responsive-lightbox domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/sundre5/ducts.sundresspublications.com/content/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6114Nearly seventy years of a life well lived ain\u2019t nothing to cry about, Pastor Simmons said.\u00a0 He mopped beads of sweat from his shiny bald scalp with a handkerchief.\u00a0 Rejoice and be happy.\u00a0 The cancer took him too soon, but ol\u2019 Samuel\u2019s gone up.\u00a0 He\u2019s with the Lord now.\u00a0 Shouts of \u201cAmen\u201d echoed through the old, clapboard church.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The service for Samuel Douglas was a spirited affair.\u00a0 They never called it a funeral at Bethel Baptist Church.\u00a0 Today, the program read \u201cA Celebration of the Life.\u201d\u00a0 Mourners, nearly one hundred strong, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder into the worn oaken pews.\u00a0 Old men in somber suits sat next to old women waving paper fans in the late-August heat.\u00a0 Up front, Samuel lay in a cherry wood casket like a man deep in slumber, his face a stiff mask under a layer of heavy makeup.\u00a0 The corners of his mouth angled slightly upward below a neatly trimmed moustache.\u00a0 He wore the navy-blue suit and red-and-black striped tie that he had selected years ago for just this occasion.\u00a0 The clothes fit him loosely now; he had grown thin in his final months.<\/p>\n
Samuel\u2019s family occupied the first pew.\u00a0 His youngest daughter, Glynnis, sat to the left, wearing an expression somewhere between fatigue and boredom.\u00a0 His only son, Michael, sat in the middle between his wife Alma and fidgeting twin girls. \u00a0And to the right sat Samuel\u2019s eldest daughter, Marilyn, head bowed, arms wrapped about her midsection, rocking slowly back and forth.\u00a0 Even now at forty-five, she felt like an orphan, alone and adrift without her father.<\/p>\n
Every so often, Marilyn lifted her head to survey the crowd.\u00a0 She wanted to join them, stomping and clapping and praising.\u00a0 She wanted to believe that Samuel had gone up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the funeral, a black stretch limo dropped the family off at the Douglas\u2019 home.\u00a0 The house stood on two acres of low-lying marshland pressed up against the Georgia coast.\u00a0 His ancestor, a freedman named Henry, had built it in the 1870s.\u00a0 Henry had thought that it deserved a name, like the plantations of his youth.\u00a0 He called it Magnolia Lane, after the trees he cleared to build the house.\u00a0 Samuel was the sixth generation to live at Magnolia Lane. \u00a0Like his mother Belle, grandfather Wesley, great-grandmother Lucille, and great-great-grandfather Benjamin, he had been born in this house, and he had died here.<\/p>\n
Marilyn stayed behind on the front porch while the others hurried inside.\u00a0 The morning sky had teased with hints of blue peeking through the gathering clouds; now it was a grim blanket of white.<\/p>\n
\u201cNice service,\u201d Glynnis said as she brushed past.\u00a0 She\u2019d driven up last night from Tallahassee.\u00a0 Her scarlet-red Audi sat gleaming in the driveway.\u00a0 She wore a floral print dress ending at mid-thigh; a matching head wrap covered her shoulder-length twists.\u00a0 The attire had raised eyebrows at the church.\u00a0 No doubt that had been the intention, Marilyn thought.\u00a0 They were fifteen years apart in age, but that was the least of what separated them.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou comin\u2019 in?\u201d Michael asked.\u00a0 He\u2019d taken an early morning flight down from Atlanta with his family in tow.\u00a0 He had just turned forty and had taken to wearing glasses in the past year.\u00a0 Marilyn noticed the first silvery strands peeking through at his temples.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a minute,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cI just need a chance to clear my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand,\u201d he said, and gave her shoulder a squeeze.\u00a0 \u201cTake as much time as you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
He meant well.\u00a0\u00a0 He always meant well.\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t understand, couldn\u2019t understand, what she felt in this house.\u00a0 Even as a child, her mind was never quiet here.\u00a0 As far back as she could remember, she had heard voices at Magnolia Lane.\u00a0 It had frightened her when she was young. \u00a0She hadn\u2019t known then what she was hearing.\u00a0 How could she have known? \u00a0The voices were faint, indistinct, like a quiet murmur that played inside her head.\u00a0 Once, when Marilyn told her father what she heard, he told her not to worry.\u00a0 The ancestors were watching over her, he said. She was the fortunate one. It wasn\u2019t until grandma Belle passed that she finally understood.\u00a0 She could hear Belle clearly; her voice was strong inside these walls.\u00a0 There was no mistaking it \u2014 the sing-songy quality that betrayed just a hint of the Sea Island patois. \u00a0It was Belle\u2019s voice that sang Marilyn to sleep in the nights after her mother died.\u00a0 It was Belle\u2019s voice that comforted her later as she sat alone by Samuel\u2019s sick bed.\u00a0 Now that Samuel was gone, it was his voice that she heard above all the others.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marilyn forced a smile as guests from the church streamed in, bearing condolences and an excess of food.\u00a0 Eunice, the Sunday school teacher, arrived first.\u00a0 She handed over a pot of Brunswick stew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sure gonna miss your daddy,\u201d she said. \u201cThe younger men, they don\u2019t come to church anymore, you know.\u201d Samuel laughed at that. \u00a0That\u2019s \u2018cause they\u2019re scared of you.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know what I\u2019m gonna do without Sam,\u201d said Mack from the VFW as he hobbled up the steps.\u00a0 He offered a meatloaf wrapped in foil. \u00a0You gonna have to find someone else to cheat at spades, old man.<\/em><\/p>\n The Kersey sisters, Mavis and Martha, pulled into the yard in their metallic blue Cadillac.\u00a0 They had to be mid-eighties by now, and they were cute in that way that only the old can be, like a smaller, wizened version of their younger selves.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe rain is coming.\u00a0 I can feel it,\u201d Mavis said as she crossed the lawn with her halting gait. “My arthritis is already acting up.”\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou ladies still driving, I see,\u201d Marilyn said, helping Mavis up onto the porch.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right, and we gonna keep right on drivin\u2019 \u2018till somebody pries the keys out of our hands,\u201d Martha said.\u00a0<\/p>\n They kept coming, these friends of Samuel, until thirty or so filled the living room and the parlor and spilled over into the kitchen.\u00a0 Chicken and rice, potato salad, pork ribs, gumbo, fried catfish, cobblers, cakes and pies lined the dining room table.\u00a0 The rich, meaty aromas of Marilyn\u2019s childhood filled the house.\u00a0<\/p>\n Glynnis served up the food while Michael tried in vain to corral his five-year-old girls.\u00a0 Marilyn caught bits and pieces of conversation as she moved through the rooms.\u00a0 The old folks traded stories, laughed, and sometimes cried.<\/p>\n \u201cDid I ever tell you how me and Sam shipped out to \u2018Nam together back in \u201869?\u201d Mack said when she approached.\u00a0 Of course he had, but Marilyn let him tell it again, like she was hearing it for the first time. \u201cYou know, we took to callin\u2019 Sam peanut head \u2018cause, turns out, he had a head shaped just like a peanut when they shaved all his hair off.\u201d Samuel loved this story. \u00a0And<\/em> I still looked better than you.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat was a cryin\u2019 shame, too\u201d Willa Mae, the hairdresser, chimed in. \u201cYour daddy used to come into the barber shop all the time back then.\u00a0 He had that good hair too, all soft and curly.\u00a0 How the army gonna go and cut all that off?\u201d\u00a0 The two friends laughed until they were nearly out of breath, an easy familiarity born of years of shared experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n Willa Mae grasped Marilyn\u2019s arm and leaned in close. \u201cYou and Michael, you got Samuel\u2019s hair too, you know. Isn\u2019t that right, Betty?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure is,\u201d Betty said.\u00a0 She\u2019d been the dispatcher at the sheriff\u2019s office for as long as anybody could remember.\u00a0 \u201cNow Glynnis, she got her mama\u2019s hair.\u201d \u00a0Marilyn felt her body tense.\u00a0 Samuel wasn\u2019t going to like this.\u00a0 Listen to \u2018em. Starting all that stuff up again. <\/em><\/p>\n Marilyn inched away, suddenly wanting nothing more than to leave the conversation behind.\u00a0 Hemmed in by the crowd, though, she couldn\u2019t go far. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYes, yes, Ms. Dalia,\u201d Willa Mae said.\u00a0 \u201cHadn\u2019t thought about her in years.\u00a0 Just took the child and went down to Tallahassee.\u201d\u00a0 Samuel was agitated now.\u00a0 You all drove Dalia out of here.\u00a0 You know you did.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNo surprise there,\u201d Betty said.\u00a0 \u201cSam should\u2019ve known a woman like Dalia wasn\u2019t gonna stay \u2018round for long.\u00a0 What with her bein\u2019 a . . . you know, a dancer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cToo bad he didn\u2019t find himself another good, church-going woman after his wife died,\u201d Willa Mae said.\u00a0 Judge not, that ye not be judged.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that how it goes, ladies?<\/em><\/p>\n Marilyn\u2019s mind grew full, too full.\u00a0 She made her way toward the front door, excusing herself along the way, and stepped out onto the porch in search of respite.\u00a0 Out here, outside the walls, her thoughts were her own again.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, you thinkin\u2019 of leaving Savannah and moving into this house for good?\u201d She turned to see Pastor Simmons walking out the screen door onto the porch.<\/p>\n Marilyn hesitated, caught off guard by the question.\u00a0 \u201cI . . . I don\u2019t really know yet, Pastor,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI just thought, you know, with the divorce and all, and you livin\u2019 up there in Savannah all by yourself now, that you might be thinkin\u2019 of comin\u2019 back home.\u201d<\/p>\n She offered a tight smile.\u00a0 Her ex-husband had sent a wreath, but she’d known his absence wouldn\u2019t go unnoticed. \u00a0Her son, Trevor, had moved out to California and hadn\u2019t been able to travel back on short notice.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were born right upstairs,\u201d the Pastor said.\u00a0 \u201cBe awful strange not havin\u2019 a Douglas livin\u2019 in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be strange, wouldn\u2019t it?\u201d Marilyn said, as if the possibility had occurred to her for the first time. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cForgive me for asking,\u201d Pastor Simmons said.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s probably too soon for you to be worrying about that.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that I know ol\u2019 Sam always said the house had to stay in the family.\u00a0 I figured he\u2019d be passing it down to the three of you kids.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo tell you the truth, I hadn\u2019t thought much about it.\u201d\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t the truth, though.\u00a0 She’d been thinking about it for weeks, ever since Samuel had told her that the house was to be hers, and hers alone.\u00a0 She was the fortunate one.<\/p>\n Pastor Simmons gazed wistfully around the yard. \u201cYes, keep the house in the family,\u201d he continued.\u00a0 \u201cPass it along to Trevor and Michael\u2019s girls some day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think Trevor would ever come back to live here, Pastor,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cHe says it\u2019s too slow down here.\u00a0 Too quiet for him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what they all say when they\u2019re young,\u201d the Pastor said.\u00a0 \u201cThey all got to run off to New York or Hollywood or some such place looking for excitement.\u00a0 Thing is, though, down here, everybody knows your name and where you come from.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn smiled.\u00a0 \u201cAnd they know all your business, too,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pastor laughed at that.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we\u2019d just be real sorry to see you all go, Marilyn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a real nice eulogy you did for Daddy,\u201d was all she said. \u00a0She didn\u2019t tell him that she\u2019d been thinking of using her divorce settlement to follow Trevor to California.\u00a0 A change of scenery.\u00a0 A fresh start.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t she deserve that?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I tried to do him justice,\u201d the pastor said.\u00a0 \u201cI think he would have liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe did,\u201d Marilyn said softly.\u00a0 \u201cHe liked it a lot.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d told her so.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Later, as the grey afternoon melted into early evening, the guests took their leave in twos and threes.\u00a0 The first drops of rain splattered on the front porch steps.\u00a0 \u201cGet home safe,\u201d Marilyn repeated like a mantra as they flipped open umbrellas and fought a futile battle with the wind.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael sent Alma and the girls off to spend the night with a cousin.\u00a0 Only the three siblings remained in the house. \u00a0Marilyn and Michael rushed to move the patio furniture into the garage as the storm gathered intensity. \u00a0The wind thrashed the ancient live oaks and whipped the Spanish moss that draped carelessly over the branches.\u00a0 Marilyn grabbed one end of the rattan sofa and Michael took the opposite end.<\/p>\n \u201cCareful now,\u201d she said as he walked backwards down the porch steps.\u00a0 They shuffle-stepped across the yard toward the garage.\u00a0 \u201cWatch the vines, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere do you want to put this?\u201d Michael asked, resting his end of the sofa on the oil-stained cement floor.\u00a0 Marilyn motioned with her elbow toward the far right corner of the garage.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s set it over there,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll have to slide those boxes over to get it up against the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael pushed his glasses up on his nose and scanned the labels on the stack of cardboard boxes arranged in two neat rows, one on top of the other.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my stuff, isn\u2019t it?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, that\u2019s all yours,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cDaddy packed up your room after you left.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn lowered her end of the sofa and ran her hand over one of the boxes.\u00a0 \u201cThis one, this has all your formal clothes:\u00a0 the tuxedo Daddy got you for your prom, your graduation gown, the black suit you wore to mama\u2019s funeral.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in there.\u201d\u00a0 She slid her hand to the next box.\u00a0 \u201cAnd this one\u2019s got your books, all the college books you kept up in your room.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what to do with them all.\u00a0 You were always going on about how much they cost, so he figured he\u2019d keep them for you. I told him there was no need.\u00a0 You\u2019d probably never look at them again.\u00a0 But he said no, let\u2019s keep them just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael moved closer and examined the neat black lettering scrawled across the side of another box.\u00a0 \u201cThese are my trophies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom back when you ran the 400 meters,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cRemember how proud Daddy was?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m surprised he kept it all,\u201d Michael said softly.<\/p>\n \u201cHe kept everything,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cAll my things are still up in the attic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo, listen,\u201d Michael said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about the house.\u201d\u00a0 He took off his glasses and squeezed the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 \u201cI was thinking that maybe we should consider selling.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn was quiet for a moment. \u00a0She wanted to make him wait.\u00a0 Finally, she spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d really be okay with selling the house?\u201d \u00a0She stood, hands on hips, surveying the stack of boxes in front of her.\u00a0 \u201cLook at all of this . . . all these memories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll always have the memories,\u201d Michael said.\u00a0 \u201cMemories are in your mind, not in a house.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we need piles of stuff to keep our memories, do we?\u201d\u00a0 He patted the box of textbooks.\u00a0 \u201cThese things . . . they\u2019ll just get moldy in all this humidity.\u00a0 They probably already are.\u00a0 Anyway, who\u2019s ever going to look at them again?\u00a0 Dad should have gotten rid of them a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about your kids?\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll want to show them these things some day when they\u2019re older.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael laughed.\u00a0 \u201cI doubt it.\u00a0 Hell, they probably won\u2019t even know what a book is by the time they really start reading.\u00a0 Everything\u2019s electronic these days.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, maybe they\u2019d still want to come down here,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe you could bring them down during summer vacation.\u00a0 They could play down by the water like we used to and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd fight the gnats and mosquitoes?\u00a0 And sweat all night in that old house with no air conditioning?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, come on, now.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that bad.\u00a0 We can put ceiling fans in the upstairs bedrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrevor doesn\u2019t make it back here much, does he?\u201d<\/p>\n The words stung Marilyn, just as they were intended.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing is . . .\u201d Michael hesitated.\u00a0 \u201cThe thing is that I could really use the money.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to buy a new house in Atlanta.\u00a0 See, Alma thinks we need more space for the kids. You know, little people are expensive.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you have any good memories of growing up here?\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n Michael\u2019s eyes lingered on the boxes.\u00a0 Then, he turned toward door.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019d better get back up to the house and get the rest of the furniture.\u00a0 The wind\u2019s picking up.\u201d He crossed the garage with deliberate strides.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marilyn and Glynnis stood together in the kitchen washing the dishes.\u00a0 Darkness had descended outside.\u00a0 A slender branch smacked the window above the sink and Marilyn jumped.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou heard them, didn\u2019t you?\u201d Glynnis said.<\/p>\n \u201cHeard who?\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n \u201cThose old women. They\u2019ve got a lot of nerve to come in here talkin\u2019 about me and my mama.\u201d\u00a0 She plunged her hand into the sink full of soapy water in search of another plate.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019d think they\u2019d have better manners, as old as they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn kept her eyes trained on the fork in her hand, drying each prong separately.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think I heard anything\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course you did. I saw you standing right there next to them,\u201d Glynnis said. \u201cAnd you didn\u2019t say a thing to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael came into the kitchen carrying an armload of dishes.\u00a0 \u201cThis is everything from the dining room.\u201d He set the stack down on the counter.<\/p>\n Glynnis turned to Michael.\u00a0 \u201cCan you believe she didn\u2019t say anything?\u201d<\/p>\n He held up a hand and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhatever it is, leave me out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Glynnis dropped her dishrag in a wet heap on the counter.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why I don\u2019t come here.\u00a0 That\u2019s why mama had to leave here in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we really need to go through all this again,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cNot today of all days.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou should\u2019ve said that to them,\u201d Glynnis said. \u201cBecause they sure didn\u2019t have any problem bringing it up today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGlynnis, calm down,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cI understand how you feel, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will not calm down,\u201d Glynnis said. \u201cAnd no, you don\u2019t understand how I feel.\u00a0 They would never disrespect you that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn placed a hand on her sister\u2019s shoulder, but Glynnis shrugged it off.\u00a0 \u201cAll I want is to sell this house and leave this godforsaken town once and for all.\u00a0 Just leave these people to their gossiping and hating.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got nothing better to do around here anyway,\u201d she said as she stalked from the room.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Marilyn listened for Samuel but he was quiet.\u00a0 She knew he\u2019d always felt Glynnis\u2019 pain, but he\u2019d never been able to fix it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael rubbed his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI think she\u2019s right,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, about selling the house and moving on.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s time for all of us to move on from this place.\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn gathered up the dishes and set them down gently in the soapy water. \u00a0Now, Samuel spoke to her.\u00a0 Remember what I told you. This is your house. \u00a0You are the fortunate one.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMarilyn, did you hear me?\u201d Michael\u2019s voice brought her attention back to the room.\u00a0 \u201cI said I\u2019m going to bed.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had enough for one day.\u00a0 You gonna be okay?\u201d<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t okay, and she wanted to tell him so.\u00a0 She had so many things to say.\u00a0 She wanted to say that she had been the one who had comforted him when their mother died; that she had been the one to pick up the pieces after Dalia took Glynnis away; that she had come back to Magnolia Lane to nurse Samuel through his final days, even at the cost of her marriage.\u00a0 But she could hear the weariness in his voice, and she let the moment pass.<\/p>\n Marilyn sat alone in the empty kitchen as the storm\u2019s wrath arrived in its full fury.\u00a0 The wind rose to a full-throated roar, its brutal gusts striking blow after blow. \u00a0Magnolia Lane convulsed under the onslaught, creaking and moaning like it might come apart at the seams.\u00a0 Sheets of rain drove hard against the sides of the house in undulating waves, threatening to breach the windows and pour in around the frames.\u00a0 She squeezed her eyes shut and let the sound wash over her, until it was the only thing that she could hear.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n *\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The morning broke crisp and clear, as if the wind and rain had washed the world clean.\u00a0 A rich, earthy scent hung in the air; a songbird trilled outside the window.\u00a0 Marilyn rose early and busied herself preparing breakfast in the kitchen.\u00a0 She gently kneaded flour and shortening and buttermilk into coarse biscuit dough, just the way Belle had taught her.\u00a0 She pinched off handfuls of dough, patted them into shape, and dropped them into a greased baking pan.\u00a0 She hummed the tune that had popped into her head.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t feel no ways tired.\u00a0 I\u2019ve come too far from where I started from. <\/em><\/p>\n It was Samuel\u2019s favorite, and soon he joined in. \u00a0<\/p>\n Nobody told me that the road would be easy.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe He brought me this far to leave me.<\/em><\/p>\n Hearing footsteps descending the back staircase, Marilyn gathered herself, wiping her hands on the crisp, white apron tied around her waist.\u00a0 Michael entered the kitchen, acknowledging Marilyn with a slight wave of his hand.<\/p>\n \u201cMorning,\u201d Marilyn said, sliding the pan of biscuits into the oven.\u00a0 \u201cDid you get much sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll I could hear was the wind,\u201d Michael said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCoffee\u2019s on the counter, nice and strong,\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n Michael poured the steaming coffee from Belle\u2019s old, metal stovetop percolator.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBreakfast will be ready in a few minutes,\u201d Marilyn said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got scrambled eggs, grits, pork sausages and Daddy\u2019s favorite buttermilk biscuits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Michael stared up at Marilyn, then back down at his cup, carelessly swirling the coffee just below the rim.\u00a0 \u201cHave you given it any more thought?\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, about selling the house?\u201d\u00a0 He kept his eyes trained on the vapors rising from his cup.<\/p>\n \u201cI have thought about it,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cGot some good advice, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Michael gave his sister a quizzical look, but said nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cHere\u2019s what I propose,\u201d Marilyn said. \u201cI\u2019ll buy you out, you and Glynnis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll what?\u201d Michael said.\u00a0 \u201cHow are you going to do that?\u00a0 How can you afford that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got some cash from the divorce settlement,\u201d she replied.\u00a0 \u201cIt should be enough.\u201d\u00a0 She opened the oven door and peered in.\u00a0 \u201cA few more minutes on these biscuits.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what about you?\u201d Michael said.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to stay here in this house alone?\u201d<\/p>\n No, not alone, Marilyn thought.\u00a0 Not alone at all.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be fine,\u201d she said.\u00a0 She handed Michael a platter of sausages.\u00a0 \u201cHere, put these on the dining room table.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, standing outside in the driveway, Marilyn bid goodbye to Michael and Glynnis.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAre you sure you\u2019re going to be okay with all this?\u201d Michael said, looking out over the debris-strewn yard.\u00a0 \u201cI could maybe come back sometime and help you get things fixed up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d Marilyn said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I could\u2014\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said she didn\u2019t need any help,\u201d Glynnis said.\u00a0 \u201cWe need to get a move on.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to drop you off, and I\u2019ve still got a four-hour drive back to Tallahassee.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Marilyn watched as Glynnis backed the Audi down the driveway and disappeared from view.\u00a0 She turned and stared back at the house.\u00a0 Window screens, ripped from their frames during the night, lay on the front lawn; wooden shutters dangled from their hinges.\u00a0 A riot of branches and leaves littered the ground beneath the giant Magnolias that stood barren now, like scarecrows with spindly arms outstretched.\u00a0<\/p>\n Marilyn leapt over a pool of muddy water then climbed back up the porch steps. \u00a0Standing just inside the front door, she said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to fix this place up really nice, Daddy.\u00a0 Just like it used to be.\u00a0 Maybe add a gazebo out back.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say anything, but Marilyn knew he was smiling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The voices were faint, indistinct, like a quiet murmur that played inside her head. Once, when Marilyn told her father what she heard, he told her not to worry. The ancestors were watching over her, he said. She was the fortunate one. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5159"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5189,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5159\/revisions\/5189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}