CONFEDERATE ROSES Confederate roses are emblematic of the South, stated Naomi to the Garden Club. They are Confederate, said Snooks. Naomi, who sold many varieties of the roses in her garden shop, wore a purple dress with a tight bodice, showing off the nice curve of her heavy breasts.. Her brown face and large glasses focused on the group. On the very same shrub, white, pink and red roses cluster. Large and showy. Gets its name from the blood these roses soaked up from Confederate battlefields, said Possum. They start out white in the morning; turn pink by midday, soaking up at blood. By evening, the roses are plum red, just the way you see em. Felder Rushing, arguably the most influential writer on Southern Gardening we have, said Naomi, recalled that ladies in Mobile gave these roses to Confederate soldiers returning home from the War. From the War, she thought, to keep my people in bondage. She was, though, obliged to concede: Those bloodstained soldiers possess a gallantry that is seductive. Prim in her favorite red dress, Jinx chimed: Those ole Confederates didnt give up. Its really a tree, said Snooks. They can occasionally be tree-like, said Naomi carefully. Basically a shrubby plant that grows fast. And they bloom well into the fall. Clear into November, said Possum. Stately in her purple dress, Naomi continued: The Confederate rose is native to China. It really isnt a rose at all—” China? said Possum. China? said Snooks. It really isnt a rose at all, but a species of hibiscus No one responded to this. Jinx, bored, one killer leg hung over the other, held up her hand, the fingers spread. I like the white ones tinged with pink, said Snooks. Jinx was examining her pinkly manicured nails about which she was more concerned than Confederate roses. Just then Lulu entered the room. Katerina followed, wearing a fiery tangerine shell and a dark brown skirt. Jinx stared at her round eyed. Snooks and Naomi were watching too. The tangerine shell shimmered. Naomi, standing, cleared her throat: As a medicine the Confederate rose is cooling. We use it to treat burns, swelling, many skin problems. Midwives once applied the residue from the flowers and leaves to ease labor in childbirth. Kat felt the eyes of Jinx upon her. The older lady tugged her red dress over a knee. Joe had told her about Jinx. Though fifty and flat as a board, her face was smooth, her tawny hair piled high. And she had those long shapely legs. Her fool of a husband had run off with his secretary several years ago, absconding with the money from their trucking business, hauling ice. Her daughter was a senior at Mississippi State. One obsession consumed Jinx: to meet someone suitable. Blaise help you pick that out? asked Possum. Yes, said Kat, straightening the dark-brown skirt, one leg crossed over the other. Naomi, still standing, thought the display a bit gaudy. But it was attention-grabbing. The tangerine shell was stretched to the limit, forcing Naomi, in modesty, to adjust her own bodice. Heads turned toward the open doorway as though drawn by a magnetic force. Blaise breezed into the room. Ladies! she said by way of greeting. Hers was always an Entrance. A sky-blue dress adorned her, low-cut with a black belt. Atop her hair sat a huge black cowboy hat. Dropping the hat into a vacant chair, Blaise seated herself at the table. She faced Kat, her tangerine shell shimmering. A shell conformed better to a woman of modest bosom, thought Blaise. But what the hell; a little stretchin never hurt anybody. And that fiery tangerine is irresistible. Naomi, shaking her head, having relinquished the discussion of Confederate roses, finally sat down. —From my romantic mystery to be published in December, the setting of which is the Mississippi Delta
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 00:06:09 +0000
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