Earl eyed him suspiciously. “I don’t get it. Why would she do that? She was always talking about how you were Annie’s daddy and ought to take responsibility for her.”
Bobby shrugged. “Search me. The more I got to know Suzanna, the more I realized I never knew her at all.”
“Me too,” Earl said, then he ordered a second double and downed it. “You said you talked to Suzanna; when was that?”
“A month ago, maybe two.”
“Was she here in Atlanta?”
Bobby hesitated a moment then nodded. “Passing through on her way to New York.”
“New York? Why would she be going—”
“You didn’t know? She married some guy with a ton of money, said they were going to spend the next few years touring Europe.”
Earl’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”
“Not at all. The only reason she came here was so I’d sign a paper letting her take Annie out of the country.”
“Did you sign it?”
“I didn’t have much choice. She said it was either that, or she’d tell my wife I was having an affair with her.”
“Damn, that stinks.” Earl emptied his beer glass, then sat there shaking his head. “So if you wanna get in touch with your kid, how you gonna do it?”
“I can’t. You know how Suzanna is; if she decides to disappear, that’s it. You’re never going to find her.”
“And you’ve got no problem with that?”
Bobby gave another of those one-shouldered shrugs, then climbed down from the bar stool and stood. “At first I did, but now I’m doing the only thing I can do. Move on and forget about her.”
“It ain’t that easy,” Earl said.
“It is if you put your mind to it. A nice guy like you deserves a good woman, not someone who treats you like Suzanna.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Earl swung himself down from the stool, and together they started to leave. They were almost out the door when he stopped and grabbed hold of Bobby’s arm.
“Wait a minute,” he said suspiciously. “How come you’re telling me all this?”
Bobby grinned. “I owe Suzanna, and I figure this is the one way I can pay her back.”
“Yeah,” Earl chuckled. “Payback; that’s exactly what she deserves.”
Earl left Atlanta that same afternoon, and before he’d gone fifty miles he started thinking about Iris.
Good thing I hung onto that number, he laughed. Good thing.
Wishes Come True
Spring 1961
A WEEK AFTER GREGG SLIPPED an engagement ring on her finger, Suzanna filed the papers to legally change her name. She answered all of the questions honestly and accurately. When asked “Reason for Name Change”, she wrote, New start.
Both Ida and Gregg were sitting in the front row on the day she stood before a judge to legalize her new name. Suzanna swore there were no pending bankruptcies or criminal intent involved then answered “yes” when he asked if she had met the publishing requirement for the intended change. By then most everyone in town was already calling her Darla Sue, and there was never any question that she was a true Parker. Ida claimed you had only to look at the girl’s eyes to know that.
“Why, they’re as much Bill as Bill himself,” she said, and nobody argued the point.
The judge studied her application for a few moments then leaned forward and eyed her over the top of his wire-rimmed spectacles.
“New start is rather vague,” he said. “Since Darla Sue Parker appears to have no relevance or connection to your given name, can you tell me why you decided to take it?”
Before Suzanna could answer, Ida stood up. “She didn’t just take it, I gave it to her!”
The judge lowered his glasses and glared over at Ida. “And who are you?”
“Ida Parker, her grandmother.”
He glanced down at the application, studied it a moment longer, then looked at Suzanna. “This says your grandparents are deceased.”
“Those are my birth grandparents,” she said. “Mrs. Parker is my adoptive grandmother.”
“If this proceeding is intended to legalize a familial relationship, it needs to be refiled as an adoption. Simply taking the Parker name could imply fraudulent intent and—”
“Nonsense,” Ida said. “Darla Sue doesn’t need a piece of paper to make us family. We’re already family. Not because of some piece of paper. We’re family because we love one another. That’s the true measure of what being a family means, and there’s no court in the world that—”
The judge banged his gavel. “Mrs. Parker, this is a court of law. Sit down unless you’re asked to provide relevant testimony.” Once Ida sat, he looked back to Suzanna. “By changing your name, do you stand to gain something of value from the Parker family?”
“I already have, your honor. Ida Parker has given me a belief in myself, a place to call home, and her love. There is nothing of greater value.”
The judge smiled and turned back to Ida. “Mrs. Parker, do you understand that even after I approve this name change, Darla Sue Parker will not actually be your granddaughter, that she has no claim on your assets, and you bear no responsibility for her upkeep?”
“Of course I do,” Ida replied. “But what a person has to do and wants to do are not necessarily the same thing. I’ve lived long enough to both know and appreciate the difference, and as far as I’m concerned—”
“That’s enough,” the judge said and motioned for Ida to sit. “It seems apparent there is no malicious intent here. Darla Sue Parker, your request is approved.”
——————
THAT APRIL, WHEN THE SWEET scent of the magnolia trees filled the air, the azaleas were starting to flower, and people had pushed their heavy coats to the back of the closet, they celebrated Ida’s seventy-fifth birthday. The party was a surprise Darla Sue and Gregg had spent over a month planning. They’d hired a band, ordered the biggest birthday
