The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop Read online

  “I haven’t even thought about it. Room service, I guess.”

  “Oh, don’t do that. Let me come pick you up and take you someplace nice for dinner.”

  “You’re so sweet. But, honestly, I look too terrible to go anywhere. I don’t have a stitch of makeup with me and my hair is a mess.”

  Evelyn laughed. “Well, if makeup is your problem, you have no worries. I have makeup, believe me. Anything you need, I’ve got. Do you have a car?”

  “No. I flew over and took a cab to the hospital. I guess I should rent something while I’m here.”

  “Oh, don’t spend your money on that. Let me lend you a car while you’re here. I have a few extra cars. Or, better yet, I would be more than happy to take you anywhere you need to go.”

  “Oh, I can’t impose on you.”

  “Believe me, it’s not imposition. I’m a retired person and I am free as a bird and would just love to have something to do and someone to do it with. All my other friends ever want to do is sit around and play bridge.”

  Ruthie didn’t know who this woman was, but whoever she was, God bless her.

  The thought of trying to make her way around in a strange town was not very appealing. And she was hungry. She’d completely forgotten to have lunch!

  * * *

  —

  ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES later, Ruthie heard someone knocking on her hotel door. When she opened it, there stood a sweet-looking, plump gray-haired lady holding a clear plastic carrying case full of Mary Kay makeup and a huge jar of Mary Kay cold cream. “Hi, Ruthie, I’m Evelyn.” Ruthie, who had never laid eyes on this woman before tonight, was so happy to see a friendly face, she wanted to grab her and hug her, right there on the spot.

  While she was in the bathroom putting on her new beautiful makeup and they had talked a bit more, Ruthie realized there was something about Evelyn that reminded her of her mother. Maybe it was the accent or her voice—she didn’t know what—but it was so comforting to be with someone so clearly down-to-earth, and so real. She had missed that. She had forgotten what it was like to be with someone she could just be herself with.

  * * *

  —

  EVELYN HAD TAKEN them to a lovely four-star restaurant. Ruthie had two glasses of wine with dinner and she certainly wasn’t drunk, but she must have been more relaxed than she knew because, by the end of the evening, she had told Evelyn—a complete stranger—all about herself and her life in Atlanta. And Evelyn had been most sympathetic. “I had a mother-in-law from hell myself,” she said. “But this Martha Lee character sounds like a real piece of work.”

  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, Evely
n 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.

  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.