Listen To Me Honey (5 page)

“I
see,” Tansy said. “So does this mean ya will have to take a
semester of eighth grade over?”

“Probably,” Amanda said sadly.

“Listen to me, Honey, this isn't the end of the world. If
it taught ya, y'all did wrong, then maybe it was worth it. So how
long are ya really staying with us?”

Amanda sighed deeply. “Until Mom
says I can come home I guess. Maybe most of the summer unless you
want to ship me back sooner. Grandpa did say my going home sooner
was a possibility.”

“Yer
grandpa meant if ya decided ya didn't want to stay with us for a
week. We wouldn't make you go home. Certainly not because of what
you just told me. Everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to learn
from them so we don't do it again.” Tansy looked over her glasses
at Amanda. “Did yer mom know y'all wouldn't be goin' back to school
after spring break when she called me?”

“Yes.”

“Now
that really bothers me,” Tansy said gruffly.

Amanda wondered if Grandma ever
gave lectures to her mother that started with listen to me, honey.
She'd sure like to listen the next time her mother and Grandma
spoke on the phone to find out.

Chapter Five

That evening while they sat in the
parlor after supper, Art turned the television on to a farm news
show. He saw the down expression on Amanda's face. “Any special
show you like to watch, Mandie?”

“I
like music. Do you ever listen to music?”

“Does the record player still work, Tansy?” Art
asked.

“Who
knows. I cain't remember the last time we used it. Go get it, and
let's try. I like music, too,” Tansy said.

Art disappeared into their bedroom
and came back with a large box. He set it on the lamp
table.

“What is that?” Amanda asked.

“This is a record player. It plays records,” Tansy
said.

“What's a record?”

Tansy's tongue clucked. “Oh, Art,
where has this girl been hiding?”

Amanda had never seen a record
player before. “Don't you have a boom box or a deck that plays
discs?”

Art rubbed his chin. “Weell, now
we're even. I never heard of such things.”

He
raised the lid and put the large, black vinyl records up on the
post. He left one record on the turntable. He set the arm with the
needle over on the end of the record and turned the player on. The
record turned and played Johnny Cash's songs I walk The Line and
Five Feet High And Rising.

As
soon as the songs ended, another record dropped down the post onto
the turntable. Dolly Parton sang Just Because I'm A
Woman.

As they listened to hymns and
country westerns from the fifties and sixties, Amanda couldn't help
it that she was bored. This wasn't her kind of music.

Her grandparents did enjoy the
music. That kept Amanda from voicing her objection to the music out
loud. Grandpa rocked back and forth with the music, and Grandma
patted the floor with her foot in time. Once, they even broke out
clapping along with a song.

Art did notice Amanda wasn't happy.
“Ya gettin' tired of sittin' here with us two old folks,
Mandie?”

Amanda shrugged. “It's all right,
Grandpa.”

“Sunday, we'll be goin' to church. That will be something
different to do. Ya can meet some other folks and get away from
here for a spell,” he suggested.

Amanda stated, “I've never been to
church before.”

Tansy spoke up. “Now I know they
have churches in Chicago.”

Amanda thought she better keep her
answer simple. “Yes.”

“Yer
daddy had to go with us while he lived under our roof so ya will
to,” Tansy said. She stopped talking and looked Amanda up and down.
“Oh, mercy!”

Art quit rocking. “What the
matter?”

Tansy asked, “Amanda, do ya own a
decent outfit to wear to church?”

“I
don't know, Grandma. Probably not. How about I stay home while you
go to church. I won't mind,” Amanda said hopefully.

“Oh,
no, ya don't. Do ya have a dress?” Tansy grilled.

“Sure, I have several at home. I didn't bring any of them
with me,” Amanda said.

“Obviously, yer mother didn't check yer suitcase to see
what ya pack. We can go to town Saturday mornin' and get ya some
clothes fit to wear to church. That's what we'll do, and a straw
hat,” Tansy planned.

Amanda perked up. “Why wait that
long to go shopping?”

“That's when the sales happen. We want to shop for bargains
to save money,” Tansy said.

“If
you can't afford it, you don't have to buy me a hat,” Amanda
offered.

“Listen to me, Honey, ya need one like mine to keep the sun
off yer face. Later on y'all will appreciate not havin' so many
freckles to cover up. Ya won't have to buy that expensive face
makeup on yer dresser.”

Art took Jubel out just before
bedtime. When he came back in, he said, “Clouds are formin'. Might
be a shower before mornin'.”

Late in the night, a rain storm
pelted the roof. The strange sound woke Amanda up. She listened for
a few minutes and decided she liked the pattering sound rain drops
made on the tin roof.

Saturday morning, they traveled to
Thayer which was a bigger town than Saddle to shop in the Walmart
store. Grandpa made it as far as the exit door. He stopped to say
hello to a man about his age.

Tansy greeted the man and said,
“Art, we're goin' on inside.” She smiled down at Amanda once they
were out of hearing. “Grandpa's idea of shoppin' is talkin' to ever
man he meets at that door while I get what we need.”

As they went through the girl's
clothing section, Amanda complained, “Do you have to buy me a
dress? I don't care much for dresses. If I ever get to go home,
that dress will hang in the closet like all the others.”

“Guess not. Most of the girls around us usually have on
nice slacks and blouses at church. Ya pick out a dark pair of
slacks and a blouse that doesn't have any words on it. That will
make me happy,” Tansy said.

Shopping with Grandma was easier
than Amanda thought it would be. She picked out black slacks and a
light pink blouse with some white lace around the collar and short
sleeves with lace trim on the hems. Grandma approved.

Next was the straw hat. Tansy tried
several on Amanda until she found one with a large enough brim to
shade the girl's face.

They got in line at the checkout
counter. When Tansy put her purchases on the counter, the cashier
said, “How y'all doin' today, Miz Craftton?”

“Just fine, and y'all, Miz Smith?” Tansy
replied.

“I'm
doin' like common. Got that lucky girl a nice outfit I see. She
visitin' ya?”

“Yes, she is. This is our granddaughter from Chicago. She's
spendin' the summer with us,” Tansy said.

She opened her black clasped purse
and took out her billfold. When the cashier told Tansy the amount,
the elderly woman laid the bills on the counter and counted out the
correct change.

After Amanda picked up the sack and
they started for the door, she asked, “Don't you have a credit
card, Grandma?”

“Why
would I want one of those things?” Asked Tansy.

“You
can pay for what you buy with a credit card instead of carrying
money. My parents do that all the time,” Amanda said.

“Do
tell. The way I heard about those credit cards is, ya hand them to
the cashier. She has the credit card owner mark the cash register
slip paid. Later, in the mail box comes a letter that say to give a
company yer money. So why not eliminate the middle man and pay cash
right away?”

Amanda shrugged. She couldn't
answer, because she didn't understand the process. She just knew
her parents paid for everything they bought with a credit
card.

Art was waiting for them by the
door. “About done?” He asked.

“We are done,” Tansy said. “Amanda just advised me
we should use a credit card like her folks so we don't have to pay
cash.”

Art rubbed his chin. “Weell, I
remember when there wasn't such a thing as a credit card. If we
didn't have the money to buy something, we did without. Just the
essentials was all we bought anyway. Back then we figured that was
a good way to live. Sort of he'ps ya learn to hang onto what money
ya have.” He looked at Tansy. “Are we ready to go home?”

“Ready, too. By the time we get back, it will be past time
to fix dinner,” Tansy said.

“How
about going to the fish house for lunch?” Amanda asked. “I saw one
on Main Street in Saddle when we went through town.”

“Listen to me, Honey. That costs money,” Tansy grumped.
“I'm used to cooking three meals a day. We eat at my table in the
quiet of my kitchen without havin' to rub elbows with a lot of
strangers. Always been that way even when yer father was growin'
up.”

“Fish sounds like good eatin' to me,” Art said. “We haven't
had a good mess of fish in a long time. Why don't we splurge just
once, Tansy?”

Amanda looked wide eyed between her
grandparents, wondering which one would win the
discussion.

“Ya
sure ya want to do that?” Tansy asked.

“I
don't see what one time will hurt,” he said and winked at
Tansy.

“All
right,” Tansy relented.

As they retraced their steps in the
parking lot to the pickup, Amanda riffled through the shopping sack
and brought out the straw hat. She put it on. “Grandpa, how do I
look?”

Art inspected her in the hat. “Like
y'all are ready to do chores, but put it back in the sack for right
now. Let's eat first before ya do chores.”

It was fairly crowded when they
went in the fish house, but Art found a booth for them. He sat on
one side the table, and Tansy sat on the other side with
Amanda.

The waitress placed a glass of
water in front of each of them. “Know what y'all want to
order?”

“Sure enough. Three catfish dinners,” Art said.

“I
haven't ever eaten catfish,” Amanda said quietly.

Tansy narrowed her eyes at her
granddaughter. “Eatin' here was yer idea. Don't ya even like
fish?”

“Don't know. As far as I know there aren't any fish houses
like this one in Chicago. We have pieces of salmon once in awhile
and lobster at Red Lobster.”

“What are we doin' here?” Tansy asked Art
huffily.

“Mandie wants to try somethin' new. Don't ya, girl?” Art
defended.

“Besides, this was the only restaurant I saw on Main
Street. I didn't think we had a choice of places to eat,” Amanda
reasoned.

“You're right. This is it. That's all right. You're in for
a treat. Food is good here,” Art assured both of them.

When the waitress set the platters
on the table, Amanda's platter was filled with food. A large pile
of french fries, a bowl of cold slaw, a bowl of corn and a brown
crusted fish body. She stared at her plate.

“What ya thinkin'?” Art asked.

“This is a whole fish body. I'm just surprised they
bothered to take the head off,” Amanda said dryly.

Art chuckled, and Tansy giggled.
Amanda grinned at them. After she ate everything on her plate, she
made a point of telling her grandparents the meal was very
good.

That Saturday evening after supper,
Art turned the television on for the local news and farm
reports.

“How
many stations do you get with your cable?” Amanda asked.

Art chuckled. “We don't have cable.
We're lucky to get three stations out here where the reception is
poor. Sometimes, we don't get any stations.”

“Really?” Amanda asked, wondering whether to believe her
grandpa.

Tansy spoke up. “Listen to me,
Honey. Grandpa and me remember the time the pictures were in black
and white and blurry. Sometimes, it might he'p to run a piece of
tinfoil up and down the rabbit ears. Then again, maybe it didn't
make a difference. For the rest of the evenin', we'd take turns
readin' the bible out loud until bed time.”

“Wonder if the stations still shut off at midnight with the
national anthem?” Art asked.

Tansy shrugged. “No way of knowin'
unless we stayed up to find out. I'm not about to do
that.”

“Why
not, Grandma?” Amanda asked.

“That's way past our bed time. Sleep is more important than
all those old murder shows like Perry Mason that comes out of that
box after the news is over,” Tansy said.

Amanda looked down, so Art said
kindly, “We best not try stayin' up late tonight to find out
anyway. In the mornin', we’ll be up early to go to
church.”

“You
get up early on Sunday?” Groaned Amanda, not sure she’d live over
this culture shock. She wished one of her parents would call to
check on her so she could complain.

Ignoring her, Art continued,
“You’ll meet some kin and our friends. Some younguns your age go to
church with us. All good folks. Of course, you’re goin' to find
people at our church a heap different from Chicago
folks.”