After mentally banishing JR to the outskirts of her life, Sue Ellen puts her journal back on the shelf and walks to the kitchen. She hardly ate anything all day and is famished. She sees her neighbor Ruby's lights glowing from the large bay window in the kitchen. Sue Ellen wonders what Ruby has made for dinner tonight. Her delicious home cooking would be a wonderful way to end this eventful Friday. She did promise Ruby a visit this weekend.
Just then, Ruby's butler Paul Two appears in their kitchen window. He is busy preparing dinner. He sees Sue Ellen's light on, looks over and waves. She smiles and waves back. Paul says something to Ruby, who is out of sight. He then holds up a plate and motions Sue Ellen over. Why not, she thinks. She can almost smell the perfectly braised beef and visiting with Ruby is always entertaining. A break from campaigning, blood tests and wicked blackmailing men is in order, Sue Ellen decides. She nods at Paul Two, grabs her keys and walks over, locking the door behind her.
The story of how Ruby Monroe came to Dallas tells like a modern day western. With 73 years behind her and the open road in front, Ruby placed $800,000 in pink leather bags in the trunk of her white Cadillac Seville, left her family compound in Beaumont, Texas, at precisely 6 a.m., drove straight up highway 45 to Dallas, pulled up to 18 Lark Lane, called the realtor on the sign and said, "I am Miss Ruby Monroe of Beaumont". Upon no response from the busy realtor, she began once more with, "I am Miss Ruby Monroe of the Spindletop Monroes. And I am waitin' here to buy this home. Cash offer. And no phone calls to any of my sons who will surely try to fetch me and this fraction of their inheritance before said transaction is done. Get over here boy or I shall call the name on the sign in the yard of the house across the street. Commission's yours to lose. It's all the same to me."
And with that, Ruby Monroe moved to Dallas, leaving her scheming children and grandchildren to drool over the family fortune from afar. True to form, her eldest son did appear on Ruby's porch within the week, intent on bringing his mother and more importantly, the executor of his trust, back to Beaumont and the family's watchful eye. Ruby had other plans. She refused to open her door for him and instead fired two warning shots into the air from her pistol while standing on the balcony overhead. After ducking for cover and yelling a stream of obscenities at his mother, he threatened she'd never see him again and left. Problem solved.
Here, with no one to bother her, is where she really started to do God's work. And as Ruby will tell you, God's work is not for the meek or mild. As she quotes from Romans 12:11, "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." And Ruby Monroe is nothing if not zealous.
Paul Two greets Sue Ellen with a warm smile after she rings the door bell that chimes the chorus of "The Yellow Rose of Texas". She loves ringing that bell.
"Good evenin' Paul. How are you doin' tonight?"
"Oh real fine, Mrs. Ewing! Please come in. Miss Ruby is pleased you've come for dinner. She's waiting for you in the parlor," Paul says. 'I thank you for visiting as well. Miss Ruby is a bit ornery today." He winks at Sue Ellen.
"Today?" Sue Ellen replies and they share a knowing look.
Paul smiles and shakes his head. "She won't take her calcium pill. Maybe you can make her do it, Mrs Ewing. It's im-por-tant, you know, for da bones," Paul says in Jamaican cadence.
Sue Ellen laughs. "Well I'll see what I can do, Paul. But you know, I think Ruby's bones are too stubborn to break anyhow."
"Ah true that, Mrs Ewing!" Paul shakes his head and returns to the kitchen.
Sue Ellen inhales the wonderful aroma of dinner as she walks to Ruby's parlor. She parts the red beaded curtain and enters the room, feeling like she's about to see a fortune teller. Sue Ellen wonders if it's the beads, Ruby herself or both that give her that feeling. Ruby sits in a grand black leather chair, her feet in red velvet slippers perched on a matching ottoman. The dark upholstery contrasts with her platinum hair teased high above her head. She holds a near-empty glass of bourbon in one hand and binoculars in the other.
The spy glasses are trained on the house across the street. Ruby sits still as a cat stalking a mouse and stares through the lens pointing out her parlor window. Sue Ellen turns on a light, disrupting Ruby's surveillance.
"Sue Ellen! You've gone and blown my cover," Ruby says.
"Now Miss Ruby it's not polite to spy on your neighbors. Are you doin' that to me as well?" Sue Ellen asks.
Ruby rolls her big blue eyes. "Please, gal. You ain't nearly as interesting as that young man in that corner room of his. Somethin's not right over there. I can't place no finger on it yet but you mark my words, somethin' unclean is goin' on in that house. Yes sir. You can bet on it."
Sue Ellen takes the binoculars out of Ruby's hand and sets them on the end table next to a glass of water and what looks to be the refused calcium pill. "Miss Ruby why do you bother yourself with the neighbors' business? Especially when you're neglecting your own care taking," Sue Ellen says and motions to the pill. "Now why don't you just take this calcium pill and be done with it?"
"Hhhmm. Seems someone's been flappin' their mouth about private things," Ruby says. "TWO! Get in here boy!" she yells and fervently rings a little bell by her side.
Sue Ellen's eyes widen, "No, Miss Ruby, please don't. Paul was just concerned, that's all - "
Paul Two appears in his apron at the parlor door, wringing a dish towel nervously, "Yes, ma'am? Is something wrong?"
"What business is it of anyone's if I take this damn pill or not? Huh? Lemme tell you, NO ONE'S, that's who."
"Miss Ruby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean no disrespect - "
Ruby interrupts Paul, "And you say I won't take it, huh? Well look here!" she says and swallows the pill with water. Ruby empties the small glass and hurls it at Paul Two. It lands near his feet on the thick rug with a thud. "You keep my business to yourself, boy. And you remember the rules of my house or you'll find yourself back in Gee-Maica, you hear?"
"Yes. Yes Ma'am. I apologize, to you and to Mrs. Ewing," Paul says. He picks up the glass and walks away.
Sue Ellen is so mortified she cannot muster a response. All this fuss over a calcium pill? She looks at Ruby who is refilling a glass with bourbon. Is she drunk? Doesn't seem so. But then again Ruby is old Texas and old money and proof that this kind of class warfare behavior still exists. Sue Ellen wonders for an instant if she ever was so rude to the Southfork help years ago.
"Miss Ruby, was that really necessary? Paul was just trying to help. He wasn't being a gossip. He cares about your well-being."
"Sue Ellen, you're sharp gal but you're losin' your edge in your old age. No matter how big he smiles he'd shank me in a minute if he thought he could get away with it because I got the money and he don't. Two is the help. He ain't no friend nor family member and he don't care about nothin' but his paycheck, which is plenty big by the way. I pay my help well to do their jobs well, not to spread my business around. And that's that."
"Well how you handle your affairs is your business, but it seemed harsh to me is all. And why do you call him 'Two' anyhow?" Sue Ellen says.
Ruby sighs, "I like the name Paul. He's my favorite apostle. I've called each of my butlers Paul and this one here's the second. Paul Two. There you have it."
"Paul is not his real name? Do you even know what it is?" Sue Ellen asks, incredulous.
Paul Two appears timidly in the doorway, "Excuse me, but dinner is served."
Ruby and Sue Ellen sit down to a feast. Although Sue Ellen's appetite was damaged by the awkwardness earlier, she cannot resist the delicious spread before her. She and Ruby ease into conversation once more. A few moments into the meal, Ruby dismisses Paul Two for the evening.
He leaves the main house and heads to his quarters through the entrance off the kitchen. He changes into dark clothing and with one more look through the window at the ladies eating in the dining room, walks quickly next door to Sue Ellen's home. He lets himself in with a key, turns off the security alarm and walks quietly to the atrium in the darkness. Sue Ellen's dogs, Bowie and Crockett, come bounding toward him, eager for the treats they have come to expect. Paul Two offers them two small steaks on wax paper which he tapes to the atrium's marble floor. As the dogs eat, he removes Sue Ellen's journal, goes into the bathroom on the other side of the house, turns on the light and reads it.
As Sue Ellen and Ruby dine at the table nearly an hour passes and the tension from the conflict with Paul Two fades along with it. Ruby is in rare form, dishing out predictions and warnings of the sort Sue Ellen has come to expect and even fancy. More often than not, Ruby sounds like she's speaking at a pulpit from decades past, metaphors and biblical scripture pouring forth in riddles and strange fables. But sometimes she is as accurate as an oracle and spooks Sue Ellen to the core.
Suddenly Ruby puts down her coffee cup and grabs Sue Ellen's hand. Ruby holds the palm to her left cheek and closes her eyes for just a moment. Her eyeballs dart back and forth behind her lids. When she opens them her eyes are turquoise blue and Sue Ellen gasps at the intense color. Ruby places Sue Ellen's hand palm up on the table, pours a small bit of salt from the shaker on it and slowly makes a cross in the grainy white mound. Sue Ellen sits rigid, mouth open and eyes wide. Has Ruby lost it? She's never done this before. Sue Ellen starts to speak but Ruby holds a finger to her mouth for silence. She stands up, walks around to Sue Ellen's other side and facing east blows the salt off her hand in one breath.
Sue Ellen clutches her hand to her chest, "Ruby! What on earth - "
"You got a whole lotta dread drippin' off you, Sue Ellen. Worry and unrest thick as mud. I can see it."
Sue Ellen laughs nervously. "Oh is that right? And you can see this how? I don't see a crystal ball, Ruby."
"I got two crystal balls right here in front of me, your eyes honey. Them eyes tell me more than your mouth do every time," Ruby says. Sue Ellen looks away.
"Now you listen here, Sue Ellen. And I'm not playin' with you. I got a vision just now right here at this very table. Hooo!" Ruby fans herself. "I tell you this is the Lord's house! Yes it is. He is truly using me and I am most willing to be a vessel. Lord, fill me up, fill me with the holy spirit," Ruby looks upward and crosses herself. "Someone's a comin' for you Sue Ellen and he means you ill will. You best look behind yourself often. This one moves under cover of righteousness but righteous he is not. A dark knight in a chariot, wicked but foolish. He is only the tail of the serpent, goes where he's lead. But you pull the tail and the head turns 'round. You remember that honey."
Sue Ellen's expression changes from alarmed to amused. "Well, Miss Ruby. I must say you are indeed spot on and I will heed your warning when I have dinner with the serpent's tail tomorrow night. And trust me, I won't be pulling on anything of his so we won't have to worry about waking the beast. I'm havin' dinner with JR," Sue Ellen says and winks.
"JR Ewing! Ha!" Ruby laughs hard and shakes her head. "Oh no honey, JR's a white hat in this here story. Naw, I didn't do no salt spell for protection from old JR Ewing. He ain't your trouble. Hell he ain't even on the grid no more when it comes to you Sue Ellen."
"What's that supposed to mean? What grid?" Sue Ellen says.
"Huh. Well look at this. I didn't take you for havin' regrets about him this far on down the road. You hide that damn well, honey," Ruby says. "No need to get defensive. It is what it is. He just don't come up on my mind picture when I think on you, that's all."
"I most certainly do not have regrets about JR, Miss Ruby. He doesn't even cross my mind anymore. We, well, he just wants to catch up on John Ross is all. We do share a son, you know. I can't just erase him, can I? He wants to be part of John Ross's life and John Ross is part of mine so - " Sue Ellen looks down at her hands. She instinctively touches the finger on her left hand where JR's big beautiful ring used to be.
"Aw honey. I don't mean to cause you no sorrow," Ruby says. Sue Ellen is embarrassed to feel tears welling up in her eyes. Ruby pretends something has caught her attention at the window and walks over so Sue Ellen can collect herself. While gazing outside Ruby says, "Let me tell you this Sue Ellen, you can't change the past like that fool girl in the Wizard of Oz picture. Can't click no magic slippers and go back in time. So take the lessons the past gave you and move on. And don't let that spoilt son of yours hold you hostage to your mistakes, neither. 'Specially when you're tryin' to do right by him."
Sue Ellen musters a slight smile. "John Ross is a good boy, Ruby. And he's a fine son. He's a young man busy with his life. There's nothin' wrong with that. He checks in with me when he can," Sue Ellen says. Ruby keeps quiet. She pats Sue Ellen's shoulder on her way back to the table.
Sue Ellen feels raw, splayed open. She just came here for some company and good food, not have her heart peeled like an onion. She sighs. Maybe she needed to hear these things. Who knows. All she knows right now is she's had enough of Ruby's preaching for one day and it's time to go home.
Sue Ellen leaves Ruby's house through the kitchen entrance. As she walks toward the door in the gate that separates their properties, she sees Paul Two smoking a cigarette on his little porch of the back house. She walks over, stops at his railing and clears her throat.
"Paul, I'm so sorry about earlier."
He puts out his cigarette in a Coke can. "Oh it's alright Mrs. Ewing. Please, don't trouble yourself about it. I know Miss Ruby didn't mean me no harm," he says.
"Well. You were just trying to look after her and I went and got you in trouble. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about that, Paul. I really am."
Paul waves his hand in the air and smiles at Sue Ellen. "You're a nice lady, Mrs. Ewing. A lot of people wouldn't give this no second thought, you know? Especially for someone like me - the help."
Sue Ellen makes a pained expression and wrings her hands at the way Paul says 'the help'. "Everyone deserves to be treated respectfully, Paul, no matter their station in life. I think you're a very capable young man and Ruby's lucky to have you around. I hope she'll realize it before you've had enough of her," Sue Ellen says.
Paul laughs softly.
Sue Ellen continues, "Believe it or not, I know what it feels like to be looked down on and I don't wish that feeling on anyone."
Paul looks at her with disbelief, "Thank you Mrs. Ewing. Thank you for your kind words. And no disrespect, ma'am, but to be looked down on, you have to be seen and people like me, we're invisible." Paul stands up. "Good night Mrs. Ewing," he says and goes inside.
Sue Ellen stands in the dark at the foot of his porch, steeping in his words. She turns and looks at the back of Ruby's grand estate gone dark aside from the light above the kitchen entrance. It illuminates a hand-painted sign hanging over the red kitchen door, "God sees all, big and small".
Sue Ellen kicks off her heels the moment she walks into her foyer. The marble floor chills her bare feet. She walks to the atrium just as her dogs come to her, tails wagging. She pets Bowie first and Crockett responds by licking her foot.
"Yuck! Crockett stop that, silly boy. You that hungry even feet are appealing? Come on boys! I'm late feeding you, I know," she says and starts toward the kitchen. Well what's that? Sue Ellen lifts her left foot and looks at the bottom of it but it is bare. She felt something under it. She looks at the floor and sees a dull streak on the white marble. She bends down and looks closer. There is a short piece of scotch tape on the floor. How did that get there? She peels it off and holds it to the light. Hhmm. She assumes it must have been stuck to her shoe. She crumples it and throws it away.
She fills the dogs' bowls with food and brews a pot of tea. The dogs do not touch their dinner.
"Hello, Mark? I know this is last minute, but I need your help," Sue Ellen says into her cell phone.
"Oh hi Mrs. Ewing, could you hold just a moment please?" Mark says amidst loud cheers and music. He resumes speaking after Sue Ellen hears a car door close. "There we go. Okay you were saying?" he asks.
"Out on the town, Mark? Am I interupting a date?"
"No, no. I'm out with my brother Boone. Lucy's charged him to me for the evening."
"Oh that's right. Lucy's ladies' night. You did mention that. Well I won't keep you, but isn't it true that Dallas-Fort Worth has a lot of hospitality workers? And a pretty big union? I think I read that on the community profile in my rally brief."
"You mean like the hotel industry, housekeeping staff and such? Yes, that's right. In fact janitors from one Local have been striking for over a month. I heard it on the radio this morning."
"What are they trying to get?" asks Sue Ellen.
"Well better insurance for one thing. The reporter said they're striking against contractors' health care cuts. And I'm sure there's a wage issue too," Mark says.
"Mark I want you to extend a personal invitation to the hospitality workers' union to attend my rally Sunday. Could you contact them first thing tomorrow?"
"Okay, but, uh, I'm not sure I follow. Generally speaking, that demographic doesn't carry a whole lot of voting power in Texas. Many of them are illegals, Mrs. Ewing. They're happy they got a job with who knows what kind of paperwork. They want to stay below the radar and think voting is a risky process. Plus they may not even understand you."
"You're right, call Susana and see if she can translate. I'll pay her overtime. And if she can't, ask her to see if her friend Ellie can. I just hired her as a translator today."
"You hired who? Have you vetted this person - "
"Never mind that on this one, Mark. She's fine, trust me. She was Harris' secretary and he fired her for complimenting my campaign. That's good enough for me."
"Harris Ryland's secretary is coming to work for you? Does he know?"
"I don't know and I don't care. Listen Mark, just please invite the union members to attend the rally. I experienced somethin' today and I need to reach out to these people. And I need them to understand what I'm saying so please get me a translator alright?"
"Sure, okay, I'm on it Mrs. Ewing. I'll confirm with you as soon as I've got the status."
"Thank you honey, you're the best. You always come through for me. Bye bye now."
Mark smiles at the term of endearment. Mrs. Ewing's never called him 'honey' before. He considers leaving Boone at the bar to get started on this right away. Just then Boone erupts from the bar door with a red headed girl on his back. She's wearing his hat and he's galloping like a horse through the parking lot, yelling "Yeeehaaaw!". That answers that question. "Boone! Get over here! Unless you want me to call Lucy to come fetch you? You know, your WIFE?"
Sue Ellen's exhausted. She and the dogs head upstairs for bed. She undresses and sits on the side of her bed, looking out the balcony glass door at the full moon. Bowie nudges her leg as if to say 'enough for today'. She ticks off the day's events - standing up to Ryland, hiring Ellie, the white orchid and song from JR, Ruby's 'vision', the incident with Paul and his profound words after. Sometimes Sue Ellen feels like she is a million miles away from the life she expected to lead. She looks down at her slippers and thinks of Ruby's comment on The Wizard of Oz earlier. Just for good measure, she clicks her heels together three times. Nothing. She's not transported back to Southfork waiting up all night for JR to come home. And she's glad of it.