I heard the tightness in her voice. "Jonathan! Where are you?"
"In West Virginia, a little town called Fitchville. Ever hear of it?"
"No." Her voice was still tight. "I was going out of my mind. It"s been four days since you left."
"I"m okay."
"You could have called. Anne"s parents were wild. She didn"t leave a note. We figured she went with you."
"You figured right."
"Her mother wants her to call."
"I"ll tell her."
"I hope you two arei(i"t doing anything foolish," she said.
I laughed. "Nothing to worry about. Mother. She"s on the pill."
"That"s not what I"m talking about." Her voice grew annoyed.
"Tell them she"s not doping either. I made her throw the gra.s.s away." I changed the subject. "I haven"t caught the news. What happened with Dan?"
"They made him president. It all worked out just like your father said it would."
"I"m glad," I said. "Give him my congratulations when you see him."
She was silent.
"Mother?"
The phone was still silent.
"Mother, what"s wrong?"
Her voice broke. "The house is empty. So silent. n.o.body comes here anymore."
"The King is dead," I said.
She was crying now. "Jonathan, please come home. I feel so alone."
220.
I.
"Even if I were there, Mother, I couldn"t help that."
"There were always people here. Something was always going on. Now Mamie and I just stare at each other all day. Or watch television."
"Where"s Jack?" I asked.
She hesitated before she answered. She still had to get used to the fact that I knew about them. "He won"t be able to come up until next weekend. Dan wants him to stay in Washington with him."
"Why don"t you go down there? There"s still the apartment."
"It"s not ours anymore. It"s the Confederation president"s apartment."
"I"m sure Dan wouldn"t mind."
"It wouldn"t look right. People would talk."
"Marry him, then, if that"s what you"re worried about."
"I don"t want to." She paused for a moment. "I was married to your father. I"m not ready yet to settle for less of a man."
"I believe you, Mother. But you have to start putting your life together again. He"s dead. You don"t have to wear black the rest of your life."
Her voice was suddenly hushed. "Jonathan, are you my son? Or your father"s? You"re saying exactly what he would say."
"I"m your son. And his. Think about it. Mother. We all have to grow up sometime. We never had to while he was around. He made all the decisions for us. Now we have to find our own way."
"Is that what you"re doing, Jonathan?"
"I"m trying, Mother. And I will. If he lets me."
"He never let go easy," she said.
"I know."
"So do I." There was a brief pause. "Where are you staying? Is there any way I can reach you?"
"No, Mother. I"m moving around. I don"t know exactly where I"ll be."
"" Will you call me again? Soon.""
""About the middle of next week," I said.
""Do you need any money?"
"Fm okay. But if I run short, I know where to call."
"Take care of yourself, Jonathan," she said. "I love you."
"*I love you too. Mother," I said, and hung up the telephone. I heard my dime tinkle down into the return tray. I fished it out and left the phone booth.
Anne was waiting for me outside the market door. She opened a paper bag. "These seeds okay?"
I looked at the labels. Violets, pansies, roses. "Looks okay to me. I don"t know anything about flowers."
"Neither do I. But I thought they"d look nice around the cemetery plot. The man said they grow practically by themselves."
"That"s good enough for me."
"Jeb Stuart said he would wait for us just past the Exxon station at the edge of town."
"Okay," I said. "Your mother wants you to call her."
She looked at me. "You tell your mother I was okay?"
I nodded.
"That"s good enough," she said.
"Let"s go, then," I saic*.
"Wait a minute. I got two big bags of groceries on the cart just inside the door. I had a feeling you weren"t all that crazy about black-eyed peas and col-lard greens."
I laughed. "You did it all just for me?"
She smiled. "Betty May"s baby won"t be hurting for a change either."
"There"s twelve graves here," Jeb Stuart said. I stared down at the freshly turned earth. It was black and moist. "No," I said. "Only eleven."
"How do you know?" he asked. "There"s no stones -no markers."
"I know," I said. "There"s a place for my father. But he"s somewhere else." I pulled the hoe along the ground and cut a rectangle near the comer of the plot. "This was to be his place."
Jeb Stuart looked up at the sky. "It"s gittin" late. We can finish tomorra."
"Yes," I said.
He leaned his rake against a tree. "I"ll let Betty May know we"re comin" down."
I nodded and turned to Anne, who was sitting with her back against a tree. "Do you have a cigarette?"
She nodded, lit one and gave it to me. We didn"t speak until Jeb Stuart left us. "I"m afraid," she said.
"Of what?"
"Death."
I didn"t answer. Just dragged on the cigarette.
"Death is here," she said. "On this place. Whoever lives here will die."
"Everybody dies," I said.
"You know what I"m talking about," she said. She got to her feet and came toward me. "Jonathan, let"s leave. Now. Tonight."
"No," I said. "Tomorrow. When I"m finished with this."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Okay," she said. "I"m going down to see if Betty May needs some help."
"Just don"t let her b.u.m the steaks," I said.
"I won"t." She laughed and started down the path.
I tumed back to the plot and with the comer of the hoe, carved my father"s name into the earth over his empty grave.
"*Thank youy my son,""
""What were their names. Father?"*
""Their names no longer matter. They were your aunts and uncles, my brothers and sisters. But they"re gone now and no longer exist."*
""But you do?""
"Yes. You see, I have you. They have no one."
"It doesn"t make sense."
"It doesn"t have to. Nothing is supposed to. Like your girl."
"What about her?"
"She"s pregnant." I heard his silent laughter. "Last night she opened up for you. She took your seed into her and kept it "
"s.h.i.t."
"It will only be for a short while. Then she will reject it. It is not time yet. For either of you."
"" You know a lot for a dead man.""
"Only the dead know the truth."
I heard music coming from the shack when I came down from the knoll. Jeb Stuart was sitting on the running board of the pickup. "I didn"t know you had a radio," I said.
He looked up at me. ""I thought you knowed. Anne bought it. Betty May is pleased to death with it."
""Y need some help with the planting of the seeds. I don"t know anything about it."
*"Betty May will help. She loves flowers and has a right good sense of "em."
*"ril be grateful," I said.