Appalachian Daughter

by Mary Salyers

  This morning Ray had offered to help with the milking. When they were almost to the barnyard, Ray looked at Maggie. “Last night when you wanted to know if you could go on the trip, did you have a notion of how to get the money?”

  “No,” Maggie had said, “but it doesn’t matter, cause Mama won’t let me go anyway.”

  “I don’t know about that. I’m just sorry we don’t have the money.”

  Johnny Ray’s sudden squeals startled her out of her reverie. Stuart had given the wagon a shove, and now Johnny Ray careened down the hill screaming with delight. The front wheel caught in a rut, turning the wagon over and dumping Johnny Ray onto the ground. Maggie ran to him and helped him back into the wagon. Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt–had just gotten his shirt dirty and had torn the cover off a book.

  “Stuart, you shouldn’t have done that,” Maggie scolded. “He could have got hurt.”

  “He asked me to.”

  “I’m okay, Maggie,” Johnny Ray said. “It was fun.”

  Maggie gathered up his books and put them into the wagon beside him. “Now, Stuart, be careful.”

  “You’re getting as bad as Mama. Just because he’s got a bad heart don’t mean he can’t never have no fun!”

  * * *

  Maggie hurried down the street toward the school. As soon as she had come into the office, Mr. Adkins had asked her to take a certified letter to the post office. Now she rushed back to school hoping to have time to look over her English assignment before class. As she passed City Café, she noticed Aunt Lillian sitting in a booth smoking. She decided to take time to say hello.

  “I’m sure glad to see you. I told JD to tell you to come and see me.”

  “I haven’t seen JD all week. I think he’s cutting classes.”

  “We’re having a big dinner Friday night and another’n Saturday night, and we need some help. Mrs. Jenkins said I could ask you to work for us, and she’d pay you. You could come up here after school on Friday and then spend the nights on my sofa. Maybe JD could pick you up and take you home on Sunday.”

  “I can’t believe I’m hearing this, Aunt Lillian. I need thirty dollars by the end of the month so I can go to Cookeville for a Business Education Conference.”

  “I doubt she’ll pay you that much.”

  “But it will be a good start. I just hope Mama will let me work. She said she didn’t want me to go on the overnight trip, but this morning Daddy talked like if I could get the money I could go.”

  “Let me know what they say. If you can’t work, I need to find someone else.”

  Maggie gave her a hug. “Thank you so much, Aunt Lillian. I know I can figure out some way to get the rest of the money I need.”

  Maggie hurried along the sidewalk. She couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Oh, I just can’t believe this. She began whistling and skipped along like a six year old. “Oops.” she suddenly realized someone might see her and looked around sheepishly. She remembered Grandma always says “A whistling girl and a crowing hen always come to some bad end” and turned the corner into the schoolyard.

  * * *

  “Thanks, Maggie, I don’t know how we would’ve managed without your help tonight. ” Mrs. Jenkins took off her apron. “I’m assuming you’ll help us again tomorrow night?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “That’s good. I’d like you to start about five o’clock Now, Lillian, I’m leaving. I’ll let you turn out the lights and shut everything up, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

  After Mrs. Jenkins left, Maggie asked, “If I’m not supposed to go to work until five o’clock tomorrow, what’ll I do all day?”

  “Whatever your little heart desires.” They went out the side door and up the stairs to Lillian’s apartment. “Have a seat, Maggie.” Lillian plopped down and patted the sofa beside her. “If your feet hurt as bad as mine, you need to take a load off.” She kicked off her shoes and rested her feet on the rickety coffee table. “Put your feet up. You can’t hurt this old table.”

  Maggie sat on the sofa and kicked off her shoes.

  “You did real good tonight.” Lillian patted Maggie’s shoulder.

  Maggie smiled. “Thanks. I was sooo nervous serving all the teachers. I just watched Wanda and tried to do like she did.”

  “Wanda’s worked here almost as long as I have. She’s a good waitress.”

  “If you hadn’t told me customers would give me tips, I wouldn’t have known what to do. Mr. Adkins gave me a dollar, Mr. Moore and Miss Erickson gave me fifty cents, and some others gave me quarters. I got three dollars and fifty cents.”

  “Sit still and I’ll get us a glass of tea.” Lillian stood and walked to the refrigerator in the tiny kitchen.

  “After you drink your tea, why don’t you get in the bath tub? I feel all hot and sweaty after slaving in that hot kitchen all day. I bet you do, too.” Maggie nodded. “While you take your bath, I’ll fix your bed.”

  Maggie lowered herself into the warm water. She had never taken a bath in a tub like this. At home they took baths in a wash tub in the kitchen. She could stretch out her legs and relax. She thought she could lie there and go to sleep. Later she stretched out on the somewhat lumpy sofa and reviewed the events of the week. Corie Mae had protested only a little before agreeing for Maggie to stay with Aunt Lillian and work in the restaurant for two nights. While she wouldn’t earn all she needed for the trip to Cookeville, she would surely have more than half of it, especially if she got as many tips tomorrow night as she got tonight. If she could figure out how to get the rest of the money, she believed her father would overrule her mother and let her go. She closed her eyes and sighed with satisfaction.

  * * *

  The next morning Maggie sat on the little screened-in porch outside Lillian’s bedroom and worked on her homework. She had slept later than she could ever remember. She looked out into the tiny back yard where a fuzzy little white dog trotted across the yard carrying a stick in its mouth. Maggie smiled and stretched. She could get used to a life of leisure.

  Startled by a knock at the door, she opened it and discovered Wanda waiting on the steps.

  “Hey, girl, come on; we’re going down to Miller’s Falls.”

  “Who’s we?”

  “JD and Bud are in the car.”

  “Let me get my shoes on, and I’ll come right down.”

  Maggie had gone to the falls a few times. Her fifth grade teacher had taken the class there for an all-day picnic, and her church had held baptisms there a time or two. She had forgotten about the roughness of the road. In one place the car dragged on the deep ruts. The unpaved road wound down the steep wooded hillsides and ended at the bottom of a ravine where the creek flowed through a series of rapids and falls. Mountain laurel, pine groves, and ferns covered the hillsides. A few dogwood and redbud trees still bloomed. Maggie sat in the back seat with Bud who had smiled warmly when she got into the car. Now he reached for her hand. “I’m glad you came along.”

  Maggie smiled and noticed he already had a tan, probably from playing baseball. He’s such a good looking guy. Not the tallest boy in his class, but he had the best physique, and she loved his wavy blond hair, and his deep blue eyes, his charming smile and those dimples–absolutely adorable. She still couldn’t convince herself that he seemed to like her.

  JD parked the car, and they walked upstream to a small pool. JD picked up a rock. “Look at that bottle over there on the other side of the creek. I bet you can’t hit it.”

  JD and Bud both threw several times, but neither hit the target. After watching for a few minutes, Maggie picked up a stone and zinged it across the water smashing the bottle to smithereens.

  “Show off!” JD yelled and gave Maggie a little shove.

  “Hey, quit shoving my girl!” Bud shoved JD.

  “Why you knock-kneed, flop-eared, bow-legged, yellow-livered, Nigger loving, Jew baby, Japo, son of a bitch. Push me around, will you?”

  Bud laughed so hard, he almost fell over when JD
shoved him, but he managed to get his feet under him, and they playfully wrestled around for a few minutes.

  When the shoving match slacked off, Wanda tapped JD on the shoulder. “I’ll race you to the falls.” They jogged out of sight.

  Maggie turned to Bud. “What makes you think I’m your girl?”

  “I guess I just wished it.”

  Maggie looked up with a mischievous grin. “You know what my grandma says about wishes?” Bud shook his head. “She says wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which hand fills up quicker.”

  Bud laughed. “Your grandmother really said that?”

  “She amazes me sometimes with some of the stuff she says.”

  “Trying to tell me it does me no good to wish?”

  They had begun to walk slowly along the creek toward the falls. Maggie studied the ground before she answered. She flashed a smile at Bud. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to be your girl. It’s just seems impossible when my mother won’t let me go out with anybody. I mean, how can I be your girlfriend if I can’t go anywhere with you?”

  “I guess we’ll just have to see each other at school and any time like this we get the chance until your mother will let you go out.”

  “That doesn’t seem like much fun for you.”

  “Any time I can be with you is fun for me.”

  Maggie’s heart did a flip-flop. She squeezed Bud’s hand. “That’s very sweet to say. I enjoy being with you, too.”

  After walking along in silence past several huge boulders, the water hissing and gurgling as it rushed around the rocks, he led her to a large flat rock extending out into the stream, Bud helped her climb up and sat beside her. He broke a branch from a bush and began pulling off the leaves and throwing them into the water. “Maggie, I’ve been trying to get up the courage to ask you to go to the Junior-Senior Banquet with me.”

  Maggie hung her head. When she looked up, she had tears in her eyes. “Oh, Bud, I’d give anything to go, but I can’t.”

  “Don’t cry. It’s not the end of the world.”

  “I mean, even if Mama would let me go, which she won’t, I don’t have anything to wear.”

  JD and Wanda strolled over and sat on the rock with them. JD took a cigarette for himself and passed the pack to Wanda. When Bud offered one to Maggie, she shook her head. “I better not. It might make me sick, and I have to work tonight.”

  When the others had lit up, Bud said, “I’ve been trying to talk Maggie into going to the Junior-Senior Banquet with me.”

  “Oh, that’d be great. We could all go together.” Wanda looked at Maggie, her eyes shining with excitement.

  JD leaned back and blew out a series of smoke rings. “I hope you said you’d go, Cuz.”

  Maggie shook her head. “You know Mama’d never let me go.”

  “Don’t tell her. Just go. It’s for sure I ain’t telling my mother.”

  “That’s easy for you to say, JD. Aunt Opal doesn’t tell you what you can and can’t do these days.”

  “You’re right about that, and she sure as hell better not start.”

  Bud pointed to a hawk sailing around on the updrafts from the falls. He had stretched out his legs and leaned back on one elbow enjoying the warm sun. They watched the graceful bird circling around until it flapped its wings and flew out of sight. The sun glinted on the water as it rushed past the rocks like diamonds or twinkling stars. Maggie filled her lungs with the moist air and thought of fresh clean air right after a summer rain.

  “I got an idea,” Wanda said. “Maggie could tell her mother Mrs. Jenkins needs her to work in the restaurant again. I’m sure Lillian would agree for her to spend the night, and she wouldn’t tell nobody.”

  “I always wondered why I wanted you for my girl friend,” JD teased. “Because you’re so smart. That’s a perfect idea.” He looked at Maggie. “What do you say, Cuz?”

  Maggie shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I hate lying to my parents.”

  “Nobody behaves as good as Aunt Corie Mae expects you to. She don’t want you to do nothing that’s the least bit fun,” JD complained. “If you’re ever gonna do anything fun, you’ll have to do it behind her back.”

  Maggie swallowed and fought back tears. “She just wants what is best for her kids.”

  “Why do you take up for her? You know she expects you to work your tail off and never gives you so much as a ‘thank you.’”

  Bud stood and pulled Maggie to her feet. “Let’s go see the falls.”

  “Meet us at the car in fifteen minutes,” JD said. “Wanda has to go to work in an hour.”

  Holding hands, Maggie and Bud walked in silence to the falls and stood on the bank looking at the water as it cascaded some fifteen feet into a pool about thirty feet across. The water, high from the recent rains, drowned out their voices. Maggie yelled, “Ever dived off the falls?”

  Bud put his face close to Maggie’s ear. “Lots of times. Us town boys come down here almost every day in the summer. The water’s not so fast then, and it’s a fun way to cool off. We play water tag and race each other across the pool and all sorts of stuff.”

  “I don’t know how to swim.”

  “I’m volunteering to teach you.”

  “Now, my mother would really get upset over that.”

  Bud led her away from the falls. “Look, Maggie. I respect your feelings about lying to your parents. If you wanted to pretend to work at the café and go to the banquet, I’d be happy to go along with that. But if you feel you can’t deceive your folks that way, I understand.”

  Maggie looked at Bud. “I thought you’d get mad.”

  “I’ll be disappointed if you can’t go with me, but I won’t get mad.”

  “Maybe you should ask someone else.”

  Bud stopped, put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a little shake. “No way. When I said you’re my girl. I meant it. I just hope you will agree.”

  “Okay. I’ll ask my parents and see what they say.”

  Before they reached the car, Maggie turned to Bud. “Thank you for asking me to the banquet. I don’t know how it will work out, but I’m delighted to be your girl.”

  * * *

  On Monday, Maggie told Miss Erickson she had twenty dollars toward the money she needed for the trip. Although she admitted her mother hadn’t really agreed, she felt pretty sure her father would insist they allow Maggie to go. Later in the day, Miss Erickson told Maggie a couple of the elementary teachers had given tests to their students, and they wanted to pay Maggie to grade the tests.

  Maggie decided not to say anything to her parents about going to the banquet with Bud until after her mother agreed for her to go to the Business Education Convention, fearing her mother would not only veto the banquet but also the trip.

  On Sunday afternoon, Maggie joined her parents on the porch where they sat in the swing. Her mother’s mood had improved somewhat lately, probably because she enjoyed the chance to make garden and plant flowers. “Mama, I noticed the peas you planted have come up, and I think we probably could pull a few green onions any time now.” Maggie sat on the top porch step.

  Corie Mae smiled. “I think we’re going to have a real good garden this year. I just hope we don’t have a bad storm like we had last year that washed out lots of the garden.”

  “What else you aiming to plant?”

  “It’s too early to plant tomatoes and anything a frost’ll kill. So we’ll plant beans, corn, taters and stuff like that next week. It’s the wrong time of the moon for planting right now.”

  “Mama, did I tell you the elementary teachers have hired me to grade some special tests?”

  Corie Mae shook her head. “When did this happen?”

  “Miss Erickson told me about it last week. They’re paying me fifty cents an hour.”

  “I guess that’s good. Ever little bit helps.”

  “I made twenty dollars working at the café last weekend. With the money I make grading the tests, I think I’ll have
the thirty dollars I need to make the trip to Cookeville.”

  Corie Mae stopped rocking the swing. “I already told you I don’t want you going on no overnight trip with a bunch of students.”

  “But, Mama, it’s only six students. And Miss Erickson and Miss McNeal will go with us. We’ll have plenty of supervision.”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want you going.”

  “But, why, Mama? What’s wrong with going?”

  “I said ‘no’ once, and I mean ‘no,’ and that’s the end of it.” Corie Mae folded her arms across her chest, clamped her lips tightly together and lifted her chin with that I-dare-you-to-defy-me look.

  Maggie looked at her father. She couldn’t understand why her mother objected so strongly. Ray puffed on his pipe for a few seconds and then took it from his mouth. “Maggie, I’m real proud of how you worked to earn the money. It’s not like you waited for something to be gived to you on a silver platter.” He put the pipe back in his mouth and took a few more puffs. “I think it’d be good experience for you to make this trip.” He smoked some more.

  Maggie waited. Her mother slowly shook her head. Ray continued, “You work hard here at home. You do your chores careful. You look out for the littl’ns. We can depend on you. We’re proud of you.”

  “Thank you, Daddy.”

  Maggie listened to the creaking of the swing and looked across the yard at the beagle puppies rolling in the grass. Stuart would have some good hunting dogs to sell again this summer. Ray knocked his pipe against the porch rail. He turned to look at Corie Mae. “I think Maggie has earned this trip, Corie Mae. We’re going to let her go.”

  “No!” Corie Mae stood up with her hands on her hips.

  Ray gently pulled Corie Mae back beside him. He refilled and lit his pipe and rocked quietly for several minutes. “You know, Corie Mae, Maggie’s not asking to go do a bunch of foolishness. It’s a special honor that she’s good enough in her books to be asked to go. She’s worked hard for this.”

  Corie Mae jumped up again. “Ever time you side with her.” She wagged her finger in Ray’s face. “It don’t matter what I think, you always go against me. I’m getting mighty tired of it too. Here lately seems like ever time I make a decision, you cancel it out–‘specially if it’s got anything to do with what Maggie wants.”