The Last Ballad(77)

The sounds of the trucks on the wet road faded away, and then it was just Ella and the woman alone on the dark street.

“Well,” the woman said. Her breathy voice sounded nervous, uncertain. Even through the heavy rain Ella could see the hesitation on her face. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ella said. Then, “Thank you for the offer.”

“Please,” the woman said. She reached out her hand. Ella took it. “Please call me Kate.”

“Okay,” Ella said.

“Okay,” Kate said.

They walked east down South Loray Street in the opposite direction. Ahead of them, a large green sedan sat parked along the road. As they drew closer, Kate reached into the pocket of her jacket for a set of keys.

“Is this your car?” Ella asked. She stood on the driver’s side, her eyes taking in the length of the automobile. Its shiny chassis gleamed in the rain.

“Yes, well, kind of,” Kate said. “It’s my husband’s car.”

Once inside, Kate inserted the keys and popped the clutch. She turned the ignition. The engine fired immediately. Ella felt the automobile hum beneath her, and she thought of the way the floor vibrated with the power of the machines in the spinning room at the mill.

Rain beaded the windshield. Kate stared down at the knobs and buttons on the dash. She lifted her hand, her finger hovering for a moment, and then she pushed one of the buttons. Wipers came up from beneath the windshield and cleared the rain from the glass. Kate pulled the car onto the road.

“What kind of car is this?” Ella asked.

“An Essex,” Kate said. “My husband says it’s more properly called the Super Six, but it’s an Essex.”

“It’s beautiful,” Ella said.

“Thank you,” Kate said.

“I don’t know a whole lot of husbands who’ll let their wives drive.”

“Right now, my husband’s in no position to have an opinion of what I do,” Kate said.

“Well, it’s a nice car, anyway,” Ella said.

“Where am I going?” Kate asked.

“Head back out to Franklin,” Ella said. “Then take a right. Just keep driving west until we get to Bessemer City.”



They were on the open road outside Gastonia within a few minutes, the lights of the city behind them. The Essex cruised along, its headlights shining on the wet road. Another automobile appeared in the distance, and Ella saw that it was the back of Chesley’s truck. Kate veered around it without slowing, without showing any sign that she’d noticed it. As she flew past Chesley’s truck and then Sophia’s, Ella turned her face away from the window so that she wouldn’t be seen.

“My husband always had an opinion about what I was doing,” Ella said.

“What makes you say that?” Kate asked.

“Because of what you said earlier,” Ella said. “You said your husband didn’t have no opinion about you right now.”

“Oh,” Kate said. She laughed. “I don’t think that’s true. I’m sure he has opinions about me. I just don’t care to hear them.”

Ella looked around the inside of the car. It was the nicest automobile she’d ever seen. She fingered the leather seats, closed her hand around the metal crank that would lower the window if she were to turn it.

“What kind of work does your husband do?”

“He runs a family business,” Kate said. “Nothing interesting.”

“In town?”

“No,” Kate said. “Not in Gastonia, but close by over in McAdamville. Do you know it?”

“I’ve heard of it,” Ella said. “Is it nice there?”

Kate grew quiet, and Ella wondered if she’d done something wrong by asking the question.

“It should be nice,” Kate finally said. “But, no, I don’t find it that way. Others do. My husband does.”

“Husbands,” Ella said.

Kate smiled.

“It sounds like you understand,” Kate said.

“I do,” Ella said, “but my husband’s gone, so I don’t have to understand him as much as I used to.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate said.

“Oh, he’s not dead,” Ella said. “He’s just gone. I don’t know where to. He’s better off wherever he is. So am I.”

“How long were you married?”

“Since I turned sixteen,” Ella said. “My mother and father both passed away real close together. I got married because I didn’t know what else to do.”

“It must have been awful to lose your parents so young,” Kate said.

“It was,” Ella said. “My older brother ran off as soon as he was old enough.”

“Where to?”

“Detroit,” Ella said. “I’ve never seen him since. I was little when he left, probably ten or twelve. I think he went up there to build cars.” She wrapped her knuckles on her window. “He could’ve built this one here.” She looked over at Kate. “Wouldn’t that be something? Me just sitting here riding along in a fine automobile that my brother Wesley built, not having any idea that he’s the one that built it. It’s a nice thing to think, isn’t it?”