The Flower Sisters

As an annoyed Daisy pushes past Rose and storms into the house, Rose reminisces about her memories of raising Lettie. She reflects that Lettie was spoiled and doted upon by the four adults in the house: Rose’s husband, George Steinkamp; his parents, Hermann and Gladys; and Rose herself. However, Lettie was “smart and headstrong and perpetually discontent” with her life in Possum Flats (105), and she always sought power and control in her relationships with boys and men. She caused a great deal of heartbreak in her romantic relationships, just as her father did in his time. Every time Lettie acted out, Gladys would insinuate that her temperament came solely from her mother.

After years of fights, punishments, and the rescinding of privileges in response to Lettie’s bad grades and habit of sneaking out at night, the conflict in the household reached a crescendo in Lettie’s final year of high school. Rose and George caught her with a boy in the house in the middle of the night, and a furious George turned on Rose, accusing Lettie of being Rose’s daughter “through and through” (113). George placed the responsibility of dealing with the situation on Rose’s shoulders. Rose laid down an ultimatum, forbidding her from acting this way under her parents’ roof. The next morning, Lettie was gone. Except for Lettie’s intermittent requests for money, the family had no further contact with her, and Rose next heard from her 18 years later, when Lettie became pregnant with Daisy.

On her next day at The Picayune, Daisy immerses herself in newspaper articles from 50 years ago. When she stumbles upon reportage of the dance hall explosion, she is immediately drawn in. She is soon shocked to discover the name of “Violet Flowers” on the list of the deceased, and she intuits the fact that her grandmother must have had a twin.

Daisy decides to retell the story of the explosion from the perspective of the survivors. When Myra hears about this idea, she warns Daisy against it, but Daisy is determined and resolves to speak to Fence.

Joe apologizes for his prank with the Mayor’s body. As penance, Dash assigns him a day of work in Ruby Rae’s backyard. Dash contemplates the balance of crime and punishment in life and reflects upon his background.

Dash’s father, Henry Emmonds, started life as a tenant farmer who moved between southern states before finally settling for a while in Oklahoma, where he met and married Dash’s mother, Rebecca. Henry was a hard worker, and Rebecca toiled in the garden alongside him. However, years of saving up were wiped away in a single day when Henry, without permission, borrowed a mule from the German farmer whose land he worked on, and the mule broke its leg. Dash was five years old when the German farmer took away everything that Henry and Rebecca owned as repayment and ejected them from the property. Against Rebecca’s wishes, Henry packed up his family and moved them all to Los Angeles, selling whatever they had left to purchase train tickets to the Western state. Dash remembers sensing Rebecca’s fury at this; she was pregnant at the time, and she believed that Henry was making a foolish decision that was born of his unwavering belief that God would provide for them.

Daisy meets with Fence in his office. She spots pictures from the dance hall explosion and uses them as an opening to pitch her story idea. After warning Daisy not to hound people who are unwilling to talk, Fence reluctantly approves her idea. Daisy begins working on her story, asking Myra to help compile a list of people to approach. Together, they decide on Hazel Hodges née Sampson, the postmistress; Mo Wheeler, the saxophone player from the night of the explosion; Jimmy Jeffers, the chief of police; Dash; Ruby Rae, who lost her only daughter, Fern, in the explosion; and Rose.

In his office, Jimmy Jeffers reflects on his life before the dance hall explosion, when he was “just a fat farm boy, fresh out of high school” (142). On the fateful night of the explosion, he attended the dance with Nell Peters, with whom he had been in love for a long time. (She had finally noticed him after he had hung around Dash and had spent a summer wooing her.) Now, Jimmy reflects that the Dash he knew back then died on the night of the explosion; only his body survived. Jimmy remembers pulling Dash to safety. He has thought about the events of that night every day since.

Mabel, the secretary, announces Daisy’s arrival. Daisy explains to Jimmy that she would like to interview him, as he was one of the “heroes” from the night of the explosion. Jimmy yells at her, refuting her claim that he is a hero, and asks her to leave.

Rose is furious when Daisy confronts her about Violet’s existence. However, when Daisy insists that Rose honor Violet’s memory by telling her story, Rose gives her granddaughter some details. She explains that the sisters’ appearances were identical, save for the birthmark on Violet’s neck. However, they had contrasting personalities; Violet was wild and free and got pregnant outside of marriage, a fact that no one else knew about. Rose also reveals that some people believed Violet deserved to die that night because of how she lived her life. This idea was devastating to Rose, who still feels guilty about the life she has had; she also admits that she would have given anything to switch places with her sister. Rose refuses to let Daisy write about Violet but promises to take her to some other people who might talk to her.

Rose takes Daisy to Sleepy Springs Nursing Home to meet Morris “Mo” Wheeler, the saxophone player from the night of the explosion. Daisy meets Mo and Julie, Mo’s daughter. Julie explains that Mo, who lost his sight in the explosion, has been slowly shutting down over the past few months; he doesn’t remember or speak much, and he hasn’t even been playing his saxophone of late.

Julie states that Mo has had a hard life. There aren’t any Black families in Possum Flats anymore. After the explosion, many townspeople believed that Mo and Dale Diggs, the drummer, deserved what they got because they had been playing jazz, the “devil’s music.” All the Black families left Possum Flats after the explosion, as they were made to feel unwelcome. Rose was one of the few who was good to them.

In a letter to Lettie, Daisy expresses her frustration at the lack of progress with her story. She also describes meeting Joe and begs her mother to write back.

Joe turns up at The Picayune’s office to meet Daisy, claiming to have something for her that will help her story. Despite her initial irritation, she goes with him. Joe takes her to Oak Lawn Cemetery and shows her a headstone commemorating those who died in the explosion. He reveals that he often comes to the cemetery to eat lunch alone, but he wanted to share this with Daisy because of her story.

Joe and Daisy have lunch and talk. Joe confesses that he worries about his future; he doesn’t want to stay in Possum Flats after he finishes school, as the town makes it difficult for people to break out of their set identities. Daisy talks about Lettie and laments the fact that her mother still hasn’t responded to her letters; Daisy worries that Lettie will not come get her after all. She also recalls a time when Lettie briefly left her behind at a gas station. When Joe sheepishly admits that he was behind the prank with the Mayor’s body, Daisy discovers that Dash is Joe’s grandfather and wonders if Dash would be willing to be interviewed. Joe doubts it, as no one ever talks about the explosion, but he promises to help arrange a meeting with Dash.

Joe spontaneously sketches a quick caricature of Daisy. She is impressed by his talent and suggests that he pursue it, but Joe reiterates that everyone only sees him as the star football player; no one would understand his desire to study art. Joe expresses his admiration at Daisy’s plans for her articles on the dance hall explosion, and she invites him to help her with the project.

Joe takes Daisy to meet Hazel. When they ask her about her experience with the explosion, Hazel is immediately transported back to her memories of that night.

Hazel and Charlie Walters attended the dance along with Dash and Violet on a double date. Violet was one of Hazel’s closest friends, but Hazel secretly pined for Dash. She was only with Charlie because he was a banker’s son and came from money; Hazel, whose family struggled to make ends meet, had no way to gain access to certain social circles without someone like Charlie on their side.

Hazel enviously watched Violet and Dash dance together, a little surprised by Violet’s uncharacteristic reluctance on that night. Violet slipped away for a cigarette break, but instead of joining her, Hazel sent Charlie over to look for her purse and approached Dash, who was talking to an upset Jimmy. Dash, who was drunk, asked Hazel to dance, and she registered that he was attracted to her. When he flirted with her after the dance, Hazel broke away and left, feeling guilty. Just as she caught her breath outside, the place exploded, and Hazel was flung several feet away.

Jimmy was the one to find Hazel; she woke up, injured but alive, in the hospital several days later. Charlie’s parents visited her, revealing that he was still missing; parts of his corpse were later found, and Hazel felt perpetually guilty for surviving, especially since she had sent Charlie away to look for her purse.

Now, Hazel relates all of this to Daisy and Joe, who record her story and thank her for sharing it. Daisy describes Hazel’s experience to Lettie in her next letter, informing her that her first article will be published soon; once again, she asks Lettie to write back. Daisy’s article is published on June 30, 1978, as Part I of the retrospective on the explosion; in the article, Hazel is quoted as saying that the incident “marked all of us” (193).