Lucky Strikes (32 page)
Authors: Louis Bayard
“Sorry,” I say. “It ain't like I don't want to.”
Well, here's what I got to tell you about Dudley Blevins. He's got the patience of a Christian martyr.
“There ain't no hurry, Melia. We got acres of time.”
Only how much time we got, really? I look back on Mama and Hiram, it's like they was gone in the flap of a wing. We knoweth not the hour. So one night in June, Dudley and me was setting out on the porch swing, listening to the cicadas rattle. Next thing I knew, I was straddling him and giving him the best kiss I could think of.
And that's when I said, “I ain't gonna be no Frances Bean.”
His head pulled back an inch. “What you talking about?”
“One of them lonely married ladies. Laying awake at nights and setting alone at soda counters. You marry me, it means you're all in.”
That's when he pointed out he hadn't asked me to marry him yet.
“Well, so what?” I said. “You in or not?”
That's when he said he was.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
And if you're wondering if that's how I always dreamed of being proposed to, the answer is no.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
I can't say when it was I got the notion. Maybe it was seeing you passed around amongst all the Gallaghers and Hoyles and Blevinses on the occasion of your first birthday. Coos and kisses showering down on you, and how much of it would you ever recollect or know or feel?
Well, that got me thinking on how much of my own life was lost to me. All those curves in the road, the switchbacks and hairpin turns that led to the one surprising destination of me. Mama took that map with her before I could think to ask for a copy, and not even Rand McNally can draw me one now. So I thought the best gift I could give you was a map of your own. For when you're ready. Maybe you won't even need to look at it till you're an all-grown woman. I look forward to that day, though I expect I'll always miss the quiet little baby that rested in my arms that soft-raining June morning. I hope you know it was love that brought her here. And keeps her here till the last sun sets.
Yours very truly,
Â
Walnut Ridge isn't a real place, but Warren County, Virginia, is, and I owe a debt to Jim Heflin of the Laura Virginia Hale Archives for his research assistance. Special thanks also go to Abby Yochelson, Wally Mlyniec, Margaret Wood, Laura Godwin, Christopher Schelling, and Dan Conaway. Throw Don into the mix, too.
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Louis Bayard
is a
New York Times
Notable author and has been nominated for both the Edgar Award and the Dagger Award for his adult historical thrillers, which include
The Pale Blue Eye
and
Mr. Timothy
. He teaches creative writing at George Washington University in Washington, DC.
louisbayard.com
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CONTENTS
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Copyright © 2016 by Louis Bayard
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Bayard, Louis, author.
Title: Lucky strikes / Louis Bayard.
Description: First Edition. | New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2016. | Summary: “Set in Depression Era Virginia, this is the story of orphaned Amelia and her struggle to keep her siblings together”âProvided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015023829 | ISBN 9781627793902 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781627793919 (e-book)
Subjects: | CYAC: OrphansâFiction. | PovertyâFiction. | Brothers and sistersâFiction. | Depressionsâ1929âFiction. | VirginiaâHistoryâ20th centuryâFiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Orphans & Foster Homes. | JUVENILE FICTION / Girls & Women. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Homelessness & Poverty.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.B379 Lu 2016 | DDC [Fic]âdc23
LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015023829
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First hardcover edition 2016
eBook edition July 2016
eISBN 9781627793919