point to inhale the mixed scents of wood and dust that emanated the
house. The aroma immediately reminded me of Nana and Granddaddy
shuffling around the house, pausing every few minutes to relax in the
kitchen. Granddaddy had no fear for kicking people out of Nana’s chair
at the table. Of course, she’d always say it was no big deal and she’d pick
the next one down, but Granddaddy would always remind the person
sitting there, “That’s Mary Elizabeth’s chair.” There was no question or
even command to get up, it was all implied.
I swiveled the chair as I led Eric through the kitchen and into the
hall at the front of the house. There was a long bench along the length
of the hallway, occupied by National Geographic and Country Living
magazines, many of which were released long before I was born. “Hello?”
I called into the living room. I saw there was a car outside and wanted to
make sure not to scare my Aunt Beth. I heard her get up from a reclining
chair.
She rounded the corner into the hallway with a somewhat
confused look on her face. It took a moment for her to register what
was happening, “Well howdy! What are you boys doing down here?”
She asked as she came up for a hug. I could smell the cigarette smoke
on her denim dress, as always. Her long, misty gray hair was twisted in a
swirl over her right shoulder and her voice was calm as always. It was the
smoky, quiet, but confident voice of the older sister of my mother. She
was mother of four and the grandmother of nine.
“Well, Eric and I decided to come down for a visit after school
today. We got done class early and wanted to do something new this
weekend.” I paused and realized I ought to reintroduce them. “This is my
friend Eric, he was with me at Granddaddy’s funeral last month, but I’m
not sure you two met.”
“Ah, I remembered his face, but not his name.” She leaned in
to hug him. “Well, how was the trip?” She asked as they both withdrew
from the greeting. I could see Aunt Beth was naturally trying to measure
up to Eric’s good posture, but it looked forced and unnatural, compared
to his effortless straight back and confidence. I smiled, somewhat proud
of his influence on her already.
“It wasn’t too bad at all! The roads were clear and we got through
D.C. by three o’clock, so we skipped most rush hour traffic. From there it
was only three hours, so we made it in five, total. Can’t complain, really.”
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