Alma Mater Read Online Free
Author: Rita Mae Brown
it.
Having grown up on the water, both women were in their element and could manage any boat with an ease that people coming to it later in life envied. Both could read the river, the currents, the temperature, the quick building of a sandbar that might be sluiced away in a mighty storm. They just knew.
R. J., tall and strong like her elder daughter, pulled them out into
the deepening water with four powerful strokes. Then she pointed the bow downriver so they could float for a while. Bunny peered at the shoreline through her glasses. "Blue heron. Mallard. A lot of mallards this year, and this one's a male yellow-green bill." Without dropping her binoculars, she asked, "So what are you going to do?"
"Same as always. Go without."
"Do you think you'll have to sell off acreage?"
"I won't let Frank do that. This place has been here since 1642, through Indian wars and white men's wars and just about every mess you can think of, and I'm not letting him sell it."
Bunny gently placed her binoculars on her chest. "Must have been something once upon a time, four thousand acres."
"It's something now."
"Yeah, it is. You've still got close to a thousand acres, but I don't know what you can do to keep them."
"I can make him sign off the deed. When we married, things were different. I was chattel." She smiled ruefully. "What was mine became his. That's got to change."
Bunny blinked. "Would he do it? Remove himself?"
"Perhaps, but it will be a terrific blow to him."
"And even if he did, could you keep it going? Things are changing, honey pie. You can't make a goddamned dime farming or fishing."
"No, but I've got over a mile of shoreline and if I have to, I can in telligently develop part of it."
"R. J.!" Bunny's voice rose.
"Show me another way."
"If Vic will marry Charly, that'll bring a nice chunk of change into the family. And I predict she will marry him right after graduation," Bunny said.
"We don't know what will be settled on him by his family. Some families make the kids go out and work. And I don't think that's a bad idea—no, I don't."
"They'll get them started at least. It wouldn't do for a Harrison to be poor."
"Bunny, it doesn't do for anyone to be poor."
"How true." Bunny stretched out her long, pretty legs.
And what if Vic and Charly don't want to live here?" R. J. contin ued. "Surry County may not hold them. For all I know they'll troop up to Richmond. Even Washington! Charly's got to get a job."
"She'd die of boredom. She's an outdoor kid."
R. J. laughed. "Vic's happiest running the tractor or putting up fence."
"Her idea of fashion is a red bandanna around her neck, overalls, and a shirt. Or overalls and no shirt." Bunny thought Vic's attire most unladylike.
"She worked hard this summer down at Don's and then on the farm in the early mornings and evenings. She's not afraid to work. Neither is Charly. They'll make something of themselves, those two," R. J. said.
"She's going to end up the wife of an important man. I can't picture her slapping down shingles on a roof."
"He does seem headed that way, doesn't he? Toward some kind of power and position. In the blood, I guess. But they're young. Things could change. Maybe he'll wind up a rich tax lawyer."
"Boring."
"Oh, he's not boring, dear."
"He'll become boring." Bunny's voice had an acid tinge.
"Not every day can be fire and flame."
"I'd settle for once a week." Bunny sighed. "All Don ever thinks about is the business. Jesus Christ." She trailed her hand in the water. "Maybe we can't have it all."
"I don't want it all. I just want enough."
"Oh, Bun." R. J. picked up the oar in the new oarlock and swung the bow around. Then she rowed upstream, rejoicing in the resistance. "Want me to row?"
"No, you need to preserve your strength. Isn't the club tournament tomorrow?"
"Yes, it is."
The small but lovely old country club was quite active, and at the time both young families joined, twenty-odd years ago, it hadn't been expensive. Their
Having grown up on the water, both women were in their element and could manage any boat with an ease that people coming to it later in life envied. Both could read the river, the currents, the temperature, the quick building of a sandbar that might be sluiced away in a mighty storm. They just knew.
R. J., tall and strong like her elder daughter, pulled them out into
the deepening water with four powerful strokes. Then she pointed the bow downriver so they could float for a while. Bunny peered at the shoreline through her glasses. "Blue heron. Mallard. A lot of mallards this year, and this one's a male yellow-green bill." Without dropping her binoculars, she asked, "So what are you going to do?"
"Same as always. Go without."
"Do you think you'll have to sell off acreage?"
"I won't let Frank do that. This place has been here since 1642, through Indian wars and white men's wars and just about every mess you can think of, and I'm not letting him sell it."
Bunny gently placed her binoculars on her chest. "Must have been something once upon a time, four thousand acres."
"It's something now."
"Yeah, it is. You've still got close to a thousand acres, but I don't know what you can do to keep them."
"I can make him sign off the deed. When we married, things were different. I was chattel." She smiled ruefully. "What was mine became his. That's got to change."
Bunny blinked. "Would he do it? Remove himself?"
"Perhaps, but it will be a terrific blow to him."
"And even if he did, could you keep it going? Things are changing, honey pie. You can't make a goddamned dime farming or fishing."
"No, but I've got over a mile of shoreline and if I have to, I can in telligently develop part of it."
"R. J.!" Bunny's voice rose.
"Show me another way."
"If Vic will marry Charly, that'll bring a nice chunk of change into the family. And I predict she will marry him right after graduation," Bunny said.
"We don't know what will be settled on him by his family. Some families make the kids go out and work. And I don't think that's a bad idea—no, I don't."
"They'll get them started at least. It wouldn't do for a Harrison to be poor."
"Bunny, it doesn't do for anyone to be poor."
"How true." Bunny stretched out her long, pretty legs.
And what if Vic and Charly don't want to live here?" R. J. contin ued. "Surry County may not hold them. For all I know they'll troop up to Richmond. Even Washington! Charly's got to get a job."
"She'd die of boredom. She's an outdoor kid."
R. J. laughed. "Vic's happiest running the tractor or putting up fence."
"Her idea of fashion is a red bandanna around her neck, overalls, and a shirt. Or overalls and no shirt." Bunny thought Vic's attire most unladylike.
"She worked hard this summer down at Don's and then on the farm in the early mornings and evenings. She's not afraid to work. Neither is Charly. They'll make something of themselves, those two," R. J. said.
"She's going to end up the wife of an important man. I can't picture her slapping down shingles on a roof."
"He does seem headed that way, doesn't he? Toward some kind of power and position. In the blood, I guess. But they're young. Things could change. Maybe he'll wind up a rich tax lawyer."
"Boring."
"Oh, he's not boring, dear."
"He'll become boring." Bunny's voice had an acid tinge.
"Not every day can be fire and flame."
"I'd settle for once a week." Bunny sighed. "All Don ever thinks about is the business. Jesus Christ." She trailed her hand in the water. "Maybe we can't have it all."
"I don't want it all. I just want enough."
"Oh, Bun." R. J. picked up the oar in the new oarlock and swung the bow around. Then she rowed upstream, rejoicing in the resistance. "Want me to row?"
"No, you need to preserve your strength. Isn't the club tournament tomorrow?"
"Yes, it is."
The small but lovely old country club was quite active, and at the time both young families joined, twenty-odd years ago, it hadn't been expensive. Their
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