Scattered Leaves (7 page)

"Good. So we won't gossip."
She turned back to the tub. How could she not want to know why Ian was in the institution? Wouldn't she be curious, at least? Should I just blurt it all? What if I told her what I had seen in the basement? Would she be upset? What would she do if she was? Cry hysterically? Throw a tantrum? Would I be blamed for whatever she did?
She looked up at me again.
"Do you have something else to say?
Something pleasant?"
I shook my head. No matter what happens, I decided. I really should come right out and tell her everything about Ian. She has a right to know. He's her grandnephew, after all, I thought, but she put her right forefinger to her lips.
"Swallow bad news." she said. seeing that the words were nearly dripping from my lips. "That's what I do, Swallow it quickly and never bring it up again."
She turned away from me. Maybe it just not the right time, I thought. Grandmother Emma always said there's a right time for everything. First, determine that.
"There's enough room in the cabinet now. I'll go get my things," I told Great-aunt Frances.
She nodded without looking back at me. Just as I started to leave, she did turn.
"Wait," she said. She wants to know after all, I thought, but that wasn't it. "I know just what we'll have for dinner," she said, her voice suddenly full of childish excitement. "We'll send Lester for Southern fried chicken and a quart of chocolate marshmallow ice cream. Okay?"
I nodded, even though chicken and ice cream didn't sound like a dinner.
Felix stepped into the bathroom and looked around, then he looked at me.
"Lester," he called without turning away.
"Yes, sir. I'm here."
Lester joined him quickly.
"Any reason why you haven't fixed that faucet?" Felix asked, nodding at the dripping.
"Didn't know it was leaking. She never said.
I
don't come up here much. Don't like to invade her privacy."
"Yeah, well, invade it and fix the faucet. Looks like you have a leak around that toilet. too."
"I'll be on it."
Felix turned back to me.
"I'll be returning to Bethlehem now. Jordan. but I'll be returning here very soon," he said, raising his voice. "Keep a list of anything you find that needs attention. understand?'
"Yes,"
I
said. glancing at Lester Marshall.
I
didn't like being a tattletale, and that's what it sounded like
I
would become.
"Don't worry, Your grandmother would expect you to do so," Felix told me.
"Okay."
I
said.
If
it was what Grandmother Emma would want.
I'd
have to do it.
"I'm going now," he said. "ButI'll be back again
^-
soon," he repeated, this time looking pointedly at Lester. He put his hand on my shoulder for a moment, and then he walked toward the stairway.
I
looked back at Great-aunt Frances, who was still on her knees washing the tub, and Lester Marshall, who was examining the sink faucet. Once again.
I
felt a great urge to run after Felix to beg him to take me home. but
I
didn't.
I
watched him disappear down the stairs. then
I
went to my room to get my bathroom things.
I
did go to the window, where
I
looked out for one last look at Felix.
I
saw him pause, gaze back at the house. Shake
his head, then get into Grandmother Emma's limousine. A few moments later he was driving off. He was the last person connecting me to my past world, All I had now were Ian's letters waiting to be read.
As the limousine made its way down the gravel drive, the girl and the boy I had seen in the basement crossed in front of the house and walked toward the small house. The girl wore an apricot-colored round crown hat. They were laughing, but suddenly the girl pushed the boy away. He looked like he protested, but she ran and he ran after her. I watched them until they disappeared from my view. Then I returned to the bathroom with my toilet articles.
Lester was gone. but Great-aunt Frances was sitting on the side of the tub looking exhausted. She had her hand over her breast.
"It takes so little to tire me out these days. That's why I can't do very much. Mae Betty will just have to work harder now that you're here. too. I'm not used to house cleaning," she whined. "And I'm too old now to start. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. The tub is as clean as I can get it." She paused and then smiled. But don't worry, dear. We'll be all right. Everything will be all right. We don't have to be so uppity about ourselves, do we? If Emma doesn't like it, she'll just have to hire more help for me."
While she spoke. I put my things in the medicine cabinet.
She saw me put the tampons in the bottom cabinet, but she looked away quickly.
"You know I had my first period already. right?" I asked her. She shook her head, keeping her gaze on the floor.
"I don't talk about that. I hate to talk about anything that isn't pleasant. That goes for doctors and hospitals especially. I don't like to think about them. I hate going to the dentist. too. Dr. Evans comes to see me once in a while, and he's going to come see you soon, too. Emma's lawyer told me it's all arranged. so I don't have to be concerned about any of that," she said, looking at me again and smiling. "We don't want to even think about unpleasant things, now do we. Jordan? Okay? Okay?" she pursued, now with more urgency.
I nodded. What else couldn't I tell her about? What was I supposed to do about my problems? How could I swallow back everything?
"The only unhappiness we will permit in the house will come over the television set in my programs. That's all right, isn't it? If someone says anything unpleasant to us, we'll just pretend he or she is not there. It's like changing the channel on the television set. It's that easy. You just close your eyes for a second and go. 'Click!' in your mind and poof, whoever it is and whatever unpleasant thing they said or did will be gone.'
She stood up quickly.
"I must remember to go tell Lester what we want him to get us for our dinner. Because it's Southern. I'm going to put on a
Gone With the Wind
dress, I have all sorts of old clothes stored in the basement. I'll find something you can wear, too. I'll go look right now. What a fun, wonderful way to have our first dinner together."
She hurried out of the bathroom and down the hall before I could ask any questions. What was a
Gone With the Wind
dress? I also wondered if she would realize those kids had been down there.
More important, I wondered why Grandmother Emma thought I would be better off living here than back at the mansion with my father, even with his girlfriend there.
I closed the medicine cabinet and left the bathroom as Lester returned with tools to fix the faucet.
"It's a beautiful day," he said. "You shouldn't shut yourself up in here. Why don't you go over to the house and see what Alanis is doing."
"Who's Alanis?"
"That's my granddaughter.'"
The girl in the basement, I thought. "Is there a boy there. too?"
"Oh, that's her latest. Chad Washington, By the time you walk over there, he might be gone and some other boy will be knocking on the door."
He laughed and went into the bathroom.
As Ian might say, the door to my curiosity was thrown open. I started for the stairway. I could hear Mae Betty cleaning up the kitchen. The clanging of pots and pans, the sound of silverware being tossed and the jerking and pushing of the chairs and table told me she was still in a rage. I avoided her and quickly went to the front door and outside.
It was still a warm day, only more clouds had come slipping in under the blue so that the sun was hidden enough to cast a layer of light gray over the property. I could hear music coming from Lester Marshall's house. Some of the windows were open, and whatever was playing the music-- radio or CD player-- was turned up to be very loud.
I walked down the steps carefully and started slowly toward the house. I could hear the chickens Felix had told me about. They were in a pen next to the barn in the rear of the main house. When I drew closer to the Marshall house. I heard another window being thrown open. The curtain parted and the girl I had seen in the basement leaned out. The music was turned down, too.
"Hey!" she called. I walked a little faster toward her. "Who are you? What are you doing snooping around here?"
The boy she was with appeared over her shoulder and looked out at me.
"I'm not snooping," I said. "Mr. Marshall told me to come over here. Are you Alanis?"
"Mr. Marshall told you?" She laughed, looked at the boy and then at me again. "So who are you?"
"I'm Jordan March." I said.
"March? You related to Miss Piggy?"
I glared back at her a moment. That was a nasty thing to say.
Maybe I should just return to the house,. I thought.
"You mean my great-aunt Frances?"
"Oh, she's your great-aunt? What's so great about her?" she asked and laughed again. The boy laughed. too.
"That means she's my grandmother's sister," I said.
"I know what it means. I'm just teasing you. girl." She continued to look at me a moment. "Okay, come on in. Chad and I are bored anyway, or at least I am."
She backed away from the window and the curtain fell together again. I hesitated, looked back at the house, then walked slowly toward the front of the Marshall house, I saw a dark-brown hound dog lying on the front porch. It lifted its head off its paws to look my way, then lowered it again. Before I got there. Alanis opened the door and stood there with her arms folded.
Like her mother, she was tall and slim, but her facial features were bigger. so I thought she must look more like her father. Where was her father? I wondered, No one had even mentioned him. Her hat was tilted back and I saw that her hair was slightly lighter than her mother's and longer. However, her jeans were just as tight-fitting. She wore nothing more than what looked like a man's undershirt. and I could see that just like me, she wore no bra.
"Did you get an eyeful in Miss Piggy's basement before?" she asked. Her boyfriend stepped up beside her and laughed.
"How much is an eyeful?" I asked.
"Depends how long you were watching us."
"I wasn't watching you. I heard you laughing and just looked in."
"Too bad. You'd get an education," her boyfriend said, and she laughed.
"Don't tease her. Chad. She doesn't look much more than fourteen. How old are you?"
She thought I was fourteen?
"I'm seven." I said.
"Get out. Seven?"
"Can't wait until she's eight," Chad said. "What you say your name was again?"
"Jordan."
"Okay. Jordan. You can come in. Just step over Bones," she said. The dog did not move when I approached it. so I stepped over it as she had said. She pushed Chad in the stomach. "Get out of the way, stupid."
He stepped back and I entered the house. There was a very short entryway, and the living room was very small. The hallway was narrow and not very long. I saw three doors and imagined one was the kitchen and the other two were bedrooms, but then I realized one of the three had to be the bathroom.
"Go on in," Alanis said.
When I stepped into the living room. I saw that the sofa was used as a bed. There was a bed pillow on it and a blanket folded on one side.
"I bet your house is ten times this cardboard box, huh?" she asked me.
"My grandmother's house is. It's probably twenty times, maybe thirty," I said.
"Thirty! You kidding?" Chad said.
I shook my head. "No. it's a famous mansion in Bethlehem. My grandfather was an executive at Bethlehem Steel during the golden age."
"Yeah. I heard something about that." Alanis said. "She ain't lying. They're a rich family, owning all sorts of buildings and such."
"Man," Chad said. "what you doing here then?"
"I came to live with my great-aunt Frances." I said. "My father and mother were in a bad car accident. My father's in a wheelchair now and my mother is still in a coma. My grandmother had a stroke."
"You full of good news," Chad said and laughed.
"Go on. Sit down, Don't mind him. He's practicing to be an idiot and he's almost perfect." Alanis said.
"Hey."
"Ain't it time for you to get back to your cage?" she asked him.
"Oh, you're so smart," he said. He looked at me and then he shrugged. "What's the difference? I don't care. I don't want to be in any kindergarten class," he added, looking at me. "I'll see you tomorrow,"
"Maybe," Alanis said. "I'll have to check my schedule and see if I can fit you in."
"Yeah, right," he said and left.
"Timers up on him," Alanis said after he was gone, "Timers up?"
"Yeah. I put love into boys like people put coins in a parking meter. He's expired," she said. "Go on, sit down. You don't look as young as you say you are. Your parents tall?"
"Yes."
I sat on the big, soft chair. The pillow was so worn that I sank until I felt something hard beneath me. She flopped back on the sofa.
"Look, girl," she said with great forcefulness. "I'm no fool. hear? I know you're no seven-year-old," she said, her eyes narrow. 'Are you lying for some reason? Trying to keep being left back a secret or something? I know girls did that."
"No. I'm seven. That's the truth."
"Look at you. You're bigger than me upstairs. I didn't have any sign of boobs until I was almost fourteen." she said. "And certainly not as far along as you are at seven." she added. nodding.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"I'm sixteen going on thirty. That's what my grandfather says. Mr. Marshall." She laughed. "So you're going to school here then?"
"Uh-huh. I got my packet."
"Packet?"
"Papers in an envelope telling about the bus, where my class is, my teacher's name."
"Who's your teacher?"
"Mrs. Morgan."
"Well, you'll be in the third grade. You're telling the truth about that. I had her. She's all right when her husband's home. When he's not, she's cranky."
"Why isn't her husband home?"
"He's some kind of salesman. Sells dental stuff. You know why she's happy when he's home. right?"
I nodded. by wouldn't she be happy to have her husband home?
"I don't think you do," Alanis said. "Never mind for now. You here by yourself?"
"Yes."
"I guess you don't have no brother or sister. huh?"
"I have a brother named Ian."
"Where's he?"