Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe Read Online Free PDF Page A

feeling, so I’d just as soon have some water, if you don’t mind.”
    Evelyn went outside the door and got them both little white cone cups of cold water.
    “Thank you kindly.”
    “What about Mrs. Adcock?”
    Mrs. Threadgoode looked at her. “Mrs. Adcock? Do you know her?”
    “No, I don’t know her, you were just saying that she was bragging about something.”
    “Oh, that’s right, I was … well, Mrs. Adcock was telling us at the dinner table last night that everything in her house is a genuine antique … over fifty years old … said everything she owned was worth a lot of money. I told Mrs. Otis, ‘Here I started out in life not worth much of anything, and I’ve turned out to be a priceless antique. Probably worth a fortune on the market.’ ” She laughed, tickled at the idea, and then thought for a moment.
    “I wonder whatever happened to all those little china-doll dishes and that little goat cart we used to play with?
    “On Saturdays, we’d go for a ride in this goat cart that Poppa had made for us girls, and we thought it was better than a trip to Paris. I wouldn’t be surprised if that old goat was still alive. His name was Harry … Harry the goat! He’d eat anything!” She laughed. “One time, Idgie fed him a whole jar of Leona’s Mum underarm deodorant, and he lapped it up just like it was ice cream …
    “We played all kinds of games—but nobody loved to play dress-up any more than the Threadgoodes. One year, Mommadressed us four girls up as the four different suits in a pack of cards for the contest they were having over at the church. I was the clubs, the twins were hearts and diamonds, and Essie Rue was spades, and here comes Idgie, tagging along after us, as the joker in the pack. We took first prize!
    “I remember one Fourth of July, all of us girls had on our stars-and-stripes dresses, with our paper crowns. We were all out in the backyard, having our dish of homemade ice cream, waiting for the fireworks to start, when here comes Buddy Threadgoode down the back stairs, all dressed up in one of Leona’s middy dresses, with a big bow tied on his head, and he commenced to prissing and mincing. He was imitating Leona, don’t you see? Then, to make matters worse, Edward or Julian or one of the boys had carried the Victrola out in the yard and was winding away on it, playing ‘The Sheik of Araby’ while Buddy hootchy-kootchied all around the yard. We’ve laughed over that four years. Later, Buddy gave Leona a big kiss. You could forgive Buddy anything.
    “After it got dark, Poppa would hire these fireworks people to come and put on a show for the whole town … and all the colored people from Troutville would come. What a sight! Those fireworks would explode and light up the whole sky. And, of course, all the boys would go crazy popping their firecrackers. Then, after it was all over, we’d go back in and sit in the parlor and listen to Essie Rue pound away on the piano. She’d play ‘Listen to the Mockingbird,’ ‘Nola,’ or whatever song was popular that year … while Idgie sat in the tree and howled at her.
    “Seems like Idgie was always in overalls and barefooted. It’s a good thing, too. She would have ruined any nice dresses, going up and down trees like she did, and she was always going hunting or fishing with Buddy and her brothers. Buddy said that she could shoot as good as any of the boys. She was a pretty little thing, except after Buddy got her hair all bobbed off, you’d swear she was a little boy.
    “But all the Threadgoode girls were pretty. Oh, not that they didn’t work at it. Especially Leona. She was the vainestone of the girls, and she didn’t have a sense of humor about it, either.
    “Course, my looks were always just passing, because I was so tall. I used to want to hunch over a little because of it, but Momma Threadgoode used to say, ‘Ninny, the good Lord made you tall so you could be closer to heaven …’ But I’m not as