Dovey Coe (7 page)

Amos nodded, then held up one finger, as if to tell me to wait a minute. Dragging his paper chain behind him, he run over to the little room that held Daddy's worktable and chair and closed the door. A few seconds later, he popped back out, that chain wrapped around him from head to foot. He looked like a Christmas tree all done up in decorations.

“Son, you are a crazy thing!” I said, admiring his handiwork.

“If Amos ain't careful, a lot of folks are going to think he's crazy.”

Parnell stood at the doorway, his fingers hooked in his suspenders, smiling down on our little scene. “I reckon a lot of folks already do,” he said. “I've heard many a story myself. I hear Amos used to like to go around and kill people's chickens. Why do you suppose he did that?”

I was glad of only one thing right then, and that was that Parnell was facing me and not Amos. I preferred that Amos not be privy to this particular conversation.

“You're the one who's crazy if you believe them kind of stories,” I told Parnell, turning back
to my work, pretending like his words hadn't affected me. “You ought not to spread rumors. They'll come back around to bite you in your behind.”

Parnell laughed a dry laugh. “Don't blame me that some folks have their concerns about the boy. Besides, I ain't the one making up the stories.”

“No, you're the one going around repeating them.”

“I just think you ought to know that there's some folks out there who don't feel real comfortable with Amos around, is all,” Parnell said, turning to leave. “I'd advise your brother to be real careful about acting the fool. He could get himself in trouble.”

By this time, Amos had pulled the paper chain from around him. He looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, as if to ask what the problem was. I shrugged my shoulders back at him, like I couldn't figure out what Parnell was going on about.

Amos smiled, then picked up the end of his chain and started running around in circles so that it was flying like a tail behind him. Parnell shook his head, like only a crazy boy would do such a thing, then walked off toward the house.

I felt the blood run hot through me, and I wanted to hit something as hard as I could. But
for Amos's sake, I shook off my bad feelings and give him a smile as he run in silly circles around the barn.

The worst thing about Parnell's little warning is I known it was true. There had always been folks around Indian Creek who believed Amos was off-kilter. That's one reason I made a point from the time we was little to take Amos to town with me, so folks could see that he was as normal as any other boy except for the fact of his not being able to hear. And while there was always going to be some mean boy to make fun of Amos, I thought that most folks had taken to him and liked him.

Parnell's the only one who don't like Amos, I thought to myself as I pulled the length of my paper chain toward me. Parnell is the only one who'd rather have him out of the picture.

I would have to be extracareful to watch over Amos from now on, that much was for sure. Somebody had to protect him from the likes of Parnell Caraway.

T
he day of the party broke cool and pretty, and I woke up hardly able to wait until evening, when folks would start coming over. MeMaw and PawPaw, Mama's mama and daddy, come around noon, and MeMaw started baking her fancy chocolate cakes she only made for company. You got to be quick around one of MeMaw's cakes, else you won't get a bite. They get et up in a flash. I tried sticking my finger in the mixing bowl when I thought MeMaw weren't looking, but she caught me and swatted my hand away, saying, “Law, Dovey, you're getting to be too old for such doings.”

“I'm only twelve, MeMaw,” I told her. “I got me a few years before I turn into an old woman.”

“But you're a young woman now, and you best start acting like one. I reckon a lot of boys will be after you 'fore too long. Caroline was just telling me that Wilson Brown's right sweet on you.”

“Caroline's got a head full of dreams, MeMaw,” I said. “Don't go listening to her.”

I decided I best leave the kitchen before I got surrounded by a flock of women wanting to talk about me and Wilson Brown. I walked out to the barn, where Daddy and Amos was building the little platform for Luther and Gaither to play on.

The only time I felt real bad about Amos not being able to hear was when I listened to music. It was right difficult to explain to Amos what music was, the same way it was hard to get across to him that when people moved their mouths to talk, sound came out. He didn't have a good idea for sound, I don't think. The closest I could get him to understanding was for him to put his hand on my throat while I talked. When you talk, your throat will vibrate a bit, and I wanted Amos to feel that particular vibration. The next day I heard him making them noises he made from time to time, and when I looked into his room, he had his hands on his throat, listening to himself.

I hoped Amos would be okay with all them
folks around. I knew it could be confusing for him to have a lot of folks about him moving and talking all at once. Watching him help Daddy build that platform, I got to wondering if some little girl might take a shine to him soon. Amos was right handsome; in fact, he had a lot of the same features as Caroline had, and even went one better. His hair was yellow and curly while Caroline had to do with dark and straight. How I got stuck with this old brown mess on top of my head, I don't know. Seems God made me for something other than sitting around and looking good all the time, I reckon.

I sat down on a pile of old blankets for a minute, letting my usual worries wash over me. What if some little girl broke Amos's heart? What if Parnell turned Caroline's feelings around again and convinced her to marry him and then somehow got control of Amos and sent him to a home? What if something happened to me and there was no one to help Amos through all the complications that life threw in his path?

“Sister, come over here and help hammer some of these nails,” Daddy yelled from where he and Amos was working. I stood up then and shook the worries from me. When I reached the other side of the barn, Daddy put a hammer in
my hand, saying, “Just don't tell your mama I made you stray from your ladylike ways. I'll get in a mess of trouble for that.”

I began pounding a nail into the two-by-four, humming beneath my breath, and in less than a minute, I felt like my old self again.

Hammering will always cure what ails you, I have found.

After what seemed like years, the sun started making its way down the other side of Katie's Knob, and us Coes got dressed for the party. Caroline looked pretty as always in a blue and white polka-dot dress and sweet little white dance slippers Mama ordered special from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. Mama looked extrapretty, too. She had on her red dress that brought out the coppery red lights in her hair, which is brown like mine, only darker.

I was hoping to get by with wearing a clean pair of dungarees and a white shirt, but Mama come into my room and said I had better wear a dress so as to make Caroline happy. She pulled out my good yellow dress from where I tried to keep it hid in the back of the closet, and then went to borrow a yellow ribbon for my hair from Caroline. By the time I finished getting ready I looked so dolled up, I hardly known myself in the mirror.

Seems like just about everybody showed up at once, and the yard was full of folks talking and laughing and looking good as they known how to. Tom and Huck was running around, trying to convince folks to give them the scraps off their plates, and a couple of the littler children were chasing after them. I sat on the porch with Amos and Wilson Brown, feeling like I was in another girl's skin. For the first time since I known him, I felt like I needed to make nice conversation with Wilson. That's what wearing a dress will do to a person.

By the time most folks were well into their eating, who should finally show up in his car but Parnell Caraway. I breathed a bit more easy when I seen he come alone. The last thing I wanted was for Paris to see me dressed like I was. She'd never let me hear the end of it.

Parnell strolled up to the yard, nodding and smiling at folks left and right, like he were a politician. A few of the younger girls got right fluttery, chirping out, “Well, hey there, Parnell,” as he passed. I seen Parnell wink at a few of them, and they liked to never stop giggling.

Caroline give Parnell a wave, and a couple girls sitting next to her on the steps scooted over to make Parnell room. He sat down next to Caroline like a king taking his throne.

“You know what I heard Fetzer Hall tell my daddy?” Wilson asked me, nodding over to where Parnell was making a fuss over my mama's fried chicken.

“What's that?” I asked, relieved to be getting a conversation going instead of just sitting there looking fancy.

Wilson leaned over close to me. “He said a bunch of them were up to Buddy Webb's a-drinking Friday night, and Parnell was there, too, just throwing whiskey down his throat like it were water. Well, in wanders old Cypress Terrell, just to get in from the weather, is what Fetzer told my daddy. Cypress weren't going to make trouble for no one.”

I nodded my head.

“Well, Parnell starts saying things to Cypress,” Wilson continued. “First just conversational type sayings, like, ‘There's a whole lotta thunder out there tonight, ain't there, Cypress,' like that. But then he starts getting real mean, saying folks like Cypress and his mama ought to just wander off into the woods and get lost and stop being such a burden on society. Fetzer said Parnell went so far as to take off his belt like he was going to beat Cypress with it, but Buddy got aholt of him, and some of the other fellers got Cypress out of there.”

I looked at Parnell over there on the steps, talking gay as could be with Caroline and them other girls, and felt a chill of fear in me. How a man could seem so nice and neighborly on the outside and be up to no good on the inside, well, it made me wonder about everybody in the world.

Folks started making their way over to the barn once they heard Gaither and Luther tuning up their fiddles. Gaither and Luther started up with “Little Red Rooster,” then played a few more numbers before folks convinced Daddy to do the calling for a dance. That got about everybody out on the floor except for a few of the older folks. Even me and Wilson got in the swing of it, do-si-doing and bowing to our partners.

I guess the playing went on for right about an hour when Gaither and Luther said they was going to take themselves a break. Most folks leaned against the wall to catch their breath and sent their little ones to fetch them a glass of lemonade. A few of the men stepped outside the barn to smoke. Wilson asked me if I felt like taking a walk to cool down, and I saw that as being a fine idea, so we headed over toward the pond down to the north end of the house.

What happened next surprised me so, I barely known what to make of it. Wilson reached over
and grabbed my hand real casual, like it were the most natural thing in the world for him to do. I looked around to make sure no one was watching, and when I figured no one seen us, I let myself relax into the feel of his hand holding mine. I ain't ashamed to say I right enjoyed it.

We stood at the edge of the pond for some time not saying anything, just letting our hands swing back and forth. The crickets chirped, and the frogs talked back and forth to each other. I could see a trace of a silver moon in the darkening sky, and I smelled the sweet scent of the honeysuckle growing in a tangle over to the house. Finally, Wilson cleared his throat a bit and said, “You look real pretty tonight, Dovey.”

I give his hand a little squeeze and said, “So do you. I mean, handsome. You look right handsome, Wilson Brown.”

I could feel my face going red from me telling Wilson Brown he looked pretty. But he didn't seem to mind none. In fact, he leaned over and kissed me real light on the lips. I couldn't believe how soft his mouth was, like a butterfly passing over my face.

I couldn't think of anything to say after that, so I leaned over and kissed Wilson back. We held that kiss a bit longer, then broke apart and looked
straight at each other. I noticed for the first time how nice his eyes were, dark brown with little flecks of green inside.

“I reckon we ought to head on back before they start to miss us,” Wilson said. He give me another quick kiss, and we walked up to the barn, not holding hands this time, because there were others about, but sort of rubbing shoulders nonetheless.

When we got to the barn, Gaither and Luther was tuning up again, and Daddy had his guitar out. Folks was milling about, ready to move their feet again and looking forward to hearing Daddy pick a little. Just as Daddy started to head to the stage, Parnell jumped right in front of him and stood dead center on the platform.

“Could I have everybody's attention, please?” he yelled out real loud. “Folks! If I could have your attention for a minute, I'd sure appreciate it!”

Everybody quieted down right quick. Parnell looked over the crowd like he was king of us all. “Caroline Coe, would you please come up here?”

Caroline made her way to where Parnell stood, her head held up in the air. I could see by her shaky smile, though, that Parnell was making her nervous.

Parnell give her a big grin, like to say, “Don't
you worry about nothing,” and turned back to give us his announcement. “Now, when I come here tonight, I didn't have no idea this was a going-away party for Caroline. To be honest, I had it fixed in my mind that Caroline ain't going away. I know none of you all want to see Caroline go on to teachers college, now do you? Especially since everybody knows that a little learning is wasted on someone as pretty as Caroline.”

Voices buzzed throughout the barn, then quieted down. Everyone waited to hear what Parnell would say next.

“I think all of us would like to see Caroline spend the rest of her days here in Indian Creek, and I aim to make that happen,” Parnell said, taking hold of Caroline's hand. “That is why I am taking this opportunity, here in front of our entire community, to make a most formal proposal to Miss Caroline Coe. Caroline, I am asking you to be my wife, here tonight, for the last time. What do you say, honey? Won't you marry me?”