Shaking the Tree

by Keith R. Rees

  Chapter 10

  It was a late October afternoon and the air was crisp. Not much had changed in downtown Clara. As I passed the old drive-in, I noticed that it had a “Closed” sign hanging in the box office entrance. Beyond that, I could see the wooden patchwork on the screen where the hole had blown through during the big storm.

  Arriving just in the time for the funeral, I sat quietly, noticing that there were only about fifteen people there. Mrs. Bea was sitting at the foot of the grave site, dressed all in black. She was probably in her late seventies or early eighties by now. She never looked up to see who was there, not even in my direction. I don’t know if she knew I was there, but it didn’t matter.

  Behind her was a young man looking quite sharp in his military uniform. His face looked familiar but I couldn’t place the name. I figured he was a distant relative or friend of the family.

  The service ended and I stood in front of the grave for quite a long while. Soon I noticed the name on the simple stone that had been placed at the site. It read in small etched letters, Theodore ‘Sooter’ Malloy, Sr. 1895-1982.

  I was perplexed and dumbfounded. “Theodore was his real name?” I said, out loud. “Senior?”

  I couldn’t believe it. I had never known that Sooter and Beatrice had a son. Suddenly I realized and whispered to myself, “Little Theo.” Why, that old dog! He never once told me that. Man, I must have been blind. I should have known. I stood and kind of chuckled to myself. Sooter was more of a mystery than I had ever imagined.

  I visited Mrs. Bea before making the long drive back to Hattiesburg. The old dirt road was so familiar, it was as if I had never left. The cotton fields were looking to be at the peak of the harvest season. As I approached the familiar sight of the pecan orchard, it surprised me to see the sign outside the grove still read Havens Trees.

  “Well, I’ll be,” I said to myself. “He kept the name.”

  I turned down the lane and parked in front of the first house. Mrs. Bea was rocking on the front porch, still wearing her black dress. The house looked just as it did after we rebuilt it so many years ago.

  “Hello, Mrs. Malloy,” I said cordially.

  She didn’t say anything at first, just continuing to rock in her chair and stare at the pecan orchard. “He would have been glad you came,” she finally said.

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  “No need to be so formal, Mr. Nick,” she said, turning her wrinkled grin towards me. “Come and give me a hug.”

  I leaned over and gave her a hug and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Bea. I know this must be hard.”

  “That’s alright,” she said, continuing her rocking. “He was happy, all the way to the end. He lived a good, hard life. He sho did.”

  Theo appeared in the doorway, still wearing his uniform. “You alright, Mama?” he asked, concerned.

  “Of course,” she answered.

  “Hello,” I said. “You…you must be Theo. You may not remember me, but we worked together as kids. I’m Nick.” I extended my hand to him. He shook it grudgingly.

  “I figured it was you back at the cemetery,” he said.

  It was embarrassing, but I decided to admit my shortsightedness. “I’m sorry for your loss, Theo. He was a good man. I have to admit though, Mrs. Bea, I didn’t know Theo was your son.”

  “I know that’s right,” Theo laughed. “You was probably the only one that didn’t know. You sho was naïve, Mr. Nick.” He laughed again as he sat next to his mother.

  “That’s enough, son,” Beatrice scolded.

  “You’re right. I must look like I have egg on my face.” I was still amazed at how I never knew Theo was Sooter’s son.

  “Don’t pay him no mind,” Beatrice said. “It was just Sooter’s way, you know? He never had to get on to Little Theo because he grew up hard and fast. It was just his way. He was always the boss ‘round here. ‘Specially when it came to them trees. When there was work to be done out there, he didn’t show no extra attention so’s no one would take to it and think somethin’ of it.”

  “I don’t understand,” I confessed.

  “He just wanted his boy to be like everyone else.”

  “Plus he liked a good long-runnin’ joke too,” Theo laughed.

  “That he did,” I said, laughing with him. “Just seemed odd he never said anything all those times we sat and talked. I’m not afraid to say, he was like another father to me. He was a good man.”

  Beatrice stopping rocking for a moment and said, “Like I said, it was just his way. I remember long time ago, yo grandpa asked him to look after you. He told yo grandpa he would, and that’s what he did.”

  “Grandpa?” I asked.

  “Mmm-hm. But he did the same for Theo, just in his own way.” She began rocking again.

  It all began to make sense to me now. Theo never said much to me at all back then. I never knew why until now.

  “I see you’re in the army,” I said, trying to change the subject.

  “Been in for twelve years now. Done made sergeant,” Theo answered.

  “Sooter was always so proud,” Beatrice added.

  “I bet so,” I said, nodding.

  “How about something cold?” Theo asked as he got up to go inside. I nodded in appreciation.

  “He gonna take over now,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Look after them trees. Sooter done gave it over to Little Theo.”

  “Oh. That’s real good.”

  Mrs. Bea sat for a long while after that, rocking and staring at the orchard and it seemed like an eternity before she spoke again. “You was always good to him,” she said finally. “Giving him this place warmed his heart like you’ll never know.”

  “I’m glad Mrs. Bea,” I answered. “It should have been his all along. Nobody knew those trees better than him.”

  “’Cept for you, maybe,” she said, smiling.

  I blushed. “Oh, I don’t know. He did teach me everything he knew, that’s for sure. But he was the real expert.”

  Her voice became grave all of a sudden. “You saved my life, Mr. Nick. When you did that, you saved his too. Don’t forget that. That’s why I wrote you the letter, so I could thank you to yo face. I know I never said much of anything to you back then. But I always thanked God that you came along that day. Both of us did.”

  I didn’t really know what to say, but she probably understood. I never really knew how to talk about what happened during the storm. “I guess I learned that from Sooter too, Mrs. Bea,” I finally said. “If he hadn’t helped my sister, she wouldn’t be here either.” I put my hand on hers and squeezed it tightly. “I’m glad you wrote me, Mrs. Bea.”

  There wasn’t much else to say after that. I sat with her for a while longer, just speaking of pleasant memories of ol’ Sooter.

  Theo returned with some cold tea and sat with us on the porch. I told him if he ever needed somebody to help him with the taxes on the grove, I’d be glad to help him out free of charge.

  I took one last look at the grove before the long drive back to Hattiesburg. The air was right and the trees were almost ready for the coming harvest. I leaned on the window sill on my elbow and smiled.

  “The shucks are split, old friend,” I said to myself. “Looks like they’re ready.”

  At that moment, somewhere up in the sky, I knew ol’ Sooter must have been saying right back to me, “You sho right, Mr. Nick. You sho right.”

 

  Chapter 11

  When I returned home, I was thrilled to see Janey and the kids. I had been thinking all the way back home that it would be nice if we took a little vacation as a family. We hadn’t been on one in quite a while and the office was slow anyway.

  Janey thought it was a great idea, figuring we could use a break before the big tax season came. So, we piled into the car and drove the short distance to Gulfport. We spent a week there relaxing on the beach.

  I knew about a spot that s
omeone had told me about years before, where a beach house stood all alone on the beach, and you could walk for miles. We found that little house and we decided to spend the whole day right at that very spot.

  Walking on the beach behind the old beach house, I could see a small niche cut into the side of the slope running down to the beach. The niche had a place for two to sit, side by side, and just stare out to sea.

  I couldn’t believe it was actually there. I laughed out loud and Janey looked at me as if I had gone crazy. “What is it?” she asked curiously.

  “Ol’ Sooter was right,” I said, smiling. “There’s no other place like this on God’s green Earth.”

  If you ever get down to Mississippi, there’s a place just outside of Clara. Sure, it’s an hour or so from Laurel and at least two hours from anything else, but to me it was a blessed place unlike any other.

  If you do find your way down there, you’ll find a sign that says Havens Trees pointing out a small pecan orchard filled with beautiful trees. If you turn down the dirt road next to the orchard, you’ll see another short lane lined with old wooden homes. Just beyond the first house, you’ll see a large, beautiful pecan tree all by itself on top of a small hill. It’s a beautiful tree with glorious shade underneath that can cool you even on the hottest of days. Under that tree, you’ll see a plain wooden sign, placed there anonymously not too long ago. The sign simply reads, Sooter’s Tree.