Latoya sat at the edge of her bed holding a can of Shasta to her cheek. After Ronald had told on her Lucia, their mother, spent more time slapping Latoya than she did trying to take care of Ronald's arm.
"I'm not done with yo little nappy headed ass, girl!" Lucia had screamed at Latoya. "When I get back it's gon' be time for round two!" She then grabbed Ronald by his broken arm and sped away in her Rabbit, hopefully to a hospital.
"I hope you crash," Latoya said to herself as Lucia drove off. She looked at the posters on her wall and sighed. "Daddy, where you at?" she asked aloud. "You know I don't like that woman." She walked over to her window and looked at her friends playing.
She rolled her eyes, a habit that was yet to be slapped out of her, and went to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and smacked her lips when she saw what was inside. Nothing but beer and old potato salad from last week. Lucia was not the cooking type by any stretch of the imagination.
Latoya was 12 years old. Her brother Ronald was 7 and looked every bit of it. While Latoya would occasionally be mistaken for a high school student on account of her height, Ronald would be confused for a 3 year old that spoke well for his age. She left the kitchen and went out into the backyard. Hearing crying coming from a few backyards down, she walked over to the fence and squinted while looking in the direction of the cry.
Miss May's house.
"Sorry, kid," she said as she quickly went back indoors and bolted the three locks and chain. She knew about Miss May, or Mother May as everyone at church called her, and knew that whatever happened in her house stayed at her house. She had been living with Lucia and Ronald for about two years and every week or so another new story would surface about Miss May. Everything from "I heard she eats kids!" to "She's a witch!" For some reason Latoya believed both stories and everything in between.
As Latoya sat in the living room torturing herself by watching the kids playing outside she heard the sound of a car screeching down the street.
"How is she back already?" Latoya thought to herself as she placed the TV Guide back where it was when Lucia left. She ran into the kitchen and unlocked the dead bolts but left the chain on as it was before. She dove onto her bed and placed the soda back on her cheek.
"I ain't payin' all that goddamned money just cause yo arm sprained!" Lucia screamed from the driveway.
"It ain't sprained! It's broken!" Ronald shouted.
"Boy, what I tell you 'bout talkin' back? Now get in ya damned room and sit down! I'm gon' be back later to fix it. I gotta go get some cigarettes from up the street" Lucia said as she threw Ronald into the living room and locked the door. Latoya entered the room after Lucia drove away.
"You okay, ugly?" she asked Ronald.
"No" he said. "Lookit…" he said while holding his arm up. It was swollen at the elbow and dark at his wrist. "I think its gon' fall off," he said sadly.
"It ain't fallin' off, stupid!" Latoya said. "Let me fix it" she said as she led him to the kitchen and grabbed a plastic bag and some ice. "Sit down. I'm gonna get something to hold your arm still with" she said as she looked under the sink. She found some large garbage bags.
"How old are you, 'Toya?" Ronald asked.
"Why?" she said.
"'Cause the kids say you too big for 12," he replied. "I don't think you are but that's what they be sayin'," he said as he winced while the ice was placed on his arm.
"I was born in 1973, so I am 12. Now shut up and keep still" she said. She hated having to explain that her age was what it was to everyone. The fact that most of the kids in school made fun of her and the teachers laughed behind her back was bad enough. She did not want to deal with it at home. "Guess what I heard?" she asked Ronald to change the topic.
"What?" Ronald replied.
"Somebody cryin' over at Miss May's house," she said while smiling. She knew how terrified Ronald was of Miss May. "You wanna go and see why?"
"Nuh-uh!" he screamed while trying to pull his arm free.
"Stop movin', stupid!" Latoya shouted at Ronald. "I don't wanna take your scared butt over there anyway. You'll end up getting stuck in her yard and then I'll have to save you."
"Would you really save me?" he asked.
"No," Latoya said as she tightened the garbage bag around his arm. It stuck out straight at his side.
"This look stupid," Ronald said.
"So does your face."
"What in the fuck do you have on your arm?" Lucia asked Ronald after returning from the grocery store. "Did that dumb ass girl do this?" Lucia never tried to make an attempt to hide her disdain for Latoya. Her boyfriend, Latoya's father Nathaniel, had vanished a while back and she knew he wasn't returning. "Where is she?" she asked while fingering a Newport 100.
"No, mama! It feel better. Lookit," Ronald said while flapping his arm. "See?" His arm hurt very much and he could barely feel it the wrapping was so tight but he did not want Latoya to get into trouble again. He felt bad when his mother slapped her around earlier.
"Hmm," Lucia said. "At least I ain't gotta waste no money on you now." She left and went into her bedroom and closed the door. Ronald waited a few moments and then ran to Latoya's room.
"Can I come in?" he asked standing in front of her room.
"No" Latoya said. "Go play with your goofy friends or sumthin'," she said.
"I don't got no friends," he said while staring at his arm. He tried to wiggle his fingers but only his small finger moved. Slightly.
"That ain't my problem," she said before turning her stereo on loudly.
Ronald sighed and went into the kitchen to check the refrigerator. He saw the collection of beer and old potato salad and slammed the door shut. He looked at the back door leading to the yard and thought of what Latoya said earlier about the Bug Lady. He had met her in church a few years ago and cried so much his mother spanked him in front of everyone. One time he said he saw her smoking in church but his mother did not believe him. "Ain't nobody smokin' in church!" she had screamed at him. He unchained the door and quietly slipped into the backyard.
Like Latoya had said earlier he did indeed hear someone crying. It sounded like a girl. A little girl. Ronald's need for companionship outweighed his fear and common sense momentarily and he climbed the neighbor's fence, Mrs. Watson, and landed hard in her yard. Thankfully she kept her lawn in better shape than his mother, otherwise he would have done even more damage to his arm. He climbed the next fence and was only two houses away from the Bug Lady's place and possibly his new friend.
He had seen many children come and go from her place. They would be there a few months and then new kids would appear. They never came outside to play or even went to school. At least not to any school he knew about in the area. He scaled another fence and the crying was even louder now. It was a girl for sure. "Maybe she would be my girlfriend!" Ronald thought to himself.
Now he was just at the fence that led to the Bug Lady's house. One of the few old fashioned wooden ones in the neighborhood. Suddenly common sense and fear roared at him like a caged tiger. He tried to run back home but his legs refused to work. "Please try again later" they said to him. He tried to say something but the only sound that came out was so low that even a dog would not have heard it. Suddenly the voice on the other end of the fence gasped. Ronald felt the middle of his jeans get wet.
"Is someone there?" the voice asked. Ronald tried to reply but again he got the same response from his throat that his legs were giving him. "Help us" it whispered before yelping.
"Who you talkin' to, girl?" a raspy voice said. Ronald had never heard the voice of evil. But he guessed that if the Devil had a wife, this is what she would sound like. Like a car on a gravel road driving very slowly. Like glass being crushed under the foot of a giant too large to feel pain. Snot began running out of his nose as his eyes began to well with tears. "Is sum'body over yonder?" Miss May asked. Ronald could hear her shuffling towards the fence. He tried to run but only one leg worked. "Who's there?" Miss May asked. Ronald cou
ld swear he heard her sniffing the air.
"I wasn't talking to anyone," the girl said.
"You ain't got to lie, chil'," Miss May said. Suddenly a hand reached through the fence, grabbing Ronald by his broken arm. He held in his scream as he tried to get away. He did not understand how an old lady could stick her arm through two inches of wood. He tore his arm free but not before Miss May yanked a piece of the garbage bag off.
Ronald ran over the fences with a speed that seemed unreal. He barely touched the fences as he scaled them. He crashed into his yard and ran into the house. He burst into the kitchen and tripped on his skates, slamming against the floor. Latoya stood at the refrigerator staring inside as if food would magically appear if she stood there long enough.
"What happened to you?" she asked Ronald.
"The Bug Lady!" he screamed as Latoya slapped her hand over his mouth.
"Be quiet!" she hissed. "I don't want yo mama to hear you yellin' 'bout the Bug Lady!" Suddenly the doorbell rang. They both jumped and looked towards the living room. Ronald looked at Latoya and she shrugged. The doorbell rang again and again they both jumped.
"Get that goddamn door!" Lucia shouted from her bedroom.
Latoya looked at Ronald and grabbed his broken arm to check out his "cast." She dropped it and he followed her into the living room, holding onto the back of her shirt. The doorbell rang again. Ronald jumped but now Latoya was too annoyed to be afraid. She walked over to the door, slapped Ronald's hand away from her shirt, and swung it open; ready to face anyone that was there.
Except her.
"Is yo mama home, little one?" Miss May asked.
Latoya almost gasped when she saw Miss May standing at the door. The only thing that separated her from what many considered to be evil incarnate was a screen door. Latoya felt that even if the door were made of steel that Miss May would find a way to get through it with no effort. She could feel the room getting colder the longer she stood before Miss May who, to her credit, did not seemed the least bit concerned with the child's fear.
"My mama is busy, ma'am…" Latoya whispered.
"Who is at that damned door?!" Lucia shouted from her bedroom. "Is it a collector? It sure as hell betta not be no Jehovah's Witnesses!"
"It's nobody!" Latoya replied. "That was my aunty" she lied to Miss May.
"Lyin' is a sin, chil'," Miss May said. She smiled; her yellow teeth seemed sharper than they should be to Latoya. "I jus' need to ask her a quick question."
Ronald peeped around the doorway and saw Miss May standing at the door. The front of his pants got wetter. Lucia walked out of her room and stumbled to the living room. A mark was on her arm from where a belt had been tied around it. She smacked Ronald on the head as she passed him and shoved Latoya out of the way.
"May I help you?" Lucia slurred at Miss May.
"Oh, I was just walking by and thought I would say hello. Don't speak to my neighbors much," she said. "Mind if I come in?" she asked. She lifted her head slightly and smiled at Lucia.
"Okay" Lucia said. "Move, girl!" she said pushing Latoya to the side who was shaking her head furiously. "Come inside." Latoya had read in some books and seen in movies where once you invited an evil vampire inside your house that they could now enter whenever they wanted to. Now she did not feel safe in her own home. She wasn't positive that Miss May was a vampire but she could not say with a hundred percent certainty that she was not.
Miss May entered, a small wisp of smoke billowing from her mouth. She barely made a sound as she slid inside.
"I'm sorry, but I don't allow smoking in my house," Lucia said. Miss May looked at the pack of Newport's in Lucia's hand and smiled.
"Neither do I," she said as the smoke disappeared just as fast as it appeared. "That's a sin." Miss May stepped into the living room and sat down silently on a small couch. She looked over at Ronald and he gasped. Lucia sat down on a love seat facing Miss May. Latoya stood at the doorway waiting for something to happen in which case her exit would be hasty.
"Girl, stop bein' rude and sit down!" Lucia shouted at Latoya.
"Sit down, little one" Miss May said to her while patting the cushion next to her. Latoya shook her head "no" and Lucia gave her a look that said "Whether or not you sit I am gonna beat your ass." Latoya slowly made her way to the seat. Her arm brushed against Miss May and it felt like ice-cold glass. It made her shudder which caused Miss May to smile.
"What's your name, pumpkin?" she asked Latoya.
"Latoya…" she replied. She was trying her best to keep her teeth from clicking together.
"Ronald, get in here!" Lucia screamed. "Stop bein' rude!"
Ronald slowly walked into the room. Seeing Latoya next to Miss May made him swallow so hard it hurt his throat. He sat next to his mother and stared at Latoya who looked as if she were on the verge of either crying or screaming.
Maybe both.
"Have I seen you before?" Miss May asked him. Ronald felt the temperature of his blood drop a few degrees.
"No," he said quickly.
"I think I have…" Miss May said while rubbing her chin. She had a few gray hairs that stuck out very brightly in contrast to her dark skin. "I never forget a face. Ever. Either way, my name is Miss May. Some call me 'Mother May'" she said as she stuck her hand out to shake Ronald's. Ronald looked at his mother and she squinted at him. Ronald stuck his hand out and Miss May took it in hers. Ronald gasped and snatched his hand back, rubbing it to warm it up. "Sorry, but with my bad circulation my hands get cold easily."
"So how you like the street?" Lucia asked Miss May.
"Oh, it's nice. So many chil'ren and happiness," she said while looking around the apartment without raising her head. Latoya thought that she looked like a snake entering a room. Slowly surveying but without the forked tongue. But she would not have been surprised if Miss May had one.
As if Miss May read her mind she looked at Latoya and smiled. "Well, it was nice meetin' y'all," Miss May said as she slowly rose from the chair. Lucia tried to shake Miss May's hand and she just smiled at her and nodded. "Have a good day, Lucia. See you 'round the neighborhood, Latoya and Ronald." Miss May slipped out of the house and was gone before Ronald made it from the couch to the front door.
"I don't 'member tellin' her my name…" Lucia said aloud. "Y'all go do somethin'. I'm goin' back to my room. I don't feel good." Lucia stumbled back to her room, slamming the door. Ronald looked at Latoya who was now getting some of the color back in her face.
"This is your fault!" she hissed at Ronald. "If you hadn't went to her yard she wouldn't have come over!"
"Leave me alone!" Ronald shouted as he ran to his room, slamming his door as well. A few moments later he screamed. Latoya ran to his room and kicked the door open. She saw Ronald staring at his bed with his mouth wide open.
"Is that what I think it is?" Latoya asked. Ronald just nodded, tears streaming down his face.
The small piece of plastic torn from his "cast" lay on the bed with a bit of dirt underneath it.
Lady Bug Page 2