“Mr. Stanbury said for us to tell you and the other grown folk to get ready to leave here,” Pole said. “He said to tell the menfolk to get their boats ready and for you and my ma to gather up food.”
Ma left the room while Pole was still talking. We followed her to warn the Low Meadows folks that trouble had come to us.
TWENTY
“Reverend Hornbuckle, I don’t mean to take over the sittin’ up ’cause I know you in charge, but I’m afraid the water is coming faster than we can finish praising Mr. Bro. Wiley,” Ma said.
“Have mercy on us,” Reverend Hornbuckle said.
Ma’s eyes went all the way around the room.
“Ole River madder than it has ever been and it’s about to swallow the Low Meadows just like Real Kill told us.”
“Lord, Lord,” Miss Lottie Pearl said.
“Husband said we best send the rest the men to get their boats. We gonna have to leave here long before morning.”
Miss Florenza started crying, and for the first time in two years I saw her pay Sara some attention.
“Come here, baby.”
“Ain’t no need to cry. The Lord will make a way,” Reverend Hornbuckle said.
“Yes, the Lord will make a way out of no way, but right now y’all men need to go and get your boats and tie them as high as you can to the trees in the front yard. That way when the water starts to rise, the boats will float to the top,” Ma told us.
It wasn't a man in the Meadows that didn’t have a homemade boat. Not one. Even though Ole River stole our ancestors, the men were drawn to the water to fish.
“Let’s all say a few words for our beloved Mr. Bro. Wiley ’fore we leave this room,” Reverend Hornbuckle said, turning to us. The other menfolk began to leave.
One by one the folk from the Low Meadows said something nice about Mr. Bro. Wiley.
“I’m sho’ gonna miss our long talks,” Miss Lottie Pearl said.
“I will miss you too,” Miss Katie Mae added and cried with the womenfolk.
After most folk were done talking, Miss Florenza said her peace.
“Mr. Bro. Wiley, you been mighty good to us. You loved me more than anybody back here in the Low Meadows.”
Miss Lottie Pearl just could not take it another minute.
“Hush up, Florenza. You think every man in the world in love with you. Even the dead! Now hush your fuss.”
Miss Lottie Pearl might not have liked what Miss Florenza said but it was the truth. Mr. Bro. Wiley did love Miss Florenza. He loved everybody. We were down at the river one day when we saw the sinner going in her house.
“You know, Bean, for a woman to wear red every day that God sends, she crying for attention. We got to love and pray for Miss Florenza no matter what folk say. She just looking for love.” Mr. Bro. Wiley was always a man whose words made sense. Even what he said about Miss Florenza sounded right to me.
“Ladies, ladies, let us have order. Mrs. Jones, would you please say the final words over Mr. Bro. Wiley?” Reverend Hornbuckle asked.
“Yes, Reverend, I believe I will.”
Ma looked at Mr. Bro. Wiley like she ain’t never been so hurt in her life. With her head down and arms crossed in front of her, Ma took a deep breath.
“Take your time, Sister, take your time,” Miss Lottie Pearl said. Then she moved closer to Ma with the smelling salts. The other women stood around Ma to make sure she didn’t fall out.
“Well, Mr. Bro. Wiley, this is the end of the road for us. I’ve known you all of my life and you was a good man. You helped those who needed help no matter the cost. I remember the time Miss Ida Bea’s boy Frog got sick and nobody knew what to do for him. Nobody but you, Mr. Bro. Wiley. Nobody but you. You told Husband to go out to town and get that boy. ‘Bring him here to me. Bring him to the Low Meadows,’ you said.
“You sat up with Frog all night long, singing them old slave songs and praying for that child. I watched you rub him down in ’bacco leaves all night. Folk back here in the Low Meadows thought you were crazy, but not me, Mr. Bro. Wiley. Not me. You had special gifts from God. Your eyes saw what we couldn’t see. I hope you went to heaven knowing that you been like a papa to me. I’m gonna miss you. Husband will miss you. Bean gonna miss you too. You been on this earth one hundred years and I know you tired. You being tired don’t stop us from missing you though. You rest now. Rest all you want to, Mr. Bro. Wiley. Rest on.”
Ma put her hands out like she was getting ready to play patty-cakes. She jumped up and down. She went around in circles. Ma stomped her feet. She went around in circles some more and spoke in tongues. Not to be outdone, Miss Lottie Pearl got to shouting too. The other women all joined in. Miss Katie Mae did everything except a cartwheel, while Miss Moszella screamed, “Hallelujah!” Reverend Hornbuckle prayed again while the women calmed down and started humming “Precious Lord.”
“Lord, in this final hour we have come to say good-bye to Mr. Bro. Wiley. Let his soul rest in peace.”
“That was one fast prayer,” Pole whispered to me.
“It sho’ was. I’m kinda glad though. We got to get out of here before Ole River get sick of the womenfolk shouting and come on in the house.”
When they were done, the women went in the kitchen and started putting the food into wood crates. Pole helped wrap the biscuits in wax paper. The womenfolk gathered some dead folk fabric and stuffed the corners of the house to slow the water down, while I watched for Papa and the other menfolk.
Soon they came back in the house as wet as the chickens outside. Ma gave the men some dead folk fabric out of the trunk to dry themselves off.
“Husband, did you save the animals? Did you get Mule Bennett moved to Stony Hill?”
“Yes, we did,” Papa said as Deacon Ward and Ralph came inside.
“The water is getting higher by the minute. We will never make it out of here with the women and children. I don’t know how long we gonna be safe in this house,” Deacon Ward said.
Papa looked at the ceiling.
“We gonna have to cut a hole in the roof. We might have to climb on top of the house before morning,” he said.
“That roof ain’t nothing but two layers of tin. Can’t hold everybody. We can make it, Husband,” Ma said. “Let’s try to get out now.”
“It’s too-too late, Wife. The water is too strong for the boats. We can’t see no further than our hands. We got to-to stay here till morning,” Papa said.
“Can we make it to Stony Hill?” Miss Lottie Pearl asked Mr. Jabo.
“Afraid not, Lottie Pearl. The wind too high. It might blow all the windows out of the house ’cause it’s sitting so high off the ground.”
“Lord, help us,” Miss Lottie Pearl said. I tried to keep it together and trust Papa. Mr. Bro. Wiley said fear and God can’t live under the same roof, so I kept trying not to be scared.
“All right, folks,” Papa said, “the water done rose all the way to the steps. We know what we got to do. We can’t leave Mr. Bro. Wiley’s body back here to float away. Besides, Magnolia with-with child and she can’t get all-all worked up.”
“Well, amen,” I whispered to Pole. “Somebody finally admitted that Ma gonna have a baby that I didn’t ask for.”
That tickled Pole for just a minute, but then she went back to worrying about the storm. I was some kind of worried too, but I kept thinking about how Ma said it was time for me to be a man. Besides, if Papa was in charge I felt everything would be all right.
“What we gonna do till morning?” Miss Florenza asked.
“Pray,” Reverend Hornbuckle said. “We gonna pray.”
“Help us, Lord,” Miss Katie Mae cried out.
“Yes, Lord. Please help us,” Miss Florenza said. Miss Lottie Pearl rolled her eyes at Miss Florenza. Poor Miss Florenza can’t even talk to Jesus without Miss Lottie Pearl putting her two cents in.
Papa grabbed Ma’s hand.
“Finish gathering the-the food, Wife, and get the children ready.” Papa hugged her tight.
“Reckon Luther and Real Kill all right?” Ma asked Papa.
“Luther know-knows these roads like the back of his hand,” Papa said.
I listened to the grown folk and I thought about Mr. Bro. Wiley.
“Bean?” Pole said.
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what Mr. Bro. Wiley told us about the river getting mad one day and rising up?” It was just like Pole to be thinking my very thoughts.
“I remember. I think Mr. Bro. Wiley was right. If we don’t make it out of these Low Meadows, I want you to know that you my best friend in the world.”
“You my best friend too,” Pole said.
We held hands. “But you know what I really think?” I said. “I think Ole River and Mr. Bro. Wiley were friends like me and you. He said he and the river knew things that nobody but God knew. They had secrets like we got secrets. Ole River mad that his friend is gone.”
“I hope Ole River ain’t too mad, Bean, ’cause we too young to die.”
I didn’t say a word ’cause Ma told me that death don’t have a number. She said death comes when it wants and for who it wants. I stopped listening to Pole so that I could hear what Papa was saying.
I tried to listen, but my heart was some kind of heavy with the thought of death. I wanted to see Mr. Bro. Wiley again someday in heaven, but not at twelve years old. I just kept my eyes on Papa to run the fear away from my heart.
“We gonna cut a hole in the ceiling so we can put the women and children on the roof,” Papa said to Mr. Jabo. “Goat, see if you can knock a hole in the ceiling with the hammer while I swim to the barn to get the ladder.”
“You can’t go out there, Husband,” Ma said.
“I got to go. I got to go, Wife.” When he opened the door, water came rushing in the house. Papa stepped out with no hesitation and disappeared into the darkness while Uncle Goat tried to knock a hole in the ceiling, but it was just too high to reach without the ladder.
Papa swam all the way to the barn as everybody watched. Ralph looked on with excitement. That boy had something crazy inside of him that made him crave the dangerous side of life. What most folk feared made him smile.
While Papa was gone, I ran to my room and looked around just in case Ole River took my home away from me. I wanted to see it one last time. I opened the drawer and grabbed the picture of Mr. Bro. Wiley’s mama and the slave papers. I put his pocket watch in a old candy bag to make sure it did not get wet. When I got back to the kitchen, Papa had the ladder and saw under his arm. He was some kind of wet and tired. I was proud of my papa. I only wished I could help more.
“Don’t fall, Papa,” I said as he climbed the ladder.
“Son, hand me a piece of stove wood.” I reached in the wood crate beside the potbelly stove and got Papa the biggest piece of wood I could find. Papa used the wood to finish knocking a hole in the ceiling. Then he used the saw to make it even bigger.
“The-the Lord gonna let up-up on the rain sooner or-or later. When he do, we-we got to get the womenfolk up on the roof with the children,” Papa told Mr. Jabo.
“What about you and the other men?” Pole asked Mr. Jabo.
“We gonna be fine. We can stand on the high furniture. Goat, get the table and pull it close,” Mr. Jabo told my uncle. Mr. Jabo was trying to be the boss like Papa.
“Well, what about Mr. Bro. Wiley?” Pole asked. All the grown folk looked at her as if she had cursed. I didn’t know why. It sounded like a good question to me. Grown folk think they so smart. I wanted to see them figure that one out. Papa finally spoke up.
“Jabo, we-we don’t have no-no choice. We got to make-make this hole bigger and-and put Mr. Bro. Wiley on the roof with the women and children. Then we-we need to lay some boards across the beams to make sure the roof don’t fall-fall in.”
This time Mr. Jabo climbed up on the ladder. I was getting ready to give him a piece of wood to make the hole bigger, but Pole beat me to the wood box. She wanted to help her daddy the way I wanted to help mine. The wood was heavy, but Pole picked it up like she was a grown man. Without gloves! Mr. Jabo smiled at her.
“Thank you, baby girl.”
Mr. Jabo had a strange look on his face when he climbed down from the ladder.
“The rain letting up, Stanbury, but Ole River getting higher. I need a lantern to see better, but I believe the other dam just broke. We best get folk on top of the house right now.”
Ma started giving everybody a piece of dead folk fabric to cover their heads. I didn’t want that mess. The only time I wanted to be near that cloth was when I was lying on a piece, dead and gone, and I had no plans of dying that night.
“I-I need one man to go up on the roof with the women to make sure they all right,” Papa said.
Before anybody else could volunteer, the preacher man stepped up. “I’ll go.”
“He going where the food going,” Pole whispered to me.
“All right, Reverend-Reverend Hornbuckle, you go-go first. When you get-get up there, I’m gonna-gonna start helping the children up the ladder. You got-got to pull them up with care now.”
“Papa. Let me go on up with Reverend Hornbuckle. I can help him with the women and children,” I said.
“All right, Bean,” Papa said as Deacon Ward turned to Ralph.
“Come on, son, we need to close Mr. Bro. Wiley’s casket and get him ready to go on the roof.”
Ralph walked ahead of his father without even asking for the lantern.
There was something about Ralph that made me respect him even more that night. Some of the kids at school used to call him slow, but the truth was he had heart! In that heart, there was no fear. He had learned what it meant to be a man long before his time.
Reverend Hornbuckle stood on the table as the men started to push him up the ladder. He had almost made it when I heard a sound like a piece of paper tearing. Poor fellow. The reverend almost fell off the ladder grabbing his pants as they split right down the middle. Lord knows I tried not to laugh, but no one could hold it in. Even Ma lost her kind spirit for a minute and laughed too. Reverend Hornbuckle kept on going as his white drawers peeped down at us. When they finally got the big preacher man on the roof, Papa helped me through the hole.
“You all right, Reverend Hornbuckle?” I asked.
“Just praying, son!” I looked towards the barn. The chickens were all the way on the top of the hen house. Not one was trying to fly away. Reckon even a chicken got enough sense to be scared.
TWENTY-ONE
“Papa, hand me a lantern,” I said as I reached down into the kitchen.
“Here, put this saucer over the lantern so the fire will not go out,” Ma said as she passed a piece of Depression glass to me.
The light shined on Mama’s face. She looked proud of me. Right then I knew what it was to be a Low Meadows man. I was helping take care of my people.
With the lantern in hand, I could see Reverend Hornbuckle’s face. I saw fear in his eyes that I ain’t never seen in no man. The sounds we could hear from up on the roof scared us all. We could hear the small waves of water coming for us both. The tree branches were snapping and the cows got louder. I listened for Mule Bennett, but he never made a sound. I feared he had gone on to hev’n with Mr. Bro. Wiley.
“Great God Almighty! The water coming! Save us, Lord,” Reverend Hornbuckle shouted.
“Papa, Papa, we got to hurry. Ole River mad as hell. We got to get the womenfolk up here right now.”
“Bean, is you cursing?” Ma yelled through the hole.
“Sorry, Ma.” I reached down for Pole as she climbed up the ladder. Sara was right behind her, crying to beat the band. Since Ma was carrying the next Low Meadows baby, she came up af
ter the children. Miss Lottie Pearl came on the roof next. Then poor Miss Moszella, who was out of breath, climbed up. I kept praying the roof wouldn’t fall in.
“What you see now, Bean?” Papa asked. I stuck my head down in the kitchen. Papa was standing on a chair with water around his ankles. The menfolk had moved Mr. Bro. Wiley’s casket to the kitchen table. Ralph never left his papa’s side.
“Water, Papa, water. I see water everywhere. The Ole River getting higher.” I looked out into the Low Meadows and the water was touching the bottom leaves on the willow trees. That’s when I heard a loud bang near the barn.
“What was that, Bean?” Mr. Jabo asked.
“Reverend Hornbuckle’s car slamming against the barn.” I held the lantern up high. I could see the coupe much better. Mr. Taylor’s truck was floating towards the barn too.
“Bean, move everybody back. We got to make room for Mr. Bro. Wiley just in case the men have to swim up to Stony Hill. The roof can’t hold us all. If we have to go to Stony Hill, you in charge. You hear me, Son?”
“Yes, Papa, I hear you.” Seem like all my fear went away when Papa said I was in charge.
“Fear and God can’t stay in the same house,” Mr. Bro. Wiley said to me time and time again.
“Okay, I’m gonna count to three and I need everybody to push,” Papa said.
“Move back,” Mr. Jabo yelled.
Me and Reverend Hornbuckle pulled the casket as hard as we could while the menfolk pushed it from the other side. Ain’t no “man” in Reverend Hornbuckle. He was breathing like it was the end of his life.
“Easy now, easy,” Papa said.
“Come on, Mr. Bro. Wiley. Come on,” I said as I pulled the casket up on the rooftop.
It seemed as if Mr. Bro. Wiley wasn’t even inside anymore. Like he’d already floated to heaven. Light and free!
When we got the casket on the roof, we pushed him near the womenfolk. Ma laid her head on the casket like it was a pillow while the rain came down on her face. Miss Lottie Pearl laid her head on the other side.
It wasn’t long before the Lord sent a blessing and the rain stopped. Other than the lanterns, which I covered with dead folk fabric, the Low Meadows was dark and you could hear a pin drop. We just sat there with Mr. Bro. Wiley’s casket. We prayed. Every now and then one of the womenfolk would start singing.
The Sittin' Up Page 12