The Resurrection of Joleigh-Anna Kelmann

Goodbye, Matt-4

One of the smaller groups disbanded, giving me a better view of those who made up the receiving line. Aunt Lynore’s teal blue pantsuit emphasized her pallor. She seemed so very frail just then. Her gaze seemed to be intent on Jace and Irvy who remained apart from the rest of us.

Jace sat in stunned, angry silence, acting like the whole world was to blame for Matt’s death and not Matt himself. Irvy stood by Jace’s seat not trying to engage him in any conversation—just being there for him. While Irvy didn’t display quite the same attitude, he did give the impression of wanting to be left alone.

Couldn’t blame either one. Weren’t many here who knew how to be tactful and truly comforting to us.

Aunt Lynore abruptly swung around to grab my mother and weep upon the shoulder of Mom’s lime green blouse. Mom spoke soothingly to her, letting her freely soak it.

Catching my glance, she sent me an encouraging smile which I answered with a rueful one. Her gaze then searched out Jace and Irvy’s corner. It appeared to me that Mom’s sadness seemed to deepen, get sort of wistful when she watched Irvy. Kind of the same way Aunt Lynore’s had just now.

I supposed they probably were recalling the very first time Irvy showed up at Aunt Lynore’s front door. Uncle Mitch told that story a lot.

Irvy’d only been two years old when he snuck out of his house and trotted cross lots to ask if Matt could come out and play. When they asked him how he’d known Matt lived there, he’d answered matter of factly, “I see a boy playing when we go by his house. I say, he’s my friend! I go find him, that’s all.” As for how he’d known how to find him, well, that’s still a mystery. Even if you asked him now, he’d just shrug and say, “Just did, that’s all.”

Dr. Woodworth, Sr. phoned my aunt and invited the whole family to dinner—not necessarily with Mrs. Woodworth’s blessing. Irvy’s dad ended up admiring Matt’s spunk—was actually proud his own son had shown some. Thought Irvy should get dirty like a real boy ought to and that Matt was just the one he ought to do it with. Moreover, he had been favorably impressed with Aunt Lynore and Uncle Mitch. Figured if they could handle their hyper son at a stranger’s house without losing their cool, they were quite worthy of watching over his son too. He arranged for the boys to get together so Irvy wouldn’t be tempted to walk the streets and neighborhood backyards alone anymore.

Mrs. Woodworth hadn’t wanted the hassle of looking out for Matt, so Irvy always went to Aunt Lynore’s. Or sometimes the two mothers would meet at the rec center playground, so Mrs. Woodworth had some assurance her precious son wasn’t being bullied or led into criminal mischief by Matty. Guess her attitude toward my aunt was pretty much the way it was toward me—cool but civil. Her wall of reserve never came down.

Mom would have the same memories as Aunt Lynore for they’ve always been really close. They genuinely loved kids, and they’d often sat for each other—even for all the trouble we’d all cause sometimes. Both had stood up to Mrs. Woodworth in our defense—Matt’s and mine—oh, countless times. Which was never an enviable task.

The Club’s charges, allegations, accusations, and biased opinions you could ignore—more or less. Mrs. Woodworth’s unnerving stare and cool hauteur was something else altogether.

Mom’s glance came back to Matt lying as if he were napping in the casket. She bit trembling lips, but her tears flowed anyway, and she hugged Aunt Lynore tighter.

Uncle Mitch and Dad maintained stoic fronts beside them, giving out tight smiles and firm handshakes. But I’d seen Uncle Mitch sob earlier at home. There was a lost kind of look in his eyes. And he couldn’t gaze at the body in the coffin for longer than an instant or two. I guess that’s how Dad would look if it were Jace or Jarrett or me.

My aunts’ friend, finally through bending their ears, waved a general goodbye to all gathered there and left. Aunt Willa and Aunt Wanda converged upon the mourning line. My grandparents Merriwether left it. Guess once was enough for them!

“Ah, Lynore, honey—JuliAnna, dear! How are you two holding up? Must be comforting for you, Lynore, that so many of Matt’s friends have shown up tonight! He was well liked, wasn’t he, dear?” As if it were some kind of miracle.

However, as if their true feelings about Matt didn’t matter, Aunt Lynore surrendered to their insincere embraces, accepting their further condolences at face value. Not only theirs but anyone else’s besides whatever their opinion of Matt was. Pretty forgiving of her!

This hypocritical routine was pretty much the same at every funeral. Soon’s the last respects duty was performed and the line traversed, these meddling judges of the family assembled to begin diatribes or reassembled to continue where they’d left off.

Wasn’t anything different about tonight.

Aunt Becky sighed, saying, “Oh, but I feel so sorry for Lynore and Mitch! Their only boy!”

As if Matty had had a dozen sisters instead of just Lannette.

“Next it’s going to be Jorden and JuliAnna’s only girl ending up dead in some unfortunate manner! Well—unless something happens to poor little Jaimee Shaine first!” proclaimed Aunt Willa, edging back in between her and Wendy. “Lord A ’mighty, that Joleigh-Anna and Matt should’ve been brother and sister—and Lannette and Jace! Hard to think of Jace and Joleigh as twins!”

“Oh, please . . .!” Lannette moaned. “Listen to who’s making the comparison!”

Guess Gramma Lylah Merriwether felt the same way. I heard her mutter to someone in her group, “I’ve been often thankful for the miracle that made sure my children would be Merriwether blue eyed redheads! None of ‘em too fat nor bony—nor ill-tempered!”

I glanced back in time to see her sweep a telling glance the length of my imperfectly shaped, disagreeable Kelmann aunts. Somehow, she forgot that skinny Uncle Todd and chubby Aunt Dorene were the dark haired, disagreeable flaws in the Merriwether perfection.

“Well, if Irvyn Woodworth knows what’s good for himself,” declared Aunt Wanda who either hadn’t heard my grandmother at all, although she stood right behind her, or else she pretended she hadn’t, “he ought to listen to his mother—marry someone else! If he allies himself with Joleigh-Anna, his patients’ll suffer horribly! Does she intend to keep racing without Matt now? Well, Irvyn’ll have to go with her to make sure she doesn’t injure herself! Although— I think I could have accepted Matt’s death better if he had died in one of his precious rally cars! Or any of the others! Chicken for God’s sakes! Did you ever—?”

“Look at it this way, thanks to Matt’s foolishness, Irvyn’s gotten a break!” Tina left the group she’d been in to come join the one her mother reigned at. “Maybe he will reconsider marriage with her!”

“Here we go,” uttered Lannette, her eyes glinting angrily through her tears. “Like broken records they are!”

“Not as if we weren’t expecting it,” I reminded her. She sniffed in disgust.

Aunt Willa replied with conviction to Tina, “He should! He’s always given in to Joleigh! Whatever she wants, he gives her! He was as much a party to her crimes as Matt was! Did he ever tell her not to go off on these dangerous races with Matt? No! He gave her his blessing and that was that!

“Who’d trust a man like that with their health and welfare? I doubt I could! Although his father was a saint when he was alive, and his Uncle Lloyd is! But,” on a sorrowful sigh, “that’s a different generation! In any case, all this has put off their plans for tomorrow, hasn’t it? Might be the best thing that’s happened in that case!”

Tina poked her huge pregnant body even further into the center of things and stated confidently, “Well, in any case, my child will never grow up to be like any of them! We won’t allow it! We’re going right by the book! Aren’t we, Frankie?”

Frankie glanced over from beside Uncle Ralph and shrugged. “If that’s what you want to do.”

“There’s a baby to pity!” I muttered.

“Oh, she’s just saying that because she’s still holding grudges against us for all the pranks we pulled on her—and for Irvy telling her he’d never trade you for a pumpkin like her back then! Such a crybaby! She hasn’t lost that whining pouty voice after all this time either, has she?”

“Nope, and now that she’s pregnant, her pumpkin body is even more round and—well . . . pumpkiny!” I eyed Tina critically, and recited in a sing song tone, “Jelly, Jelly, Pumpkin Belly; fell in cow flop, now she’s really smelly!”

The old rhyme conjured up the hilarious events of that day.

Oh, God . . . so funny watching Tina try to impress Irvy . . . picking him wildflowers in the meadow. Some of the cows were out in that field, and one of them looked just like Fritz being one of his daughters. She took an interest in Tina’s flower gathering and ambled over to check it out. Well, we couldn’t resist.

“Run! Run! Fritz is after you! Run! Quick!”

Tina turned as white as the daisy petals, and she took off without looking back. Didn’t look where she was going either. She slipped and slid for five minutes in the biggest cow pie out there trying to keep her balance and get out of it. When she looked over her shoulder and saw the cow trotting up to her, She’d screamed, lost her footing altogether, and plop! Right into the putrid pile!

Covered in ripely fresh poo, she lay there petrified while the cow munched wildflowers right out of her hand. We’d rolled on the ground, sides splitting, tears streaming from laughter. Don’t think she talked to us for six months after that!

Lannette, gasping on a guffaw, slapped her hand over her mouth again. Which attracted all kinds of embarrassing attention. Had to bite my own lips to keep from losing it myself.

“You i***t!” she flung at me. Sucking in her cheeks, she tried not to look as if she were in hysterics. Didn’t appear to help much. “Oh, man, that was sooo funny! She was sooo mad! Such a killjoy she was then!”

“Gonna carry it into motherhood too!” Then, striking a pose, I mimicked Tina’s signature statement. “My mother says you guys are going to end up in jail someday!” Lannette doubled over in a fresh peal of laughter. I held her steady. “I’ll go by the heart when I have kids. Forget the book!”

“M-me too!” she managed to get out between giggles. “But y-you’re gonna p-pay for this, Joleigh-Anna!”

Aunt Nedra sent us a look of mild reproof mingled with deep sympathy. In her soft-spoken way, she took it upon herself to explain our behavior to anyone interested—or not.

“It’s nerves, you know! They don’t mean anything disrespectful! This is just so hard for everyone, and it’s not the time to be talking like this, Willa! Matty’s gone, and it’s a loss to all of us! Maybe if we’d just been a little more understanding! You know, we never asked him to stay with us, Jedd. Tedd and Freddy got along with him rather well. If we’d just put ourselves out more . . .”

Uncle Jedd agreed. “We ought to get together more with everyone. Have a picnic or something once a year. Do something to keep in touch!”

“Dad—we have been getting together once a year. Someone’s accommodated us for the past eight! Actually, Matt makes the second—no, third—for this year! Good enough for me!” proclaimed Turdy, half in jest, half not.

“Theodore!” Aunt Nedra reproved as if he were ten. “Now that’s just plain rude! A family get together would be a wonderful idea!”

Turdy, contrary to his mother’s belief, had never liked Matt and had merely tolerated the rest of us. “What would we do at it? Sit around gabbing about the good old days? I’ve got a life, Ma! Why should I spend it at a dull boring family reunion or whatever? Got other things I’d rather be doing!”

He pulled his latest love closer to his side and waggled his brows at her suggestively. She giggled and snuggled even closer to him.

Can’t imagine what she saw in him. Such a self-centered sleazeball! The type who’d offer to trade five pennies for a quarter with a toddler—like Jarrett—convincing the kid he had the better deal since he had more coins. Plus, this girl was much younger than he was. Younger than me, even! Must’ve gotten hooked on his looks. Was the only thing he had going for him.

“We all have a life, Tedd,” retorted Freddy curtly. “Unlike you and dear Aunt Dorene, some of us want more people in it than just ourselves! Matt had a life! I should have put myself more into it when I had the chance! Too late now, huh? Too late for Lawron too! You know, we really never knew much of anything that was going on in his life. We didn’t even know he was going to get married last month. None of us were invited! Why would we be? We never did go down and visit after they moved to West Virginia! Except for their funerals!”