“Heard anything else?”
“Aren’t we the gossip? We had a big fight a couple of days ago. I’m sure you’d like to hear about it.”
“Do tell.”
“We were having another one of those horrible conversations about life after Lisa. Mom was there, in the den, and she said she wanted them to sell the house and put the money in trust for our college. I said I wanted to stay in the house. Helen and I can manage on our own, I think, and, anyway, I really don’t want to live with Hermie. Of course the adults freaked out at the idea of two teenage girls living alone, in Clanton. What would the rest of the town think? Got nowhere. As usual, everybody got beat up and nothing good happened. But it was firmly established that the house will be sold.”
“I can’t really fault the decision. If I had a vote, I wouldn’t want you two living alone.”
“Why not? I’ll be off to college next year, on my own, and I’m damned sure not coming back here.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find a summer internship somewhere so I can avoid this place. Not sure about college. Hermie has let it be known that he’ll pay for State or Ole Miss, but nothing more. Gotta be in-state. We won’t know how much the house will net until it’s sold, but it won’t be a bonanza. There’s a mortgage and the place needs some work. Any recollection here, Mack?”
“I remember it well. It was always too small for Lisa and I didn’t want to spend money on it. Didn’t have the money. And I wasn’t much of a handyman.”
“I want to get away, Mack. Away from here. Away from Mississippi. Away from the South.”
She stubbed out what was left of the cigarette in the ashtray.
“Got a place in mind?” he asked.
“Out west. California, maybe Colorado. I want to go to a little art school somewhere out there, far away. After Mom dies and after I’m forced to live with Hermie and Honey for a while, I’ll be ready to sprint out of Ford County and never come back. Poor Helen will get left behind, but then she’s not ready to run. I am.”
“Art school?”
“Yeah, art school. Something different, Mack, something really crazy. All the girls I know, and I don’t call them friends anymore, can’t wait to join the sororities and look for husbands. Then they can move back to Clanton or Tupelo, have some kids, hang out at the country club and live like their mothers. Not me, Mack. I’m outta here.”
Mack was moved by her rebellious attitude and couldn’t hide a smile. “I’ll make a deal. You pick an art school out west, get yourself admitted, and I’ll help with the tuition.”
She put her hands to her mouth and closed her eyes, as if she couldn’t believe that a dream might come true. When she opened them she spoke softly, “You would do that?”
“It’s the least I can do, Margot.”
She seemed to agree with this. “I’ve never seen the mountains.”
Another sad reminder, but how true. When the girls were little the family vacation was always a week in the family condo in Florida. Lisa dreamed of seeing the world like her sister, but the credit cards would never stretch that far.
At that moment, Mack vowed to show his girls the world.
He said, “Here’s a plan. Squeeze as much as you can out of Hermie. Take what you can from the sale of the house, and I’ll cover the gap to make it happen.”
“What if Hermie puts his foot down and says not a dime?”
“Margot, I said I’ll make it happen.”
The chip on her shoulder lifted a bit as she relaxed and smiled. It was beginning to dawn on her that ole Mack here might just be her ticket out of Clanton.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said.
“You don’t have to say anything. You’re my daughter and I owe you big-time.”
She flicked out another cigarette and looked at him as she lit it.
Mack said, “I have an idea. It’s summer and you’re supposed to be looking at colleges, right?”
“Yes.”
“So next Saturday, tell Lisa that you’re taking a day trip to Memphis to visit Rhodes College. It’s a beautiful little private school in the city. I’m staying not too far away. We’ll hang out and have lunch.”
“They’ll freak at the idea of me driving to Memphis alone.”
“You’re seventeen years old, Margot, almost a senior in high school. I was driving to Memphis when I was fifteen. Put your foot down and don’t take no for an answer.”