Diary of a Wildflower (10 page)

“Okay,
but tell me what you’re talking about.”

“All
in good time.  Just promise me you’ll do as I say.”

“I
promise.  But is it all right if Opal still comes here?”

“Sure. 
Opal’s a good girl.  She can’t help what her daddy is.”

July 21
^st
, 1928

It’s
Saturday night, and I find myself at a church revival, of all places.  Opal
is on my right, and on the other side of her sits her new boyfriend.  They
have been courting since school went out, but this is the first time I’ve seen
him.  His name is Eddie Johns, and he is worth looking at.  He’s tall
and lanky, has blond, wavy hair and bright blue eyes.  Opal tells me that
he plays the guitar and sings – at the same time.

To
my left is Vic with his new girlfriend, Rose Johns, a sister to Eddie. 
She looks nothing like her brother, but she’s just as cute as he is.  Her
hair is long, and even darker than mine, and she has big brown eyes that are
really striking.

So
two of the three musketeers now have sweethearts, and I am a fifth wheel, but
Opal and Vic both begged me to come with them tonight.  They even promised
to walk me home afterwards.

The
Johns family has recently moved here from a place called Seasons, Virginia,
which is on the other side of Skylark.  Mr. Johns has been hired as an
electrician with the new mine, and that’s a good job.  They have rented a
house down the river from Deep Bottom.  Eddie and Rose’s Uncle Arch is
visiting from Bluefield, and he let them borrow his automobile for the
evening.  I am betting now that Opal and Vic will not be walking me
home.  Instead we will all be riding in the automobile.

I
am getting antsy as I sit here trying not to listen to this preacher go on and
on about hell.  I look at my feet.  I have on a new pair of shoes
which I found in the charity bag.  They are too big for me, but not by
much, and they are stylish.  I look at Opal’s feet.  She has nice
shoes too, but I’m sure they didn’t come out of a charity bag.  Uncle Ben
always seems to have money to buy things for his family.

Eddie
Johns leans forward in his seat and rests his elbows on his knees, and his chin
in his hands.  He is bored too.  They are very large hands. 
Masculine.  Strong.  Without planning to, I find myself imagining
those two big hands around my waist, then touching my bare breasts.  I
look at his mouth.  He has nice lips.  I try to stop the fantasy
right there, but it has taken on a life of its own.

He
is kissing me and..it’s a wet kiss and..I am kissing him back and..

Suddenly
Eddie’s head swivels toward me.  Our eyes meet and my face goes hot. 
I turn quickly away from him, but not before I see a secret gleam in his
eyes.  Oh, god, he has looked right into my head.  

Now
I keep my eyes on the preacher.  This is a particularly good
revival.  At least that’s what I’ve heard people say.  At the end of
the service a dozen souls are saved at the altar.  There’s a final hymn, a
prayer and we are dismissed.  I practically leap from my seat.

The
social hour is to follow.  This is really why the five of us came here
tonight.  It’s a time for the teens, as the preacher calls us, to get
together.  It’s to be held outside on the grass, where the church women
have set up tables laden with all kinds of good things to eat.  They have
positioned lanterns at several spots around the churchyard so that we can see
what we’re about.  Of course Vic and Rose and Eddie and Opal are dying to
stay for this social hour, as it gives them more time together.  I am so
befuddled I feel like walking home alone in the dark, but of course I
won’t.  Instead I slip away from my cousins, break in the food line, fill
up my plate, and let somebody pour me a new drink called Kool-Aid in a paper
cup.

I
sip the Kool-Aid, which is really good, then go to find a place to sit on the
grass.  Someone is at my heels.  I turn around and there he is toting
his guitar on his shoulder. 

“Where
have you been all my life?” says he to me in a whisper.

Not
very original, but appropriate.  I’ve been stuck on a mountaintop.  I
don’t say that.  I don’t answer him at all.  I sit down and start
nibbling at a sandwich.  Eddie sits down beside me, and starts strumming
his guitar.

“How
tall are you?”  he asks.  “About five, foot, two?”

“About. 
Why?”

It’s
his turn not to answer.  He begins to pick out a tune which I recognize
from the radio –
Five, Foot, Two
.  Opal appears with her plate and
cup and sits down beside Eddie.  Then Rose sits beside me, and Vic sits on
her other side.

Eddie
starts singing low.  “Five foot two….”

“Sing
so we can hear you,” Opal coaxes.

Eddie
does not need much coaxing.  He raises the volume to his song.

When
the other teens begin to sing along, I lay my sandwich aside and join in. 
Eddie turns to me and shamelessly looks me over, from hair and face to breasts
to hips to ankles.  I sneak a glance at Opal, but she is also singing, and
paying no attention to Eddie’s roving eye.  When the song is over,
everybody claps for him.

“Now,
play the one I like,” Opal says, tugging at his arm.

“Which
one is that, honey-bunch?” Eddie says, and finally turns to her.

I
take this opportunity to jump up and walk away.  I go back to the table
and ask for more Kool-Aid.  Once there I try to blend n with the other
young people standing around.  I see two members of our rising junior
class and join them.  Eddie is now singing Opal’s request –
My Blue
Heaven. 
I spend the rest of the social hour, which turns into two
hours, with my classmates, jabbering away about nothing while Eddie completely
captivates his audience.  When the event is over, Opal and Vic holler for
me to come along.

“Guess
what?” Vic says.  “Eddie is going to drive us up Gospel Road as far as
Uncle Ben’s trail.  Then we’ll walk you the rest of the way home.  I
have a flashlight.”

He
shines the light on the car.  It’s quite a nice coupe, painted a deep
blue.  Eddie tells us it’s a 1925 Chevrolet Superior. 

“It’s
so shiny,” I say, “and I love the color.”

Eddie
grins at me.  “I’m gonna have me one exactly like it as soon as I go to
work in the mines with my daddy.”

When
we are done admiring the car, Vic and Rose climb into the small back seat and
start cuddling.  Eddie places his guitar at their feet and climbs in
behind the wheel.  Opal slides in beside him, and I sit beside her.

We
roll down the windows of the car and go up Gospel Road singing
My Blue
Heaven
as loud as we can.  When we reach the end of the good road,
Eddie parks the car and we get out.

“You
don’t have to walk me all the way,” I say.  “Just up to Willy’s
Road.  I can go on from there by myself.”

“All
the way,” Vic says.  “We promised.”

“Absolutely,”
Eddie says.  “Who would send a girl out alone on a dark night like
this?  Not me.”

“It’s
an adventure,” Rose says.

If
she had walked up this road as many times as I have, she wouldn’t call it an
adventure.  But I understand what this is about.  When you’re in
love, you don’t think a thing about walking up a mountain in the middle of the
night as long as you’re with your sweetheart.  So the five of us follow
the beam of Vic’s flashlight up Gospel Road, where we are able to walk five
abreast, with the boys on the ends, and I am the odd one in the middle. 
Willy’s Road is more narrow.  Here Vic and Rose walk in front with the
light while I walk behind them.  Eddie and Opal bring up the rear.

“A
girl shouldn’t have to walk in the dark alone,” Eddie says, as he suddenly
clutches my elbow and pulls me back beside him. 

Opal
giggles.  Now Eddie has one arm around Opal and the other around me. 
He starts humming
Five Foot Two,
and sliding his hand up and down my arm
in the dark.  It gives me chills.  As we reach the rise in the road,
I see a light shining across the mountaintop from the house.

“There!”
I say.  “They have left a light for me on the porch.  I can take it
from here by myself.” I pull away from Eddie and hurry past Vic and Rose.
“Goodnight! And thanks!”

“Night,”
Vic and Opal call back.

“Nice
to meet you,” comes from Rose.

I
am huffing and puffing, pushing myself toward the light when I hear somebody
coming up behind me.  Of course it’s
him
.

“Like
I said, I would not send a pretty girl out alone on a dark night like this,” he
whispers.  “Let me walk you the rest of the way.”

“I’m
fine,” I say.  “Really, I’m fine.  The house is right there.”

I
point to the house about fifty feet ahead sitting dark against the night sky.

“I
told the others I don’t feel right deserting you in the dark,” he says.
 “So you gotta let me walk you to the door.”

We
take a few steps together and his hand falls on my upper back, where he begins
to run it through my hair.

“What
are you doing?” I say.

“I’ve
been wanting to do that since I first laid eyes on you.”

I
stop in my tracks and turn to him.  “What!”

He
drops his hand.  About that time the flashlight beam finds us, and Eddie
steps away from me.

“I’ll
be up here to see you tomorrow,” he whispers again.

“Thanks
everybody!” I call in a loud voice.  “Night now!”

I
bolt.  On the porch I grab the lantern that has been left for me, hurry
inside and close the door softly.  I hear Dad mumble and turn over.

Bea
rises up on her elbow and says, “Lorie?”

“Yeah,
sorry to wake you.”

“I
wadn’t asleep.  There’s food on the cupboard if you’re hungry.”

“No,
thanks.  I ate.  Good night.”

“Night.”

Jewel
is fast asleep in the loft.  I turn off the lantern.  Then I go to
the window and look out.  All I can see is the flashlight beam as it moves
down Willy’s Road.  My whole body feels electrified.  I watch the
light until it’s out of sight.

July 22
^nd
, 1928

“Somebody’s
coming!” Clint yells.

I
hear the kids running out the door to see who it is.  I know who it
is.  It’s only ten o’clock in the morning, but didn’t I know he would come
early?

I
am in the loft, trying to see myself in my tiny bluebell mirror.  I got up
at the crack of dawn and washed my hair in rainwater which I keep on hand for
this purpose.  Then I dried it in the sunshine and brushed it vigorously
until I could see the glints of gold running through it.  I am wearing the
nicest dress I’ve ever owned.  I found it in the charity bag with the
shoes, and I can’t help wondering if somebody gave it away by mistake.  It
has tiny white seashells on a sky blue background, a silky material – probably
not silk, just something that feels like silk – long cool sleeves and a long
waist with a white sash around the hip line. And it is short!  It strikes
me right across my knee caps.  It’s the very latest thing, and Dad will
certainly not approve, but he won’t say anything in front of Eddie.  I
check my teeth in the mirror, then put the hair set away in my bureau drawer
before I move toward the stairs.  I’m trying not to rush.

“Lorie!”
Daniel calls from the big room.  “Somebody here to see you.”

I
go down the stairs slowly.  “Oh?  Who is it?”

“A
feller with a
git
-tar,” says Daniel.

When
I go out the door I find Dad and Bea talking to Eddie, and he appears to be
charming them as he has apparently charmed everybody since coming to Deep
Bottom.  Samuel has gone to Caroline’s house today, but Charles and the
others are standing around gawking at Eddie. 

“What
a surprise!” I say.

Suddenly
all eyes are on me, and I feel my face flushing.  Why did I say
that?  They can take one look at me and my dress and tell I am not really
surprised.  But I
am
flustered.

“You
look real nice,” Eddie says, as he carefully avoids looking at my legs.

I
say, “Thanks.”  Then I’m at a loss for what to say next.

He
is spruced up too – for a boy.  His hair is freshly washed and combed, and
all the wrinkles have been ironed out of his britches.

“Can
you play that thang?” Clint asks Eddie.

“I
sure can,” Eddie says.  “Wanna hear?”

Of
course everybody wants to hear, and the awkwardness melts away as Eddie sits on
the porch and begins to play and sing
Froggie Went A’Courtin. 
Clint
is enchanted.  I sit down beside Eddie and bounce Lawrence on my
knee.  After that one, Eddie plays
Sweet Betsey from Pike
and
Clementine. 
By this time he has us all clapping our hands or patting
our feet.

Directly
Bea says that she and Jewel need to go inside and start cooking dinner. 
She tells me to stay put and enjoy the music.  Jewel looks longingly over
her shoulder at Eddie, but follows Bea obediently without a grumble.

Eddie
starts playing,
I’ve Been Working on the Railroad,
and the boys start
singing along.