The Three Miss Margarets

by Louise Shaffer

  Normally they would have let Peggy off the hook, particularly Maggie, who seemed to have a pretty clear idea of just how things were with Dalt. But not this time.

  “You can’t go on being afraid forever, Peggy,” she said. “You’re not the child he married anymore.”

  “You have a right to speak your mind,” Li’l Bit said. And the duet began.

  “You have an opportunity to do something important.”

  “You have the responsibility.”

  “If you stand up to Dalton, he may surprise you.”

  “It might be good for him.”

  “It will be good for you.”

  And then Maggie brought out the heavy artillery. “This is all Grady’s doing. Once again Dalton is going to give in to him. Don’t you give in, Peggy. Not this time.”

  She went home and tried again with Dalt.

  “This is the perfect job for Richard.”

  “Grady promised the job to John.”

  Memories of John in the forest with Grady on the worst day of her life crowded her mind.

  “Grady had no business making promises before he talked to you. Richard deserves that job. And it’ll look good for the resort. It’s the right thing to do, Dalt.”

  “Next time. Richard will get the next job.”

  “As what? Chief of the Horticulture Department? Head of Sales? You wouldn’t dare put a black man in charge of any other staff, even if he did have the education for it. This is Richard’s one chance.”

  “Sweetheart, don’t do this. You’re making me choose.” He repeated the warning that had always stopped her before.

  “Yes,” she said. “This time I’m asking you to choose.”

  There was a silence, as both of them tried to absorb what she had just done.

  “He’s my son—” Dalt began.

  “And I’m your wife.”

  She saw him hesitate and felt if she couldn’t win this time it would be the end of her. Just once he had to be on her side. “I’m asking you to do this for me.”

  “Peggy—”

  “If you don’t—” She was afraid of pushing him too far, but there was no turning back. “—I may know some things you’d rather not hear. About Grady.”

  “What could you possibly—” he started to say, but then he stopped. She could see his mind clicking. He was remembering all the hours she had spent with Miss Myrtis, and all his own unanswered questions, and as he stood in front of her, she watched the fear grow. And maybe because of that, or maybe because it really was the right thing to do, or maybe a little of both, he gave in to her.

  “SO RICHARD WAS OFFERED the job Grady promised your father.” Peggy came back to the present in time to hear Li’l Bit winding up.

  Maggie took up the story. “When Grady heard what had happened, he was furious.”

  Peggy leaned back. She could remember Grady’s fury. It was not something she could ever forget. And since he was no fool, he knew exactly where to lay the blame.

  “YOU DID THIS,” GRADY SAID. His face was tight with rage, but she saw something else in it too: confusion. And the beginnings of panic. For the first time in Grady’s life, Dalton wasn’t siding with him, and he’d never thought that could happen. “I know it was you who put Daddy up to this. Because of that little brat you’re always slobbering over.”

  “I suggested Richard for the job. That’s all.”

  “You did something to make Daddy change his mind.”

  “He’s getting older. Maybe he’s tired of you.”

  Being Dalton’s son was the only ground Grady had to stand on, and Peggy could see how much that thought scared him. At the time, it pleased her enormously. Which was really stupid. Because there was an old rule that said the only thing more dangerous than an angry animal was a scared one.

  Laurel tried to clench her jaw. If ever there was a time when she wanted control over her chattering teeth this was it. She forced her mouth open enough to form words. “So Richard was going to get my father’s job,” she prompted the three women in front of her.

  Dr. Maggie responded. “Yes,” she said.

  “What happened?” Laurel asked.

  “Grady tried to persuade his father to change his mind,” Dr. Maggie said.

  Peggy felt herself smile again. Persuade was such a Maggie way of putting it.

  “YOU’RE GIVING A WHITE MAN’s JOB to a nigger!” Grady shouted at Dalt. “What do you think the men will do when they hear that?”

  It was stupid of Grady. Opposition always made Dalton dig in harder, and once he had announced his decision, even though originally he’d fought against it, he expected his wishes to be carried out. “What I think is, I think I’m gonna run my business my way,” he said. “And anyone who doesn’t like it can stop collecting his paycheck. Including you.”

  He didn’t mean it. He never would have followed through. But Grady and Dalt were both seeing a side of each other they had never seen before. For Dalton it meant having to face what he’d always known but managed to avoid, that his son was weak and petty and cruel. For Grady, his new hard-nosed father was a total shock. He ranted and raved, but Peggy could see Grady was frantic.

  PEGGY PICKED UP HER GLASS and poured a little whiskey into it, not too much, because she had to make her store last. It seemed like they’d been talking forever, and they’d barely scratched the surface of what they had to tell this girl. It was going to be a long night.

  “YOU MUST UNDERSTAND, none of us saw what happened the night Richard died, Laurel,” Maggie was saying. “What we’re telling you is what we pieced together from what we heard later.

  “After Grady realized he wasn’t going to be able to change Dalton’s mind, he went to find your father at his house. Your mother didn’t live there, of course. She and your father weren’t married.”

  Maggie smiled at Laurel the way she did when she wanted to make bad news easier for a patient. From what Peggy could see of the girl’s face, it wasn’t helping.

  Maggie went on. “Lottie and Nella were working late at the Lodge. Richard was home with Vashti. He was due to start his new job in a week, but there hadn’t been an announcement yet.” Maggie paused. “I try to put myself in John Merrick’s shoes sometimes. To imagine what it must have felt like to have gotten that opportunity and then have it taken away.”

  In the darkness, Peggy watched Laurel strain to get every word as Maggie continued.

  “Grady went to John’s house, and he and your father had a few drinks. It was Grady’s idea for them to go to Lottie’s cabin and scare Richard off, run him out of town. John went along with it. They got into John’s car.”

  Maggie leaned back wearily and Li’l Bit sat up straighter, ready to take over. It was as if they were handing off the story like a runner’s baton. Li’l Bit began the next leg of the race.

  “I want to reiterate what Maggie said,” Li’l Bit began. “Everything you’re about to hear was pieced together after the fact. Some of it was from Vashti, and some was what Grady and John confessed to Dalton.”

  “Just tell me,” Laurel said.

  Li’l Bit nodded. “Richard saw John’s car coming down the road. He knew about John and the job so he probably suspected what was coming next. All we know for sure is, he told Vashti to stay away from the window and started out. When she tried to go with him he pushed her down on the floor so hard her teeth cut her lip. Then he ran outside. Vashti got to her knees and looked out the window to see a white man get out of the car and come toward her father. For a moment they talked; then the white man hit her father. She saw her father hit back. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t get any sound out. Then a second white man got out of the car. Richard saw the second man and started to run. The first man got back in the car and started it; Richard was trying to get to the woods. We think he didn’t go back inside the house because Vashti was there. So he ran toward the ridge behind the cabin. The car started after him. The white man on the ground ran to the side of the car shouting, but Vashti
couldn’t hear what he was saying. He reached in and tried to grab at the man who was driving, but he fell and the car went on.

  “Richard was starting up the ridge, but he tripped and fell. As he tried to get up, the car went forward and ran over him. Then it backed away. Richard was on the ground. And the car ran over him again. Then it stopped. The first white man got out of the car and the second ran over to her father. He bent over Richard and put his head on Richard’s chest. He looked up, and Vashti saw him shake his head. Then everything went blank for her. It was days before she could remember any of it.”

  Laurel felt her voice come through her throat like something made out of sandpaper. “Richard was dead?”

  “Yes. John and Grady got him—the body—into the backseat of the car and drove to the county line. They left him on the side of the highway. But then Grady lost his nerve and they told Dalton.”

  “Which one did it—killed Richard?” the sandpaper voice rasped. “Was it my father?”

  “No,” said Miss Li’l Bit.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure,” Peggy said. It was her turn with the damn baton.

  Peggy lit a cigarette and began. “That night after Grady left, I went to bed early, but Dalt stayed downstairs. I woke up when I heard someone banging on the front door. Dalt answered it, and I heard the door slam, but no one came in. I went around to the front of the house and looked out. Grady and John were with Dalt, but the windows were closed, so I couldn’t hear what was going on. Grady and John seemed to be arguing about something. Dalt stopped them. I started to open the window, but it made too much noise. Then Grady said something, and Dalt pulled back and hit him hard with the back of his hand. Grady just stood there. Then Dalt came into the house and Grady and John drove off. I went back to the bedroom. Dalt came upstairs a few minutes later and I pretended to be asleep. I thought if he was finally angry enough to cut Grady loose I wasn’t going to say anything that might put his back up.”

  Peggy paused and tried to smile, but she could feel it come out twisted. “I was so glad Dalt was finally seeing the light.

  “Dalt didn’t stay upstairs; he went back down and I heard him go into his study. Twenty minutes later the sheriff came over.” Peggy stopped again, and looked at Laurel. “It was ten o’clock at night, and the sheriff was coming to our house. I still didn’t realize what kind of mess that had to mean. All I could think was that Grady was in trouble and I was glad.

  “It must have been a couple of hours later that Maggie called. Lottie and Nella were frantic. They’d gotten home from work at about midnight. Richard was gone, and Vashti was on the floor with her lip cut. She couldn’t tell them what had happened; Maggie said she was in a state of shock. Maggie had checked her over but they were going to take her to the hospital to be sure she was all right. And they were going to call the police.

  “I knew whatever had happened, Grady and John had a part in it. I went downstairs to Dalt.” Her cigarette must have burnt down. In the darkness she saw Li’l Bit lean over to take it from her and stub it out in the ashtray at her feet. Peggy turned to Laurel. “I don’t know if I can make you understand—” She stopped.

  “Just tell her what happened,” said Li’l Bit.

  Peggy took a fresh cigarette out of her case and lit it. She had said practically the same thing that night: Just tell me what happened, Dalt.

  DALT DIDN’T EVEN TRY to explain. He just looked out the window into the dark night and said, “I was hoping you slept through all that.”

  “No,” she said. “I saw Grady and John, and I heard the sheriff come. And now Richard is missing. I want to know what those two did.”

  She figured he’d give her a fight. She was ready for him to be mad that she was questioning him. Or he’d say she was imagining things, that she didn’t know what she was talking about.

  “I never should have given Richard that job,” he said. “I knew Grady wouldn’t stand for it.”

  “What did they do?”

  “It wasn’t supposed to go so far. I believe he was telling the truth about that. They just wanted to scare him.”

  “Dalton, what happened?”

  “They went to Lottie’s cabin and Richard was there. Richard and Grady fought, and from what John said, Richard was winning.” Dalt let out a deep sigh. “That was why it happened: Grady can’t stand to lose; he couldn’t even when he was little.” He saw the way she was looking at him and went on quickly. “John finally went to help him, but that made it worse. Grady got into the car and started after Richard. Richard couldn’t get away.”

  “Grady ran him down?”

  “He loses control. He gets mad and he doesn’t know what he’s doing—”

  “He ran Richard down with the car?”

  “He didn’t mean—”

  “Don’t! Don’t even try to make excuses for him!” But then a chilling thought hit her. “You told the sheriff all this, didn’t you?”

  He felt ashamed, she could see that. But he had closed down in that cold tough way he had that said not to get in his way.

  “It’s been taken care of.”

  “You’re going to cover for him?” He looked away. “He killed a man, Dalt. He ran him down like a dog in the road.”

  “He’s my son!”

  “You can’t do this.”

  “He’s mine, Peggy. I have to protect him.”

  “You may have to. I don’t.” She started for the phone, but he stopped her.

  “The sheriff’s going to investigate personally,” he said. “It’ll be a killing that never gets solved. That’s how it’s going to happen. There’s nothing you can do.”

  “I can tell everyone who will listen. I’ll find a newspaper or a reporter on television—”

  “I’ll stop you. I can do that. Please don’t make me.”

  “You can’t let him get away with this.”

  “I can’t let him go to jail. He’ll die there.”

  “Like Richard died?”

  “This is the last time I’ll help him. I promise you. It is.”

  “Dalt—”

  “I’m asking you to leave it alone. Pretend you were asleep tonight.”

  He wasn’t a bad man. He hated what he was doing, she knew that.

  “That’s all you have to do. Just pretend you don’t know.”

  He’d loved her in his way, probably more than she’d ever loved him. And in spite of everything, he’d been the best husband he’d known how to be. Everything she had she owed him. This was the first time he’d ever asked her for anything.

  ON THE PORCH it was still again. Three pairs of eyes were on Peggy, waiting for her to go on. She knew that even after all this time, Li’l Bit and Maggie were still hoping she could explain what she’d done next so that they could finally understand it. But of course they never would.

  “Dalton asked me to help him cover for Grady,” she said, “and I did. I went to the cabin. Maggie and Nella were at the hospital with Vashti. I sat with Li’l Bit and Lottie, and we waited for Richard to come home. I knew he was dead, but I sat there and waited as if I thought he was going to come walking through the door. I stayed until Maggie and Nella came back. I don’t think I could have kept it up if I’d seen Vashti, that would have been too much for me, but she stayed at the hospital overnight.

  “I kept on sitting and waiting with Nella. I said I’d been asleep all evening. And all I could think was, Please, God, let me get out of here before someone calls to say they’ve discovered Richard’s body. But the sheriff did his job very well. He managed to avoid finding it until the next morning, and I’d gone home by then. After that, the lying was easier. That night was the worst.”

  Laurel grabbed her hand. “Miss Peggy, I don’t care what lies you told. I don’t give a damn about that. I need to know about my father.”

  “Your father didn’t kill Richard. Grady did it. Dalton told me that.”

  “And my father tried to reach into the car and stop him—”

>   “Your father went to a man’s house to beat him—” Miss Li’l Bit said, but Laurel broke in.

  “Then he tried to stop it.”

  “Yes, dear,” said Dr. Maggie. “Your father tried to stop it.”

  “And it was all over a job. It never had anything to do with Nella.”

  “No.”

  “Then what the hell happened? Where did the story about Nella come from? Why did Grady kill my father?”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  THE THREE MISS MARGARETS looked at one another, and Laurel could see the energy pass between them, the unspoken bargains and agreements.

  “I’ve always thought if I hadn’t lied—” Miss Peggy began.

  “It would have happened anyway,” Miss Li’l Bit said.

  What would have happened? Laurel wanted to yell. But they were going to do this at their own pace and in their own way. Dr. Maggie seemed to be up again.

  “People in town knew something was wrong,” she said. “The sheriff was too sloppy handling the investigation. Lottie and Nella were insisting that Richard would never have left Vashti alone. And it was clear that the child had seen something that traumatized her. But the sheriff only went to the cabin once, and he went alone.”

  Miss Li’l Bit picked it up again. “People started saying there was something else going on. But it didn’t make any sense that the sheriff would cover for John Merrick. He wasn’t. . . .”

  “Important enough?” Laurel said.

  “Yes,” said Miss Li’l Bit, without flinching. “The only family in town with that kind of power were the Garrisons. And everyone knew Grady got himself into messes all the time. People started speculating.

  “Then all of a sudden a rumor started that Nella had another man—a black man, of course—who got into a fight with Richard and ran him down by the side of the road.”

  “It wasn’t anything concrete.” Dr. Maggie took over. “But the gossip stopped people from talking about Grady and John. Which was what it was meant to do, of course.”