Breath of Scandal (4 page)

With each one he began, Velta's spirits rose. This would be the one that catapulted them to riches. The Medal of Honor gave them instant respectability, but never the riches and social acceptance Velta craved, Even a Medal of Honor didn't establish you with Southern society if you had no

distinguished grandfather and lots of family money to go with it.

Velta had ranked fourth in a family of nine children. Her father had been a sharecropper until he dropped dead behind a plow mule, leaving destitute her mother and all the offspring who weren't already married. The family had to rely on the charity of others for food and shelter.

More than poverty and hunger, Velta feared scorn. When the laurel wreath around Ron's head began to wilt, she surmised that people were laughing behind their backs. She berated him for squandering their one chance for fame and fortune. She threatened him and cajoled him, but he simply lacked the initiative to work for a living. She refused to let him reenlist in the army. That would be too demeaning, an admission of defeat, she had told him.

At her wits' end, she had already made up her mind to leave him when she got pregnant with Jade after six years of barrenness. Velta had then clung to the hope that a baby would prod her husband into doing something worthy of his previous success as a soldier. But after Jade's arrival it was Velta who had gone to work in Ivan Patchett's factory.

The last ten years of Ron's life had been studded with jobs acquired and jobs lost, big dreams that never came to fruition, promises that were diluted by ever-increasing amounts of liquor.

One day when Jade was at school and Velta was at work, he died while cleaning his rifle. Mercifully, Sheriff Jolly had ruled his death accidental. The local VFW had donated the money for Velta and Jade to travel to Arlington National Cemetery to give Ronald Sperry a hero's burial.

Looking at his photograph now, Velta didn't feel a whit of yearning for him. Ron had been handsome and sweet and ardent till the day he died, but what good had he done her?

Jade, on the other hand, missed him to this day. Velta resented the girl's fond attachment to his memory, just as she had been jealous of their mutual, blind admiration while he was alive.

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He had often pulled Jade into his lap and said to her. "You'll do all right, little doll. You've got my looks and your mama's backbone. Don't ever be afraid and you'll do all right."

Jade was going to do better than all right. If Velta had anything to do with it, Jade was going to make a better marriage than she had.

"Neal Patchett called a while ago," she said, smiling for the first time since Jade had come in. "He's a charmer, thai one. "

"He's slime.

Velta was taken aback by Jade's vehemence. "That's an ugly thing to say."

"Neal is ugly."

"Ugly? Why, half the girls in the high school would give their right arms to have him calling them."

"Then half the girls can have him."

"I'm sure it's not too late for you to return his call." Jade shook her head. "I've got to read a chapter in history before tomorrow. "

"Jade," Velta called peremptorily when Jade headed for her bedroom. "It's rude not to return a telephone call, especially from someone like Neal."

"I don't want to talk to Neal, Mama."

"You spend hours on the phone with that Parker boy Jade rolled her lips inward and held them for several seconds before saying, "I've got to study. Good night."

Velta switched off the TV and followed Jade into her bedroom, catching the door before it closed. "You spend too much time studying. It's unnatural."

Jade removed her skirt and sweater and conscientiously hung them in her narrow closet. "I have to keep my grade point up if I want to get a scholarship."

"A scholarship," Veltahissed. "That'sall youeverthink about.

"Because that's the only way I can afford to go to college. "

"Which in my opinion is a big waste of time for a pretty girl like you. "

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Jade turned away from her closet and faced her mother. "Mama, I don't want to have this argument again. I'm going to college, whether you approve of it or not."

"It's not a matter of approval. I just don't think it's necessary."

"It is if I want a career."

"You'll waste all that time and money and then wind up getting married anyway."

"Women nowadays can do both."

Velta crossed the room, pinched Jade's chin between her fingers, and angled her head back, exposing the faint red mark on Jade's neck and showing contempt for both the mark and her daughter. "What chance will you have of marrying somebody decent if you get pregnant by that Parker boy?"

"Gary isn't going to get me pregnant. And he's the most decent person I know. It's Gary I'm going to marry, Mama. "

' 'Jade, boys talk girls into doing things they shouldn't by telling them they love them. If you give it to this boy, nobody worth having will want you."

Jade sank down on the edge of her bed and, looking up at her mother, shook her head sadly. "I haven't given 'it' to anybody, Mama. When I do, it'll be to Gary, and it'll be because we love each other."

Velta snorted. "You're too young to know what love is. 11

Jade's eyes turned a deeper blue, a sign of rising ire. "You wouldn't say that if I were claiming to be in love with Neal Patchett. You'd be urging me to trap him any way I could ... even if it meant having sex with him."

"At least you would be somebody in this town if you married him."

"I am somebody!"

Velta clenched her fists at her sides. "You're just like your father-head in the clouds, idealistic."

"There's nothing wrong with having goals."

"Goals?" Velta scoffed. "A funny word to bring into a conversation about your father. He never met a single goal

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in his life. For all the years we were married, he never did one worthwhile thing."

"He loved me," Jade retorted. "Or don't you consider that worthwhile?"

Velta turned and walked stiffly to the door. Before leaving, she said, "When I was your age, I married the hero of the town. Right now, that's your Gary. He's ood-

9 looking, a star athlete, class president, everything a girl could want. "

Velta sneered. "Take it from me, heroes are temporary, Jade. They fade like cheap curtains. The only thing that really counts is money. No matter how many awards that Parker boy wins, all he'll ever really be is old Otis Parker's firstborn. I want better than that for you."

"No, Mama," Jade argued softly." You want better than that for you."

Velta slammed the door behind her.

Jade sat on a tall stool, nibbling a shortbread cookie. The heels of her shoes were hooked over the chrome rung that encircled the stool's legs. Her chemistry textbook lay open on her lap.

After school and half a day on Saturdays, Jade worked in Jones Brothers' General Store. During the week, she clocked in at four and worked until Velta picked her up on her way home from the factory, usually around six.

It wasn't a long shift, but it gave Pete, the last surviving of three brothers, a chance to sit with his ailing wife, who was in a nursing home, and it provided Jade with a little spending money.

The store was one of a diminishing breed. The planks of the hardwood floor were covered with a waxy-looking film from the lemon oil used on dustmops for countless decades. On the coldest of winter afternoons, old men gathered around the potbellied stove in the back room and discussed the state of the world between chaws of Redman and games of dominoes.

Pitchforks hung, tines down, from hooks screwed into the ceiling. A customer could outfit his horse or his newborn. He could purchase a deck of cards, a pair of dice, or a, Bible. The variety of merchandise and customers made tfie job interesting.

Jade tried to concentrate on the material she was reading, but her mind wandered from chemistry to her personal problems, chiefly those with her mother, who refused to take seriously either Jade's love for Gary or her burning desire to have more out of life than the ordinary-husband, home, and children.

A family was important and Jade wanted one. But she wanted more. Most of the girls in her class had already resigned themselves to working for Ivan Patchett until they got married and started having babies, who would eventually work for Neal. Gary and she shared an ambition to break that dreary cycle.

Whether intentionally or not, Ron Sperry had imbued his daughter with the courage he had lacked, instilling in her a desire to make a better life for herself than her parents had had. At least on that, she and her mother agreed. It was their ultimate goals that differed . . . and their means of attaining them. Jade feared that those differences would never be reconciled, especially where Gary was concerned.

Gary was another source of worry that gloomy afternoon. Neither of them had heard from any of the scholarship boards to which they had applied. That, coupled with their escalating sexual frustration and the hell that Neal was giving them at school because of the incident at the Dairy Barn, had made them irritable and short-tempered with each other.

They needed a distraction. Perhaps if the weather was warm this weekend, they could have a cookout on the beach, or go for a long drive, something that would relax them and put things back into perspective.

She was still mulling it over when the bell over the entrance jangled. Jade looked up from her studies to see Donna Dee barreling through the door. Her cheeks were flushed and her chest was heaving as she gasped for air.

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Jade jumped to her feet, and her chemistry book fell to the floor with a loud thud. "What in the world is the matter?"

Donna   Dee fanned her hands in front of her face and drew several deep breaths. "I just came from school. Mr. Patterson asked if I'd stay and do some filing for him." "And?"

"You got it. Your scholarship."

Jade's heart went straight to her throat. She didn't dare trust her ears, so she repeated, "I got it? A scholarship?" Donna Dee bobbed her head quickly. "To South Carolina State. "

"How do you know? Are you sure?"

"I saw the letter lying on Mr. Patterson's desk. It looked very official, you know, with gold seals and scrolls and stuff. I saw your name on it and kind of accidentally on purpose knocked it to the floor as I was reaching for a folder I was supposed to-"

"Donna Dee!"

"Okay. Anyway, I read the letter. The dean or someone was congratulating our principal on producing two such fine students at Palmetto High School."

Jade's eyes widened. "Two?"

Donna Dee spread her arms out to her sides and squealed, "Gary got one, too."

They both started squealing then. Clasping arms, they hopped up and down until the glass jars of jelly beans on the counter began to rattle.

"Oh, Lord. Oh, I can't      believe it! How much? Did it say how much?"

"It said 'full scholastic scholarships.' Doesn't that mean everything?"

"I don't know. I hope so. Oh, but I'm so grateful for whatever it is," Jade said breathlessly. "I've got to tell Gary. Was he still at school? Did you see him on the track?" The track team was preparing for its season by working out every day after school.

"No. I told Mr. Patterson I felt sick and had to leave. I

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ran to the stadium and looked for Gary. I was going to get him to come with me and tell you together."

"Maybe he was in the locker room."

Donna Dee shook her head. "I asked. Marvie Hibbs said he'd seen him leave."

Jade consulted the pendulum clock mounted on the wall. It was surrounded by cuckoo clocks, all about to strike fivethirty. "Sometimes Mr. Jones comes back before six. I'm sure he'll let me leave a few minutes early today."

"What for?"

"To go tell Gary."

:'Why don't you just call?"

'I want to tell him in person. Will you drive me out to Gary's house? Please, Donna Dee?"

"He might already know," Donna Dee said. "I'm sure the dean sent letters to you, too. You've probably got one waiting for you at home."

"That's true. But the Parkers are on a rural postal route. Sometimes they get mail a day later. Besides, I've got to see him. Today. Now. Please, Donna Dee."

"Okay. But what about your mom? What'll happen when she shows up here to pick you up?"

"Mr. Jones will tell her where I went."

"She'll be pissed if you talk to Gary before you tell her." "Then she'll just have to be pissed. He's got to be the first to know."

The elderly Mr. Jones didn't know what to make of it when he entered his store a few minutes later and Jade Sperry came flying at him with arms outstretched. She hugged him tight and kissed his wrinkled cheek.

"Mr. Jones, something very important has come up. I know it's early, but would you let me leave now? I'll make up the time another night. Please?" She spoke rapidly, the words running together.

"Well, seeing that you're about to bust, I reckon so." "Thank you! Thank you!"

She kissed his cheek again and ducked into the back room to retrieve her school books, coat, and purse. She was too

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excited to be cold, so she bundled the coat against her chest, scooped her chemistry book off the floor, and dashed back to the front of the store. Donna Dee had been momentarily distracted by a new display of frosted eyeshadows. Jade herded her toward the door.

"See you tomorrow, Mr. Jones. When my mother stops for me, please tell her that I went with Donna Dee and will be home in about an hour. And tell her I've got some very good news."

"I'll do it."

"Thanks again. Bye-bye!" "You girls be careful, hear?"

Stumbling over each other, Donna Dee and Jade rushed out the door and down the sidewalk to Donna Dee's car. Jade tossed her belongings into the backseat and got in while Donna Dee slid behind the wheel.

She negotiated the town's few traffic lights and within minutes they were speeding down the two-lane highway. It was a dreary, misty evening, but they kept the windows down, and the radio blaring.