Read Online The Ladies' Room by Carolyn Brown - Free Book Online Page A

felt so good that I hauled off and hit it again, then once
more as I envisioned Drew's face between the bells. He was
still smiling, so I gave him a couple more licks for good measure.
    "That clock do something to make you mad?" Billy Lee
asked from the doorway.
    I was wearing one of Aunt Gert's cotton summer nightgowns
in Pepto-Bismol pink. My hair kinked all over my head. My
bare feet were dirty from trekking out across the dusty yard,
and rising blood pressure was no doubt turning my face red
and blotchy. But I did not care. For the first time in my entire
life I was liberated.
    I pointed at him. "Yes. Scared the devil out of me. It won't
do that again."
    "You don't give second chances?" He grinned.
    "Not anymore."
    He stepped aside and, I guess, returned to the peace of his
own home when I marched past him and into the house. I wasn't
living one more second doing what society expected. That had
gotten Aunt Gert a life of misery until Lonnie died, and by then
she was so set in her ways, she couldn't change. I had just destroyed the first thing to upset my brand-new life. I was brave
enough now to take Drew on.
    I put a Band-Aid on my knuckle and ate leftover ribs for
breakfast-cold, right out of the refrigerator, licking the sticky
sauce off my fingers instead of using a napkin or even a paper
towel. The phone rang as I started up the stairs to get ready for
church. I picked it up on the third ring.

    "Hello"
    "Trudy, are you still there? You will go home right now.
Mother is mortified. Dad is ready to commit you. You've
proven your point. You've embarrassed me. I'll be home tomorrow, and you'd best be there," Drew said.
    "You can kiss my naturally born southern hind end, Drew
Williams." I hung up. That felt even better than murdering the
alarm clock had.
    The phone rang again, but I gave it a threatening look and
reminded it that the hammer was still out in the toolbox. It
stopped on the fourth ring. Guess I made a believer out of it.
    I held up the two new dresses hanging in the closet and decided on the red one. I liked the yellow with the Hawaiianprint jacket, but I would want to wear the hat with it, and today
I wasn't covering up my hair. Not one resident of Johnston
County, Oklahoma, was going to say I wore a hat out of shame
for a bad decision.
    I slipped the red dress over my head. It was as comfortable
as one of Gert's nightgowns. The jacket didn't bind me up, and
the shoes felt pretty darn close to house slippers.
    Billy Lee was sitting on the porch when I opened the door. He
wore bibbed overalls and a short-sleeved chambray shirt. Both
were crisply ironed, and his shoes were polished.
    "You going to church?" he asked.
    "Yes, I am"
    "Which one?"
    "Same one I always go to. The one on Main Street. You?"
    "I go to the same one me and Gert always went to. The one
on Broadway Street. Thought if you were going to our church,
we might ride together."
    It looked like the property came complete with Billy Lee
Tucker in all phases-work, eating, church. "Maybe another
time. You want to come with me today?"
    He shook his head so hard that if he'd been wearing
glasses, they would have been flung to a far corner of the yard.
"No, thank you. But it's an open invitation if you ever want to
go with me"
    "Thanks. I just might do that someday."

    He followed me out to the Impala and opened the door.
"You look lovely. Is that a new dress?"
    "Yes, it is, and thank you," I said.
    "Red is a good color for you. It goes well with your hair."
    I had a panic attack in the church parking lot. I wasn't even
sure I could get into heaven if I didn't uphold the standards
set by my mother. What would happen to the rich and shameless if I didn't wear black Versace and control-top hose to
church on Sunday mornings?
    Eyebrows almost hit the ceiling, and there was a steady
drone of whispers, but no one brought out a rope with a noose
on the end when I walked inside. Betsy wore the same black
suit she'd