Chapter 7
Chapter
Tamar placed her purse on the living room chair only to hear her phone buzzing inside. Fishing it out, she saw it was a text from Trent. Jimmy R evacuated to Topeka by med copter. Bing and Reg with him. Will drive you to hospital now or in the morning if you want to go. Call me when you get this.
Her heart pounding, she called. An hour later she was riding shotgun with Trent to the hospital in Topeka. During the ride, he told her what he knew.
“One of his daughters called him this morning as they do every morning, but he didn’t pick up. When she still hadn’t talked to him by noon, she called Bing and had him go by the house. Bing said he could hear the cats yowling as soon as he got out of his truck.”
Her lips thinned.
“He found Jimmy unresponsive on the floor. He called Reg. Reg drove over, assessed him, and immediately called the medical chopper for transport to Topeka. He and Bing flew there with him. Kathy met them at the hospital. Dianne and Peg are flying in as soon as they can get flights.”
Jimmy’s oldest daughter Kathy lived in Topeka, middle daughter Dianne in Syracuse, New York, and Peggy, the baby, in Austin.
“Has Bing or Reg called to say how he’s doing?”
“Only that the doctors think he had a stroke either early this morning or late last night. He’s in intensive care. I had Lil book us some hotel rooms. We can stay as long as you want. Bing too.”
“Okay. Thank you.” Such terrible news. She was so worried.
“Reg was already scheduled to fly from Topeka to DC tomorrow afternoon for a conference. He had me pick up his suitcase from Roni. I’ll drive him to the airport if he needs me to.”
“Good.”
When she was with Jimmy a few weeks ago, she never imagined it might be the last time she’d see him well. Calling down blessings from all the Ancestors, Spirits, and saints in her pantheon, she prayed he’d pull through.
Jimmy’s eldest daughter Kathy greeted Tamar with a big hug and tears in her eyes. “Thanks for coming, Aunt Tammy.”
“You knew I’d be here. How’s he doing?”
“Not good. Doctors think he’s just holding on to say his goodbyes.”
“No!” she whispered emotionally. She wasn’t prepared for this.
“He’s been asking for you. Let me find out if it’s okay for you to go in and see him.”
Kathy walked to the nurse’s station a few feet away, then returned. “They said yes, but not to stay too long. I’ll go with you.”
Tamar nodded.
“He’s hooked up to a bunch of machines, so don’t be surprised, okay?”
“Okay.”
Inside, the silence of the room was gently ruffled by the soft sounds of the machines.
There were IV poles, quietly beeping monitors, and thin transparent tubes hooked to his nose so oxygen could be pumped into his failing lungs.
His eyes were closed, and he appeared so gaunt and small against the white hospital bedding she had to place her hand over her mouth to muffle her gasp of despair.
Kathy hugged her waist and said softly, “I’ll come back in a few minutes.
If you call his name, he’ll open his eyes. ”
Kathy left, and Tamar was struck again by his frailness. She leaned over the bed and called gently, “Jimmy. It’s Tammy.”
His eyes remained closed. She started to call again only to have his eyes slowly open. He gave her a small smile. “That you, Tam?” His voice was just above a whisper.
“It is.”
“Guess I should’ve worn the old people’s bracelet after all, huh?”
He still had his sense of humor. “Maybe. Don’t you dare die on me, old man. We’re supposed to be going to dinner, remember.”
“I do. Reverend Paula’s new man’s fancy place.”
“Yes.”
“Maybe next lifetime. Tell her I’m leaving her my boys. They like her a lot. Will you tell her for me?”
Tamar’s throat filled with emotion. “I will. I promise.”
“Good.” His eyes closed again.
She thought he’d drifted back into sleep, but they slowly opened once more. The once bright green eyes were now visibly dulled as he looked up at her. “Thanks for being in my life, Tamar July.”
Unable to hold back the tears, she placed a brief kiss on his forehead. “Thanks for being in mine, James Redding Jr.” She gently wiped away a tear that had fallen on his brow.
Eyes closed, he sang in a barely audible voice, “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.”
She smiled through her grief. Only he would find humor at such a moment, but her heart was still broken, and her tears fell freely as she left the room.
His daughter Peggy arrived from Austin at nine that night. Dianne got in from Syracuse at midnight. The doctors were right about him hanging on until he said his goodbyes. At one a.m., he passed away peacefully in his sleep.
A memorial service was held a week later at Henry Adams’s church.
Reverend Paula led the service. Bennie and Levon solemnly flanked her procession up the center aisle.
Bing gave the eulogy. Jimmy’s daughters, along with their husbands and his six grandkids, sat in the front pews.
Behind them sat the Julys, including Thad and Griffin.
Area farmers and business owners who’d called Jimmy friend came from all over the county and told Jimmy stories to the packed sanctuary that garnered both laughter and tears.
A small table covered by a lace-edged white cloth was placed at the foot of the altar steps.
In the center stood a framed photo of a younger, smiling Jimmy leaning against one of his red Cadillacs.
After the service and repast courtesy of the Redding family and the Dog, Tamar said her goodbyes.
She then drove home. Jimmy’s passing weighed heavy on her heart, and she wanted to crawl under the covers and shed more tears, but instead, she called longtime friend Mabel Franklin down in Florida who’d been unable to attend the memorial due to her broken hip. She’d loved Jimmy very much too.
When darkness fell, Tamar had one last thing to do, so she stepped outside, walked a short distance out into the surrounding field, then stopped for a moment to view the stars and moon in the clear, breezy night sky.
As the winds lifted her silver hair and the hems of her dress and flowing coat, she reverently raised her hands to the heavens and recited the prayers for the dead in the old tongue she’d learned growing up.
She voiced words that reached back to the Black Seminole villages of Florida before the wars and after the removal west; words chanted during the Middle Passage to soothe fears and impart strength; words born when both the world and its children were young.
Over the decades of her life, she’d forgotten many of the phrases and songs, but hoped what she did remember would be enough to gently propel Jimmy’s journey from this plane to the next.
And when she finished, she lowered her arms, offered up a final thanks for having known him, and slowly walked back to the house.
In the days that followed, a pall seemed to settle over Henry Adams. It was as if the town was in mourning too.
The atmosphere at the Dog lacked its usual exuberance; people were quieter, somber; and stories about how James Redding positively affected the lives of his neighbors were told everywhere.
“I wish I’d known him,” Bernadine said to Mal as they sat on lawn chairs and watched their high-flying kites dance in the wind. “I feel as though I missed out by having never met him.”
“Once he stopped driving, he rarely left his place, but you would’ve liked him.”
“Listening to all the stories people told at the memorial, I agree.”
“I’ll always be grateful to him. When I lost my vet license, he continued to let me look after his animals. Said he didn’t trust the young vet the county hired.”
She turned to him. “Was allowing you to still work legal?”
“No, but Jimmy didn’t care. He knew what he wanted, and it wasn’t a kid too young to shave. His words.”
She found that amusing. “And the story the woman told about being born in his Cadillac?”
He smiled. “Yes. Her mom, rest her soul, went into labor while her husband was working in the Oklahoma oil fields. They lived not too far from Jimmy, so she called him to take her to the small hospital that used to be in Franklin.”
“Something else I didn’t know—Franklin having a hospital.”
“Focus, sweetheart.”
She playfully punched him in the arm, and he reacted with an exaggerated groan.
“Finish the story,” she said, laughing.
He rubbed his arm. “Violent woman. Like you, the baby didn’t know about the hospital, either, and decided being born in the back seat of a Cadillac was the way to go. Mom named her Caddy and chose Jimmy as godfather.”
“That’s so sweet. What’s going to happen to his land?”
“Bing said one of the daughters wants to move back and live there. They plan to keep the land in the family, which is great. A classic car collector down in Wichita wants the Cadillacs, so Trent and Bobby have been hired to restore them. Trent can’t wait to get started.”
She could only imagine how pleased he was. “Is there anyone else around here I haven’t met?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. I’ll have to think about that. Not many of the elders left.”
“I kind of wish I’d known Cephas Patterson before he died. Him leaving Zoey his gold was amazing.”
“That old hermit could have gone through life content to not know any of us. Him taking a liking to Zoey surprised everybody.”
They sat silently for a few moments and watched the kites. She thought about Dark Horse building their campus on the surrounding land. “I’m going to miss coming out here to fly kites.”
“Me too. But we’ll find another special spot.”
“Lots of memories here.”
He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss on her brow. “Thanks for making them with me.”
“Thank you for showing me how much I needed them.”
“We’re a good team.”
The love in his eyes filled her heart. “Yeah, we are.”