The Estate of Essie Grogan

by Kathy Vest Trimble

  The ceremony was short, sweet, and legal with Judge Elroy officiating. The wedding party was small and intimate with Peggy as maid of honor. Sara and Grace held baskets of flowers, and Benjamin held the ring. Jolly decided he would honor the couple by making a rare appearance in a crowd by taking a nap between the Judge and the wedding party. All in all, it was a perfect wedding followed by a reception in the dining room. Essie would have shed tears of joy to see her home so full of love and children. Judge Elroy raised his glass and tapped it with his fork. “Here, here, I would like to make a toast to the newlyweds and wish them all the peace, love, and prosperity in the world. Also, I have an important announcement. All of the hoops have been jumped through, and everyone passed with flying colors. You prospective adopters and adoptees are hereby ordered to be in my courtroom at 10:00 a.m. on Monday to finalize your adoption. You may, at that time, not only change your last names but also change your given names if you choose.” Cheers of joy rang out so loudly that Jolly howled and so did baby Faith.

  Sara leaned over to whisper in Benjamin’s ear, “I will be Sarah Julianna Lightning.”

  Benjamin said, “If you get to pick her name, then I get to pick mine, too. I will be Benjamin Chance Lightning.”

  Chance stooped down and hugged them both and said, “Those are the best names I have ever heard. My new name will be Dad.”

  After the ceremony, the wedding party retreated to dining room for a lovely reception. The children were beyond excited to have witnessed their first wedding. Sarah was especially intrigued with the wedding cake and the lovely silver fountain that rained down punch into what she thought looked like a pond. The photographer captured the perfect picture of her in the green silk dress. Her red hair and freckles seemed to come to life and dance in the light of the wall sconce. She looked genuinely happy and content there with this new family.

  Gracie stayed glued to Peggy as if she were afraid she would lose her if she stepped away. She wanted to talk to Benjamin and Sarah but didn’t dare let go of what might just be a dream.

  All Benjamin wanted to do was go upstairs and change into his jeans and tee shirt and go out to the garden. He wanted to plot out a vegetable garden as soon as he could. He was in love with the prospect of a good life with his very own mom and dad.

  Gracie was sad to see Peggy leave without her but was promised that they would all be back together on court day. Then Peggy would never leave her again. That made her smile and she wiped her nose and tears on her pretty pink silk dress.

  After the reception, and everyone had gone home, Sister Mary Margaret asked Chance if she could have a word with him regarding Horizon House. They went into the library to talk and Julie took the children upstairs to change into play clothes.

  Mary Margaret told Chance that she wanted Scudder to have his childhood home. It was his place of serenity. A place where he could relax and not hear the voices. They came to him while he was in Basic Training for the Army and came and went according to his level of stress. He never experienced them at home on the mountain. She wanted him to have as much peace as she could provide him.

  “Does Scudder know about this? If he wants to move back home, I can draw up the papers and you two can sign them right after the adoption is done.”

  “He doesn’t know yet. I am planning to tell him tonight when he picks me up to go to dinner. I think he will be pleased. If not, then we can sell the house and I will give him the money. It was, and will forever be his home as long as he wants.”

  “Okay, then let me know tomorrow and I will take care of it. Thank you for allowing me and Julie to adopt our two beautiful children. We will love and take care good care of them.”

  “Thank you, Chance, for helping me so much. I would like to pay you for all of the legal work you are doing.”

  “There is no need to pay me. Essie paid for all of the legal work regarding the children at Horizon House long ago. You just rest easy and enjoy your retirement and getting to spend time with your nephew and his family.”

  “Essie was a jewel, wasn’t she? She gave so kindly of her love and money. I’m not sure where we would be if she hadn’t stepped in to help us. Now, young man, I believe you have a new bride that should be getting your attention. I am going to go and change my clothes and get ready for a night of hot dogs and a game called pool that Scudder promised to teach me. I love you, Chance, and thank you for everything.”

  Chance hugged Mary Margaret and said, “I love you too.”

  With that they left the library just in time to see Jolly and Grace rolling on the living room floor.

  Mary Margaret and Scudder went to the street vendor outside of the pool hall and got hot dogs and cokes. They found a small table in the corner away from the people playing pool and throwing darts. As soon as they sat down she told Scudder that she wanted him to have his childhood home. He was surprised but grateful for the offer. “What would I do with such a big house?” he asked.

  “Live in it and enjoy the garden and the quiet. Elizabeth and I have always wanted you to have it. Although we cared for so many children over the years, you were always our special child. You were the first to be given my last name. I was probably wrong but I was happy that no one adopted you. It is your home and I want you to have it. Chance is drawing up the papers and it will be yours before I leave for Texas. Please say you will go home.”

  “Since you put it that way, I will go home. Home sounds nice. Thank you. I think I might cry right now.”

  “Let’s eat our hot dogs and you teach me this game you call Pool.”

  Scudder did go home. He loved sitting on the front porch to drink his coffee each morning. He mowed the lawn and trimmed the hedges. He pruned the fruit trees and pulled weeds from the vegetable garden. He even canned eight quarts of green beans and twelve quarts of tomatoes. He picked berries and made jam. He was happy to be back home. Scudder loved the peace that this mountain brought him. He, also, loved that the nearest town was only ten miles down the paved narrow road. He liked going into town to visit with the locals and buying a few groceries every week or so.

  On one particular day he parked his truck in the usual spot in the city parking lot. As he was crossing the street to go into the grocery store he heard a commotion. He looked and saw the grocer yelling at a man who was laying on a bench outside the store. The grocer was telling him to get away from his store. The man got up slowly and picked up his backpack and bagan walking away. He was limping and saying that he didn’t want any trouble. Scudder felt sorry for him. Instead of going into the store he followed and caught up with the huge giant of a man.

  “Hey, Buddy, where are you going?”

  “Nowhere, who cares.”

  “I do,” said Scudder, as he held out his hand. “I happen to care. My name is Scudder Brown, what’s yours?”

  “I’m Dwayne Barns and I have only met one guy named Scudder Brown and he was in the Army with me in Nam.”

  “Well, small world, Lieutenant Barns. What happened to you? I only made two months in Nam and the voices in my head got too bad. They gave me a medical discharge. What brings you to Arkansas?”

  “I got shot up in the war but they patched me up and sent me back in. I did three tours there before I came back stateside. My family couldn’t put up with my nerves and I felt like I was being more hurt than help. I can’t hold a job. I just bum around the country and try to get an odd job or two so I can feed myself. It’s getting harder to do now because I look and smell so bad. I haven’t been able to find any work here.”

  “You should have some benefits from the Veteran’s Administration. Don’t you get something from them every month?”

  “Yes, they owe me for my service but won’t let me have it because I don’t have a mailing address or contact phone number.”

  “You could come home with me and take a bath and clean up and I will feed you and take you to the V.A. You can give them my address and phone number. You can hang out there as long as you want.”

/>   “I can’t impose on you like that.”

  “It’s not an imposition. I inherited the house I grew up in. It was an orphanage back then. Now it is just my house on the top of that mountain. It is peaceful and quiet. I keep a clean house and as long as you don’t drink or do any drugs, you can stay as long as you like. When I am home I never think of drinking and the voices never get in my head. I was raised to open the door to those in need and to be kind. We all have troubles of one kind or another. That same door was open to me and many little children over the years so, now I’m opening it to you.”

  “Thank you, Scudder, if you are sure I won’t be in the way, I’ll take you up on that offer. After I start getting my check, I will pay you room and board.”

  “It’s a deal, then. You go get in that white pickup truck and I will go in that store and pick up some coffee, bread, and milk and see you in a minute.”

  They drove up the winding mountain road and talked about old times when Dwayne was Scudder’s lieutenant. Dwayne was surprised at how nice the house and lawn were. It looked nothing like what he thought an orphanage should be. He had pictured a square brick institution. But, it was built of wood and painted a soft yellow. The sweet smell of the magnolia tree in full bloom was calming. The view from the front porch was a breath-taking vista of the valley below.

  They went inside and Scudder showed Dwayne where the bathroom was and got a towel and washcloth out of the linin closet.

  “The soap and shampoo are by the bathtub and the razor is on the shelf by the sink. Toss your dirty clothes out and I will throw them in the washer while you bathe. When I get them started I will fix us some lunch, Lt.”

  “I’m just Dwayne now. I try to forget my years in the Army, so if you don’t mind, please, just call me Dwayne. Thank you for helping me. You won’t be sorry. I appreciate being treated like a human being.” He closed the door and turned on the water and stepped into the tub.

  Scudder put Dwayne’s clothes in the washer and washed his hands really well. Twice. He went to the pantry and took out two quarts of vegetable soup that Elizabeth had canned. He poured them into a large pan and made three grilled cheese sandwiches. Three because he thought Dwayne may not have eaten in a day or two. Scudder usually ate a small bowl of soup and one sandwich. He wanted his friend to have his fill and care about himself again.

  Dwayne came out of the bathroom a half hour later with a towel wrapped around his waist just as Scudder was putting the clothes in the dryer. “Sit down. You must be hungry. I made you two sandwiches and you can eat all of the soup you want. You look more like the old Dwayne I remember with your beard gone. We can go to the barbershop for a haircut if you want. You can pay me back another time. After you are on your feet again.”

  “Do you have any clippers around here? Maybe I can just give myself a buzz cut after we eat. Gosh, this food is good. I don’t usually eat so fast but I haven’t had anything for three days. I was offered a few dollars once but I never take handouts. I said I would take it if I could work for it but they said I was probably just going to buy drugs with the money. I have never used drugs or alcohol.”

  “We should have clippers around here someplace. I’ll look for them after we eat. It’s a shame that people judge others without knowing anything about them. I did drink alcohol for a while and it got me in a heap of trouble.”

  After they ate, Dwayne washed the dishes and Scudder went on a hunt for the clippers.

  “I found them on the top shelf of Sister Mary Margaret’s closet. Sit down and I will get a towel for your shoulders and give you a nice haircut; Just like the barber shop does.”

  “Are you sure you know how to use those things?”

  “I do know. But, if you don’t like what I do, you can give yourself that buzz cut.”

  An hour later the two of them left for the V.A. with Dwayne sporting clean clothes and a buzz cut. Scudder had written his address and phone number on an index card and gave it to Dwayne. “When you fill out those papers just put this information on the form and there should be no more problems from those jerks. Did you remember your DD214?”

  “Yes, I have everything in this envelope. All I need is address and contact number. Thank you so much, for this. In fact, I can’t thank you enough for helping me right now. I was going to walk to the bridge and jump off of it when you stopped me today. Now that I got cleaned up and have a full belly, I feel like maybe I can live to see another day. I feel like a regular human.”

  “You are a human and a good one, at that. You took care of me in Nam when I couldn’t take care of myself. You helped me get back stateside by signing those papers. I owe you for saving my life. I always looked up to you and hated to leave you guys but I knew I was dangerous to myself and all of you. I couldn’t control the voices, no matter how hard I tried.”

  “Scudder, I guess we all need someone to help us from time to time. My pride gets in my way and I can’t help myself, much less allow someone to give me a hand up. If I hadn’t been ready to jump this morning I would never have let you help me.”

  “Well, now is the time for both of us to just relax and give each other a rest from all the troubles. We can sit on the porch and gaze down onto that valley. We can tune our ears to the bird’s song and eat fresh food from the garden. The hens are laying good now and fresh eggs for breakfast are fit for a king. I am content. I don’t have to pay rent, I don’t have cable television, and the internet hasn’t made it to the mountain yet. My taxes are paid and my electric, phone and propane bills are manageable. I have pure well water that is a gift from God, himself. I didn’t used to trust banks but after I moved back home I decided to give it a try. I was keeping my money in a cookie tin when I lived in Oklahoma. The city was so stressful for me. I didn’t trust anyone. It took almost my whole months check just to live there. The bank in this little town is trustworthy so, now I deposit my check every month there. You can, too, once you start getting your check. I figure if the house burns down or blows away in a tornado, my money will be safe in the bank vault. You can be content, too. You just have to relax and get plenty of rest. We have a stereo to listen to good music and a radio. The best thing is we don’t have to hear sirens and gunshots or car horns honking. And we don’t have to be around mean people who call themselves Christians but forgot how to act like one.”

  “That is a nice gift, Scudder. Those sisters must have loved you a lot. I do appreciate you offering to share your little piece of heaven on earth with me. When you get tired of me just ask me to leave. I don’t want to wear my welcome out.”

  “I could use the company right now. And the help you might give me fixing up the henhouse and mowing the grass would be nice. I love the vegetable garden work, canning the food, cooking and cleaning but I am not good at fixing things and I hate mowing.”

  “You are in luck, then. I can’t cook but I swing a pretty good hammer and paint brush. My dad and granddad were builders and I worked with them every summer. I like yard work, too. I will do anything you need me to do. By helping, I won’t feel like a freeloader.”

  “We are going to get along just fine.”

  Benjamin and Sarah watched as the trucks pulled into their back yard. They were so excited that Chance and Julie were have a swimming pool built. They didn’t know how to swim but were more than willing to learn. They had met new friends in the neighborhood and looked forward to them all having a fun day splashing in the pool. They would make more friends when they got to go to public school. Julie and Chance had taken them to the nearby elementary school for testing. In a week or so, they would know which grades they would be in when school starts next fall. There was only two weeks left of this school term so they would have to wait. The tests were very easy, especially in math and English. The sisters had done well in teaching them at home.

  Julie spent an hour or two each night reading Essie’s journals and was trying to put a story together in her head before putting it on paper. She wanted to tell the story and do justice by
Essie. Those journals were so full of heartache and abuse that she found it hard to place this child of the journals with the woman who wrote such lovely stories. Chance had suggested that she mention the very sad childhood and make her story more about how helpful Essie was to others. Tell of her hardships of losing children and her husband and hardships she encountered in her travels. But, most of all, about her success as a writer in spite of the obstacles. Julie decided that Chance was right. She hoped to be able to start the book when school started. But, for now, she wanted to enjoy being a wife and mother.

  Clyde and Peggy stopped by often to allow Gracie to play with Sarah and Benjamin. One evening they came by with ice cream and to see the new swimming pool. They all went to the back yard with cones in hand. The children sat in the side of the pool with their feet in the water. Clyde and Chance sat close-by in lawn chairs. Clyde held Faith in his arms and gave her little licks from his cone. They were discussing Clyde’s new hobby.

  “Since we have the girls now and things are going well at the dealership, I decided to spend more time at home. But, I still like to stay busy so I out in a little woodworking shop in the back yard. When the girls are napping or gone shopping with Peggy, I go out and make things. So far, I made a dollhouse and furniture for Gracie and a rocking chair for Faith. She’s too little for that chair right now but she will be rocking in it before we know it. She was trying to crawl yesterday. She is so cute moving along like a little inchworm. God, we love having them. I never thought we could be much happier than we were before. If you ever want to build something, just come on over and use my shop.”