The Folds Read online

“Daddy!” Butch snapped politely with a shake of his head, making it known that his bloated compliments were not appreciated.

  “Hey, Sarah!” April hailed as she walked up to the table. “What’ll ya’ll have to drink?”

  “How you doin’, April?” she replied. “I think I’ll have a sweet tea please.”

  “Make that two,” Danny interrupted before Sarah could make her introductions.

  “April, this is my boss Butch, and his father Chester.”

  “It’s really Cleo! I named him!” Chester interjected.

  “Cleo Farley, ma’am,” Butch clarified, then turned to his father as he added, “but you can call me Butch.”

  “Well, Mr. Boss Cleo Butch Farley, what can I git’ ya’ll to drink?”

  “I feel like celebrating!” Chester piped up. “I’ll have a bourbon!”

  “Whoa!” April belted out quickly. “Sorry, but you’re in a dry, dry, dry county. Closest place you’c’n’go an’ git a drink is clean clear all the way to Henderson County.”

  Chester contemplated his choices as he looked around the restaurant. “Well, I think I’ll just have me…uh, maybe a…”

  Butch leaned over and sternly, but discreetly, advised his father, “Daddy, please. Just have the tea. You don’t need anything. You can’t get anything.” Without breaking eye contact with Chester, he instructed April, “Make that four sweet teas.”

  “Whew! Tall order here!” April chuckled, sensing the tension. “Don’t know if I can remember all that! What’re ya’ll havin’ to eat?”

  Danny tossed his menu to the middle of the table and recited, “Chicken fry, double mash, extra gravy, extra biscuits, ’n okra.”

  “Shoulda known better!” April commented without bothering to write his order down. “Some things never change!”

  “Hey man! What ain’t broken don’t fix it!” he stated proudly.

  “Make it two,” Sarah added, leaning hers and Danny’s menu to the side.

  April looked at Butch and Chester as they perused their menus, waiting for a response.

  “Just make that four,” Danny instructed impatiently and snatched the menus out of their hands.

  “All right! Four chicken frieds, double mash’n’gravy ’n okra,” April tallied and briskly walked away.

  Chester and Butch looked at Danny questioningly.

  “Jus’ think of it as the best onion burger you’ve never had!” Danny said sarcastically with a smile.

  “I love onion burgers!” Chester admitted. “Best place to go get an onion burger is on—”

  “Twenty-third and Dorothanell,” Butch and Danny answered simultaneously.

  “Yeah!” Chester agreed, nodding his head. “I can remember goin’ there when I was a boy! The owner was this big ol’ white boy an’ he an’ his wife wu’ jus’ cook onion burgers and fries all day long.”

  “His grandson owns it now, Daddy,” Butch informed Chester. “Danny met him the other day. You remember, Danny. What was his name?”

  “Uh, lessee…” Danny forced himself to remember. “His name was Bob!”

  “Was Bob?” Chester asked. “Whachu mean ‘was’?”

  “He died a couple days ago,” Butch answered.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah!” Danny confirmed.

  April returned to the table with a tray full of large glasses, alerting all to her presence. “Four iced sweet teas!”

  “So, Mom…” Danny began as April divvied out the beverages and placed a small bowl of lemons on the corner next to Sarah and Butch, “…I was thinkin’ of goin’ to church on Sunday. You wanna go?”

  “Oh, I don’t know.” She winced, looking for an excuse to not go. “I got too many things to do this weekend at the house.”

  Danny reached across the table, groping for the bowl of lemons. Sarah slapped his hand with a quick, “Manners!” She then handed him the bowl.

  “C’mon!” Danny urged, grabbing four lemon wedges before offering any to the others. “You can’t postpone a little bit a work for an hour and a half? I ain’t been to church in nineteen years! How ’bout you, Chester?”

  “I love goin’ to church!” he quickly confessed and scooted his chair closer to Sarah.

  “Really?” Danny asked, surprised.

  “Well, that’s nice,” Sarah stated.

  “No, you don’t!” Butch corrected his father before attempting to convince the others. “He really doesn’t!”

  “Sure I do!” Chester insisted.

  “You go much?” Danny inquired.

  “I’m a Baptist!” Chester declared, scooting again ever closer to Sarah.

  “No! He doesn’t!” Butch contradicted.

  “I jus’ ain’ been in a while, that’s all.”

  “Which church do you go to?” Sarah probed.

  “Oh, I been lookin’ ’roun’ to find one I feel comfortable with.”

  Butch put his foot down to end the charade by asking, “When was the last time you went to church?”

  “What does that matter?” Chester replied, then resumed his flirting with Sarah. “I got me a real nice burgundy dubl’brest’d coat that I like t’ wear.”

  “Really?” She smiled. “Well, Chester, you must be the belle o’ the ball!”

  Butch laughed out loud in disbelief. “You’re still wearin’ that thing?”

  “Still?” Danny asked. “How long you been wearin’ it?”

  “Since I was a boy and even then it was worn out!” Butch interjected.

  “It ain’ wore out!” Chester declared defiantly, then leaned in toward Sarah for a seductive finish. “It’s just now getting comfortable…startin’ t’ show some maturity of character!”

  “So, Daddy,” Butch chimed in as he reached for a couple of lemons, “once more, please tell us, when was the last time you went to church?”

  Chester leaned far back, struggling to remember. “Oh…uh…lessee naw!”

  As his father mumbled to himself, Butch slowly stirred his tea, shaking his head.

  Chester then said, “1962!”

  Butch immediately doubled over and guffawed out loud.

  “Whachu laughin’ at?” Chester asked as all three enjoyed a good chuckle at his expense. “I been wait’n to see which one I wanna go ’n dedicate myself to.”

  “So, Chester, how about…?” Danny started out, but was distracted by Butch as he silently and intensely mouthed “No” over and over. Danny paid no heed to the sign language and asked anyway. “How about you ’n Butch go to church with us on Sunday?”

  Chester proudly slapped his son’s leg with a big smile and nod of his head. Butch rubbed his face in irritation and disgust.

  April approached the table with her arms loaded down. “All right now! Four chicken fried steaks!”

  ALL OLD THINGS ARE MADE NEW

  On Saturday morning, Butch parked in front of French’s, one of the local men’s fine clothing stores. He exited quickly and stepped onto the sidewalk where he impatiently waited for Chester just to get out of the car. His father’s body, now worn, stiff, and lanky, wearily pushed against the weight of the door on the Crown Victoria. He slowly crept to the sidewalk and joined his son. Chester stood back a bit as Butch opened the first set of double doors to enter the foyer.

  As the first one closed behind him, Butch gripped the handle of the second set of doors. He paused, turned back to his father, and firmly stated, “All right now, this is how it’s gonna be. We’re here for a jacket only. Hear me? One jacket, nothing else.” Butch and Chester looked each other square in the eye and nodded in agreement before entering the store.

  “But I told you already, son, you ain’t gotta be goin’ to git me no jacket!”

  “Look, we’ve been invited as guests to a new church,” Butch stated as a sales assistant approached them, “and you’re not gonna wear that Fred G. Sanford jacket.”

  “Good morning, gentlemen,” the clerk greeted them with early morning enthusiasm. “What are we in need of today? Blazer? Tr
ousers? Ties? Shoes?”

  “All the above,” Chester blurted out jokingly.

  “A jacket please. Just a jacket,” Butch dryly corrected. Then he leaned back and inquired, “What’re you wearin’ these days, Daddy?”

  “Why don’t we go over to the fitting room? I’ll measure you, just to be sure,” the assistant suggested, motioning for the two to follow.

  Butch politely held out his arm to let his father pass.

  “Whoowee!” Chester crooned as he passed a few rows of new fall suits. “Boy, ain’ them sharp!”

  “Well, if you was workin’ ’stead of drinkin,’ you might a been able to come ’n get you one!” Butch stated bluntly as he followed close behind.

  Once in the dressing room, Butch slumped heavily into an armchair, as if he was tired from shopping all day. Chester stood on the platform in front of three mirrors with his arms stretched out wide as the sales assistant measured his chest, waist, and arms. The clerk mumbled to himself and exited the dressing room, leaving the two men alone. Butch quietly looked his father up and down, taking in the sight of his old clothes, poor posture, and frail presence. Chester, uncomfortable with being up in front of the mirrors, tried his best to make himself more presentable.

  The clerk jubilantly entered the room with three different coats, announcing, “Here we go, sir! Try the navy double breast with two on three buttons.” He held the coat open and helped pull it up onto Chester’s shoulders. “Goes great with almost any color of pants. There…how’s that feel?” The clerk stepped back, placed his hands on his hips, and waited for some kind of positive response as Chester examined his reflection in the mirror; he was overwhelmed at the sight of himself in a new coat and felt his emotions beginning to rise.

  Butch and the sales clerk traded looks with each other before Butch asked, “How’s it feel, Daddy?”

  Chester rubbed the sleeves and pivoted sideways to admire himself.

  “Daddy? How does it feel?” Butch repeated, raising his voice a bit.

  “Feels good! Real good!” Chester admitted proudly. “But don’ they got this in red or sump’n?”

  “Excuse me for just a moment, won’t you?” the clerk asked with a smile as he backed out of the dressing room.

  “Blue is more practical!” Butch advised and pulled himself out of his chair. “Besides, I’m the one buying it,” he reminded his dad. “Looks good on ya,” he complimented softly, looking at his father in the mirror. “Daddy?” he timidly asked, feeling the fabric of the new coat. “Why didn’t you ever take me to church…after Momma left?”

  Chester’s confident smile slowly dissolved into a frown of embarrassment and shame. He turned away from his reflection and drew a deep breath before shakily answering, “Because I…I didn’t think that after all what I had done was…” He stopped in midsentence, then raised his head to face Butch in the mirror before finishing. “I felt like I wasn’t forgivable.”

  Butch wiped a tear rolling down his cheek and turned away from the mirror.

  The sales clerk again entered the dressing room and, upon seeing the facial expressions on the two men, realized he’d interrupted something. Trying to keep the feel of the moment light, he inquired, “What were you planning on wearing with the jacket? Did you have a favorite shirt?”

  “Well, this one, of course,” Chester informed him.

  The clerk could easily see the worn cuffs and collar and mismatched buttons. Trying not to embarrass Chester, he innocently informed Butch, “Sir, we do have some smart-looking dress shirts on sale, if you wouldn’t mind looking.”

  Chester flashed a devilish grin to his son.

  Butch made it an all-out day with Chester. After purchasing the jacket, they crossed the town square and headed over to Brett’s to match up a shirt, tie, socks, suspenders, and trousers. The bosom buddies then went shopping for shoes and a new hat at Shipman’s and ended the day by swinging through Eddie’s Barber Shop to get a haircut, a pedicure, and manicure. Over the course of the day, the two talked about the old times and when things were good. They shared a tear or two as they informed one other as to what had been happening in their lives over the past twenty-plus years. After a long day and a relaxing dinner at Furr’s cafeteria, Butch drove his father home.

  He didn’t turn off the car after he pulled into the cracked and crumbling driveway. Chester exited quietly, opened the back passenger door to collect his bags of clothes, then returned to his still-open front passenger door. After a moment of contemplation, he motioned to the house and sheepishly inquired, “You wanna come in for a spell?”

  “Uh…nah…” Butch answered, looking at the dimly lit and dilapidated home. “Not tonight, but thanks anyways. Maybe another night.” He smiled as he continued his polite bow out. “I need to get back to the house. I wanna be ready for tomorrow…we got a big day ahead of us.”

  “Yes, sir!” Chester agreed, smiling back, then closed the door.

  Butch watched his father climb the porch steps and open the front door. Chester turned and raised the bags with a smile and nod as Butch backed out of the driveway and waved good-bye.

  As she lit a cigarette, Sarah confessed nervously, “I don’t know about this, son!” She took in a deep drag and exhaled a long plume of smoke. “I haven’t been here in so long…I don’t feel comfortable.” She and Danny were sitting in his car in the parking lot of the First Baptist Church, waiting for Chester and Butch to arrive. She fidgeted like a nervous cat, looking all around her, almost incapable, it seemed, of sitting still.

  “Mom,” Danny consoled, lighting up a cigarette as well. “It’s church…our church. Big deal if you haven’t been in years. Neither have I.”

  “People are gonna’ be lookin’ at us n’ whisperin’ ’n—”

  “Well, go on and let ’em whisper! Let ’em talk out loud for all I care!” he ranted with a wave of his cigarette. “I’m nervous—we’re both nervous! So we’ll be nervous together!” He reached for his mother’s hand.

  “You think they’ll show up?” she asked, looking at her watch. “It’s already ten after ten.”

  A few more cars of latecomers trickled into the almost full parking lot.

  “Butch said they were gonna go shopping yesterday to get Chester sump’n to wear,” Danny replied as he looked around the church grounds, then focused his attention longingly on the baseball field. “Man! I used to love comin’ here.”

  “Me, too!”

  “I remember Daddy and Pastor Cregan…man, they musta’ spent hours teaching me ball in that field!” he reminisced with a warm smile. “I loved playing ball.”

  From out of the corner of his eye, Danny caught sight of Butch’s white Crown Vic as it entered the opposite end of the parking lot, then pulled up and parked next to him and Sarah. All four exited their cars, nervous with anticipation at not knowing what the morning will bring.

  As Sarah rounded the front passenger side of her car, she greeted Chester with a high-pitched squeal. “Whooweee! Say, Butch! Ain’t ya gonna introduce me to this handsome young friend of yours!” She was greatly surprised at the appearance of Chester with his haircut and new clothes, looking like a fine Southern gentleman.

  “Well, what do we have here!” Chester proclaimed as Sarah spun around in her pastel yellow dress, flipping the back of her hair. “Am I to be blessed with the company of this fine young lady?”

  Butch and Danny remained expressionless as they watched the two senior teenagers light up in sight of each other. With his prideful chivalry placed in overdrive, Chester extended his arm to walk Sarah to the church. The two sons looked at each other with a roll of their eyes.

  “Man, what took ya’ll?” Danny inquired with a slight slap to Butch’s shoulder. “We probably already missed the Lord’s Supper!”

  “Mornin’!” Butch replied, flatly.

  “Man! You need to relax!”

  “What? I’m okay! I’m completely relaxed!”

  “Okay,” Danny agreed and turned to walk to the churc
h. After a few steps, he looked back to see that Butch hadn’t moved from his spot next to his car. “Let’s go! C’mon!” He beckoned, snapping his fingers and slapping his lap as to call a dog. “You okay?”

  Butch remained firmly planted, anxiously playing with his keys in his pocket.

  “What’s wrong?” Danny asked.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “What do you mean ‘what to do’?” Danny laughed.

  “I have no idea what I’m doin’ here,” he admitted ashamedly. “What goes on, what to say, how to act?”

  “You ain’ gotta do nuthin’!” Danny instructed with a thin smile and hand on Butch’s shoulder. “Just go on in, sit down with us, maybe sing a song, and listen. That’s it.”

  “Sit and listen?”

  “Sit and listen,” Danny repeated with a twist of his head toward the church. “C’mon, I’ll even let you sit by me!”

  “Oh, goody!” Butch retorted smartly. “I suppose now you’re gonna want me to write you a note during class!”

  Sarah and Chester waited for Danny and Butch in the foyer. The heavy, white wooden doors of the sanctuary swung open, bathing the back rows in brilliant early morning light. The stream of sunshine perfectly illuminated the center aisle from the back row all the way to the stage and podium, where Pastor Ray Brock was just getting into the opening lines of his sermon. Pastor Brock paused for a moment to see who had entered. Several others in the congregation turned to look as well, including Monica and Jason, John and Joey, Ron and Holly, and Terry and Casey. Sarah and Danny were immobilized with fear, but tried their best to put on a pleasant face. With a broad smile of pure joy, Pastor Brock motioned for them to take the only seats available, down on the front row. Pastor Mike Cregan leaned to the side to get a visual of who entered the services so late. Danny took a deep breath, extended his elbow to Sarah, and slowly and quietly escorted his mother to their seats. Butch played his best poker face as he followed closely behind Danny and Sarah. Chester, on the other hand, unmoved by the blatant stares, smiled and winked to the members as he respectfully tipped his hat.

  As Danny approached the front row, both he and Brother Mike locked eyes. Mike immediately clasped his hands to his chest and prayed silently to God, thanking Him for finally delivering Danny and Sarah back home.