Louise remained in Montgomery after the children had left. She and Hattie celebrated the New Year by drinking some of her husband's whiskey in her living room while listening to the radio at an obscenely high volume while Scott, her husband, was out with his friends. Their heads were swimming so much from the whiskey that they couldn't even tell what was playing. It was then, as Hattie was nearly sliding of the couch that she declared that she and Scott had been sleeping in different rooms.
Louise coughed in response. "Um, alright." She said, staring at Hattie with a perplexed look on her face.
Hattie's face was flushed, whether it by the alcohol or Louise's reaction to her, Louise couldn't quite tell. "Look at us," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "We're a mess, the whole family is."
"If you're going to go on some philosophical rampage I'm leavin' right now." Louise said firmly, though she had no intentions of leaving.
"Listen to me," Hattie said seriously. "I think we were cursed when Simon died."
Louise couldn't help but to laugh loudly. "You need to stop drinkin', it's makin' you crazy."
"I'm serious!" Hattie cried. "Just think about it: Simon dies and the whole family goes to hell. Charlotte starts drinkin' and basically becomes an invalid, damaging her children and then she dies. We think Jean is going to have a normal life and she dies, and they leave us two complete messes. I don't think our hearts are gonna go out on us I think we're gonna go crazy from the people around us and mama'll have to visit us in an asylum or somethin'."
Louise stared at her sister, trying her hardest not to laugh at her. "Honey," she said, moving Hattie's glass far away from her. "I'm officially banning you from drinking anymore."
Hattie looked sad as she sank deeper into the sofa. "Lou, I think we're gonna end up like Edie."
"She's not as bad anymore." Louise pointed out.
"She lost two of her daughters and you can just tell that she's been different ever since." Hattie pointed out.
"Well, I guess it's good that we don't have children to lose."
"But we've got everyone else!" Hattie cried out. "We've already lost daddy, Simon, Charlotte, Jean—"
"You listin' all of them is just wastin' time." Louise interrupted.
"I think everyone's gonna die before us and we'll just be left here alone." Hattie said sadly.
Louise, trying to lift her sister's spirits shrugged in response. "At least we can be together." She suggested. "We can become cranky old women who scare children from our porch."
Hattie glared at Louise. "You're not funny."
"Of course I am, you're just too serious." Louise said. "Picture it: we can sit on our front porch and take our dentures out to scare people."
Hattie chuckled to herself, though she still looked sad. "That would be awfully funny."
-o-o-o-
After that whiskey-induced incident, Hattie never once mentioned any marital problems or fears about her future, and Louise vowed to herself that she would never allow her sister to drink in her presence again. Things went along normally; Clara returned to Birmingham, Libby returned to her hermit tendencies and Edie continued to sell candy on the weekends at the market that was held in the middle of the city each weekend. One day in mid-June, as Louise was preparing to spend the day with Hattie, Edie stopped her in her tracks and told Louise that she had to do something productive and that she was going to help her at the market. When Louise gave her a quizzical look, Edie sighed.
"You're nearly thirty-eight, Eugenia," she said, before catching herself and sighing again. "Louise just come with me."
Shrugging, Louise agreed and it appeared as though Edie was surprised at how easy it had been to convince her usually stubborn daughter to accompany her. However, once Jean was forced to sit outside at Edie's stand while her mother's old friends gawked over her, asked her how she was holding up and asked her what she was doing with her life, Louise soon came to regret her decision to go. Since Louise had accompanied her, Edie had wandered off to chat with someone, leaving Louise to watch over the stand.
"Well, don't you look excited to be here?" A familiar voice asked, sounding amused. When Louise looked up (she had been staring at a bug crawling in front of her) she saw Atticus standing before her. She looked at him with a confused expression on her face.
"Hey," she said slowly, getting up to hug her brother-in-law. "I had no clue you were comin'."
"I told Edith I was coming just yesterday," Atticus informed her. "The governor has called an emergency meeting of the legislature, I'll probably be here for a couple of weeks."
"Well, that's nice!" Louise said, though she wasn't entirely sure if having to endure legislative meetings for weeks on end would be too nice. "Did you bring the children with ya?"
"I didn't," Atticus responded. "I'm still not quite sure how long I will be here, so I have Cal stayin' with them."
Louise smiled as she settled herself back onto the stool she was sitting on. "You can sit on Edie's stool," she said as he took her suggestion and sat down. "Wanna piece of candy? Edie won't notice it's missin'."
"I'm fine," he said politely, smiling at her.
For a few moments that sat in silence, observing the people shopping around the different stations of the market. A couple of times random children would come to Edie's station to buy some candy, but it wasn't entirely too busy. Edie had come to check up on Louise and was incredibly embarrassed when she realized that it completely slipped her mind that Atticus was coming.
"Honey, you don't have to sit here all day! Libby can fix up the guest bed and you can rest up, you probably have a lot of work ahead of you." Edie had said, but Atticus dismissed her.
"I'm fine," he shrugged. "I always enjoyed the city, and I figured I could keep Louise here company."
Edie smiled at him, told him he could help himself to whatever she had, and went off to assist the person who was in charge of the flower station. As she left, Louise chuckled and shook her head. "She's too preoccupied worryin' about other people that she doesn't even pay attention to her own stand. If I weren't here she'd probably be robbed or something."
Atticus smiled to himself. "Instead of stealing candy from a baby, it'd be stealing candy from an old lady." Louise laughed. "Um," he cleared his throat (making Louise nervous, he was never one to stall). "I wanted to talk to you about something while I was here."
"Alright," she said pleasantly, smiling at him.
"Were you planning on coming to Maycomb again?" He asked slowly.
"Yeah," she answered, nodding her head. "I'm not sure when, but I was hopin' to come sometime soon."
"I was wonderin' if you could come back with me, and if you could stay for a while?" He asked seriously.
"What do you mean by a while?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
He cleared his throat. "At least for the summer," he stated. "I was also hoping if you wouldn't mind staying next summer as well? That's when the trial is." He explained.
"Of course," Louise replied, smiling. "I could probably stay through the year, I would probably come back to Montgomery from time to time but I don't see a problem spending the summers in Maycomb. I love playing around with Jem and Scout."
"I'm glad to hear that," he said, giving her a small smile. "But there is a catch."
Louise's eyes widened. "What is that?" She asked curiously as Atticus sighed.
"Alexandra is going to be staying with me for the foreseeable future," he said as Louise inhaled slowly. "I haven't quite told her of my plans for having you stay, but we can replace the full sized bed in the guest room with two smaller ones—"
"Don't worry about that, I'll just sleep in a cot in the sunroom." She said quickly. The last thing she ever wanted was to share a room with Alexandra Hancock, and she couldn't help but to wonder why she was going to be spending so much time away from the Landing and her husband.
Atticus chuckled and gave her a quizzical look. "Don't be silly," he told her. "That'll ruin your back, and if you stay longer than the summer you'll freeze out there."
"I'll use extra blankets." She suggested. Looking at her with a slightly amused expression on his face, he shook his head.
"We'll just figure everything out when the time comes." He suggested.
"That sounds fine by me." She affirmed, though she wasn't entirely excited about actually living with Alexandra.
-o-o-o-
Atticus was needed in Montgomery for two weeks, and although he spent some time at the Graham household, it was almost as if he was nonexistent and life went on as it usually did. However, Louise spent most of her days agonizing over spending such an extended period of time with Alexandra.
"Hattie," Louise groaned the day before she was set to leave for Maycomb. "What the hell am I goin' to do with Alexandra? Atticus even suggested that we share a room."
Hattie had shrugged. "I mean she doesn't seem that bad." Louise glared at her sister.
"Have you met the woman?" Louise asked testily. If Jean were here, she would understand.
Hattie laughed. "The last time I saw her was that Christmas when I was nineteen and she nearly cried at the dinner table when you and Jack were actin' all a fool and then her sister basically shouted that she was divorcin' her husband." Louise couldn't help but to laugh along with Hattie.
"You didn't have to deal with her and her dumb daily teas," she sneered.
"That was nearly twenty years ago!" Hattie cried. "Maybe she's changed."
"As far as Scout and Jem say, she hasn't." Louise said.
"Well then you can make it your personal mission to make her life a living hell." Hattie winked as Louise groaned again. "You know you'll have fun with it."
As she and Atticus left for Maycomb, Louise figured that she should at least attempt to make the best of living with Alexandra. At least it wasn't like she would be confined in the house for months on end with just Alexandra, Louise thought to herself. Things would go on as usual, and she would make the point of spending more time with Jem and Scout.
Throughout the car ride from Montgomery to Maycomb, Louise had managed to convince herself that maybe Alexandra wasn't as bad as she remembered, that maybe her being out of her element would make her somehow different, nicer even.
However, she didn't even have time to worry about Alexandra when she saw the children.
When the children heard the car stop, they immediately came running outside calling for their father and asking if he knew if Alexandra was staying with them. However, when they caught sight of Louise they immediately rushed to the passenger side of the car. "Aunt Lou!" Jem called out, and Louise couldn't help but to feel that he was slightly relieved at the sight of her. "I didn't know you were comin', too!"
"It was a spur of the moment decision," she said as she gently pushed open the door.
"How long will you be here?" Scout asked, hugging her hip.
"She and your Aunt Alexandra will be staying here for quite a while," Atticus informed Jem and Scout as he got out of the car. Immediately, they rushed to their father and gave him quick hugs. "I thought it would be a good idea."
They both agreed, but after years of lying to Edie about all sorts of things, Louise could sense that they were still a little hesitant. "Won't it be fun having us gals around?" Louise asked playfully, ruffling Jem's hair.
She soon ate her words, because the moment she laid eyes on Alexandra she knew that this would be an uphill battle.
When the four of them entered the living room, they came across Alexandra who was sitting in Atticus' rocking chair sewing something. Louise could've sworn the woman was wearing a corset. "Hello," Alexandra said, not looking up from her sewing.
"He-ey, Alexandra." Louise jeered before Atticus could greet her. The woman's head shot up so fast Louise was quite certain she hurt herself.
"Louise," she said, sounding confused as she put her sewing down next to her and stood up. Examining Louise slowly, Alexandra extended her hand for Louise to shake. "I wasn't aware you were coming."
"She's come the past two summers, Zandra." Atticus explained. "I figured nothing has changed."
Scout came up behind Louise and hugged at her hips again. "I'm glad you're here, Aunty." She grinned. "Can we sleep on the cots tonight?"
Louise noticed the sour expression on Alexandra's face, and smiled almost triumphantly. "Of course we can, sweet." She responded, running her hand through Scout's hair. "Your hair's gettin' mighty long."
Scout giggled as she shook her hair around. "Are you goin' to sleep with Aunty?" She asked.
"I'll just sleep in a cot," Louise said, smiling.
"You can't really plan on doing that." Alexandra said. "We can figure out other arrangements in a few days."
"You could put a cot in my room," Scout suggested, grinning. "It would be awful fun."
"Your Aunt is not going to sleep in a cot," Alexandra said firmly.
Louise scrunched her nose at Scout. "I think that sounds like a mighty good plan, you alright with it Atticus?" Louise winked as she looked over at her brother-in-law. By the look on his face, Louise wondered if he was regretting having both Alexandra and Louise there at the same time.
"If that's what you're comfortable with, I don't see any problem with it." He told her, giving her a small smile. Scout gasped with excitement and hugged at Louise tighter.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Alexandra began before Atticus cleared his throat.
"Zandra, please. It's fine." Atticus said. Louise looked at the other woman and gave her a small wink.
"We won't keep ya up too late, don't worry." She teased. Alexandra did not look amused in the slightest.
-o-o-o-
Living with Alexandra Hancock was even worse than living with Edie. For the first couple of days Louise had tried her best to mind her own business and to leave Alexandra alone. However, Alexandra had just about had it with Louise when she and the children burst in the dining room as Alexandra was hosting some of the ladies from down, covered in dirt from their latest escapade. Dill had not come that summer, Scout had said something about him getting a new daddy so he was spending time with his family. Jem and Scout obviously felt some sort of loss with Dill's absence, so Louise tried her best to ensure that the children still had a great summer. While Jem and Scout were happy with the amount of attention Louise was giving them, Alexandra was not.
"I need to speak with you," Alexandra said through the corner of her mouth, trying to compose herself before returning to her company. "After supper."
Louise's heart sank. She didn't know why, but she was terrified of what she was going to say. It wasn't like Alexandra could tell her to leave—but what if she convinced Atticus to ask her to go? Shaking her head, she decided that she would think of that later. Silently, she poured three glasses of lemonade and was about to bring them out to the children when Cal stopped her.
"Ma'am?" Cal whispered, and Louise felt nervous once again.
"Yeah, Cal?" She asked.
"C'mere for a second," she said, pulling Louise into the pantry. "I wouldn't mind Miss Alexandra too much." Despite the fact that they weren't in earshot of Alexandra, Cal continued to whisper.
"She's awfully stern," Louise admitted, looking down at her feet. "Has she been treatin' you okay, Cal?"
Cal smiled at Louise. "You're just like your big sister," she said, grasping Louise's hand. "She was always worryin' about me, but you don't need to worry ma'am, Mr. Finch treats me just fine and that's all that matters. I just wanted to tell ya that you shouldn' let Miss Alexandra worry you too much, you continue doin' what you're doin'. Every time you come the chillren are so happy and are always tellin' me stories about what they do with you and you just bring em so much joy. I think that's why Mr. Finch had you come while his sister's here, to keep the chillren happy."
Louise smiled at Cal. Jean had loved the woman so dearly ever since Cal started working for the family, and Louise couldn't help but to have a serious fondness for her. "You're very sweet, Cal." Louise smiled, gripping Cal's hand back.
Cal laughed. "Oh dear," she said, wiping at her eyes. "Your sister was always tellin' me things 'bout you and now that you're here it's like her stories are comin' to life. She would always say'ta me 'Cal, Cal you'd never believe it but I was a wild child back in my day' and I would always jus' shake my head and laugh at 'er. Hearin' the chillren tell your stories is almost like havin' her back with me. Boy oh boy do I miss 'er." Cal laughed and shook her head again.
"I miss her, too." Louise gave Cal a small smile. "I feel like bein' with Jem and Scout is almost like bein' with her."
Cal smiled warmly. "It sure is," she said. "That's why you don't let Miss Alexandra bother you none, she can't take that away from you."
"Thank you, Cal." Louise said as they walked out of the pantry.
"You don't need to thank me, ma'am." Cal smiled. Louise collected the lemonades and brought them out to the children.
"Are you in trouble with Aunty, Aunt Lou?" Jem asked, a nervous expression on his face.
"You don't hafta play with us anymore if Aunty don't like it," Scout added though she looked sad as she said it. She handed both of them their drinks.
"Don't be silly!" Louise said, poking at Scout. "I'll play with you for as long as I want to. She can't tell me what to do."
"She seems pretty good at telling Atticus what to do." Scout said glumly as Jem nodded in response.
Atticus had been put in a precarious position ever since Alexandra had moved in with him. Even when Jean was alive, Alexandra had problems with how Jem and Scout were being raised. Alexandra was the most high-strung woman that Louise had ever met, and she was never afraid to hide how she was feeling. For the past month, Louise witnessed Alexandra say snide remarks about things such as "gentle breeding" and what was more "socially appropriate", but held her tongue. She couldn't help but to think that if Jean was here, Alexandra would not have been able to assume so much control.
"You'll see, Atticus is just mindin' her." Louise assured them. "With people like that you need to pick and choose your battles. Can you imagine the hell we'd all be in if he fought her on everythin'?"
"You gotta point," Jem said. "I got a question for you."
"Yeah, sweet?"
"Did mama and Aunty get along?" A smirk formed on his face and Louise chuckled.
"Um," She started. "They didn't fight each other on everythin' but they were just … different."
"Did Aunty like mama?" Scout asked.
"I think so."
"One time, right before mama died, I heard Aunty tell Atticus that mama was raisin' me to be wild." Jem said, the smile slowly leaving his face. "That doesn't sound like she liked her too much."
Scout glared. "Aunty tells everyone to be polite but that doesn't sound too nice."
"It doesn't one bit." Louise said before looking at Jem. "I think it's important to understand that your mama and our family are different types of people than your Aunty. I don't think she didn't like your mama, she just didn't understand her."
Jem sighed and Scout still looked highly displeased. "I bet if mama was alive Aunty wouldn't be here."
"Probably not." Louise sighed.
-o-o-o-
The evening progressed normally after supper. Atticus went off to his study to read while Scout and Jem mulled about in the living room. Louise, knowing that Alexandra still wanted to talk to her, insisted on helping Cal clean up the dishes. Cal had declined, but once Louise murmured that Alexandra wanted to "give her a talk", Cal allowed Louise to accompany her. Moments later, Alexandra was standing in the doorway, clearing her throat. "Louise," she said. "I would like you to come to my room with me."
"Um, just a minute," Louise said, taking longer than necessary to clean a plate. "I'm just helpin' Cal here."
"I'm sure she can handle it on her own." Alexandra said. "She does it every night."
"Well, I thought I'd give her a hand."
"It doesn't seem too bad, I don't think she would mind if you went with me." Alexandra responded firmly. Inhaling slowly, Louise dried off her hands. Cal gave her a sympathetic look before she followed Alexandra into her room.
"You can sit down." Alexandra said shortly, making Louise feel inclined to sit on her bed. Alexandra stood in front of her in a way that made Louise have to look up at her, which Louise hated. "I wanted to talk to you about your behavior."
Okay, Edie. Louise thought to herself as she forced a smile and nodded at the other woman.
Alexandra sighed. "Now, we are all glad that you are here, and certainly the children are ecstatic that you are with them, but I think there needs to be some changes around here. You rolling around in the dirt with them and feeding into their imaginations will certainly hinder them."
Louise let the smile fade from her face, and didn't care if she was giving Alexandra an unsavory look. "I don't understand how it's hindering them, they're children."
Alexandra sighed. "I didn't expect you to understand," she said in a tone that was intended to make Louise feel stupid (which it did). "But the Finch family is a fine name established after generations of gentle-breeding—"
"And the Graham family isn't?" Louise asked, beginning to get angry. Part of her wished Edie was hearing what was coming from Alexandra's mouth, because although Edith Graham respected Alexandra, this could quite possibly boil her blood. Alexandra looked taken aback.
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
"All I'm trying to say, dear," Louise wanted to punch her in the face. "Is that we cannot possibly let generations of fine breeding be put to waste."
Louise shrugged. "I think the children are quite fine, they're well-mannered and polite and also have the most vivid imaginations I've ever seen."
"They run wild, they need to be calmer. You rollin' around in the dirt with them is not helping that." Alexandra said tensely.
"Dear God, it's not like they're going to be rolling around in the dirt their entire lives. They're children this is what children do." It didn't matter what Louise was saying, it wasn't like Alexandra was listening anyway.
"The earlier we start on helping them become a little gentleman and little lady—"
"There'll be plenty of time for that later." Louise said, crossing her arms.
Alexandra sighed in frustration. "I've told Atticus time and time again that them having such an irresponsible influence would not help them," she said, shaking her head. Louise stood up.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked, gritting her teeth.
"I'm just saying that you're not exactly the prime example of a lady." Alexandra said coolly. "Jean Louise needs a better example than someone who declared she was going to be a spinster by the time she was eighteen."
"Well I'm sorry I don't meet up to your standards. Did it ever cross your mind that Atticus invited me to stay here so the children weren't overwhelmed by your authoritarian attitude?" Louise asked, her voice rising. Alexandra took a step back, her eyes widening.
"This is exactly what I told Atticus," she said, crossing her own arms. "Jean Louise does not need you here bein' a bad influence when I'm trying to teach her how to be a lady."
Louise opened her mouth and then shut it again. Before she could even think about saying anything, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Alexandra said as Atticus opened the door and observed both women. It was probably quite the sight for him—both of their faces were flushed and neither of them were hiding their anger any longer.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
"Just peachy." Louise said, her teeth still gritted. "We are just having a lovely chat."
Alexandra looked down at Louise (even standing up, the woman was quite taller than Louise), flaring her nostrils. "We were just talking about what I mentioned to you earlier, brother."
Atticus raised his eyebrows and looked at both women. "Well," he cleared his throat. "I hope it was productive."
"I do too." Alexandra said, quickly glaring at Louise, who simply shrugged.
Atticus paused for a few moments. "Goodnight," he said, giving them a small smile.
"Goodnight, brother, Louise." Alexandra said coolly. Louise thanked God that she was able to escape with Atticus.
"Mind if I make a call?" She asked him softly.
"I don't mind at all." He said as he walked down the hall towards his bedroom. Suddenly, he turned around. "Louise?"
"Yes?" She asked, looking at him.
"Nothing," he said, but then changed his mind. "Grahams are a fine people, too." He gave her a small smile before going back to his room, and Louise chuckled to herself.
Louise had been immensely thankful about the fact that the phone was located far away from the bedrooms. Sighing, she picked up the receiver. Originally, she was going to call Edie and tell her about Alexandra but changed her mind. "Long distance, Nashville, Tennessee." She said softly to the operator. A few minutes later, she gave the second operator Jack's name and address and waited for him to answer.
"Finch," he yawned.
"Hey," she said.
"It's late, so that must mean somethin's happened." He said, sounding a little more awake.
"How are you?" She asked, trying to sound sweet.
"Well, I'm just fine Miss Louise," he responded. She imagined him smirking at her on the other end. "How are you?"
"I'm gonna die," she whispered, making him laugh.
"Ha! I'm going to assume you just had a chat with my lovely oldest sister." He said cheerfully. "What did she say?"
"Gentle-breeding," she whispered, making him laugh harder.
"Dear lord." He said. "If only Alexandra's circumstances were different, then you'd be living large in Maycomb without her wonderful presence."
"What the hell do you mean?" She asked.
"Atticus didn't tell you?" He asked.
"Tell me what?"
"You can't tell a soul."
"I promise. You need to tell me."
"Jimmy left Zandra."
"What?"
"Honestly I'm not surprised in the least but he went off fishin' and just never came back," she could tell he was trying to hold in his laughter. "She didn't want to be at the Landing on her own so she asked Atticus if she could stay and he felt obliged to say yes."
"He didn't invite her?" She whispered.
"Listen, Atticus loves Zandra but I don't think he'd ever invite her to live with him if he had a choice." Jack said. "He brought you in to counteract her, but I knew that something was goin' to blow up sooner rather than later."
"Honey, this is the calm before the storm." Louise sighed.
"Ha! Maybe I should come to visit. I would love to see you sock my sister square in the jaw." Jack cackled.
"You're just hilarious." Louise said, scowling to herself.
"Kid, don't listen to what she has to say, she's just perpetually cranky." Jack said. "And don't tell anyone what I told you! The last thing we want is her being publicly disgraced, we'd all probably pay for it."
Louise chuckled. "Hopefully she doesn't press my buttons too hard—"
"I'll kill you."
"I would like to see you try."
"Goodnight, vagabond."
"Don't have too much fun in Nashville, you brute." She said before hanging up. Before she went to bed, she considered giving Alexandra an easier time, but decided that she would be denying herself too much fun if she did that. She'll show her the meaning of gentle-breeding.