Closing Circles

By Carolyn Cody-Fuller

Years ago, life separated the sisters, Lavender, Hyacinth, and Oleander Sipp. Now, it seems that life has conspired to bring them back to the place where each of their stories began, their family farm in rural Georgia. After experiencing more than a few setbacks, Lavender, the youngest of the sisters has come home to do nothing . . . and that

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carolyn Cody-Fuller
• Release date: Dec 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781732599918

Book preview

Closing Circles

A NOVEL

CAROLYN CODY FULLER

CLOSING CIRCLES

Closing Circles is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 2018 © by Carolyn Cody-Fuller

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher, except for brief quotations in reviews.

Published in the United States

Cover Design: Virtually Possible Designs

Closing Circles

Name: Cody-Fuller, Carolyn

Fiction: Closing Circles /Carolyn Cody-Fuller

Identifiers: LCCN 2018911399

ISBN 13-978-1-7325999-0-1

ISBN: 978-1-7325999-2-5 (ebook)

Fiction/ African American/ Women. | Fiction/Family Life/Siblings. | Fiction/ Relationships. | Regional American Fiction/Southern

DEDICATION

To the memory of my parents: Edward and Rosie Mae Hall Cody; and my brother:  Edward Cody, Jr.

Sisters are different flowers from the same garden. -Anonymous

CHAPTER ONE

My sister Oleander doesn’t lie—she just beats the truth to death.

Lavender lay awake in her bed at four thirty in the morning. She stared at the ceiling as she struggled to find that happy medium between getting along with her sister and standing up for herself. More than anything, she wanted Oleander to like her.

Aw heck, I’ll settle for a little respect, a tad of understanding, or a teaspoon of ‘I care about you.’

She sat up in bed. What if I hadn’t married and dropped out of college during my freshman year? What if I had married, but not to a drug addict?

Before Lavender could finish her litany of what ifs she heard the dreaded sound down the hall on her sister Hyacinth’s door.

Bang, bang, bang!

What if I had been a better student like Hy and O? What if I... Lavender kicked the covers off her legs, moaned, and crawled out of bed. She knew the next three bangs would be on her door.

Bang, bang, bang!

Lavender exhaled through her nose and tried to shake life into her body. She stuck her feet into her flip-flops, looked at her image in the mirror and fluffed her hair. Remember The Spring Resolution not to respond to Oleander’s insults, true or not. Just grin and bear it—suck it up!

Lavender and Hyacinth met in the hallway and trudged down the stairs together, headed toward the porch where Oleander waited.

Lavender asked, Why do we do this?

Because this is what people do on a farm. They get up early.

"Hy, we live on a farm, we don’t actually work on a farm. So why do we do this?"

Hyacinth, oldest of the three sisters, picked up the two mats from the bench in the hallway. To pacify Oleander by participating in a morning ritual that she insists we engage in. Here, take your mat.

Thanks to the stars above we only have to do these stupid morning exercises in the spring and fall. O claims it’s too hot during summer and too cold in winter. Hallelujah for hot and cold!

The peep of day, just before the golden ray of sunlight cast its beam over the horizon, greeted Lavender. Crickets, frogs and other night creatures quieted down for the day as the Sipp sisters settled into their position on the porch. Lavender would never admit it out loud, but she enjoyed soaking in the sweet smell of honeysuckle filtering through the fresh morning air as she followed Oleander’s yoga instructions. There were, it seemed to Lavender, a thousand ways to sit, bend, twist, and stretch their bodies.

After twenty minutes, Hyacinth pushed herself up and sat in the swing, setting it in motion with the tip of her toes. Ahh, spring, ‘Now every field is clothed with grass; and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms . . .’

Lavender turned her head and smirked when her librarian sister apparently forgot the rest of the quote. She sprawled on the floor, huffing and puffing. Enough bending, stretching and touching my toes. I’m done.

Oleander, whose tall and agile body had barely a sheen polishing her toffee complexion, glanced through the arc of her bent elbow and barked, Come on, Lav, get back down here and give me ten counts of right triangle pose then you can do ten of half-moon and thatta be it for a lazy bone like you.

Lavender put up with this yoga crap in the morning to show Hyacinth she was trying to connect with Oleander. But it wasn’t an easy task. Oleander was masterful at pushing Lavender’s buttons, and she did it often and expertly.

This is ridiculous, Lavender said, hating that she fell for O’s jabs. It’s just plain ludicrous. You didn’t make Hy do extras.

Hyacinth stood, yawned, and headed for the door. According to O, early morning encourages healthy eating habits. So, I need to get to it. No more bending for me.

Lavender agreed cheerfully. Right on, Hy! Go make us a healthy breakfast.

Oleander had bridged into downward dog. It also enhances our productivity.

Now that might be true, Lavender said as she settled into a right triangle pose. I do my best art work in the mornings.

Lavender, stop talking, O snapped. Straighten your leg out and turn your head slightly to the right.

Lavender struggled through the last exercises the dictator told her to do, then she rolled over, pushed herself off the floor, and danced inside to entertain Hyacinth.

Lavender leaned over the counter and watched as Hyacinth made tea for Oleander and coffee for the two of them. Hyacinth was a patient soul, a definite requirement to deal with her two warring sisters. The only difference among the three, other than personalities and temperament, was their height. Oleander was the tallest; Lavender was a fraction shorter than Oleander, and Hyacinth a tad shorter than Lavender. But their skin tone and brown eyes were the same.

Lavender remembered part of The Spring Resolution was to help Hy in the kitchen. She unfolded her body from the counter, walked over to the cabinet and took out three cups and put them on the counter. Here you go!

Hyacinth smiled. We’re having breakfast on the porch this morning. Why don’t you get the trays and take them out and come back for the coffee and tea?

Every once in a while, Hyacinth liked to serve breakfast, and sometimes lunch, on the porch. Lavender dutifully did as she was told. When she walked onto the porch, Oleander was still sitting in one of those positions. You want to help? We’re having breakfast out here.

No response.

Lavender gave Oleander one of her squinty eyes tongue hanging out of her mouth faces and went back inside.

Three trips later, Lavender helped Hyacinth bring the last of the breakfast out just as Oleander stood and stretched. Oleander gave Lavender a sorrowing glance. You look like a sad sack. Can’t you dress better than that and comb your hair?

Lavender cocked her head to the side and twirled. This is the latest style. Then she smoothed her hand over her out-of-control hair and struck a pose with her other hand on her hip. Don’t you read those fashion magazines you subscribe to?

Hyacinth cleared her throat. Oleander, pass me the jam and an extra napkin, please.

Quietness settled over the sisters as they continued to enjoy their breakfast. Until Hyacinth’s voice sliced through the silence.

Well now, she began as she gazed out at what once had been a magnificent display of their mother’s flowers. Sitting here looking out at those weed-filled flower beds remind me of all the gardens that surrounded this house when we were growing up.

Lavender automatically focused on the spring when each sister was given a spot in the backyard so they could plant their own gardens. Because they had flower names, Hyacinth and Lavender decided to plant the flower for which they were named. Oleander hated her name and refused to plant a single oleander bush. She proclaimed that it wasn’t a flower. It was a tree because it grew almost as tall as a man. She knew this because she had researched her name.

Lavender closed her eyes. The aroma of her mother’s banana shrub wafted through her imagination. The shrub had actually smelled like bananas. And the mock orange bush! Not only was it fragrant, it had attracted a swarm of butterflies and a flock of birds.

As if Hyacinth had read Lavender’s mind she said, I’ll never forget that summer Mother took us to The Garden Shop all the way in Blakely so we could buy flowers to plant in our very own flower gardens. Do you remember that bush that smelled like bananas?

No one answered.

Lavender slipped into her own private world. She rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, chewing on her last piece of bacon and staring at the ceiling fan. She thought a ceiling fan on the porch was a crazy idea, but after last summer, she genuinely appreciated having the whirling blades emitting air to combat the sweltering heat.

With the sounds of nature all around and the spinning of the fan to entertain her, Lavender let her thoughts bounce from one thing to another until Oleander decided to interrupt her musing.

"Hyacinth, you just gave me my best idea ever! When you mentioned those weed-filled gardens, a flash of brilliance burst into my head."

Lavender gave Oleander a what now look, but she didn’t utter a single word. How many brilliant ideas can burst through one person’s head?

Hyacinth shook her head as she pushed herself out of the swing. I don’t think I’m interested in another one of your ideas. Your follies got me into trouble when we were growing up, and now they cost me money. You two bring those dishes into the kitchen.

Lavender watched Oleander glare out at the fallow fields overgrown with weeds, but when Oleander turned to face her, Lavender knew a barrage of criticisms was headed her way.

Tie-Dye Queen, Oleander said, signifying Lavender’s choice of clothing, does it not bother you that this place is an eyesore?

A prelude to some disparaging words, Lavender decided to test The Spring Resolution section of not letting O start a fight. I know you’re going to tell me how shiftless, immature, lazy, ill-groomed, uneducated I am, and how you are embarrassed to be seen with me. And, you are so right I didn’t do anything to improve this place Daddy left us while you were in New York City running that hoity-toity hospital!

Lavender knew by Oleander’s perplexed look she had taken her sister’s thunder away. I’m proud of myself. Check one for me.

After a few minutes, Lavender stood, picked up some of the dishes, and walked around the porch to the back door leaving Oleander to enjoy the morning alone. O has an idea. Who would have thought it? I’ll wager every penny I have that whatever it is, it’s going to be laugh-out-loud insane.

★★★

When Lavender lived on the farm alone for the past six years, she didn’t cook. Fact was, she didn’t know how to cook. During her not-quite one year of college she ate in the cafeteria. After that she waitressed or lived off microwave stuff.

Keeping The Spring Resolution to Hy, Lavender pushed the screen door open and walked into the kitchen with her hands full of dishes. Her oldest sister had her head in the freezer. I’ll go get the rest of the dishes from the porch and put them in the dishwasher. When Lavender returned with the last stack of dishes, Oleander was right on her heels.

Lavender did a world-class eye roll, ignored her pushy middle sister, and put the dishes in the dishwasher.

O had obviously not enjoyed her alone time on the porch. Here she was, peddling another one of her ideas. Hyacinth, does it not bother you that this place has become a wilderness? Soon we’ll have bears, wolves, and maybe a tiger or two in our backyard.

Lavender gave Oleander a saccharine smile as she remembered reading an article about birth order and how the placement of a child in the family affected them. Well, that article lied, because Oleander, being the middle child, wasn’t a people pleaser, or a peacemaker, or had low self-esteem. She didn’t have many friends, either. But, she was successful, took risks, and was as dramatic as her bears, wolves and tigers proved.

But worst of all, Lavender knew Oleander hated her.

When Lavender refocused, Oleander was still explaining. There’s so much potential on this land, but we’re not capitalizing on the possibilities this place has to offer.

Oleander had mentioned the sorry condition of the farm several times in the year and a half she’d crawled back home to live with them, but clearing the weeds on fifty-one acres of farmland was a mammoth project. The land had been deserted for almost eight years before Lavender returned six years earlier, and she’d never had the money to do anything about it.

When Hyacinth came home two years ago, she’d been so torn to pieces over the death of her husband all she could do was drown her sorrow by cooking, which was a blessing to Lavender. The condition of the land around the house was very low on their priority list.

Oleander was undeterred by the lack of any acknowledgement from Lavender or Hyacinth. She plowed on. See, Hy gave me this idea, and it’s a damn good one if I say so myself. She paused and looked from sister to sister. Aren’t you going to ask me what I have in mind?

Lavender had zero interest in any of Oleander’s cockamamie ideas but said, Why don’t you get on with it. I know it’s going to be a doozy of an idea. She mentally smacked her head, sternly reminding herself to be positive. But, being gracious when dealing with O was a new concept.

Hyacinth never looked up from reading the morning paper. I hope this isn’t another corn liquor idea.

Corn liquor? Righteous, healthy O? That was news to Lavender. The frown on Oleander’s face intrigued her. She decided to ask Hyacinth about it later.

Let’s stay focused on the issue at hand, suggested Oleander.

Hyacinth put the paper down and rested her face on her left hand. If you have an idea, just tell us, and get it over with.

O’s drone lulled Lavender back into her own world. I think I’ll take my sketchpad and search for a nice quiet place to do some illustrations – maybe the pond, my favorite hangout. I hope Oleander doesn’t include my pond in her big idea. I won’t allow any digging at my special place. But I don’t need to worry about that. She hates the pond. I hope the light is good there since the sun is bright. I’ll have to find the right spot with all those pine trees around.

Oleander raised her voice a pitch higher, bringing Lavender’s attention back to . . . we need to do something with the land, and you know how Rose loved gardening. Think about this. She had five acres for her vegetable garden. Vegetables she gave to anyone who ventured out here to no man’s land.

It finally dawned on Lavender that Oleander was disrespecting their mother. When did you start calling Mother, Rose? That’s irreverent, you know.

Oleander looked with arched brows at Lavender and smiled. "And, Rose also had nearly two acres that surrounded the house for her flower gardens."

Lavender mentally repeated her vow not to let O start a fight. So, she asked, Hy, what was the name of those white roses with the red around the edges?

Oleander responded. Double Delights, fragrant hybrid tea roses.

Thanks, Oleander, Lavender replied sweetly.

Hyacinth spoke softly. I think I’ll plant some of those when I finish weeding the front yard—Double Delights, huh?

Lavender stood, followed promptly by Oleander.

We can revitalize this place, turn it into botanical gardens. Come with me. I’ll show you that the possibilities here are endless!

You and Hy go look around, Lavender said. I have a mission to accomplish. You can fill me in on the plan later. She headed for the back door, then stopped, turned, and said, Oops, I forgot, I need to get my drawing stuff.

Oleander held the screen door open for Hyacinth and the two made their exit. Lavender could still hear Oleander explaining the merits of transforming their farm into a bunch of flower gardens.

Thirty minutes later, after she ate another bacon and egg biscuit, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and cleaned the counters, Lavender went in search for her sketch pad and pencils. She suspected Oleander had moved them, since she constantly complained about Lavender leaving her things all over the house. Life had been easier when she lived by herself. Easier, but lonely. Lavender walked out the back door with her sketchpad and pencils in hand. Early morning had evolved into a glorious spring day with a soft breeze that blew in from the northeast. The sky was crystal clear with just a smattering of puffy white clouds. She smiled and sang, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."

Lavender could never go directly to her destination. She’d eventually get to the pond to do some drawing. It just might take her a few hours to get there. She dawdled, talking to herself. When she spied her sisters, she muttered, Look at those two old ladies sitting on the ground like they did when we were young girls. I think I’ll join them. Lavender liked calling her sisters old ladies because Hyacinth was seven years older and Oleander, five years ahead of Lavender’s thirty-five.

Lavender felt a caressing wind wrap around her, the same caress she had felt several times while she sat at the pond. She turned and looked back at the house. She could have sworn she caught a glimpse of her mother standing on the back porch staring at her. She froze in her steps and hoped the image would reappear.

Lavender, come over here. Oleander’s voice sliced through the air and Lavender’s thoughts.

The image of her mother standing on the porch tugged at her heart.

Flashbacks of her mother singing softly while she cooked and as she hung clothes on the clothesline sprouted in Lavender’s mind. Rose Sipp had been a gentle soul, like Hyacinth, and was generous to a fault. She didn’t need five acres for a vegetable garden, but she often gathered the vegetables and took them to folks who were called the sawmill families, because the men worked in the mill.

Lavender continued her trek across the field. Her head teemed with memories. Many Sunday afternoons town folks from nearby Urquhart, and as far away as Blakely, would drive by their stately old house, which was way out of town and surrounded by farm land, to marvel at their mother’s beautiful flowers. Caught up in reminiscing, she stumbled and almost fell.

Ouch!

No one noticed. As Lavender approached her sisters, Oleander pointed her finger this way and that way as she excitedly detailed her vision of transforming the farm.

Lavender sat carefully on the ground, placed her drawing pad beside her, and reclined on her back. She broke a twig from a bush, and put it in her mouth to chew on, disturbed by O’s talk of flowers, not the former glory of corn and peanut crops their father grew.

The smell of wildflowers burst through the tumbled weeds and overgrown grass, while rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and other small creatures darted about, keeping their distance from the humans.

Oleander, in an effort to update Lavender, said, I was just telling Hy that we should take the acres that were the flower and vegetable gardens and make them into botanical gardens where classes, individuals, and groups can come to learn about nature. We can have weddings and all sorts of events.

Lavender saw Hyacinth’s glow, that look she got when she was excited about something. Hyacinth, it seemed, was buying into Oleander’s idea.

Speaking of classes, Hyacinth said, I’m reminded of the time when I was nine and in fourth grade. Mrs. Ford brought our class out for a field trip to see the gardens. And, after lunch, we went wild when Mother took us to the far end of the yard, beyond the vegetable garden, to see the butterflies swarming over the marigold, honeysuckle, lavender, Shasta daisies, and yarrow. We had so much fun chasing those butterflies.

Exhilarated, Oleander piped up. That’s what I’m talking about. We can make it an exciting and educational venue for classes just like it was for yours.

Children can use their five senses. They’d love the taste test.

Lavender knew Hyacinth would eventually have an idea that dealt with food. Although Hy didn’t eat that much, she sure did cook like she ran a café.

We can plant berry bushes, such as blueberries and blackberries, in strategic places around the gardens.

And strawberries, Lavender said.

Those aren’t bushes. In the vegetable gardens, we can have things for them to eat, such as carrots, tomatoes, radishes, beets, cucumbers, peppers, and onions, Oleander replied jubilantly.

And, said Hyacinth, "I’m a librarian. I can use my storytelling skill for story time. There are some great books like Blueberries for Sal, The Gardner, Carrot Seed, The Vegetables We Eat, and good old Peter Rabbit and many, many other great stories for children about gardens and outdoor life."

Lavender closed her eyes. Yep, Hyacinth has fallen into another Oleander project trap.

Lavender let the buzzing insects, the wind whispering through the weeds, and the sun going in and out of the few clouds in the sky take her back to the image of her mother standing on the porch looking right at her.

Her reverie was interrupted when Oleander poked her and snapped, Wake up.

Not sleeping, I’m thinking!

About?

Ghosts, spirits, and afterlife. Some people do return after they die, you know.

"What?" Oleander screeched.

Lavender explained. I’m convinced that people can, after death, come back to visit those they love, to complete some unfinished business, or to guide a lost loved one. Apparitions, I think.

Oleander turned to Hyacinth. This is what I’ve been telling you for years. She’s so irresponsible and naïve. Did you hear what she just said? Spirits! Not to mention she has never held a decent job and what, with that marriage that was over before the ink dried on the license? Oleander was skillful when it came to packing a suitcase full of criticisms at Lavender.

When she didn’t get a response, Oleander urged, Talk with her, Hy, she’ll listens to you.

Lavender ignored the one-way conversation Oleander was having about her. Again, she was trying to maintain peace. She knew any teeny tiny thing she would say or do would ignite sparks of fury in Oleander.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. The words skipped through her mind so she would keep her resolve.

CHAPTER TWO

There was nothing special about the pine woods, the five acres of land directly behind the Sipp Family house and farmland, separated by an old wooden fence. But there was something special in the pine woods—Lavender’s Pond. For the past week, Lavender had spent more time than usual at the pond, a nice sized body of water that had catfish, crappies, lots of minnows, and a red grouper named Fish. No matter how hot a summer day was, it was always cool and damp at the pond; maybe because of the pine trees that surrounded it.

The pond was Lavender’s I-want-to-be-alone spot. Here she told her friend Fish all her thoughts. She told him about seeing her mother standing on the back porch, of Oleander’s idea to turn the farm into botanical gardens, and her desire to maintain peace with her sister. She waited quietly for Fish to jump out of the water. When he didn’t, she continued, Oleander didn’t have to come back here, but according to her, the only reason she came was to protect her third of the farm, as if Hy and I would steal from her. But the real reason, I think, is she was too embarrassed to stay in New York after that womanizing fiancé of hers cheated on her with almost every female in the hospital. You know how proud Miss Oleander Sipp is. But personally, I think it’s more to her story than she’s telling us. And now, Hy and I have to suffer for his infidelity.

Lavender picked up some pebbles and tossed them into the pond and watched as the ripples spread to the outer edges. I might have to go back to Augusta, G-A and get a job in one of those fast food places or the guitar store where I worked when that thieving ex-husband of mine stole my money and left me high and dry with all those bills. I should find him and make him pay me every penny he took from me. And, if I continue my Paine College education, I’ll consider online classes as opposed to going on campus at my age. What do you think, Fish? Whenever she talked with Fish, she said whatever came to her mind whenever it came to her mind.

A light wind disturbed the birds in the trees. A rainbow appeared on the pond and faded just as quickly as it appeared.

Startled, Lavender jumped up but took a spill on the slick wet mud.

The wind whistled through the trees at the same time she could have sworn she heard the word Stay. She was silent, the wind was still, and the birds returned to perch in the trees.

She asked, as she tried to brush the mud off her clothes, Wow, Fish! Did you hear that?

When Lavender left the pond, she spotted Hyacinth pulling weeds from one of the flower gardens, a futile exercise. But if Hy wanted to waste her time, who was she to rain on her parade?

Hyacinth stood, stretched, and yelled, Hey you! Come over here! Let’s talk.

As Lavender started in Hyacinth’s direction, she whispered, "At least she didn’t say, hey you, come help me."

When she reached Hyacinth, the two walked slowly toward the white columned front porch, as if they had forever to get there. Hyacinth gave her sister a questioning look as she took off her gloves and slapped them together. She stopped, assessed Lavender from head to toe, and asked, Have you been wallowing in the mud with pigs?

Lavender looked down at her mud-stained clothes. No, there are no pigs around here. What I was doing was rolling on the ground laughing at the stupid idea you and O cooked up about these botanical gardens.

Hyacinth didn’t respond, she just stared at the sky for a few seconds then said, Look, Lav. She pointed to a fluffy white cloud. See, there’s a dolphin.

Lavender’s thoughts went straight to her mother. The one clear fun thing she