Fannie Flagg - Standing in the Rainbow

"Ah… let's see, I'll have some potatoes and how about some macaroni and cheese?" He pointed to something green in one of the containers. "Are those turnip greens?"

"No, sir, collard greens."

"All right, good. Give me some of those then."

He would have ordered more but the line behind him was backing up and he had to move on. Even before they got to the table and had emptied their trays Hamm asked Bess about the girl with the glasses dishing out the vegetables.

Bess glanced over and said, "Oh, that's Betty Raye, Dorothy's little boarder. Ever hear of the Oatman family?"

"Yeah," he said. "I hear them on the radio."

"Well, that's their daughter; she used to sing with them but she quit."

Hamm glanced back over at Betty Raye, even more impressed.

"Well, I'll be. She's not married yet?"

"No."

"Is she going with somebody?"

"Not that I know of."

"Do you reckon she'd go out with me?"

Bess laughed. "You sure don't waste any time, do you, boy?"

During the next four weekends Hamm never drove so far or ate so many vegetables in his life. Going to the cafeteria was the only way he could get to see her. Every Saturday when he came down the line Betty Raye was horrified and embarrassed at all the attention and commotion he would cause. She asked him to please stop holding up the line but each time he said, "I will, just as soon as you say yes."

One Saturday, after he had been down the line for the fourth time, he pleaded with her. "Come on now, Betty Raye, you've just got to go out with me. If I eat one more bowl of those collards I'm liable to turn green. You don't want that on your conscience, do you?" At that moment Mr. Albetta came out of the double doors of the kitchen and glared at him and Hamm moved on, while the girls giggled. But he would not give up. Late that afternoon, when Betty Raye came home, there he was sitting on the front porch, chatting away with Mother Smith and Bess Goodnight. Mother Smith was clearly charmed and smiled and said, "Betty Raye, this nice young man tells me he is a friend of yours."

Hamm grinned from ear to ear. "I brought Bess with me to vouch for my upstanding character."

Bess laughed. "I don't know how upstanding he is but I wish you'd go out with him for my sake, because he's about to pester me to death over it."

Well, what could she do? Hamm was a force hard to resist.

Monday was Betty Raye's day off and Hamm was to pick her up in the early afternoon and take her to Poplar Bluff for dinner. She was nervous about going all that way with him but she did not have much say in the matter. Dorothy and Mother Smith were so excited she was going on a date that they called Tot and set up an appointment for her that morning to get her hair shampooed and set. It was the last thing she wanted but she went. They picked out her outfit and at the last minute Dorothy ran in with a string of pearls for her to wear. And so at four o'clock, Betty Raye in a pair of Anna Lee's high heels and with a head full of fluffed-up frizz and Hamm wearing a borrowed suit, off they went.

Betty Raye had never been on a real date. The whole idea of it made her feel very uncomfortable. She had no idea how she was supposed to act and the entire time they were driving over to Poplar Bluff she wished this date would hurry up and be over so she could go back home.

They made quite a pair. She did not know it but he had not been on many dates himself. He had been too busy working and had not had the money to take many girls out. He'd had to sell a few of his books just to get the money to pay for tonight.

All through dinner she did not talk much. Luckily she did not have to; he talked enough for both of them. This was the first time Hamm had seen her in anything but a white uniform and cap and he was impressed. She wasn't exactly pretty in a conventional way but there was something so sweet and shy about her that as the night wore on, the prettier she became.

On the drive back Betty Raye was even more nervous than before. She hardly heard a word he said. She worried all the way home that he might try to kiss her or something but he did not. He did not have much of a chance. When they reached the front door she shook his hand and said, "Well, good night," and was in the house with the door closed and back in her room before he could do anything. Dorothy and Mother Smith were in the kitchen when she came in, the two of them dying to know all the details, but they would have to wait till the morning.

"Well," said Dorothy as she entered the kitchen, dressed for work. "Did you have a nice time last night?"

Betty Raye said, "Yes. It was fine."

But that was all she volunteered. Mother Smith picked up the ball.

"So do you think you'll be seeing him again?"

Betty Raye looked surprised at the question. "No, I don't think so."

As far as she was concerned, she had gone out with him once. Why would she want to do it again? Dates were too hard. She just wanted to serve vegetables and be left alone. After she left Dorothy said, "Too bad. I was hoping things would have worked out."

"Me too." Mother Smith sighed. "But when there's nothing there, there's nothing there and you can't do a thing about it."

However, no two people interpret the same event the same way. The following Saturday morning Hamm walked into the drugstore and nodded at Bertha Ann and Thelma, said, "Hello, girls," went straight back to the pharmacy, stuck his hand over the counter, and shook Doc's hand. "Sir, my name is Hamm Sparks and I just wanted to ask you if it would be all right with you if I married Betty Raye."

Doc, who had heard about this character but had never met him, was a little thrown. "I don't know. I suppose it depends on her. What does she say?"

"I haven't asked her yet but I can assure you that you won't have to worry. I have a fairly good job now and as soon as I finish college I intend to do even better in the future. I'm thinking about going into public service and people tell me I have a pretty good shot at it."

"I see," said Doc.

Hamm said, "Yes sir, and I sure would appreciate if you would put in a good word for me," and handed him his card. "Bye, ladies," he said on the way out.

"Who was that little banty rooster?" Bertha Ann asked.

Doc laughed. "Betty Raye's boyfriend. Or so he thinks."

Thelma was surprised. "Your Betty Raye?"

"That's what he says."

Bertha Ann said, "Well, whoever he is, he sure is a cute little thing. Doc, you tell Betty Raye for me she better watch out or I'm liable to steal him."

Thelma, still amazed that Betty Raye even had a boyfriend, said, "Well, I guess it's true what they say."

"What?" asked Bertha Ann.

"Still waters run deep."

"I could have told you that," Bertha Ann said. "It's those quiet ones you have to watch out for."

Doc did not mention the young man's visit to Dorothy, Betty Raye, or Mother Smith. Where women were concerned, when the subject was romance he had learned that it was best to stay out of it and let them deal with it on their own, so he wisely kept his mouth shut and let nature take its course.

As it turned out, Doc was glad he had not said anything. After the first date Betty Raye heard no more from Hamm.

After a month went by Betty Raye had more or less forgotten about Hamm Sparks but that thought had never occurred to him. It had not taken him long to make up his mind. He had known after that first date that he wanted to marry her, so why wait? He was almost twenty-seven, in a hurry to get married and get started on his career, so the next day he got busy making plans for both of them. The first thing he had to do was get the money. The next day he talked the district manager of Allis Chalmers into letting him sell in three more areas. It took him almost a month, working nights and all weekend, but he finally earned enough money to make a down payment, plus a little left over.