•✦─Summer, 1945─✦•
Sally Jean, age 7
It wasn't often that Jory spent time with just Clyde and Sally Jean, but when he did, Sally Jean tried to savor the rare occasion, even though she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.
Being around Jory made her feel funny. Her face would grow red hot and her stomach would tickle.
Her stomach tickled a lot when Jory took it upon himself to teach her how to ride a horse one day.
Sally Jean sat in front of Jory on his beloved Zip, his arms encircling her as he showed her how to properly hold the reins.
"Quit holdin' it like that! I just showed you what to do!" Jory yelled at her.
Sally Jean giggled to herself, sticking out her fingers to tease him as he tried to position her hand just right, pushing one of her fingers down just for another to pop up. She liked to mess with him like that. It made her feel better about her red face and fluttering stomach.
"Fine! I'm not gon' teach you no more if you keep doin' that!" Jory threatened.
Sally Jean quickly corrected her hand placement.
"Good, now I can show you how to steer a horse."
Jory rambled on with his teachings, Sally Jean catching on fast, but she started to fall back into her old ways each time she felt herself enjoying Joey's presence too much.
Eventually, Jory got fed up with Sally Jean's antics, taking the reins and pulling Zip to a stop when she tried spinning the horse in circles after he told her to stop several times.
Jory hopped down from the saddle, reaching up to pull Sally Jean off next.
"That's it," he said sternly, setting her on the ground. "I'm done. I'm not gon' teach you anymore."
"What? No! I'll stop pickin' with you, I promise," Sally Jean told him.
"No. I'm serious, Sally Jean. I'm not teachin' you anything else."
Sally Jean frowned. "That's not fair. I said I'd stop."
"Too late." Jory took the reins to walk Zip over to where Clyde was doling out meal scraps in the chicken coop.
Sally Jean walked beside him. "You're bein' a big ole meanie."
"That's 'cause you were being one first."
"Was not! I was just playin' with you!"
"No, you were actin' like a little kid."
"You say that like you're an adult or somethin'."
"That's 'cause I am."
Sally Jean laughed. "No, you ain't! You're eleven!"
"That's pretty much an adult," Jory said haughtily.
"Clyde!" Sally Jean called out towards the coop, catching the little boy's attention through the chicken wire. "Jory just called himself an adult!"
She watched as Clyde laughed and dumped the rest of the food before slipping out of the coop. "Nah! He ain't no adult!" he exclaimed. "He's a big ole baby!"
Jory frowned. "Oh, yeah? Well, if I'm a baby, what does that make you? You're younger than me, remember?"
Clyde ignored the logic, as a seven-year-old normally did. "You're just mad that you're a big ole baby!"
Sally Jean giggled at Jory's angry face. "Yeah, you big ole baby!"
Jory snapped his attention toward her, scowling. "Least I'm not an ugly little girl like you."
His words struck her like he'd hurled a brick at her. She suddenly didn't want to be around him any longer. Her chest hurt, and her throat and eyes felt prickly with sadness.
"Jory Samson Mayberry!" a voice shrieked, Mrs. Mayberry stalking out of the barn closest to them. She pointed a finger at her son, eyes bright with anger. "Tell me I didn't just hear what I heard. Tell me you didn't just call Sally Jean ugly. I know I raised you better than that!"
Sally Jean watched as Jory's face grew red in embarrassment, the hurt in her chest not feeling so bad anymore.
"I—uh—I didn't mean it. It was just—" he fumbled to say.
"You know not to call people names! Especially not ladies!" Mrs. Mayberry hollered.
"But Sally Jean and Clyde were callin' me names—"
"They're seven, Jory. You're eleven. You know better than to do that!"
"But that's not fair—"
"Apologize."
Jory's shoulders slumped as he huffed out a frustrated breath and turned toward Sally Jean. "I'm sorry," he said in a strained voice.
Sally Jean looked down at her feet. "It's fine," she said, but it didn't feel like it. She still didn't feel good. She didn't like thinking that Jory thought she was ugly.
Was she? Sometimes she felt like it, especially when she would look too hard at Mama or catch sight of her reflection in the mirror that hung in the Mayberry's sitting room.
Her hair was always unruly with frizzy curls, and her eyes were too big, and she didn't think she looked all that nice since she lost her two front teeth and the boys started teasing her about how she said her 'S's.
Was that why he thought she was ugly? How could she fix it?
"Good," Mrs. Mayberry said tightly. "Now, I never want to hear you call her—or any other girl—that ever again, you hear me?" She lifted her chin, crossing her arms and shaking her head as she stared down her nose at Jory. "You oughta be ashamed of yourself, sayin' that to Sally Jean. She's an awful pretty girl, and she'll grow to be a beautiful woman one day." Her lips pulled into a smirk. "Heck, son, one day, you might try to make her your own."
Sally Jean blushed at the idea, but Jory frowned, turning his face away. "Ew, Ma, why'd you gotta go say that? That's disgustin'. I'd never do that."
Mrs. Mayberry shrugged. "I don't know, I think you might be surprised. Things change when you get older."
"They won't change that much. Sally Jean's always gonna be a baby in my eyes."
"Jory," Mrs. Mayberry hissed. "Don't call her that either, for heaven's sake!"She frowned and started walking towards the house. "Just for that, you're muckin' the stalls by yourself tomorrow. Tell Paulie he's off the hook."
"What? But, Ma—"
"I don't wanna hear it!"
Clyde and Sally Jean waited until Mrs. Mayberry was in the house before bursting into laughter and watching Jory shoot them a glare before heading into the stable with Zip.
"That was funny," Clyde said to Sally Jean. "
Sally Jean nodded with a smile, though she couldn't stop thinking about what Jory had said. Her hands went up to her hair, trying to smooth it down some.
"Hey, you wanna go get some apples and feed the horses?" Clyde asked.
Sally Jean nodded and followed him to the apple tree at the back of the house, looking through the apples that had already fallen for any good ones.
"Clyde, do you think I'm ugly?" Sally Jean ended up asking when the question became too big for her head.
Clyde frowned, his cheeks tinting pink. "Uh, no, I guess." He studied her. "I mean, you ain't got a big nose like that lady at church and you ain't cross-eyed like my aunt, so I guess not."
Sally Jean nodded, feeling better. "Do you think my mama's pretty?"
Clyde blushed again. "Um, I think so, yeah. Rudy sure thinks so. He says she looks like Gene Tierney, and he really likes Gene Tierney since he saw her in that one movie." He bit into an apple and held it in his mouth as he grabbed another off the ground.
"I think I'm gonna grow up to look that pretty, like my mama," Sally Jean said. "Like Gene Tierney."
"Well, I hope so," Clyde replied, "'cause you're 'post to be my wife. I gotta have a pretty wife."
Sally Jean rolled her eyes and scooped up some apples, tucking them under her arms as the two began to head toward the stables. Sally Jean came to a stop when she noticed someone running through the field that led towards the shack.
"Clyde, look." She pointed. The person was waving their arms at them.
Clyde squinted. "Is that your mama? Why is she running like that?"
"I don't know." Sally Jean quickly set the apples down and ran to meet her mama, Mama throwing her arms around her the second she was at arms' length.
"It's over!" she squealed, peppering Sally Jean's face with kisses. "It's over! They just announced it!"
Sally Jean didn't have to ask questions, for she knew that her mother's merriment could only mean one thing.
"Daddy's coming home?"
Mama cupped Sally Jean's face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks as she nodded. "Yes, babydoll, Daddy's coming home."
She scooped Sally Jean up in her frail arms, carrying her with giggles and skips towards the ranch house.
"Irma!" she yelled out. "Irma! Turn on the radio!"
Clyde ran up alongside the pair. "What's goin' on? What happened?"
Mrs. Mayberry stepped out of the house just as they reached the steps, eyes wide.
"Goodness, what's happened?" she asked, hand at her chest.
Mama set Sally Jean down to wrap her arms around the other woman. "It's over, Irma, my Lewis and your boys are comin' home!"
Mrs. Mayberry gasped, pulling back to look Mama in the eyes. "You're serious? It's really over?"
Mama nodded. "It's all over. They announced it on the radio. Japan finally surrendered!"
Mrs. Mayberry clapped a hand over her mouth, falling to her knees with teary eyes. "Oh, they're comin' home," she sobbed, "my boys are finally comin' home!"
"Mama," Clyde said, frowning, "why are you cryin'? It's good news! Aren't ya happy?"
Mrs. Mayberry smiled and pulled him to her chest. "Oh, baby, I am happy. Very, very happy. They're happy tears. They only come out when a person's so happy that they can't contain it!"
Sally Jean watched as the two held each other, her mama breaking off to run out to the pasture and tell the field hands the good news.
When she was done telling everyone that she could, she and Mrs. Mayberry would get together to make up two custard pies in Mrs. Mayberry's kitchen, laughing and filling up glasses from the wine bottle Mrs. Mayberry had been saving while they did so.
When Mr. Mayberry heard the news once he arrived home from the pastures, he invited some of the field hands to join in with the revelry and sent one of them out to get beers for everyone.
Rudy turned on the phonograph, and Clyde and Sally Jean danced alongside Mr. and Mrs. Mayberry, and everyone laughed when Mama grabbed Rudy and tugged the boy onto the dance floor, making his face turn almost the same shade as his bright red hair.
Sally Jean could barely focus on dancing, catching glimpses of her mama and her happy smile throughout it all.
It looked like the sadness was finally over. It felt like a weight had been lifted from her chest.
Eventually, Mama broke away from Rudy to dance with Sally Jean, laughing and twirling the little girl around.
"Just think, Sally Jean," she said as she lifted her into her arms, "your daddy will be dancin' here with us in just a couple more months. Ain't that excitin'?"
•✦───✧✦✧───✦•
1,887 words.
Question: What does your family do for Easter?
I just got back from celebrating Easter at my grandma's house and I'm kind of mad because my FAVORITE potluck dish (my aunt's hominy casserole) got eaten up at lunch, so we barely had any leftovers.
I get real pressed about this casserole, y'all. I'll never forget this one year when my uncle's ex-girlfriend tried taking over the hominy casserole and volunteered to make it for Thanksgiving and absolutely BUTCHERED it. I was so mad about it that every time I bump into her I think about it.
Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Easter! Feeling very thankful for my salvation today!
He is risen!
PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT TO MAKE ME SMILE!!!