Фэнни Флэгг - The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop

Ruthie looked at her friend with awe. “Evelyn, you never cease to amaze me.”

“Of course this means you would have to move to Birmingham,” Evelyn said, “for at least for a year. Will you do it?”

“Of course I will.”

And so the “Revitalize Whistle Stop” project began.

—

THE NEXT MORNING, as they were going over to discuss plans with Evelyn’s contractor, Ruthie was getting even more excited about the project.

She said, “Oh, Evelyn, to be able to do this for Daddy. He wanted to come back home so badly, even though it wasn’t there anymore. He almost killed himself just to see where it used to be. Just imagine how happy he’ll be when he sees the cafe, and maybe the town, all put back together again.”

Evelyn said, “He’s going to be very surprised.”

Ruthie sighed with relief. “I’ve wanted so much to do something nice for him. He’s at an age when I could lose him for good. Now, thanks to you, I can do something. And I can’t think of a better present to give him than this.”

“Agreed,” Evelyn said. “But let’s don’t let him see it until we get it all cleaned up first. Then we can show it to him and surprise him.”

ONLY IN AMERICA could a girl who had started out in the world with not much of anything end up becoming a multimillionaire. One whose only job was to figure out a way to spend her money on good, solid investments. Evelyn had found that, with the way Birmingham was growing, any commercial property close by would always be a good safe investment. Over the years, she had bought raw parcels of land that had been developed into shopping malls and office parks.

Three weeks ago, Ted Campbell, her realtor, had called and said he’d found a thirty-acre parcel outside of town that Evelyn might want to take a look at. Ted knew she always liked a property with a long view and lots of open land.

The next morning, standing with Ted and looking down the railroad tracks, she felt she could see for miles. She loved it. Not only did she love it, the moment they started driving down the road along the tracks, Evelyn realized she’d been to this place before. She told Ted to go ahead and write up an offer.

Ninny Threadgoode had always talked about Whistle Stop with so much affection. She knew it would have pleased Ninny so much to know that she was buying it. And the price was certainly right, if you considered that she was purchasing an entire little town, including the cemetery and some of the buildings that were still standing. Good heavens, at that asking price, she couldn’t afford not to buy it!

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

THE VERY FIRST thing Ruthie did after she got back to Atlanta was call her father and ask him out to lunch at his favorite place.

As he was polishing off his second helping of black-eyed peas, she said, “Daddy, would you mind terribly if I move over to Birmingham, at least for a while?

He seemed surprised. “Birmingham?”

“Yes. Here’s the thing. Evelyn has a project she wants to do, and she’s asked me to be her partner on it. But it would mean my being gone quite a bit.”

“Oh?”

“I could still come over every week to see you, and I thought that now that you have Virgil and your new friend, Lucy—”

“Lois.”

“Lois, that’s right. I thought you might not mind. And, remember, I won’t be that far away, and…”

Bud stopped her. “Honey, if that’s what you want to do, you go right ahead. Don’t worry about me. I’m just fine with it. And you know I think the world of Evelyn. What kind of a project is it?”

“It’s just a little building development she’s working on. I’ll tell you more about it later. So, great then. I’ll be staying in Evelyn’s guest cottage. Okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. I’m tickled pink for you, honey, I really am. I didn’t want to say anything before, but I don’t think you’ve been very happy lately, and a change of scenery might cheer you up.”

“I think so. And I think it will be fun.”

“Well, this is good news. Hey, let’s celebrate your new project. How about we have a piece of that lemon icebox pie?”

“Let’s do.”

“And maybe some coconut cake?”

“Oh, why not?”

Later, when Ruthie drove him back to Briarwood, she walked in with him and Bud said, “Hey, Ruthie, would you like to meet my friend Lois? I know she wants to meet you.”

“Well, sure, if you want me to.”

“You wait here and I’ll run get her.”

A few minutes later he came back with Lois. Ruthie was surprised to see that Lois, as it turned out, was a lovely older lady, impeccably dressed in a stylish outfit and wearing the most beautiful string of pearls Ruthie had ever seen. Not to mention the diamond ring she had on that was the size of a small doorknob.

“Oh, Ruthie,” Lois said. “May I call you Ruthie? I’ve heard so much about you, and I’m just delighted to meet you at long last.”

—

WHEN RUTHIE GOT home and thought about her upcoming move to Birmingham, she realized that a project this big could take more than a year, maybe two. There was really no point in keeping the house in Atlanta just sitting there empty and costing her money every month. Money that would only sink her deeper into debt. And the house really was too big for just one person anyway. Maybe this was the right time to finally sell it and find a small apartment to rent somewhere close to her father for when she visited. It would mean taking a big chance and putting all her eggs and her future into one basket. But she felt if she didn’t do it now, she never would. She would close her eyes and take the leap. “Look out, Whistle Stop, here I come.”

—

WHEN SHE TOLD her children about the plan, her son, Richard, thought it all sounded great, but Carolyn was having an absolute flying fit over it. For days, there were hysterical phone calls from Washington.

“That’s our family home, Mother. You can’t just sell it. And where will I stay when I come to Atlanta?”

“Well, honey, you can stay at your grandmother’s, as you always do.”

“But I want to be able to come across the Circle and visit you. And why are you going to Alabama for a year? Who will look after Granddaddy?”

“He’s just fine at Briarwood, and Birmingham is not that far away. If anything happened I could be home in a couple of hours.”

“But I don’t want strangers living in my home.”

“I am using your grandmother’s agent, and she will make sure they won’t be strangers. She’s already said her friends from the club, the Vaughans, are interested in buying it. I’m sure you know them.”

“Well, all I can say, Mother, is that if Daddy were still alive, he would be very upset.”

Actually, knowing Brooks, he would have been very happy that she was moving forward with her life.

BY THE TIME Ruthie got back to Atlanta, Evelyn had already secured her financing, had a set of building plans drawn up, and hired a cleaning crew that was ready to go. The first thing they had to do was clear out all the junk around the area, then chop down the vines and inspect the buildings underneath. And it was amazing what they found. Opal Butts’s beauty shop was pretty much intact, even the old hair dryers were still standing, and, stacked on the shelves, there were still some bottles of shampoo and old unused hair dye.

Sadly, the cafe had been pretty well emptied out. The counter and the wooden booths were still there, along with a few tables and chairs, but that was about it. But to Ruthie and Evelyn’s relief, some of the buildings on the block did not seem to have too much structural damage.

During the first week the cleanup crew uncovered an old wooden storage shed in the back of the cafe. Ruthie and Evelyn drove over to the site to inspect the contents. Inside were the cafe’s original screen door, with the words FRIED GREEN TOMATOES written on it, an old stand-up piano, and a very large deer head. And stacked in a corner were boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments, and one Santa Claus suit in moth balls. They also found packs of unopened Juicy Fruit gum and Red Man chewing tobacco, a 1930 calendar, and an empty cigar box.