Sullivans Island-Lowcountry 1 (64 page)

lead.

“Concentrate on the Annunciation,” he said, “consider the

humility with which Mary accepted the visitation of the Angel

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Gabriel and the role he told her she would play as the Mother

of God.”

Humility, I thought, there’s precious little of that in me.
O

Lord,
I prayed,
please teach me to be humble.
I held Beth’s hand and

we prayed together with the congregation.

“Hail Mary, full of grace.”

We prayed the ten Hail Marys, one Lord’s Prayer and one

Glory Be.Then Father Michaels added another prayer.

“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of

hell, take all souls to heaven, and help especially those most in

need of your mercy,” he said.

“Let’s pray for Daddy, Beth,” I whispered. “He’s most in

need of mercy right now.”

She squeezed her eyes tight but the tears escaped anyway. I

put my arm around her and choked back my own sobs.
Please,

God, please make Tom better. Please. I don’t want my daughter to lose

her father as I lost mine. It just always hurt so much, not having my

daddy.We never had a chance to make it right between us.

Father Michaels began the second decade.

“Think of the visitation and concentrate on charity. The

Blessed Mother visited her cousin Elizabeth before Jesus was

born.Think of your charity toward your neighbors.”

We began another string of ten Hail Marys. Our prayers

were so devout you could feel an electric pulse in the crowd.

Suddenly, Stella Maris was filled with bright white light and the

unmistakable scent of roses. No one, not even I, could deny that

that much had absolutely happened. It was a miracle, proof that

God existed, at least it was enough for me. I held Beth’s hand

and we prayed together. As the rosary ended, Father Michaels

began to distribute Communion. Every single person in the

church lined up to receive it.

Finally, the Mass was ended.

“Go in peace to love and serve the Lord,” Father Michaels

said.

“Thanks be to God,” the congregation roared.

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The bright light faded and the smell of roses gradually dissi-

pated into the thick musk smell of incense. Outside, people

were crying tears of joy, exclaiming renewed faith.We gathered

together, puzzled, sobered and confused. The church bells began

to ring.

We began the walk home to see the fireworks, stunned by

what we had witnessed.

“I don’t know. Mass hallucination,”Timmy said.“But I can’t

say I didn’t see the change in light.”

“Me either,” Henry said. “Damn. I guess I’d better go to

confession.”

“I need a drink,” Grant said. “That was the strangest thing

I’ve ever seen.”

“What do y’all expect?” I said. “This is the Lowcountry,

after all.”

“I brought a beautiful bottle of Corton Charlemagne,”

Henry said.

“Hey, Henry,” Grant said, “no offense, bubba, but I don’t

think any chicken shit wine spodie odie is gonna do it. I need a

real drink.”

“Me too,” Henry said,“the wine will keep.”

“Me three,” Timmy said.

It was near midnight. We decided to walk home along the

beach.The sky was filled with stars and the moon hung over our

shoulders.We passed bonfire after bonfire, wishing everyone well.

The beach was filled with people and music played from portable

stereos. I held Beth’s hand, noting silently that it was now the same

size as mine. I couldn’t help but remember when it had been so

tiny. How she had grown. I was filled with memories.

“I’m nearly a grown-up, Momma,” Beth said. She seemed to

be reading my mind.

“You’ll always be my little girl,” I said.

“Even when I’m old and you’re old too?”

“You bet. I expect you to sit on my lap once a day for the

rest of your life.”

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“Momma, what are we gonna do if Daddy doesn’t make

it?” she asked.

I looked out at the ocean. I could feel her fear. I knew she

worried that if she could lose him, she could lose me. She wasn’t

nearly grown and what was grown anyway?

There were things I needed to say to Beth and now was as

good a time as any. I led her over to a sand dune and we climbed

together to the top. A cold December breeze came up from

nowhere and blew our hair back away from our faces.We looked

at each other in the blue light of darkness. I put my hands on her

shoulders and held them tight.

“Beth, listen to me.This is a night to remember. It’s a turn-

ing point for you, and for everyone.You will remember what

we did, who was here and everything that happened, like it was

yesterday. For all of your life you’ll remember.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m gonna tell you something about your daddy. First of

all, I think he’s gonna make it. But if he doesn’t, he’s never gonna

leave you, Beth. The people you love never leave you and as

long as you love him, he’ll live. I know this is true, as sure as you

and I are here.”

“Yeah, I know, but he won’t really be here. He’ll be gone.

Your daddy left you, Livvie left you, your momma left. Momma,

face it, when people die, they leave.”

“No, they don’t. It’s that simple, Beth. If you want them,

they come. I swear it.”

She was quiet while her eyes searched my face. She saw me

smiling and I knew she was reading my mind again. “The mir-

ror, right?” she said.

“How did you know?”

“Momma, I’ve been talking to that mirror since forever!”

We burst out laughing, slapped high and low fives, and then

hugged like a mother and child octopus. Laughing. Laughing.

Laughter of hope, laughter of love.

“Beth, that weird old mirror is only one of many ways,”

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439

I said. “I think prayer works, meditation works. Hell, honey, in

fifty years they’ll invent a telephone or something.”

I hugged her with all my might.“You love your daddy and

he’ll never leave you. Of course, you’ll have to find out a lot

of things for yourself. Just don’t wait too long to start. Life’s

precious.”

“Yes. It is.” There was no beebop in her tone now. “I’m

gonna make you proud, Momma. Daddy too.”

“You already do, baby. God, I love you so much.”

From down the beach I saw Maggie and Henry coming

toward us. There was a loud boom and the first fountain of

fireworks burst against the sky. It was midnight and the dawn

of the new millennium.

“Coming!” I grabbed Beth and we ran down the dune to

them.“Hey! Who’s watching our fire?”

“Oh, an old friend,” Henry said.

We were about a hundred feet away from home when I saw

the figure of a man throwing logs on our fire. He turned to face us.

“Hey, Suz!”

I’d have known that voice anywhere.

“Simon?” I said to Maggie, who nodded her head at me,

smiling.“Simon!”

“Susan!” he called back.

I ran to him. He held out his arms and hugged me so hard I

thought I’d break. His gorgeous curls were close-cropped and

shot with silver. I was positively giddy.

“Just where have you been?” I said.

“Been busy. I heard you needed a friend.” He was laughing

at me.

“Boy, do I ever! Hey, you look pretty good for an octoge-

narian,” I mumbled.

“I’m
not
an octogenarian.”

I wiggled and pretended to resist his arms around me, but I

was grinning from ear to ear. He burst out laughing again and

then so did I. I didn’t know how I’d missed him until I saw him

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again. He looked at me and I knew his lips were headed for

mine, and then he kissed me.

“You make me feel like boneless chicken, boy,” I said.

“You make me feel carbonated, girl,” he said.

“You’re one romantic son of a gun. Still got all your hair?

Lemme see! Is this a rug?”

He swatted me on the backside and I jumped away.

I looked up and saw Maggie there with Grant, Beth and

everyone.

“Happy New Year,” we called out as we hugged and kissed

each other.

“You have to be the one and only Simon,” Beth said.

“My God, she’s a screaming beauty,” Simon said, winning

Beth in one swoop.

“Just like my momma,” she said.

“Yep, just like your momma.”

If they thought so, it was fine with me.

The fireworks went on for over an hour, and the church

bells continued ringing. The sky was filled with explosions of

white, red, green—every color I could name. I couldn’t stop

looking at Simon. He held my hand and looked over at me

every few minutes. My skin crawled with goose bumps.

“Let’s go for a walk,” he said, finally.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Beth said.

We reached out for her and held hands as we walked toward

the end of the Island. It took no effort to fall in love all over

again. As the fireworks boomed and burst we squealed and

yelled together. When they finally ended, we rejoined the oth-

ers, put out our bonfire and gave everyone something to carry

inside.

“I have to get my suitcase out of the car,” Simon said.

“I’ll give you a hand,” I said.

“By the way, how was church?”

“We got our money’s worth,” I said, thinking that when he

heard the story, he’d say we were all a bunch of crackpots.

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441

Beth went ahead of us with her cousins, but not before

turning to me and giving me a wink.

“Great girl,” Simon said.

“Yeah, thanks.” I took a deep breath and walked around the

side of the house with him. His car, with Georgia tags, was a new

white Lexus.

“Cool car,” I said.

“The seats fold down,” he said.

“You, suh, are a lecherous pig,” I said.

“Yeah, I am. Come here to me.”

“What?”

He kissed me again, and I felt that old feeling in the pit of

my stomach like I was going to sink. Livvie always said that

when you met the man of your dreams, you would know. This

was a bit like getting clobbered on the head. He pushed me

against the car and leaned against me.When he kissed me for the

third time, I knew he meant business.

“You still want me, don’t you?” I said, laughing.

“Yeah, and this time I’m going to have you.”

“Don’t you think you should at least send a girl flowers first,

Mister Big Shot Infectious Disease Doctor?”

“You’re right. It was a most insensitive thing to say. I’ll have

to buy you a diamond bigger than the one old Stanley gave your

mother,” he said. “Susan, one way or another, Tom or no Tom,

you’re mine. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, as long as that’s settled, let’s get a beer,” he said.

}

The Year 2000

was taking down the Christmas decorations, trying to

get my house back to normal. The tree had lasted

I well, but a shower of pine needles came down with

each ornament I removed. The big gilt mirror reflected my

movements. I wondered if anyone was watching me. I had the

feeling someone was.

The holidays never passed without a deluge of memories

about Livvie. I thought about the Thanksgiving that Daddy had

died and how she brought us that mangy dog that we all loved. I

thought about how she spoiled us as we wished someone would

and how she had given me the courage to go away to school. I

wondered if she could see us, if she’d be proud of us, Beth and me.

I thought about Livvie so hard and wanted her to see me so

badly that I started getting emotional and felt a surge of tears

rising, wishing I had a nickel for every tear I had shed in the past

year.

The mirror became foggy. I wiped my eyes and stared again.

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443

There she was. I saw Livvie standing in front of me with a

man, as clear as day. I began to shake all over with excitement.

Livvie stood still and I realized it must be her husband whose

arm she held so tightly. It was really Livvie and I was joyous. I

whispered to them.

“Oh, my God! Happy New Year, Livvie! And you must be

Nelson!”

He nodded his head, leaned in and kissed Livvie on the

cheek. Her smile was pure happiness.

“Is this a dream?”

“No, chile, the sheets was a dream, but this is for real!”

“It was you! It was really you! You were trying to tell me

about Mr. Struthers and Fat Albert! How did you know?”

“Chile, I’m in the place of knowing.Ain’t no lies ’eah.”

“Have you seen either one of them?”

“Can’t rightly say, but I hear tell Mr. Marvin coming ’eah soon.

He done his time to repent.”

“And what about Fat Albert?”

“I think he done open up a barbecue place down south. Don’t

think he gone be ’eah. No, ain’t got no room for poor old Albert.”

“Hell? He’s in hell?”

“Ain’t never seen no hell, but if you ain’t ’eah, you is there!”