by Virginia Lee

(This certainly is a Mule homecoming story since Miz Lee has been a Mule friend for a way long time.)

Aunt Jeness told Corabelle Taylor to reach into the glove box to get the map of Mississippi she kept there just in case she lost her way. Ever’ body riding in that pink Caddy knew it but nary a one of us was brave enough to mention it since we all wanted to get to Tupelo in time to see the new Edam cheese Elvis statue that the dairy science students over to Mississippi State created out of Mississippi cows’ milk in an effort to take some of the glory of Elvis’ name away from Memphis for once.

“Glory be, Jeness! Who’s been hiding candy in your glove box?”

“Don’t be silly, Corabelle. You know I don’t eat sweets.” Aunt Jeness huffed a bit and turned pink. “Now open up that map and find out where we are. We just passed Como. Did we go too far? Or do I need to go back to Batesville?”

“I’ll try, Jeness. But this paper’s gone all crispy and the strings from my rhinestone Elvis portrait bag with the silky fringes are trying to stick to it. Weezie, what do you figure this smells like?” Corabelle poked the map toward the back seat in the direction of my Cousin Louise, aka: Weezie, who smelled about as badly as anyone I’ve ever known.

“Erm, I dunno. Kinda sweet, like molasses? What do you think, Floreen?”

That was me.

“It smells like those Mary Jane peanut butter chewy candies you only see at Halloween. I lost two fillings last year because of ‘em.”

“Will. Y’all. Just. Look. At. That. MAP!” Jeness screeched a bit on that last word and Corabelle studied on it real good and found out we needed to backtrack to Batesville after all.

By the time we got to Tupelo the Edam cheese Elvis had kind of, well, melted a bit. It was obvious, however, that I was the only one who found it funny. I thought sure they’d make me take the bus home to Clarksdale after I said that maybe it looked more like Aron, Elvis’ dead twin, than Elvis himself. Instead I was relegated to sitting shotgun with the cooler of Edam cannonballs between me and Aunt Jeness.

I haven’t eaten cheese since.