Listen for the Lie Podcast with Ben Owens EPISODE ONE—“THE SWEETEST GIRL YOU EVER MET”
Savannah’s mother, Ivy Harper, invites me to her home shortly after I arrive in Plumpton. It’s the first of several conversations.
Ben:???????????????Hi, Mrs. Harper?
Ivy:?????????????????Ben! It’s so nice to meet you, finally. Come in, come in. And please call me Ivy.
Ivy is a small woman, just barely over five feet tall, with blond hair that is neatly braided every time I see her. Savannah took after her mom, which I mention when I see the pictures of her hanging on the wall.
Ben:???????????????Wow, how old is she here? She looks just like you.
Ivy:?????????????????That’s tenth grade, so about fifteen. We took these after services on Easter Sunday.
The Harper home is the same one that Savannah grew up in. It’s a large, four-bedroom house that’s sparsely furnished, making it seem even bigger. There are pictures of Savannah everywhere—on the walls, in picture frames on the tables, in the slideshow playing on the television.
Ivy and I sit at the round table in the breakfast nook, a bright room just off the kitchen, and she tells me about Savannah. Or Savvy, as everyone in her life called her.
Ivy:?????????????????Savvy was so happy. Her whole life. Even as a teenager! She was the worst baby, just crying all the time, constantly, but about age two she just became as cheerful as could be, and that never let up. She had her days, I guess, but for the most part she was just a really joyful woman. Maybe too joyful.
Ben:???????????????How do you mean?
Ivy:?????????????????Well, I used to tell her to calm down, to think things through. She’d just get so excited about something and want to do it immediately. She was so excited to experience new things, sometimes it was like she wanted to do everything all at once. I wanted her to slow down. I’d tell her she had her whole life. But I guess she knew that wasn’t going to be long.
Ben:???????????????Can you give me an example?
Ivy:?????????????????When she was ten—or maybe eleven—and we were still living in New Orleans, she decided she wanted to try out for this local production of Romeo and Juliet. For the role of Juliet. And I said to her, “Savvy, that role isn’t for a child. Only adults can audition for that role. Maybe a teenager could, but not a ten-year-old.” She was so mad at me. She begged me and begged me to go audition, and I said no, so she just hopped on a city bus after school one day, marched over there, and auditioned all by herself.
Ben:???????????????Did she get it?
Ivy:?????????????????No, but they gave her another small role. But, of course, she didn’t want that one, she wanted Juliet. So she didn’t do it. She did play Juliet eventually, when Plumpton High did a production. She was fifteen then. It was a big commotion when the role went to a sophomore.
Ben:???????????????When did you move to Plumpton? You said you were in New Orleans when Savvy was ten.
Ivy:?????????????????When she was twelve. Keaton—my oldest—was about to start high school, and Jerome and I had always planned to move back to Texas. I grew up in San Antonio, and we both love it here. They were building all these new homes back then for a really good price, so we jumped on it.
Ben:???????????????Did Lucy and Savannah know each other in school?
Ivy:?????????????????Oh, sure, of course. It’s a pretty small town. All the kids knew each other, especially if they were the same age.
Ben:???????????????But they weren’t friends?
Ivy:?????????????????No. They didn’t have anything in common. Savvy was a cheerleader, she was on student council, she was homecoming queen. Lucy was … not … any of those things.
Ben:???????????????When did they become friends?
Ivy:?????????????????After Lucy moved back to town. Savvy was already here … well, you know. She’d been back in Plumpton for a couple years, after college didn’t work out. She came over for Sunday dinner and she said, “Mom, you remember Lucy Chase?” I didn’t, actually. She’d had to remind me. That girl who once got suspended for punching a boy. That’s how Lucy was known back then.
So, she says, “Yeah, she got married to a guy she met at UT”—that’s the University of Texas in Austin, hon—“and they just moved back to town. We got to talking when she came by the Charles.” The Charles is this fancy restaurant downtown—Savvy used to bartend there.
Ben:???????????????So they hit it off then?
Ivy:?????????????????Yeah. Savvy said it was a little weird at first. Lucy immediately asks how Savvy had liked Tulane, and of course Savvy had to tell her that she left after her freshman year. She was … [long sigh]. Savvy was doing this thing then, where she was making light of it and sort of poking fun at herself. Making the joke before someone else can and all that. I didn’t like it.