“Wasn’t expecting the end,” Rex said.
“I knew that was going to happen the whole time,” Rusty hammered home. “It was obvious. You just had to pay attention to the clues.”
“Not sure the old broad did the right thing at all,” Rex went on. “I mean she spent the little time she had in life left without the only person who meant anything to her. How do you do that?”
“Lucinda put the pot of Folgers down on the table and her hand on one hip. “Don’t you get it? That was the ultimate sacrifice. The best gift she could have ever given her son. The only thing she could offer that would truly benefit him the rest of his life and prepare the way for him after she was gone.”
Sister Thelma nodded along in agreement. “You might be on to something.”
“Damn right I am,” Lucinda said. “If Perry had remained in Fort Stockton after graduation, it would have been him that knocked up Susan instead of his idiot friend, Braxton. His mother knew that and got him out of town as soon as she could!”
Pastor Peterson had been listening and rolling things around in his mind while they debated whether Mrs. Silverman’s choices had been the best ones or not. “I don’t think that was her main goal, but probably a definite side benefit that made the whole proposal worth her effort.”
“What do you think she was trying to accomplish?” Sister Thelma asked.
“I think she was attempting to spare him the experience of watching her wither away, and instead, give him a kind of education that went far beyond anything he could have received in college,” Pastor Peterson said. “He had one-on-one tutoring from a man with unique experiences and unmatched qualifications, using most of the United States for a classroom. And look at the guest lecturers that his mother got involved to help. No amount of money could buy that for some other wealthy kid.”
“Do you think her gift would have been the same if she wasn’t in the situation with her health she found herself in?”
New Guy hadn’t said anything yet, but he saw his chance to bust in. “I think she had a plan to send him off the whole time. Her health just made it even more critical.”
“I think the trip was her intention from the very beginning, maybe from the time he was a small boy without a father,” Lucinda said. “She probably would have done it the exact same way and then when he came back told him he was ready to go off to the University of Texas for the rest of his education.”
“Maybe so,” Lucinda said. “Either way she got that trollop who was only after Perry for his money out of the way. How long do you suppose she and Braxton stayed married? I say three years tops.”
Sister Thelma nodded. “I think that they probably divorced quickly. It was obvious from the start the relationship was doomed. However, I think Perry took pity on the baby his former girlfriend and Braxton had and paid for the child to still be taken care of and educated. Discreetly of course. Nobody even ever knew who’d made the arrangements.”
“Do you think Perry got back together with Susan at some point?” Rex asked.
“Doubt it,” Sister Thelma replied. “I think that by the time Perry got back to Fort Stockton it was clear to him that his mother had a lot more insight and wisdom than he’d ever realized before he left. He probably resumed the friendship with Braxton, but I don’t think there was ever any chance of romance again with Susan. Been there. Done that.”
Everyone around the table nodded as they thought about that assessment.
“Do you suppose all the people he encountered that his mother had set him up to meet knew of her health status?” New Guy asked.
“Now that’s a good question.” Pastor Peterson sat back in his chair and thought about that one. “My guess is that they didn’t. It would have tainted the time they spent with Perry if they had known the full story. Changed the whole mood. Someone would have spilled the beans and she couldn’t take a chance on that. Would have ruined the whole purpose. I think she kept the entire situation under wraps.”
“Probably right,” Lucinda acknowledged.
Just then Chief Martin came in through the front door, tossed his hat on the table and pulled up a chair. “Just finished it this morning,” he said. “Never saw it coming. A couple of the chapters were a little long.”
“Says a man who thinks the Want-Ads qualify as literature,” Lucinda chuckled.
“He could have gone into more detail about what happened in Vegas, scaled back the time spent in LA. That’s just me,” the Chief noted.
“Maybe have him visit two prostitutes instead of just the one?” Sister Thelma asked.
Chief Martin looked a little red in the face. “Just sayin’. The story could have developed more in Vegas.”
“I thought the time in LA made the whole story, except for the end of course,” the Bald Bomber threw out to no one in particular. “The way those scenes and characters were woven into the whole Perry Saga spoke to me. It was like being there in person, but back in the glory days.”
“What was your favorite car featured out of the seven?” New Guy asked.
“Do you even have to ask?” 56PackardMan shouted from a booth over in the corner. “I particularly like the irony of the title of the story being Perry’s Packard, when all along the Packard wasn’t even his, it was Cal Holden’s!”
Marty Roth, sitting across from him, voted for the Cadillac. No surprise. “Maybe the title was a metaphor for the journey itself, not necessarily the car.”
“Can you imagine being given a trip around the entire United States, a ridiculous amount of cash to enjoy it with, connections throughout to make it interesting, and a chauffeured Packard limo to make the trip in?” Captain Nemo asked from the lunch counter.
“It was an Executive Sedan, not a limo,” 56Packardman exclaimed. “Let’s keep the facts straight!”
“Noted.” Captain Neo said. “But can you imagine?”
“It’d be wasted on most eighteen-year-olds these days, to be sure,” Lucinda replied.
“It was darn near wasted on the one in the story,” Cornfield Dave piped in. “He did all he could to fight it, if you’ll recall. Probably wasn’t till the trip was almost over he appreciated what he’d been given. Maybe not even till he got home.”
“Maybe not for years later,” Pastor Peterson said. “That’s how it works sometimes. Takes years for all the lessons to be fully realized and appreciated.” Again, there seemed to be a lot of nodding in agreement.
“If someone offered you that very chance today, would you take it?” Sister Thelma threw it out there to see what the assembled group thought.
“Would I have to take my wife?” Rex asked.
“I’d pay you to take mine!” New Guy said.
“If this is going to take the discussion down a whole new rabbit hole, you’re going to have to order lunch to keep the table,” Lucinda said as she threw a handful of menus on the table and refilled the mugs with some fresh Folgers. As she walked away, HairlessB29 asked when she got to be such a stickler. “I heard that!” she shot back. “And it’s a damn good thing you said ‘stickler’!”
“What kind of car would I get? I don’t know that a ’53 Packard would be my top choice in this day and time,” HairlessB29 noted. “But it does make me wonder what happened to the Packard Executive Sedan in the story. It was never really made clear.”
Then the debate shifted from what type of car each person in the Grounds for Divorce would choose for their own Journey of Enlightenment to what they were going to have for lunch and whose turn it might be to pick up the check, and then to the fact that it’s fifteen degrees cooler this week than it’s been all summer.
By the time Delgado helped carry the trays of lunch plates out for Lucinda to distribute around the table, folks were starting to name their choice of automobile and explain why. It ended up being a pretty impassioned debate atop some pretty creative choices. Chad wandered in for lunch, on break from the Piggly Wiggly. “Hey guys!” he said as he took a chair. “You read anything good lately?”
As Chad pulled out a chair and grabbed a Captain My Captain mug from the middle of the table for Lucinda to fill up with Folgers, there was a bunch of honking out front of the Grounds for Divorce. Folks turned and looked out towards Houston Street, just as a Packard about a block long was rounding the corner in front of the Piggly Wiggly. It slowed down to a crawl right in front of the cafe, the L-head Eight barley perceptible between the honks of the horn. A guy that was the spitting image of James Earl Jones behind the wheel rolled down the window, waved our way, and then gunned it till he was out of sight just past the Eggs & Ammo.
Always a good time at the Grounds for Divorce. Sorry I wasn’t there for this one. Only heard about it from Pastor Peterson when I ran into him at the Piggly Wiggly. “If I’d have been there I’d have told everyoneI’d have told ‘em there’s another serial story in the works. They should keep their eye out for it.”
“I’ll let everyone know. You can bet they’d have bought you lunch if you’d been there,” he told me.
“They still can,” I winked.
If you enjoyed this series, or the other stories posted daily on the blog, hit the LIKE button and subscribe. Better yet, buy the Captain a cup of Folgers to help defray costs and make it worth his time.
7 responses to “EPILOGUE”
Sept fois magnifique !
I read Warren Buffett was asked what he planned to leave his children. Paraphrasing his response, “Enough they could do anything they wanted to do but not so much they could do nothing.” I believe Mrs Silverman did much the same but with a mother’s touch.
A treatment to generate hope and optimism in Mother Silverman may be what the doctor ordered given her diagnosis. Engineering Young Perry’s future was the self-treatment she decided would best meet those goals. Perry may turn out alright or not; only time and the Captain will tell.
Great story Captain
The maroon ‘46 Buick Sedanet would be my choice for a car selection from the story. Year of my birth, great color, and love that rear end treatment. That’s also what Kate B. said to me the morning after we had that chance encounter in her OBGYN’s office in Santa Monica back in ‘93. I just wish I could remember what the hell I was doing in an OBGYN’s office! Come to think of it, maybe better I can’t. When I told her that we couldn’t continue to see each other, Kate said that was Cold Comfort, but that we’d always have that night at The Georgian just a few blocks away on the coast, and the Love and Friendship we shared there. Hey, if Perry can reminisce about a fictional seduction with a movie star, why can’t I? Here’s looking at you, . . . oh, never mind.
Perry certainly was initially reluctant to go on the trip when it was being explained to him in concept before leaving Ft. Stockton, but remember it was as early as Hoover Dam when he began to have musings about the benefits of the trip, making him reflect on his mother’s possible (good, hopeful) motives for arranging it.
It’s fun to imagine what a comprehensive recounting of the entire trip would have been like. What other special encounters with notable personalities might Mrs Silverman have arranged for Perry in, say, Montana, or Rhode Island. (What the hell would those two have done in Rhode Island for a week, anyway? The Captain ain’t sayin’)
A little bit off-topic, maybe, but my mind goes back to that great old ‘50s TV series Route 66. Somewhat of the same idea. Tod (Martin Milner) was the rich kid who didn’t know much about life and Buz (George Maharis) was the rough at the edges laborer who’d been around a bit. The two travel around the USA in a neat car and encounter different landscapes and different people. The series was actually filmed in the venues where the stories took place.
I suggest we all pass the hat over at the GFD and take up a collection to send the Captain around the country on a similar trip in a 1958 Corvette with a suitable, yet contrasting traveling companion to play off — Maybe Brother Bob from the Second Baptist. That pairing should engender some spirited discussions and lively back-and-forth disagreements that would be a great inspiration for additional CMC stories. There. It’s settled.
The MacGuffin on that series could be that The Cap’n and the Rev visit every town in America that starts with “Fort”. From Fort Stockton, there’d be Fort Worth, Fort Wayne, Fort Dodge, Fort Smith, Fort Myers — you get the idea. It would be a real Tour de Forts effort.
I’ll cut the crap, now, Captain. Enjoyed the read and always looking forward to the next one!
Thanks, Captain!
Was just wondering what protagonist Mom left in the envelope for Braxton? Money? A note?
And Dr. Holden is a professor of history and economics? Very rare, indeed!
Nice way to mosey on over and button it up, Cap’n. The pictures also clicked, and I expect to see a few of those faces at HERSHEY next week.
My take on Perry and his mom?
Some version of the trip had been thought out a couple of years earlier. Her illness strengthened the need for him to grow beyond classroom, beyond Fort Stockton, beyond local upbringing, and toward becoming more worldly. Then he could be better prepared to take the reins of the family empire. Without that background, as a 19 year old president and CEO, he’d be less prepared to face off against his Board of Directors , and likely be railroaded either into poor decisions, or worse – lose out to a Houston conglomerate ( engineered by a “trusted “ advisor). No, Mom was a smart woman, and since Perry grew up without his Dad’s personal guidance, a first hand view of the world was better than four years as a college playboy and a series of knocked-up bimbos. Holden, a world-wisened, university centered gentleman of color brought a degree of experience and insight few others could – especially in the mid-1950s. I sometimes wondered how the Silverman family fit into Fort Stockton society, and did some related searching, but that is a thought for another day.
Classroom learning is surely important, and heaven knows I’ve had my share on both sides of the lectern. On the other hand, rising through the ranks of corporate America, working one’s way from entry level to Senior V-P gives a unique outlook. Later, consulting, selling one-on-one provides an alternative and valuable perspective. On the other hand, Perry being thrust into top administration was surely a concern his mother tried to temper, even through her illness, engaging trusted consultants to advise her son – hoping he’d learned not by easily manipulated. Real world experience to guide, to know what is “Right “, and when to apply it, isn’t learned in a book or a classroom. Both help, but in different ways.
Knowing the right thing to do, and then living up to it-
Honoring commitments, first to other folks, but then the almighty ,
These, I believe, are the traits she hoped to inspire and instill in Perry.
Thanks, Captain, for a good week. A week of introspection. Your timing is awesome.
I didn’t realize anyone outside of Grounds for Divorce knew I had been sitting in the booth that day!
I had a cheeseburger at the Burger Barrel on Plains Blvd. in Amarillo before making the drive to Fort Stockton.
Captain – I’ll send you the story about Gina Lollabrigida and a Grosser Mercedes in Amarillo.
I enjoyed my visit to Grounds for Divorce and I certainly enjoyed following the tale of Perry and Cal traveling the USA, not in a Chevrolet, but in a Packard!
Certainly did enjoy it!