“Oh, crap!”
She stumbled to the door and opened it to find one of her roommates, an annoyed look on her face.
“Your mother’s on the phone. She called earlier, but I couldn’t get you to answer the door.” With that she turned away and retreated down the dormitory hall.
Julia leaned against the door frame, wincing in the harsh glare of fluorescent lights. Pulling a robe tightly around her slender body, she shuffled to the common area where the phone was located. Whatever her mother was calling about, it could not be good news.
“Hello?” Her mouth felt like cotton balls.
“JuJu? Is that you? It’s me, your mama,” Martha declared.
Her mother’s use of the nickname, dropped upon entering college, grated on her nerves.
“Yes, Mama, I know it’s you,” Julia said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Why are you calling?”
“You don’t sound good, honey. Were you out late? You know, that just leads to all kinds of trouble. Why didn’t you come to the phone when I called before? Shouldn’t you be in class this morning? Are you sick?” Martha’s rambling added to Julia’s rapidly escalating headache.
“I don’t have class this morning, professor cancelled,” Julia lied with ease. She had overslept and missed her class, but it was review in preparation for upcoming exams, so she wasn’t concerned.
She indulged too much at last night’s frat party and was now feeling the effects. Good thing her next obligation was after lunch.
“Well, you better be careful. You’re almost done, and you don’t want to mess up now.”
Julia ignored the dig and asked again why Martha was calling.
“Oh, honey, I’ve got bad news,” Martha’s voice softened to a whisper as if she were about to tell a secret. Julia’s stomach tightened. “It’s your grandmother. She’s gone, JuJu. I’m so sorry.”
Julia tried to speak, but nothing would come out.
“JuJu, are you there?” Martha asked.
Trying to catch her breath, Julia swallowed hard. Her grandmother grew old while she was away, and now she was gone.
“I’m here,” was all she managed to get out.
“It looks like she went peaceful, so that’s a blessing, for sure,” Martha rattled on. “The doctor said it was most likely a heart attack in the night. Her young boarder found her this morning. It was right upsetting for him, as you can imagine.”
“What boarder? Who are you talking about?” Julia knew little of her grandmother’s recent years. A single tear slipped down her cheek. She brushed it away roughly with the back of her hand. Guilt pierced her soul.
“Oh, she rented a room to a young fellow last summer. He was some kind of farm student at the agricultural college and moved back here after school. Jean needed a lot of help at the farm, you know, so he moved in and is doing some kind of new type of farming. You wouldn’t believe the place. He’s getting ready to open up the produce stand again. He’s expanded it and will be selling all kinds of stuff. He’s actually not paying rent because he’s taking care of the place, you know. Of course, if you’d come home once in a while, you’d know all this, JuJu.”
There it was again. Martha couldn’t resist, and Julia let it get to her every time. She chose to remain silent.
“Well, anyway, the funeral will be Sunday afternoon at the church, of course. Visitation is Saturday night. When do you think you’ll get here?”
“I’m not coming.” Julia gritted her teeth in preparation for the backlash.
“What? What do you mean you’re not coming? Of course, you’re coming. She’s your GRANDMOTHER. What’s wrong with you?” Martha huffed loudly. “Your father will be furious,” she added, returning to a whisper. Julia assumed Malcolm must be fairly close by.
“I have finals next week. I’m graduating in three weeks in case you forgot. I have to study. I can’t take two days off to come home.” Home. What a joke.
“It’s only four hours. You could come down Saturday afternoon and go back Sunday after the service. Your daddy will be sorely disappointed if you don’t come.”
“What daddy will be is drunk, Mama. You know that as well as I do. I. Cannot. Come. I’m sorry. I just can’t.” Julia caught her breath and put down the receiver. She stared at it for a long minute, half-expecting it to ring again. When it didn’t, she turned slowly and made her way unsteadily back to her room. Closing the door behind her, she crawled into her rumpled bed and pulled the covers over her head. Her chest felt like it was exploding as the sobbing began. The only person on the face of the earth who truly loved her was gone.
**************************************************
Two Days Earlier
Jean Ready turned the letter over and over in her hands. She’d read it three times but still could not believe it. When John Lincoln called to say he needed to see her about a legal matter and offered to drive to her house, she told him to come right over.
Normally, she would invite him into the kitchen for pie and coffee, but she could tell he was anxious to discuss whatever the issue was, so she let it be. After sitting down in the front parlor, John pulled an envelope from his inside pocket. He seemed at a loss for words, so she told him to just spit it out. Rubbing his face, he sighed and handed it to her. It was addressed to him at his office, neat handwriting and a return address she didn’t recognize.
Something in John’s expression caused her to hesitate a long moment before opening the flap and removing the contents. It was two pages, lined paper from a steno pad. The signature was that of a woman. She read carefully.
Dear Mr. Lincoln,
Please let me first apologize for contacting you. I wouldn’t do it if not for a very important reason. I’m not after anything and want to assure you that I have made my way quite well from when you last saw me. I left town that day and went as far as I could on a ten-dollar bus ticket. However, it wasn’t far enough from what I’d done. I ended up at my grandmother’s house, and she graciously took me in and brought me healing and hope. While living with her, I got a job and went to secretarial school. I’ve been working at the high school here for twenty years, now in charge of the typing staff, and married to a good man for fifteen years. The reason I’m writing you, Mr. Lincoln, is because of my health. I have breast cancer. I was diagnosed five years ago and had successful treatment, but it’s come back again and is now in my lungs. Things don’t look too good, and my husband is having a real hard time as you can imagine. Mr. Lincoln, I need to find Cindy. I know that’s not her name now, but this cancer is inherited according to my doctor, and it’s what killed my mama and my grandma. The doctor asked before if I had any children, and I told him no. But now, I’m worried sick about Cindy and what could happen to her. I couldn’t live with myself if something bad happened to her, and I never said anything.
I’d also like to meet her if I could. I know everything was private, but I’m desperate to see her just once before I die. My husband knows all about it, and he’s okay with it. Please help me if you can.
Sincerely,
Janet Roberts Shealy
Jean folded the letter again and held it to her chest.
“Oh, Lord, what am I going to do with this? Baby girl’s got graduation coming up, and she don’t need to bother with this right now. I can’t let Malcolm and Martha know about it, either. They’d have a fit and try to sue somebody if they could. Why did this have to happen now? Lord, I don’t believe JuJu’s got nothing wrong with her. You’ll watch over her, I know, and we’ll keep this between You and me, all right? And John Lincoln, too, he won’t tell.”
With that decided, Jean carried the envelope to the small desk in the corner, opened her Bible, and carefully placed the offensive missive inside. She closed it and patted the worn leather cover, leaving that problem for another day.
Rubbing her chest against the tight pain there, she made her way to bed, but before she got there, she heard a noise outside her window. The moon was full, and the
front yard was awash in its silver glow. Just to the left of the house was a large oak tree, and there was something on the branch next to her window. Moving the curtain aside, she opened the window and leaned out for a better view.
“Oh, thank you, Father. Thank you!” Jean could hardly speak through her tears. Joy coursed through her at the sight of a pure white dove, a sure sign of the Lord’s blessings to come.
Sleep came easily that night.
**************************************************
John Lincoln sat at his desk, chair turned towards the window looking onto Main Street. He loved this small town, loved being someone who helped others sort out the confusion of legal matters. He knew there was more money to be made in the city, but he’d not chosen law for that reason. He genuinely liked helping people, sometimes too much according to his longsuffering wife. Being the only lawyer in town kept him busy, and although he’d considered retiring several times, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away. Who would take care of the townsfolk if I retire?
His wife assured him some youngster fresh out of law school would swoop in and take over. That’s exactly what concerned him.
Sighing, John turned around, looking once more through the adoption file. He’d not made a copy of Janet Shealy’s letter and given Jean the original. He told Jean to take her time and let him know when she wanted to discuss it further.
Unfortunately, time was something neither of them had.
As he stood up, John felt the tightness in his chest again. He’d been meaning to call his doctor but kept putting it off for one reason or another, mostly because he didn’t want to know if it was something serious. Pushing his chair aside, he stumbled, grabbing the corner of his desk. The pain worsened and spread. He stumbled again and was beyond help by the time he hit the floor.
The small town of Serendipity, Georgia, lost two of its most outstanding citizens within hours of each other. It was something the residents would talk about for months.
**************************************************
Graduation Day
“Julia May Ready, cum laude!” shouted the university president as JuJu stepped onto the stage and crossed to where he stood with his plastic smile, crooked hat, and her diploma.
“Thank you, sir.” She smiled dutifully and looked out towards the audience where her parents sat. Her mother beamed with an expression that seemed to be a mix of pride and shock that this daughter of hers could not only graduate college but do it with honors. Malcolm sat stoically in his seat, no expression whatsoever. Julia stopped referring to him as Daddy years ago. He never was a daddy to her. Daddies were kind, fun, caring, supportive, and encouraging. Malcolm Ready was none of those things.
His support consisted of providing for the basic physical needs. Even that was questionable at times, given his poor work history. Thankfully, Grandma Jean provided what her parents didn’t. Julia fought off the cloud that descended on her at the thought of her precious grandmother.
Choking back a sob, she moved on to the far side of the stage to exit and join her fellow graduates. Not having her grandmother here to witness this accomplishment was heartbreaking. She had been Julia’s champion. Now, she was on her own. She’d found a good job in the city that would also allow her to attend graduate school, and, thanks to her grandmother, had a tidy little nest egg to fall back on if necessary, a gift that Jean set aside for her upon graduation.
For now, she didn’t need a car since public transportation would get her to work and school. She couldn’t imagine why her parents were so surprised to learn she wasn’t returning to her hometown after graduation. Especially now that her grandmother was gone. They knew she wasn’t coming back, but their pride wouldn’t let them acknowledge her disdain for them and their pathetic lives.
The school president’s voice brought Julia back to the present.
“Congratulations, class of 1968!” he shouted as hundreds of elated graduates jumped up and tossed their hats in the air. Girls were crying, boys were laughing and slapping each other on the back.
Reluctantly, Julia made her way out of the crush to find Malcolm and Martha. They stood off to the side, away from the crowd, Malcolm with his arms crossed as usual, and Martha looking wide-eyed and out of place.
Martha ran towards her, arms outstretched. “Oh, JuJu, just look at you! A college graduate! The first one in the family, my goodness!” Julia suffered her mother’s embrace stiffly then stepped back.
“Yes, how about that? I did it, didn’t I?” She looked pointedly at her father. She knew by his face he was angry because she didn’t attend her grandmother’s funeral. Not because he really cared one way or the other, but it looked bad for her not to be there. It reflected badly on the family. As if their family had ever been respected.
People respected Jean Ready, and they had respected her husband, Will, but later they also pitied them because of their son. They pitied Julia, too, and she couldn’t stand it. She hated that more than anything. She had long ago decided that she would make her way in the world, and if there was any pitying to be done, she would be the one doing it.
Chapter 9
Present Day
No matter how many years passed, JuJu regretted not being there for her grandmother. She’d allowed misery, guilt, and resentment to separate her from the one person she needed most. Knowing her grandmother loved and forgave her brought comfort in the midst of sorrow. All she had to do was think of her own family now and how she loved them in spite of their failures. Sometimes even because of them. Failures revealed truth. How you handled them showed what you were made of. She learned that lesson the hard way.
**************************************************
June 1968
“Malcolm, why don’t you just call somebody to fix that thing? You’ve been messing with it for weeks now, and it still doesn’t work right,” Martha whined. She was hesitant to complain about anything to her husband because of his temper, but she was at her wit’s end with the stove problem. Two of the gas burners didn’t work properly which made cooking a bit of a challenge at times.
“I don’t need to call nobody. Some ‘professional’ will charge an arm and a leg to come out here and do nothing, or try to sell us a new stove. I can fix it, just need to find the problem and get the right part.”
Malcolm’s words were mildly slurred as usual. Ever since JuJu’s graduation three weeks ago, he’d been drinking more and flying off the handle at every little thing. He was still mad JuJu wasn’t coming back to Serendipity, but Martha couldn’t blame her. She knew it was too late for her to escape, but she hoped her daughter could make a better life for herself. Although she longed to have JuJu home again, she truly wanted what was best for her only child. She wished she’d been a better mother, but all she could do now was hope for the best.
**************************************************
Marley Westbrook threw another bale of hay over his shoulder onto the trailer attached to the rear of the old Ford truck. He stopped for a minute to wipe the sweat from his brow with the red bandana he kept in the back pocket of his worn jeans. Eyeing the dark clouds off to the east, he took a quick swig of water from the Mason jar resting on the tailgate, figuring he had another hour to finish and get the hay into the barn and stable before the storm hit. He’d taken the animals in earlier since he was not in the mood to chase a spooked horse or cow around the pasture once the thunder rolled in. He stood, leaning on the rake, gazing into the distance before glancing up towards the house. Even after two months, he still expected to see Miss Jean step out onto the porch and holler for him to “get on in the house before it starts pouring!”
Although he knew Jean Ready for less than a year, he came to love her like a grandmother. Both of his grandfathers had died in World War I, one leaving behind a pregnant wife. His grandmother on his father’s side, she raised her baby boy alone, never giving any thought to marrying again. Grandpa Ed was the love of her life, she said, so what was
the point in trying to find someone else?
His maternal grandmother did remarry, and her new husband adopted her two children, his own mother and her brother, Joseph, sadly orphaned by the war. Uncle Joseph died of cancer more than twenty years ago. For reasons he couldn’t quite understand, he and his own mother were never close. He supposed it was because he reminded her too much of the husband she lost in a car accident when Marley was in second grade. According to the few pictures he’d seen, he was, indeed, the spitting image of his father. Unfortunately, his memories continued to fade as the years passed. He spent much of his young years with his paternal grandmother, Lois. Her death just a few years ago devastated him. She was his rock and his biggest cheerleader. He missed her terribly.
That’s what made it hard for him to understand how Miss Jean’s snooty granddaughter could not attend her grandmother’s funeral. So what if she was in school four hours away? You made time for family. Seeing Jean’s sadness made him angry at someone he’d never even met. He was also angry at Jean’s son and daughter-in-law who lived across the highway. Watching Malcolm Ready drink his life away was disgusting. His wife, Martha, wasn’t much better. All she did was complain and nag. Maybe that’s why Malcolm drank. Maybe all of it was why their daughter never came around. That still didn’t explain neglecting her grandmother. He knew she called occasionally because Miss Jean would get so excited and be happy for days after talking with JuJu. What a name!
He laughed to himself, thinking of his own name. His grandmother had been a big fan of the actor, Leo G. Carroll, and when he played the role of Jacob Marley in the first release of A Christmas Carol in 1938, she had been completely starstruck. When her first grandson was born, she had been adamant he should be named Marley. His parents had been amenable to the idea, and so it was. He laughed to himself, thinking how fortunate he was that she had not taken to Scrooge or Cratchit.
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