Standing in the Rainbow - Fannie Flagg [70]
When Betty Raye had first come to the house to live she had been shy but she’d liked him right away. He was not loud like the men in her family. She always felt anxious around most people, afraid they were waiting for her to say something, but not Jimmy. He was quiet and sweet and easy to be around. And he liked her as well. Dorothy could tell by the little changes in his behavior. Ever since Betty Raye arrived he’d started wearing a clean white shirt to dinner every night. She also noticed that Jimmy often waited until Betty Raye left the porch, ashamed to get up in front of her. But Dorothy never said a word. Betty Raye did not know Jimmy had a wooden leg but if she had, it would not have mattered. She of all people knew what it was like to be different from the rest of the world around them.
They did not realize it but both were handicapped and afraid of life, only in different ways.
The Return of Ida Jenkins
AS MUCH AS poor Bobby dreaded repeating a grade, Norma dreaded her mother’s next visit even more. On September 21, Ida had returned from her museum tour in Washington and her National Federated Women’s Club meeting in Baltimore, and that afternoon was walking through her daughter’s new little house, offering a running commentary.
“I’m not sure about those curtains, Norma.”
“What’s the matter with them?”
Ida did not go into specifics. “I just wish you would have let your father and me hire a professional decorator like we wanted to.” She glanced around the room. “And where is your silver tea set?”
“In the closet.”
Ida looked at her daughter in disbelief. “Norma, you display your tea set, it should be out so people can see it. A tea set is the earmark of a gracious home.”
“Mother, I don’t have enough room to display a teacup, much less an entire tea set I’m never going to use.”
Ida sat down in the kitchen and took her gloves off. “I don’t know why you and Macky insisted on buying this place; it’s no bigger than a matchbox . . . and how you expect to entertain with no guest bathroom is beyond me.”
Norma poured her mother a cup of coffee. “I don’t expect to entertain and it’s all Macky and I could afford.”
Ida gave her a look. “I won’t say it but you know how I feel. We offered to buy you a bigger place.”
“Yes, Mother. How was your trip?”
“Wonderful . . . we heard the most enlightened talks from the most interesting women in all fields. Oh, I wish you would join the club, then you could have gone with me.”
The fact that Norma would not join any of her clubs was a constant source of pain for Ida. Norma said, “Mother, please don’t start up on that again,” and brought her some cream.
“All right, all right, that’s not what I came here to talk to you about anyway.” Ida looked at the small, plain white cream pitcher her daughter had put on the table. “Norma, where is the pretty pitcher with the hand-painted flowers that Gerta and Lodor bought you?”
“I broke it,” she lied.
“Well, don’t tell Gerta—tell her you’re saving it for special occasions.”
Ida suddenly noticed something different about the way Norma looked. “What in the world happened to your hair? Why is it all fuzzy like that?”
“Tot Whooten.”
“Say no more.”
Norma sat down at the table. “What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?”
“What?”
“You said you wanted to talk to me about something?”
“Oh yes. Now, Norma, I want you to know that I have thought about this a great deal. Now that you are grown and married, it’s time we had a woman-to-woman talk. After all, you’re my daughter and you should benefit from what little wisdom I have gained over the years. After many years of careful observation, I have come to a conclusion.” Norma waited while Ida paused for effect as she