Page 38 of Home Body
Eventually, Dalia tenderly revealed what she knew. “Mama, Mr. Van Natter told me he was in love with you.”
Mamie took a breath. “Well, that surprises me. That he told you, I mean. But Dalia, the operative word there is ‘was.’ He may have been smitten with me when we were young, but any love he felt has turned into an enduring, deep friendship. And that’s how I’ve always felt about him.”
“I don’t think ‘smitten’ covers it, Mama. He said he was ‘head over heels in love’ with you.”
“Yes, I know. I knew it then, too. At that young age, I didn’t know what to do about it. But I never wanted to end our friendship. He’s such a brilliant man – always was. Talking to him is like having my brain opened to new ideas I’d never considered before. Now, when he was in school that was a problem for him. Of course, I wasn’t there because I went to high school in Detroit, but I’ve heard the stories. It’s all the buzz at Lenora’s Beauty Shop. Women love to gossip in there. It’s like when you walk through the door you’re expected to spill your guts. No secrets allowed.” She tittered and shook her head. “Women moan and groan that they ignored him back then because he was such a ‘dork’ and now he’s the richest man in this part of the state. They tell about how he was always broad and brainy and not athletic at all. Sort of a bull in the china shop. The jocks called him a ‘candyass.’ And kids resented him for always knowing all the answers and getting the best grades.”
“Mama, you’ve told me about going through eighth grade in a black woman’s house here, and then you went to high school in Detroit because they didn’t have one for black kids here. So, if Mr. Van Natter was here and you were in Detroit, how did you two end up meeting down by the river?”
“I took the bus home every weekend. We met during that time, both of us roaming around down there. As you know, during the week I stayed with Dolly’s family in Detroit, so sheand I went to high school together in the basement of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I finished in three years and was back here before my sixteenth birthday.”
“Wait. Here’s something I’ve never thought of before: where did Dad go to high school?”
Her mother’s sigh told Dalia what she suspected. “He didn’t, honey. Once he finished eighth grade, he worked right here on the family farm. He knew you’d figure that out someday, but he wasn’t anxious to let you know. He valued education so much and always wished he could’ve gone on.”
“Oh Mama, he was so smart. Smarter than half the people I know with college degrees.”
“Yes, he was. You know how much he loved to read. Why, that man read everything he could get his hands on. Anything about Abraham Lincoln was his favorite.” Her face softened at the memory. “He was self-educated.”
“Was he disappointed that I got pregnant and didn’t go to college?”
“Oh no, love. You could never have done one thing in this world to disappoint him.”
Guilt reared its ugly head as Dalia wondered what he would’ve thought about her dancing in a strip club. She shoved the painful notion away.
“As for Vic,” Mama continued, “he never married but I swear that man has made this whole town his family. I know bank presidents often get a bad rap, but he’s always been one of the kindest people you could ever hope to meet. He’s very quietly helped many a farmer during bad seasons, some who treated him so badly back in school. He’s given enormous amounts to charities. One day several years ago, while you were in school, he showed up here one morning asking Butch and me to help him with something. There was a young mother in town with four kids. Three times the sheriff had been called by neighborsbecause they heard her husband beating her. The sheriff would go out and the woman would refuse to press charges. Now, the sheriff and Vic are long-time friends. The sheriff and Vic suspected she had no means of support if she left her husband. Besides, she was terrified of the bastard.”
Dalia shook her head in dismay. “It’s so hard to believe that happens but I know it does.”
“We went to the couple’s house while the man was at work. The sheriff was waiting outside. They had me talk to the poor woman. I could tell she’d been crying. The side of her face was all black and blue. I asked if she had any place to go. She told me she had family in Utah but had no way to get there with all her children. Long story short is we packed her and her kids up right then and there, Vic gave her a wad of cash, at least a thousand dollars, and your dad and I drove her to the bus station in Detroit. Off they went.”
“Wow. What happened when her husband came home and she was gone?”
“He got rip-roaring drunk – not unusual – shot up the house and landed in jail. Last I ever knew, he got caught trying to rob a bank and was in state prison for a long time.”
“Do you know what happened to the woman and her kids?”
“Oh my yes. Three months later we got a nice, long letter from her. Her parents were thrilled to have her home, her kids were thriving on their small cattle ranch, and she was ever so grateful. Vic got a similar letter.”
“That’s so touching. Those stories don’t often end so well.”
“I know. But it’s helps to have a man like Vic Van Natter in town.”
“I’m glad you two are friends.”
“Me, too. We always will be. Don’t let him fool you, though. He has a lady friend over in Chelsea he visits every week. They’vebeen ‘visiting’ for fifteen years. He needs to give it up and marry that woman!”
That warmed Dalia’s heart, and she decided to call it a day. “Well, I’m tired. Good night, Mama.” She kissed her mama’s forehead and went back into the house, leaving Mamie Blackburn to enjoy the rising moon all alone.
Yet in times like this she never felt alone. The love of her life, Butch Blackburn, would always be there with her in her heart. She could feel him on this farm where he’d grown up, where they’d shared so much love, and where they’d built their own little family. His love would live with her ’til the end of time.
She wished that for their daughter.
“Butch, honey,” she whispered, “I pray that our girl will find a man as good as you. I know that’s a tall order but if you and I could love like that, there’s hope that others can too. That our girl can too. Our love for each other and for her will show her the way.”
A gentle breeze swept across her, tingling her skin. She touched her cheek.
“Yes, my dear. I love you, too.”
