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Authors: Anne George
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Meemaw?”
“She went over to Howard’s trailer while ago. Probably cooking him breakfast. I keep smelling bacon.”
I sat on the narrow metal step and wished for some bacon. For some more aspirin. For coffee. Fortunately the last wish was granted as Pawpaw opened the door and handed Tiffany two Styrofoam cups which she handed down to us. We thanked him profusely.
“You want some more, pretty lady?” he asked Mary Alice.
“No, but I’d like to use your bathroom.”
“What?”
Mary Alice stood up and pointed toward the open trailer door. “I have to pee,” she said loudly and bluntly.
Pawpaw smiled broadly. “You just come right on in.”
We all moved so Mary Alice could get up the steps. She was courting disaster if Meemaw happened to be looking out of Howard’s window.
“How was Debbie this morning?” I asked Henry.
“She was still asleep when I left. In fact, she was asleep when I went to bed last night. I called several people to see if they could come out here today and I had to explain to all of them what had happened. Some of them are coming, though. Dwayne, the guy who was at Mary Alice’s the other night, the one who walked out, is already here. I think that’s some of his buddies he’s with over there by the trailer with the Christmas tree lights.”
“That’s Eddie Turkett’s trailer,” I explained. “Meemaw says he works at the chicken plant in Trussville.”
Henry looked up, surprised. “Eddie Turkett? Hell, he owns the chicken plant in Trussville. And one in Cullman. And a turkey plant in south Alabama.”
“Are his turkeys by any chance the stress-free ones, raised in the shade of pecan trees?”
Henry grinned. “I don’t know about that, but the man’s made millions on them.”
Hmmm. A millionaire and a movie star. Now if Howard Turkett were by any chance a professor…
Fred interrupted my casting of Gilligan’s Island by standing up. “I’m going to walk around some. Has anybody heard anything new this morning?”
“Not that we know of.” Tiffany ran inch-long acrylic nails through her blonde curls. “I wish they’d get the show on the road, though. I’m already sweating.”
So was I. My jeans were tucked into my old rubber rain boots, the only boots I owned, to protect against snakes and ticks, and I had on a long-sleeved shirt and a sun hat so large I had had to pull it off so the raveling straw edges wouldn’t blind one of my fellow step-sitters. Fred was similarly decked out in his fishing boots and hat. Fair-skinned Southerners, we are still paying for our youthful fun in the sun. Literally. The demands for the services of Alabama dermatologists run a close second to that of ENTs. Henry and Tiffany were also adequately covered. Tiffany’s hat, which she held on her lap, was larger than mine. I was glad to see they had learned from their parents’ mistakes.
Several cars had come up since Fred and I had arrived. Dust rose and settled as the drivers were ushered into the cotton field. A white pickup, however, was directed into the space between Meemaw’s and Pawpaw’s trailer. When a woman got out, I recognized Blenda from the Starlight Cafe. She waved. “I’ve got sausage biscuits and coffee.”
She was talking to the three of us on Pawpaw’s steps, but it was amazing how many people heard her and descended on the truck. I watched her handing out the food and wondered aloud if Mary Alice had called her at two-thirty this morning.
My question was answered by Sister who opened Pawpaw’s door and said, “Oh, good. Blenda’s here. I wonder what she brought.”
Tiffany moved over so Sister could come down the steps. “She said sausage biscuits.”
“Good. We’re all going to need our energy. I’ll go help her.” Sister swished by me. Her go-hunt-for-a-dead-daughter-in-law’s-body-in-the-woods-in-August outfit was one I had seen her wear line-dancing, a blue silk jumpsuit and rhinestone-studded boots. The woman wouldn’t make it as far as
“She went over to Howard’s trailer while ago. Probably cooking him breakfast. I keep smelling bacon.”
I sat on the narrow metal step and wished for some bacon. For some more aspirin. For coffee. Fortunately the last wish was granted as Pawpaw opened the door and handed Tiffany two Styrofoam cups which she handed down to us. We thanked him profusely.
“You want some more, pretty lady?” he asked Mary Alice.
“No, but I’d like to use your bathroom.”
“What?”
Mary Alice stood up and pointed toward the open trailer door. “I have to pee,” she said loudly and bluntly.
Pawpaw smiled broadly. “You just come right on in.”
We all moved so Mary Alice could get up the steps. She was courting disaster if Meemaw happened to be looking out of Howard’s window.
“How was Debbie this morning?” I asked Henry.
“She was still asleep when I left. In fact, she was asleep when I went to bed last night. I called several people to see if they could come out here today and I had to explain to all of them what had happened. Some of them are coming, though. Dwayne, the guy who was at Mary Alice’s the other night, the one who walked out, is already here. I think that’s some of his buddies he’s with over there by the trailer with the Christmas tree lights.”
“That’s Eddie Turkett’s trailer,” I explained. “Meemaw says he works at the chicken plant in Trussville.”
Henry looked up, surprised. “Eddie Turkett? Hell, he owns the chicken plant in Trussville. And one in Cullman. And a turkey plant in south Alabama.”
“Are his turkeys by any chance the stress-free ones, raised in the shade of pecan trees?”
Henry grinned. “I don’t know about that, but the man’s made millions on them.”
Hmmm. A millionaire and a movie star. Now if Howard Turkett were by any chance a professor…
Fred interrupted my casting of Gilligan’s Island by standing up. “I’m going to walk around some. Has anybody heard anything new this morning?”
“Not that we know of.” Tiffany ran inch-long acrylic nails through her blonde curls. “I wish they’d get the show on the road, though. I’m already sweating.”
So was I. My jeans were tucked into my old rubber rain boots, the only boots I owned, to protect against snakes and ticks, and I had on a long-sleeved shirt and a sun hat so large I had had to pull it off so the raveling straw edges wouldn’t blind one of my fellow step-sitters. Fred was similarly decked out in his fishing boots and hat. Fair-skinned Southerners, we are still paying for our youthful fun in the sun. Literally. The demands for the services of Alabama dermatologists run a close second to that of ENTs. Henry and Tiffany were also adequately covered. Tiffany’s hat, which she held on her lap, was larger than mine. I was glad to see they had learned from their parents’ mistakes.
Several cars had come up since Fred and I had arrived. Dust rose and settled as the drivers were ushered into the cotton field. A white pickup, however, was directed into the space between Meemaw’s and Pawpaw’s trailer. When a woman got out, I recognized Blenda from the Starlight Cafe. She waved. “I’ve got sausage biscuits and coffee.”
She was talking to the three of us on Pawpaw’s steps, but it was amazing how many people heard her and descended on the truck. I watched her handing out the food and wondered aloud if Mary Alice had called her at two-thirty this morning.
My question was answered by Sister who opened Pawpaw’s door and said, “Oh, good. Blenda’s here. I wonder what she brought.”
Tiffany moved over so Sister could come down the steps. “She said sausage biscuits.”
“Good. We’re all going to need our energy. I’ll go help her.” Sister swished by me. Her go-hunt-for-a-dead-daughter-in-law’s-body-in-the-woods-in-August outfit was one I had seen her wear line-dancing, a blue silk jumpsuit and rhinestone-studded boots. The woman wouldn’t make it as far as
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