Heartbreak Highway 1

by Harper Whitmore

  Eva had been right; the looks on their faces were priceless. Unfortunately, the look on hers as she lay on the small sofa in the sitting area was probably priceless as well. That part wouldn’t have been so bad, but apparently Marshall was saying….or more likely doing something that Simone agreed with a hundred percent. She kept saying,

  “Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh Marshall, Yes!” For what seemed like hours. Eva turned up the volume on the television and tried to drown out her heart ache with an episode of I Love Lucy. She found herself wishing for life in the fifties. Ethel and Fred wouldn’t have dared made noisy love only feet away from where Lucy was trying to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  The next morning as they left the hotel in the Caddy with the windows down and the wind in their faces Eva sat in the backseat with Granddad’s ashes and rubbed her aching neck. She hadn’t slept well and now she was tired and grumpy. She found herself wishing that she had the nerve to defy Granddad and walk away from Marshall and go home. Even the idea of helping her mother plan her fifth wedding was preferable to the thought of spending another day with Simone, and another night only a wall or two away from where Marshall made passionate love to her. She watched as Marshall eased them onto the Natchez Trace Parkway. The road was 444 miles of non-commercial paradise and it was the only thing about this day that Eva was looking forward to.

  “Is this the only road to Mississippi?” Simone asked after about fifteen minutes on the parkway. Eva knew that Simone would hate it. There were no buildings or road signs, just a quiet peaceful road surrounded by the colors and shapes of nature.

  “No, this is the road that Granddad wants us to take,” Marshall told her.

  With an audible sigh Simone threw up her hands and said, “Wanted you to take! God, you two act like he’s still alive. Have you taken a good look at that brass container sitting….morbidly by the way….next Eva back there? Those are his ashes. He’s been cremated. He doesn’t know or care about anything any longer, much less which fucking road you’re taking to Mississippi!” Simone’s voice had reached a high decibel screech. Both Eva and Marshall were shocked by it. She was a sniper, but neither of them had ever heard her screech like that.

  “Jeez, Simone! What’s your problem? You invited yourself to come along on this trip, remember? Since you showed up, all you’ve done is complain.”

  “I just think it’s sick the way you two hang on to the idea of a dead old man. You two have made a martyr out of him and from what I knew of him, he didn’t deserve that title. We’re on the trip of a lifetime here yet we’re trolling at 50 miles an hour on a creepy little road with no sign of life because that’s what the fucking itinerary says. It’s insanity.”

  “Maybe you can get a bus home when we get to Mississippi, or a train,” Eva said. Her head was aching now along with her neck. She’d had enough.

  “No Eva! Maybe we can drop you off. You’re the square peg here, as usual. You’ve always been odd man out and Marshall has always been too nice and too controlled by that crazy old man to tell you so. He’s endured being embarrassed by you for years because of it.”

  “Shut up, Simone! That’s not true and you know it!” Marshall yelled at her. He wasn’t a yeller either so it shocked them all.

  “Maybe she’s right,” Eva said, taking some of what Simone said to heart. She hadn’t meant to start a shouting match. She was trying to make peace like she always did. “Maybe we’d all be better off if I went home.”

  “No, you’re not going home until we spread Granddad’s ashes, Eva. Neither of us is,” Marshall told her.

  In that second, none of them, likely not even Simone had any idea what would happen next. Eva saw Simone lean over the seat and she watched as she picked up the brass urn off the seat next to her. Then, as if in slow motion, Simone tossed the container out onto the road.

  Eva felt the car skid to a stop as Marshall hit the brakes. Luckily no one was behind them or they would have been rear-ended. Marshall just sat there in the middle of the road with the car running, staring at Simone in shock.

  “What the hell did you just do?”

  “I freed you,” she said.

  “You freed me?” Marshall said as if she were insane. He looked like he wanted to throttle her, but Simone and Eva both knew that he never would…no matter how satisfying it might be.

  “Yes, both of you. You’re driving three thousand miles across country with a dead guy in the car and you’re letting him call the shots. It’s like Weekend at Bernie’s only not funny at all.”

  “You’re a bitch!” Eva said, suddenly snapping back into reality and opening the back door.

  “Eva what are you doing?” Marshall said.

  “I’m getting Granddad,” she said, “Or, what’s left of him.” She got out and started jogging back along the road. Marshall parked the car and as he started to get out, Simone put her hand on his arm and said,

  “You understand that I was only trying to help?”

  Marshall shrugged her hand off of his arm and got out of the car. Going after Eva, they both walked along the side of the road, looking in the thick trees and bushes along the way. Marshall spotted it first. The sun was glinting off of it and the reflection was almost blinding. Eva ran to it and she had never been so relieved. The top had stayed on and Granddad’s ashes were completely intact. She sat down in the grass with the urn clutched to her chest. Looking up at Marshall with tears streaming down her face she said,

  “Is she right, Marshall? Is it crazy that we’re doing this?”

  Marshall sat down next to her in the grass. He put his arm around her and pulled her into his chest. Marshall didn’t say anything, he just held her while she cried. From the car, Simone watched them, her face a reflection of pure jealousy.

  Chapter 12

  After Simone threw the urn with Granddad’s ashes out the window and Eva had gone to retrieve them, it had taken some doing for Marshall to convince Eva to get back in the car.

  “Simone really doesn’t mean to be a bitch,” he’d told her. “I don’t think she even realizes what she’s doing half the time.”

  “I don’t get it, Marshall…what do you see in her? Is it all about her looks? Does she have any more depth than that at all?”

  “Everything has more depth than what you see on the surface,” he told her. “You’re actually the one who taught me that.”

  Eva smiled and said, “Sometimes I’m too wise for my own good.”

  Marshall laughed and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry about Simone, I really am,” he said.

  “You don’t have to apologize for her. She’s a big girl; she should dole out her own apologies…or better yet, just act like a human being and then she wouldn’t need to apologize so much.”

  “I honestly doubt that’s going to happen,” he said, “It’s a good thing you’re the bigger woman here.”

  Eva chuckled and said, “We’ll see.” Marshall helped her up then and led her back to the car. Surprisingly, both to Eva and Simone, when they got there, he ordered Simone into the backseat.

  “What?” she said in disbelief.

  “I said, get in the back. I can’t look at you right now. Unless you’d rather take your chances with your thumb. Maybe the stoner in the RV will come back by.”

  Simone was smart enough to know that she’d crossed a line and Marshall was serious. She did as he asked without saying anything further, and still clutching the urn full of ashes to her chest, Eva slid into the front passenger seat. The next hundred miles or so they rode in virtual silence, Marshall eventually reached over and turned on the music. Marshall seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, Simone was pouting and Eva was on Facebook, chatting with Helen. She told her what Simone had done and she said,

  “I really should just go home and let Marshall finish this trip. He has Simone for company…he doesn’t need me.”

  “But Henry wanted you to go, and from what you tell me, it sounds like if Marshall had to choose, he would choose you.”

&n
bsp; “He might,” Eva said, “But it would be because he loves me like a little sister and family is important to him. I wouldn’t want to be the reason he broke up with his girlfriend.”

  “You think that’s as deep as his feelings go for you?” Helen asked. “Henry used to say that Marshall looked like he’d been “bitten by the love bug,” every time he looked at you.”

  Eva laughed when she read that and Marshall looked over at her. She tried to see it…but all she saw was a man who loved her like a friend…or a sister.

  “I miss those little sayings Henry always seemed to have ready.”

  “Just listen, Eva. Every time you meet a new person, it’s a chance to learn something new. Even a child can teach you new things. But, you have to keep an open mind, always. Once you close your mind to new things, you stop living.”

  “What cha doin’ over there?” Marshall asked her.

  “Just Facebooking,” she said.

  “Oh,” he said, raising an eyebrow.

  “I do have other friends,” she told him.

  Marshall grinned and said, “I know you do, but I’m the best one, right?”

  “The best,” she said with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Simone’s disgusted look. Eva felt small and petty…but Simone’s discomfort made her happy.

  She messaged Helen back saying,

  “I don’t see that look in his eyes, but that’s okay…most of the time. I’m just blessed to have him in my life. And thank you, I will do my best to keep my mind open.”

  “You have a good heart, Eva. Keep that open too.”

  “Thanks Helen. I appreciate your kind words. It feels like Henry is still here sometimes.”

  “He is, honey. He will always be a part of you, no matter what.”

  Finally, just before they reached Mississippi Simone said, in a whiney voice,

  “Are we going to stop and eat? If you’re too angry to sit in a restaurant with me, I’ll settle for fast food.”

  Marshall didn’t answer her and Eva still sat quietly. Sighing loudly and crossing her arms, Simone slumped back into her seat again. She didn’t perk up until she realized that Marshall was rolling the car into the parking lot of the Natchez Visitor Reception Center. Eva saw Simone sit up again, out of the corner of her eye. Eva knew from the itinerary that Marshall planned on taking a look around the all-glassed overlook of the Mississippi river and picking up brochures that would lead them through the rest of their visit to Mississippi, much of which would be exploring Civil War history and historical homes. Eva almost smiled at the vivid image she had of Simone’s head exploding when she found out.

  “What is this place?” Simone asked. “Do they have food here?”

  “No, but we won’t stay here long,” was all he said. Simone was still pouting as they followed him towards the building. Simone stood against the wall with her arms folded across her chest while Marshall and Eva looked through the pamphlets and talked to the friendly staff about what else there was to do and see along the Natchez parkway. They were encouraged to walk through the dioramas which were tiny little replicas of antebellum mansions which were a reflection of the 19th century cotton boom and both French and Spanish influences. Marshall and Eva chose to do that, much to Simone’s chagrin. She walked along behind them, sighing loudly at every turn. Eva wanted to strangle her.

  “Look at this,” Marshall said, stopping at one of the information placards. Eva stepped up on one side of him and Simone on the other. The placard said, “Thanks to its position as a shipping center and contact point between merchants and planters, Natchez once boasted the highest concentration of millionaires in the nation.”

  “This would have been a great place for you to live back then, Simone.” Eva said it with a smile, but they all knew her intent was to wound. It wasn’t like her to snipe at someone that way and she got the impression that Marshall was a little disappointed in her. That was too bad, she thought. Simone had crossed a line today and Eva didn’t know if she’d be able to get past it and treat the woman with any kind of respect. She didn’t understand how Marshall could.

  Simone didn’t say anything, but if the daggers in her eyes were real, Eva would be mortally wounded. They moved onto the next diorama and discovered Natchez was a rollicking frontier town where boatmen caroused and gamblers and thieves ruled prior to being crowned King of Cotton.

  “Ohh! We have to go here!” Eva said, after looking at the next diorama.

  Marshall walked over to investigate and saw that she was looking at the one of “Natchez-under-the-Hill.”

  “That one’s on the itinerary,” he said.

  “Cool!” she said, becoming truly excited for the first time since Simone’s little tantrum earlier.

  “It’s an old bar,” Simone said, looking around Marshall’s shoulder.

  Marshall rolled his eyes and then told her, “Seriously, Simone…you really have to start looking deeper. All you ever see is what’s on the surface. There is so much more to see than that.”

  Sighing, she said, “Your granddad’s death seems to have turned you into a philosopher,” she said. “What is it I would see if I looked “deeper” into this old bar?”

  Marshall knew that she was still being sarcastic but he gave her a serious answer anyways, “For one thing, it was the most notorious river landing on the Mississippi in its day.”

  “Hmm,” she said, feigning interest.

  “It says here that knife fights and killings happened every day there in a row of saloons that were built on stilts over the river. They were called trap-door saloons.” Eva said with real enthusiasm.

  “Why were they called trap-door saloons?” Marshall asked her.

  “It says they had trap doors in the floor. Travelers who accidently wandered into one were often robbed and then clubbed to death and dropped through one of the trap doors into the river.” Eva glanced at Simone and said, “They should build cars with trap doors in them.”

  Simone gave her another evil look. Sensing a cat fight, Marshall stepped between the two women and said, “Why don’t we get our tickets for the homes tour? It’s getting towards late afternoon. We’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow morning to go. This evening we can get something to eat and find a hotel and maybe we can visit this Under-the-Hill place. It says they have shopping and dining.”

  “Thank God,” Simone said. Marshall and Eva ignored her.

  * * *

  “What about a bed and breakfast?” Eva asked as they drove through town. She was looking online for lodgings for them for the next few nights. “They have a lot of those here and they sound really quaint.” Simone snorted. Eva looked over her shoulder and said, “Really? You have a problem with a bed and breakfast?”

  “No,” Simone said, snidely. “I’ve just never heard a real person use the word “quaint” in a sentence before.”

  “Simone….” Marshall began.

  “I know. I’m sorry. I will try harder to ignore her stupidity,” she said. Marshall looked like he’d about had enough, so Eva let it go.

  Looking relieved he told Eva, “A bed and breakfast will be fine.”

  “Cool,” Eva said, “There’s one that sounds great and it has rooms available. It’s called Magnolia House.”

  “Let’s go check-in first and then we’ll go eat,” he said.

  The house was gorgeous. It was probably a mansion in its heyday. It was three stories high and online Eva had read that it had ten bedrooms. The house had been built in the early 1800’s and when they had turned it into a bed and breakfast, they’d added a bathroom onto each room. It was surrounded by old magnolia trees and the soft, heady fragrance was almost intoxicating as they stepped out of the car. Even Simone seemed pleased by it. She slipped her arm through Marshall’s as they walked up on the homey, wrap-around front porch. It had white rocking chairs with colorful handmade afghans and big potted plants arranged invitingly.

  “Hey!” the petite, blonde woman at the big oak counter said
as soon as they stepped through the doors. It was like being thrust back in time. The décor was all circa 1830. “Welcome to Magnolia House. How are ya’ll today?”

  “Great, thanks,” Marshall told her. “We were wondering if you might have two rooms available.”

  “That I do,” she said. “I have one on the third floor and two on the second floor available. My name is Addie Wells and my family owns the house. I mostly do the cooking around here, but my daughter Becca who usually runs the counter needed a few hours off. She had an appointment in town.”

  “We’ll take the two on the second floor,” Marshall told her. She took his information and Marshall paid her for three nights. Eva could tell by Simone’s face that she wasn’t happy about staying in Natchez so long. She held her tongue though so at least that was a good thing.

  The little lady, who couldn’t have been over five-feet tall if you flattened down her extraordinarily large hair, led them up the stairs and to the first room. She was a chatty one, and on the way up she told them that her daughter Becca who is nineteen had been “secretive” about what she went into town for and she really hoped the girl didn’t have a “bun in the oven.” Eva found her charming although she personally wouldn’t have shared information like that with strangers. Simone looked like she was bored out of her mind and Marshall seemed a little bit stressed out. Eva wondered if he’d just had his fill of women for the past few days.

  The aroma of fresh flowers wafted out as soon as Addie opened the door to the room. There was a giant four poster bed covered with a comfy-looking handmade quilt. The dresser and nightstands looked antique and the long, narrow windows were covered in light-colored sheer curtains that let in the light. The floor was covered with antique area rugs and there was a tiny little marble fireplace in the corner with two upholstered library chairs arranged around it. The bathroom had a modern shower, but it also had an antique claw-foot tub. Eva hoped that there was one in her room too. A long soak in a warm bubble bath might be just what the doctor ordered. The tiny lady was telling them that the soaps in the bathroom were all homemade with “southern love.” Eva thought it was funny that although she’d grown up in the south herself, Mississippi seemed like a different planet. On the way back through the main room Addie told them that there were always homemade pecan pralines at the desk and they could pick them up on their way to or from their room as they liked, then she said,