Paula eased down on the other side and slung an arm around Jody’s shoulders. “What am I lookin’ at?”
“Our bank account. It’s almost all gone.” She covered her eyes with her hands.
“Okay, start at the beginning.” Mitzi turned the phone off.
Between bouts of hiccups, sobs, and anger, Jody started with when she’d gotten home the night before and told them what all had happened right up until that moment and then asked again, “What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to move in with us.” Mitzi handed her a box of tissues from the end table.
“And if you want us to, we’ll buy three shovels and bury his body in a place where he’ll never be found.” Paula hugged her even tighter.
“Y’all only have two bedrooms. I can’t move in with you.”
“We have a living room with a sofa that makes out into a bed. The mattress is thin, so we’ll take the one from your guest room to go on top of it,” Mitzi said.
“And we’ll take whatever else that you want. We’ll load up your truck and be out of here in an hour,” Paula said.
“I can’t do that,” Jody argued.
“Yes, you can, and you will,” Paula said.
“I could just take a room upstairs in the business.” Jody wiped her cheeks and tossed the tissues toward the trash can, glad to have the support of her friends.
“No, you don’t need to be alone.” Mitzi got to her feet. “First thing is the mattress. You don’t want the one you’ve slept on with that cheating sumbitch, do you?”
Jody shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“You’ll get past the denial and the numb feeling, and then you’ll get mad,” Paula said. “We’ll get your personal stuff, and then we’ll trash this place if you want us to.”
“No, I want his new little pregnant wife to see me everywhere in this place.” Jody rolled up on her toes. “The picture box is in my closet.” Like a woman on a mission, she stomped down the hallway and brought down a cardboard box. While Mitzi and Paula folded and put her clothing in garbage bags, she picked out several photos of her and Lyle through the years. She was tempted to tuck them in the cabinets, stick them on the bathroom mirror, and maybe even slip them under the pillows on the bed. But she couldn’t do it.
“God, why didn’t I see this? I knew something was wrong, but I never thought he was cheating on me,” she groaned. “I had my head stuck in the sand so far that my scrawny butt was sticking up in the air.”
“Enough of that. That hussy might be younger, but she needs to remember that he was cheating on you the whole time. Once a two-timin’ sumbitch, always one, so she just might lose him the same way she got him someday,” Paula said as she and Mitzi maneuvered the mattress down the hallway.
Jody’s chin quivered. “Y’all pinch me and wake me up. This is all a nightmare like the one I was having this morning, isn’t it?”
Paula set her end of the mattress down and asked, “What nightmare?”
Jody told her about the tornado and then clamped a hand over her mouth. “Evidently somewhere in my subconscious, I must’ve felt that a storm was brewing.”
“Of course you did. It was a sign that there was a mental storm brewing in your life, but you are strong. We’re here for you just like we’ve always been. We’ve stuck together through everything since before we started school. We’ll get you through this,” Paula said.
“You got a gris-gris you can put on this place when we’re done?” Jody asked.
“Honey, karma will bite Lyle on the butt better than any spell I could cast on this old trailer,” Paula said. “Think about it. He’s used to having you make his meals from food you grow. He never has to lift a finger to help with anything around here other than a little garden work. She’s young, and from that Christmas picture, she’s a handful, and she’s pregnant. He’s going to pay dearly.” Paula picked up the mattress again.
Jody understood that they were trying to make her feel better, but it wasn’t working. Her stomach was in knots, her hands were clammy, and tears streamed down her face.
They came back inside and began to carry out black plastic bags of her clothing. She didn’t want any of her clothes—her hippie days were over. She’d been the other half of a couple who stood for something, and now she was nothing but a woman who’d thrown away years of her life. This all had to be a terrible nightmare. She and Lyle would laugh about it when she woke up. He’d tell her that she was the only one he’d ever loved, and everything would go back to normal. She shook that idea from her head. This was the cold hard truth—reality in a two-minute phone call.
“The bastard didn’t even have the nerve to tell me to my face.” Anger washed over her as she rolled up on her feet, got a box of matches, and stormed outside. She emptied several bags of clothing into a pile in the firepit that she and Lyle had built last year and lit them up. As she stood there watching the outfits burn, Mitzi came outside and slung an arm around her shoulders.
“Do you want the chest of drawers in the guest room? You’ll need something to put the rest of your clothes in. The closet in the living room is pretty small,” she said.
“Mama might forgive me and let me—”
“No!” Mitzi shook her head. “She’d make you miserable if you moved in with her, and besides, we’d be worried sick about you.”
Paula tossed another bag of clothing into the truck. “You don’t want to live with her. You know what I’m enduring with my mother, even though I’ve moved out.”
“Yes, I’ll take the chest.” Jody nodded. “I’ll go through my things later and throw away a lot of those clothes because I’m not going to be that woman anymore. And I want to go to Greenville this evening for fried chicken.”
“You got it,” Mitzi said. “And we’ll have bacon for breakfast in the morning.”
Chapter Five
I didn’t sleep very well. Maybe it was eating fried chicken after all these years of not having meat, or the fact that I couldn’t turn off my mind. One minute I wanted to take one of Lyle’s guns out to that ranch and shoot him dead, and the next I blamed myself for the whole thing. If I’d been prettier or younger or would have had children, maybe he wouldn’t have left,” Jody said as she entered the kitchen that Sunday morning.
Mitzi had been standing at the back door, staring out into the yard, and Jody’s voice startled her so badly that her heart had to slow down before she could speak. “Good mornin’,” she finally said.
“Truth is I went off birth control six months ago. On the day of the Christmas party, and now I find out that’s the very day his little fling started.” Jody went to the refrigerator and looked inside. “Irony at its best. Only thing better will be if I’m pregnant after all this time.”
“Jesus!” Mitzi gasped.
“I’m going to church. Lyle didn’t believe in religion any more than he did eating anything that has a face. I might as well just burn all the bridges this weekend,” Jody said.
“Good for you.” Mitzi didn’t know whether to wish that Jody was pregnant or to hope like hell that she wasn’t. “You can go eat with us at the café after services. Daddy and Granny will be glad for you to join us.”
“Join us for what?” Paula yawned as she entered. “I’m going to have hot tea this morning. Anyone want in?”
“No, I’ve already got a pot of coffee brewing,” Mitzi answered.
“Have you lost your taste for coffee?” Jody asked.
“That dark roast kind gives me heartburn,” Paula said. “Now who’s joinin’ who for what?”
“I’m going to church,” Jody announced. “How about you?”
“If you’re going, then I am. I wouldn’t miss that show for the world.”
“What show?” asked Mitzi.
“Her mama is going to be there,” Paula said.
“So’s yours,” Jody reminded her.
“Which is the very reason I usually don’t go,” Paula said. “But today we ne
ed to be there together.”
“Exactly. I got your back.” Jody grinned for the first time since Mitzi and Paula had arrived at the trailer the day before.
Covering her yawn with a hand, Mitzi tried to focus on what the preacher was saying, but her mind kept jumping around from one thing to another. She thought about the possibility of Jody being pregnant. In some ways she envied her friend for even having the chance, but how would Jody ever move on if every day she saw a reminder of Lyle right there before her? Then she wondered about Paula’s decision to quit drinking anything with caffeine and all liquor. Maybe she should have a physical to be sure her heartburn wasn’t something serious, like a malfunctioning gallbladder. Graham Harrison and his girls crept into the circle of worry, too. Should she keep the relationship with the twins on a professional level, or was it all right to get into a deeper friend-type relationship with all three of them?
Jody poked her in the ribs.
“What?” she whispered.
“I think you’re supposed to listen to the preacher,” she said out of the side of her mouth.
“I was!” Mitzi frowned.
“You were thinking about Graham. Your whole body language changes when you think about him,” Jody said.
“Shhh.” Jody’s mama, Wanda, tapped her on the back.
Mitzi sat up straighter and did her best to pay attention, but it was impossible. Wanda had disowned Jody when she and Lyle moved in together right after they’d graduated from high school. How was she going to take the news of him cheating on Jody? It was bound to get out real soon, if it hadn’t already.
The preacher finally ended his sermon and asked one of the deacons to give the benediction. The minute the last amen was said, Mitzi’s father was on his feet, shaking hands with those around him.
“These old pews get harder on my backside every Sunday.” Fanny Lou stood up and groaned, then nodded toward Wanda.
“Mama.” Jody nodded as well.
“I told you this would happen, that no man will buy the cow when he’s getting the milk free,” Wanda hissed at her.
“Are you braggin’ that you’re right or callin’ me a cow?” Jody asked.
“You’ve disgraced yourself again. Where are you stayin’ since he’s married someone else?” Wanda’s mouth was set so tight that it was a wonder the words could escape.
“She’s stayin’ with me and Paula,” Mitzi answered.
“That’s where she should’ve been all along or else livin’ with me.” Wanda’s high-pitched voice grated on the nerves. Poor Jody didn’t need that when she was trying to sort out everything.
“We’ll take good care of her,” Mitzi promised.
“Why do you care anyway? You haven’t even spoken to your daughter in years,” Fanny Lou asked.
“She could have been a help to me, but oh, no, she had to cause so much trouble that she drove her father away and then embarrass me in front of all my friends by living in sin,” Wanda said through clenched teeth. “And now she’s gettin’ her comeuppance.”
“I’m standin’ right here, Mama,” Jody said.
“Maybe so, but I’m choosing not to see you. God says we should hate what He hates and love what He loves. He doesn’t love the way you’ve lived,” Wanda told her.
“Well, I’m sure glad God loves you even when you’re self-righteous,” Jody replied.
“You’re sure showin’ a lot of Christian love, Wanda. You should be supporting your daughter in this tough time,” Fanny Lou snapped.
From the expression on Wanda’s face, Mitzi expected her to plumb stroke out. But she whipped around and stormed out of the church by a side door.
“Reckon she’ll get into heaven if she dies this week since she didn’t shake the preacher’s hand?” Fanny Lou giggled.
“Granny!” Mitzi scolded, but she couldn’t keep the twinkle from her eyes.
“I might have voiced it, but you were thinkin’ it. Lyle wasn’t much of a man to tell Jody about his affair and marriage on the phone. If you ever have a feller like that, I’ll kill him and drag his body down Main Street behind my old pickup truck,” Fanny Lou whispered. “I’m tempted to go out there and do it to Lyle.”
“And I’ll help you.” Mitzi’s father, Harry, motioned toward the side door. “Let’s take our chances on not dying this week and skip shaking the preacher’s hand. Whoever gets to the café first should save a table for the five of us.”
“Granny, you want to ride with me? Jody came with Paula this morning,” Mitzi said.
“I was just about to suggest that. Then afterwards you can bring me back here to get my truck,” Fanny Lou answered.
As soon as the van doors were closed, Fanny Lou started firing questions. “So how long do you think this affair was going on? Was he sleeping with both women? Is there a chance that Jody is pregnant, too? Now wouldn’t that be horrible.”
“He’s been cheatin’ on her for about six months,” Mitzi answered. “I don’t know if she’s pregnant, but Jody confided in us years ago when we were still young that she has a fear that she’ll be a bad mother like Wanda. So that’s probably why they didn’t have children.” Mitzi sent up a silent prayer for Jody to not be pregnant, even though she hadn’t been on birth control. That would be too much of a burden for anyone, even her strong-willed friend, to carry.
“Jody is nothing like her mother,” Fanny Lou argued. “She’d make a great mama if and when she ever decides to have children, but I hope she’s not expecting a baby now. That wouldn’t be a bit fair to her, to have to raise up a child to a man who broke her heart.”
Mitzi drove from the church straight downtown and groaned when she saw how many cars were parked on Main Street. “We’re going to have at least a thirty-minute wait,” she fussed as she parked a block away from the Celeste Café.
“I should’ve slipped out before the benediction and saved us a table,” Fanny Lou said. “But I wasn’t about to leave you to deal with Wanda alone. I could see she was fuming all through church.”
“How? She sat behind us.” Mitzi unbuckled her seat belt.
“I kept a watch on her out of the corner of my eye,” Fanny Lou said. “She came loaded for bear and someone was going to get it.”
“Well, we’ve got time.” Mitzi flipped the rearview mirror around and applied fresh bright-red lipstick to match the dress she’d chosen to wear that morning. “No need in getting in a hurry since we’ll have a long wait anyway.”
“But we might as well go on in and get our name on the list. There’s your dad parking right beside us,” Fanny Lou said. “When he and your mama married, I didn’t think I was going to like him, but he was so good to my daughter that I came to love him like a son. I hope you find a man as good as he is someday.”
“Me, too, Granny.” Graham’s image flashed through her mind.
Harry was out of his truck and tapping on the window before Mitzi put her lipstick away. She opened the door, and he said, “Let’s go on inside.”
He ran his fingers through his thin gray hair and cleaned his glasses on a snowy white handkerchief. “Danged things fog up when I get out of the truck in the heat. Boy, Wanda was on a rampage, wasn’t she? I thought I might have to step between her and Fanny Lou.”
“One more hateful word out of her mouth and they’d have had to bring out the mop and cleaners, because I was ready to knock the shit out of her,” Fanny Lou said as she got out of the van.
Mitzi slid out of the driver’s seat and looped her arm in her father’s. “I never thought I’d be taller than you. When I was a little girl, you were ten feet tall.”
“You can thank me for that.” Fanny Lou wore a bright-red pantsuit that morning and her white cowboy boots with gold tips on the toes. Her red hair was twisted up and held with a big clip that sported stones of every color.
Mitzi pulled her grandmother close with her other arm, and the three of them walked down the wide sidewalk together. “We match today, Granny.”
“If I’d gott
en the memo, I would have worn a red tie instead of this bolo,” Harry chuckled.
“We’ll have to remember to keep you in the loop,” Fanny Lou teased.
Harry’s face went from happy to serious in the blink of an eye. “I was sorry to hear about Jody and Lyle, but I might’ve helped Fanny Lou if she’d tied into that woman. I might not agree with Lyle and Jody’s lifestyle, but they seemed happy. I’m right glad she’s stayin’ with you and Paula, though. That’ll be good for her.”
They entered the café together, and Harry raised his voice above the noise of a full house to tell the waitress they needed a table for five.
“Be at least half an hour,” she said.
“Mitzi!” someone yelled from the middle of the room.
When she located the voice, Mitzi saw Dixie waving in their direction. Mitzi waved back, but Dixie motioned to empty chairs at their table. In a few long strides, Tabby had crossed the floor and said, “Y’all come join us. We’ve got a real big table and we haven’t even ordered yet.”
“This is my dad, Harry Taylor, and my grandmother, Fanny Lou Labelle. This is Tabby Harrison. She and her sister are helping me out at the store. Oh, and here’s Paula and Jody.” Mitzi waved. “These folks want us to join them for dinner.”
“Sure.” Harry nodded. “I bought your mama’s last Cadillac from Graham, so it’s not like we’re sitting with strangers.”
“I wouldn’t care if we were,” Fanny Lou declared. “I’m hungry.”
“Great!” Tabby said. “Follow me. I’ll get all y’all through the maze.”
Graham was on his feet when they got to the table. He pulled out Mitzi’s chair before he shook hands with Harry. “Y’all have met my sister, Alice. She teaches school here in Celeste. Alice, this is Mitzi Taylor and her father, Harry.”
The Perfect Dress Page 7
