by Ruth White
“Well, I...I did,” she says hesitantly. “But I don’t know where they went to.”
We sit there looking at the drawings of Randal and Doris and Willa, then at each other. We put out the lantern and climb into our beds. We don’t say anything for a long time.
Finally I say, “I think they were your imaginary friends, Jewel, when you were little.”
“Oh, yeah,” she says. “I reckon so.”
“When you started school, you told me that Doris taught you to read.”
She does not answer, but I don’t think she is asleep.
Yes, here is the person I will miss most of all when I go – Jewel, sweet mysterious Jewel. Will I be able to leave her? Only if it’s not forever. By the time she is old enough to work, I will have a job somewhere and a place for her to come to. Then if anything should happen to Mack, we will send for Trula and her boys to join us. We will be three sisters living together happily ever after.
July, 1928
On my way to Deep Bottom I come upon some men working on Gospel Road, filling in the ruts and potholes with tar and gravel, and building up the shoulders.
“This is good!” I say to one of the men, who is a stranger to me. “Now folks will be able to drive an automobile up here!”
“That’s the idea,” the man says.
“It’s about time the state did something for us,” I say.
“Not the state,” the man says. “Ben Starr is footin’ the bill for this road.”
In the evening I mention to Samuel that Uncle Ben is paying a crew of men to fix Gospel Road so that an automobile can drive up it.
“Yeah, I saw them, but the improved road will end at Uncle Ben’s trail.”
“Well, at least we’ll have a good road that far. Maybe you and Dad and Uncle Green can finish it up to Uncle Green’s road and Willy’s Road.”
Samuel sighs heavily and says, “Lorelei, Uncle Ben is up to no good.”
“No good? He’s improving the road. How can that be bad?”
“Just don’t talk to any strangers you see on that road.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me. Do as I say, and don’t go to Uncle Ben’s house anymore either.”
“Okay, but tell me what you’re talking about.”
“All in good time. Just promise me you’ll do as I say.”
“I promise. But is it all right if Opal still comes here?”
“Sure. Opal’s a good girl. She can’t help what her daddy is.”
Eleven
July 21st, 1928
It’s Saturday night, and I find myself at a church revival, of all places. Opal is on my right, and on the other side of her sits her new boyfriend. They have been courting since school went out, but this is the first time I’ve seen him. His name is Eddie Johns, and he is worth looking at. He’s tall and lanky, has blond, wavy hair and bright blue eyes. Opal tells me that he plays the guitar and sings – at the same time.
To my left is Vic with his new girlfriend, Rose Johns, a sister to Eddie. She looks nothing like her brother, but she’s just as cute as he is. Her hair is long, and even darker than mine, and she has big brown eyes that are really striking.
So two of the three musketeers now have sweethearts, and I am a fifth wheel, but Opal and Vic both begged me to come with them tonight. They even promised to walk me home afterwards.
The Johns family has recently moved here from a place called Seasons, Virginia, which is on the other side of Skylark. Mr. Johns has been hired as an electrician with the new mine, and that’s a good job. They have rented a house down the river from Deep Bottom. Eddie and Rose’s Uncle Arch is visiting from Bluefield, and he let them borrow his automobile for the evening. I am betting now that Opal and Vic will not be walking me home. Instead we will all be riding in the automobile.
I am getting antsy as I sit here trying not to listen to this preacher go on and on about hell. I look at my feet. I have on a new pair of shoes which I found in the charity bag. They are too big for me, but not by much, and they are stylish. I look at Opal’s feet. She has nice shoes too, but I’m sure they didn’t come out of a charity bag. Uncle Ben always seems to have money to buy things for his family.
Eddie Johns leans forward in his seat and rests his elbows on his knees, and his chin in his hands. He is bored too. They are very large hands. Masculine. Strong. Without planning to, I find myself imagining those two big hands around my waist, then touching my bare breasts. I look at his mouth. He has nice lips. I try to stop the fantasy right there, but it has taken on a life of its own.
He is kissing me and..it’s a wet kiss and..I am kissing him back and..
Suddenly Eddie’s head swivels toward me. Our eyes meet and my face goes hot. I turn quickly away from him, but not before I see a secret gleam in his eyes. Oh, god, he has looked right into my head.
Now I keep my eyes on the preacher. This is a particularly good revival. At least that’s what I’ve heard people say. At the end of the service a dozen souls are saved at the altar. There’s a final hymn, a prayer and we are dismissed. I practically leap from my seat.
The social hour is to follow. This is really why the five of us came here tonight. It’s a time for the teens, as the preacher calls us, to get together. It’s to be held outside on the grass, where the church women have set up tables laden with all kinds of good things to eat. They have positioned lanterns at several spots around the churchyard so that we can see what we’re about. Of course Vic and Rose and Eddie and Opal are dying to stay for this social hour, as it gives them more time together. I am so befuddled I feel like walking home alone in the dark, but of course I won’t. Instead I slip away from my cousins, break in the food line, fill up my plate, and let somebody pour me a new drink called Kool-Aid in a paper cup.
I sip the Kool-Aid, which is really good, then go to find a place to sit on the grass. Someone is at my heels. I turn around and there he is toting his guitar on his shoulder.
“Where have you been all my life?” says he to me in a whisper.
Not very original, but appropriate. I’ve been stuck on a mountaintop. I don’t say that. I don’t answer him at all. I sit down and start nibbling at a sandwich. Eddie sits down beside me, and starts strumming his guitar.
“How tall are you?” he asks. “About five, foot, two?”
“About. Why?”
It’s his turn not to answer. He begins to pick out a tune which I recognize from the radio – Five, Foot, Two. Opal appears with her plate and cup and sits down beside Eddie. Then Rose sits beside me, and Vic sits on her other side.
Eddie starts singing low. “Five foot two….”
“Sing so we can hear you,” Opal coaxes.
Eddie does not need much coaxing. He raises the volume to his song.
When the other teens begin to sing along, I lay my sandwich aside and join in. Eddie turns to me and shamelessly looks me over, from hair and face to breasts to hips to ankles. I sneak a glance at Opal, but she is also singing, and paying no attention to Eddie’s roving eye. When the song is over, everybody claps for him.
“Now, play the one I like,” Opal says, tugging at his arm.
“Which one is that, honey-bunch?” Eddie says, and finally turns to her.
I take this opportunity to jump up and walk away. I go back to the table and ask for more Kool-Aid. Once there I try to blend n with the other young people standing around. I see two members of our rising junior class and join them. Eddie is now singing Opal’s request – My Blue Heaven. I spend the rest of the social hour, which turns into two hours, with my classmates, jabbering away about nothing while Eddie completely captivates his audience. When the event is over, Opal and Vic holler for me to come along.
“Guess what?” Vic says. “Eddie is going to drive us up Gospel Road as far as Uncle Ben’s trail. Then we’ll walk you the rest of the way home. I have a flashlight.”
He shines the light on the car. It’s quite a nice coupe, painted a deep blue. Eddie tells us it’s a 1925 C
hevrolet Superior.
“It’s so shiny,” I say, “and I love the color.”
Eddie grins at me. “I’m gonna have me one exactly like it as soon as I go to work in the mines with my daddy.”
When we are done admiring the car, Vic and Rose climb into the small back seat and start cuddling. Eddie places his guitar at their feet and climbs in behind the wheel. Opal slides in beside him, and I sit beside her.
We roll down the windows of the car and go up Gospel Road singing My Blue Heaven as loud as we can. When we reach the end of the good road, Eddie parks the car and we get out.
“You don’t have to walk me all the way,” I say. “Just up to Willy’s Road. I can go on from there by myself.”
“All the way,” Vic says. “We promised.”
“Absolutely,” Eddie says. “Who would send a girl out alone on a dark night like this? Not me.”
“It’s an adventure,” Rose says.
If she had walked up this road as many times as I have, she wouldn’t call it an adventure. But I understand what this is about. When you’re in love, you don’t think a thing about walking up a mountain in the middle of the night as long as you’re with your sweetheart. So the five of us follow the beam of Vic’s flashlight up Gospel Road, where we are able to walk five abreast, with the boys on the ends, and I am the odd one in the middle. Willy’s Road is more narrow. Here Vic and Rose walk in front with the light while I walk behind them. Eddie and Opal bring up the rear.
“A girl shouldn’t have to walk in the dark alone,” Eddie says, as he suddenly clutches my elbow and pulls me back beside him.
Opal giggles. Now Eddie has one arm around Opal and the other around me. He starts humming Five Foot Two, and sliding his hand up and down my arm in the dark. It gives me chills. As we reach the rise in the road, I see a light shining across the mountaintop from the house.
“There!” I say. “They have left a light for me on the porch. I can take it from here by myself.” I pull away from Eddie and hurry past Vic and Rose. “Goodnight! And thanks!”
“Night,” Vic and Opal call back.
“Nice to meet you,” comes from Rose.
I am huffing and puffing, pushing myself toward the light when I hear somebody coming up behind me. Of course it’s him.
“Like I said, I would not send a pretty girl out alone on a dark night like this,” he whispers. “Let me walk you the rest of the way.”
“I’m fine,” I say. “Really, I’m fine. The house is right there.”
I point to the house about fifty feet ahead sitting dark against the night sky.
“I told the others I don’t feel right deserting you in the dark,” he says. “So you gotta let me walk you to the door.”
We take a few steps together and his hand falls on my upper back, where he begins to run it through my hair.
“What are you doing?” I say.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on you.”
I stop in my tracks and turn to him. “What!”
He drops his hand. About that time the flashlight beam finds us, and Eddie steps away from me.
“I’ll be up here to see you tomorrow,” he whispers again.
“Thanks everybody!” I call in a loud voice. “Night now!”
I bolt. On the porch I grab the lantern that has been left for me, hurry inside and close the door softly. I hear Dad mumble and turn over.
Bea rises up on her elbow and says, “Lorie?”
“Yeah, sorry to wake you.”
“I wadn’t asleep. There’s food on the cupboard if you’re hungry.”
“No, thanks. I ate. Good night.”
“Night.”
Jewel is fast asleep in the loft. I turn off the lantern. Then I go to the window and look out. All I can see is the flashlight beam as it moves down Willy’s Road. My whole body feels electrified. I watch the light until it’s out of sight.
July 22nd, 1928
“Somebody’s coming!” Clint yells.
I hear the kids running out the door to see who it is. I know who it is. It’s only ten o’clock in the morning, but didn’t I know he would come early?
I am in the loft, trying to see myself in my tiny bluebell mirror. I got up at the crack of dawn and washed my hair in rainwater which I keep on hand for this purpose. Then I dried it in the sunshine and brushed it vigorously until I could see the glints of gold running through it. I am wearing the nicest dress I’ve ever owned. I found it in the charity bag with the shoes, and I can’t help wondering if somebody gave it away by mistake. It has tiny white seashells on a sky blue background, a silky material – probably not silk, just something that feels like silk – long cool sleeves and a long waist with a white sash around the hip line. And it is short! It strikes me right across my knee caps. It’s the very latest thing, and Dad will certainly not approve, but he won’t say anything in front of Eddie. I check my teeth in the mirror, then put the hair set away in my bureau drawer before I move toward the stairs. I’m trying not to rush.
“Lorie!” Daniel calls from the big room. “Somebody here to see you.”
I go down the stairs slowly. “Oh? Who is it?”
“A feller with a git-tar,” says Daniel.
When I go out the door I find Dad and Bea talking to Eddie, and he appears to be charming them as he has apparently charmed everybody since coming to Deep Bottom. Samuel has gone to Caroline’s house today, but Charles and the others are standing around gawking at Eddie.
“What a surprise!” I say.
Suddenly all eyes are on me, and I feel my face flushing. Why did I say that? They can take one look at me and my dress and tell I am not really surprised. But I am flustered.
“You look real nice,” Eddie says, as he carefully avoids looking at my legs.
I say, “Thanks.” Then I’m at a loss for what to say next.
He is spruced up too – for a boy. His hair is freshly washed and combed, and all the wrinkles have been ironed out of his britches.
“Can you play that thang?” Clint asks Eddie.
“I sure can,” Eddie says. “Wanna hear?”
Of course everybody wants to hear, and the awkwardness melts away as Eddie sits on the porch and begins to play and sing Froggie Went A’Courtin. Clint is enchanted. I sit down beside Eddie and bounce Lawrence on my knee. After that one, Eddie plays Sweet Betsey from Pike and Clementine. By this time he has us all clapping our hands or patting our feet.
Directly Bea says that she and Jewel need to go inside and start cooking dinner. She tells me to stay put and enjoy the music. Jewel looks longingly over her shoulder at Eddie, but follows Bea obediently without a grumble.
Eddie starts playing, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, and the boys start singing along.
After a while I say, “I should go in and see if I can help with dinner.”
I go to the kitchen where I find Jewel is beside herself with excitement.
“He is soo…oo cute, Lorie! Where did you find him?”
“In the house of the Lord,” I say, and we giggle.
“You look like a bluebird,” Bea says.
I offer to finish frying the squash.
“No, no, no,” says Bea. “You’ll get grease on your dress. Go out there and stay with your company. Me and Jewel will get dinner on the table.”
I do as she says. As soon as Eddie sees me at the door, he starts playing Five Foot, Two.
During dinner I sit beside Eddie and find that I can barely eat. But Eddie eats enough for both of us. He shovels it in like it’s his last meal. And he can’t say enough about how good it is.
He turns to me and asks, “Can you cook like this?”
“No, Bea and Jewel are the cooks,” I say.
“For a girl her age,” Dad says, “Lorie is as good a cook as you’ll find.”
I am so surprised I nearly choke.
“That’s true,” Charles agrees, and so does everybody else.
Oh, I see. They are all capt
ivated now, and want to make sure Eddie will come back.
“My mama don’t cook much,” Eddie says. “She’s sickly.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Bea says. “What’s the matter with her?”
“First one thing, then another,” Eddie says. He looks at the radio in the corner and changes the subject. “Nice radio.”
“Wanna hear it?” Daniel asks.
“No, that’s okay,” Eddie says. “Maybe next time.”
Next time? Jewel’s eyes meet mine, and she grins. Talk about a charmer. I have found one for sure.
After eating, Eddie turns to me and says, “I’m partial to old places like y’all got here. Wanna give me a tour?”
“Yeah, take him to see the garden,” Charles says. “There might be a ripe watermelon.”
“Maybe he’d like some tomatoes to take home,” Bea says.
“Show him the new calf,” Dad says.
“Yeah, I’d like to see a baby calf,” Eddie readily agrees.
“Y’all go on,” Bea says. “Me and Jewel will clean up the kitchen.”
As soon as we’re out of sight, Eddie says, “You look like a magazine cover.”
Then he takes my hand, holds me at arm’s length and makes me turn slowly for him. He whistles through his teeth, and I feel my face grow warm.
We visit the new calf first. We say how pretty it is. We go see the garden. He says what a nice garden it is. I don’t check the watermelons. I know I’m not going to carry one back to the house, and I’m not going to ask Eddie to carry it either. I tell him we have tomatoes in the kitchen that he can take home if he wants them. He says his mama will be tickled. She loves fresh tomatoes for breakfast with pork chops and scrambled eggs. I say that sounds good. We do some more chatting about absolutely nothing as we walk by the spring and the willow.
“What is Seasons like?” I ask.
“Real nice. I grew up there.”
“Is it a big town, small town, or what?”
“Real small, but bigger than Deep Bottom.”
“Deep Bottom is not a town,” I say. “It’s a wide place in the road with a church, a school and a store.”
“Seasons has a lot of stores.”
“Why would you move from there to here?”
