flipped on a switch. When she went out the back door, I had this terrible sinking feeling that my old friend was gone forever, that this sparkling, shimmering stranger had taken her place.
I walked her out the driveway and as she got in the Silverado, I said, “Mary Price, what in the world is Hoyt going to say about all this?” (I didn’t really care what Hoyt said, I was trying to keep her from leaving, from going out of my life.)
“I’ll tell you what,” she said, drilling me with her eyes.“All weekend, we fussed and argued. Finally this morning he said, ‘Hell, Mary Price, why don’t you just suit your own damned self. That’s what you always do anyway.’ Well, that flew all over me! I mean, if I’d been suiting myself I’da never been at the That’lldu in the first place. So I said, ‘All right, Hoyt Bumbalough. I will suit myself.’”
She paused, then looked away. “I’ve been thinking how it’s been twenty years since we left school. Twenty years, Maggie Sweet! And I’ve settled for being a second-rate singer in a redneck bar. Well, maybe I can’t do any better than that, but I’ve got to try. I mean, even Toy Overcash was willing to try.”
Until that moment, I’d always thought Mary Price was fearless. Now I saw she was scared, just like me. Only, scared or not, she was going ahead anyway.
“Listen, Maggie Sweet, our lives are slipping by while we wait around for something to happen. Well, we can’t just wait. There’s no law that says a person has to settle. We’ve got talent, Maggie. We’ve got what it takes. We’ve just got to let everyone know it.”
“Lord, Mary Price, I don’t have any talent.”
“You’re only the best hair stylist in town. Only you’ve been so busy doing whatever it is housewives do that we all forgot. When I saw your new hairdo Saturday I thought, Lordymercy, I didn’t know Maggie had it in her. I’m your best friend and even I didn’t know. We’ve got to show them, Maggie. And that’s what I’m fixing to do.”
Then she climbed into the truck, blew me a kiss, and drove off.
After she left, I stood on the porch for a long time. I wanted to chase the Silverado down the street, wanted toshout, “Mary Price, come back. Please don’t leave me! I’m not ready. I need you to tell me what to do. I don’t know what’s right or wrong, what’s brave or foolish.”
And then, because I didn’t know what else to do, I dried my eyes and went back inside to finish the refrigerator.
Chapter 10
That night I drove to Winn-Dixie to pick up more Windex, Murphy Oil Soap, and paste wax for the spring cleaning. It was the first time I’d left the house in days so I was kind of jumpy anyway. To make matters worse, I was barely through the door when I saw Dreama Nims pushing her grocery cart past the dog food aisle.
Since Dreama was the last person I wanted to see, I ducked behind a paper towel display ’til she went on to the dairy lane.
When I saw her muumuu disappear around the corner, I slipped up the cleaning-supply aisle, grabbed what I needed, and headed for the meat department to hide out ’til the coast was clear.
Darting to the back of the store, I saw a blond, spiked-haired woman in a yellow cowgirl suit, hugging a tall, dark-haired man near the T-bone steaks.
Lordhavemercy! It was Mary Price and Jerry. I froze. But Mary Price saw me and waved.
She came toward me. “I was just fixing to call you. Oh, Maggie, the most amazing thing in the world happened.You tell her, Jerry. I can’t talk—I’m as jumpy as a cockroach in a hot skillet!”
Jerry smiled. “Should I start at the beginning or just blurt it out?”
“Well, Lord, Jerry, I could blurt it out. I want you to start at the beginning, complete with the drum rolls.”
“All right. Here goes. It all started after Mary Price left your house this morning. She drove straight to Charlotte and found herself a talent agent—.”
“—Not just any talent agent,” Mary Price
I walked her out the driveway and as she got in the Silverado, I said, “Mary Price, what in the world is Hoyt going to say about all this?” (I didn’t really care what Hoyt said, I was trying to keep her from leaving, from going out of my life.)
“I’ll tell you what,” she said, drilling me with her eyes.“All weekend, we fussed and argued. Finally this morning he said, ‘Hell, Mary Price, why don’t you just suit your own damned self. That’s what you always do anyway.’ Well, that flew all over me! I mean, if I’d been suiting myself I’da never been at the That’lldu in the first place. So I said, ‘All right, Hoyt Bumbalough. I will suit myself.’”
She paused, then looked away. “I’ve been thinking how it’s been twenty years since we left school. Twenty years, Maggie Sweet! And I’ve settled for being a second-rate singer in a redneck bar. Well, maybe I can’t do any better than that, but I’ve got to try. I mean, even Toy Overcash was willing to try.”
Until that moment, I’d always thought Mary Price was fearless. Now I saw she was scared, just like me. Only, scared or not, she was going ahead anyway.
“Listen, Maggie Sweet, our lives are slipping by while we wait around for something to happen. Well, we can’t just wait. There’s no law that says a person has to settle. We’ve got talent, Maggie. We’ve got what it takes. We’ve just got to let everyone know it.”
“Lord, Mary Price, I don’t have any talent.”
“You’re only the best hair stylist in town. Only you’ve been so busy doing whatever it is housewives do that we all forgot. When I saw your new hairdo Saturday I thought, Lordymercy, I didn’t know Maggie had it in her. I’m your best friend and even I didn’t know. We’ve got to show them, Maggie. And that’s what I’m fixing to do.”
Then she climbed into the truck, blew me a kiss, and drove off.
After she left, I stood on the porch for a long time. I wanted to chase the Silverado down the street, wanted toshout, “Mary Price, come back. Please don’t leave me! I’m not ready. I need you to tell me what to do. I don’t know what’s right or wrong, what’s brave or foolish.”
And then, because I didn’t know what else to do, I dried my eyes and went back inside to finish the refrigerator.
Chapter 10
That night I drove to Winn-Dixie to pick up more Windex, Murphy Oil Soap, and paste wax for the spring cleaning. It was the first time I’d left the house in days so I was kind of jumpy anyway. To make matters worse, I was barely through the door when I saw Dreama Nims pushing her grocery cart past the dog food aisle.
Since Dreama was the last person I wanted to see, I ducked behind a paper towel display ’til she went on to the dairy lane.
When I saw her muumuu disappear around the corner, I slipped up the cleaning-supply aisle, grabbed what I needed, and headed for the meat department to hide out ’til the coast was clear.
Darting to the back of the store, I saw a blond, spiked-haired woman in a yellow cowgirl suit, hugging a tall, dark-haired man near the T-bone steaks.
Lordhavemercy! It was Mary Price and Jerry. I froze. But Mary Price saw me and waved.
She came toward me. “I was just fixing to call you. Oh, Maggie, the most amazing thing in the world happened.You tell her, Jerry. I can’t talk—I’m as jumpy as a cockroach in a hot skillet!”
Jerry smiled. “Should I start at the beginning or just blurt it out?”
“Well, Lord, Jerry, I could blurt it out. I want you to start at the beginning, complete with the drum rolls.”
“All right. Here goes. It all started after Mary Price left your house this morning. She drove straight to Charlotte and found herself a talent agent—.”
“—Not just any talent agent,” Mary Price
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