Folly Beach Part 16

"Oh, my G.o.d! I'll learn to knit! I'll learn to crochet! Have you told Sara?"

"No, you're the first person we've told. Well, Alice called her mom but that's different, right?"

Actually, I was glad she had told her mother first. It was the right thing to do. If Sara had called her mother-in-law before me I would've cut her throat. Of course, her throat had not been jeopardized thus far.

"Oh, Alice! Dear child! Is your momma thrilled? Oh! What a stupid question! Of course she is!"

Alice smiled and turned her head to the side. "She's very happy."

Her mother, Maureen, lived in St. Paul and I knew she'd be coming to visit as much as she could. I'd have to help them fix up a guest room. And a nursery! A nursery.

"Old Maureen almost burst she was so excited," Russ said. "Yeah, I'm gonna have me a boy to shoot hoops!"

"What if he turns out to be a she?" I said, still smiling like . . . I can't even tell you how I was smiling. From my toes up to my face? Inside and out?

"Can't happen! I'm having a boy first. Then Alice can have all the girls she wants."

"Guess we'll have to fence the yard this summer," Alice said.

"Oh, honey, don't worry yourself about a fence. There's time for that yet. And how do you feel? Are you feeling all right?" I reached out and put my hand on her arm. She did not recoil. This was a good sign.

"I feel great, actually." She smiled and I realized her complexion had a new opalescent glow. Too bad I couldn't bottle it. "I really feel fine. A little more tired than normal, but that's all."

"Well, isn't this just wonderful? This is just wonderful."

"I was worried you wouldn't be so happy," Alice said, perfectly straight-faced.

"Oh, Alice." I looked at her and thought, okay, this is it, you confrontational little so-and-so. a.s.suming she carries this child to term and delivers? She's in my life forever. Sometimes a baby seals a marriage. It happens with royalty all the time. I cleared my throat. "Alice? I am very happy. I could not be happier! Wouldn't you say this family needs a piece of good news? And this is the best news! It really is, darlin'!" I almost choked on darlin', but I decided immediately on hearing their news that from that moment forward, I was going to be the model in-law, which I thought basically required saying only positive things and saying very little at that.

"Let's call Sara," Russ said.

Russ dialed Sara's number and put her on speakerphone.

"Hey, sis! I'm here with Mom and Alice and we've got some news!"

"Yeah, what?" Sara said, without an ounce of enthusiasm.

"We're having a baby!"

Silence from California.

And then, after an uncomfortable pause, "That's so not funny, Russ."

Russ picked up his cell phone and clicked a b.u.t.ton, making it a private conversation in case Sara said something ugly about Alice. "Come on, Sara, you're going to be an aunt!" He listened to her, nodding his head and saying, I know, I know, unbelievable, right? September. Yep. Then he covered the phone with his hand and gave it to Alice. "She's psyched. She wants to congratulate you."

I watched Alice's expressions as she spoke to Sara. She seemed deeply satisfied with herself. That was rea.s.suring to me. It was good for a woman to have confidence when she is preparing to bring a child into the world.

The rest of the evening, which included a room-temperature peach pie from the store and vanilla ice cream, pa.s.sed as though I was in a dream. What other dramatic changes were in store for me? My children? I was still fighting to regain my bearings from losing Addison and everything else and it didn't matter at all to the world. Not one bit. The world continued to turn and life continued to go on. My son was going to be a father. Addison would've been so happy to know it. Look what he was missing. The idiot.

I had hoped so hard against their denial of readiness that they would have children and soon. I wanted Russ and Alice to know the kind of deep joy and happiness that only comes with a family. And while I looked at the world very differently than my daughter-in-law, she made Russ happy. That was what mattered.

"You'd better call Aunt Daisy," I said. "Wait till she hears this!"

Chapter Seventeen.

Setting: The Porgy House in the music room.

Director's Note: Photos of cardboard theater, cardboard actors, a soup tureen, and Jenifer on the backstage scrim. Voices of Jenifer and DuBose from off-stage.

Act II.

Scene 4.

Dorothy: I remember like it was yesterday. No change in the weather. No change in our moods, either. Our s.h.i.+p had yet to come in. We had consumed vast quant.i.ties of split-pea soup, more from boredom than from hunger, and we didn't know what to do with ourselves.

DuBose was as sulky as I had ever seen him and Jenifer was whiny. I thought I might go a little crazy. Cabin fever, I thought, that's what we've got. A colossal case of cabin fever. But it was cold and drizzling outside and no weather in which to send her out to play. She would catch her death and then give it to us!

Then I remembered the theater I had when I was a little girl. It was made of cardboard as were all the characters. Every day I wrote a new play and made new characters, forcing my family to attend the performances. I would make one with Jenifer and we would while away the hours reenacting fairy tales until the sun came out. Brilliant!

I remembered that I had some corrugated cardboard boxes whose present use was to hold old clothes I intended to take to the church for the poor. I dumped the contents of one of those boxes on the bed in the room downstairs opposite the kitchen and rattled through the kitchen drawers until I found my serrated knife. I cut off the flaps, turned it upside down, and cut out almost all of one side leaving some edges to be like stage wings. Then I cut a hole in the top of the box, through which I could lower my cardboard characters like puppets, their backs secured to pencils with tape.

I searched the pantry for some paint and all I had was some poster paints, old pots of red, blue, and yellow, almost dried up from neglect. I boiled some water, added a little bit to each pot, and shook them like mad. Then I covered the kitchen table with newspaper and called Jenifer.

"What is it, Mommy?" she said.

"We're opening a theater!" I announced and put her to work, painting the building in red and blue stripes with yellow stars scattered all around.

Her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands. Jenifer was delighted. Here was my child, whose attention span was about as short as it could be one minute and in the next she was lost in s.p.a.ce, completely absorbed in our project. That short attention span and s.p.a.ciness would cause her trouble later on and all through her life. But then? We pa.s.sed that afternoon and so many others, stretched across the living-room floor on our stomachs, lost in the world of princesses and every fantasy a childhood could hold. When all our stories were exhausted, we began to make up new ones. DuBose watched and listened, applauding at the end of each performance, praising Jenifer's ingenuity and natural gifts he claimed she inherited from me.

"No doubt you'll have a spectacular theatrical life, little one!" he said.

"Oh, no, Daddy. That's your life and Mommy's. I'm going to be a ballerina," Jenifer said with solemn determination and then she rose on her toes, pirouetting across the room.

Fade to Darkness.

Chapter Eighteen.

The Moon.

"What? I can hardly believe it!" Aunt Daisy said, practically breathless, having thrown herself back in her chair from the news, slapping her hand across her heart.

I had suggested to Alice and Russ that it would be thoughtful and yes, respectful to take a ride out to Folly to tell Aunt Daisy and Ella the news in person. I had called Patti and told her myself and she almost fainted.

"So, they have a s.e.x life," she said deadpan.

"Apparently," I said and we broke into a fit of laughter.

"My G.o.d. Now what? Are you going to get a blue tint for your hair?"

"You know, I've got a body part you can kiss, too!"

So the next evening, before I met up with John, we were all gathered in Aunt Daisy and Ella's kitchen, sitting around the table eating, what else, but a freshly baked pecan pie, still warm from the oven. We were all going to be diabetic soon but nonetheless, I had called ahead to Ella and begged her to make one and told her there was wonderful news, news truly worth celebrating.

"It'll be on the table by six o'clock," she said. "Don't y'all want to have dinner?"

"Well, I'm seeing John and . . ."

"Shoot. I ain't getting in between you and that man. Not me!"

"There's nothing to get in between," I said hoping that my words were a lie.

Anyway, I was all dressed (not to kill but hopefully to seriously maim) and ready to go out with John so I just drove over and met them at Aunt Daisy and Ella's beforehand. I don't have to tell you that I did not put on lipstick or cologne. I didn't want to hear about it and Lord knows, in my family someone always has something to say.

"It's true!" Russ said. "We're having a baby, Aunt Daisy. Isn't it great?"

"Mother McCree! I never thought I'd live to see the day when you were old enough to get married, much less have a child!" She sighed heavily and then, the sentimental nature of the moment getting the better of her, she smiled wistfully. "G.o.d, oh how I wish my sister was still alive for this. I miss her something awful right now. I really do."

"I miss her too, Aunt Daisy," I said, smiling. "But you did the heavy lifting with Patti and me so you deserve the spoils. Anyway, you have to believe she's up there somewhere watching over us all the time, don't you?"

"Humph," she said with a grunt.

So much for Aunt Daisy's spiritual side.

"She's watching alright," Ella said. "You have to believe that or else what are you going to do?"

"Oh, I prefer to howl at the full moon," Aunt Daisy said, straight-faced. Then she cut her eye at me and said, "So, somebody's gonna be a grandmother!"

I laughed and looked at Alice. "And somebody else is gonna be a mother!"

"I sure am," she said. "This pie is so awesome. Do you think I could have another little piece?"

"You sure can, honey," Aunt Daisy said. "You can have the whole thing!"

"Just a forkful," she said.

Ella got up, took Alice's plate, and cut her another big slice. As she handed Alice the pie, she leaned in and said, "You carrying a girl chile. Uh-huh, got you a girl!"

"Oh, come on," Alice said. "You couldn't know that."

"Aw, come on, Aunt Ella," Russ said. "I'm hoping for a b-ball buddy!"

"Ain't no reason why that chile can't play ball, but she's a girl all the same."

"How do you know, Ella?" I said.

" 'Cause she's cravin' shugah! Boys want pickles. Girls like sweets. Mark my word! Y'all all see what come September!"

"No point in debating with Ella on that," Aunt Daisy said. "She calls 'em all the time and guess what? It's the only thing we never argue about."

" 'Cause I'm right all the time and you know it," Ella said.

"Did you hear me disagree with you? You going deaf now, too?"

We all laughed and I stood up to leave, taking my plate to the sink to rinse.

"Where you headed, Mom?"

"Humph," said Aunt Daisy, with her eyes widened to capacity and rolling around for emphasis. She certainly was opinionated tonight.

"I'm having dinner with John Risley."

"Oh," Russ said. "Well, that's great. Have fun!"

"Thanks. Listen, if your sister calls, you might want to keep that detail to yourself."

"Oh, heeeere we go again," Alice said, and put her fork down.

"What does that mean, Alice?" I said.

Now, wouldn't you think that a twenty-eight-year-old young woman would have more manners than to voice an opinion about her mother-in-law's social life in front of everyone? Pregnant or not, shouldn't there be some kind of a filter between her hormonal brain and her flapping jaw? Apparently not.

"I'm just saying that to ask Russ to lie for you? It's not a good thing. That's all."

Would it be so terrible if I put just one strip of duct tape over her mouth?

"You're just saying? Well, that's nice. Listen, Alice, I'm not asking Russ to lie for me or anyone else. I just don't think it's necessary to go advertising every piece of information you have. Sara is very sensitive and I don't want her upset."

"Don't worry, Mom. I won't tell Sara."

"What if she asks?" Alice said.

"Then you just say you don't know."

"That would be a lie," Alice said, finis.h.i.+ng off that unnecessary but irresistible second piece of pie.

"No, sweetie, that would be discretion. Big difference. Now, if any of you ever see me having dinner with a known criminal then please, be my guest and alert the authorities. Anyway, he's a friend and that's all. It's nice for me to have a friend, don't you think?"