Land of Mango Sunsets, The

by Dorothea Benton Frank

  “Okay.” I could hardly believe my ears. “I will. Be careful going home and give my best to Priscilla, okay?”

  “Ha! You’re turning into a regular sport, Mom. You really are.”

  He actually kissed my cheek. I watched him walk down the hall. I would be diligent about my relationship with Charlie from here on out. I knew I couldn’t regain the lost time I could have spent with him, but I would do all I could to help his marriage get off on the right foot, to get to know Priscilla, and to be a good mother-in-law. Well, I would try. The mother-in-law thing was sure to present a challenge.

  Next on my list would be Danny and Nan. I would fly to California to see them with lots of little treats for my grandchildren. We would go to the zoo and take lots of pictures. I would buy them souvenirs and send Dan and Nan off to dinner someplace wonderful—my treat. I would babysit, make cookies, and spoil the kids rotten…I had a lot of making up to do, but at least I was making a plan.

  But my first order of business was to get Liz on the road to repair.

  “Miriam? Miriam?” Kevin said. “I think she’s waking up! Hurry!”

  I rushed to Liz’s bedside. As promised, her eyes were fluttering and she was licking her swollen lips.

  “Where am I?”

  “We’re right here, Liz. Kevin and I. Don’t try to get up…”

  “I’m gonna get a nurse,” Kevin said. “I’ll be right back.”

  I told her what had happened to her and to Truman. I told her all that I knew about her injuries and what the expected recovery time was. She was weak and her voice was barely above a whisper.

  “It’s going to be all right, Liz,” I said. “If it’s the last thing I ever do, I’m going to make sure that everything is all right.”

  “Well, look who’s rejoined the land of the living!” The nurse had arrived with Kevin in her wake. “How are you feeling, Ms. Harper?”

  “Awful. Everything hurts.”

  “Can we give her something for pain?” I said.

  “I can, but we can’t.” Nurse Ratchet gave me the hairy eyeball from one end to the other. “Who are you?”

  “I’m her aunt, Miriam Swanson.”

  “Let me guess,” she said, deadpan, looking at Kevin with his round tortoiseshell eyeglasses and polished head. “You’re the uncle?”

  “Why are you people so suspicious of everyone?” I said.

  “Because you wouldn’t believe what goes on around here,” Nurse F. Hades said. (The F stood for from.) “Okay, will the family excuse us? I have to check my patient’s vitals…”

  Kevin and I stepped out into the hall. He was miffed.

  “Can you believe that old battle-ax in there? Be in charge! See if I care!”

  “I agree. Crass. Just crass. But on the other hand, she probably knows the truth about how Liz landed here. This is not a country club, you know. And what Truman did is criminal. For all she knows, we could be lawyers. Or from the National Enquirer. Who knows?”

  “You’re right, of course. Petal? I can’t wait to get our Liz out of here.”

  “I’m with you on that! But I can’t wait for her to be better.”

  “I’m exhausted.”

  “Me, too, but I’m going to sit with her tonight. Why don’t you tell her good night and check on Harry for me. Call me and let me know the house is okay and all that.”

  “Deal.”

  The nurse came out and said, “Visiting hours ended a long time ago. That girl needs rest.”

  “And I intend to see that she gets it. I’d like an ice pack, please, so I can try to reduce her swelling.”

  “Hmmph,” she said, and then her body language changed. She had concluded that I might not have been her aunt but I wasn’t a threat to hospital security. “Good idea, actually. I’ll have an orderly bring one when I get a chance. Can’t imagine why she doesn’t have one already.”

  “That’s why it’s important to have your family around in times of need,” Kevin said, and pursed his lips into a tight square as only royalty could.

  She actually giggled, pointed her finger at him, and walked away with a wink.

  “Petal? Did that beast actually wink at me?”

  “She thinks you’re slick.”

  “Well, she’s right.”

  Kevin sat close to Liz and held her free hand.

  “Liz,” he said. “Miriam and I don’t want you to worry about a single thing. We are going to get you the best plastic surgeon and oral surgeon in New York. And believe me, we won’t rest until you are as right as rain. If these bitches don’t give you your pain medication on time, you just call me, okay? In fact, if I can do anything, you call me. My only regret is that I didn’t get to mop up the floor with your, ahem, gentleman caller.”

  Kevin rolled his eyebrows and Liz responded with a lopsided smile.

  “Thanks,” she said, slurring a little.

  He got up, kissed the top of her head, and waved at us.

  “Call me if you need anything,” he mouthed, holding his thumb and little finger beside his head like a cell phone.

  “Okay,” I mouthed back.

  Liz was already drifting off to sleep by the time I closed her door and settled into the chair next to her. Worn out as my body was, my mind was racing. What a week it had been!

  I wondered what my mother would have said about this horrible business with Liz and Truman and what she would have had to say about Agnes Willis’s behavior. More than likely, plenty. Miss Josie would have said that Liz had probably been fully informed that she was playing with fire. But she would never have entertained the idea that Liz had gotten what she deserved from Truman. She might have said that perhaps her father had been cruel to her and that may have been the reason Liz would be so willing to sleep with a man that much older than she was. But in any and all cases, a man should never raise his hand to a woman. She would have said that Truman Willis was not a gentleman to be sure and that Agnes, in her private moments, had to be terribly unhappy and embittered.

  I could see my mother in my mind’s eye as I told her the story over a cup of hot tea at her kitchen counter. That was what I wanted then—to be with my mother. To tell her this entire story because she would care about it. It was too late to call her then but I would surely have told her the whole story by tomorrow night.

  Right in front of my eyes, life was changing. I had already determined that I was going to take Liz under my wing, and Charlie, Priscilla, Danny, Nan, and their two. I marveled at the sense of peace it gave me and how quickly it had all come about. In the time it took for the sun to rise and fall only once, I had begun to gather real purpose back into my life. Even the creaking rusted hinges on the door to my heart were open just enough to look at love again. Okay, maybe with one eye, but it was slightly less jaundiced than before.

  Chapter Twelve

  MOTHER HEN

  Kevin and I brought Liz home from the hospital two days later and put her in Charlie’s old room. She didn’t even object. Between her collapsed lung, the pain meds that made her woozy, and her sling, traveling up and down the stairs to the second floor held little appeal. Besides that, the thought of her taking a tumble down the steps and breaking her neck scared Kevin and me out of our wits. We all agreed that being my houseguest was a better choice than being a prisoner upstairs. I intended to see that she ate well, rested, and recuperated as she should.

  Liz looked worse than she had in the hospital because her bruises had taken on every color found in nature. But at least the swelling was reduced. And true to his word, Charlie had booked appointments for her to see Dr. Imber and a wonderful oral surgeon named Gordon Ferguson.

  She told us that the day after the incident the police visited her hospital room and asked her if she wanted to press charges against Truman Willis.

  “I just said, no, I don’t. What good would come of it? Enough damage had been done. I just need to get better. Who cares about him anyway?”

  Later on Kevin said to me, “Don’t you think it�
�s odd that Liz is so serene? I mean, if somebody waled on me like Truman Willis did on Liz, I’d at least be furious!”

  “It’s odd and it makes me wonder just what in the world her life was like before we knew her. She could take a beating like that and practically cower as though she deserved it? That curtain doesn’t hang quite straight, does it?”

  “No. It’s peculiar.”

  We thought it was absolutely terrible that neither Truman nor Agnes had inquired if they could help with Liz’s medical bills, especially when they surely knew in the days that followed that the charges against Truman had been dropped. I mean, Liz could have thrown a hand grenade in their lives but she had decided against it. Shouldn’t that have scored some points with someone?

  Kevin said he was not surprised about the silence or lack of gratitude from the Willis camp. His lone encounter with Agnes at the hospital had been revolting to him. And he thought Truman Willis was the scum of the earth. Kevin said there was no word strong enough to aptly define the Willis arrogance and he was one hundred percent correct about that. I think Kevin sort of looked at Liz like a little sister and he was just smoldering with anger that someone could do such a thing to her.

  I said to Liz, “You know, honey, Truman Willis has more than enough money to pay the bills, especially the plastic surgery and for your teeth. A lawyer’s letter to him is all we need. You are certainly within your rights to threaten a civil suit.”

  “Yeah, but then every time I touched my face or took a bite, I would remember that I had to sue the money out of him. I prefer to remember my stupidity instead.”

  “Your stupidity? What about mine? It was my big mouth that put this train wreck in motion!”

  I had told Liz the whole truth of my relationship with Agnes, how our so-called friendship and most other friendships had fallen apart on the departure of my husband. Then of course, there was the calamitous coffee-urn story.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Swanson, about what happened to you, but I would have loved to see the look on her face when you told her about Truman. You’re probably the first person who gave her any, pardon me, crap in a million years.”

  “Darlin’? At this point, I think you can call me Miriam.”

  I apologized to Liz over and over but I desperately wanted her to understand that I never meant to hurt anyone except Agnes, and even that was wrong. Never again would I seek to inflict pain in anyone’s life. Apparently, there was a little Buddha germinating in my soul.

  “Miriam? Gosh, it sounds so funny to call you that. But, Miriam? Honestly, if I had been in your position, I sure might have said the same thing. I mean, at that moment you couldn’t have thought something like this would happen.”

  “Not in a million years. Still. I did a terrible thing to Agnes Willis that caused an undeserved tragedy to happen to you.”

  “Yeah, but she definitely deserved some comeuppance,” Liz said. “What a, pardon me, bitch she is.”

  Liz still cussed but excused herself when she did. I took that as a sign of personal growth.

  “You’re telling me? You would not believe how many times she embarrassed me just for the sport of it. Anyway, for someone who has a history of great self-control, I surely did lose my composure in a big way.”

  “Well, we all learned something here, right? When I look like a girl again, I’m gonna sign up at match.com or something and start looking for guys my own age.”

  “Good! And find an old poop for me while you’re at it.”

  “You know, Miriam, that’s not a bad idea.”

  “Oh, please! Actually,” and I whispered for no reason, “I’ve met someone who might be fun to be with.”

  “You did? Tell me about him. Does Kevin know?”

  “Honey, Kevin knows when I pluck an eyebrow.”

  Liz was propped up against four pillows, positioned in a way that allowed her to sleep without disturbing her shoulder. I sat on the opposite bed and told her all about meeting Harrison and Manny. I even confided that I had a flutter in my heart for Harrison but why it was impossible to pursue it. But that Manny was interesting, a great cook, and more than your basic southern man with beautiful manners. I hoped that something would develop with him but that depended greatly on how much time I was able to spend in South Carolina.

  “Don’t settle for a consolation prize, Miriam. Are you positive that Harrison is your mama’s sweetie?”

  “Trust me. You should see the way she looks at him. But Manny’s not a consolation prize. He’s a catch, too.”

  And of course, there was Charles and Priscilla’s approaching wedding. Liz and I had a funny discussion of visions of goats turning on spits and steel-drum music.

  “Where’s it gonna be?”

  “You know what? I hardly have a single detail but I’m having dinner with them on Thursday and I’ll know a lot more after that.”

  Talking to Liz in that way and in that situation was like talking to a daughter I had never had, and I enjoyed it so much. In fact, I enjoyed it so very much that it surprised me how nostalgic I became and I wanted her to know who I really was. Soon I was telling her about my mother and Sullivans Island and what it had been like to grow up there, how I had brought my sons there as little boys and how they had always loved it. And as I described the almost mystical aura of the island to her, naturally it became clearer to me how much I cherished Sullivans Island. Liz listened to my rambling with a child’s innocence. I could see in her eyes that she, like everyone else, was enchanted by the romantic idea of an island with a mango sun.

  “It must’ve been wonderful. I would love to go there someday—meet your mother and all. I’ll bet she’s great.”

  Here was an opportunity for me to do something to make up for the hell I had brought to her.

  “Then we’ll do it. I’ll take you there.”

  “Really?”

  “Yep, as soon as you’ve got teeth and the stitches are out of your face.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Shoot! Sure! Why not? I’ll find us some cheap tickets and we’ll go!”

  “That would be so nice to feel the sun, wouldn’t it?”

  Liz’s eyes were drooping and I knew it was time for her to nap.

  “Yes, it will be nice. Why don’t you rest now and I’ll wake you up when it’s lunchtime.”

  She nodded and I left her to sleep.

  We were taking all the right steps to set the world right again. Kevin would drop by every evening with different cosmetic samples to cover her bruises and scarves to use for a sling, and he even brought her two wonderful running suits that were soft enough to sleep in.

  Between the incident and her return home, I had gone up to Liz’s apartment and restored some order. I knew the complete disarray and the sight of her blood on the bathroom floor would be traumatic for her, so I cleaned up, tried to set things back in their place, and ran a dust cloth over the furniture.

  When you considered everything, Liz was doing fine. There didn’t seem to be any psychological damage other than embarrassment and I kept thinking that was so strange. But when we talked about it again, Kevin said perhaps she was the kind of woman who just held things inside. The college had given her a leave of absence and said she could return as soon as she felt well enough. But her salary was going to be interrupted, which posed a rent problem if she convalesced for more than a few weeks. Liz fretted over that, but I could not have cared less. In fact, I liked having her around and so did Harry.

  Kevin and I said it so often that Harry had taken to saying “How are you feeling?” He might have been a bird but he was smart enough to know something important had changed his habitat. In the past I would have been a complete wreck over something like this, but for some reason I was less anxious having Liz in residence. And Harry? He was whistling all day long.

  Thursday’s dinner date with Charlie and Priscilla rolled around faster than I thought it would. I had all sorts of wardrobe problems, which Liz helped me resolve. I didn’t want to look frump
y or prissy and that meant ninety percent of what I owned was not going to deliver an image of a cool, hip, open-minded, but loving future mother-in-law. Kevin brought me a heavy gold charm bracelet to wear for good luck.

  “It’s youthful and all the rage this season,” he said. “Save the box so I can return it.”

  It was not a gift.

  “Absolutely. Gosh, I had one of these a million years ago. It was silver. I wonder whatever happened to it?” In my youth, each charm represented something special to you and they were collected over the years and soldered on the links one by one. Now you bought them by theme. This one represented Gone with the Wind.

  “It’s probably in a shoe box with your high school report cards. Honestly, one of these days we have to clean the basement. Isn’t that tiny Scarlett adorable?”

  “Yes. You’re right, of course.”

  As you might imagine, before I left the house, Kevin and Liz gave me all manner of advice.

  “Try to find out as much as you can about her family,” Kevin said. “That will tell you a lot. Diseases, education, religious affiliations, you know…the gene pool?”

  He was right, not that it mattered.

  “Find out what she likes to do in her spare time, then you can figure out future birthday and Christmas presents.” Practical advice from Liz.

  “The main thing I want to know,” I said, “is that she is one hundred percent in love with Charlie. And that she’s not as boring as I always thought she was.”

  I had chosen an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side of the city that was very good but not pretentious, which was to say I could afford to take the check. I had debated bringing Kevin along and then decided it would be best if it was just the three of us. Having Kevin there would change the group dynamic and I really wanted to know as much as I could about my future daughter-in-law. Most important, I wanted to charm her into liking me. Maybe the charm bracelet would help.