Genesis

CHAPTER 5 New Kid in Town

We'd been in Eden for a little less than a week and, except for our first trip to the local grocery store, the Piggly Wiggly, which was a couple of towns over, I hadn't left the house. We had had a visitor on Sunday afternoon, Miss Ginny, the town historian, she told us proudly. She was a sweet, older lady whose gray hair was tied in a knot at the nape of her neck. She wanted "to be sure to welcome us properly", that sentiment being conveyed through the homemade chicken and rice casserole and pecan pie that she handed off as she walked through the front door. This house, she told us in a manner that hinted at the possibility of a mystery, had once belonged to her grandparents. Several families had purchased the house after her grandparents had passed away some twenty-five years ago, but no one had stayed very long. While there was always a good excuse — a better job offer, family considerations, etc. — she had, nonetheless, found it strange and thought the house must be waiting for a special family to occupy it. The kids, of course, found this fascinating, and hoped aloud that we were that special family. "Me, too," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

When Miss Ginny saw that our furniture had yet to arrive, she quickly made a couple of calls and, within the hour, several people showed up with cots, blankets and pillows, setting them up in each of the bedrooms. Could these people be any nicer? By the time they left, it felt like we had known them for years. Our stuff finally arrived on Wednesday morning and, after arranging and re-arranging the furniture in each of the rooms too many times, I'd had enough. I needed to get out and explore.

Jennie wanted to go with me and I gladly brought her along, knowing that she would make any chance encounters less awkward. I usually ran out of things to say to strangers after the obligatory, "Nice to meet you". We drove to the center of town, a mere seven minutes from our new home, where it took us all of two seconds to see MaMaws BBQ, the Dollar General store, the Eden, GAU.S. Post Office and, finally, PowersBaptistChurch. That was "town"­­. All of it.

"Well, it is a Wednesday afternoon," I said to Jennie with a hopefulness in my voice that attempted to convey an expectation of more exciting times in the future.

"Let's just drive around and see if we see any kids our age," she countered optimistically.

"Okay."

I turned up the volume on the cd that had been left in the player. It was the Beach Boys again, the cd we were listening to on the way to Sawyer's 4th of July party. I let my mind wander back to that night as I drove down the main road that took us from Eden to Pooler, the road on which we found the Piggly Wiggly grocery store, but not much else. Where did the high school kids hang out? There was nothing here that even suggested a "hangout" — no movie theater, no bowling alley, no mall, nothing. We kept driving.

Caroline called and asked us to pick up a few things from the Piggly Wiggly so I made a u-turn at the first available place and headed back for groceries. As I was making the turn, I saw a billboard bearing the huge head of Dennis, our real estate agent. Well, his head wasn't really huge, but on a 14' x 48' sign...

BROLIN REALTY

"Tell your friends!"

I had noticed how he looked at my mother when he stopped by a couple of days earlier to see how we were settling in. I wondered if he checked up on all of his clients or just the pretty, single ones. She claimed she didn't notice and thought I was being silly. I thought she was out of practice. He was very handsome, for an older guy. I guessed he was around forty or so with mostly black hair, a dark tan, and blue eyes. He wore a cowboy hat and boots and had a friendly smile. Before he left, he handed Mum his card and told her to call him if she needed anything, emphasis on anything. What she needed was a date. I might have to intervene in her non-existent love life. Yes, a night out with Dennis, or DB as he said he preferred, would be a good thing. I had formulated a ruse in my mind by the time we reached the grocery store.