Фэнни Флэгг - The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop

Your friend forever,

Buddy Threadgoode, Jr.

P.S. Let me know if I can ever do anything for you.

SEATS 11 AND 12

“SO THERE I was, Christmas almost over, and I didn’t get what I wanted, so of course I decided then and there that I didn’t believe in Santa Claus. Then at the last minute Aunt Idgie brings in the very dog I wanted. You know, Billy, life can be hard sometimes. And I sort of think animals are little gifts the good Lord sends to help us get through it. Lady sure did that for me.”

“What kind of a dog was she?”

“I don’t know. I guess she was some kind of terrier mix. Just a good old mutt. But she came out of that box and I was never so happy in all my life, except maybe the day my daughter Ruthie was born. Oh, how I loved that dog. She slept with me, ate with me, never left my side for a moment. She was my pal. And whenever I’d get upset over something, she knew it. She would run around barking, acting silly, just to make me laugh. You couldn’t be sad around her if you tried. Always happy to see me. Poor old thing, she stayed with me as long as she could. But even on the day she died, she was still wagging her tail, still happy to see me. I tell you, when I buried her it just about killed me. I don’t think I’ll ever get over it, but that’s okay. Small price to pay for what she gave me. And that’s what you get when you love something that much. Joy and heartbreak.”

Billy sighed. “I know what you mean about love being a joy and a heartbreak. My fiancée just broke up with me.”

“No. A handsome guy like you? Why?”

Billy looked down. “She felt oppressed.”

“What did you do to her?”

“I asked her to quit her job.”

“Oh, I see. What does she do?”

“She’s a fire-person.”

“A what?”

“A fireman, only she’s a fire-person. I think her job’s far too dangerous, but she doesn’t. So we broke up…well…she broke up.”

“Oh. Well, that’s a hard one. I see your point…but on the other hand my daughter Ruthie gave up on having a career when she got married, and now she regrets it.”

“Does she?”

“Yes, she does. You know, your fiancée doing dangerous work may be hard on the marriage in the short run, but if putting out fires makes her happy, and you love her…”

“Oh, I do,” he said sadly.

“Well…it might be best to just go along with it.”

“Think so?”

“I do. You want a happy wife. And I’ll tell you something else. I’d sure like to meet her. I never met a lady fireman.”

Billy’s eyes lit up with pride. “She’s very strong. She can pick me up.”

“No foolin’,” said Bud.

“Yes sir. She can pick me up and run a hundred yards with me slung over her shoulder.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, Billy, you never know. Someday that just might come in handy.”

AS THE TRAIN got closer to Birmingham, Bud started to get excited. He said to Billy, “Could I ask a big favor? Would you switch seats with me? I sure would like to look out the window and try to see Whistle Stop.”

“Oh, of course, no problem.”

Bud sat by the window and looked out when they passed by where he thought it should be, but he never did see the Whistle Stop crossing sign, and he was disappointed. Oh well, maybe he would see it on the way back to Atlanta this afternoon.

—

WHEN THEY PULLED into Birmingham, Bud saw that they had torn down the beautiful old Birmingham terminal station, with the seventy-five-foot glass ceiling. The train stopped at a small, nondescript Amtrak station somewhere downtown.

They stepped off the train, and Billy walked with Bud to the small waiting room. “I sure enjoyed talking to you, Mr. Threadgoode.”

“Same here, Billy, and good luck with your studies and your girlfriend.”

“Thank you, and thanks for the advice. I just texted her and hopefully she’ll answer.”

After he said goodbye to Billy, Bud sat down to wait. He looked at his watch and realized he had an hour before his train back to Atlanta departed. He might be able to do it, if he hurried. He quickly stepped outside the station and onto the street. Luckily there was a cab letting someone out, and he was able to flag it down.

Bud got in the cab, saw the driver’s name, and said, “Hi, Pete.”

“Hello there. Where can I take you today?”

“Well, that’s just it. I don’t have an exact address. It’s a little town called Whistle Stop.”

The driver punched up the map on his GPS and looked….“I don’t see it here.”

“Look near Gate City. You should see Whistle Stop close by.”

“No, it’s not on the map.”

“No? Huh. Well, I do know it’s twelve minutes east of Birmingham, but with all the new interstates and superhighways they built, I’m not sure where I am anymore. The easiest way is to follow the railroad tracks east. I’ll recognize the road when we get there. There’s just one way in and out.”

As they drove through downtown, Buddy looked out the window. “Boy, this place sure has changed. My Aunt Idgie used to bring us over here to the movie theaters when I was a kid, but I don’t see any of them now.”

“Naw, they tore most of those down a long time ago.”

As they drove for a while following the railroad tracks, the driver said, “Does anything look familiar?”

“No…not yet. But it’s somewhere around here.” The driver went a little farther, and about fifteen minutes later, he said, “Should I just keep driving?”

“I’ll tell you what, Pete, why don’t you park and let me walk ahead a little and see if I can figure out where I am. You can leave your meter on, and if I don’t see anything familiar in the next five minutes I’ll come on back.”

Pete could see the old man was upset, and he felt sorry for him. He turned his meter off. He would give him some time.

Bud got out and started walking along the tracks. He had ridden the train to Atlanta and back hundreds of times, but today he was having a hard time recognizing anything. He passed a few falling-down brick buildings, but they didn’t look familiar. As he walked a little farther, he looked down and saw an old wooden sign lying on the ground down below the tracks. He wondered if it was from someplace he knew, something that could help him get his bearings. So he walked down the embankment and turned it over. The sign just said GROCERIES, but no location. He looked around and spotted another old part of the sign about twenty feet away. He went down and kicked it over, but it was blank. He looked for another part of the sign that might have the location written on it, but no luck. He had gone so far down into the woods, he almost didn’t find his way back to the tracks. And when he did, he was all turned around. He couldn’t figure out which direction he had come from, and then realized he was completely lost. All he needed was to fall and break a hip out here in the middle of nowhere. Then God knows what would happen. If he just had his phone he could call somebody. Now there was nothing to do but head back in the direction he thought he had come from and hope to hell he was right.

Pete the cab driver figured the old man must have found the place he was looking for. The guy’d said to give him five minutes, and he had already waited forty-five and he hadn’t come back yet. He hated to do it but he had no choice, so he started up the car and headed back toward Birmingham.

—

ALMOST AN HOUR later, Bud was still walking. He had seen nothing but a bunch of woods on either side. He looked at his watch. Oh Lordy…now he was in trouble. He had missed his train back to Atlanta. After a while, he just stopped walking and stood in the middle of the tracks and called out as loudly as he could: “Hey! Hey! I need some help!” He waited, but nobody answered. He stood there for quite some time. Then Bud realized he needed to get off the tracks before it got dark, or he could really get hurt. He looked around. He could make out a few trees down below the tracks on his right, and while there was still enough light, he carefully made his way toward the trees, but the embankment was so steep that he slipped and skidded on his backside all the way down. He got up and brushed himself off, then picked out a big tree in a clearing and sat down on the leaves underneath it.