Sullivans Island-Lowcountry 1 (57 page)

except to drop off work. Everyone was smiling and I got a few

good ogles from the older men. I smiled back at them, feeling

pretty darn good.

“I saw that old man!” Kim said.“He positively leered at you!

Shall I take him outside and challenge him to a duel?”

“Let’s eat first. I’m starving,” I said, smiling at Kim.

“Such a sensible girl you are,” he said.

Everything was so beautiful that I didn’t know where to

look first. Julia Hall had placed full white poinsettias wrapped in

gold foil on each step of her curved staircase in the center hall.

Her dining room table had an exquisite centerpiece of white

French tulips, long-stemmed white roses and corkscrew willow

branches that had been spray-painted gold.The flowers were in

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a Chinese Export blue-and-white porcelain wine cooler that

was probably worth a fortune.

At one end of the table, a chef was slicing filet mignon.

Another chef sliced cold salmon at the other end. In between

them were a pyramid of steaming baby lamb chops with a mint

sauce for dipping, a platter of tiny pastrami sandwiches on rye

bread and sliced turkey breast sandwiches in soft rolls.

“Try the lamb chops,” I said to Kim,“they’re yummy.”

I was beginning to feel like an intruder since no one had

greeted us, just as Max looked up and saw me.

“Susan! Hi! You made it!” he said, coming over to me.

“Max! I want you to meet someone,” I said, and turned to

Kim, who had his mouth filled with food.“This is Jack.”

Kim narrowed his eyes at me, chewing madly and wiping

his hands on a napkin.

“Jack, ’eah? Well, I’ve heard all about you!” He laughed like

an old bear and shook Kim’s hand up and down until I thought

his arm would fly out of his shoulder socket. “Let me go find

Julia! She’ll want to meet you right away! I think she’s in the

kitchen fighting with the caterer. Some damn fool waiter was

rude to a guest or something like that. Be right back!”

“Nice meeting you,” Kim said to Max’s back as he turned

away. Then, turning to me, he said,“And who is Jack, may I ask?”

“Forget it. It wasn’t that funny the first time. Have some

pastrami.”

We walked around the table to the seafood. Oysters on the

half shell were in the center on a bed of ice with lobster claws

on one side and a cascade of shrimp on the other. A silver chaf-

ing dish of hot crab dip and another of curried scallops flanked

the whole affair.

“Lord,” Kim said,“this could be a Park Avenue soiree!”

“What are you talking about? We had a million parties like

this when I was growing up. This is how we do it in the Holy

City, honey chile.”

“You’re a terrible little liar,” he said, “and don’t expect this

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389

when you come to Tara. Our finger food sits on a Ritz until we

replace the roof. And why do they call Charleston the Holy

City anyway?”

“Well, about a billion years ago, when Charleston was a new-

born baby, they called her the Holy City because so many differ-

ent religions were practiced by the original settlers. Religious

persecution brought them here from Europe.”

“Ah! And all this time I thought it was the potato famine,”

he said.

“That was later,” I said, thinking that Kim might be eye

candy but no Einstein.“Here comes Max.”

“Here we are at last! Susan, this is Julia!” Max said, elbowing

his way to us.

I shook her hand and thought, so this is Mrs. Max Hall! I

should look so good when I’m her age. Her hair was swept up

in a twist and her beautiful pearl earrings were surrounded by

glittering diamonds. Real ones.

“Hello, Susan, welcome! I have just enjoyed your column so

much!”

“Thank you,” I said. “Your home is so beautiful and this is

such a lovely party.” How inane could I be? “I’d like you to meet

my friend Kim.”

“Hello,” she said,“do I know you?”

“Now we know each other, Mrs. Hall,” Kim said, taking her

hand into both of his and holding them. “And what do you

mean? What column?”

“Kim, dear man, don’t you know who you’re with?” Julia

said.

“Well, I
thought
I did,” he said.

“She’s the Geechee Girl, son,” Max said. “Yep, that column

has brought us more mail than any other column in ten years.

Going into syndication too. Didn’t she tell you?”

“‘Geechee Girl Remembers’ ?” Kim said.“That’s
you?
”

“Guilty,” I said.

“Oh, my God! Wait until my Jeremy hears
this!
He reads

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every syllable to me on Thursdays at our breakfast table! It’s cap-

puccino, granola and Geechee! Every Thursday!”

Julia was a very nice lady and her friends flattered me to no

end. Before the night was over, Kim had won the heart and hair

of every woman there. Most importantly, Max knew a man wasn’t

keeping me and that I still needed my job.All things considered, it

was a successful night.

When we got home, Kim walked me to my door.

“Well, Susan, thanks for a wonderful night,” he said.“Gorgeous

house, gorgeous party.”

“You are a character, do you know that?”

“I haven’t had so much fun in eons,” he said. “Old ladies

love me. I can’t wait to get the plaster out of their hair.”

I was going to invite him in, but I’d had enough drama for

one night.

“See ya, sweet cakes, thanks for coming with me,” I said.

Through the window, I watched the grace with which he

moved, as he opened the door to his Jaguar and slid behind the

wheel. He made me feel glamorous.

I a r r i v e d at the Sheraton Hotel for the party Grant and Maggie

had invited me to and scanned the crowd for Roger Dodds. I saw

him across the ballroom at the bar. I felt like starting trouble.

“Roger, Roger, Roger! How are you?” I said, looking very

smart in my brown V-neck cashmere sweater and short skirt.

Nude stockings, don’t forget the nude stockings, and high heels.

He was deceivingly conservative in his dark suit, white shirt and

red foulard bow tie.

“Susan! What a nice surprise!”

He gave me a light kiss on the cheek and looked me up and

down.Thank God my shoes have closed toes, I thought.

“Are you here with someone?” I said.

“No, I’m alone. God, you have great legs.”

“Yes, I do.Thank you.”The Rivieras were playing “Double

Shot of My Baby’s Love.”

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391

“Can I get you a drink?” he asked.

“Sure, a
cock-tail
would be great,” I said.

“Feeling naughty, are we? White wine?”

“Thanks,” I said, taking the glass.

“God, you’re driving me crazy already,” he said.

“Oh! There’s Maggie and Grant! I have to go, Roger. Sorry.

See you!”

“What, you’re leaving me? Why?”

“I have a date,” I lied, “and I have to go home.The truth is

that I had a pedicure this afternoon.They scraped my feet just a

little too close for these pumps.Then they massaged them with

some oil that smells like coconut and fruit and they sting a little.

They’re very tender, Roger. Very pink, soft and tender.”

“Come on, Susan, don’t tell me this,” he said.

“Yeah, I came with this guy who’s a podiatrist. He says I

need to get off my feet.”

“Sounds like he wants to take you to bed and screw you.”

“Gosh? Think so? Gee. That would be nice. Well, Merry

Christmas, Roger.”

I smiled at him and walked over to Grant and Maggie.

“Mission accomplished,” I whispered to Maggie. “Great

party, Grant, thanks for inviting me.”

“You leaving already?” Grant said.

“Yeah, got a hot date with a young one,” I said.

At home, my hot young one, Beth, and I curled up like two old

friends on the couch and watched
It’s a Wonderful Life
for the zil-

lionth time.We shared popcorn, Cokes and tissues, saying the dia-

logue in perfect sync with the actors.We were perfectly content.

A t t h e l i b r a ry party Mitchell Fremont told me with great sad-

ness that he was taking a job in Spartanburg.

“When?” I said.

“In two weeks,” he said.“I guess that’s it for the two of us.”

“Yeah, guess so, Mitchell.”

There was no end to his arrogance. After he walked away I

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realized that his departure put me in line for his job, which if it

happened would mean a substantial raise. I knew they’d have to

interview other candidates but I put my name in the hat right

away. It was a pretty boring party, but I used the time to lobby

for Mitchell’s position.

I called Maggie the next day to tell her the news.

“God, I hope you get his job,” she said.

“Yeah, me too.”

“By the way, what on earth did you say to Roger Dodds?”

“Nothing.Why?”

“He came over to Grant all befuddled and said you made

him crazy.”

“I can’t imagine why,” I said.

“You won’t believe what Grant said.”

“What?”

“Grant said to him, ‘Well, Roger, my sister-in-law is the

kind of gal that keeps you on your toes, isn’t she?’ I almost

choked trying not to laugh.”

“Good Lord.”

O n m o n d ay, i woke up earlier than usual. I couldn’t sleep. At six

o’clock, I finally pulled on a bathrobe and went downstairs to

make coffee. I had had the strangest dream the night before. I

was alone in the backyard of the Island Gamble with Livvie.

Livvie and I were hanging laundry on the clothesline. We had

baskets of sheets, all of them white. She kept saying, “Look at

these, Miss Susan! So many white sheets!”We just kept hanging

them and hanging them and there was no end to them. They

stretched the length of our yard and I knew that they would

cover the entire length of the Island by the time we were done.

The more I hung, the more there seemed to be.We used the old-

fashioned wooden clothespins to attach them. “Keep hanging!”

she called out to me. I was so tired in my dream—I just wanted

to stop and rest for a while. But Livvie was so determined to

hang them all that I kept working.

S u l l i v a n ’ s I s l a n d

393

Sipping my mug of hot coffee I kept going over the dream

in my head.What did it mean? Was it about work? Certainly it

seemed like my work never ended. I knew that dreams had sym-

bols but I didn’t know much about them. What was all the

white about? Peace? Purity? Who would use all those sheets? A

hospital? Then it came to me.The Klan. Bingo!

I left my coffee mug on the counter and ran up the stairs as

fast as I could. Beth was still sleeping and was out of school for

the Christmas break. I opened her door.

“Beth? I’m going to the office; if you need me call me, okay?”

“Okay, Momma.What time is it?”

“Early. Go back to sleep.”

By t h e t i m e I showered and dressed and drove to the library, it

was almost quarter of eight. Mitchell usually came in at eight. I

waited, smoking and pacing, for his car to pull up in the parking

lot. Finally he arrived.

“Good morning, Susan,” he said,“early bird for a reason?”

“Yeah, I have something I want to look up.”

He turned the keys, unlocking the door, and rattled the key

chain at me.

“I understand you’re interested in my job,” he said.

“So is half of the world,” I said.

“Well, good luck,” he said,“I’ll put a good word in for you.”

“Thanks,” I said, wondering what the price for that would be

and then reprimanding myself for being so cynical and suspicious.

He went off to his office and I went right to the microfilm.

I looked up Ku Klux Klan and found quite a few references. I

went all through the newspaper clippings from 1963 and

couldn’t find what I was looking for and just as I was about to

quit, I struck pay dirt. It was from the Columbia paper, a report

about a Klan convention in some little town outside of Colum-

bia. It showed a photograph of a group of white-robed Klan

members. It was highly unusual to have a picture of them, as

most of their meetings were held in secret. But there it was. Plain

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as the nose on my face. I wondered if the photographer was

attacked by some of their goons. In the picture the Klan mem-

bers’ heads were covered in hoods. I printed it and took it to the

scanner copier to blow it up. I held my breath as I scanned the

picture.The Grand Dragon was wearing
sandals
and the guy next

to him wore
highly polished police-issue black shoes.
There was no

mistaking their beer guts and there was no mistake about their

identity. Marvin Struthers and Fat Albert. It was they who had

done my daddy in. I knew I had finally found the truth.

I bit my fist and tears streamed down my face. The dark

thoughts I had always carried regarding my feelings about Daddy

began to reassemble after decades of anger. My heart broke; I was