When she closed her Bible, Goldie leaned over and whispered, “You have a pretty voice, Miss Nettie.”
Nettie patted Goldie’s hand and looked to the pulpit. Reverend Dawson nodded to let her know it was time to make the announcement. She stepped in front of the congregation, not up to the pulpit, and spoke from her heart.
“Good morning, everyone. Ever since my arrival in this town, I have seen something is needed to keep the minds of our youth occupied. So, I’m announcing there will be a school here in the sanctuary on Monday through Friday mornings. This session will last until the children are due to go back to school on Easter Monday. The children should arrive at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast. After breakfast, we’ll proceed here to read, memorize Scripture, practice reading skills and do math problems.
“I plan to prepare a music program as well that we’ll present in church on Easter Sunday morning. Lunch will be provided to the children after they assist in getting the dining hall ready for our charity-kitchen recipients. If you don’t want them to have lunch, they will be sent home.
“I have sign-up slips with me, so please see me after church so that I may obtain an accurate counting of the children coming. All children up to the eighth grade are welcome. Thank you.”
When she sat, Goldie had a look on her face resembling awe. “You’re so beautiful and brave, Miss Nettie. Weren’t you scared?”
She paused then whispered, “Through him, I know all things are possible. You should feel that way too.”
The little girl leaned into her shoulder and Nettie put an arm around her, exulting in the innocence of a child. She may have been uncertain of her purpose in Pittsburgh, but the girl’s need was clear to her.
When Brother Carver died, she felt more lost than Sister Jane did. At least Sister Jane had her son to go to in Florida when she stopped the revival life. She did not know what to do. Everyone had always thought that Mags and Delie were the ones who were good with children. She had bought in to that.
Now she could see, because of Goldie, she had a contribution to make and a purpose in life. She liked feeling useful. Goldie would be able to be here in the mornings and Nettie was being paid for her time. She resolved to use her earnings to help the church and the charity kitchen. Living with her sister and brother-in-law, she didn’t need anything, although according to Goldie, she could use a new wardrobe. Dear child. Who in the world would she need to be dressed up for?
Jay Evans.
The two words came unbidden to her mind and she shook her head, not sure where they had come from.
Things always got so cloudy here in Pittsburgh.
Ever since Mags married Asa nearly four years ago, the Bledsoe sisters were welcome to bring their families to Asa Caldwell’s mother’s house for lunch. They would be there. Asa’s four sisters and their children, who attended a different church uptown, would also come.
Given how often people were having children, not to mention families growing with new arrivals like Nettie, this meant that Mrs. Caldwell had to have cold lunch prepared every week for thirty people. But she loved it, Asa assured them, and Nettie could see that she did.
Elodie Caldwell didn’t smile that broadly at the church kitchen, nor was she as friendly there. However, when they came into the house, Mrs. Caldwell leaned over and gave Goldie a pat on the head. She guided them over to the buffet of cold roasted meats, breads, chilled desserts and fruit.
There were lots of Caldwell cousins to play with and Goldie made friends with some of Asa’s nieces. The gatherings every week were of one big, happy family, and somewhat reminiscent of how it once was in Georgia before the Bledsoe sisters started going northward.
“It was like a mob surrounded me after church. I gathered thirty slips,” Nettie told Asa when he asked her about the school. “Quite a lot.”
One of Asa’s sisters threw back her head and laughed. “I wouldn’t let word get around the Hill that you are having a school during the break—honey, that sanctuary would be packed.”
Several of the parents chuckled, each of them in on some kind of joke that she did not know. There was such mystery in the marital bond and parental connections. Funny how she had always supposed that she would not ever know about any of it.
Still, seeing Goldie with a smile of satisfaction on her small brown face, eating healthy food and having braids that were not crooked, brought something else to Nettie’s heart that was very satisfying. And made her yearn to know more about those mysteries—all of them.
Mags seemed to be especially uncomfortable today with her baby large inside her. What would it be like to have a child? A physical manifestation of the miracle of life. The baby represented the bond that had started when Mags and Asa fought against lynching in Georgia and had strengthened through their young, rambunctious sons, Tom and John, and the baby that was now growing inside Mags’s belly. The sight was very powerful and made her want to bow her head in thanks for her sister.
But Nettie had been told when she was very young that she would never have children. Since then, it had been just fine enough to look on and see others enjoy their families. She had her special connection with the universe to make her happy.
Somehow, now, things had changed.
When everyone had eaten their fill, as Mrs. Caldwell insisted, she directed people to pack up leftovers in baskets for dinner that evening. The adults sat around and talked as the children played outside and upstairs.
“Goldie looks so well in your care, Nettie,” Mrs. Caldwell complimented her. “I would have never thought it possible, even just a little bit ago. Her father loves her, but didn’t know how to care for her, I think.”
“Maybe. I’m glad to help.”
“He looks better under your care too.” Mrs. Caldwell’s voice was sly and a red warmth came over her. Suddenly the room felt closed in.
“What do you mean?” Mags sat up as best she could.
“She means I make dinner for them and leave it so they can eat,” Nettie jumped in.
“No, no, young woman. That’s not it. I’m going on fifty-four. I know very well what I mean. No. He looks better. As if the burdens of the world have been lifted from him. Lighter.”
“I’m glad to serve a family who needed help.”
“He’s happy too,” Mrs. Caldwell said. “He’s there with Goldie at the charity kitchen to have breakfast every morning. He drops off Goldie every day so Nettie can care for her.”
“What’s the numbers kingpin doing having breakfast at the charity kitchen?” one of Asa’s sisters jumped in with a cutting tone. What was she mad about? “That cut he gets from the winner is more than enough for him.”
“He pays more than his share, my dear,” Mrs. Caldwell informed her daughter. “He leaves a nice donation for the food that he and his daughter consume. No, he’s there for another reason.” She patted her large topknot, twisting in Nettie’s direction.
Everyone turned to look at her. The ornately decorated parlor began to feel like a prison. Or what she imagined one would be like. All of a sudden, the closeness of family could be cloying as well as heartwarming.
“Yes,” Nettie filled the silence herself, “he brings Goldie down so that I can watch her.”
“Does he? She would only have to walk down the hill to the church. He could practically stand at the top of the hill and watch her go in. She could do that herself,” another sister said. “Everyone knows where Jay the numbers man lives. No one would harm her.”
Mrs. Caldwell nodded gravely, as if confirming with relish everything her nosy daughters were saying.
“He dropped her off at the house this morning,” Ruby said slowly, looking at her sister anew. Ruby’s eyes were particularly intent on her since she had asked Nettie about having feelings for Jay. “He wouldn’t stay.”
“None of you invited him to worship,” Nettie chided.
“Ma
ybe he was waiting for you to do it.” Mrs. Caldwell folded her hands over her belly almost as big as Mags’s, but without the baby in it. “Many a man has been brought to the church by his woman.”
His woman? She opened her mouth to deny that but then a Caldwell sister spoke, stirring her up.
“The numbers man? In church?” Asa’s same sister asked.
She spoke up immediately, “‘He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.’ That is what Jesus said. We cannot judge Mr. Evans. We must not judge him.”
Everyone was quiet. Nettie did not like to use her special connection with God to reprimand people, but she thought it was unfair that Jay Evans did not get a chance.
“He’s a good man,” Mrs. Caldwell said, nodding.
“Mother, how can you say that? He’s a gambler,” Mags insisted.
“He does not play. He has always been adamant about staying out of the game.” Mrs. Caldwell shook her head slowly.
“Mom,” Asa groaned and put a hand to his forehead.
“What? I’m just telling you what I know. I’m in my house now; it’s different than him trying to find out my picks in church.”
“Still.” Asa shook his head.
“He floats that game beautifully. Everyone gets a turn eventually.”
“What do you mean?” She was intrigued now.
“A penny here, a penny there, it adds up. He sees that it comes back to you eventually. It’s like a bank. He loans money too, and he knows that there are a lot of Negroes in the Hill who cannot get a loan from a white bank. He’ll do it.”
“Which is why he got shot, because he floated that game the wrong way around,” Adam added with haste.
“I don’t know why he got shot. All I know is that he is a good man with a gift for numbers and was devastated when Clara died young.” Mrs. Caldwell patted Nettie’s hand. “He isn’t bad to look at either, with those nice suits he has.”
Not bad to look at? He was beyond that… she turned to the older woman who had been watching her and Nettie lowered her head. Had Mrs. Caldwell read her mind? She put forward, “I’m here to help with the school. That’s what I was called to do.”
“Such a nice, worthwhile thing to make sure that Goldie has good, steady interaction with other children since she’s an only child. All I’m saying is with a man as handsome as Jay Evans, Goldie doesn’t have to be an only child.”
“Mother, stop.” Asa covered his face with his hands as if he could disappear.
Mrs. Caldwell stood. “Who wants banana her?”
Banana pudding was the last thing on Nettie’s mind. She had never thought of herself as someone’s mother or wife. Becoming a wife might be a distant possibility.
But given what Mrs. Caldwell said, she knew she would never be anyone’s mother. Why would Jay Evans want a broken woman on his arm?
Her heart sank.
He would never want a broken woman in his world. Ever.
Chapter Eight
Goldie went into the house by herself when they dropped her off on Sunday. They all watched from the car to make sure the child got inside safely. When Jay opened the door, he made a movement as if he was going to come out to the car, but Adam pulled off before he could.
Nettie waved as best she could, but in honesty, she was relieved. Ruby had eagle eyes and Nettie didn’t want her, or Mags, asking any more questions about how she felt about him. It was a reflection of God’s love and grace that the two of them had ever found husbands—they were so protective of her.
She sank down in her seat overwhelmed by wave of shame she felt. Her sisters worried about her, and they were just trying to help. With her solitary life, they felt she did not know the ways of the world. Why didn’t they give her credit for the almost two years she had been on the road with Brother Carver and Sister Jane? She had seen a few things about the relationships between men and women, even though Brother and Sister were just as protective of her as her own family. Nothing had happened to her. Just because she had not participated in a wild relationship didn’t mean she didn’t see things and learned from them.
When Jay and Goldie came the next morning, along with all of the other parents and children, Nettie believed that the rush of participants meant that he would not have time to speak to her.
However, Goldie had appointed herself as her assistant, and she took up her list and began to check the children in. She told them where to sit, to get their breakfast plates from the kitchen and to behave. The child’s grown-up attitude made her want to burst into laughter, but Jay came and stood next to her, watching his little daughter.
She folded her arms against herself to stop from reacting to him standing so close to her. “People back home have a word for little girls like Goldie. Womanstout. It means that she acts so grown up and womanly.”
“Yes,” Jay responded in what she could only classify as a sorrowful tone, “she’s had to be, having lost her mother so young.”
She laced her hands together and faced him. Time to get it over with. “I apologize if I spoke out of turn on Saturday.”
“No, no, Miss Nettie. It’s I who should apologize to you.” Jay looked down at her and gave a sad little smile. “You said things to put my view in a different light. It’s certainly easier to place blame than to listen.”
“I suppose so.”
“Friends, then?” Jay held out his hand.
She startled. She shook people’s hands all the time when she held hands to pray with them. This was different. It would be touching him. Again.
She became aware of her heart working. It was something she hadn’t felt in years and her heart’s rhythm changed to a slow, long thud.
Still, she hesitated now, reluctant and scared to hold hands with this man. Nettie swallowed and sent up a quick prayer for the best. Placing her small hand in his, Jay squeezed it a little, but as he did so, the connection between them was so palpable she was surprised that it didn’t light up the dimly lit church basement even more. She let go first and gave him a warm smile.
“I don’t want Goldie to think we are mad at one another.” Her mouth was dry. She wanted some juice or something.
“She told me when we came here that I needed to say I’m sorry to Miss Nettie or she would be mad at me. So, I say it to you and hope that you will forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive, Mr. Evans. Nothing at all.”
“That’s one other thing. I wish you would call me Jay.”
“I could not do that.”
“Why not?”
“You’re my employer, and in the South, where I’m from, you must call your employer by a title. It shows respect.”
Jay threw back his head and laughed. “Still Little Country, aren’t you? You’re the only person in my life who calls me Mr. Evans. I keep looking around waiting for my daddy to show up.”
She used her one hand to massage the other so that it might recover from his touch. “That’s the way it is done.”
“And if I weren’t your employer?”
She tilted her head back and looked up at him, her eyes meeting his hazel ones.
“Then we would have no relationship, save if you came into the church and we could be brother and sister in church. Then, maybe I would be able to call you by your Christian name.”
“Oh, is that how it works? I have to come to church?”
Nettie nodded. “Yes. Then, you could call me Garnet.”
“Garnet? That is your Christian name?”
“It is.”
“I like it. Much better than Nettie. Garnet is a woman’s name. Nettie sounds like ‘little country’.”
She grinned just a little at his remarks. “I guess it does. Is Jay your Christian name?”
A slight thundercloud passed over his face. “No.”
A chill went through Nettie.
Were fake names part of his operation? She did not like dishonesty. “What is it then?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you when we become what you said—‘brother and sister in church. Although, according to what you just said, a sibling relationship is the only kind of relationship that exists between a man and a woman in church. Am I right?”
It’s all a woman like her could ever have. Now she was embarrassed again. By the way Jay smiled, Nettie knew he could tell too, and it made him joyful. “You are.”
He edged closer to her, appearing as if he was about to disagree with her, but the basement was beginning to crowd with children who were eating breakfast and chattering away.
Goldie came to them and held out the slips. “Most of them are here, Miss Nettie. Are we going to get started?”
“Soon, Goldie, soon.”
Goldie, who noticed everything, must have seen the look on her face because she eyed her father. “Are you being nice, Daddy? Like we talked about?”
“Very.” He bent down and gave her a kiss. “I’ma get going.” He turned to her. “Have a good day, Miss Garnet. If you need anything for the school, don’t hesitate to ask me.”
She nodded at him and he departed. She watched him go, dressed to the nines in a beautifully cut cream-colored suit with the tapered waist tapered, showing off his broad shoulders. He did not wear his sling today. The sight of him whole and walking around made her heart leap. She was glad, probably gladder than she should have been, he was healed
“Miss Garnet?” Goldie put her hand on her hip. “Is that really your name?”
“It is, but you must call me Miss Nettie, as my sisters do, or people are bound to be confused.” Nettie smoothed down the bun at her neck, hoping her hair wasn’t getting fuzzy in all of the activity. Too bad her sister, Em who also did hair, didn’t live in Pittsburgh. She needed a wave set. Winslow had its benefits. “Time to get things started.”
A Treasure of Gold Page 9