Chuck deVarennes - Short Story

       Ida's ex was behind with the child support, but hell, that wasn't
news.  She was halfway through a double shift, because Tammy called in
again.  Ida thought Tammy's car broke down too much.  Vicki said Tammy
flirts with the manager.  She said,  " By God, I'd ha' been fired a month
ago if I'd ha' laid out that much."
      Ida didn't let it bother her.  She was tired, but she needed the
money.  Donnie's lawyer cost two thousand dollars.  He wasn't a bad kid,
but boys will be boys and sometimes they get caught.  He was pretty good
for sixteen, helps around the house and minds Angel and Tommy for her when
she knew he'd rather run around with his friends.
      A truck driver slid a dollar into the jukebox, and she smiled when
she heard, "Coal Miner's Daughter".  Ida sang in the choir all her life and
traveled for a couple years with a band.  They played the usual cowboy
watering holes.  People were always telling her she should've gone to
Nashville.  She fell in love with Ray though, and Donnie came along.
     She didn't complain.  She had three good kids and thought, "Shoot,
you're gonna work at something all your life anyway."  Folks were nice
here.  The tips were decent. She bought a house and even got a decent car
last year.  She helped Loretta finish the song.  Jimmy said, "Ida, you
should have gone to Nashville."  She laughed and said, "It's a good thing I
didn't, what would y'all do without me."  A few wisps of brown hair fell
across her face.  She never cut it short.  Thirty seven and still no gray.
She hadn't burned it up with perms like all her friends.
      Ida was the local lonely hearts counselor.  Everyone in town who had
trouble would wind up at the Red Bird counter, slugging down coffee,
spilling their guts and telling Ida she should've gone to Nashville.  She
figured they'd carve it on her stone one day, "Here lies Ida Darby.  She
should've gone to Nashville."  She laughed to herself at that one.  She'd
need to remember to tell that one to Billy when he came in to cook on
Tuesday.
    "I might get a song out of that one," she thought.  She hummed some
chords and tried to decide if it'd be better to do it slow or fast.  She
could picture Alan Jackson singing it.  "Boy, I could give up waiting
tables then."  She could see him at Opryland, introducing the song, the
crowd howling when he finished.  She smiled at herself, "I've always been a
daydreamer."
      Ida could usually find something to smile about.  She needed
something right now.  This business with Donnie was hard on her.  He was
her pride and joy.  There's always something special about your first born.
The lawyer said he could probably get him probation, but Ida knew you
could never be sure.
      Funny how the law is.  When Ray'd get drunk and beat up on her, they
never would charge him.  "Just a family squabble," they'd say.  He'd cry
and promise her he'd never do it again.  She could tell as soon as he'd
come in on a Friday night if he'd drunk enough to get mean.  No, the law
didn't want to lock him up, but they jail two boys for breaking into the
school at night.  Ida figured she'd never understand the law.
     Joe Burton came in and eased onto a counter stool.  Ida cleared away
the plates and swabbed the counter top. "Coffee, Joe?"
      "Yeah.  How you doin', Ida?"
      "I'm plumb wore out," she answered.  "Tammy's broke down again, so
I'll be here till nine."
      "How's your boy doin'?"  He pulled a Marlboro out of a box and laid
the box on the counter.  "He goes to court next week, don't he?"
      "The twenty fourth," said Ida.  "John Grantly thinks he'll get a year
on probation."
      "Hell," growled Joe, "I did worse stuff than that when I was sixteen.
They just took me home and told my Daddy.  He'd whup my ass, and that was
the end of it."
      " Times are different now , I reckon."
      Joe smiled across the counter.  "Ida, you should go to Nashville."
      Ida laughed.  "And leave all this?"  She swept her arm open.  "What
would y'all do here without me?"

      Ida pulled into her driveway and walked in the kitchen door.  Donnie
and Angel had washed the dishes.  She sent Tommy to take a bath, and Angel
showed her the book report that was due tomorrow.  Donnie had been extra
good since she bailed him out of jail.  She hugged him and picked up her
guitar from the corner.  Ida strummed a few chords and sang, "Here lies Ida
Darby.  She should have gone to Nashville."
      "Mama, do you wish you had gone to Nashville?"  asked Donnie.
      Ida let her pick scrape across the strings once before she answered
him.  She smiled at him and said,  "No darlin'.  I'm right where I'm
supposed to be."