Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [18]
“He used to tell me you were always trying to find somebody to pay for your meal.” She laughed and took another swallow.
“That is not true. Clarence is the cheapest man I ever knew. I was always having to pick up the check for him.” He shook his head. “He said he never had any money because you spent it all on shoes.”
They both glanced down at the woman’s shoes. They were dressy sandals, and they looked new.
“I have my own money,” Mary said. “Always have. And besides, you’re the one who’s cheap,” she added. She glanced behind Oris. “Except for your cars, Oris Whitsett. When did you buy this one?” she asked.
Oris looked behind him at his new Buick. “Got a nice trade-in a few weeks ago, down at the dealership in Albuquerque. She’s a beauty, isn’t she? You should see the size of that trunk.” He took a sip of his drink, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “A man is only as good as the car he drives.”
Mary shook her head. “Clarence said you wasted a lot of money buying so many cars and trading them in.”
“Clarence drove a pickup truck that didn’t have a floorboard. He never bought a new car his whole life.”
“Clarence liked tractors,” Mary commented, remembering her husband and how he spent his money.
Oris nodded. “Well, yes, he did. Clarence did not mind forking over money for expensive farm equipment.” He turned to Mary. “He ever take you out in his tractor?” he asked.
Mary rolled her eyes. “I wear high heels, Oris. I don’t ride in tractors.”
Oris laughed, drinking some more of his soda.
“I remember when the four of us used to go out. You always had to drive. Do you remember that?” she asked, but before he could answer she added, “Alice was so beautiful. She always got so dressed up for dinner.”
Oris didn’t respond at first. He just nodded his head. “She was like you about that,” he noted. “Alice loved to get dressed up and go out.”
Mary took a long swallow. She reached in her purse and took out a tissue, blotted her lips.
“So, you waiting here for Frank to finish and then driving out to the cemetery?” he asked, glancing up at her.
“Yes, I was planning to wait,” she replied.
“Well, why don’t I drive you?” he asked. “Maybe I’ll stop and get a burger, and we can eat together and really piss Clarence off.” He smiled.
Mary knew Alice was buried in the same cemetery. She guessed that Oris wanted to go so that he could visit his wife’s grave. “Did you take the driver’s test this year?” she asked, eyeing him closely.
“I did not,” he answered. “But I’ve been driving seventy years, and I’ve never even as much as run over a skunk or landed in a ditch.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Mary said.
“Not in my new Buick,” he replied. “You’re safe as a Catholic schoolgirl at choir practice.”
Mary smiled. “I’ll just go and tell Frank that I’ll be back to pick up the car.”
Oris nodded and finished his soda. He crushed the can and tossed it in a garbage can near the building. He was back at his car not long before Mary. They both got in, and he started the engine and backed out of the driveway.
After stopping at the diner for his lunch, Oris headed down Highway 60, toward the cemetery located about ten miles out of town. They had made the curve, just past the cutoff to the dirt road that meandered down to the creeks, just a couple of miles from their destination, when Oris swerved and slammed on his brakes. Another car, coming from the opposite direction, had suddenly veered into his lane and Oris almost hit it.
The two of them, Oris and Mary, were so shaken by the near miss, so rattled by what almost happened and didn’t, that they never even noticed who was walking on the other side of the road. They never saw the girl who stood watching the entire event, the one standing in the dust, her thin arms wrapped around her belly, the girl who seemed to come out of nowhere. Neither of them saw her standing near the other car, the one that almost hit them, now stopped, which, just like the girl, had been heading right straight into the center of Pie Town.