The challenge caused Handsome to lean back,
slightly; her forward aggression startled him.
Before he could fully recover from her
directness, she sweetened the pie.
“Reckon you sure enough done been down
to the Pruitt General Store on Main Street over to the big ole metropolis of
Green Pointe on the river; did them folks send you on over to Hessie’s?” She
asked it as a query, but, it came out as a foregone conclusion. Parry & thrust!?
When Handsome did not answer her
challenge, his mind working feverishly to try some avenue getting at least one
step ahead of the feisty little demon-girl realizing that first he needed to do
some serious catching-up, Miss Hessie let go another perplexing volley
displaying her acumen at negotiating. “Always negotiate from strength!” She
practiced the art exquisitely.
“That ole Mr. Pruitt-man---he’s some
kind-a guy…brings my groceries out once a week…personally.” She paused, letting
the meaning soak in. Then, “His boy, Jimmy? He sure does like to come around
visiting, too. Every Saturday night; after he gets paid for working at his
daddy’s store.” She smiled, in delight. “Course, that Jimmy is a whole lot younger
than the old man. Sometimes, I just tell him to go ahead and keep his shiny ole
silver dollar.” She laughed.
With that “confession” on the table for
Mr. Handsome consider, Hessie took a deep breath and waited; we’ll just see how
Mr. “City”-sophisticated handles this little piece of information.
“Uh!---Well!...Ah!” Handsome stuttered.
“Uh! See? I work for this fella over Memphis-way…” His excitedly attempted
stalling explanation droned to a halt. He looked embarrassed.
Hessie let Cadillac-man stew in his own
juices for a full half minute; seemed like days to him.
“So?...” She taunted, enjoying his
discomfort while knowing she had already won this battle.
“So?” Handsome continued, regaining some
slight dignity (maybe?). “Well! Mr. Stonewall---the man over
Memphis-way…uh…that I do some work for…Well! He makes records---see?”
He paused, looking at the smiling girl
as though he had just explained everything; Hessie remained silent, eyeing the
Handsome man before her with an innocent look of expectation.
“Well!” He tried, once again. “Uh! It’s
like this---See?...”
The governor paused, yet again. Sweat
dotted his forehead; she was enjoying this little game.
In negotiations, a seldom conceived
strategy, and, even less employed tactic, is to keep silent. Young Miss Hessie,
the “country”-girl absent formal education, had a natural-gift for diplomacy.
Handsome, left holding the bag,
so-to-speak, the girl would not say anything he could counter, blundered
forward with, “I came out here looking for a country-boy, a white-boy, who
strums a guitar down to the Baptist Church on Sundays and sings with a
melodious-harmony with the music that makes the rafters tremble and the
congregation shake and dance for heaven.”
He paused. “I saw you up here at this
house and just came on up to ask you if you know where a fellow might find this
ole boy name of ‘Rangy Higgins. That’s the truth of it!” He concluded with a
nod meant to satisfy the impudent Miss with his trustworthiness. He waited.
Hessie slowly considered what Handsome had
offered by way of explanation. He correctly concluded that, at least some, of
his tale held “truth”. He probably did work for a record producer in Memphis;
she had heard tell of such a man and his acumen for discovering talent.
And, she, of course, knew of Rangy. She
had attended services many times when the boy had sung at the town church; he
could sure touch a tender-heart chord with those melodious-tones.
But, she had some-truth on her side,
too. That Handsome had heard of her in town, she knew.
“Tell you what, Mr. Governor!” Hessie
finally acquiesced, “You help me get these clothes off the line and back down
to that yonder creek, help me re-wash the whole basketful---and…while we cool
off from this here treacherous heat-wave in that cool-spring creek-water, uh!,
that is, while the clothes are drying…Well! I might just have some information on ole Rangy, And, where you can
find him.” She smiled and reached her hand toward Handsome.
“And, we can do a bit-of-entertaining at
the creek, if you got a shiny
silver-dollar?”
(Part 5 of 6 tomorrow)
No comments:
Post a Comment