Shiloh and Other Stories - Bobbie Ann Mason [6]
“I never raised no daughter of mine to talk that-a-way,” Mabel says.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” says Norma Jean. She starts putting away boxes and cans, slamming cabinet doors.
“There’s a log cabin at Shiloh,” Mabel says. “It was there during the battle. There’s bullet holes in it.”
“When are you going to shut up about Shiloh, Mama?” asks Norma Jean.
“I always thought Shiloh was the prettiest place, so full of history,” Mabel goes on. “I just hoped y’all could see it once before I die, so you could tell me about it.” Later, she whispers to Leroy, “You do what I said. A little change is what she needs.”
—
“Your name means ‘the king,’ ” Norma Jean says to Leroy that evening. He is trying to get her to go to Shiloh, and she is reading a book about another century.
“Well, I reckon I ought to be right proud.”
“I guess so.”
“Am I still king around here?”
Norma Jean flexes her biceps and feels them for hardness. “I’m not fooling around with anybody, if that’s what you mean,” she says.
“Would you tell me if you were?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does your name mean?”
“It was Marilyn Monroe’s real name.”
“No kidding!”
“Norma comes from the Normans. They were invaders,” she says. She closes her book and looks hard at Leroy. “I’ll go to Shiloh with you if you’ll stop staring at me.”
—
On Sunday, Norma Jean packs a picnic and they go to Shiloh. To Leroy’s relief, Mabel says she does not want to come with them. Norma Jean drives, and Leroy, sitting beside her, feels like some boring hitchhiker she has picked up. He tries some conversation, but she answers him in monosyllables. At Shiloh, she drives aimlessly through the park, past bluffs and trails and steep ravines. Shiloh is an immense place, and Leroy cannot see it as a battleground. It is not what he expected. He thought it would look like a golf course. Monuments are everywhere, showing through the thick clusters of trees. Norma Jean passes the log cabin Mabel mentioned. It is surrounded by tourists looking for bullet holes.
“That’s not the kind of log house I’ve got in mind,” says Leroy apologetically.
“I know that.”
“This is a pretty place. Your mama was right.”
“It’s O.K.,” says Norma Jean. “Well, we’ve seen it. I hope she’s satisfied.”
They burst out laughing together.
At the park museum, a movie on Shiloh is shown every half hour, but they decide that they don’t want to see it. They buy a souvenir Confederate flag for Mabel, and then they find a picnic spot near the cemetery. Norma Jean has brought a picnic cooler, with pimiento sandwiches, soft drinks, and Yodels. Leroy eats a sandwich and then smokes a joint, hiding it behind the picnic cooler. Norma Jean has quit smoking altogether. She is picking cake crumbs from the cellophane wrapper, like a fussy bird.
Leroy says, “So the boys in gray ended up in Corinth. The Union soldiers zapped ’em finally. April 7, 1862.”
They both know that he doesn’t know any history. He is just talking about some of the historical plaques they have read. He feels awkward, like a boy on a date with an older girl. They are still just making conversation.
“Corinth is where Mama eloped to,” says Norma Jean.
They sit in silence and stare at the cemetery for the Union dead and, beyond, at a tall cluster of trees. Campers are parked nearby, bumper to bumper, and small children in bright clothing are cavorting and squealing. Norma Jean wads up the cake wrapper and squeezes it tightly in her hand. Without looking at Leroy, she says, “I want to leave you.”
Leroy takes a bottle of Coke out of the cooler and flips off the cap. He holds the bottle poised near his mouth but cannot remember to take a drink. Finally he says, “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.”
“I won’t let you.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Don’t do me that way.”
Leroy knows Norma Jean will have her own way. “Didn’t I promise to be home from now on?” he says.
“In some ways, a woman prefers a man who wanders,” says Norma Jean. “That sounds crazy, I know.”
“You’re not crazy.”
Leroy remembers to drink from his Coke. Then he says, “Yes, you are crazy. You and me could start