Chapter Thirty-Nine
They crowded on stools at a tall, round table, each of the men with a root beer at hand, and the girls each holding the sort of drink that was refreshing just to look at. The men went up to the counter.
Sally leaned in on the table conspiratorially. "So how long do you think until our boys ask to marry us?" she asked Miss Piggy, her brown eyes sparkling.
"Not soon enough," Miss Piggy said, also leaning in. "How long have vous and Craig been together?"
"Goin' steady two years," Sally said, tilting her head with a smile. "But I been kissin' his cheek since we was knee high an' holdin' his hand since a'fore Miss Betty Sue here was born."
Miss Piggy eyed the young girl. "Vous certainly have a big smile, Betty Sue," she said with playful suspicion. "Is there something
vous know that we don't?"
Betty Sue was, in fact, wearing her brother's big grin. "I ain't heard a thing," she said quietly. "...But I ain't blind, either."
They moved in on her. "Well what have ya
seen, then?" Sally pried.
"Well I-" Betty Sue stopped, eyed them, and shifted her weight uneasily. She looked at her hand as she fingered her glass. "Nothing specific, really..."
"Ooh, tell us, tell us!" Miss Piggy begged eagerly. "You're hiding something good!"
"I- well-" Betty Sue blushed and put a great deal of attention into circling her finger around the rim of her glass. "It- it's jest how they look at y'all... y'know, jest how they
look."
Miss Piggy propped her head up in her hand. Sally gave the young girl a measuring glare. "Betty Sue, you are livin' up to your initials," she said. "You seen more 'n that, yer jest coverin' fer 'em."
Betty Sue blushed profusely and did not look up.
"See, I knew they'd find
something to talk about," they heard Kermit's approaching voice say.
Sally and Miss Piggy quickly straightened up, trying to look natural, while Betty Sue took a deep breath and forced herself to stop blushing
Craig grinned at Sally as he set a huge pizza in the middle of the pizza. "What are y'all leanin' on my sister for?" he teased.
"Nothin' baby," Sally said in a practiced casualness that was anything but casual.
"Rivers, never ask about girl talk," Kermit said as they sat down. "It's dangerous. Trust me, I've learned the hard way."
They laughed as they sat down and set about the delightful task of devouring the pizza.
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Craig opened the front door of the small, yellow house and flipped on the lights. "WE'RE HOME, PA!" he called out.
A figure emerged into the kitchen from a dark doorway, wincing at the light, and leaned his elbow against the wall. He was tall with thick gray hair and a faintly wrinkled face. He looked clean, and his clothes were fresh, but he was clearly a little less than his usual self. "Son," he said with a nod as a greeting. "Betty Sue, Sally..." His eyes meandered to the other three. "An' howdy to the folks I dun' know," he added. He did not slur.
"Pa, this is Bob Geraldson, and Kermit the Frog, and Miss Piggy. I told you 'bout 'em a'fore," Craig said, gesturing to each respectively.
"You sure did," Pa drawled. He held one finger out at Kermit. "Then you done saved my boy's life, ain't you, sir?"
Kermit shifted his weight. "I- I guess you could say that," he said.
"Yer modest," Pa said. He dropped his finger. "Well thank ya rightly. You ever need a thing, jest give ol' Pa a yodel. I'd be thrilled to oblige." He grinned then. "Come on in, folks. Have yerselves a seat or a drink or both. We got plenty to go 'round."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"
Here it is," Sally said, triumphantly pulling a music book off of a shelf. "See, Kermit? This here's the book I was tellin' ya about. All sorts of patriotic songs." She sat down with it and opened it up.
"I
told ya we still had it, Craig," Betty Sue said with a roll of her eyes.
"Okay, okay, you was right, Betty Sue," Craig sighed.
They had settled in the den and each pulled up a seat. Pa had propped himself up in a chair in the corner, letting his eyes rest half-shut, a great deal more cognizant than he appeared.
"Can I see?" Kermit came over to Sally's chair and stood close, looking at the songs in the book.
"When'd we get that book, anyways?" Craig asked.
"I dunno," Betty Sue said. "We had it long as I can 'member."
Miss Piggy watched as Sally turned a page and Kermit tilted his head a little closer to hers.
"It was a gift fer Ma," Pa drawled from his corner, not opening his eyes one bit. "From some old neighbor... Last time she went in the hospital."
Craig looked up. "From the Kenneth’s?"
"Could be," Pa sighed.
Miss Piggy watched as Kermit set his hand on the back of Sally's chair.
Sally sat a little straighter, holding the book up a little and, as an added bonus, putting her finer points forward.
Kermit leaned in for a better look, presumably at the songs.
Miss Piggy frowned distinctly.
"Piggy?" Kermit said without looking up. "Could you come here, please?"
She came and stood beside him.
He slid his arm tight around her. "Do you think this one would work?" he asked.
From over Kermit's shoulder, she looked over Sally's shoulder at the song. She skimmed the first few lines and smiled. "Yes, Kermie," she said softly, "I think that would do nicely."
Kermit tightened his arm around her and smiled at her. "It's not just because of that word right there, is it?" he said teasingly, pointing.
Sally awkwardly shifted to the edge of her chair furthest from the frog and pig. She raised her eyebrows at Craig with a sugary-sweet look that asked for help.
"Pa?" Betty Sue said, touching something on the floor that leaned against the wall. "How'd this lil' dent get in yer guitar?"
Pa let out a soft, low chuckle from his chair, his eyes still half-closed. "Ya jest noticed that lil' dent there, Betty Sue?" he said with a quiet, almost non-existent smile. "That dent got there by the good graces of yer Ma's temper."
"That sounds like a story," Bob said. Kermit turned to listen to Pa, and Miss Piggy followed suit.
"Well," Pa said, "I was playin' that thing when I asked her ta marry me, see? An' I gave her the ring- wasn't much of a ring, but I gave it to 'er- an' then went an' got so wrapped up with that guitar, that when she shouted her answer, I looked up an' said, 'What you screamin' for?' So she threw the ring at me." He chuckled. "Hit the guitar, an' made that nice lil' dent."
Kermit smiled while making a small mental note to himself. "You must really like to play, then, if you were that distracted," he said.
"He don't play much," Betty Sue said glumly.
"Not fer awhile," Pa mumbled.
"But I can 'member when ya used ta play every day!" Craig said with a grin.
"Every day?" Kermit said. "You must be pretty good, then."
"Nah," Pa grunted.
"Why don't
you be the judge, sir?" Craig said with a grin. He scooped up the guitar, crossed the room, and presented it to his father. "Please, Pa?"
Pa finally raised his eyelids all the way and looked at his son. "I guess I owe ya one fer this afternoon, dun' I?" he whispered.
"What happened this afternoon?" Betty Sue asked.
"Nothin," Craig said. He looked at his father. "Please?"
Pa gingerly took the guitar in his arms and tenderly wrapped his fingers around the neck. "Aw'right," he said quietly, sitting up. "What you wanna hear?"
Craig grinned and stepped back. "Play Ma's favorite," he said. He reached towards Sally as he strolled across the room to her.
Pa's face slowly began to hint towards the grin on his son's face. "Her real favorite, or the one we'd tease her with?"
Craig cocked his head to the side and raised one eyebrow, his grin as big as ever. "Pa?" he said. "I don't think I ever knew her real favorite, 'cuz we teased her so much."
Pa shook his head and strummed at the strings. "Son," he whispered, "It's about time you knew."
Craig stood behind Sally's chair and wrapped his arms around her. Kermit and Miss Piggy slid a step or two away. Betty Sue came and sat at her father's feet, curious. Bob leaned forward.
"A lil' ironic," Pa said, watching his fingers work. "It ain't meant for a guitar at all." He smiled. "You'll see."
His fingers danced over the strings, and a chord that almost sounded familiar seeped through the air.
Pa took a deep breath and let his voice pour through the lyrics he murmured.
"It's nine o'clock on a Saturday... The regular crowd shuffles in… There's an old man sitting next to me... Makin' love to his tonic and gin..."
Miss Piggy's head settled on Kermit's shoulder as his arms slid tight around her.
"He says 'Son, can you play me a memory... I'm not really sure how it goes... But it's sad and it's sweet, and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes...' La la la, de de da... La la, de de da da da..."
Craig and Sally began to sway together, and Kermit's hand crept to the edge of Miss Piggy's glove.
"Sing us a song, you're the piano man... Sing us a song tonight... Well we're all in the mood for a melody... And you've got us feelin' all right..."
Kermit slid his hand up to Miss Piggy's and discreetly, longingly, caressed her fingers with his. Craig pulled Sally out of her chair, letting the songbook in her lap tumble to the floor. Miss Piggy pressed against Kermit and slithered her arm around his neck. In the same moment, both couples slowly began to dance, each oblivious to the other couple.
The song drifted through the room, carried by Pa's quiet voice and his dancing fingers. Betty Sue watched her father and listened with interest. This was Ma's favorite song, and she had gotten to the age that she wanted to know who her mother had been.
Pa kept his eyes on his fingers and guitar through the entire song. He murmured the lyrics as if they were secrets, never to leave the room. Once in a while his eyes would slide shut, his fingers would grow strength, and a mellow emotion, unspoken and unnamed, would pour into his voice. Then his eyes would open and his murmuring would return, leaving almost tangible drops of the emotion suspended in the air. Pa finally pushed his fingers through the last notes of the song and looked at his daughter with apologetic eyes that she did not see.
"Well played, Pa," Craig murmured. He released Sally and held his hand out with a grin. "Aw'right, Betty Sue. Yer turn to dance," he said.
Betty Sue smiled as she stood.
"Well now who am
I gunna dance with?" Sally whined, putting her hands on her hips.
"I dunno. Dance with Bob," Craig said.
Bob raised his eyebrows. "No way."
"Why not?" Sally demanded.
"I can't dance," Bob said.
"Aw, sure ya can!" Craig said.
But Bob was firm. "Rivers, I can not dance to save my life!"
"I wouldn't say that, Bob," Kermit smiled cheerfully. "You do a pretty good robot."
"Well, I ain't gunna sit a song out," Sally said, folding her arms.
"An' I ain't gunna make Betty Sue sit out," Craig insisted.
Sally tapped her foot.
Pa looked at Bob. "Ya better stand up," he said. "A hissy fit ain't a purty sight."
Bob sighed and stood up. "I'll just be stepping on your feet," he said apologetically.
Pa strummed up a long parade of music for them, and after each song, the couples rearranged with a round of laughter. Somewhere in the switching, Bob ended up with Betty Sue, Craig with Miss Piggy, and Kermit with Sally. Craig and Kermit looked at each other.
"Trade ya?"
"Deal."
They switched, and the girls laughed.
Miss Piggy pressed against Kermit. "Much better," she sighed.
"Mm-hm," Sally murmured as she nuzzled into Craig's neck.
Craig and Kermit grinned at each other and held their girls close while Bob and Betty Sue laughed and tripped over each other's feet.
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