The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (6 page)

“No, I can’t, I’m still in my robe. I better get back home, but call me if you need me.”

A
FEW SECONDS AFTER
Netta left, Sookie went and looked out in the front yard to check on her birds and, to her dismay, saw that her entire yard was now a veritable sea of blue. It looked like she was running a blue jay reserve. She’d been so distracted by the phone call that she didn’t know if the little birds had gotten anything to eat at all. Oh, drat. She would just have to try again tomorrow.

She hobbled back into the kitchen and put some ice cubes in a hand towel and wrapped it around her ankle. As she sat there with Peek-a-Boo in her lap, she thought more about the phone call and what the man had said. “You are not who you think you are.” Then it suddenly dawned on her. That man had probably been calling from the Jehovah’s Witnesses or some other religious group. They were always leaving pamphlets at her door asking, “Do you know who you are?” or “Do you know who your father is?” Oh, Lord. Now she felt like a fool. What a complete idiot she had been, telling him all that personal stuff about the family.

But on the other hand, knowing her mother, he could be calling from ancestor.com or some other genealogy-tracing company. She’d also seen ads for them that said, “Who are you?” or “Who do you think you are?”

The more she thought about it, she thought that it must be Lenore trying to trace the Simmons family line again. “I just know we’re related to the royal family in some way. I just feel it in my bones,” she said. For as long as Sookie could remember, she had been tracing and retracing, but so far, no connection. Now even Dee Dee was obsessed with it and had the Simmons family crest hanging over the mantel in her condo.

A
S THE MORNING WORE
on, Sookie tried to relax and just forget about the call, but she was still feeling a little uneasy. It was the word “registered” that bothered her. She hated to call Earle at work but she dialed the number anyway, and his receptionist answered. “Dr. Poole’s office, may I help you?”

“Hi, Sherry, it’s me. Could you get him to pick up? I need to ask him a quick question.”

“Sure, hold on. I’ll buzz him. How’s your mother?”

“Fine, thank you.”

“Well, good. Hold on.”

A few seconds later, Earle picked up. “Hi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just need to ask you something.”

“Honey, I’m right in the middle of a root canal.”

“Okay, I’ll make it fast. A man from Texas just called and said he
was sending Lenore a registered letter tomorrow. Should I be worried? He said he wasn’t a lawyer.”

“Well, then, no.”

“What do you think it’s about?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s probably just some come-on, trying to sell something or get her to join something.”

“Then I shouldn’t worry?”

“No, just forget about it.”

“But it’s registered.”

“Well, honey. Just don’t sign for it.”

“Isn’t that against the law?”

“
No
. Just tell Pete you don’t want it. That’s all. Sweetie pie, I’ve really got to go. I’ll see you at home, okay?”

“Earle, maybe … I just won’t go to the door.”

“Fine.”

“But won’t he leave a note and try and redeliver it?”

“Honey, do whatever you want. Don’t go to the door or just sign for it and throw it away. It’s probably just junk. Okay?”

“Then I shouldn’t worry?”

“No.”

“And I don’t have to accept it.”

“No. Forget about it. I gotta go. Love you.”

Sookie hung up and smiled. Earle always knew how to make her feel better. Even her ankle felt better.

J
UNE
8, 2005

S
OOKIE WOKE UP AND PLANNED HER DAY
. S
HE DECIDED THAT THIS
morning she would try a slight variation on yesterday’s bird plan and put sunflower seeds into every other feeder. She hoped the little birds would figure it out and eat a little while the blue jays were still at the sunflower seeds. Then after she fed the birds, she was going downtown to the travel agency and check out trips and cruises. A second honeymoon—what fun! Her brother, Buck, and his wife were always going on cruises, so yesterday afternoon she had called Bunny in North Carolina and asked her advice. Bunny said that Prague was “the new Paris,” but Sookie hadn’t seen the old Paris, yet. She hadn’t really been anywhere, except to college and to the store and back, so anywhere Earle wanted to go would be fine with her.

At 8:10, Sookie had filled all the feeders and was out in the backyard in the pink tennis shoes, hiding behind a tree with her binoculars, when suddenly someone walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She nearly jumped five feet in the air. It was Pete, the mailman. “Oh, my God, Pete,” she said. “You nearly scared me to death!”

Pete, a tall skinny man in gray shorts, said, “I’m sorry. I knocked
on the front door, but you didn’t answer.” He then reached into his bag and said, “I have a certified letter for you, but first I have to ask you, ‘Are you Mrs. Earle Poole, Jr.?’ ”

Sookie sighed. Pete had only been her mailman for the past thirty years. “No, Pete, I’m the queen of Romania. Of course, it’s me. You know who I am.”

Pete took his job very seriously. “Oh, I know who you are, but it’s an official letter, and I have to ask. Do you have power of attorney to sign for Mrs. Krackenberry?”

“Yes. What I want to know,” Sookie said, “is
why
you are here so early? Don’t you usually start your deliveries on the other side of the pier?”

“Yes, but I thought the letter might be important, so I came here first. I just need for you to sign right here on this line.”

“Oh, Pete, I’m sorry you came all this way, but I don’t want to sign for it.”

He was completely taken aback. “But … it’s a registered letter.”

“I know, but Earle said I didn’t have to sign for it, if I don’t want to.”

“Oh … well … huh … I’ve never had this happen before … so I guess I’ll just write out a first attempt slip and try again tomorrow, then.”

“But I won’t want it tomorrow, either.”

“Well, officially, I’m required to make three attempts to deliver it.”

“Pete, I don’t want it. I don’t even know who it’s from.”

“Huh … well, that’s up to you. But it does seem a shame—somebody sure went to a lot of trouble and expense to make sure you got it. And it could be important.… It looks like it’s some kind of medical records.”

“Pete! I really don’t want to know. Right now, I’m busy trying to plan a vacation. Did you know that Earle and I have not been anywhere alone since 1970? And what makes you think it’s medical records?”

“It’s from the Texas Board of Health, so I just figured it had something to do with health information.”

“Texas Board of Health? How weird. What could they want?”

“I don’t know,” he said, looking at the large envelope. “Did someone ever get sick in Texas or hospitalized for anything there?”

“No. I was born in Texas … but …”

“Well, there you go. Maybe it’s an outstanding hospital bill or something.”

“Oh, I can’t imagine it could be a bill at this late date. You knew Daddy. He always paid his bills.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Maybe it’s a refund.”

“Fifty-nine years later? I don’t think so.”

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t want it, I’ll just leave you the attempted delivery slip on the door and go on then.”

“Okay, thank you, Pete. Sorry.”

As soon as Pete walked away, Sookie looked out in the backyard. Once again, it was full of blue jays. Not one little bird to be seen. Her plan was clearly a failure—not only a failure, but she might have made things worse. She wouldn’t blame the little birds if they all just packed up and never came back. And it was so sad, because they were her favorites, and they didn’t even know it.

L
ATER
,
AS SHE SAT
in the tub, she tried her best to forget about the letter, but it was still on her mind. It wouldn’t have been so hard if Pete hadn’t waved it around in her face and hadn’t blurted out who it was from. It was so irritating. All she had wanted to do today was relax and not have to think about any more problems. She knew the letter had something to do with her mother, but what? She couldn’t imagine. Had Lenore been sick or hospitalized when she was living in Texas? She had never said anything. Was there something her mother didn’t want her to know? Everyone always said how young and beautiful she looked for her age. Maybe she had had a major face-lift in Texas. Or she could have hit somebody and put them in the hospital. Lenore was a terrible driver, and she had run into almost everybody in Point Clear at one time or another. Or maybe she had had some sort of mental break, like Aunt Lily, and been committed at some point. Could Lenore have been in a mental hospital? Oh, dear.

By the time Sookie had dressed and put on her makeup, her imagination
had completely run away with her. The next thing she knew, she was downtown at the post office with the pink slip and had picked up the letter and was on the way home with it. She never did make it to the bookstore or the travel agency. She stared at the envelope it on the seat next to her all the way home. Sure enough, it had
TEXAS BOARD OF HEALTH
written across it, and stamped in big black bold letters across the front was
PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL MATERIAL ENCLOSED
.

At 5:15 that afternoon, Earle walked in the house. “Hi, sweetheart. I’m home.”

“Hi, honey,” she said, not giving him a chance to sit down. “Earle, I know you think I’m silly, but I’ve been waiting for you to come home all day. Would you sit with me while I open this letter?”

“What letter?”

“The registered letter.”

“Oh. I thought you weren’t going to sign for it.”

“Well … I tried not to … but anyhow … I wanted you to be here.”

He smiled at her. “Okay, sweetie. Let me fix a drink, and I’ll be right there.”

Sookie sat down on the sofa in the sunroom and waited until he came back in and sat down across from her. “Okay, open her up, and let’s see what we got.”

Sookie took a deep breath and opened it and read the cover letter.

The envelope attached was postmarked Matamoros, Mexico, and handwritten in an almost uneven and childlike scrawl. Sookie read the letter inside, which was in the same handwriting.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” said Sookie.

“What?”

“A lady in Texas that used to work for mother died and her daughter found some of Lenore’s old papers and is sending them back. Well, that’s very sweet of her.”

“What kind of papers?”

“I don’t know, yet. Let me see.” Sookie picked up another piece of paper.

The next thing Sookie knew, she was lying on the floor, and Earle was standing over her, fanning her with a newspaper.

“It’s okay, honey, you just fainted. Just relax and breathe. Don’t talk.”

Lying on the floor beside her was what she had just read.

A few minutes later, Earle had helped Sookie to the couch, and she was lying there with a cold rag on her head, trying to comprehend what she had just read. All she remembered were the words “her adoption.”

Earle came back with a brown paper bag for her to breathe into, and a glass of brandy. “Here, honey, drink a little of this.” He looked very concerned and kept patting her hand.

“Did you read it?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes, honey, I read it. What a hell of a thing to spring on somebody.”