Now I’m staring at her contact on the phone in my hand, her picture in the tiny round circle above her name—like the composite in my attic. Poor Daisy hasn’t been fed yet and my house is in desperate need of a scrub-down. I’m walking around in circles wondering what to do first. Instead of punching in her number I put the phone down and clean our toilets. Then I vacuum our entire downstairs like I’m OCD.
When the phone rings, thirty minutes later, I’m as jumpy as a dang flea. I creep over and peek at the name.Mama.Reluctantly, I push talk. It’s been awhile. “How’s it going, Mama?”
“Not well. We have a problem.”Weis the key word here. With every passing day I’m more and more jealous of Mary living in Dallas.
“What’s wrong now, Mama?”
“If Hugh Freeze thinks that defense will carry us through till the end of the season he’s got anothah thing coming.” My mother doesn’t know the first thing about football.
“We won thirty-eight to thirteen,” I say.
When she snickers and clicks her tongue my entire body cringes. I can feel my face contorting like I’ve just gotten a whiff of spoiled milk. A throwback to childhood.
“Against the Wofford Terriers. Freeze better do something if he hopes to have a sliver of a chance against the Tide. The talk is he’s going to be let go.”
“The talk from whom, Mama?”
She pauses long enough for me to realize she’s made the whole thing up. “I don’t know, Wilda, I’ve heard it in passing.”
I switch the phone to speaker mode and set it down on the kitchen counter. When I come back from the laundry room she’s still talking. “And then I called both Coopah and Jackson and they agree with me. Hugh Freeze is in big trouble.” I know she has embellished this way out of proportion, but there is no point in challenging her. I just let her talk. “But enough of Ole Miss football. How is Ellie?”
“Fine. We took her to the game. She’s Miss Ole Miss. Couldn’t be happier.”
“Well. That makes me happy to hear. How is her roommate?”
Mention of Annie Laurie gets me thinking about Lilith all over again, and I feel that familiar pit constricting my stomach. I’m just about to confide in Mama about Lilith when, thankfully, my better sense takes over. “She’s fine, too.”
“I am delighted the Whitmoahs are in your life. They are such a fine family. What luck their daughtah needed a roommate and chose Ellie.”
Hearing her choice of words, “chose Ellie,” does me in. “I better go, Mama, I’ve got a ton to do today.”
“Well,” she says, completely ignoring me. “How’s the job search going?”
“I told you. I can’t take a job until after Rush is over.”
She never responds. Just rolls right onto something else. “It’s a shame neither of my grandsons are married. I’d certainly like to see my first great-grandchild before I die.”
Now my head is pounding. Between Mama and my impending phone call with Lilith, I might combust. This calls for drastic measures. “Mama? Mama? Are you there?”
“Yes. I’m heah.”
“Shoot, I must have lost you. If you can hear me I’ll call you later. My tub is overflowing. Have a great day.”
I push the red end-call button and I’m free.
For now.
I’m convinced a good hot soak in the tub will calm my nerves. But when I get out twenty minutes later, panic returns and I find myself once again staring at the phone in my hand. It’s getting impossible to come up with more stall tactics so I go ahead and take a deep,deepbreath and punch in her number.
Lilith answers on the first ring, without a hello. “Hey, stranger, we were hoping y’all would come back for the band.”
“I know. I really wanted to, but Haynes wasn’t feeling well. I had to drive the whole way back.” Little Southern white lies numbers one and two.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “Please tell him Gage and I hope he feels better.”
“I sure will.”
“By the way, I never got to finish telling you about the maid.”
