Love, Ruby Lavender

by Deborah Wiles

  "Please don't go. I need you to stay here with me."

  "I'm leaving because I need to, Ruby. I need to do what's right for me. And for you. I want to see how life does go on, and then I want to come back to you and your mama and my home."

  Ruby sniffed back tears and wiped at her eyes. "You'll get over there and forget all about this place. You won't remember me! You've got a new grandbaby now—I can't believe you haven't told Mama about this yet."

  "I wanted to tell you first, sugar. I just read Johnson's letter this afternoon, and the news was as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I had no idea—"

  "How can Uncle Johnson send you a ticket now, when he couldn't come home last summer, for ... well, you know..." Ruby stopped.

  "Johnson just sold his first paintings, Ruby, so he has enough extra money to either fly here by himself, or let me fly there to see him and Annette and the new baby. You know, it pained him no end that he couldn't get here for Garnet's funeral last summer. Pained me, too."

  Ruby sank down, down, into her quilt. "What's this new grandbaby's name?"

  "She doesn't have one yet. But her name won't be Ruby, and she won't be you, and she will never, never take your place."

  "You'll love her anyway."

  Miss Eula laughed and sat down next to Ruby. "Of course I will! I do! But I love you, too, and what's more, I'm depending on you. Who else is going to look after Ivy, Bemmie, and Bess for me? Who's going to take care of the new chicks? Who's going to gather my mail and keep the Pink Palace in shape? No one can do it like you can."

  "I can't do all that by myself."

  "Sure you can. You'll have your mama here to help you, and you have your friends—"

  "Mama's busy—this is her busy season!—and everybody I like lives too far out of town."

  "—and you'll write to me and tell me how Ivy is doing, and I'll write to you and tell you how Hawaii is, and we'll just keep right on doing what we've always done."

  "Who's going to keep me from tackling Melba Jane and scratching her eyes out?"

  Miss Eula smiled. "You'll do a fine job of that all by yourself."

  "You always know what to say about her to make me feel better."

  "I'll keep saying it, Ruby honey. And you'll keep remembering it. It will be fine."

  Ruby lay on her side and curled her body into a ball. She buried her face in the sweet smell of her quilt. "When will you be back?"

  "I'll be back when I've had time to soak up Johnson and Annette and the baby. When I've talked and talked about your grandpa. When I've lived away from reminders of Garnet for a while. When I've made some new memories."

  "When you've lived away from me for a while."

  Ruby unrolled herself and looked through the branches of the willow. The moon's light sprinkled over Miss Eula and Ruby, sparkling them like diamonds. It was going to be a beautiful night. Miss Eula lay next to Ruby. She took Ruby's hand and they lay on their quilt, next to each other, breathing together, being together.

  "I'm taking you with me, Ruby girl. I'm taking you in my dreams. And you'll come to me in your letters. You will write me, won't you? I think you're a pretty good writer ... for a nine-year-old."

  Ruby's voice was full of cracks. "And you're a pretty good scribbler yourself ... for a grandmother."

  Miss Eula squeezed Ruby's hand. "Oh, Miss Ruby Lavender, you do pull at my heart. Look up at this starry sky. We are like those shining stars, Ruby. We will be under this same sky, no matter where we are. You remember that."

  Ruby squeezed back. Warm tears slipped sideways down her cheeks and into her ears. She held Miss Eula's hand and thought about the lonely, empty summer ahead.

  6

  June 8

  "For pity's sake!" Miss Mattie was exasperated. "You'd think we were selling tickets to see snow in July!"

  Miss Mattie's store was also the Greyhound bus depot in Halleluia. Each morning at 6:45, the bus stopped in front of the store on the way to Jackson. It came back through the opposite direction every evening at 8:00. Most days the town was still shut up tight when the bus rolled in, but not today. Miss Mattie had opened the store, "Just to keep people from spilling into the highway and getting run over flat."

  Ruby was behind the nail kegs inside Miss Mattie's store, sitting on a paint bucket. It was a good spot from which to hear and see all the action. She peered between the eight-penny and six-penny nails. There was Melba Jane with her mother and her five brothers and sisters. They swarmed around the Greyhound sign that hung from the light pole out front. The little ones were tugging and hitting each other, arguing about something. Melba Jane left them and scooted inside Miss Mattie's store, ta-tap-ta-tappety-tap, giggling with Lorna Mullins, another tappety girl and a sixth grader. Ruby watched Lorna take two pretzels from the cracker barrel and give one to Melba Jane. Melba removed a glove and took it, with a conspiratorial smile.

  Phoebe "Scoop" Tolbert stood outside with Miss Mattie. Miss Phoebe always smelled like violets—powdered up one side and down the other with talcum. She wrote a column for the Aurora County News called "Happenings in Halleluia."

  Miss Mattie sounded peeved. "I don't know why you want to report it in the paper, Phoebe. The whole town is here to witness it."

  Miss Phoebe lifted her head and sniffed. "We owe it to our elderly readers, those who cannot be with us today."

  Miss Mattie harrumphed. "The only bodies who are not here today are in the cemetery!"

  Miss Eula drove her big car slowly up Main Street. "Mattie!" She waved out the window and pulled the car into the space reserved for the bus. Ruby's mother leaned across Miss Eula and called to Miss Mattie. "Have you seen Ruby? We can't find her anywhere!"

  "Not yet. Move the car, Eula! Unless you want it run over."

  Ruby's mother opened the trunk and took out her mother's bags. "Come on, Mama. I know Ruby is here somewhere. I'll park this thing for you. You come say good-bye to your public."

  Miss Eula eased out of the car and looped her big white purse over her arm. She wore a beige dress with buttons up the front, a belt at the waist, stockings and white shoes, and a round beige hat. And gloves! Lipstick! Ruby stared at her. "You'd think she was going to church!"

  Folks crowded Miss Eula, full of good-trip messages, come-back messages, give-Johnson-our-best, squeeze-that-baby-for-us, send-us-a-picture-postcard messages.

  "Bus!" yelled two small boys standing in the road. Their mothers ran to catch them and bring them back to the sidewalk. Ruby's mother appeared, back from parking the car. "I don't see her."

  Miss Eula peered over heads. "She told me she would never say good-bye. I guess she meant it."

  The big Greyhound slowed and coughed and wheezed onto the shoulder of Main Street in front of Miss Mattie's store, spewing a trail of black exhaust. The driver opened the door and looked puzzled. "What have we here, a convention? How many of you folks for Jackson?"

  Miss Eula stepped forward. "Just me."

  "She's going to the airport!" said a small voice, one of the boys who had been in the road. "She's riding on an airplane! She's going to Hawaii!"

  The driver smiled wide. "My stars! Then it's a party!" He shoved his hat back on his head and opened the doors on the underside of the Greyhound. He picked up Miss Eula's bags and began storing them in the belly of the bus. The early morning sunshine was sharp and clean and sparkled on the bus windows.

  Miss Eula turned. "I know you all will miss me!" Laughter rolled around the crowd. "I will miss you, that's for certain. Mostly I will miss your many kindnesses to me this past year." People fell silent.

  "Harvey Popham, everyone should have a neighbor as thoughtful as you are. I thank you for your advice and your butter beans. Agnes Fellows, I thank you for your pop-in visits, and for riding with me to the Eastern Star meetings. Begonia Jacobs, I have you to thank for keeping me informed about what everybody else thought I should be doing this last year!"

  Mrs. Jacobs threw her hands out at Miss Eula and laughed.

&n
bsp; Miss Eula spotted Melba's mother. "Leila." The crowd hushed. "Take care of yourself. I will miss you." Miss Eula blew her a kiss. Melba's mother caught it in her hand, placed it on her cheek, and smiled. Melba wheeled and walked stiffly up the street, where she sat on the curb and pulled her dress over her knees.

  Miss Mattie cleared her throat.

  "Mattie!" Miss Eula's voice was warm and full of love. "I know I leave you shorthanded in the store, but I have no doubt you will decide how to handle that."

  "You're going to go whether I say so or not, so go. Tell my nephew hello. And remember you're a grandmother—don't go climbing any coconut trees."

  The bus driver took off his hat and looked apologetic. "We got to get going, ma'am. Got a schedule to keep."

  Ruby's mother gave Miss Eula a last hug. "Be well. I love you." Miss Eula squeezed her back, then touched Miss Mattie's arm. "I know you love me, too!" Miss Mattie harrumphed and barked to the bus driver, "She's ready! Go! Go!"

  Ruby watched Miss Eula board the bus. She thought about running to her for one last hug—a hug that smelled like shimmering meadows and parched peanuts and chicken feathers and pink paint and oldest memories. But she didn't. She stayed right where she was. She would not say good-bye.

  People waved from the sidewalk. "Good-bye! Good-bye!"

  The engine thrummed like an airplane and the bus pulled slowly onto Main Street. Ruby stood up to get a last look at Miss Eula sitting by the bus window, waving. She saw Melba Jane's mother sit on the curb next to Melba and put her arm around her shoulders and lean toward her daughter. Their heads touched gently.

  "Ruby Lavender!" Miss Mattie stood in the door of the mercantile. "Hiding! You were hiding out in my store!"

  "Well, yes, ma'am, I mean, no, ma'am, I wasn't hiding exactly..."

  "Well, what were you doing?"

  "I was ... I was not saying good-bye."

  Miss Mattie gave Ruby a long look. "Child, come here." Ruby climbed over the nail barrels and stood in front of Miss Mattie. Miss Mattie bent over to look Ruby in the eye. She put her face directly in front of Ruby's, and Ruby could see every wrinkle on it. It reminded her of her catcher's glove, all worn and creased. "You know, I didn't get the chance to say good-bye to your grandfather before he died, and I've always regretted it. He was my brother, after all. You should say good-bye whenever you can. You just never know."

  "She's not going to die, Miss Mattie! She said she's coming back!"

  "Of course she's coming back, child. I didn't mean she wouldn't." Miss Mattie studied Ruby for a moment. "Just look at this ponytail. Turn around. I'll fix it for you."

  "I like it this way, Miss Mattie." Ruby's red hair pinwheeled out in seven different directions; it was tangled.

  Miss Mattie harrumphed. "Go home and find your mother, then; she's worried about you."

  "Yes, ma'am." Ruby scrambled out the back door of the mercantile and into the sun. It was going to be another sticky-hot day. Ruby never wanted to be in the mercantile again without Miss Eula. What would it be like to walk home and pass an empty mailbox? An empty Pink Palace? Maybe she could sit in Miss Eula's house and wait there, alone, until she returned.

  Aurora County News

  Twilight Edition, June 8

  Happenings in Halleluia

  by Phoebe "Scoop" Tolbert

  Pastor Leroy Merson visited the Halleluia sick and shut-ins this past Wednesday. On Thursday he enjoyed a dinner of roast "beef and potatoes at the home of Miss Phoebe Tolbert.

  According to Mrs. Evelyn Lavender, county extension agent for home and garden affairs, peppers should be ready for picking next week.

  After a spirited discussion at the town council meeting, during which several members threatened to resign (as usual), the title of this year's Town Operetta will be "How Dear to My Heart Are the Scenes of My Childhood."

  Local citizen Miss Eula Dapplevine has departed our fair town for an extended trip to Hawaii, to see her son, Johnson, and his wife and new baby.

  According to Miss Mattie Perkins, "My life will be more hectic in the store without her help, but on the other Hand, this town could use a breather."

  Miss Ruby Lavender was standing with Miss Mattie and was heard to say, "Woe is me."

  * * *

  June 8

  Dear Miss Eula,

  Well, you are gone. I hope you are happy. I am not.

  For your information, Melba Jane is still here. I am working on a disappearing potion to make her vanish.

  Mama is in the kitchen, cooking, cooking, cooking. She is still writing about zucchini, so I know what we are having for dinner.

  Mama says giving you 23 pictures of me was 22 pictures too many. I don't think so. Here is one more for you. AND, here is a zucchini blossom.

  I am reading up on new babies and I have some free advice: Do NOT hug that grandbaby too much. It isn't good for her.

  I hope they name her Hortense. That's a great name, don't you think?

  Woe Is Me,

  your (almost only-darn!) granddaughter,

  Ruby L.

  Pee Ess: What did you eat on the plane? Not zucchini, I bet. I guess I will go to the Pink Palace and check on the chickens.

  * * *

  * * *

  June 8

  Dear Miss Eula,

  Time for lunch, you are still gone. I am lonely.

  For your information, we are having peanut butter and zucchini sandwiches. Sticky and crunchy at the same time. A taste treat, says Mama. I am not so sure.

  My disappearing potion didn't work. I'll think of something else.

  Here is another picture for you to remember me by.

  More free advice: Always jiggle babies after they eat.

  WOE from,

  your (most important) grandchild,

  Ruby L.

  Pee Ess: Ivy, Bemmie, and Bess were dust-bathing all morning. I changed their water and fed them more corn. They are so noisy! Mama says try reading to them. She says reading is calming.

  * * *

  * * *

  June 9

  Dear Miss Eula,

  Mama says I am going to use up a tree writing to you if I keep this up. If you come home now, it will save a tree.

  For your information, I read the chickens some "A" words in my dictionary, (not the definitions.) It took me most of the afternoon. They asked me to spend the night, but I came on home. I tucked them in first.

  Ivy loves sitting on her eggs. I was worried about her being so high up in that old bushel basket full of straw, but she likes it there. Whenever Ivy gets off her nest to eat, Bemmie jumps on. Then Ivy starts squawking. Bess ignores everything and just eats. It's loud. I had to shout while I read from "accordion" to "adventure."

  What is your opinion on itching powder for Melba Jane?

  More free advice: It is never too late to change your mind.

  Woe and Love,

  your (wasting away) granddaughter,

  Ruby L.

  Pee Ess: I am not wasting away for real, but you never know.

  * * *

  7

  June 14

  "I refuse to go! You can't make me!"

  Ruby stomped her bare foot. Her mother sat at the kitchen table, typing her column for the weekly "Home and Garden Report" for the Aurora County News. The table was littered with zucchini everything. Zucchini-corn-and-cheese pudding. Cream of zucchini soup. Zucchini boats with mushrooms. Zucchini pancakes. The whole room smelled warm and dark green.

  Ruby waved her arms in front of her mother. "Good garden of peas, Mama! I can't go see Miss Mattie without Miss Eula being there."

  Her mother stopped typing and eyed Ruby. She picked up a clip from the table, gathered up her long brown hair, and snapped it into place on the back of her head. She reached over the typewriter to a plate of fried zucchini sticks and helped herself to one.

  "I asked you to check on her since she doesn't have your grandmother to help her. Just see how she's doing, that's all. She is your great-aunt, after a
ll."

  "I've got too much to do."

  "What do you have to do?"

  "I'm plotting my revenge on Melba. I thought about tying her to an anthill..."

  "Let this go, Ruby. You and Melba—"

  "I can't let it go, Mama. She's like a pesky mosquito. When I see her, I wanna slap her before she has a chance to bite me."

  "Ruby! What a thing to say! Listen to me. Remember how upset you were when your grandpa died last year? Ruby, two people died in that accident—Melba lost her father. Can you imagine how sad she must be?"

  Ruby's stomach clenched. "Sad people don't pick on other people."

  "Sometimes they do. We can't know Melba's reasons. Probably she doesn't know them herself."

  Ruby sucked in her breath. Melba knew. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want her to leave me alone."

  "Time will help. You won't see much of her this summer, with her mama running the beauty shop full-time, and Melba watching the little ones."

  Ruby thought about summer. Summer meant operetta in Halleluia.

  "It's too bad she's a Methodist. If she was a Baptist, I wouldn't have to see her on Sundays, either. Remember last week at church when we stood up to sing the last hymn, and she screeched louder than train brakes?"

  Ruby's mother pressed her fingers to her mouth, but Ruby could see her eyes laughing.

  "Well, Voxie Varnado told me after church that Melba said she had to practice like that, to get ready for this year's operetta, to make sure she had the kids' lead. She always gets to be the kid star anyway. I don't know why anybody else under twelve bothers to audition." Ruby pushed her hair out of her face. "I wish Miss Eula were here. She'd know what to say about Melba Jane."