Family Album
14
1550 AM on the Radio Dial
The Home Folks Show
As the last note of John Conlee’s voice singing “The Backside of Thirty” died in his earphones, Winston leaned into the microphone.
“You are listenin’ to the Home Folks Show, where it’s time for our new feature, Around Town and Beyond, with Belinda Blaine, brought to you by Blaine’s Drugstore, where they still get up at night for you. Belinda’s going to give us all the news and gossip going on in our community. Welcome, Belinda.”
“Hello, Winston. Hello, ever’ body out there!”
Winston moved her microphone. “You don’t need to shout. The microphone picks up real easy.”
“Oh. Okay.” Belinda put a hand to her bosom and looked over to where Emma sat. Emma nodded encouragingly. Belinda looked back down at the sheet of paper in front of her. She was shaking so hard that she could hardly read. “Okay…first up…”
“You can speak a little louder,” Winston whispered.
She wished he would make up his mind. “First we have the people news. The latest count on the pantyhose debate…”
Winston jumped in with, “We might like to tell the folks who may not have heard us the past few days that one of the hot topics around town concerns the wearing of panties with pantyhose. The latest statistic I’ve heard from my daughter Charlene is somethin’ like twenty-eight who wear panties with pantyhose and five who go without.”
“Yes…” Belinda was a little startled at him jumping in like that and had to get herself back on track. “You are right about that being the debate. And our count is now up to thirty-two who wear panties with pantyhose and still five who do not. There is one woman, who shall remain nameless, who reports that she never wears panties at all, period.” She paused, looking at Winston, who thankfully remained quiet.
“It has been decided that thongs are to be counted as panties. We are continuing the count, so if any listeners out there want to take part, you can call or drop by the drugstore and leave a report. It is okay to tell about a relative or friend’s preference, however, you are on the honor system not to make up numbers. We have had one woman, who shall remain nameless but who should know better, who tried to be counted more than once.”
Thinking that maybe she was getting a little carried away, she glanced nervously over at Emma, who was smiling and gave her another encouraging nod.
“On to other news,” she said more confidently. “Little Jenny Montgomery, whose horse took down several f lags when it got away from her at the grand-entry to the Valentine Youth Round-Up Rodeo last Friday, did badly break her arm, but her mother reports Jenny is doing just fine. Her parents have good insurance, so no need for a collection, although her mother said she would sure appreciate visitors.
“I’ve been asked to say that there is no truth to the rumor that my mother Vella Blaine and local attorney Jaydee Mayhall are havin’ an affair…and Connor Davis wants it known that he is back in town, and divorced from Tamara and available. Tamara said she is happy down in Dallas and is never comin’ back. I won’t say what I want to say about that.”
Seeing Emma smiling widely, Belinda imagined lots of people smiling all across Valentine. Winston had sat back, so wasn’t likely to jump in. Belinda straightened her shoulders.
“We have a new Valentine-ite this mornin’. Imperia Brown gave birth to a twelve-pound girl last night. You heard correctly—twelve pounds. Her daddy set a sign out front of their house that says Home of the Whopper, which is what he threatened to name her, but Imperia says her name is Jewel, and she is twelve full carats. As the long-awaited girl in the family, you know she is goin’ to be spoiled rotten, which is her due.
“Now for activities around town. The Valentine Works Department will be cleanin’ the fire hydrants this afternoon at one o’clock, and y’all know what that means. Don’t go washin’ your whites today.
“Miz Lillian Jennings reports that according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Oklahoma is part of the Southern region of the U.S.A. Starting this week, she will be teaching a four-part series at the Valentine Library on how to trace your Southern roots. This will be on Wednesdays at 10:00 a.m. and is free of charge.
“Don’t forget the Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary’s third annual Christmas in July craft fair comin’ up next month. That will be at the Auxiliary’s house on Main Street.
“I want to emphasize that this is a fund-raiser, folks. To give you an idea of the delights available, there are twenty registered booths. We have wooden toys, decorative baskets, an artist all the way from New Mexico, glass etching and much more. I want to personally invite everyone to come by the Blaine’s Drugstore booth and view the works of our own Emma Berry. We will be offering her line of greeting and note cards, as well as magnets and notepads, also, the finest in fragrances and nutrition supplements. These make great gifts all year long.
“Going beyond Valentine today—The Servants’ Fellowship Church up in Lawton is holdin’ the second annual Glorious Women’s Day, Saturday, July eighteenth.
“Are you a woman? Are you a woman who feels like a lost sock in the dryer of the world? Are you ready to be revived and renewed and mended up into the woman that God meant you to be? Then, ladies, this full day of celebration, fellowship and encouragement is for you. The doors open at 8:00 a.m., with coffee and tea and scones—I think those are fancy biscuits—served in the lobby. The…program starts at nine and runs until five. There’ll be a buffet luncheon. You can call Naomi Smith at the First Methodist Church right here in Valentine for more information. Naomi went last year and says this is a valuable seminar for every woman, and don’t let not being a church-going Christian stop you from attending. We are all one in the Lord, and here’s your chance to get a full day off, ladies. And yes, that is exactly what Naomi said. Any questions or comments, address them to her.
“Well, that’s all I have. I will see you again next week, and until then, you can call me with your news. Back to you, Winston.”
“Thank you, Miss Belinda. Everyone knows that you are in the know. And I think, since Miss Belinda brought it up right here on the air, a good topic for today’s discussion is do you wear panties under your pantyhose?”
Belinda made her way around the back of Winston’s chair and gave him a smack on the arm. It was just like him to steal from her.
As she and Emma were leaving the little studio, Belinda leaned over and whispered to Willie Lee that he could have an extra scoop of ice cream, and for free, that afternoon. Behind them, Winston was saying, “We’ll begin takin’ your calls while we listen to ‘Jolene’ from that glorious woman, Dolly Parton.”
Like schoolgirls, they burst out of the little block building into the hot summer sunshine, the both of them laughing. Emma was laughing mostly at Belinda laughing.
At last, Belinda felt she could breathe. “Ohmygosh, sugar, I about died at the beginnin’. I have never in my life been so terrified. The silliest thing, but I was.”
To which Emma said how wonderfully she had done.
“Oh, my.” Belinda fanned her face. “I did do good, didn’t I?”
“Honey, you were delightful.”
Belinda felt she had been just that, and she had loved it, after getting past the first fright. She had not known how much she would love it. She never, ever liked to be the center of attention, but on the radio, it was different. On the radio, she was hidden from view but got to say what she wanted.
At first Belinda had been pushing for Emma to be on Winston’s show, and to publicize both her own line of card designs and the craft fair held by the Auxiliary, of which both were members. But Emma had refused, and in the way these sorts of things go, somehow it had ended up with Belinda starting a little sort of gossip column on Winston’s show. When it came to the morning to do it, though, she had suddenly been terrified and had called Emma to come with her.
In the past months, since Belinda had been selling Emma’
s unique greeting cards at the drugstore, Emma had become Belinda’s best friend, a fact that, in her high emotional state, she felt teary about. In fact, Emma was the first close female friendship Belinda had ever formed. She had always been easier with men. Her sister, Margaret, was the same way. They had gotten this trait from their mother and because of their mother.
She drove over to the drugstore, where Emma had parked her car. On the sidewalk, she impulsively took Emma’s hand. Belinda almost never touched another woman, but suddenly here she was squeezing Emma’s hand and saying, “Thank you. Thank you so much for comin’ with me this mornin’.”
“You are welcome. But, honey, I didn’t do anything.” Emma looked shy.
“Yes, you did.”
Belinda entered the drugstore, where several people congratulated her on the radio appearance. Even her mother said nice things. Belinda behaved as if it wasn’t any big deal. She would never let on to anyone other than Emma, especially her mother, how very frightened she had been.
There were many sides to people, she thought, remembering Emma and watching her mother and taking note of people, many who she had known all her life but now saw in a different light as they came in and ordered drinks and lunch.
From being starkly aware of her own fear that morning, she had a fresh appreciation that everyone had their own fears, and that they each tried to hide them.
Today she had revealed herself to several thousand people on the radio. She pictured them out there, enamored of her, as she was sure they were.
Maybe she could talk with Lyle if she talked to him over the radio.
Miss Belinda was still in a good mood when Willie Lee arrived. She was in such a good mood that she not only made his ice cream as promised, but allowed him and Munro to take the ice cream over to Willie Lee’s favorite spot on the wide windowsill on the other side of the magazine rack. Normally she did not allow him to have ice cream anywhere near the magazines.
Munro quickly licked his ice cream down, but Willie Lee’s sat melting beside him, while he lost himself in glossy magazine pictures of boys riding skateboards right up into the air.
It was an odor that brought him out of his fantasies.
It was a fart.
He looked up to see a boy standing looking at the magazine rack. The boy was a little taller than Willie Lee, with thick dark hair. His baggy jeans and T-shirt were torn and dirty. He looked like the tough boys at school, but Willie Lee did not remember ever seeing him before.
The boy tossed aside the magazine he’d been looking at, and it fell to the floor. He didn’t pick it up but went to another magazine.
Willie Lee gazed at the boy’s jeans and thought how a lot of the bigger boys wore such jeans with holes. But his mother wouldn’t buy them for him.
The boy turned and saw Willie Lee looking at him. “What’re you lookin’ at?”
Willie Lee looked down, his heart beating fast. Sometimes boys spoke harshly to him. He didn’t know why. But Munro rose to stand at his knee. No one could bother him with Munro around.
The boy slid himself down beside Willie Lee. “Hey…are you that boy that’s sometimes on the radio?”
Willie Lee looked at him, hoping a little bit. “Yes.”
The boy’s eyes studied Willie Lee.
Willie Lee blinked, his nose burning. The boy was stinky.
“I seen you around…pushin’ that ol’ man that talks on the radio…you and that dog. What’s his name?”
“Mun-ro.”
“How come he gets to come in this store? Your folks own it?”
“No. Aunt Vel-la owns the store.”
“Figures. Does he do tricks?” The boy nodded toward Munro.
Without Willie Lee saying anything, Munro sat and extended a paw to the boy, whose eyes widened.
“Cool…” The boy shook Munro’s paw. “Does he do any other tricks?”
Munro dropped as if dead for several seconds, then rolled over twice, then picked up the magazine the boy had thrown on the floor and brought it to Willie Lee.
“Wow,” said the boy, his eyes wide. “I wish I had a dog like that.” Grinning, he petted Munro, who kindly allowed the touch.
Just then, a big boy came hurrying around the end of the magazine rack. “Come on, Nicky. We gotta go.”
“Hold on a minute…watch this dog….”
“I said come on!” The big boy grabbled the smaller one and dragged him up.
Willie Lee saw the boy, Nicky, stuff the magazine he had been holding under his shirt.
“Don’t you tell nobody, or I’ll get ya’,” he said in a harsh whisper over his shoulder.
Willie Lee and Munro watched the two boys go out the door and pass by the wide window. For the space of a breath, Willie Lee saw a dark shadow that seemed to envelope the pair, and in a f lash of knowing, he knew that the boys were desperate, in trouble somehow, and hungry. He felt all of these things inside of himself as he watched them. Then they were gone from sight.
A little while later, Miss Charlene’s purse came up missing. “It’s that little red one I ordered from you, Belinda.”
She said she had hung it on the back of her chair when she had sat down with Mr. Winston and left it there when she went to the restroom. Mr. Winston said he had gotten up to make Miss Claire’s strawberry milkshake when she came in, and an order of two barbeques to go for Larry Joe at the Texaco, because Aunt Vella was off with Jaydee Mayhall again.
Mr. Winston thought maybe Miss Charlene had made a mistake and put the purse somewhere or hadn’t even brought it.
She got mad at him and said, “I know when I bring a purse, Daddy.”
Willie Lee knew how she felt. Sometimes people did not believe him, either.
Everyone looked everywhere for the red purse, but no one found it.
“I saw some boy I’ve never seen before come in and go over to the pain relief and cold-remedy aisle,” Miss Belinda said. “I try to keep an eye when I don’t know somebody, but the UPS man arrived with my order from HSN and I got involved with that. I’m callin’ Lyle.”
Deputy Lyle Midgette came right away and talked to everyone who was left in the store. He wrote things down in his little notebook.
Then Mrs. Berry came in to get barbeque to go and told about a boy having stolen some candy a few weeks earlier in the Berry Quick Stop. That was where Willie Lee liked to sometimes get a Bama Pie after school. He had not gotten a Bama Pie since summer vacation had started, and he thought he would like to have one. If Paris was there, she always made it fun, like giving him a birthday present. Paris was his friend.
Just after Deputy Lyle left, Aunt Vella and Jaydee Mayhall came in, and pretty soon the both of them and Mr. Winston and Miss Charlene and even Miss Belinda, who generally didn’t enter in, were mad and hollering at each other.
Mrs. Berry went right behind the counter and got the pitcher of cold tea and went around pouring glasses for everyone, calming everyone down. And then Mr. Winston told about Mrs. Stella Purvis, who ran the Merry Males Maid Service, telling him that she was the one who never wore panties under anything. After Miss Belinda’s spot, he had brought this up on the radio but still not told her name over the air. Miss Vella said that he was telling Miz Stella’s name now to everyone, so he might as well have said it over the air.
Throughout all of that, no one asked Willie Lee anything. He sat there, just as he often did, as if he was invisible, watching and listening.
15
Messy Business
They were going for it. Getting the pool. They chose a lovely, yet simple, design that the builder felt he could complete in six weeks, eight at the most. He was a confident sort of fellow, who said he could start immediately.
John Cole did not feel the builder’s availability was a very good sign. He thought a really good builder would be booked up.
Emma said, “Why shouldn’t we simply be fortunate?”
Immediately the bridal-shower barbeque was set for the fourth weekend in August. Th
at would give plenty of time for the pool’s projected completion and about a month before the wedding, the correct timing, according to the advice of two experts Emma read. Host a shower much earlier, and you ran a greater risk of having to face returning all the gifts, should something happen and the couple not get married after all. Later, it was too close to the wedding, causing havoc.
Early one morning, work crews with various equipment descended on them. From that time on, the yard was like an anthill swarming with muscular young men, with leathery tanned skin under ball caps, all in various stages of activity. The earth seemed to tremble in anticipation.
John Cole, in his work-worn Resistol, dark Ray-Bans and rolled-up sleeves, pored over plans and oversaw details, despite having argued with Emma up one side and down the other that a pool was a bad idea.
What still annoyed the fire out of Emma was that he had not wanted the pool when she was the one wanting it, but just as soon as Johnny and Gracie expressed a little bit of enthusiasm for the idea, he jumped in and said they would do it—like it was his idea.
Nearly before the ink had dried on the deposit check, Emma recognized that she had made a large error in coming up with the idea of building a pool.
She did not say it aloud, of course, but she had to admit to herself that John Cole had been right about there being a lot more to having a pool built than she had ever in her life supposed. It had seemed so simple. As she had thought of it, all she had to do was pick up the phone, call the pool company, and the next thing she would have a pool in her yard, complete with patio and landscaping and looking like the sample picture that she had clipped out of Country Home.
She had not imagined the many and confusing decisions about square footage and placement, soil estimation, and concrete, vinyl or fiberglass, not to mention what trees and bushes might need to come out. One of the big elms had to go, and there was more to getting rid of a tree than Emma had ever known. Tree trimmers came and cut down the towering elm limb by limb, which then, for an extra fee, had to be chopped up for firewood. There was also Johnny’s old basketball court, which had to be broken up and hauled away.
Chin Up, Honey Page 12
