Chapter 560: Jamlyn

Monday, February 27th Evening

As per the usual routine, the young ones were in their room, or in the case of the cousins, in a room. Recently, her dad was out, claiming he was at a support group. She settled into her bed and tucked the covers around her. The game was on her TV, and a book lay open.

Ashlyn Pierce-Scott took in the words of Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. She thought about the mental pain the protagonist Arlene Fleet went through. Her pledge she made to god upon leaving Alabama and moving to Chicago. Ashlyn nodded and knew there were just the same, Possett Alabama and Tree Hill North Carolina. Aunt Florence in the book reminded Ashlyn of her own mom, a steel magnolia to their core, but Maddie Pierce was much more a strict Baptist.

Hell, the opening line could be applied to Tree Hill as much as Possett. "There are gods in Alabama: Jack Daniel's, high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus!" Ashlyn would write it a bit differently; "There are gods in North Carolina: Jack Daniel's, high school basketball players, big tits, and Jesus!" Ashlyn knew; she married one of the gods and watched him on the TV as he took the court with the Miami Heat wearing his number twelve jersey. Her father-in-law was another one of those gods; he lived a modest enough life, raising his grandkids. Ashlyn wondered if she could consider her oldest daughter one of those gods or goddesses.

Sadly as much as things change, things remain the same. Arlene Fleet is in a bi-racial relationship with her boyfriend Burr, an African-American. Ashlyn remembered the sour looks Maddie would give Savannah's husband when she saw his oldest two sons. Dex Matthews was bi-racial, the son of one of Ashlyn's ex-teammates, and Maddie didn't take too kindly to, as she put it, mixing of the races. Dex was kept from his younger sister or brother after his parent's death. Maddie didn't want that half-breed in her house; he wasn't family. Where Maddie saw Joplin and AB as lily-white, Dex wasn't.

The book dragged up many memories up from her past. Ashlyn smiled; Arlene and her cousin reminded her in part of both her and Savannah and her Angela. Ashlyn found the book surprisingly disturbing in some of the details. It was recommended to her by one of her co-workers.

"Ashlyn, you'd love this book; it's so satirical of the old south," her co-worker told her when she loaned her the book. Monica was of the new south; she was only second-generation born down here, her grandparents were Massachusetts Puritan stock, and one of them was a Mayflower. Ashlyn was old south, her roots deeply rooted in the soil. Her great-grandmother Anna-Beth Atkins was described as the original steel magnolia, she was over one hundred years when she died, and she was her mom's grandma. Miss Anna-Beth worshipped the ground Margaret Mitchell walked on. According to Miss Anna-Beth, Miss Margaret documented the true history and not any of that Yankee Propaganda.

Ashlyn remembered the old and withered Miss Anna-Beth quoting the movie opening.

There was a land of Cavaliers, and Cotton Fields called the Old South... Here in this pretty world, Gallantry took its last bow.. Here was the last ever to be seen of Knights and their Ladies Fair, of Master and Slave... Look for it only in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered. A Civilization gone with the wind...

The funny thing was Miss Anna-Beth was born after Reconstruction. Miss Anna-Beth only knew those stories from her Memaw, and they were romanticized tales from a defeated revolt. Ashlyn remembered telling Huck those stories when they played in the foundation pits of Tree Hill Plantation. In his typical manner, Huck grunted and ignored the stories she learned at the foot of Miss Anna-Beth.

One summer afternoon during high school, Huck got fed up and led her deep into the woods. Ashlyn, for a moment, both thought they would have sexy fun, or he would kill her. But neither was the case; he took her to a well-maintained field and showed her around. His final statement echoed in her head to this day, deep down into Ashlyn's soul.

"This is the real story of the old south," Huck told her.

Ashlyn shook out of her memories. Huck's family did come from the planter class, while hers was more family farmers. That always made her wonder about Huck and being raised by his dad. But every so often, that trip to the field would haunt her dreams. Chase told her that the field was the only place Huck would maintain himself. Once a month, minimum, he was up there, and he would make sure everything was well-maintained.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest We forget - lest we forget.

Closing the book, Ashlyn got up and went to the bathroom. After washing her face, among other things, she checked on the children. Her dad wasn't back from his support group. Ashlyn visited each child and noticed several were still awake. Logan was asleep, and she kissed his forehead.

Would the world be different if she were forced to marry Huck instead of how it went down? Ashlyn shrugged her shoulders and wondered if Miss Anna-Beth would've liked Huck. He was named for a Southern General, not a popular one, be he was named for one. Also, Huck was Irish like Scarlett O'Hara, so maybe she would've liked him. Maddie had a very Anglo-centric view of things and detested him being raised Roman Catholic or the simple fact he wasn't religious.

Ashlyn felt a little hot, so she returned to her bathroom and took her temperature. It was a little high, so she took some Tylenol and returned to her bed. She resumed her comfortable position on her bed.

The game, a typical late-season match-up, the marathon before the marathon. Miami was in Dallas. In her short time as a WAG, Ashlyn never followed the team. So, she had never gone to the American Airlines Center. In some respects, she hated watching James play basketball. It brought up too much of her past and the unfulfilled dreams. There was an unspoken pact between her and Angela not to speak of basketball.

The one time she spoke of it was when Angela and James were on their respective Olympic Teams. Ashlyn traveled to watch her husband and best friend play in the Olympics. The US Press even interviewed her because she was a human interest story. It was hell; she always carried two jerseys with her, Angela's Atlanta number twenty-two and James's Miami number twelve. They both got gold, and funnily James wore his, but Angela, this was her second, handed hers to Ashlyn.

In a safe deposit box in a Tree Hill Bank, Angela's gold medal sat. For some reason, Angela stopped caring about the rewards. Karen had told Ashlyn that most of her awards were locked up somewhere. Karen even had Angela's high school championship ring. Ashlyn suspected it had to do with Jess. Angela never talked about it.

Ashlyn shrugged and watched the game end. Dallas beat Miami 96 to 89. James Scott had a good game, scoring twenty-four points to lead the team, and had six assists. It would be a pleasant phone call; James would be down on himself. Ashlyn laid down to wait for the phone call but fell into a feverish sleep.