The Land of Mango Sunsets (15 page)

Kevin rolled his eyebrows and Liz responded with a lopsided smile.

“Thanks,” she said, slurring a little.

He got up, kissed the top of her head, and waved at us.

“Call me if you need anything,” he mouthed, holding his thumb and little finger beside his head like a cell phone.

“Okay,” I mouthed back.

Liz was already drifting off to sleep by the time I closed her door and settled into the chair next to her. Worn out as my body was, my mind was racing. What a week it had been!

I wondered what my mother would have said about this horrible business with Liz and Truman and what she would have had to say about Agnes Willis’s behavior. More than likely, plenty. Miss Josie would have said that Liz had probably been fully informed that she was playing with fire. But she would never have entertained the idea that Liz had gotten what she deserved from Truman. She might have said that perhaps her father had been cruel to her and that may have been the reason Liz would be so willing to sleep with a man that much older than she was. But in any and all cases, a man should never raise his hand to a woman. She would have said that Truman Willis was not a gentleman to be sure and that Agnes, in her private moments, had to be terribly unhappy and embittered.

I could see my mother in my mind’s eye as I told her the story over a cup of hot tea at her kitchen counter. That was what I wanted then—to be with my mother. To tell her this entire story because she would care about it. It was too late to call her then but I would surely have told her the whole story by tomorrow night.

Right in front of my eyes, life was changing. I had already determined that I was going to take Liz under my wing, and Charlie, Priscilla, Danny,
Nan, and their two. I marveled at the sense of peace it gave me and how quickly it had all come about. In the time it took for the sun to rise and fall only once, I had begun to gather real purpose back into my life. Even the creaking rusted hinges on the door to my heart were open just enough to look at love again. Okay, maybe with one eye, but it was slightly less jaundiced than before.

Kevin and I brought Liz home from the hospital two days later and put her in Charlie’s old room. She didn’t even object. Between her collapsed lung, the pain meds that made her woozy, and her sling, traveling up and down the stairs to the second floor held little appeal. Besides that, the thought of her taking a tumble down the steps and breaking her neck scared Kevin and me out of our wits. We all agreed that being my houseguest was a better choice than being a prisoner upstairs. I intended to see that she ate well, rested, and recuperated as she should.

Liz looked worse than she had in the hospital because her bruises had taken on every color found in nature. But at least the swelling was reduced. And true to his word, Charlie had booked appointments for her to see Dr. Imber and a wonderful oral surgeon named Gordon Ferguson.

She told us that the day after the incident the police visited her hospital room and asked her if she wanted to press charges against Truman Willis.

“I just said, no, I don’t. What good would come of it? Enough damage had been done. I just need to get better. Who cares about him anyway?”

Later on Kevin said to me, “Don’t you think it’s odd that Liz is so serene? I mean, if somebody waled on me like Truman Willis did on Liz, I’d at least be
furious
!”

“It’s odd and it makes me wonder just what in the world her life was
like before we knew her. She could take a beating like that and practically cower as though she deserved it? That curtain doesn’t hang quite straight, does it?”

“No. It’s peculiar.”

We thought it was absolutely terrible that neither Truman nor Agnes had inquired if they could help with Liz’s medical bills, especially when they surely knew in the days that followed that the charges against Truman had been dropped. I mean, Liz could have thrown a hand grenade in their lives but she had decided against it. Shouldn’t that have scored some points with someone?

Kevin said he was not surprised about the silence or lack of gratitude from the Willis camp. His lone encounter with Agnes at the hospital had been revolting to him. And he thought Truman Willis was the scum of the earth. Kevin said there was no word strong enough to aptly define the Willis arrogance and he was one hundred percent correct about that. I think Kevin sort of looked at Liz like a little sister and he was just smoldering with anger that someone could do such a thing to her.

I said to Liz, “You know, honey, Truman Willis has more than enough money to pay the bills, especially the plastic surgery and for your teeth. A lawyer’s letter to him is all we need. You are certainly within your rights to threaten a civil suit.”

“Yeah, but then every time I touched my face or took a bite, I would remember that I had to sue the money out of him. I prefer to remember my stupidity instead.”

“Your stupidity? What about mine? It was my big mouth that put this train wreck in motion!”

I had told Liz the whole truth of my relationship with Agnes, how our so-called friendship and most other friendships had fallen apart on the departure of my husband. Then of course, there was the calamitous coffee-urn story.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Swanson, about what happened to you, but I would have loved to see the look on her face when you told her about Truman.
You’re probably the first person who gave her any, pardon me, crap in a million years.”

“Darlin’? At this point, I think you can call me Miriam.”

I apologized to Liz over and over but I desperately wanted her to understand that I never meant to hurt anyone except Agnes, and even that was wrong. Never again would I seek to inflict pain in anyone’s life. Apparently, there was a little Buddha germinating in my soul.

“Miriam? Gosh, it sounds so funny to call you that. But, Miriam? Honestly, if I had been in your position, I sure might have said the
same thing
. I mean, at that moment you couldn’t have thought something like this would happen.”

“Not in a million years. Still. I did a terrible thing to Agnes Willis that caused an undeserved tragedy to happen to you.”

“Yeah, but she definitely deserved some comeuppance,” Liz said. “What a, pardon me, bitch she is.”

Liz still cussed but excused herself when she did. I took that as a sign of personal growth.

“You’re telling me? You would not believe how many times she embarrassed me just for the sport of it. Anyway, for someone who has a history of great self-control, I surely did lose my composure in a big way.”

“Well, we all learned something here, right? When I look like a girl again, I’m gonna sign up at match.com or something and start looking for guys my own age.”

“Good! And find an old poop for me while you’re at it.”

“You know, Miriam, that’s not a bad idea.”

“Oh, please! Actually,” and I whispered for no reason, “I’ve met someone who might be fun to be with.”

“You did? Tell me about him. Does Kevin know?”

“Honey, Kevin knows when I pluck an eyebrow.”

Liz was propped up against four pillows, positioned in a way that allowed her to sleep without disturbing her shoulder. I sat on the opposite bed and told her all about meeting Harrison and Manny. I even confided
that I had a flutter in my heart for Harrison but why it was impossible to pursue it. But that Manny was interesting, a great cook, and more than your basic southern man with beautiful manners. I hoped that something would develop with him but that depended greatly on how much time I was able to spend in South Carolina.

“Don’t settle for a consolation prize, Miriam. Are you positive that Harrison is your mama’s sweetie?”

“Trust me. You should see the way she looks at him. But Manny’s not a consolation prize. He’s a catch, too.”

And of course, there was Charles and Priscilla’s approaching wedding. Liz and I had a funny discussion of visions of goats turning on spits and steel-drum music.

“Where’s it gonna be?”

“You know what? I hardly have a single detail but I’m having dinner with them on Thursday and I’ll know a lot more after that.”

Talking to Liz in that way and in that situation was like talking to a daughter I had never had, and I enjoyed it so much. In fact, I enjoyed it so very much that it surprised me how nostalgic I became and I wanted her to know who I really was. Soon I was telling her about my mother and Sullivans Island and what it had been like to grow up there, how I had brought my sons there as little boys and how they had always loved it. And as I described the almost mystical aura of the island to her, naturally it became clearer to me how much I cherished Sullivans Island. Liz listened to my rambling with a child’s innocence. I could see in her eyes that she, like everyone else, was enchanted by the romantic idea of an island with a mango sun.

“It must’ve been wonderful. I would love to go there someday—meet your mother and all. I’ll bet she’s great.”

Here was an opportunity for me to do something to make up for the hell I had brought to her.

“Then we’ll do it. I’ll take you there.”

“Really?”

“Yep, as soon as you’ve got teeth and the stitches are out of your face.”

“Seriously?”

“Shoot! Sure! Why not? I’ll find us some cheap tickets and we’ll go!”

“That would be so nice to feel the sun, wouldn’t it?”

Liz’s eyes were drooping and I knew it was time for her to nap.

“Yes, it
will
be nice. Why don’t you rest now and I’ll wake you up when it’s lunchtime.”

She nodded and I left her to sleep.

We were taking all the right steps to set the world right again. Kevin would drop by every evening with different cosmetic samples to cover her bruises and scarves to use for a sling, and he even brought her two wonderful running suits that were soft enough to sleep in.

Between the incident and her return home, I had gone up to Liz’s apartment and restored some order. I knew the complete disarray and the sight of her blood on the bathroom floor would be traumatic for her, so I cleaned up, tried to set things back in their place, and ran a dust cloth over the furniture.

When you considered everything, Liz was doing fine. There didn’t seem to be any psychological damage other than embarrassment and I kept thinking that was so strange. But when we talked about it again, Kevin said perhaps she was the kind of woman who just held things inside. The college had given her a leave of absence and said she could return as soon as she felt well enough. But her salary was going to be interrupted, which posed a rent problem if she convalesced for more than a few weeks. Liz fretted over that, but I could not have cared less. In fact, I liked having her around and so did Harry.

Kevin and I said it so often that Harry had taken to saying “How are you feeling?” He might have been a bird but he was smart enough to know something important had changed his habitat. In the past I would have been a complete wreck over something like this, but for some reason I was less anxious having Liz in residence. And Harry? He was whistling all day long.

Thursday’s dinner date with Charlie and Priscilla rolled around faster than I thought it would. I had all sorts of wardrobe problems, which Liz helped me resolve. I didn’t want to look frumpy or prissy and that meant ninety percent of what I owned was not going to deliver an image of a cool, hip, open-minded, but loving future mother-in-law. Kevin brought me a heavy gold charm bracelet to wear for good luck.

“It’s youthful and all the rage this season,” he said. “Save the box so I can return it.”

It was not a gift.

“Absolutely. Gosh, I had one of these a million years ago. It was silver. I wonder whatever happened to it?” In my youth, each charm represented something special to you and they were collected over the years and soldered on the links one by one. Now you bought them by theme. This one represented
Gone with the Wind
.

“It’s probably in a shoe box with your high school report cards. Honestly, one of these days we have to clean the basement. Isn’t that tiny Scarlett adorable?”

“Yes. You’re right, of course.”

As you might imagine, before I left the house, Kevin and Liz gave me all manner of advice.

“Try to find out as much as you can about her family,” Kevin said. “That will tell you a lot. Diseases, education, religious affiliations, you know…the gene pool?”

He was right, not that it mattered.

“Find out what she likes to do in her spare time, then you can figure out future birthday and Christmas presents.” Practical advice from Liz.

“The main thing I want to know,” I said, “is that she is one hundred percent in love with Charlie. And that she’s not as boring as I always thought she was.”

I had chosen an Italian restaurant on the Upper East Side of the city that was very good but not pretentious, which was to say I could afford to take the check. I had debated bringing Kevin along and then decided it
would be best if it was just the three of us. Having Kevin there would change the group dynamic and I really wanted to know as much as I could about my future daughter-in-law. Most important, I wanted to charm her into liking me. Maybe the charm bracelet would help.

I waited for Charlie and Priscilla to arrive. They were late but only by twenty minutes. I was sipping a cocktail to calm my nerves and wishing the dinner was over with. The champagne I ordered was chilling in an ice bucket next to the table.

A few more minutes passed and I started getting annoyed that I was being made to wait so long. Then a minute later, when I was just about to call Charlie to see if he was dead in a ditch, the headwaiter appeared at my table, to seat Priscilla and Charlie. Charlie gave me a tiny kiss before sitting down. With that little kiss, all the edges of my annoyance evaporated.

“Sorry we’re a little late,” he said. “Traffic’s terrible.”

“Well, that’s how it is,” I said, in a way that I hoped conveyed that it wasn’t a big deal to be half an hour late. “But y’all should try to get to the church on time on your big day, right? How are you, dear? Priscilla?”

“It would be a terrible thing to be late to our own wedding,” she said, adding, “It’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Swanson.”

“We’re not having a church wedding, Mom,” Charlie said.

“Oh! Well, that’s just fine!” It was not fine, but was I there to object to anything? “Shall we have a glass of champagne to celebrate the happy news?”

I looked around to the captain and he hurried over to pour. When we each had a glass, I raised mine to offer a toast.

“To your happiness, Charlie and Priscilla! And, Priscilla? Welcome to my family, fractured and peculiar as we are. Cheers!”

To my total surprise, they laughed, thinking I had made a joke. Given my track record in comedy, I laughed with them. Never mind that I offered a truth she would learn soon enough.

“Thanks, Mom!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Swanson.”

Mother McCree, she was so serious. I thought, How will I endure a lifetime of this?

“Priscilla? You’ve told your family, I assume? And they’re pleased, I hope?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am. They are thrilled.”

“Thank heavens for that! I can’t wait to meet them. So tell me, Charlie, have you spoken to your father? What did he say?”

“Dad? You know him. Dad is so bizarre. Basically he said congratulations, that he and Judith would attend, but that he was completely uninterested in contributing to the expenses.”

“Oh, goodness. Well, that wasn’t very nice. Did you ask him for a lot of money or something?”

“No, I didn’t ask dear old Dad for a dime. I guess he just wanted to have his intentions understood up front.”

“Oh. Well, that’s your father for you.” I turned to Priscilla. “Normally I don’t use profanity, Priscilla, but I think you should know that my ex-husband, Charlie’s father? He’s a horse’s ass. And tighter than a mole’s ear.”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s exactly what I’ve been given to understand and it appears to be true.”

I looked at her and smiled, thinking there was hope for our relationship after all. She smiled back and we established a bond roughly the size of a garden pea, but a bond nonetheless.

“And your brother? You’ve spoken to him?”

“Well, I left him two messages. Who knows with him? Maybe he’s in Hawaii? Why would he tell us anything? I’ll catch up with him at some point.”