Lily of the Springs (3 page)

I heard Norry step into the room behind me.

“Hi, there, Sylvie Lou.” Norry’s dark eyes fixed anxiously upon the old woman’s face. “Did I hear you say Charles Alton is in the hospital in Louieville?”

“Yes, hon, he is…and ya’all are gonna come stay with me until your mama and daddy get home.”

I swallowed hard and glanced at my sister. She looked curiously vulnerable in her long white cotton nightgown, her shell-like pink toes peeking from beneath its hem. The color had drained from her cheeks, leaving her as pale as she’d been the night before when she’d been so sick.

I understood why. It was fear for our baby brother. Just a few weeks ago, he’d been a happy, healthy two-year-old, an angelic, laughing child, his head covered in bright gold ringlets. When I’d kissed him goodbye this morning, he’d barely stirred, poor thing. And his cheek had felt like it was on fire. But now, at least, he was in the hospital, and them big city doctors would take good care of him.

One thing was for darn sure, though. There was
no way
on God’s green earth I was going over to Sylvie Lou Blankenship’s. No matter
what
Daddy said! Tonight was the biggest night of my life, and I wasn’t about to have it ruined. After all, I was a grown woman now. Not only had I turned 18 back in March, I now had a bonafide high school diploma. Didn’t Daddy remember that?

“Do they know what’s wrong with him?” Norry asked in a small voice.

Sylvie Lou shook her tightly-curled head. “They’s doing tests. That’s all I know.” She looked around the room. “Where’s the boys? Y’all need to get your things together and come on now. I got soup beans on the stove and cornbread in the skillet. And later, you can help me fry up a pullet for Sunday dinner.”

“I don’t know where the boys are,” I said, trying to sound all grown up. “They’re probably down at the Star Theater watching the matinee. Anyhow, I really appreciate your offer, Sylvie Lou, but we’re gonna stay right here and wait for Mother and Daddy and Charles Alton to come home.”

The old woman’s haggard face darkened like a thundercloud. That meant she was gearing up for a fight. “But your daddy tol’ me---”

“My daddy is upset about his baby,” I cut in, holding the woman’s gaze defiantly. “He’s forgotten he has a grown up daughter here, perfectly able to take care of things while he’s gone. So, thank you kindly for your offer, Sylvie Lou, but we’re gonna stay put.”

Sylvie Lou opened her mouth as if to protest, but I didn’t let her get to it. “Thanks for bringing us the message,” I added, walking toward the door.

The elderly woman shook her head and
tsked
under her breath, but stepped out onto the front porch when I opened the door for her. “I just don’t know,” she muttered in a last ditch effort to change my mind. “Your daddy ain’t gonna like this one bit.”

“It’ll be fine,” I said firmly, and closed the door in her face, feeling only a little ashamed of myself. But Lord Almighty, I was a grown-up now. When was people going to start treating me like one?

I turned to Norry with a sigh of relief, then stiffened at the stricken look on her face. “Oh, honey…”

She stared back at me, eyes wide with fear. “What do you think is wrong with Charles Alton, Lil? Is he going to be okay?”

I crossed the room and took her into my arms. “He’s going to be just fine, honey,” I murmured, stroking her dark curls. “You’ll see. Them big city doctors are going to fix him right up. Before you know it, he’ll be home playing Peek-a-Boo with us, fit as a fiddle.”

Norry lifted her head. “You promise?”

I nodded firmly. “Cross my heart and hope to die.” Relief settled onto Norry’s face, and I hoped desperately I’d spoken the truth.

“
I
don’t believe it,” I moaned to my best friend, Daisy, over the sound of Eddy Howard singing “(It’s No) Sin” on Katydid’s record player. My eyes scanned the crowd in the Wilkes’s large basement recreation room. “Why isn’t he here?”

Daisy pursed her ruby-red lips and took a sip of the Coca-Cola her pudgy-faced boyfriend, Lawless, had just brought her. He hulked at her side, watching her every move, trying, I supposed, to anticipate her slightest whim. I’d always thought Daisy could do better than Lawless Russell.

Drinking my cola, I caught a tender glance exchanged between the couple, and it reminded me of what Chad had said last night about our friends going all the way. But
surely
not Daisy and Lawless! Daisy would’ve told me.
Wouldn’t
she have?

The thought of Daisy and Lawless doing it just made my stomach curdle. Trying to erase the image from my mind, I looked away and took a gulp of my Coca-Cola. Where the dickens
was
Chad?

“Well, looky who’s here,” said a male voice behind me. “Recent graduates from Russell Springs High, acting all high and mighty because they finally got themselves high school diplomas.”

I turned to see a tall, lanky boy with his arm wrapped snugly around a petite, auburn-haired girl who barely came to his shoulders. Malcolm and Mardelle, looking, as always, like they were joined at the hip.

I smiled. “Well, look who’s talking? I seem to recall you going up on that stage this morning and getting yourself a diploma, too.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Malcolm said with a wide, easy grin. “And I’m heading off to UK in the fall to play for the Wildcats. Just got the telegram this afternoon.”

A chorus of excited congratulations rang out. I studied Mardelle’s heart-shaped face as Malcolm accepted handshakes and pats on the back from all the guys. Despite the smile on her face, sadness glimmered deep in her doe-like brown eyes. Oblivious to his girlfriend, Malcolm laughed and joked around with the boys. I felt a wrench in my heart.

Everything was changing. This would be the last summer we’d all be together. These people, most of whom I’d started grade school with 12 years ago, would be going off on their own paths, some to college or trade school, some—the unlucky ones, I thought—going back to the family farm to raise pigs and cows, to plow fields and plant corn and tobacco. But whatever they did, life would forever be different. Never again would we experience these carefree days of high school. That had all ended yesterday. Well, not really. But it
would
end with autumn.

My eyes met Mardelle’s, and for a moment, we shared a brief communication. I sensed the petite cheerleader was feeling the same bittersweetness of the moment. “Quite the bash, huh?” boomed a deep voice on my left.

It was Lonnie, who’d been in front of me at graduation this morning. He made his way through the crowd, hand in hand with Jinx who was flashing a 100-watt smile. The couple was even more inseparable than Malcolm and Mardelle, and had been since fourth grade.

Now,
those
two probably
were
doing it, I thought. They just had that look about them. After all, Jinx was known to be a little fast. Right now, she looked like she was about to bust a gut or something. I wondered if she had to use the ladies’ room and just couldn’t pull herself away from Lonnie’s grasp long enough to do it.

But no, it was something else altogether. While the boys were still talking about UK and the never ending subject of basketball, Jinx, apparently unable to hold it in any longer, thrust out a slim, pale hand to us girls, showing off a small diamond on her ring finger.

“We’re
engaged
,” she trilled, her blond pony-tail bouncing in her excitement. “We’re getting hitched next month, and y’all are invited to the wedding!”

Another round of “congratulations” burst around her, and I added my voice to them. But inside, I was feeling a little sorry for Jinx. Why would anyone want to get married to the only boy she’d ever kissed (assuming that was true) just out of high school? Didn’t Jinx want to see the world? To do exciting things? It didn’t make sense.

Malcolm elbowed Lonnie. “That’s some rock, my man. What’d you do? Rob a bank?”

Lonnie laughed. “Cut the gas, Mal. I worked hard for this bread. Anyhow, we got a lot to celebrate tonight.” He pulled a silver flask out of his white sports coat. “How about a little Jim Beam in your Coca-Colas?”

Everyone, even the girls, eagerly held out their tumblers, and Lonnie poured a stream of whiskey into each one. I hesitated a moment, then shrugged and held out my own glass. Lord, Daddy would just
die
if he knew I was drinkin’ Satan’s water.

Lonnie poured a healthy splash of the liquor into my tumbler and I swirled it around, sending the ice cubes clinking against the glass. I took a hesitant sip, then grimaced. It was just downright
awful
!

Watching me, Lonnie threw back his brown flat-top and laughed. “It’s an acquired taste, Lily Rae. It’ll grow on you.”

I wasn’t so sure about that, but I took another sip.

“Hey, you better not let Katydid catch you with that stuff,” Daisy admonished, even though she hadn’t turned down a shot in her own Coca-Cola. “Her daddy will tar and feather all of us.”

Everybody knew that Etheridge Wilkes had been a deacon at Poplar Grove Baptist Church for years, and wouldn’t take kindly to finding liquor on his property.

But Lonnie just snickered. “Heck, RJ has been spiking his soda pop with Johnnie Walker since he first walked in the door.”

I wondered where these boys had got all the liquor. There wasn’t a wet county around for at least 60 miles. Bootleggers, I reckoned. I’d heard tell they not only made moonshine, but drove to the wet counties to stock up on beer and whiskey for them that didn’t like the stuff from the stills.

I glanced around the room again, narrowing my eyes to focus my vision. The liquor was already making my head feel a mite light, but I could see that more folks had arrived; the place was jam-packed with bodies.

I turned back to my circle of friends and waited for a break in the conversation. “Anybody seen Chad?” I finally asked.

Everyone stared at me, and my cheeks grew warm. That’s when I realized that not one soul had asked me about Chad, which was really sort of odd, since everybody knew we were a couple. Could it be the news about last night’s fight was already out? But I hadn’t told a soul this morning at graduation, except, of course, Daisy. And she wouldn’t blab.

“Saw him earlier,” Lonnie said, avoiding my eyes. “Talking to RJ and Katydid. You might ask them where he went off to.”

I glanced across the room and saw Katydid and RJ dancing to Johnny Ray’s “Cry.” Her dark head lay against his shoulder, her eyes closed as they swayed slowly to the music.

I waited until the song ended, then made my way through the crowd toward the couple. When Katydid saw me, her sapphire eyes brightened and a welcoming smile spread across her face. “Oh, Lily Rae, that dress is just
scrumptious
on you!” She reached out a hand toward me. “Why, you’re just the belle of the ball, isn’t she, RJ?” She beamed up at her steady who towered above her by four inches.

RJ Skaggs nodded. Even without his football uniform, he looked the part of the halfback he’d played for the past four years on the Lakers’ team. He was big and burly, with a firm, square jaw and a crew-cut. “You sure do look pretty tonight, Lily Rae,” he said. “
Especially
pretty.”

“Thank you kindly.” I gave them my biggest smile. “Lonnie said y’all was talking to Chad awhile back? Do you know where he went off to?”

Katydid’s smile dimmed. A brief, awkward pause followed, and then she said, “Well, now, I’m not exactly…” Her gaze darted around the room.

“You might as well tell her, Katy,” RJ said quietly. “She’s bound to find out anyhow.”

“Find out what?” I asked, my stomach tightening in alarm.

Katydid’s eyes met mine, her smile gone now. “Oh, hon,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry to hear about you and Chad.”

I pasted a stiff smile on my lips. “Oh, it was just a little spat. Nothing serious. That’s why I want to talk to him…” I looked from Katydid to RJ, and my pulse jumped at the sympathy on their faces. “Well, we’ll get it sorted out. We’ll both apologize for losing our tempers and we’ll kiss and make up. So…do you know where he went?”

The couple exchanged a meaningful glance, and my stomach did another slow somersault. Finally, RJ sighed. “Lily Rae, Chad left about a half-hour ago with Pat-Peaches Huddleston.”

I caught my breath.
No
! I
couldn’t
have heard him right. Chad with Pat-Peaches? Why, she was the most notorious girl at Russell Springs High, and she was only a junior.

“That can’t be true,” I said in a soft, shocked whisper.

RJ and Katydid only stared back at me silently. And with a sick certainty, I knew it
was
true. I turned blindly and elbowed my way through the throng of teenagers until I reached the basement stairs.

Pressing a hand to my tummy, I climbed up the stairs and headed down the hall to the Wilkes’s bathroom. I slammed the door and leaned against it, my head spinning. Whether it was the result of those few sips of the whiskey-laced cola or the shocking news JR had delivered, I didn’t know. But one thing was certain. I felt like I was about to throw up all over my brand new polka-dot dress. Sinking to the floor in front of the toilet, my full skirt billowing around me, I gagged, but nothing came up. Not even the stupid drink I’d just had. After a couple of deep breaths, my stomach began to settle.