In fact, you know I always wanted to be a pattern maker.”
I had forgotten that, but it was true. When Leslie and I were little, Momma had at least three Singer sewing machines, always trading up. But what was she saying? Was she offering to sew for Charlie?
Then she scrolled back to the other female impersonators.
“Looks like Charlie’s wearing a prom dress next to those other ladies,” she said. “I can’t stand by and let him look like that. He’ll never get anywhere if that’s what the competition looks like.”
“What do you mean?” Leslie said.
“I mean, I could probably make a few gowns for him every so often when he’s got a new show coming up. It might be fun, and he’ll certainly be no more worse off than he is in this getup. What do you think?”
“You mean you’d come to Las Vegas and stay with us and do this?” Leslie said.
I was just trying to keep my jaw off the floor.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I mean. I wouldn’t be moving in with you permanently, but I couldn’t really do this for him from this island, now could I? And we need to find him a wig maker. Farrah Fawcett he isn’t, with all those wings and wisps. He looks like a refugee from the 1980s.”
Okay, it wasn’t lost on me that my mother now fancied herself to be a fashion maven. And she expected us to believe her.
Leslie did.
“Oh, Momma! That would be so wonderful! Charlie will be so thrilled! The thing is, the gowns have to be custom! Oh! I can’t wait to tell him!”
She ran from the room to call him.
“Let me get this straight. You’re going to get on a plane and fly to Las Vegas and live with Leslie while you sew for Charlie.”
“Yes,” she said.
“Okay,” I said and thought, Now I’ve heard it all.
“Don’t ever eat bananas around a beehive,” I said.
“Why not?” they said.
“Because the smell of them might cause the bees to swarm.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Splash!
Momma was out shopping for luxury fabrics with Leslie. That whole situation still boggled my mind. If you’d told me a year ago my momma would get out of bed, I’d have said, fat chance. And if you’d told me she’d be designing and making evening gowns for her son-in-law’s lip-sync competitions, I’d have thought you’d lost your damn mind. But then, Momma would do anything for Leslie. And it turned out that Leslie would do just about anything for Charlie.
So I was on my own to take up a small problem with Archie. His car was in the driveway. He must not have had classes that afternoon. I walked across the street and rang their doorbell.
Archie answered after a few moments.
“Hi, Holly! What’s going on?”
“Archie? Is there a place we can talk without being overheard?”
“Sure,” he said and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him quietly. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure where to start. Tyler is a popular kid, but I assume you know that. Hunter is as well.”
“I assume they have friends at school,” he said.
I thought, The thing to say would’ve been, I know they have a lot of nice friends. They used to come here all the time. But the waters had been sullied and all the rules had changed. Now, maybe they had friends at school. And they were no longer welcome.
“Yes. They have a lot of them, good kids from nice families. Anyway, there’s a new child, Matthew, who’s just moved here from Tennessee. His dad works for Boeing. His momma’s name is Maureen Thomas. Maureen inherited a big house on the beach over at Station Twenty-seven from her grandmother. In an effort to make friends for her son, she planned a birthday party for Tyler.”
“When is this party supposed to take place?”
“This afternoon.”
“Well, Tyler’s in lockdown.”
“Again?”
“Yeah.”
“So I suppose Maureen went to great effort?”
“Yes.” I was quiet and just stared at him for a few minutes. “Balloons, a lifeguard, twenty kids . . .”
“Well, this is a dilemma.” He stared at me, seeming lost.
“I know,” I said. “Look, Archie. This will be the first time in his life he hasn’t had a birthday celebration with his friends. And I know it’s none of my business, but does the punishment fit the crime?”
He paused before answering me.
“Between us? I thought being grounded for a week was too harsh. But I have to back up Sharon, even when she’s over the top, or else it undermines our relationship. You understand that,