Playing by the Rules: A Novel (20 page)

“Well, you better read all the parts so you get the whole picture,” Nana snapped.

Knowing Nana the way she did, Louise could tell her grandmother was upset about something, and she wanted to know what. “Nana, how was your day?”

“I spent most of my time quilting with The Ladies. Why?”

“What were y’all talking about?”

“You ain’t gonna do nothing foolish, are you?” Nana asked, finally getting to the heart of the matter.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. Keep your distance from the Outsider. Medford is a good man.”

“I know, Nana,” said Louise.

“He’s looking for his mama. That’s what he’s doing. That’s why he ain’t been ‘round here and I ain’t seen him in a while. You better finish readin’ that book so you can be ready if he comes looking for you when he’s done, is all I have to say. Ain’t nothing like being prepared for when the time comes.”

“Nana, are you talking about marriage again? That why you’re pushing Medford on me?”

“I ain’t doing nothing of the sort. Stop trying to accuse me of something that’s your fault.”

“Nana, what’s my fault?”

“I’m done talking right now. I trust you’ll know what’s best for you and stop dilly-dallying around.” Nana hung up the phone just as Louise began to open her mouth.

Nana was getting riled up over nothing, Louise thought. But what did she mean about Medford looking for his mother? Was she the “other woman” who was the source of his preoccupation? If that were the case, she’d feel really stupid, but in a way it was already too late. She had become fond of Jeremiah, and the backand-forth between the two men was making her tired. Even though she spent more time with Jeremiah than Medford, the combination of exerting physical energy with the former and expending mental energy on the latter made her feel like she was spiraling downward toward a serious vitamin deficiency. It was beyond exhausting. Yet despite that, she noticed something interesting was beginning to happen that she couldn’t ignore. It was as if she couldn’t go anywhere with Jeremiah without feeling the obvious were missing, like taking a walk in the park and one day noticing the grass had disappeared.

While Louise and Jeremiah always enjoyed their time together, the thought of Medford kept intruding on her fun. There was
a change taking place that she couldn’t explain—like an overlap, having some kind of crossover effect. When she and Jeremiah had gone to a matinee to see the new movie
Uptown Saturday Night
, a strange thing occurred. Every now and then, she’d see Medford’s face on the giant screen instead of Sidney Poitier’s. She had to squeeze her eyes and rub them with her hands to try to make the illusion go away, but Medford’s image was stubborn, and sometimes it just stayed in a scene with Bill Cosby longer than she’d like. The movie was roll-over, belly-aching funny, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed that hard, probably not since Elvira accidentally washed Billy’s police uniform instead of taking it to the dry cleaners and he put it on and split his pants.

Even after the movie, when Louise and Jeremiah went back to her house and tried several new positions from the
More Joy of Sex
book and made love like long-eared jackrabbits half the night, Louise could feel Medford’s presence in the room. It was as if another set of eyes were watching her in the dark and it was creepy, making her feel as if she were being caught in an act of betrayal. It didn’t use to be that way, and she wished she could blow away the mirage as easily as she could hold the stem and force air to release the white cottony seeds of a dandelion in spring.

When Medford finally made time to take Louise out on a date, they went to see the new movie
Claudine
. A single mother raising six kids with a boyfriend in the picture who was trying to help out was more serious than fun. She loved Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones, but thought the movie was slow-moving and methodical, which was a little like being with Medford. Regardless, she enjoyed the time with him and realized she missed him dearly.

That night when she and Medford went back to her house after the movie and made love, the sex was much different than it was with Jeremiah. Sex with Medford was also slow and methodical,
which worked in his favor. There was a long interlude of foreplay and a leisurely stroll up to climax. Satisfaction ran high with Medford. With him, there was no need for a second round.

When his hand took control of her body, it was the only time she considered surrender. The way it spread her legs wide open and fondled the source of her pleasure made her melt into a place that was frozen in time, suspended in space, surrounded by four walls attached to a floor, and beyond was no outside world, only nebulous clouds floating by.

When their breathing got back to normal, Louise kissed his birthmark as if it were a sweet spot demanding her to caress it with her tongue over and over again until he moaned like a baby. Then she held him in her arms until he collapsed, his full weight upon her body, and fell asleep. It was getting to the point where Louise was beginning to realize she could no more control her feelings for Medford than she could hold back an avalanche with a shovel.

Louise woke up to the smell of coffee and when she opened her eyes, Medford’s clothes were gone. When she sat up, she heard him stirring in the kitchen. “What are you doing up so early?” she asked, rearranging her cornrows to make herself presentable.

“Good morning.” He smiled, walking into the bedroom, carrying two cups of coffee. “Want some?”

Louise nodded.

Medford knew just how she liked it—coffee with a little milk to match her cocoa-colored skin, with one teaspoon of sugar to take off the bitter edge. He handed her the Huey Newton mug while he drank his coffee with the Angela Davis silkscreen across the ceramic. The Black Panther line of mugs were collector’s items that Louise had special-ordered last year; they included the likenesses of H. Rap Brown, Bobby Seale, Stokely Carmichael, and Eldridge Cleaver.

“I’m going to the Town Hall, to the Municipal Offices,” Medford
finally said, sitting on the edge of her bed. “I’m going to the Child Welfare Bureau, Office of Family Assistance, Missing Person’s Department, and anyplace else where I can get some information on my mother.” Medford took one big swallow and looked squarely at Louise. “I’m in the process of looking for her. That’s what I’ve been doing with my time. I know you’ve been occupied with other things, but when and if I find her, I’d like to ask you to marry me. I know how you get nervous and all about making commitments, but I’m just taking your fling with the Outsider as being temporary, as a last chance to sow your wild oats. Do it now, ‘cause when you decide to be with me, your sowing classes will be over.”

Louise listened to Medford’s words, which was all she could do because she wasn’t prepared to give him a response.

“Now when I find my mother…
if
I find her… and at least I have to try…at that time, I’ll feel my life is complete. Then I can be ready to ask you for your hand in marriage. Of course, I’ll have to ask Granddaddy first.”

Having her suspicions overturned by Medford after wrongfully accusing him of seeing another woman made Louise want to go underground and voluntarily disappear, much like Huey Newton exiled himself to Cuba this year.

“Meanwhile, I need you to wait for me and consider my offer.” Medford, sensing he had stepped into a lion’s den, was hopeful his scent was nonthreatening.

Louise could hardly return his gaze, feeling like she’d been put on the spot. Even though he had made up his mind, she hadn’t given their relationship any overall thought. “Medford, it’s too early to talk about this,” she complained. “I haven’t even finished my coffee.”

Medford stood up abruptly, annoyed that she’d returned his affections with selfish disregard. “Well, I have.” His smile disappeared
as he took his last swallow, walked into the kitchen, and placed Angela Davis in the sink. “I’ll catch up with you later,” he said, trying to conceal his anger as he closed the door.

Louise put her Huey Newton mug on the night table, then pulled the covers over her head to block out the daylight and escape her own insensitivity. If Medford wanted to look for his mama, that was
his
issue, not hers. If Medford wanted to get married, that was
his
issue, not hers. She couldn’t make his issues her own. She only wanted to have fun and didn’t see anything wrong with that. She would no more take on anyone else’s problems than she would walk barefoot on broken glass. Besides, as much as she hated to admit it, she thought she might be falling in love with Jeremiah. The notion made her think about Rule Number Five: CHEATING MAKES YOU LOWER THAN A DOG SCRATCHING UP A WORM IN THE DIRT, but she didn’t feel that applied to her because she wasn’t married. However, in doubt and needing confirmation, she called Elvira for support.

“Hey, Vi.”

“Watch you doing up there?” Elvira was washing breakfast dishes. “Why don’t you come downstairs and talk?”

“I’m still in bed,” Louise yawned, pretending to be sleepy. “Anyway, I’ll make it quick. Tell me what you think about this …” Louise took a breath before she proceeded, like holding her nose before going underwater because it might be some time before she resurfaced. “I’m starting to really dig Jeremiah,” she fired off rapidly, then threw the phone on the bed, covered her ears, and still heard Elvira’s shrill response through the receiver.

“What?”

Now that she’d got that part over with, Louise reached for the phone. “I’ve seen him a few times and I think he’s nice.”

“You mean, that’s not Medford I hear upstairs?”

“Not all the time.”

“You little hussy! Louise, what are you doing?” Elvira took the liberty of yelling because she was in the house by herself.

“Just havin’ fun…I think.” Louise could hear Elvira shouting through the floorboards and wondered if she even needed to use the telephone service for this conversation.

“You have to stop seeing him right now, Louise Dunlap,” Elvira scolded, turning off the water.

“I just found out that Medford is not seeing another woman.”

“I already told you that.”

“Vi, what am I gonna do?”

“You know what you’re gonna do. Why are you asking me? You have the answer to that question. You’re a take-charge woman. Control yourself. Stop having feelings for that Outsider—cut ‘em off like chopping vegetables with a knife. If you’re bored, get a hobby, not another man. You just gone crazy out your mind. Think, girl. Think nothing but trouble, ‘cause it’s only gonna lead to no good.” Elvira hesitated, starting to worry. “Do you need some help out the situation? ‘Cause I’ll get Billy. I’ve never known you to be sensitive about hurtin’ nobody’s feelings. Tell him don’t come up the road no more. Do you need Billy to have a talk with him to make him stay his behind at the cottage? I’m sure it can be arranged. It’s no sweat for me to do it.”

“Vi, Vi. It’s me who’s keeping this thing going, not Jeremiah,” Louise interrupted, trying to get a word in. “And I appreciate the thought, but keep Billy out of this. There’s no need to get him involved, and don’t tell him I called you about this either.” When Louise hung up, she looked at the phone and said to no one, “Thank you for your advice. It was really helpful.”

It was a good thing Billy had left for work not too long ago. Elvira thought about calling him at the Sheriff’s Office or on his
CB radio, but she tried to hold back and honor Louise’s request. Instead, she dried her last pot, grabbed a bag of Cheez Doodles, and started eating. She also found a pad and pencil and started jotting down details of the conversation in case she forgot pieces of the story because she might have to share them with her husband later. She didn’t necessarily want to make it part of their dinner conversation, but if they discussed something that was related, at least she’d have the option to pull out the pad with her news.

Medford didn’t have time to be tripping over Louise if she was going to have an attitude. He had to use the day to stay focused. With more important things to do in his life right now, if she didn’t want to be included in his plans, that was her problem and her loss.

Turning on the radio in the pickup truck, Medford heard Marvin Gaye’s “Trouble Man” and thought about how women
make you want to holler and throw up both your hands
. Then he turned down the road to the cottage and thought that even little women could sometimes make you want to do the same.

Ruby Rose had two textbooks and a notebook under her arm while she waited for Medford at the cottage door. When she saw him, she ran to the truck and hopped into the front seat.

“Where are we heading this time?” She closed the car door.

“Town Hall, here we come,” Medford said as they drove off, noticing her science and social studies books.

After sitting quietly for a while, Ruby Rose could no longer contain herself. “Jeremiah was just on the phone with her, if you want to know.”

“No. I don’t want to know,” said Medford, annoyed at the news. “I’m not interested in hearing about Jeremiah and Louise, and if we’re going to be friends, you have to remember Rule Number
Nine: ‘Mind Your Own Business Personally and Professionally.’ ”

“Hmmph,” replied Ruby Rose. “I’m just saying what I saw. It’s not like I was listening. And I don’t blame you for not spending time with her today, ‘cause mamas are way more important than girlfriends, especially two-timing ones.”

Medford shook his head as he parked the pickup truck, and he and Ruby Rose went inside the Town Hall building and looked at the directory. He spent the first part of the day covering the main floor for information, examining files as closely as a prison guard combing a new inmate for ticks. He scoured the Lemon City Health and Human Services Department and the Domestic Relations Court Clerk Office, looking through documents, asking as many questions as he could that would forward his investigation. So far, he’d found nothing useful; it was as if he had dunked his cup into a water well and come up with dry sand. At the Office of Family Assistance, where the gentleman behind the counter wasn’t of any help, Medford suggested he modify the sign on the door to read “Office of Family Assistance,
Depending
.”
Depending
on what year you were researching,
depending
on how much information people wanted to reveal,
depending
on which files were selected way back when to be kept,
depending
on the case. He and Ruby Rose spent the whole afternoon on the second floor at the Department of Birth Records and Death Certificates, the Missing Persons Department, and the Office of Referral Services and Clearinghouse. He looked through information as far back as the 1900s until his eyes felt like they were about to cross and his head hurt from reading so much material. Everyone who was old enough recalled the incident of baby Medford in a basket on the front porch, like Moses in a basket on the Nile, but that was about it. Memories stopped as if they’d reached a dead end after a certain
period of time. It seemed the only thing the Lemonites cared about was that the baby was safe. Since the mama never revealed herself, it was as though she’d never even existed.