can move—I’m stuffed beyond… stuffed.”

  “Thank you, thank you all,” Waverly said as he stood up and took a deep bow. “I’m honored you all think so.” Then he smirked mischievously as he sat down again, “But if you thought that was good…” He wiggled his sandy eyebrows. “Just wait ’til dinner tomorrow. I’m going to blow your minds with the menu I’ve got planned for tomorrow night.”

  “Tomorrow night?” Eve and Em asked in unison and looked to Dot for explanation.

  “What’s happening tomorrow night?” Em inquired again. “Did we miss something?”

  “Well, thanks, Wave,” Dot scowled playfully. “You just undid my big surprise, you brat.”

  “Oh, Ma, come on. You’re being so mysterious. Why the big secret?”

  “No secret, a’tall. I just wanted to…” slightly flustered, Dot scoffed. “Darn you, Wave. Girls, I just wanted to have a nice, sit-down, elegant dinner for my birthday. I was plannin’ on telling you later, but Mister Big Mouth over there had to steal my thunder.” She stuck her tongue out at Waverly, prompting him to toss his cloth napkin at her as he got up from the table. She ducked and laughed.

  “I know my birthday isn’t for another few weeks, but since y’all are here now, I wanted to do it early so I can celebrate with the people I love most,” Dot explained.

  “Aw, Dot, that’s a fantastic idea,” Em said. “You should have said something so we could celebrate properly.”

  “Pshaw!” Dot protested. “Just dinner. No presents, no strippers, nothin’ I need to worry about. And no singin’,” she warned.

  “Aw, Dottie,” Eve replied, smiling playfully. “You’re no fun.”

  “Oh, I’m plenty fun,” Dot joked, then added with sincerity, “Y’all are my family and truly my favorite people in the world, besides my boy here, and I just wanna do somethin’ special while you’re here. Anyway, Wave here wants to practice his chefery.”

  “I don’t think chefery is a word, Ma,” Waverly teased.

  “I think it is,” Dot scoffed, “but if it isn’t, it oughta be. Whatever the right word is, you should do it more.”

  “Okay, okay,” Em and Eve said almost in concert. Em continued, “We can’t wait, then, not if this meal is any indication of what’s coming.”

  “I’m tellin’ you, it’s going to be fantastic,” Dot teased, “And you’ll never wanna leave.” They all laughed heartily.

  “So, now that we’ve settled the dinner myste
ry, and exposed Ma’s ulterior motives,” Waverly said, winking at Dot “who’s going to join me on a hike up on the mountain?” he inquired as he began to pick up the plates from the table.

  “On the mountain?” Eve inquired, puzzled.

  “Mt. San Jacinto,” Waverly replied. “It’s already over a hundred degrees down here, and I don’t know about you ladies, but I need some exercise to burn off this food. I thought we could take the tram up the mountain and go on a nice, cool hike among the pines.” Wave smiled invitingly.

  “Oooh, that sounds fun. It is getting a bit warm,” Eve fanned her face. “I don’t know how you stand it. Even with that swampy thingy you’ve got on, it’s still a little warm.”

  Dot laughed. “I like the heat—though it was a lil’ bit of a challenge there for a while when I went through the change.”

  “Ma…” Waverly whined.

  “Shush, boy—it’s nature.” Dot winked at Eve. “And it’s a swamp cooler, not a swampy thingy.”

  Eve chuckled, “Well, whatever it is. I’ve never been on the tram. Have you, Em?” Eve asked.

  “I have not. Have you, Dottie?” Em inquired.

  “Oh, yeah. We go up a couple, three times a week in the summer. Great idea, Wave. It is getting too dadgum hot. I think the humidity’s kickin’ up, too, Evie, which is why it’s a little warm in here. Otherwise, we’d be perfect with the swampy thingy running.” Dot smirked at Eve, then turned her attention to Wave, who had begun cleaning up the dishes. “Wave, honey, before we go, we should switch to A/C. And darlin’, just leave all that mess and us girls will clean up. Why don’t you go on and change?”

  “You sure? It’ll just take…”

  “Waverly Paul Baverstock…” Dot used her parental voice with a loving smile.

  “All right, all right,” he acquiesced. “I’ll go. I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time, sweetie,” Eve stood up from the table and hugged Waverly. “We’re going to clean up here, and then change ourselves, so you have plenty of time. Thanks again for brunch.”