Free Christy: A Journey Tale by Michael Thomas Cunningham Page B

purse for a small bottle of hand sanitizer.
She squeezed out a little and began to rub it over her hands as
Christy continued her story.
    “So…my real daddy figured there was only one
way he could do right by everybody and still do what he felt like
he had to. Of course, momma knew how unhappy he was. So one night
when he told her he needed to talk about a few things she was
pretty scared. She had no idea what he was going to say, but all of
the things she could imagine were none too good. So, he keeps
talkin’ and talkin’ but not really saying anything, which only made
her even more nervous than she was before. After he built things up
so much and wound her up so tight she was about to scream, he
finally decided to come out with it. He told her he was going to
join the Army. Momma never saw that one coming, and she was so
happy that he didn’t say any of the crazy things she was thinking
that what he did say never really sank in. On the other hand he was
so surprised that she wasn’t mad he didn’t know what to say either.
He was just as pleased as punch that this had gone so well. He
expected lots of yelling and crying, and in fact it ended up being
just the opposite. He went to bed that night feeling pretty good
about himself. There was only one problem. It had taken him all day
to get up the nerve to talk to momma about his plan, which meant
that it was late in the evening when he finally sprung the news on
her. So that meant momma had all night to stew on it and roll it
around in her head. The next morning as it turned out she wasn’t so
happy about this big idea after all. In fact, she woke up so mad at
him she could hardly see straight. Once she got a chance to get
down to doing all the figuring, it became real clear real quick
that there weren’t much difference between him leaving for the Army
and him just leaving. Even though history would prove her wrong,
she was stuck on the idea that she wasn’t leaving that farm again
until they put her in a pine box. She told him right then that he
just jolly well better call a spade a spade. He was leaving her and
there were no two ways about it.
    “What did he have to say about that?”
    “Momma said the ifs and buts were just a
flying out of his mouth. She said she had never seen anyone try to
talk himself out of a corner as fast as he did. See, he figured she
would be as mad as a wet hen when he broke the news to her. So, the
day before he worked up all kinds of reasons and answers to be
ready for her. The problem was he didn’t get to use any of his
material because she had been so happy. Well, now when he needed it
he couldn’t hardly remember a thing.” Christy said with a
laugh.
    “Here you go,” the waitress said as she set
their drinks down in front of them. They both nodded their
appreciation, but Christy didn’t waste any time ripping the paper
off the straw and diving in. She sucked down half the glass before
she came up for air and then acted like it was nothing.
    “Oh man so the war was on. They fussed and
fought for the rest of the day. When they were both about ready to
give up Henry finally drops the last bomb. He tells her the last
bit of news he’s been holding back.” Christy paused for effect. “He
had already signed the papers. He told her that it was a done deal
and no amount of fussin’ by her was going to change that. He would
be shipping out for Georgia in a few weeks and that was that. Now,
you think she was mad before. Well, he hadn’t seen mad yet until he
pulled that little trick. The rest of that she week was pretty
tough on him, but when it came down to the week before he left, she
softened up a whole lot. I don’t know if she knew already, I mean
deep down inside, or if she could sense it. When he left I don’t
think she ever expected to see him again after he shipped out, and
that’s exactly what happened.
    “What happened?” Jennifer asked with
concern.
    “The big dummy lit a cigarette even after he
knew better.