If Memory Serves

by Vanessa Davis Griggs

  “Yes.”

  Lena released a sigh. “So tell me. How does Montgomery fit in all of this?”

  Memory raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Are you sure you want to hear this part right now?”

  Lena looked at her watch. It was nearing noontime. Sarah would be down shortly. She nodded. “Yes. I want to know everything. But it will be lunchtime in about twenty minutes,” Lena said. “So you need to hurry up.”

  Chapter 34

  Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek Thy name, O Lord.

  Psalm 83:16

  “As I was saying, Montgomery sent certified letters to Sam’s place for me. Samantha signed for them because she didn’t know whether or not they were something important since no one, other than possibly Christopher, would know I was there unless I had told them.” Memory sat back against the chair.

  “So it appears Montgomery not only knew who you were but where you were,” Lena said. “And how long ago did you say this was?”

  Memory frowned and twisted her mouth as she bit down on her thumbnail. “The first letter came about three years ago, around June of 2002.” She began to nod. “A couple more letters came over the years.”

  “Grandmother began searching for you October of 2001, as soon as she learned you were still alive. So Montgomery must have learned of your whereabouts some months after that.” Lena shook her head. “But why? Why would he want to make contact with you? What is he up to?”

  “I take it Montgomery must really be bad news?” Memory popped her lips and scrunched her mouth as she spoke.

  “Yeah. I’ve had a taste firsthand. He’s definitely someone to steer clear of.”

  “Then what I’ve done may not have been a good thing,” Memory said. She leaned her head back and exhaled loudly. Sitting up straight, she began to shake her head once more.

  Lena leaned her body in closer. “What did you do?”

  “I was the one who called Montgomery. It was a few days after I arrived. If you recall, you and Theresa weren’t too happy to see me when I showed up in your lives again. I was curious as to how he might possibly fit in this ever-evolving puzzle. For some strange reason, I’d kept his three letters in my pocketbook. I knew he lived here in Asheville. I’d been mysteriously summoned back to Asheville after having left here when I was fourteen. So I decided to give him a call and see what he had to say. He turned out to be quite a little charmer over the phone, and, surprisingly, he seemed genuinely excited to hear from me.”

  Memory sat back against the chair and situated her body more comfortably as she continued. “I didn’t want him able to see where I was calling from in case he had caller ID. I have a calling card I generally use for long-distance calls, so I decided to use it to call him, even though I knew it was a local call. We talked, and eventually I admitted to him I was in the city. He insisted that we meet, again enticing me by saying he had something he was certain I wanted back while being adamant that he couldn’t tell me anything more than that over the phone. He also informed me that he knew I was here at Sarah’s house. That kind of bothered me a little.”

  “That is interesting.”

  “He didn’t want me to mention anything to anyone here about him or the call. If I did, he said he would somehow know, and that the sweet deal he was planning for me would immediately be taken off the table before I ever even got to know what it was.”

  Lena crossed her legs at her ankles. “Oh, yeah . . . a real charmer, that Montgomery Powell the Second. So you felt safe enough to go off alone and meet with a stranger, in reality, without letting anyone know?”

  Memory smiled. “Lena, you know I haven’t lived a charmed life all these years. I’ve hung out with some rough folks, to put it mildly. I learned a long time ago how to take care of myself.”

  “But you’re older now. It was dangerous when you were young, but even more dangerous now that you’re almost seventy,” Lena said, crossing her arms.

  “I know. That’s why I told Sam everything. I gave her the phone number here and told her that if I didn’t call her back before the night was over, she was to call you and tell you everything she knew about Montgomery and my seeing him. In all that happened Saturday night, I almost forgot to call her and let her know I had made it back okay. I ended up having to call her from the hospital. We spoke long enough for me to let her know I was all right, with a promise that I’d call her again later when I could talk.”

  Lena unfolded her arms and looked toward the doorway. “Grandmother likely will be down soon.”

  “I know; I’ll hurry.” Memory took a deep breath and released it. “Montgomery had the Alexandrite necklace.”

  “What?” Lena said, shocked.

  “And somehow, he knew that you and Theresa were upset with me about my having taken it. He said he wanted to give it back to me—”

  Lena started shaking her head. “He wanted to give it back? The man paid two million dollars to get it, and you’re telling me he was going to just give it back to you out of the goodness of his heart?” She shook her head even faster and turned up her nose as though she had suddenly caught whiff of something that had been dead and hidden away for weeks. “I don’t think so.”

  “He mentioned he’d paid two million dollars for that necklace,” Memory said, still showing her shock. “Two million dollars.”

  “Yes. And according to Pastor Landris who knows all about this, your boyfriend got one million of those dollars, minus your twenty thousand. Frankly, I don’t have time to tell everything I know right now,” Lena said. She started rotating her index finger in a circular motion, indicating to Memory she needed to finish up her story. “Please hurry.”

  “I asked him how he knew Sarah, and he told me about his father being Sarah’s half-brother,” Memory said.

  “Yeah, I know all about that. Get back to you, him, and the necklace.”

  “As you already know now, Montgomery ended up giving it to me.”

  “For what reason? What did you have to give him or promise him in return in order for you to get the necklace? That’s what I want to know.”

  Memory stood up and walked over to the door and looked inside. It was quiet, but she could smell the various cooking aromas that were slipping through the cracks, making their way outside to the terrace from the kitchen.

  Lena got up, walked over to the door, and practically dragged Memory away from it. “Tell me what you did in order to get the Alexandrite necklace.”

  Memory walked away from Lena over to the limestone banister and looked out at the rolling blue hills. “I don’t believe I did this.”

  Lena came over and stood next to her. “What . . . did . . . you . . . do?”

  Memory looked at her. “I signed a document stating that I would sell him this house, at a fair and marketable price, of course, should I be the one to inherit it upon my mother’s death. That’s what.”

  Lena stared at her. “How could you?” Lena started walking away.

  Memory ran and grabbed her arm. “Lena, I did it because I love my family. I love you, and I love Theresa, and I love my great-grandbabies. I wanted to make things right with us. I figured if I had the necklace and gave it back, you and Theresa might forgive me for having taken it in the first place. You might have thought I’d kept it all this time. You know—no harm, no foul.”

  Lena wriggled her arm out of Memory’s grip. “But how could you agree to sell this house like that? I thought you said you’d changed? You haven’t changed! This is exactly what you did when I was sixteen years old. You took the house that Big Mama left me, and you sold it without any regard for anyone else other than yourself. It was about what you wanted. It’s always about you . . . always what’s best for you.” Lena stared at her, then plodded away. She turned and looked at her before opening the door. “How could you do that to your own mother?” she asked. “How could you?”

  Memory walked swiftly to catch up with her. “Lena,” she yelled. “Lena!”

  Lena opened the doo
r and went inside the house, quickly making her way up the stairs to her room. Closing her door, she locked it, then fell to her knees as she began to quietly cry.

  Chapter 35

  Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

  Isaiah 48:17

  Lena sat on her bed. Looking at her watch and seeing it was close to noon, she got up and wiped the tears from her eyes and face with a wet washcloth. Knowing she had to pull herself together, she went to Sarah’s room with a big smile on her face. Sarah was holding onto Gayle’s arm with one hand while holding a walking cane with the other.

  “Grandmother, are you ready for lunch?” Lena asked cheerfully.

  “I absolutely am,” Sarah said. She walked up to Lena and looked into her eyes. Lena looked away. “Is Memory already downstairs?”

  Lena nodded. “Yes, she’s on the terrace waiting.”

  “Good,” Sarah said as she removed her arm from Gayle’s arm and wrapped it around Lena’s. “Thanks, Gayle. Lena will see me downstairs. You can run on and take care of that errand you said you needed to handle.”

  Gayle nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be back in a few hours. Y’all have fun, now.”

  As Sarah and Lena slowly made their way down the stairs, Sarah stopped on the landing area before starting down the last set of stairs. “Give me a second,” Sarah said. “This is more than a notion. Definitely a lot more work than I first thought,” she said.

  “It’s fine. Take your time. We don’t have any reason to rush.”

  Sarah stood there. “So . . . did you and Memory talk?”

  Lena nodded.

  “Is that why you’re upset?” Sarah asked, looking up at Lena from her slightly bent position. “Did things not go well with you two?”

  Lena looked at her and smiled. “It went okay. We didn’t get to finish our conversation, but we covered a lot of ground.”

  Sarah grabbed Lena’s arm tighter. “Well, I won’t pressure you about it. If you want to talk, I hope you know I’m here.”

  “I know,” Lena said as she started moving along with Sarah’s pace.

  They stepped out on the terrace, and Sarah immediately shielded her eyes with her hand. “What a lovely day!” Sarah said, grinning.

  Memory got up and met Sarah and Lena. She helped Sarah to the chair underneath the oversized patio umbrella. “You look so pretty in your flowery dress,” Memory said as she held on to Sarah, who was lowering her body slowly into the chair.

  “I’ve always loved flowers. Chocolate and flowers. I thought I’d brighten my day even more by wearing this dress.”

  Lena and Memory sat down. Monica rolled out the serving table and began setting the table. It didn’t take her long to finish. “If you need anything else, let me know,” Monica said.

  “Food fit for queens,” Sarah said as she lifted the sterling-silver domes and began putting various items on her plate. “This looks more like a Sunday dinner than a Thursday lunch on the terrace. Will you look a’ here. There are collard greens with okra, grilled chicken, and squash casserole. Oh, I simply love Monica’s squash casserole! Nobody can touch Monica’s squash casserole. As an old friend of mine in Selma, Alabama, Ms. Azile, used to say when we ate something that was absolutely delicious, ‘That woman know she can put her foot in it.’”

  “We told her to fix all your favorites,” Lena said, smiling.

  “So I see,” Sarah said. She looked at Memory. “Will you please say grace?”

  Memory looked at Lena, then Sarah. “Of course.” They bowed their heads as Memory prayed a short prayer. “Amen,” she said.

  They began eating in silence except for occasional comments about a certain dish.

  Sarah set her fork down. “Okay, so who wants to tell me what’s going on here?” She looked from Lena to Memory.

  “Memory? Lena?”

  “Nothing, Grandmother. Just enjoying the food and the company,” Lena said.

  Sarah looked at Memory again. “Will someone please tell me the truth for a change and stop all of this foolishness of trying to protect me?”

  Memory looked at Lena. “It’s all my fault,” she said to Sarah. “I’m ruining your beautiful day. Lena’s upset with me, and, truthfully, she has every reason and right to be.”

  “Don’t do it,” Lena said to Memory. “I’m not upset. I just have a lot on my mind. Richard’s becoming quite a little golfer these days. I was thinking he would be bored, and it looks like he’s more active here than when he’s at home.” Lena put a forkful of food in her mouth. “You’re right, Grandmother. This squash casserole is divine! Monica definitely put her foot in this. Don’t you think so?” Lena asked, now addressing Memory.

  “Yes,” Memory said, taking a bite of squash casserole. “It’s delicious.”

  Sarah didn’t say a word. She just sat there and watched as Lena continued on with a few minutes more of frivolous chitchat about nothing really.

  “Lena, I should have brought my straw hat down with me,” Sarah said. “Would you be a dear and run up to my room and get it?”

  Lena smiled as she looked at Sarah, then Memory.

  “I’ll get it for you,” Memory said, pushing her chair back as she started to stand.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like Lena to get it for me,” Sarah said, touching Memory’s hand. She looked at Lena. “She’s the youngest between us. That’s if you don’t mind?”

  Lena smiled and got up. “Of course I don’t mind.” She wiped her mouth and placed the crisp, white linen napkin down next to her plate. “I’ll be right back.”

  “It’s in the chifforobe,” Sarah yelled as Lena opened the French door.

  After Lena left, Sarah dabbed her mouth, being extra careful not to wipe off her ruby red lipstick she’d so artfully put on. She set her full attention to Memory. “Now, would you like to tell me what’s going on?”

  Memory wiped her mouth and took a few swallows of lemonade. “Nothing,” she finally said.

  “Memory, please don’t insult my intelligence or my sanity. Something is going on, and I want to know what it is.” Sarah stopped eating and folded her arms across her chest.

  Memory looked up at the sky, then at Sarah as she let out a loud sigh. “Okay. Okay. I’ll tell you. For one thing, I met with Montgomery Powell this past Saturday. It was the same day you got sick. The day you went to the hospital.”

  Sarah nodded. “Is that all?”

  Memory shook her head. “I got the Alexandrite necklace back. The one I’m sure you’re aware that I took from Lena and Theresa a few years back.”

  Sarah nodded again slowly. “Let me know when you’re finished,” Sarah said.

  Memory sat back against her chair. “I gave Lena the necklace. She gave it back. Lena showed me the Wings of Grace box your mother left for me and her to open together.” Memory cocked her head to the side. “We left them on Lena’s bed, and now both the box and the necklace have mysteriously disappeared out of her room.”

  “Would you care to tell me how you managed to get that necklace back?”

  “I made a deal with Montgomery. He had it.” Memory stopped and readjusted her body in the chair. “I signed an agreement that says if I should inherit this house, I’ll sell it to him.”

  Sarah nodded, her demeanor remaining the same. “So, I see.”

  “Now that the necklace and the box are both missing, Lena thinks I’m probably behind their disappearance.” Memory waited for Sarah to say something. “But I didn’t take them.”

  Sarah picked up her knife and fork, cut off a piece of her grilled chicken, placed it in her mouth, and proceeded to chew slowly.

  Lena walked back outside, handed Sarah the hat, and sat down. “It wasn’t in the chifforobe,” Lena said. “It was in your closet, on the top shelf.”

  “Oh, I suppose someone must have moved it then.” Sarah ate one of the peas in a pod.

  Lena lo
oked at Sarah, trying to figure out what may have happened while she was gone.

  Sarah pointed her fork at Lena’s plate. “You need to eat, dear.”

  Lena smiled at Sarah, then looked over at Memory, whose demeanor had completely changed since she’d gone to get Sarah’s hat.

  Memory looked back at Lena. “I told her everything,” Memory finally said to Lena.

  Lena narrowed her eyes somewhat, her eyebrows furrowing as she frowned. “Told her what?”

  “I told her about Montgomery and our meeting, about the necklace, and how the necklace and the box are both missing now,” Memory said.

  “Why?”

  “Because I asked her to,” Sarah said. “And I needed to know.” Sarah ate some more of the squash casserole. “Let me ask you something. The Wings of Grace box—did you get a chance to see what was inside of it before it went missing?”

  “No,” Memory said. “Gayle came to Lena’s room just after we unlocked it.”

  “And I never opened it before that day, so I don’t know what was in there,” Lena said.

  Sarah set her fork down in her plate. “Lena, you believe Memory took the box and the necklace, correct?”

  Lena tried to smile and play it off. “Why are you ruining this perfect day with talk about things like this, Grandmother?”

  “Because something is going on here, and we need to get to the bottom of it. I believe it’s Hosea four-six that says, ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.’ I don’t care for our family to be destroyed. I’ve waited too long to get here, and I don’t intend to tiptoe around issues any longer because no one wishes to upset the apple cart. Let’s get to it so we can figure out what’s going on and know exactly what we’re dealing with here. Knowledge is always power. Always. I will not allow our family to be destroyed. So let’s do what needs to be done, however painful it might be.”

  “Do you think I took that box and the necklace?” Memory asked Lena.

  Lena looked at Sarah. Sarah’s look was stern.

  “I think it’s a strong possibility you may have,” Lena said. “You went to see Montgomery, and you weren’t planning on ever telling us that. Do you have any idea the agonies and heartaches those people have put Grandmother through all these years, going all the way back to his father and uncle?”