“Don’t beg.”
“All night long. Only a fool too proud to beg when he got a woman like you.”
“I love you, baby.”
“Are there any other Matt Masons?”
“Probably.”
“Be serious.”
“No.”
“Did you get yourself all fixed up for me?”
“No.”
“Matt Mason?”
“No.”
“Barack Obama?”
“No.”
“God.”
“No.”
“Who?”
“Me. I did it for me.”
She kissed him again, and then she fell asleep. He hoped she saw him in her dreams. He would stay up all night and look at her, just in case it was the last night she was his and only his. He didn’t want to miss a moment.
Free will. Exquisite design. God’s brilliance. She would dally, or she would not. It would be her choice to make, and he would be crowned again with love or he would not be. And he knew he would be. Like he knew he would handle his stuff, and he knew she would never cheat. And he would never cheat again.
There was only one song he needed to sing to Ada, and he sang it: “When a Man Loves a Woman.” When he got to the words about loving eyes being blind, for the very first time in the history of his grown life, tears rolled down Preach’s face. One fell on Ada.
Her eyes opened, and her arms opened too. Her small but still round shoulders lifted toward him. “Here, I come,” she said, and soon she did. With him. At the very same time.
Stubbly gray box and all.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I must begin by thanking Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Medical Center. Being located at a university that prizes innovative approaches to creative enterprise and tackling health care disparities provides the fertile ground in which I developed and taught Soul Food as Text in Text, and imagined Ada. I would like to thank all my colleagues at Vanderbilt for cocreating the electric campus I find sustaining. To Dr. Tracy Denean Sharpley-Whiting, director of the Program in African American and Diaspora Studies and dear friend, I owe an especial debt for reading and critiquing early drafts of the Ada’s Rules manuscript as well as supporting the development of the course Soul Food as Text in Text. I also owe an especial debt to Cecelia Tichi, with whom I developed and co-taught Southern Food.
This book is a work of fiction. Ada’s ideas about health, and science, and health care, are hers, and hers alone. They are the ideas of a fictional character. Writing Ada, I was, however, informed by my own experience of weight gain and weight loss as well as by my readings and research into the science related to weight, weight regulation, and nutrition. And I was inspired by the work of a number of dedicated physicians and medical professionals. Some inspired with the power of their research. Others inspired with the compassion and insight of their patient care. And there were still others who inspired by being curious about the possibility of using a novel to help deliver health care information and to help motivate patient compliance. Dr. Kirk Barton, Dr. Frank Boehm, Leslie R. Boone, MPH, Dr. Walter Clair, Dr. Henry Foster, Dr. Chris Lind, Dr. Buzz Martin, Dr. Melinda New, Dr. Kevin Niswender, Dr. William Pao, Dr. James Price, Dr. Judson Randolph, Dr. Wayne Riley, Dr. Dan Roden, Dr. Dave Thombs, Dr. Harold Thompson, Dr. Ellen Shemancik, Dr. William Serafin, Dr. Paul Sternberg, Dr. Edwin Williamson, and Dr. Kelly Wright all taught me something of significance about health care challenges, health care delivery, or medical research. None of these folks endorse all fifty-three of Ada’s rules. Some may not endorse any. All of them have a proven track record of service to the health needs of diverse communities.
The diabetes epidemic is a national challenge and a national tragedy with political and economic consequences for all aspects of American life. From the day I first began work on Ada, I have been aided by the fact that I live in Tennessee, where I have been fortunate to be represented by some of the smartest and most well-informed people to serve in the House and in the Senate, including a Rhodes Scholar, a surgeon, and a secretary of education. This project has had the support of my congressman and friend Jim Cooper, acclaimed in the New York Times as the conscience of the Congress, and of Congressman Marsha Blackburn, a friend and leader in the Republican Party. Over the years, I have also enjoyed the friendship and support of Senator Lamar Alexander and former Senate majority leader Dr. Bill Frist. I thank them all for encouraging me to think about the politics and economics of health. I also want to thank Representative Lois DeBerry, the second African-American woman elected to the Tennessee House and the first woman to serve as Speaker pro tempore of the House. In the spring of 2010, Representative DeBerry was at the center of Links Day on Capitol Hill, in which Links from all over the state of Tennessee gathered at the Capitol to discuss food deserts, obesity, diabetes, and other matters of pressing concern to do with food quality and health. Representative DeBerry’s support of this project and concern for matters of health within the African-American community have been a profound inspiration as I have worked to finish this book.
I want to thank my Link sisters. The Links, Incorporated, is an outstanding social organization of black women who do great things to further the health of all people throughout the world. I am proud to be a Link, and proud to acclaim—Links are green—in all the best ways. Some of the best ways now are standing up against the spread of hypertension and diabetes in communities of color. I owe debts of particular gratitude to Links Dr. Charlene Dewey, Dr. Debra Webster-Clair, and Professor Beverly Moran. I would not be a Link if it were not for my mother-in-law, Florence Kidd, who was brought into the Links by her mother, Corinne Steele of Tuskegee.
I also want to thank Yaddo for giving me five weeks of uninterrupted time, a studio high in the trees, and the Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger Endowed Fellowship. Yaddo shelters and inspires.
This is my second novel with Bloomsbury and my fourth with my editor Anton Mueller. In a world where many publishing relationships are one deal long, we are happily arguing about whether this is our thirtieth or thirty-first year of a reading and writing friendship. In our Bloomsbury days, Rachel Mannheimer’s taste, intelligence, and good cheer have done much to facilitate the publication of these two novels. And I applaud the work of Miranda Ottewell. She is the first copy editor I have ever adored. Helen Garnons-Williams is my UK editor at Bloomsbury. Having a UK editor is my idea of high cotton. In that high cotton I am proud to claim Amy Williams, of McCormick and Williams, as my agent.
My very favorite foodie, and best friend, is Mimi Oka. With her I would like to thank John Egerton, who inspires everyone who thinks about southern food or cares about civil rights. In a delicious twist of fate, Mimi, a Francophile American of Japanese ethnicity, is the reason I first met John more than twenty-five years ago! And through John I have met an organization I love: the Southern Foodways Alliance. If Ada were a real person, I would give her a membership in the SFA.
Writing about the body is an intimate undertaking. Writing with humor and love about the black woman’s body is a delicate project. I want to thank all the women I know well enough to talk the triumphs and troubles of the body. They come in all shapes and sizes and colors but these ladies are my kind of brilliantly beautiful: There is power and grace in their hearts, their minds, and their bodies. Allison, Amanda, Becca, Betsy, Caroline C., Edith, Elena, Gail, Gayle, Hortense, Jane, Joan B., Kate, Leatrice, Leslie, Lissa, Martha, Mary Jane, Michelle, Minna, Perian, Siobhan, Thadious, Tracy, and Victoria. And I want to thank the men who are my brothers who have been sometimes the hands sometimes the heart sometimes the mind of the father I so love and lost: David F., David K., Reggie, Seigenthaler, Steve Earle, and Court. Almost a half century ago, my father took a basketball out of my hands and said, “This is not for you.” You put the ball back in my hands. You my Dennis Rodmans. I will never forget that. Nor will I ever forget the men who have been brothers, cousins, godfathers, and other more playful kin: Carter Jun, Neil, Marc, Marq, Matthew, Ray, R
idley, and Steve. And Jerry. He has claimed me as daughter and that makes me proud. As always I thank the godchildren: Kazuma, Charlie, Lucas, Moses, Cynara, Aria, and my play-niece Haviland. I also wish to acknowledge my niece Maddie and nephew Richard. I treasure the steps I have walked with each of you and will walk with each of you.
I want to especially thank my husband, David Steele Ewing, for loving every ounce of me, lost or found.
In the time I was writing this book I was most often fed by Burger-Up, a wonderful farm-to-table restaurant in my neighborhood. I want to thank Miranda and all our bright young friends, musicians, artists, photographers, writers, chefs, and plain joyful livers who have brought so much optimism and so much care to this project. I also want to thank Margot and the staff at my favorite place in the world to eat brunch, Margot Café and Bar. I have been eating at Margot for a decade, almost all my novel-writing life. That is a very good thing. It is also a very good thing that new good places and tastes arrive. For our family, City House has become a well-loved institution. Sitting with Tandy at his chef’s bar is a pure food pleasure. Eating in Nashville is nowhere more adventuresome than at the Catbird Seat. Josh and the Goldbergs create exquisite bites that delight the tongue and feed the eye. What to say about Randy Rayburn’s Sunset Grill—well, that’s where we spent Easter Sunday this year. That tells a lot. Over two decades of dining at Sunset I can’t begin to remember all the joys, losses, and new joys I have celebrated and mourned in the shelter of Randy’s foodspace. The person who dines out with David and me more often than any other person is Godmommy Lea. Lea is the miracle: a fit black foodie. Lord we all love her so.
While I was writing this book, my daughter was living and teaching down in the Mississippi Delta. We owe a debt of gratitude to our Delta Circle, the people with roots in that place who have been such supportive friends to my sweet girl: Dr. Edwards, Elizabeth, Hiram, Julia, Mary McKay, Maudie, Lang, Melissa, Nick, Ruthie, and Yvette.
And I thank my daughter. Ada’s daughters follow Ada to fitland. If I get to fitland it will be because I followed in the strong footsteps of Caroline Randall Williams. She is the sugar in the plum.
A Note on the Author
Alice Randall was born in Detroit, grew up in Washington, D.C., and graduated from Harvard. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Wind Done Gone, Pushkin and the Queen of Spades, and Rebel Yell. She is also an award-winning country songwriter. Randall lives with her husband in Nashville and is currently writer-in-residence at Vanderbilt University. Like Ada, she’s done battle with her weight. And, like Ada, she’s a proud member of the Links, Incorporated.
By the Same Author
The Wind Done Gone
Pushkin and the Queen of Spades
Rebel Yell
Copyright © 2012 by Alice Randall
Electronic edition published in May 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information address Bloomsbury USA, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. This book is also not intended to provide specific nutritional or medical advice for any individual. Before making significant changes in diet, consult a qualified professional.
Published by Bloomsbury USA, New York
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint the following
previously published material: “If You’re Going Through Hell
(Before the Devil Even Knows),” © 2006 Gravitron Music (SESAC),
Whadayafed Music (SASAC), 66.67. A division of Carnival Music Company.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Randall, Alice.
Ada’s rules : a sexy skinny novel / Alice Randall.—1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-6081-9840-5 (e-book)
I. Title.
PS3568.A486A65 2012
813’.54—dc23
2011038692
First U.S. Edition 2012
www.bloomsburyusa.com
Ada's Rules Page 26
