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did you just not like him ?”
    “As I said then, I’m allowed to give
constructive criticism because I’m a Southerner. Same as family
secrets, you know, they should be kept in the family.”
    “You’re hardly an expert on family secrets,”
I said. I knew that was below the belt, but I couldn’t help myself
“Everyone in Tupelo knew each and every time your father was out on
a binge. Your mother made sure of that. And you aren’t that far
behind him drinking-wise, Eddie.”
    “This isn’t about me and my father, LuAnn. Your father has been trying to get you to move home since
the day you left. He thrives on being surrounded by his admirers,
and you’re one of his most devoted. He’s probably thinking of the
campaign coverage he’ll get-the dashing mayor, his very beautiful
adoring young daughter, and all those precious grandchildren. Don’t
fool yourself This isn’t for you or the kids. It certainly isn’t
for us. It’s for him. Just like everything else he does. And he
hadn’t even told Gladys! What kind of marriage is that?”
    “He wanted it to be a surprise.”
    “More like a nuclear detonation. You saw
your mother. She was stunned. You know what she said to me? That he
had no right. Those were her words: ‘No right.’ From a doormat,
those are pretty strong words.”
    “It’s his money.”
    “Bull. He wouldn’t have any money if it
weren’t for your mother, but you’d never know it, the way he
acts.”
    “Do you hold that against him too, that
Mother’s family had money and his didn’t? That’s ancient history.
What else did Mother say to you?”
    “That taking the restaurant and moving to
Tallagumsa would be the biggest mistake you could make.”
    “Look, Eddie, he offered us a business and a
house and a wonderful baby-sitter-Jolene, who raised me and Jane.”
We stopped at a red light and I looked at him. “This would mean no
more day care. Can’t you step back even for a second and see how
generous he is?”
    “Manipulative, you mean. Controlling, you
mean. And then there’s the rest of them. I couldn’t live in the
same state as your sad, frumpy sister and her fool of a husband.
Buck can’t prostrate himself enough when it comes to your father.
And what’s all that celebrity crap? Paul Newman? Clint Eastwood?
The Marlboro man? He’s so full of it.”
    “That’s just how Buck talks. It’s his way of
complimenting people he likes. Besides, you do look like the
Marlboro Man,” I said.
    Eddie shrugged and smiled slightly. “Love is
blind, I guess.”
    “You’re even more handsome than the Marlboro
Man,” I said. I had vague hopes of chamling him out of his
anger.
    I looked in the rearview mirror. Jessie had
fallen asleep again. The light changed. I stepped on the gas and
drove in silence for a few minutes.
    “Stop!” Eddie shouted. “Turn right
here.”
    “Why?”
    “Just do it,” he said.
    I turned right onto Old Highway 49, a
two-lane highway rarely used since the expressway was built. “This
is the long way home. There’s nothing on this road, Eddie.”
    “How quickly they forget.”
    “What?”
    “The memorial, the tree.”
    My shoulders sagged. “What do they have to
do with any- thing?” I asked quietly.
    “You used to believe they had to do with
everything.”
    “I meant, why go there now? Jessie’s asleep.
I’m tired.”
    “I want to remind you of what the people
here are capable of”
    “Sometimes lately I think you’re losing your
mind. The town did not kill them, Eddie.”
    “I guess those boys shot themselves that
night.”
    “ Someone shot Leon Johnson and Jimmy
Turnbow. It wasn’t me or anyone I know. I grew up here with a lot
of fine people. Look at me. Am I a bigot?”
    “When we met, I had my doubts, but I saved
you from all that, taught you some of the things they don’t teach
people around here.”
    “Don’t flatter yourself.”
    “Come on. You were an incredibly naive
country girl who’d never even met a black person who