“Do you think what I do has any real eternal value?” she asked in a rare moment of introspection.
“I think you have done exactly what you were destined to do. You’ve been given an amazing gift, and you’ve put it to good use. And each time someone steps into your gallery and purchases one of your amazing gifts, you give them joy and pleasure every time they pass by it hanging in their foyer or hallway. There is eternity in that.”
“You think so?”
“I should know. I have an original hanging in my office.”
“Did you get permission for that?” I asked, laughing at the two entertaining creatures sprawled across the sofa. Their heads perked up simultaneously at the sound of my voice.
“We don’t have to get permission for anything, do we, Duke?” Duke simply laid his head back down on his side of the sofa, knowing he didn’t need permission from anything or anyone other than the man by his side.“I think you forget who’s in charge here,” Dad said, patting Duke on his hind end.
I walked over and took a seat in the chair next to the sofa.“I’m not sure if it’s you or the hairy creature lying next to you.”
“It’s both of us. When I’m too tired to be in charge, Duke steps into his rightful place.”
“What about Thomas?”
“Duke has more authority because of his actual time spent on the premises. Pretty good sermon, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah, it was great. It seems like that place has grown so much since I’ve been gone.”
“Yeah, it has. They really have the pulse of this city. They’re reaching people who haven’t had a place to belong. They’ve given them a type of family. Those of us who have good ones forget some people have never known what that’s like.” He continued petting Duke without looking at me.
I scooted to the front of my chair, getting as close to Dad’s head as possible. “Speaking of our family, I overheard a conversation with Vicky, I mean Mother, and one of her friends. Seems she’s planning to put another ad in the paper.”
Jake snickered.
“Dad, please. She doesn’t even think I know it’s her, and I wish I could put a stop to this. But you and I both know you’re the only one that can pull the plug on her madness. People who aren’t too excited that I have this job will be even more unhappy when they realize it’s still mine on Friday. And the last thing I need is Mother making a declaration that she thinks my employment at the paper needs to be celebrated in print.”
Dad cocked his head.“Trust me, you will see no more ads in the paper.”
“Thanks.” I stood up, leaned over and kissed him on the head, and turned to leave the kitchen.“You do know you are not only helping me, but you are sparing innocent generations to come. My children will thank you.” He raised his hand that was petting Duke, then put it right back where it had been.
It was around nine-thirty when I made it to bed, and I was exhausted. For some weird reason I was thankful for all that had transpired this day. Thankful that even though it had been difficult, it had still been good. I finally fell asleep.
Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning I dreamed that when I showed up at work, everyone was standing in front of the door holding up the front page, which boasted a full-page ad of congratulations and a half-page picture of me and Vicky when I was eight and she had us dressed alike for Easter. We wore matching floral dresses with dangerously large bows planted on the side of our waists, I in black patent-leather shoes and she in her black patent-leather pumps. I woke up about three in the morning in a cold sweat. I ran downstairs and scoured our picture albums for any photo that could be totally humiliating if it were to appear in a newspaper. I put them all in a folder, took the folder to my bedroom, and hid it in the bookcase behind a stack of books.
I enjoyed dreamless sleep the rest of the night.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
We have a mini YMCA on our first floor, which Vicky designed years ago. When the world decided it was fashionable to do aerobics, so did Vicky. She bought Savannah out of every leotard it had, and when she couldn’t find any more in town, she had someone design them for her. No one understood as well as Vicky did the importance of looking good when working out in your own basement by yourself.
A trainer from one of the finest state-of-the-art gyms in Atlanta designed her a fabulous workout facility. He did one whole wall of mirrors and about every weight you could imagine, along with a treadmill and a rowing machine. But the only thing Vicky ever did was aerobics. That lasted, in total, forty-eight days.
Every morning at six a.m., she came out of her room in full makeup, totally coiffed hair, and manicured nails. In exactly sixty minutes, she returned upstairs. The amazing thing was, she never came out perspiring. I assumed she never actually moved enough to produce perspiration. But regardless of what she actually did while she was down there, after forty-eight days exactly, she never returned to do it again. Not to say that she doesn’t go down there.
Oh, she goes down there, all right, and we hear her singing at the top of her lungs. Usually it’s when she’s had a really bad day, on which she usually sings show tunes. On the days that have been significantly challenging, however,we are treated to Vicky’s version of “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” Reality is, the only ones with troubles are the afflicted creatures upstairs forced to endure such recreation. Duke retreats to the top floor and hides under Dad’s bed.
This morning, it poured outside. I silently prayed the rain would wash away the horror of yesterday. I spent time lifting a few free weights, for which I was sure I would pay the next day, then spent thirty good minutes on the treadmill, perspiring profusely. When I returned upstairs, I found Duke sitting dejectedly at the door. The one thing that rain brought him was the inability to be walked at all. He knew today was going to be one of those days.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I called into the kitchen to Mother as I raced for the door.
“You’ll have to start dinner without me. I’ve got a five o’clock meeting tonight. I had to call an emergency meeting because some developer wants to tear down one of our houses and put in a singles’ bar. Can you imagine me letting that happen? These people and their crazy ideas. I don’t know what city they think they’ve come to, but this isn’t sin city. This is Savannah. And it doesn’t happen here unless it comes through me.”
“I’m sure they’ll figure that out soon enough.”
“Yes, they will. And no singles’ bar will be replacing a historical home in the heart of our city. I guess the next thing they’ll want is adult entertainment and bathhouses. These people need to go to church. If they want to meet someone worth meeting, that might be a fine place for them to start. Singles’ bars! When I was young, people didn’t need help meeting people.” She turned back to the sink, and I was certain the conversation could go on without me. I sneaked out.
My phone was ringing as I made my way to my barely pigmented world. “Savannah,” I heard Marla say from the other end,“I just sent a lady back to your desk.”
I pulled out some framed pictures of Paige, college buddies, and my family and placed them on the far corner of my desk. “Is she as uptight as the one yesterday?”
“No, she seems a lot calmer than yesterday’s adventure. A little cleaner too.”
“Well, thanks for telling me. I hear her coming.” I braced myself, not certain who would appear around the corner. Much to my surprise and anxiousness, it was Katherine, looking perfectly stunning.
“Good morning, Savannah. I’m sorry to bother you at work.”
“Oh, it’s not a bother at all. Please have a seat,” I said, motioning to the chair just inside my modular wall.
“Actually, the rain has stopped. Would you have a moment to take a walk?” Wish Emma would have wanted to take a walk, I thought.
“Sure. That would be nice. Here, we can just go out the back door,” I said, motioning to the door that wasn’t far from my desk.
“Cute cubicle.”
I opened the door, and a blast of Savannah heat caught us off guard.“Well, it’s not much, but it’s mine. I guess you’re here to talk about my article.”
“I’ve known about your article since the day you invited me to the pageant. You’re not the most subtle person I’ve ever met,” she said gently.
“Pretty pathetic, aren’t I.”
“No, pretty fearless, I would say. I’m wondering how long you’ve known about me?”
“I found Gloria’s tape of your interview the day that I went through some of her files. So when I came into your store the second time, I realized the voice on the tape was yours.”
Her flesh-toned mules clicked in rhythm as we walked.“Why didn’t you just ask me about it?”
“I honestly just wanted to get to know you. But now that we’re talking about it, may I ask why you didn’t tell Gloria your story?”
“Because for me, the real story wasn’t about a rigged beauty pageant. It was about the decisions I made for my life after the pageant. I read your article, Savannah. You had some good points in there, but you had the wrong premise.”
“What do you mean?”
“My heart breaks for Emma, it really does. And I do think your point about people in positions of authority using them wisely is a story in and of itself. But Emma’s decision really had nothing to do with the decisions the judges made. The ultimate decision was Emma’s and Emma’s alone. Let me tell you the difference between disappointment and defeat.”
“I’m listening.”
“We all have moments of disappointment, Savannah. But we don’t experience defeat until we invite disappointment to stay with us. Emma allowed disappointment to define her life. She made a home there; she got married there and had children there. She held hands with disappointment and it led her to abuse, lies, torment, and more unhappiness than she ever intended. Disappointment gave way to her defeat.”
“I think I understand.”
“It only takes one moment of real confrontation with the truth to force defeat out.”
“I guess that’s what you did?”
Katherine nodded slowly.“Yes, I met up with disappointment.
But when I realized it was a thief, I made it leave.” She paused to see if I was listening.
“So how did your moment of disappointment come?”
“Well, about thirty years ago, I competed in the Miss Georgia US of A Pageant.”
“Did you just call it US of A?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not sacrilegious to you?”
“No,” she looked at me as if I needed to be examined.
“Just checking. Go ahead.”
“Anyway, I was twenty years old and had two more years of school left. A couple of friends who had competed in the pageant before talked me into being in it myself. Well, I had never been in a pageant in my life,” she said, raising her hand in amusement.“But they told me they were going to do it again and we could all do it together. That made it exciting enough for me.”
“You and I have different interpretations of exciting.”
“Well, when I came away with the title of Miss Savannah US of A I was astonished. Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Absolutely. Go ahead.” I had been around beauty queens all my life, and I mean all my life, and Katherine was like none of these. I may have been mistaken about her story being the one I needed to tell, but it was still a story I personally wanted to hear.
“Well, the director of the Miss Savannah US of A Pageant took the Miss Georgia US of A Pageant extremely seriously. The day after they had topped my head with a tiara and announced me the winner, the director and I met to begin my preparation for the next competition. As far as she was concerned, I needed a total overhaul, and she had less than nine months to get me to competition level.”
“Competition level?”
“My question exactly. All I knew was that I had sung in a borrowed dress, walked around in a two-year-old swimsuit, and interviewed in one of my mother’s suits. I figured if that worked for Miss Savannah US of A, it should work for Miss Georgia US of A. But she was sure it wouldn’t.
“So for the next nine months, every weekend I met with the former Miss Savannah US of A to go over every aspect of competition. She assured me that I had what it took to win. And by the end of nine months, with a new hairdo, fabulous clothes, a knowledge of every current event and any other event of most of history, I was ready to sing my heart out with my version of ‘Where the Boys Are,’ designed to make grown men cry. It even had choreography.”
“Go, Katherine.”
“I did. I won both the interview and evening gown competitions. But then I didn’t even place in the top five. I was shocked. I had grown from a young lady who had won Miss Savannah US of A on a dare into a woman who was taking this event seriously. After they announced the winner, the night shifted into slow motion.”
“How so?”
“I don’t remember them crowning her, her walk down the runway, or the emcee saying good night. I just stood there in shock,wondering how in the world I had not only lost, but hadn’t even placed. Somehow I got back to my hotel room, and I found a copy of the auditor’s sheet underneath my door. Those sheets revealed something that to this day I’ve never told anyone.”
“What?”
“I had the high scores in every category of the pageant. Beyond the interview and evening gown, I had also won talent and tied for first in swimsuit. Can you believe that?” she asked more of herself than of me.“But on the final night, for some reason, one of the judges gave me a one in every single category. Somewhere between Friday night and Saturday night, this judge was convinced by something or someone that I wasn’t the one who needed to leave that evening as Miss Georgia US of A.”
“But how do you know it was an actual copy of the auditor’s sheet?”
“Well, each judge has to sign the bottom of their scorecard for authenticity and sign the final auditor’s ballot as well. Earlier that week I had participated in my personal interview with the judges’ panel. As a contestant, one of the greatest things you can do is to leave your personal interview with a memorable thought. So at the end of my session, I told the judges I was starting a time capsule that I would open in thirty years on my fiftieth birthday, and I wanted this experience to be a part of that. I had brought my pageant program book and placed it underneath my chair. I pulled it out and told them that each contestant had already signed it for me, and that it would be an even greater memory if they would be willing to sign it for me as well. You could tell they were all flattered, and I had obviously come up with a rather ingenious idea.”
“All these years, I thought my mother had come up with that concept herself. I should have known better.”We both laughed.
“So when I got a copy of the auditor’s sheet, I was able to compare it to the signatures in my book. Each one was exactly the same.”
A drop of rain hit my cheek, and I suggested we turn back. “Who would want you to have that information?”
“I’ve asked myself that same question a million times. It had to be either a judge or an auditor. Someone who realized what had happened in retrospect, or someone who had a conscience check a little too late.”
“I know who gave it to you.”
“You do? Who?”
“Mr. Harvard. He and Mr. Wilcox never audited for that pageant again,” I said. Every piece of the puzzle was beginning to form a perfectly fitted whole.
“Why do you think it was Mr. Harvard?”
“Well, I actually met with Mr. Harvard’s wife, and I’m sure that is why my questions upset her so. I do wonder, though, why he would give it to you. What could you do with it?”
“Well, I’ve had thirty years to ask myself those questions. I honestly believe that they hoped I would make this public so they wouldn’t have to. They believed what had happened was wrong but didn’t want to be the ones to reveal it. They probably thought I would be mad enough to go tell any
one who would listen.”
“Why didn’t you? Why didn’t you go to a paper then or question the pageant directors or contact the judges or auditors?”
“I thought I would give it a couple of months to settle in, get over the shock, and then evaluate what I wanted to do. By then, I had started my last year of school and that is when I met Jim.”
At the very mention of his name, it seemed Katherine left for a place reserved for only the greatest of lovers. As I watched the shift in her gaze, I knew that until my heart held that respect, that divine regard, for another man, I would remain alone. Having witnessed that kind of love truly exists, I would be foolish to settle for less.
She caught me taking in her transformed countenance, and she blushed.“Honestly, once I met him I didn’t think about much else until years later. Meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to me. He transferred in from Mississippi State for his senior year, then he graduated. He went to the University of Alabama for only that one year. If I had been Miss Georgia US of A, I wouldn’t have returned to school. The one year I would have missed would have prevented me from meeting the man I fell in love with.”
“And you wouldn’t be here today. Walking with me in Savannah.”
“No, I wouldn’t be a lot of things. But when I finally opened the time capsule, it seemed maybe it was time to tell my story. And Gloria seemed perfect. But sitting there, it was clear the better life had been lived.”
“So would you say your loss was part of a better destiny?”
“Oh yes. Even though I could have spent the last thirty years being called a former Miss Georgia United States of America, I much prefer being called Mrs. Owens. And you can say that in your article if you want to. That love was my greatest achievement, gained only because of what seemed at the time to be my greatest defeat. I truly believe, Savannah, that a divine presence guided my life for an eternal purpose.” Katherine finished her story just as we arrived at the back door to the paper.
“I’ve taken enough of your time; I’m sure you need to get back to work and I need to get back to the bookstore.”
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