Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [105]
“I wasn’t hanging, I was sitting.”
“Well, sitting or hanging, what if I had not come over? You’ve got to be more careful. What if I’d found you dead on the ground?”
“Oh, Norma, I’ve picked fruit all my life and I’m not dead yet. Besides, it’s that Griggs dog’s fault. He’s the one that knocked the ladder down chasing after poor Sonny. Go fuss at him.”
“I don’t care whose fault it was, promise me you will not get on that ladder again. Let Macky do it or call next door and get Merle.”
“All right.”
“You are not as young as you used to be, you know.”
Later that night, Aunt Elner called. “Norma, let me ask you this.”
“What?”
“Who is younger than they used to be? I don’t know anybody; even those that get face-lifts are still just as old as they were. Even if you went into a different time zone you’d still be the same age, wouldn’t you?”
Norma had to admit she was right but added, “That’s not the point; the point is you need to be more careful.”
“The point is that Griggs dog ought to stay out of my yard and quit chasing my cat.”
“Aunt Elner.”
“I know, a promise is a promise.”
But a new day is a new day. The next morning around ten, when Linda was at school, the phone rang. Norma picked up.
“Norma? I have a question for you,” said Aunt Elner.
“Hold on, let me turn off my beans.”
“What kind of beans are you making?”
“String beans. I just threw in a handful so Macky would have something green with his lunch. Why?”
“I just wondered. . . . What’s he getting?”
“Salmon croquettes, sliced tomatoes, corn, and string beans.”
“What kind of bread?”
“Cornbread. I had a few slices left over. Why?”
“Just wondered.”
“Did you have a question for me?”
“Yes, I did.”
“What was it?”
“Wait a minute . . . let me think.”
“What was it about?”
“I know. Norma, do I have any insurance?”
“What kind of insurance?”
“Any kind.”
“Uncle Will had his Mason’s policy, I think. Why?”
“Well, some lady came to the door and wanted to know and I didn’t know what to tell her so I told her she’d have to ask you.”
“What woman?”
“Some woman. I don’t know who she was . . . she left her card. Do you want me to go and get it?”
“Yes.”
There was a loud clack when Aunt Elner put the phone down on the table. A few minutes later she came back on the line.
“Her name is June Garza. Do you know her?”
“No, what company is she with?”
“Aetna . . . Insurance . . . so I told her that my niece and her husband handle all that for me.”
“Good, what did she say?”
“She said she wanted to know where you lived so she could ask you about it.”
“Good Lord, you didn’t tell her, did you?”
“Well, I had to. She asked me.”
“How long ago . . . ?”
“Just a little while ago—”
“Oh Lord . . .”
“She’s real nice. She has on a green suit and—”
“Aunt Elner, let me call you back.”
“Okay . . . I just wanted you to be on the lookout.”
“I’ll call you back.” Norma put down the phone and ran into the living room and looked up and down the street and shut the front door and closed her blinds and pulled the curtains. She went back to the kitchen and closed those blinds and she hid down under the wall phone, reached up, and dialed Macky’s number. When he picked up she whispered, “Macky . . . when you come home, don’t come in the front door, come up the alley and come in the back. And knock three times so I’ll know it’s you.”
“What?”
“Aunt Elner gave some insurance woman our address and she’s headed over here . . . and I don’t want to have to deal with her.”
“You don’t have to deal with her—just go to the