Folly Beach - Dorothea Benton Frank [97]
“Oh, DuBose, you could coax the birds from the trees. You really could. Say, have you heard from George lately?”
“Yes, my little Dorothy. In fact, I got a letter from him today. How did you know?”
“I could feel the literal heaviness of its arrival in the air,” I said and rolled my eyes toward the sky. “The importance of it, the vibration of his words on paper . . .”
“Oh, come on now . . .”
“Oh, all right. I saw the envelope under the egg carton from Romeo’s. But before we get to King George, how is old Romeo? What did he have to say for himself? What’s he up to?”
“Still living in his streetcar and still selling eggs. I was on my way to see Mrs. Rabon to collect the mail when I heard him calling out his song. Romeo’s got fresh eggs! I thought, now, who could resist that?” He took my hand in his and kissed the back of it.
“Oh, DuBose. Hmmm. You’re right. You know, Folly has such wonderful characters, doesn’t it? So much color! Maybe we should write a play about it.”
“Let’s.”
He took my other hand and kissed the back of that one, too. I thought well, someone has ooh la la on his mind!
“What’s gotten into you tonight?”
“Moonlight.” He raised his eyebrows and wiggled them like the evil landlord. “I am bewitched by you again!”
“It’s not even dark yet, DuBose. And so, darling, there is no moonlight.”
“A minor and very unimportant detail.”
“Hmmm. Yes.” Sometimes my husband was a romantic rascal. “Maybe I’ll make egg salad for tomorrow’s lunch. Jenifer loves egg salad.”
“So do I. Even though it’s probably good for my health.”
“Oh, not after I’m finished with it.” Somehow I could rarely get the right amount of mayonnaise in it.
Soon, the sun slipped away and the sky was still streaked with scarlet, mango, and another shade of red that was the color of a glass of old port wine. I leaned into DuBose and put my arm around his waist. “Glory, I could stay here all night but let’s start back. This is so beautiful but I want to be able to hear Jen.”
“All right,” he said. We turned and began to climb down the dune. “You know, I love the beach here but we’re going to have to be very careful about Jenifer playing in the ocean this summer.”
“Well, of course we will but why in the world are you bringing this up now? It’s the dead of February.”
“Well, when I was over in Mazo’s buying bread, I heard these two fellows talking about sharks.”
“Sharks!” I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Yes. Sharks. Those dastardly things with the big teeth and insatiable appetites? I never knew about them, either, but it seems we’ve got a smattering of about ten different varieties swimming around here. Tiger sharks, bonnetheads, hammerheads, lemon sharks, blacknose sharks, and I don’t remember what else but it’s pretty frightening to consider, isn’t it?”
“Mercy, DuBose! I doubt you’ll ever see Jenifer or me in water above our ankles!”
“Me, either. But when old George gets down here this summer, he’s definitely coming in June, I’ll bet he dives right into the waves and swims to Sullivans Island.”
So. He was definitely coming. I was very, very relieved and I had learned what I wanted to know.
“Mr. Rhapsody in Blue. Humph. Wait until he sees his first alligator! That will give him a little religion. So what did his letter say? You didn’t tell me.”
“Not much. He’s working on spirituals for Act I. He went to see Four Saints in Three Acts, Gertrude Stein’s new opera. Hated the libretto, loved the music. He sends you and Jenifer his best.”
“That’s nice.”
“He’s not much of a fan of Stein’s writing anyway. Never has been.”
“Well, I am,” I said. “I think we should get her down here to speak at the Poetry Society, don’t you?” DuBose held the front door open for me to enter. “Thanks sweetheart.” I loved his impeccable Southern manners and thought many times that he could have served as the United States ambassador to anywhere in the world.
“You’re welcome. Why not? I don’t know how well she’ll be received but no doubt she’ll be more popular than, who was it?”
“Millay.”
“Ah, yes. Edna St. Vincent Millay. What was it that she did that so offended our