“We don’t see many movies,” Charles answered for her. “Too much bad language.”
Jeanie smiled politely “It is a sight, isn’t it?”
“Well, I think we all know who’s in charge of Hollywood,” Mike said “And it’s not the Christians.”
Lily squeezed Ben’s hand so hard she expected to hear the bones crack. They had been sitting in uncomfortable silence for a few moments when the front door swung open. “Oh, that must be my husband,” Jeanie said.
It was. Big Ben was wearing his customary plain white T-shirt, blue jeans, and work boots, but he was smeared from head to toe with what appeared to be axle grease. His lips looked startlingly pink in contrast to the black gunk on his face. “One of the blame machines at the mill broke down, and I had to fix it. You want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.” He nodded at the Maycombs. “I’m Benny Jack’s daddy, by the way. Ever’body calls me Big Ben.” He looked down at his grease-blackened paw.
“Don’t mean to seem standoffish, but I don’t reckon y’all’d wanna be shaking my hand right now.”
“Honey —” Jeanie’s voice was tense. “Why don’t you take a shower before you put the steaks on?”
“I reckon I will.” Big Ben wiped his brow, smearing grease across his forehead. “Think I’ll just grab me a be — a Co’Cola first.” It was Big Ben’s custom to consume a six-pack of Budweiser between the time he got home from work and the time he went to bed, but Lily had asked him to abstain while in the Maycombs’ presence.
Later, as they sat around the dining room table, everyone but Lily and Mimi slicing into huge, bloody slabs of steak, Ida chirped, “Lily, I just don’t see how you can stand to be a vegetarian. I mean, what do you eat?”
Lily smiled so tensely that her jaws ached. “Everything but meat.” She speared a forkful of salad.
“Well,” Charles began, “doesn’t it say in the Bible, though, that the Lord gave man dominion over animals?”
“Well, Lily’s softhearted when it comes to animals,” Ben said. “You know how women are.”
Charles, Ben, Mike, and Big Ben all shared a laugh about the sentimentality of womenfolk. While wringing her napkin under the table as though it were a human neck, Lily noticed that Jeanie rolled her eyes at the men, while Ida laughed right along with them.
They were very different women, Jeanie and Ida. While Jeanie might enjoy reading a romance novel while lounging in the pool, she definitely knew the difference between fantasy and reality. She never let a man have the final word just because of his gender, and as a mother and a businesswoman, she exuded competence and confidence.
Ida, however, lived in a world in which she unquestioningly took orders from God and her husband, not necessarily in that order. No matter what her husband and son said, she smiled in agreement.
If Ida ever had any complaints, Lily was sure that she muttered them under her breath instead of saying them out loud.
“You know,” Charles began, “I was just saying when we were driving through Versailles how I kinda envy y’all for living in this small town. Some of the best folks anywhere live in small-town America—God-fearing, hardworking people who aren’t afraid to do for each other.”
