Terms of Endearment

by Larry McMurtry

  “Oh, lord, Mrs. Greenway,” he said. “I’m in love with you—plumb in love. What am I gonna do?”

  The feeling in what he said wasn’t lost on Aurora—his words seemed to be formed of emotion rather than breath, and she had seen them struggle out of real depths of fear and surprise.

  Immediately she relaxed, though she too was surprised and for a moment rather flustered—flustered partly because such words and feeling had become unfamiliar to her and also, partly, because she knew that she had demanded them of him. In her loneliness and out of momentary inadequacy in regard to her life she had exerted herself and demanded love from the only person who was at hand to give it; and there it was, all over Vernon’s windburned, freckled, and panic-stricken face.

  She smiled at him, as if to say wait a minute, and looked away for a moment, at the sunlight on the pines behind her house. It was late and the sun was falling; the light filtered through the pines and fell across the lengthening shadows in her yard. She turned back to Vernon and smiled again. Her other suitors proposed and they cajoled, but they were afraid to say such words-even Alberto, who had said them countless times thirty years before. She started to put her hands on Vernon’s for a moment, to show him she was not incapable of response, but he started back, really frightened, and she left it, for the time, at a smile.

  “Well, I’m a terror, Vernon, as you may already have noticed,” she said. “That’s twice today that I’ve smashed into you without much compunction—the first time was in my car, of course. Not many people can stand me. You seem to be in an agony of fidgets, dear, and I suspect it’s because you spend so much time cramped up in this car. Wouldn’t you like to get out and walk around my back yard with me for a bit while the light is so lovely? I almost always walk around my back yard this time of day, and I wouldn’t think the exercise would hurt you.”

  Vernon looked at the house and tried to imagine getting out and walking around it, but he couldn’t. He was too shaken, although it was beginning to seem that life might go on a little longer—Mrs. Greenway was smiling at him and no longer seemed to be at all downcast. The thought occurred to him that she might not have heard what he said. If she had heard it maybe she wouldn’t be smiling. The minute the thought occurred to him he became intolerably anxious. In the new scheme of things, waiting was impossible, and so was uncertainty. He had to know, and he had to know immediately.

  “I tell you, I don’t know what to do next, Mrs. Greenway,” he said. “I don’t know if you even heard me. If you was to think I didn’t mean it I don’t know what I’d do.”

  “Oh, I heard you, Vernon,” Aurora said. “You expressed yourself quite memorably, and I don’t believe I have any doubts about your sincerity. Why are you frowning?”

  “Don’t know,” Vernon said, gripping the steering wheel. “I guess I wish we wasn’t strangers.”

  Aurora looked away, at her pines, touched by his words. She had been about to say something light and it got stuck in her throat.

  Vernon didn’t notice. “I know I spoke out too quick,” he said, still in an agony of fidgets. “I mean, you may think ‘cause I’m a bachelor and got a few mil and a fancy car that I’m some kind of playboy or somethin’, but that ain’t true. I was never in nothin’ like love in my whole life, Mrs. Greenway—not till just now.”

  Aurora quickly recovered her power of speech. “I certainly don’t think I’d characterize you as a playboy, Vernon,” she said. “If you were a playboy I imagine you’d have been able to realize that I wasn’t thinking badly of you. The truth is I’m not at my most clear-headed right now, and I think if we got out and walked around my back yard it might be good for both of us. If you’re not anxious to rush right off and leave me, perhaps after we’ve had our little walk you’ll allow me to cook you a meal to make up for all I’ve put you through today.”

  Vernon was still not sure he could manage the actions of mundane life, but when he got out to open Aurora’s door for her his legs worked at least.

  Aurora took his arm for a second as they were going across her lawn, and he seemed to be shaking. “I imagine you don’t eat well, Vernon,” she said. “Since you live in that car all the time it’s hard to see how you could.”

  “Well, I got an icebox,” Vernon said humbly.

  “Yes, but a stove is necessary too, for some of the healthier things,” Aurora said, pausing for a moment to look back at the long white Lincoln sitting in her driveway. Its lines were at least the equal to those of her Cadillac. From a distance it looked quite magnificent.

  “Goodness,” she said. “Look how well that matches my white house. I wonder if anyone will think I’ve bought a new car.”

  2.

  THE TWO of them had barely stepped into the kitchen so Aurora could lay down her handbag and kick off her shoes when they were confronted with an example of mundane life at its most woeful. Rosie was sitting at the kitchen table, awash in tears, holding a dishcloth full of ice cubes against the side of her head. She had found one of Aurora’s old movie magazines and was crying all over it.

  “What’s the matter with you?” Aurora asked, in a panic at the sight. “Don’t tell me there’s been a robbery. What did you let them take?”

  “Aw, no,” Rosie said. “It was just Royce. I went too far.”

  Aurora set her purse on the cabinet and considered the scene for a moment. Vernon seemed slightly puzzled, but it was no time to worry about him.

  “I see,” she said. “He finally had enough, did he? What did he hit you with?”

  “A doubled-up fist,” Rosie said, sniffing. “He come in an’ heard me talkin’ to F.V. on the phone. It was just about helping him fix that stinkin’ old Packard, but Royce jumped to conclusions. It made me madder’n a wet hen. If I was to start runnin’ around it sure wouldn’t be with F. V. d’Arch. I was never sweet on nobody from Bossier City in my entire life.”

  “Well, why didn’t you explain that to Royce frankly, and put his mind at ease?” Aurora asked.

  “Tryin’ to explain something to Royce is like talkin’ to a brick,” Rosie said. “I was too mad. I accused him of shacking up with one of them sluts he delivers to. Boy did I pour it on him.”

  She paused to wipe her eyes on the back of her hand.

  “So then what happened?” Aurora said. It annoyed her a little to have been gone on the one day when high drama occurred in her kitchen.

  “The sonofabitch owned up to it,” Rosie said, sliding rapidly downhill now that she had someone to commiserate with. “Oh, Aurora…” she said. “Now my marriage is a total wreck.”

  “Wait a minute!” Aurora said sternly. “Don’t you cry until you’ve finished your story. What precisely did Royce own up to?”

  “Every day for five years it’s been goin’ on,” Rosie said. “She works up in some honky-tonk on Washington Avenue. All I know is her name is Shirley. He’d come here an’ eat an’ then he’d go right off there. Oh, gawd.”

  Unable to contain herself any longer, Rosie put her head in the crook of her elbow and sobbed.

  Aurora looked at Vernon. He seemed to have calmed somewhat at the sight of Rosie’s distress.

  “Vernon, this seems to be my day for leading you into scenes,” she said. “I can offer you a drink if you need fortification.” She opened the liquor cabinet so he’d know where it was if he felt like helping himself, and then she went over and gave Rosie a few pats on the back.

  “Well, dear, what a mess,” she said. “At least we can all thank our lucky stars that you weren’t pregnant again.”

  “That’s right,” Rosie said. “I don’t want no more kids by that lowlife bastard.”

  “Nor anyone else, I hope,” Aurora said. “My, you do have a knot on your temple. It’s a very bad thing, hitting people on the temple. It doesn’t seem like Royce at all. If he had admitted his guilt why was it necessary for him to hit you?”

  “Because I was trying to stab him, I reckon,” Rosie said. “I took a run at him with the butcher knife
. I guess if he hadn’t got a lick in first he’d be laying there dead right this minute.”

  “Good God,” Aurora said. The thought of Royce lying lifeless on her kitchen floor, three steps from where he’d eaten so much good food, was almost more than she could handle. Rosie began to dry her eyes and soon was a little calmer.

  “Well, my afternoon has not been entirely without adventure, either,” Aurora said. “This poor creature is Rosalyn Dunlup, Vernon—Rosie, this is Vernon Dalhart.”

  “Just call me Rosie,” Rosie said valiantly and dried her tear-drenched hands so Vernon could shake one.

  “Rosie, I think you might have a little bourbon to calm your nerves,” Aurora said. “Hector Scott behaved very badly and caused me to wreck my car. After that he behaved even worse and I left him sitting. We must call F.V. at once.”

  “Well, I can’t,” Rosie said. “Royce went down an’ give him hell, an’ now he’s scairt to talk to me.”

  “Oh, well, I’ll call him,” Aurora said. “I just hope you remember the number of that road, Vernon. I’m afraid I don’t have a very precise idea of where we left Hector.”

  “Highway Six right where Fourteen thirty-one comes into it,” Vernon said at once.

  Both women were amazed. “Fourteen thirty-one?” Aurora said. “I had no idea there were that many little roads. No wonder I’m always lost.”

  “Uh, it’s just a farm-to-market road,” Vernon said.

  “I don’t think Hector’s been sitting long enough anyway,” Aurora said. “What do you propose to do, Rosie?”

  “Royce has gone off on a drunk, I guess,” Rosie said. “I made my sister go get the kids, so he wouldn’t come home an’ beat up on ’em. I guess I’ll go back over there afterwhile, if I can get up my nerve. I ain’t leavin’ no empty house for him to take no slut to, I can tell you that. Possession is nine tenths of the law where I come from.”

  “Where do you think Royce is now?” Vernon asked.

  “Drinkin’ with that slut,” Rosie said. “Where else would the sonofabitch be?”

  “An’ how many kids you all got?”

  “Seven,” Rosie said.

  “Why don’t I go talk to him,” Vernon said. “I bet I can straighten all this out.”

  Aurora was surprised. “Vernon, you don’t even know him,” she said. “You don’t even know us. Besides, Royce is quite large, I assure you. What could you do?”

  “Talk sense,” Vernon said. “I got six hundred men workin’ for me, more or less. They’re always havin’ these little fracases. They ain’t too serious, usually. I bet I could snap ol’ Royce out of it if I could find him.”

  The phone rang. Aurora picked it up. It was Royce.

  “Aw,” he said when he heard Aurora’s voice. “Rosie there?”

  “Why yes, would you like to speak to her, Royce?” Aurora said, thinking a rapprochement was in the offing.

  “No,” Royce said and hung up.

  Instantly the phone rang again. It was Emma.

  “I’m ready to hear about your car wreck,” she said. “I’m dying to hear what you said to General Scott.”

  “I’ve not got a single moment for you right now, Emma,” Aurora said. “Royce has beaten up Rosie and we’re all in a state. If you want to do something useful get yourself over here.”

  “I can’t,” Emma said. “I have to cook supper for my husband.”

  “Oh, that’s right, you’re a slave, aren’t you?” Aurora said. “How stupid of me to think you might be free to assist your own mother. I’m very glad I wasn’t seriously injured. I wouldn’t have wanted to do anything that might have disrupted your domestic routine.”

  “All right, forget it,” Emma said. “Goodbye.”

  Aurora pushed the button down for a second, and then called F.V., who answered instantly.

  “Goodness,” she said. “Everyone seems to be hovering near their phones this evening. I suppose you recognize my voice, don’t you, F.V.?”

  “Oh, yeah, Miz Greenway,” F.V. said. “How’s Rosie?”

  “Battered but unbowed,” Aurora said. “However, that is not what I called to talk to you about. General Scott and I had a car wreck and also a small disagreement and I’m afraid I left him for you to go fetch. He’s sitting in my car, on Highway Six near a farm-to-market road. I imagine he’s furious, and the longer you wait to get him the worse things may go for you. Maybe you ought to zip right on out.”

  F.V. was horrified. “How long’s he been sittin’ there?” he asked.

  “Quite a while,” Aurora said blithely. “I have to tend to Rosie now, but I wish you the best of luck. Please remind the General that I don’t wish to speak to him again. He may have forgotten that.”

  “Wait!” F.V. said. “Where’d you say to go? I ain’t got nothin’ to go in but a jeep.”

  “That’s even better,” Aurora said. “Highway Six. I’m sure you’ll recognize my car. Good luck now.”

  “If we aren’t going to drink I don’t see why we can’t at least have some tea,” she said after hanging up. “Could you make us some, Rosie. It will take your mind off your troubles.”

  Then a horrible thought crossed her mind. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I didn’t lock my car. I was too offended. Suppose someone steals it tonight?”

  “No problem,” Vernon said. He began to pull at his ear, and he avoided her eye.

  “Why there is too,” Aurora said. “Unlocked cars are stolen every day.”

  “Oh, I took care of it,” Vernon said.

  “How?” Aurora asked. “You don’t have a key to my car.”

  Vernon looked very abashed. His face got red. “Own a garage,” he said. “Over on Harrisburg. It ain’t no fun bein’ afoot in this town. I just called my garage an’ told ’em to get a tow truck out there. They work night an’ day over there. They can smooth that fender out tonight an’ get her back to you tomorrow.”

  Once again both women were amazed.

  “It’s more convenient, if you don’t mind,” Vernon said, pacing around. From time to time he acted like he might sit down, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to.

  “Fine,” Aurora said. “That’s very thoughtful. You won’t find me looking many gift horses in the mouth, Vernon. Of course I’d like to pay whatever’s required.”

  “Only thing is I never took the General into account,” Vernon said. “I figured you’d ease up an’ let him ride in with us. They may have towed him in too. I’ll just get on the radio an’ find out. You wouldn’t want that fellow to go off on a wild goose chase.”

  Before Aurora could answer he was out the back door. “Radio’s in my car,” he said as he departed.

  “Who’s he, some kind of millionaire?” Rosie asked when he was out.

  “I guess he is,” Aurora said. “He’s handy, isn’t he? Imagine getting my car fixed so quickly.”

  “You must have struck like lightnin’ this time,” Rosie said. “Here I spend the day gettin’ my head bashed in an’ you go out and get a millionaire sweet on you. I was born under an unlucky star if anybody ever was.”

  “Oh, well, Vernon and I have barely met,” Aurora said, shrugging. “I have enough worries in that line and I really don’t think I ought to victimize a perfectly nice man like him. Besides, he’s going to Canada tomorrow. In view of all he’s done for me I thought I might at least make him a decent dinner. I’m not sure he’s ever had one.”

  “He don’t look like your type,” Rosie said.

  Before Aurora could answer Vernon popped back in. “The General rode in with a cop,” he said. “I stopped F.V., though. Seen him gettin’ in the jeep an’ flagged him down.”

  Aurora immediately began to scratch her head. “Oh, dear,” she said. “Now I’ve really got something to worry about. He’s a most vindictive man, Hector Scott. There’s no telling what he’ll tell them about me. If he can think of a way to get me arrested I’m sure he will.”

  “Yep, you crossed the wrong man, this time,” Rosie agreed. “We b
oth ort to have been nuns, you an’ me. That man’ll have us both in the pen tomorrow if there’s any way he can work it.”

  “Well, at least I’m not a Communist,” Aurora said. “What did we decide to do about Royce?”

  “What’s there to do about a mean drunk?” Rosie said. “Run from him, that’s all. I wouldn’t be surprised if he barged in here.”

  “I would,” Aurora said. “Royce wouldn’t be ungentlemanly in my presence, no matter how aggravating you’ve been. You see, the chickens are coming home to roost, Rosie. I told you to be nicer to him.”

  “Yeah, an’ I told you not to screw around with General Scott,” Rosie said. “Ain’t it a pity we never took one another’s advice?”

  Aurora looked at Vernon, who was pacing again. It seemed to suit him, and as long as he kept moving he didn’t look so short.

  “What was your plan for Royce, Vernon?” she asked.

  “Don’t matter. It won’t work if I don’t know where to find him,” Vernon said.

  “If you really want to find him look in a bar called the Storm-cellar,” Rosie said. “It’s over on Washington Avenue somewhere. I was in there many a time in the old days, when me an’ Royce was happy.”

  “I’m gone,” Vernon said, heading for the door again. “The sooner I get over there the less soberin’ up he’ll take.”

  He stopped and looked back at Aurora. “I don’t want to miss out on supper,” he said.

  “Goodness, you won’t miss out on supper,” Aurora said. “I’ve just started digesting lunch.”

  Vernon disappeared. “He does come and go, doesn’t he?” she said, dialing her daughter straightaway.

  “You certainly were rude to me,” Emma said.

  “Yes, I’m very selfish,” Aurora said. “To be frank, I’ve never liked playing second fiddle to Thomas. I don’t suppose the two of you would like to come here for dinner? A rather interesting party seems to be shaping up.”