Part 10 (1/2)
”I wondered when you were going to show your hand,” snapped Mary-Love. ”Since you showed up in this town during the flood, lounging in the Osceola and waiting for my boy to come along and rescue you and court you and marry you. Lying in wait for him like a lizard waiting for a green-bottle fly! And you got him. I couldn't stop you. But I did stop you from getting anything else, didn't I? For all your running-around, and all your little schemes and plans and biting, you've ended up with nothing at all.”
”Nothing?” echoed Elinor.
”Nothing. What have you got? You've got this house, because I gave it to you. You've got a draw-erful of promissory notes to James, and he's the only man in the world who would lend money to Oscar, who never had anything I didn't give him and never will. You've got a deed to a little land that's scattered around here and there, but it's all flood land and there aren't any roads on any of it and Tom De-Bordenave when he owned it never made a crying dime off it. And you've got a little girl, but she's a puny thing, and nothing at all compared to the one you gave away fifteen years ago. You've got a few friends in town, but they're the ones you stole from me. They're the ones I didn't want anymore. And you've got a husband who will insist on living next door to his mother forever. That's what you've got, Elinor, and let me tell you, it isn't much. Not by my standards.”
”It seems to me,” said Elinor, ”that you've showed your hand too.”
”No! I'm not the one who's fighting. I'm not the one who's always playing games. Because I'm on top. You try to blame me for beating you out of what's rightfully yours, but n.o.body beat you out, Elinor.
123.
You just didn't have the courage to go out and get what you wanted.”
”I've held back,” Elinor returned.
Mary-Love laughed derisively. ”I'd like to see you try to do something, Elinor. Just what do you think you could do, to get back at me for all the things you think I've done? What paltry little thing will you do now?”
”Miss Mary-Love, despite you and despite everything you've tried to do to keep Oscar down, I intend to make him rich. I intend to make him richer than you ever dreamed of being-that's what I intend to do.”
Again Mary-Love laughed. ”And how do you intend to do that? The last time you convinced him to do something, all he did was get himself in debt, and he's never gotten out of it. Are you gone persuade him to buy more land?”
”Yes. Henry Turk is going to sell his land-that's all that poor man's got left. He's got a tract of about fifty thousand acres in Escambia County. He came to see Oscar about it the other day.”
”How much does he want for it?”
”Twenty dollars an acre.”
”That's a hundred thousand dollars! Where's Oscar gone get that money?”
Elinor smiled. ”I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask you to lend it to him.”
Mary-Love's jaw dropped in her amazement. ”Elinor, you are asking me to lend you one hundred thousand dollars so Oscar can buy a lot of worthless land?”
”It's not worthless. It's covered with pine.”
”Lord G.o.d, what do we need more pine for? There's n.o.body buying it, Elinor. Or hadn't you heard there's a Depression going on?”
”We ought to have that land, Miss Mary-Love. Will you lend us the money?”
”No! Of course I'm not gone lend you the money!
124.
You'd like to drive me to the poor house, is what you'd like to do, Elinor. Well, I'm not gone be driven anywhere, I'm not lending Oscar one penny. What has he been able to do with that land he bought from Tom DeBordenave? He hasn't even been able to keep up bank payments on it.”
”Then your answer is no?”
”Of course it's no! Did you actually expect me to say yes?”
”No,” admitted Elinor. ”I just wanted to give you one more chance.”
”One more chance for what?”
To this Elinor made no reply. She drank off the last of her nectar and put the gla.s.s on the table at the side of the swing.
”Miss Mary-Love,” she replied, still unmoved, ”think whatever you like about me. All I've said today is that I know what you're up to. I've always known. And when the time comes when you have the leisure to think things over, just remember that I gave you one last chance.”
Mary-Love stood up from the glider and straightened her dress. ”I'll tell you another thing, Elinor...”
”What?”
”You make the worst nectar I've ever had in my life. It tastes like you made it with water straight out of that stinking old river. The only reason I drank more than one sip was out of pure politeness.”
The next morning a caravan of automobiles, filled with people and luggage, headed for the train station in Atmore. Florida Benquith drove Queenie, Queen-ie's children, and Ivey; Bray drove Mary-Love, Sister, and Miriam; and Oscar drove James, Danjo, and Frances. Everyone was jammed together and anxious to be off. Sister carried sheaves of tickets in her pocketbook. She had taken the responsibility of managing all the logistics of the excursion.
At the train station the Caskeys and all their lug- 125.
gage were lined up on the platform, waiting for the Hummingbird, which would take them as far as Montgomery. There they would change trains and be on their way directly to Chicago.
Mary-Love attempted to wheedle out of her son some small expression of affection: ”Are you gone miss us?”
”You're taking away half the town, Mama.”
”Say goodbye to me, Oscar!”
”Have a good time, Mama,” said Oscar, perfunctorily kissing her on the cheek. She had not dared hope for more. She turned to thank Florida Benquith for her a.s.sistance, when she suddenly grew dizzy and grasped the back of a bench to keep from falling.
”Are you all right, Mary-Love?” asked Queenie.
Mary-Love looked up with an expression of pained surprise. ”Suddenly I think I have got the worst headache I've ever had in all my life.”
”Are you sick?” asked Miriam apprehensively. She had been looking forward to this trip, and wanted nothing to interfere with her pleasure in it.
”No, I've just got a headache. Sister, is everybody ready to go?”
”Yes, ma'am-”
Before Sister could continue, Mary-Love sank onto the bench and raised her hand to her rapidly paling face.
”I don't know what's wrong with me,” she gasped.
The adults gathered around her. Malcolm and Lucille stood to one side and drew on sullen faces in preparation for some great disappointment. Frances and Miriam looked toward their grandmother with some misgiving. She looked very ill.
Ivey moved forward and felt Mary-Love's forehead. Already her hair lay in damp waves over her p.r.i.c.kled scalp.
”Miss Mary-Love, you hot?”