Playing by the Rules: A Novel (12 page)

“Hello, Jeremiah?”

“Yes.”

“This is Mrs. Dunlap. I mean, this is Nana callin’. You can call me Nana. How y’all doin’ today?”

Jeremiah and Ruby Rose were sitting down, getting ready to eat breakfast. “Just fine, thank you. You have a nice place here.”

“I thought you’d like it. That’s why I’m calling. How’d you like to extend your stay?”

Jeremiah couldn’t believe his ears and tried to contain his excitement. “That would be mighty kind of you.” He glanced at Ruby Rose and without speaking, mouthed Nana’s offer, hoping that his sister could read lips. When she clapped her hands silently and jumped up and down in her seat, Jeremiah knew that she understood Nana’s invitation.

“Hello?” Nana said, making sure Jeremiah was still there.

“Oh, sorry, Nana,” Jeremiah said respectfully. “I think we’d like that very much.”

“Well, feel free to stay if you like, until the Annual County Fair. That’s in September. Don’t ask me why I picked that date. I guess because it’s a big event and the most fun you’ll have in town all year, and Ruby Rose would enjoy herself. Speaking of Ruby Rose, don’t worry about her schooling between now and then. Elvira can tutor her in all subjects, and Sadie can give her piano lessons. I’ll speak to both of them about it.”

Either Nana was talking too loud or Ruby Rose had good ears, because she heard the young girl hootin’ and hollerin’ over the phone.

Jeremiah’s face went from being lit up to losing its luster. “Nana, I don’t want to put your family in jeopardy or anything,” he said seriously. “I’m still a wanted man and I don’t want to get you into trouble.”

“That don’t worry me none. We got Billy on our side. If the police start poking around Lemon City, Billy will be the first person Jefferson County Sheriff Beauregard Taylor will call.” Having said that, Nana added, “See y’all later,” and hung up.

Seen from on top of the Blue Ridge, the snow-covered houses of Lemon City were arranged in no pattern in particular. The smoke from the chimneys swirled up in a steady stream to meet the sky as if it had cabin fever and needed to escape cramped quarters. Winter was the time of year when the town had no choice but to let down its guard, giving the unsuspecting the impression that it was open, but in reality, it extended no invitations. With bare trees and no leaves to cover it up, it became the object of exposure, making the snow its only blanket of protection, an accomplice to
its privacy. When it was released from the sky with relative frequency, the snow came down so fast there was no time to leave footprints behind.

Ruby Rose looked out the bedroom window and saw a deer near the sycamore trees. It nibbled at the ground and searched for any grass generously left by winter, just as it had every morning for the past several weeks. She liked living in the cottage and was so happy that Nana Dunlap had said she and Jeremiah could stay. It was the first time in years that she felt like she had a home.

She was also happy about the nice clothes hanging in her closet and stuffed inside her dresser since Nana Dunlap had taken her downtown shopping at Thalhimers and Kresge’s and then at the Sears and Roebuck in Jefferson County the other day.

Stepping into her brand-new slippers, Ruby Rose shuffled to the living room, where her brother was sleeping on the pullout couch. As far as she was concerned he was sleeping way too long, and she couldn’t stop herself from waking him up. She started percolating coffee to see if the smell of Maxwell House would make him stir. When that didn’t work, she turned on the TV and adjusted the volume high. Then she laughed as loud as she could at the cartoons, but he still didn’t move. Finally, she took a pillow from her bedroom and threw it on his head. That got him going. He sprang up quickly, like one of those deer outside when it was minding its own business, then suddenly heard something unexpected behind it. She could tell Jeremiah didn’t appreciate being disturbed, but she also knew he wasn’t mad when he started chasing her around the room and tickling her until her sides felt like they were going to split and she yelled “uncle.”

After they settled down from their playing and Jeremiah splashed some water on his face, he and Ruby Rose made breakfast. It was Ruby Rose’s favorite part of the day, when they become a team, she as the helper and Jeremiah as the head cook. As Ruby
Rose passed her brother the eggs, he cracked them into the bowl. Jeremiah made the bacon and she made the toast. He prepared the grits and she poured the juice into the glasses and set the table. Every morning they practiced this routine until they no longer bumped into each other and tripped over each other’s feet. It was the same way when they did laundry and folded clothes together. After a few weeks they had become as coordinated as two professional dancers. There was very little that they didn’t do together, including tasks as simple as going outside and bringing in firewood. Ruby Rose was like Jeremiah’s shadow, not letting him get too far out of her sight.

When they finished eating, Jeremiah rubbed his arms, feeling a sudden chill. He turned around to see the fire in the fireplace dying and realized that their wood supply was getting low. After he and Ruby Rose washed and dried the dishes, he took twenty dollars out of the envelope he kept hidden on the top shelf of the closet and told his sister to put on her coat. Then they walked to the Dunlaps’ house to see what they could do about replenishing one of their main sources of heat.

Nana opened the door. “Hey there, Jeremiah and little Darlin’,” she greeted. “Come on in. How y’all doing today?”

“Fine, thank you, Ma’am,” Jeremiah and Ruby Rose answered, wiping the snow off their feet before following her into the kitchen.

“Louise and I just got back from the Piggly Wiggly,” Nana said. “We’re in here putting away groceries. Come join us.”

When they entered the kitchen, Louise looked up and smiled at Jeremiah. Over several weeks she had seen him only in passing. This was the first time she’d got a good look at him since Christmas, and now that he was groomed and polished, he was even more appealing. He was brown like the color of ground coffee, with eyes as intense as coals and a hint of a dimple on one cheek that warmed his face when he smiled. He was taller than she was,
but not quite as tall as Medford. And now that she could see his face, he seemed much younger than she had originally thought. Her best guess would put him in his early to mid-twenties.

“How are things going for you at the cottage?” Nana asked as she stacked the canned goods on the table, all the while noticing he and Louise were paying more attention to each other than she would like.

“Couldn’t be better. Thanks for asking.”

“You’re not having any trouble, are you?”

“No, Ma’am. No trouble at all. I’m here because we’re running out of firewood and I come to see if I can buy some more.” When Jeremiah glanced at Louise, she looked down and focused on the fruit she was taking out of her bag.

“Help yourself,” said Nana. “There’s a wagon and a wheelbarrow out back, and plenty of cords. Take what you need.”

“Thank you,” he said, handing Nana the money on his way out the door. “Will this do?”

“This is more than enough. I’ll only take half.” Nana took two fives from Jeremiah and put them into her apron pocket.

“How are you doing with food down there?” Louise asked, to start a conversation and detain Jeremiah in the kitchen a little longer.

“We’re all set. Ruby Rose knows a little about cooking and I’ve been doing my own for quite some time. I even bake.” Jeremiah tried not to sound like he was bragging. He only wanted to make friendly conversation.

“Let me know if you need help,” Louise offered.

“I’ll certainly keep that in mind.” Jeremiah started to head out the door again, but something made him speak. “In the meantime, we’d appreciate your company if you’d like to come for dinner or just stop by to say hello.” He smiled and looked at Louise in a way that made Nana feel uncomfortable.

Louise picked up on his choice of pronouns, the fact that he said
we
and not
I
, and Nana picked up on Louise being a bit too forward in making herself available.

“Louise, you ain’t got no time, chile,” Nana reminded her granddaughter, then turned to Jeremiah. “Louise and Medford are often running around, here and there, doing things together, this and that, don’t you know.” Nana paused to give herself time to think about how much information she wanted to reveal. “They’re a busy…a busy couple,” she said. “They’ve been seeing each other for months now.” Nana counted the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “Well, almost that long, but they’ve known each other since they were young, and now they’re constantly together. If you need any help with anything or if you’re in the mood for company, you can call on Granddaddy and me anytime.”

“Nana, we ain’t all that busy,” chimed in Louise, annoyed that her grandmother was not only speaking for her, but telling all her business. “In fact,” Louise continued to Jeremiah, “if there are any groceries you need, I can pick them up for you. I’ve got a car, or we could go together. And I can even cook you a wonderful ‘welcome to Lemon City’ meal. I’ll bet you’ve never had one of those before.”

“He had one,” said Nana. “Don’t you remember? It was Christmas.”

“That doesn’t count,” said Louise. “That one wasn’t planned.”

“Well, you don’t need to drive Jeremiah around. He can borrow the 1970 eight-cylinder, two-door white hardtop Pontiac GTO coupe to run errands in. It ain’t doing nothing but sitting in the driveway anyway, deteriorating like its owner is probably doing in the ground.” Catching herself mumbling toward the end of her sentence, Nana raised her voice to a normal speaking tone again. “Oh, excuse me,” she said to Jeremiah. “The original owner,
my ex–grandson-in-law, passed on a few months ago. He’s dead and buried and won’t be needing any transportation. His car’s available. God rest his soul.”

Medford was the perfect man for her granddaughter and Nana wasn’t going to let anyone, especially an Outsider, come between them. She was tempted to call Medford right then and there to ask him what was taking him so long to ask her granddaughter to the altar.

“So what would you like from the store?” Louise persisted.

Jeremiah felt uncomfortable causing the two women to fuss, but couldn’t figure out a way to avoid answering Louise’s question. “Cereal, milk, juice, sausage, pancake mix, the usual—and, oh, and Scooter Pies for Ruby Rose.”

“What about for you?” asked Louise.

Ruby Rose felt she was being passed over by Louise and didn’t like that she was flirting with her brother.

Louise closed her eyes, pretending to read his mind. “Don’t tell me. Let me guess.”

“Just some meat and vegetables, that’s all. I’ll leave it up to you. You look like a person I could trust.”

Nana was confused by her granddaughter. One day she was a feminist, the next day she was acting simple, chasing after some man.

Ruby Rose thought Louise already had a boyfriend because she’d met him at the Christmas party, and wondered why she wanted two.

Nana rummaged through a drawer until she found what she was looking for. Pulling out a set of car keys with the letters GTO on the chain, she handed it to Jeremiah. “Here you go. Now you can take yourself to the store.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jeremiah took the keys from Nana’s hand.

“Don’t give it a second thought.” Nana smiled.

“How much do you want for this?” Jeremiah offered. “I’ve got money.”

“Don’t want nothing, young man. In fact, I should be paying you. Trust me. You’re doing us all a big favor.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Dunlap.” Jeremiah shook Nana’s hand.

“Call me Nana, please. You too, Ruby Rose.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Ruby Rose smiled at Nana, but when she looked at Louise she straightened her face.

“Since you don’t know where the Piggly Wiggly is, I’ll go for you right after I finish helping Nana.”

“You don’t have to do that,” said Jeremiah, dangling the car key on the chain.

“Listen to the man,” Nana advised. “He’s making sense.”

“Jeremiah and me can go ourselves,” chimed in Ruby Rose.

“I know,” Louise said to Jeremiah, ignoring Ruby Rose again. “But I want to go. You’ve already given me your list, and I can get there faster than I can give you directions.” Louise had made up her mind, and they all realized she wasn’t going to change it.

On the drive to the Piggly Wiggly, Louise wondered what it was about Jeremiah that made him interesting and all she came up with was that he was young, handsome, and had a way about him that made her think he was open to adventure. Besides, having options with regard to boyfriends could be a good thing. One way of looking at it was that it was always better to be stuck in the middle than to be stuck with none. That way, she wouldn’t become bored with just one man. Boredom didn’t keep a schedule; it could arrive at any time. Since Medford was busy doing his own thing and there weren’t any rules that said she couldn’t be with someone else, she didn’t see that she was doing anything wrong. Being with Jeremiah was just another way to pass the time.