The Kudzu Queen by Mimi Herman

Author:Mimi Herman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

When the others arrived, Mrs. Sampson handed us notepads and pencils, and explained our task: an essay on why we hoped to become Kudzu Queen. “It’s wise to be prepared, should the judges inquire.” I wasn’t thrilled about having to write an essay, but I kept that to myself. My talk with Mrs. Sampson had been so unexpectedly pleasant that I didn’t want to upset her. I’d thought I was coming over to eat crow, and instead she’d fed me caviar.

She asked each of us to find a private place, “to commune with your own thoughts, girls.”

The kitchen wasn’t private, but it offered privacy from Glynis, and kept me from having to look at Mabel, embarrassed that Mrs. Sampson didn’t think she was as smart as I was.

“This all right?” I asked, as I set my notepad at the kitchen table opposite Rose, who was rubbing a pile of teaspoons with murky gray polish.

“Help yourself,” Rose said.

“You want anything?” Raquel lifted her soapy hands from the dishwater. She was washing pans in the porcelain sink. The kitchen smelled of roast lamb and peas.

“No, thank you.” I propped my elbows on the table. “Why do I want to be the Kudzu Queen?” I asked Rose.

Rose smeared more polish on the spoons. “Because you like power.”

“What?” I sat up and crossed my arms. “I absolutely do not.”

“You absolutely do too.”

Behind her, Raquel nodded, which struck me as unfair. She hardly knew me. But it was hard to argue with two people who’d made up their minds. Maybe they saw something I didn’t.

“What’s wrong with liking power?” I asked.

Raquel reached for a dishtowel. When her hands were dry, she started sprinkling flour on the counter. “Not a thing. Depends how you use it.”

“Anyhow, there’s no power in being the Kudzu Queen,” I told them.

“That’s what you think,” Rose said. “Why do you think Glynis wants it?”

Maybe it would be better to enter the subject from a different angle. “Okay, why do I deserve to be the Kudzu Queen? Not that I’m going to get it, of course.”

“Nobody deserves to be Kudzu Queen,” Raquel said. She lifted a damp cloth off a bowl and pulled out a ball of dough. Dusting flour on top, she proceeded to flatten it into a circle.

“Well,” Rose said. “You’re pretty fair. You wouldn’t be mean to anybody.”

“Not if they didn’t deserve it.”

“No.” Rose gathered the silver in an old towel and carried it to the sink Raquel had vacated. She laid it all in the sink and pulled the towel out from beneath. The spoons tinkled like wind chimes. “Besides,” she added, “you’re smarter than Mabel Moore.”

“You’re the second person who’s said that today,” I told her. “Anyhow, it’s not about smart. It’s about pretty. And I’m not that, I mean not compared to Mabel.”

“Smart’s part of pretty,” Rose said.

“Well, what about Glynis? She’s smart and pretty,” I protested.Rose didn’t even bother answering that one. She just raised her eyes to the ceiling. “Anyhow, I’m only fifteen. Nobody’s going to pick a sophomore to be Kudzu Queen.

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