The Red Organdy Dress

By Beverly O'Rourke

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2012 Beverly O'Rourke
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-7257-5

Contents

Chapter 1......................1Chapter 2......................4Chapter 3......................7Chapter 4......................14Chapter 5......................17Chapter 6......................20Chapter 7......................24Chapter 8......................26Chapter 9......................29Chapter 10.....................31Chapter 11.....................36Chapter 12.....................40Chapter 13.....................43Chapter 14.....................47Chapter 15.....................49Chapter 16.....................53Chapter 17.....................56Chapter 18.....................63Chapter 19.....................66Chapter 20.....................70Chapter 21.....................74Chapter 22.....................77Chapter 23.....................80Chapter 24.....................82Chapter 25.....................89Chapter 26.....................93Chapter 27.....................97Chapter 28.....................101Chapter 29.....................104Chapter 30.....................107Chapter 31.....................109Chapter 32.....................112Chapter 33.....................116

Chapter One

She doesn't remember who she is or where she came from. She can hardly remember her name or that of her daughter. She lives between darkness and light, between reality and madness. Lillie no longer cares what she looks like or how she looks to others. Her hair stands up on her head as if she stuck her fingers in an electric socket. It would almost be humorous if it were not so pitiful. Taking care of Lillie's hair is no easy task.

Her curly salt and pepper wrinkled hair is extremely thick and matted. Her daughter has tried everything but nothing seems to work.

Lillie wears long wide dresses that make her look as if she is going to a dance. She calls them moo moos and her pants pedal pushers. She lost thirty years or more of her life as an adult. Her realities are memories of a childhood that has left her many years ago.

She is a strange sight sitting on the porch with her gray hair glistening in the sunlight. Her chain smoking out of control and unending cups of coffee. She smokes at least three packs a day of Marlboro lights and when she runs out of those she'll smoke most anything available. There is no smoking allowed inside so she sits on the porch every day rain or shine.

Her weight is about 300 pounds and it doesn't seem to bother her at all. According to nurse Miles she is a sweetheart and easy to get along with. No one ever complains about her. Nurse Miles thinks it is because she is out of sight and out of mind during the day. She just sits in her favorite chair and spends her day in a dreamy trance, sometimes smiling and sometimes laughing out loud. When and if she gets agitated or upset she rocks back and forth banging the chair against the wall. But she calms down easily and her life is fairly simple.

Some days she listens to the radio and moves her feet to the rhythm. As you might guess she prefers the "oldies but goodie" radio stations. Her daughter believes she is happy because she has never once asked to leave. The only time there seems to be any life in her is when her daughter Toni arrives. Toni always brings gifts. Lillie is very protective of the gifts and will not allow anyone to touch them. In fact she has had to be restrained when other patients have touched her belongings. Toni is her only guest and for that reason tries to visit at least once a month. When Toni's husband comes along Lillie gets anxious and agitated so he spends his time walking the grounds until Toni is ready to go.

Lillie likes being alone outside on the porch and will sit there without moving or stopping to eat. That might be one of the reasons she is so obese. She rarely gets any exercise and eats mostly fattening foods. Her favorite foods are potatoes, cake, pies, strawberry punch and chocolate milk. She eats a huge breakfast that consists of bacon, sausage, eggs and lots of sweet rolls or toast and butter. The candy and cookies Toni brings her are probably another source of her weight problem. She doesn't seem to mind because she never looks in a mirror or discusses her weight with anyone anyway. The doctor has had no impact on changing her eating habits. If you ask her she would be the first to say that she was not over weight. If fact she is in complete denial about all the food she eats. She claims that most of the food they give her is for someone else. She says she feeds a child. Toni has known about the child for many years and never questions her mother about it. Occasionally she'll bring a little toy for the child just to watch the smile on her mother's face.

Toni and her husband argue all the time about the candy and other treats that she takes to her mother. Daryl cannot understand why she brings that stuff if her mother is already over weight and why buy toys for a non-existent child? Toni argues that she feels the little girl is the only thing her mother lives for. She can't get her husband to understand her mother's madness.

A normal day for Lillie is sitting on the porch feeling the warm air on her face and watching the leaves fall from the trees. She doesn't go on walks around the grounds or enjoy the beauty of the garden up close. She just sits in her chair and meditates or it seems that is what she is doing. If anyone were to pass by and see her sitting there they needn't bother to wave hello, because she usually doesn't wave back or acknowledge anyone's presence. She just sits and smokes and drinks coffee until someone comes to get her and insist that she go inside.

Chapter Two

It is twelve noon on Saturday again and Lillie is sitting on the porch in her straight back chair. She prefers the straight back chair even though her daughter brought her a rocker. She says the rocker makes her seasick and she refuses to use it. Her legs are crossed and she has her elbow on her knee. She is wearing a pink and blue flowered moo moo and if you stand on the sidewalk you might be able to see her blue panties under her dress. She is holding a cigarette between two fingers and the fingers are stiff and pointed upwards. Her nails are painted bright red as is her toenails and she is wearing white rubber slippers with flowers on top of each shoe. Lillie appears to be watching for something out there on the road beyond the fence.

The shine on the floor of the porch catches your eye immediately. You know right away that it was freshly painted with a clear varnish and now knots in the wood are clearly visible. It is so beautiful that when the sun hits it just right, the floor literally appears to glow. There is a rocking chair on one side of the porch and a table with a large coffee urn on it. There are cups, saucers, creamers and sugar sitting next to the coffee urn on a white plastic lace table cloth. There is a bench on one side of the porch and a two seated swing on the other. There is a beautiful hand braided rug right under the door leading into the house. Trees surround the porch of every hue under the sun. Some are green and some are gold, some appear to be blue, beige and red. One large tree has tiny white flowers all over it and its branches have spread so wide it appears to be much larger than the other trees. There is a vegetable garden blooming just a few feet away from the porch. The garden has tiny little blooms of tomato plants, green peppers, hot peppers, corn, watermelon and cantaloupe. On the other side of the garden are greens, cabbage, lettuce, string beans and red beans....