Фэнни Флэгг - The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop

At the end of the evening, Ruthie tried to pay the check, but Evelyn insisted. “No, as long as you are in Birmingham, you are my guest.” Besides, she didn’t stand a chance. The waiter would not take Ruthie’s card.

“Sorry,” he said to Ruthie. “What Mrs. Couch wants, Mrs. Couch gets.”

“All right, Evelyn,” she said, “but when you come to Atlanta, I’m taking you.”

—

EVELYN HADN’T KNOWN what to expect, but she had been taken with Ruthie right away. She had seen a photograph of her grandmother Ruth Jamison, and had been surprised at how much Ruthie looked like her. Very pretty face, same big brown eyes, slender figure. And she was just as nice as she could be.

But after dinner, after getting to know her a little, it was clear to Evelyn that Ruthie could use a friend to talk to. She seemed to be a bit of a lost soul, a little beaten down by something.

Driving back home that night, something else had occurred to Evelyn. Maybe the reason she had felt such an immediate connection with Ruthie was that she had reminded her of her former self. Before she met Ninny.

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

THE NEXT MORNING, Ruthie walked into her father’s hospital room, kissed him, and said, “Daddy, I have someone who wants to meet you. You’re not going to believe this but she was a very good friend of your Aunt Ninny’s.”

Bud sat up and looked at the lady with her with surprise and said, “You don’t mean it.”

Evelyn walked over and shook his hand. “Hey, Mr. Threadgoode. My name is Evelyn Couch. I’m so happy to meet you.”

“Same here, Evelyn. Sorry I can’t stand up and greet you properly, but I am curious. You look so young. How did you know my Aunt Ninny?”

“It’s a long story, but years ago, my husband’s mother was in the same nursing home as Ninny was here in Birmingham, and I met her there and we became friends.”

“Well I’ll be. How nice.”

“Yes, it was nice for me, I just adored her. Anyhow, I feel like I know you already. Ninny told me so much about your mother and Idgie Threadgoode, and so many wonderful stories about you.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes. She told me all about you growing up in Whistle Stop.”

Ruthie jumped in. “Daddy, Evelyn has been so nice. Last night she took me to the most beautiful restaurant for dinner and she’s invited me to stay in her guesthouse.”

“That’s wonderful. But tell me, how did you two get together?”

Evelyn laughed. “That’s the funniest thing, Mr. Threadgoode. Yesterday I was watching television when I saw your name come across the screen as being missing, and I just knew it had to be you, so I called my friend at the television station and asked him to let me know if they found you, because I wanted to get in touch with you.”

Ruthie added, “So then she found out that you were here and called, and Terry gave her my number and she called me at the hotel.”

“Well…isn’t it a small world? I sure do appreciate your being so nice to my girl, Evelyn.”

“Oh, listen, Mr. Threadgoode, the pleasure is all mine. You have no idea what all your Aunt Ninny did for me. I’m just thrilled to have the chance to say hello to somebody that knew her, too. She just meant the world to me. She was probably the kindest person I ever met.”

“Oh, she was that.” Then he laughed. “She could also be really funny, but she didn’t know it. We used to get the biggest kick out of her. Did she ever tell you she thought the blackbirds sitting on the telephone wire were listening to her phone conversations through their feet?”

Evelyn laughed. “Yes, she did.”

“Did she tell you about her son, Albert?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Albert was never quite right, but she took care of him every day of his life. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to see much of her those last years. We were living up in Maryland when she died.”

Evelyn nodded. “I was in California when I heard about it, and by the time I found out, they’d already had the funeral.”

“Bless her heart. She was the best old soul.”

“Yes she was. But I’ll bet she’d be glad to know we got to meet each other after all these years.”

Bud said, “Isn’t life strange, Ruthie? If I hadn’t gotten lost, we would never have met this nice lady.”

—

AFTER PROMISING TO come back to see him tomorrow, Evelyn and Ruthie said goodbye and left Bud to have his lunch and a nap. Bud was so happy. Meeting Evelyn was like suddenly running into an old friend. Somebody who remembered him when.

—

AS THEY WALKED out of Bud’s room, Evelyn turned to Ruthie and said, “Well, if he is not the cutest old man I ever met, I don’t know who is. What a doll. Thank you so much for letting me meet him.”

“I’m sure the pleasure was all his,” Ruthie said. “You just perked him up to no end, talking all about the old days at the cafe. But I have to warn you, get ready. He will talk your ear off about growing up in Whistle Stop.” After they stopped at the nurse’s station and had a nice little chat with Terry, they headed out.

When they got back in Evelyn’s big pink Cadillac, Evelyn said, “Now, the first thing we’re going to do is check you out of that hotel, then we’re going to do a little shopping and head back home. Because at four P.M., you are booked for a two-hour massage.”

Ruthie’s eyes lit up. “Two hours?”

“Yes, and then dinner and bed. I figure you could use a little TLC right now, after what all you have been through.”

Ruthie sat back in the large soft white leather seat and smiled. “Oh, Evelyn. Where have you been all my life? I’m mere putty in your hands. Lead on.”

EVELYN’S HOUSE WAS a large rambling white brick home with green shutters that sat right on a beautiful golf course. “Ed played golf,” she explained. The guesthouse was a two-bedroom cottage facing a lovely pool. And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, it had a huge bathroom with a steam room, a Jacuzzi tub, and a massage room.

Evelyn said, “Now, isn’t this better than that hotel room?”

“I should say so.”

“You make yourself at home, have a nap or whatever, and Sonia will be here at four for your massage.”

Ruthie said, “Evelyn, I can’t thank you enough.”

Later, Sonia gave her probably the best massage she had ever had in her life, and while she was still lying there on the table, Ruthie said, “You know, Sonia, I noticed Evelyn has a lot of Mary Kay products everywhere. She must really like them.”

Sonia said, “Oh, she does. She used to sell them.”

“Really?”

“That was before she went into the car business.”

“Car business?”

“She didn’t tell you? Oh yes, she owned Cadillac dealerships all over Alabama. Did her own commercials and everything.”

As Ruthie was finding out, there was a lot more to Evelyn Couch than met the eye.

She had wondered why Terry had wanted Evelyn’s autograph.

—

THAT NIGHT, EVELYN showed her the picture of Ninny Threadgoode she kept on her desk. Then Evelyn gave her the shoebox she had inherited from Ninny. Ruthie opened the envelope and looked at the old photographs inside over and over again. It was so odd to see how much she looked like her grandmother, Ruth. One was a photo of her taken when she was around twenty-two and had first come to Whistle Stop to teach Sunday school for the summer and was living in the old Threadgoode house. She was wearing a white dress, standing in the front yard looking up at somebody who was sitting in a chinaberry tree. All you could see of the person was two bare feet hanging down. Evelyn said that Ninny had told her it was Idgie’s feet when she’d been about fifteen or sixteen.