Фэнни Флэгг - The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop

Another photo had been taken five years later, after Ruth had left her husband and had come back to live in Whistle Stop. She was standing in front of the brand-new cafe, holding a beautiful baby boy, which Ruthie knew was her father. Idgie, a tall, slender young woman with short, curly blond hair, was standing behind her, pointing at the brand-new WHISTLE STOP CAFE sign and smiling. They looked so young to be running a cafe.

She wished she had met her grandmother. There were so many questions she would have asked her. Why had she left her husband and moved to Alabama? Her mother had told her there were absolutely no pictures of Ruth’s husband anywhere. Her father didn’t seem to know much about him, or care. But still, Ruthie would have loved to at least have seen a picture of him. He must have been handsome, because her daddy had always been such a good-looking man.

December 1940

THERE WAS NO question that Buddy had a curious mind. But then, as Idgie had feared might happen one day, he wondered about something she’d hoped like hell that he wouldn’t.

On that particular day, Idgie had taken him over to Loveman’s department store in Birmingham to buy him some new shoes, and as they were driving back home, completely of the blue, Buddy turned to her and said, “Aunt Idgie, did you ever know my daddy?”

Idgie cleared her throat, reached in her shirt pocket, and pulled out a Lucky Strike cigarette. “Oh…I may have run into him a couple of times, why?”

Then he asked the very question she had been hoping to avoid.

“I wonder why he never comes to see me.”

“Reach over and hand me a match, will ya? Gosh, I don’t know, honey. Did you ever ask your momma about it?”

“No ma’am. She doesn’t like to talk about him. I don’t think she likes him very much.”

Idgie hoped he would drop the subject, but he didn’t.

“Do you think he might come to see me sometime?”

Idgie looked over at him. “Would you like that?”

Buddy said. “I think I would…but I don’t know…maybe. It’s my birthday next week. Do you think he might call me, or maybe send me a present?”

“I don’t know, honey.”

After a little while, they were driving over the downtown viaduct when he asked another question.

“I wonder where he is right now, Aunt Idgie.”

“Who?”

“My dad.”

“Oh…I really don’t know.” Then, quickly changing the subject, Idgie said, “Hey, Buddy, I’ve got a great idea. You’re getting old enough now. You need to learn to shoot. Me and Cleo and a few of the boys are going on a hunting trip next weekend. How ’bout you come with us?”

Buddy’s eyes lit up. “Can I? Will Momma let me?”

“Sure. Leave it to me, I’ll fix it with her. What d’you say? Will you come?”

“You bet.”

—

IDGIE HATED LIKE hell to lie to Buddy, but she didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth about his father. Frank Bennett was a mean drunk and a wife beater. When he and Ruth were married, he had beaten poor Ruth so many times that finally Momma and Poppa Threadgoode had sent Idgie with Big George and Julian over to Georgia to get Ruth out of there before he wound up killing her in one of his drunken rages. But Buddy didn’t need to know about all that. The less he knew about him, the better.

—

MUCH TO IDGIE’S relief, even after his mother died, he never asked about his father again. And as the years went by with no word from him, Buddy just considered himself a member of the Threadgoode family, and that was that.

THE NEXT DAY, while Ruthie was having a facial, Evelyn was over at the hospital visiting with Bud and talking to him about Ninny. She said, “You know, Bud…may I call you Bud?”

“I’d be hurt if you didn’t.”

“Anyhow, Bud, it’s funny how just one person can change your entire life. When I first met Ninny, I was going through just a terrible time. I was depressed, having crazy thoughts. And I hate to say it, but I’d even thought about killing myself. It scares me to think about all I would have missed if I had.”

“Yeah. Meeting me for one.”

Evelyn smiled. “That’s right. Of course, looking back now, I could have been going through some kind of a nervous breakdown. Now, I’m not a religious person, but sometimes, Bud, I believe Ninny must have been some sort of an angel sent to me, to help me get through that time and come out the other side. And don’t think I’m crazy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she had something to do with my meeting you and Ruthie.”

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy at all. I believe it. I think people, even though they have gone on, still look out for us when we need it.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I do. Something happened to me once. I never told anybody before, but I’ll tell you. Shut the door first. I don’t want Terry to hear us. She might have us both committed to the psych ward.”

Evelyn closed the door, and sat back down.

“Well, in 1989, when Aunt Idgie died, it really hit me hard. I took her back home to Alabama to bury her in the family plot like she wanted, but the next day, before I left, I went back to the cemetery to say goodbye one more time. I was standing at her gravestone, crying and carrying on, and feeling oh-so-sorry for myself. My mother was gone. Aunt Idgie was gone. I was now a sixty-year-old orphan. Oh, woe is me. And right at that very moment, I’ll be darned if a damn bee didn’t fly right up my pant leg and sting me in the behind.”

“No.”

“Yes ma’am, he did, and he stung the hell out of me, too. So after I got over the shock of it, it suddenly dawned on me. It had been Aunt Idgie who sent that bee up my pants. She wanted to let me know that she was just fine, and to quit carrying on and feeling so sorry for myself. So, I sat right down on her grave and started laughing so hard that I fell over in the grass. And I couldn’t stop. I just lay there in the cemetery for a good half hour, rolling around in the grass, all by myself, laughing my head off. If anybody had seen me that day they really would have thought I was crazy. I tell you, Aunt Idgie was just a devil, doing that to me. But you know, Evelyn, the funny thing is, after that day I never had that painful grieving anymore. I missed her, of course, but I knew she was all right.

“So my point is, Aunt Ninny may very well have had a hand in your meeting the two of us. And just between us, my Ruthie needs a friend right now. She hasn’t had an easy time lately, losing her husband, and now me causing her all this trouble. I hope you two will stay in touch. After we leave, I sure hope that maybe you’ll give her a call once in a while.”

(WHISTLE STOP, ALABAMA’S WEEKLY BULLETIN)

1947

LOCAL FOOTBALL STAR!

WE HAVE SOME happy news this week. We are so proud of hometown boy Buddy Threadgoode leading our football team to state victory. Just heard he was named Alabama high school quarterback of the year. He credits his Aunt Idgie for teaching him how to throw a football when he was only seven. We hear our boy may be on his way to Georgia Tech next year.

On a sadder note: Even though it has been only a few months, all of us in Whistle Stop continue to be heartbroken over losing our dear Ruth Jamison. It’s still so hard to walk in the cafe and not see her greeting us, as she always did, with her beautiful welcoming smile. Idgie and Buddy send thanks to all of you for your generous donations. Grace over at the humane society says that so many donations were made in Ruth’s name that they have built a new room in the back for the cats and raccoons. The old one was just too small. Knowing Ruth, I am sure she would have loved that.

…Dot Weems…