When I was alone in there. I did peek into the closet and saw Destiny's dresses, shoes, even the bathing suit that she was in when the pictures were taken. I saw her makeup and a collection of wigs. She seemed to have twice the amount of clothing and shoes that Uncle Palaver had. There was a good picture of the two of them on the dresser in his bedroom. It was a closer shot and clearer than the newspaper clippings. I hated to say anything, but when I looked at her in the picture. I didn't think she was as attractive as she was in the newspaper.
I enjoyed being in the motor home. There was a kitchen and a little dining area. but Uncle Palaver could push a button and one side of the motor home slid out and expanded to the size of the living room and dining room. More magic. I thought. Of course, it had its own bathroom equipped with a small shower stall and a small tub. He had a television set that worked off an antenna on the roof.
Daddy had helped him with the down payment for the motor home, and it was that money that Uncle Palaver was returning on this trip. He had told Mama, and she had told Daddy, hoping that would please him about Uncle Palaver's visit.
"He didn't have to come here to hand me the money," Daddy said instead. "Why didn't he wire it or send it as soon as he had it?"
"He just wants to thank you in person, Matt."
"I can't even remember how much I gave him and how much interest I lost doing it," Daddy muttered, more to himself. I thought, He realized it immediately and snapped his head back. "I just hope he's not returning it and then asking for another loan," he declared.
Daddy's attitude made Mama very nervous. "I hope he doesn't say anything like that when your uncle is here," Mama told me later, "Entertainers are insecure as it is. They're so dependent on how people react to them and so sensitive to any negative looks or words. Warner was always a very sensitive child," she said.
That was Uncle Palaver's real name. Warner. Warner Prescott. She told me he always had hated his real name because it made him sound too pretentious. When he became a magician and reinvented himself, he loved his new name. He signed everything Palaver and even had Daddy change his name legally for him.
"I guess he thinks he's competing with Kreskin," Daddy remarked, but gladly did it. Back then, he had no problem doing favors for Uncle Palaver-- or anyone, for that matter. Now, I was afraid to ask him to fix the leaking faucet in my bathroom, much less take me somewhere to meet a friend.
Mama's preparations for Uncle Palaver's arrival became more and more intense as the day drew closer. She bought foods she knew he liked and spruced up the guest bedroom. Even though he could sleep in his motor home when he visited, she insisted he sleep in the house,
"You're my family," she told him. "Our family. Warner. You don't sleep in the driveway when you come here,"
She was so proud of him that she contemplated having some of her friends over to see him while he was visiting. At dinner one night, she proposed the idea to Daddy. He sat there, looking confused and troubled, and for a moment. I considered the possibility that he had actually forgotten Uncle Palaver was arriving in two days.
"When would you do that?" he finally asked.
"We could do it Saturday night, Matt. We haven't done anything with anyone for nearly a month. We turned down three invitations because of your work commitments. People are beginning to think we don't like them anymore or we've become snobs."
"Who cares what they think? I don't live my life to please them," he snapped back at her. "Saturday is out of the question," he added. "I'm going to Memphis on Saturday to meet with Byron Philips of Philips. Lancaster, and Dunn on the Shelton Concrete matter. We're on the verge of a settlement that would bring us some important money. I told you that."
"No, you didn't," Mama said.
"I did, but you don't listen to anything I say when your little brother is coming. You're all in a dither about his visit, as if he was some dignitary or someone. He's just a wandering gypsy, a hobo on wheels, hardly anyone to make a fuss over. Nora, and certainly not anyone to spotlight at a party- here. What do you want him to do, amuse the Krongers, the Metzlers, the Dismukes, and the Renners by pulling dimes out of their ears or telling them what card they picked from his decks? These people fly to New York and go to Broadway shows or go to London. You'll make a fool of yourself and a bigger one of me for sponsoring such a stupid event."
Mama simply stared at him. Brenda and I looked down. but I raised my eyes and looked at Mama's. There wasn't anger in them as much as there was pain and disbelief. She was searching Daddy's face now with the scrutiny of a detective, looking for some clue to help her understand how the man she had given her life and soul, her i
dentity and love, had suddenly turned away from her.
Brenda slapped her fork down on her plate so hard I was sure she had cracked it. Daddy's head snapped up.
"I don't think Uncle Palaver's tricks are stupid at all," she said. "I think you're stupid for saving such a mean thing, and I think we should have the party with or without you. I have some friends I'd like to have meet him. Maybe he'll be here in time to attend the volleyball game Friday afternoon," she added pointedly. "He could take your seat."
We all held our breath. Even Daddy looked as if he had frozen in place. The silence was deafening. It reminded me of the movie about tornados we had seen in science class. I felt as if we had moved into the eye of the storm and a deceptive calm was filling us with false hope.
"Maybe he will,' Daddy finally said. He said it in a soft, sedated manner with little or no emotion. Then he turned to Mama. "Do what you want on Saturday night." he added. "I'll try to be back before eleven."
Although it sounded like a concession. it had an empty, "I don't care" ring to it. and I knew Mama would do absolutely nothing about having a party for Uncle Palaver, Brenda and I would urge her to do it anyway, but she had never in all my young lifetime done anything like that without Daddy's full blessing and agreement. She was so in time with his thoughts and feelings that she could hear the slightest hesitation and drop an idea or a proposal, and it used to be that he was just like that with her. There had once been a time when each other's unhappiness, for whatever reason, was a burden neither could long endure.
I wondered if Uncle Palaver had a trick up his sleeve that could restore that bit of loving magic.
Before I went to sleep. I knelt by my bed and prayed that God would have mercy on us. We were
being pulled apart, I told him. We shattering right before one another's eyes and we don't understand what terrible thing we have done to deserve it. I prayed that Daddy would change back to being Daddy and that Mama's heart wouldn't crumble. I prayed that Brenda would stop being so angry and that I would stop crying.
I fell asleep with Mr. Panda in my arms. In the morning, as usual these days. Daddy was already gone by the time Brenda and I went to breakfast. Mama looked peaked and white and very tired. It wasn't hard to tell that she had been up all night.
Uncle Palaver was arriving in two days. How would he find us? Would he see the turmoil, and would he try to help, or would he turn and flee from it? He was never one to contradict Daddy. He was too gentle and easygoing a man. Daddy's words would surely devastate him. I feared.
I couldn't recall a time in my life when I was more nervous and distracted. I felt as if I were walking in a thick fog when I went to school, and sure enough. I got into trouble when Mr. Leshman asked me a question in social studies class and I didn't respond. I was lost in thoughts about all the turmoil at home and never heard him. I didn't even hear him repeat it, even though I looked as if I were paving attention, my eyes on him. It confused and annoyed him.