the rest of the time
During my stay in Vicksburg, I did a lot of fun stuff, mostly with Chris. I saw an untold number of antebellum houses, some of them with shanties right next door. The juxtaposition was glaring.
We went shopping at the A&P which, until now, I thought was a fictional grocery store in the movie Breaking Away.
I ate spumoni for the first time at Tuminello's, which, per Chris, was originally a hospital for ex-Marines in the Civil War. I went there again three days later where I ate oysters on the half shell for the first time. According to my recent googling, the building has been abandoned since its closure in the 1990s.
Marcia spent her days watching Amway motivational videos at home. When we went somewhere in the car, there was an inspirational cassette playing. While I helped Mickey, Marcia’s mom, with some chores around the house, we talked about Marcia’s involvement with Amway. Mickey was “very concerned,” but didn’t know what to do about it.
One evening Marcia asked me what I was thinking. Although that’s a dangerous thing to ask most males in their twenties, I responded frankly and honestly.
“Why’d you mail me that chain letter last year?”
It was one of those ever-present letters back then that admonished (paraphrased) “If you copy this and send it to seven people you’ll become wildly rich. If you don't, you'll die a horrible death.” That kind of thing. There were always cautionary tales, about people who didn’t make copies and forward it. Her letter had neither a signature nor a return address on it, but I was able to figure out who sent it anyway.… Using some deductive reasoning that would’ve impressed Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, I cleverly determined that the one person I knew in Vicksburg had probably sent the letter with the Vicksburg postmark on it.
“I don’t know…. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want an apology. I’m just curious…. about why.”
There was a pause, just long enough to become uncomfortable, before she responded.
“Is there anything else you need?”
That night we went to a shrimp boil that also included crab, fruit salad, roasted marshmallows, birthday cake, and watermelon. The food was fantastic, the place was crowded, and I was lonely.
I shelled beans.
It was time to leave.
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