Mandy laughed, “Cornbread Corner…what and where is that?” she asked. Her eyes quickly took in the pumpkin plank wood floors, the dainty lavender striped tablecloths on the wrought iron café tables and the huge antique coffee urn.
“Go south to the tip of town. It’s right next to Carington Heights church and it’s where this whole town has taken to meeting every morning for coffee and gossip.”
Shaking her head Nadine said, “Oh Lord, I shouldn’t have said that, and you being a pastors’ wife and all. I try to still my tongue, but like the Bible says, it’s got a mind of its own. Seems the older I get, the more I lose my wits and the smarter my old tongue gets.”
Mandy sensed Nadine’s frustration. “Well don’t worry about offending me. I’ve lived in the city too long, and please, I may be the pastors’ wife, but I know what you’re talking about with gossiping people. I’d love one of those luscious looking cinnamon rolls. I’ve got a hair appointment, but I’ll make time for one of those.”
“You going down to Josey’s?” Nadine asked, as she nervously glanced out the window.
Mandy noticed the look, “Yes, why?”
“Oh nothing. There I go again. You never mind. Here’s your cinnamon bun. You want some fresh coffee to go with that? I grind my own beans, unlike Rosa over there. Oh my goodness, there I go again. I am having one of those days I guess. See, that’s what happens when you don’t take time to read your Bible in the morning. Everything just goes wig whammy the whole rest of the day.”
“Wig whammy?” Mandy asked laughing, “and no, I think I’ve had enough caffeine for today.”
“You just watch yourself at that beauty shop,” Nadine said as Mandy headed for the door. Suddenly the tinkle of the bell when she opened the door, didn’t sound quite as sweet.
Nadine plunged her hands back into the sticky dough. “Don’t be a stranger, and anytime you need catering for your church, just give me a call, I’m in the book.”
Mandy bit into the thick bun and savored the buttery taste of cinnamon as it melted in her mouth. Maybe she should have gotten a cup of coffee, she thought. And a nice cigarette after that. No, she told herself, we are not going to go there. Her desire to smoke was one of the things she had not left behind in the city. Matt was so patient with her. Only he knew about her unyielding habit and his answer for it was prayer. For years she had secretly stolen out on her patio to light up. She laughed to herself, as she imaged the congregation seeing their fine upstanding pastors’ wife puffing on her cigarette like a frenzied dragon. In their eyes, there was no way one could be holy with a lit cigarette suspended between their fingers, yet at the same time, they devoured people with their tongues and licked their souls clean like satiated lions. Well the Bible does speak of the devil roaring about like a lion seeking whom he may destroy, Mandy thought, as she walked on.
She stopped to gaze in the shop windows. Purple pansies and yellow daffodils in a baby blue window box waved in the breeze, outside Lucille’s Dress Shop. A weathered one-armed manikin displayed a turquoise polyester pantsuit. Dead flies and lost bumblebees were wedged against the inside glass, never making it to their target, the beautiful bouquet of flowers in the flower box outside.
Kind of like life, thought Mandy. We beat up against the glass so hard to get what we want, when in reality, we walk right by what’s real and don’t even know it. She looked in amazement at the pavement that was covered in bugs. It was eerily like some kind of phenomenon. Where in the world did all of these dead bugs come from, she thought, as she shoved them aside with her foot.
Stay tuned for the next episode!
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