Maude

  We needn’t have worried. Evelyn didn’t take Donna with her when she moved out of her mother’s house into a flat with her new husband. It seemed to me Donna was the last thing on her mind.

  Chapter 54

  With Evelyn mostly out of our lives, my house was considerably more peaceful for the last years of the 1940s. Bessie and John bought a house near Jefferson Avenue and St. Jean. We all missed them, so we rented a house nearby.

  Gene and George worked full time, and Gene took what overtime came his way. We had enough money to pay the bills without scrimping.

  On weekends, Donna was with us on a regular basis. She kept clothes at both grandmothers’ homes and went back and forth between the two houses. Everyone in my house adored her. I wondered how much attention she got at Ola’s, what with one boy only three years older than Donna and the next one five years older. From what I’d seen of them, Ola had her hands full.

  When she was with us, she climbed in her daddy’s bed and the two of them would read, propped up on pillows, until Donna fell asleep. I would often find them in the morning, sometimes with the light still on, their books and magazines piled up between them.

  Almost every weekend, they were off on some sort of adventure. Gene took Donna to the Michigan State Fair every September, and she came home with stories about a cow made of butter, chickens that looked like they were wearing feather pants and French fries that were as long as a ruler. They went to the movies almost every week, usually at the neighborhood Cinderella Theatre, but at times they rode the bus all the way downtown to see something special. After the movie they would eat at the Kresge lunch counter in the store’s basement.

  It was at the United Artists Theatre on Cadillac Square where Donna first saw Gone With The Wind when she was eight or nine. She was so excited about it, Gene had to take her back the next weekend to see it again. She talked about it for weeks.

  Sometimes Gene took her to a live stage show. They went to see Betty Grable and Harry James and later, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis at the Fox Theatre on Woodward Avenue. When they went to see Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, Gene told me he was sure she was the youngest person in the audience.

  Chapter 55

  Betty Sue still dated Ellis Marshall, the young man she’d met at the factory. She’d been seeing him off and on since the war began. One evening, she came home all excited. He’d finally asked her to marry him.

  I wasn’t happy about it. “Are you sure he’s the right one for you? You shouldn’t rush into this.”

  “Rush into it?” Betty Sue said. “We’ve been seeing each other for seven years.”

  “He smells of beer sometimes when he comes over here. Is that what you want for a husband?”

  She stuck out her chin. “Daddy smells of beer, too.”

  “That’s what I mean.”

  “I’m doing it, Mom. I’m going to marry him. I’m twenty-eight years old, and no other man has even shown an interest in me. I don’t want to be an old maid.”

  “Maybe no one else has had a chance. You’re always with him.”

  Betty Sue set her jaw, and a flash of Bessie’s expression came on her face. “I’m going to do it, Mom.”

  I surrendered. “All right, I guess I can’t stop you. You know you can’t be married at the church.. Brother Graham won’t marry a saved member to a lost person.”

  “I don’t care. We’ll get married at City Hall. Ellis doesn’t want a big wedding anyway.”

  Betty Sue ran off next door to tell Bessie and Maxine. I sat at the kitchen table when George came in. I nodded my head toward the chair at the other end of the table. “Sit down, George. Betty Sue was just here. She and Ellis are getting married.”

  He picked up an apple from the fruit bowl on the table and took a bite of it. “About time. He’s been seeing her for years now.”

  “Don’t you think you ought to have a talk with him before they do it?”

  “Talk about what?”

  “You know very well what. He’s got a right to know about her temper.”

  George laughed. “He’s six inches taller than her. I think he can handle himself. Besides, I haven’t seen her get really mad for a long time.”

  “Things have been going her way for a long time.”

  George stood and patted me on the head as if I were a child. “You worry too much. Maybe she’s not as much like Mom as you think.” He laughed and left the room. I didn’t care about Ellis one little bit, but I didn’t want to see my girl get in trouble if she hurt him.

  George, Gene, and I went down to City Hall with Betty Sue and Ellis and I watched while my little girl became someone’s wife. I was sure he’d make her miserable.

  They moved Betty Sue’s things out of the house and to a little basement apartment only a few houses down from us. The fact that my girl lived one minute’s walk from me didn’t do much to fill the empty spot in my house. I knew it was unreasonable, but I wished I could have kept Betty Sue home a few more years.

  Chapter 56

  Donna helped me stop worrying about Betty Sue, at least on the weekends. From the time she was three, she stood on a chair and helped me cook just the way I’d done with my mother and Betty Sue did with me. Now, she didn’t need a chair, she was tall enough to cook standing next to me.

  I let the girl experiment, baking cakes and rolling out piecrust with no advice from me unless she asked.

  Donna wasn’t allowed to cook at Ola’s house, but she was given free rein at mine. Not that there was any mention of a competition between the two grandmothers. At our house, she went to bed when she wanted, got up when she liked, and wore whatever clothes she picked out. In the summers, when she was with us for weeks on end, she could take a bath right in the middle of the week and play in the tub as long as she wanted. In my house Donna wasn’t a child to be seen and not heard. We showed her the same respect as an adult.

  The older Donna got, the more she resembled my Lulu…her blonde hair and blue eyes, the way she would watch the adults’ behavior. I felt almost as if I had regained my lost treasure.

  Chapter 57

  I was hanging up clothes in the back yard one afternoon when Betty Sue came up behind me and grabbed me in a hug. “Guess what? You’re going to be a grandmother again.”

  I dropped the shirt I held back in the basket and hugged her back. Betty Sue looked so happy that I was happy too. It would be nice to have a baby in the house again.

  “When are you due?”

  “In November, I think. I had my last period in March. I haven’t been to the doctor yet, but I know I’m having a baby. Won’t it be wonderful? I was starting to worry that maybe something was wrong with me.” Betty Sue picked up the shirt and some pins and fastened it to the line.

  “I’m sure you’re just fine. Sometimes it takes a while to get things started. Are you going to get a bigger place?” I hoped they wouldn’t move too far away. I liked being within walking distance.

  “The second-floor apartment is going to be empty next month. It’s only ten dollars more a week, and it has two bedrooms. I told the landlord we would take it.”

  Relieved, I hugged her again. “We’ll start shopping now. If we get something for the baby every week, it won’t be a big outlay all at one time. How long will Willys let you work?”

  “I’m not going to tell them until I have to. They make you leave at the sixth month.”

  “Are you sure that’s all right? The work isn’t too heavy, is it?”

  “I’m strong. I don’t think it will be any problem. Plenty of girls work while they’re carrying a baby.”

  I was already making plans. “We should buy the layette in yellow, green, and white, so it won’t matter if it’s a girl or a boy. Then, after it comes, you can fill it in with pink or blue. I wish I could still knit and sew like I used to. I made you such pretty little dresses. If I’d thought of it, I would have saved some of them.” I thought about Lulu but didn’t mention her. “What do you want, a girl or a boy?” />
  “I want a girl, but Ellis is sure it’s going to be a boy.”

  I laughed. “All men are like that. If they had their way, there wouldn’t be any little girls born at all. They never think about what that would mean down the road. They all want some other man to have the daughters for their sons to marry.”

  Betty Sue smiled and got all dreamy-eyed. “Well, I don’t really care that much. A little boy would be fine with me. We can have a girl the next time.”

  The two of us kept on hanging clothes until the basket was empty, then went in the house and sat at the kitchen table with pencil and paper, writing a list of things the baby would need. Before we went to the grocery store that week, we stopped at Sears and Betty Sue bought a little white nightgown. I bought her a dozen Birdseye diapers. Each week when we shopped, we bought more. Betty Sue would buy something pretty, and I would buy something useful and let her have the pleasure of picking out the fancier items.

  As we bought things, we crossed them off the list. When it was almost time for her to stop working, near the end of August, we were halfway through, leaving only the more expensive things, like a crib and high chair.

  I regretted now that I hadn’t taught Betty Sue how to sew when she was a girl, but she’d never had any interest. I thought I’d have plenty of time to show her. By the time Betty Sue got pregnant, my eyes were too weak.

  She gained quite a bit of weight, but not nearly as much as Evelyn had. She felt fine and planned to keep working until her seventh month, which was the end of September.

  It was still August when a loud pounding on the door woke the whole family. Gene jumped out of bed, pulled on his pants, and went downstairs. I stood waiting at the top of the stairs, my robe clutched around me. Paul came running out of his room and stood next to me. George came up from the basement, wearing his long underwear. Gene opened the door.

  It was Ellis. He looked up the stairs at me. “Mom, Betty Sue’s bleeding and she’s having terrible pain. I think the baby’s coming.”

  I gripped the banister. It was much too early.

  “Tell her we’ll be right there. Gene, go wake Bessie and tell John to get the truck so he can take Betty Sue to the hospital.”

  Ellis ran back to his apartment. Gene went to get Bessie and John, and George and I dressed. I went to Gene’s room and grabbed him a shirt and his shoes and socks. In only a few minutes we were all at Betty Sue’s place. She lay on the bed rolled up in a ball and holding her knees. My heart almost stopped beating. I was scared by the amount of blood on the bed.

  “John, you men get her into the truck and take her to Receiving Hospital. Gene, you and Ellis, go with them. The rest of us will walk up to Jefferson and catch a cab. It will be faster than calling for one.”

  Ellis and Gene joined hands in a chair-lift under Betty Sue and carried her out to the truck. They got her in the seat and then Ellis and Gene ran around to the back and jumped in. I handed Gene his things so he could finish dressing on the way, and John started the truck and headed for Jefferson Avenue.

  The rest of us, including Bessie and Maxine, were left standing on the sidewalk. I was almost in shock. I didn’t think I could live if I lost my girl.

  Bessie took charge. “Maude, you and George go ahead to the hospital. Paul, you come stay the rest of the night at my house.”

  I nodded. I went back to the house and got my purse. George and I walked the one city block to Jefferson. It was only a minute or two before a cab came along. There was very little traffic, and we were at the hospital on Saint Antoine Street in ten minutes. It was the first time in my life I rode in a taxi.

  Ellis sat in the waiting room looking like a scared little boy. I hadn’t realized it before, but he really did love Betty Sue. I sat next to him and patted him on the shoulder. He fell against me, sobbing. “I can’t lose her, Mom. She’s all I have in the world.”

  My dislike for him evaporated. I hadn’t even seen how much he cared for Betty Sue.

  The hours passed, and we sat and waited. From time to time, Gene would get up and question the nurse at the desk, but she never had news for us. The sun was beginning to show through the glass in the doors when a doctor finally came out and asked for Mr. Marshall.

  Ellis jumped up and introduced everyone. Gene and George also stood but I had no strength in my legs. I sat and looked up at the doctor, my fears probably written on my face.

  The doctor patted Ellis on the shoulder, but looked directly in my eyes. “She’s going to be just fine. She lost a lot of blood, and we had to give her some transfusions, but in a few days she’ll be good as new.”

  I closed my eyes and gave silent thanks to God. Ellis gripped the doctor’s hand. “What about the baby?”

  The doctor shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Marshall, but we couldn’t save the baby. The placenta was delivered first, and by the time your wife got here, there was nothing we could do.”

  Ellis groaned, “It’s my fault. We should have called the ambulance.”

  The doctor took hold of both of Ellis’s shoulders. “It’s not your fault. Who knows how long it would have taken for the ambulance to get there, and who knows what they could have done for her? Things like this happen sometimes, but she’s fine, and she can have more babies.”

  Ellis looked up at the doctor. “Was it a boy or a girl?”

  “It was a boy.”

  Ellis groaned and fell into the chair, his head in his hands.

  “Can we see her now?” I asked.

  “She’s sleeping, and she really needs her rest. Why don’t you all go on home, and I’ll have the nurse call you when she’s up to having visitors.”

  I gave him Bessie’s telephone number, and we all left.

  On the trip home, Gene and Ellis rode in the truck with John, while George and I waited for a bus.

  It was after noon before Bessie came to tell me that the hospital called and said Betty Sue could have visitors. The men had gone to work, so I went to tell Ellis, and we walked to Jefferson and caught a bus downtown.

  Ellis went in the room first and after a half hour of waiting in the hallway, I went in. Betty Sue sat in bed but looked pale and weak. I wanted to cry, but held back my tears.

  When Betty Sue saw me, her face twisted up, and she reached out both her arms for me the way she used to when she was a little girl and had hurt herself. I sat on the edge of the bed and held and rocked my daughter as we both grieved for that lost baby.

  Chapter 58

  Two years after Evelyn married Herschell, she was divorced again. Gene heard the news from a co-worker and came rushing home to tell me. He was all excited. “Mom, Buddy down at work told me that Evelyn got a divorce.”

  He sounded so hopeful. “Did Buddy say why?”

  “No, he didn’t know. The men were kind of joking about them only being married such a short time. All I care about is that now I have a chance. She works an early shift at the Rubber Company. She ought to be getting home soon. I’m going to go over to her place and ask if she’ll see me.”

  “How do you know where she lives?”

  Gene’s face turned red. “I asked one of her little brothers a while back. I walked by the Mayse house, and he was in the yard. Evelyn’s place is right down the street from them.”

  I gave him a quick hug and brushed back a lock of hair from his face, “I guess you have to do whatever makes you happy.”

  He hugged me back and left. The whole time he was gone I was torn up with mixed emotions. If Evelyn could bring him happiness, I would do everything I could to stay out of their lives. But deep inside, I knew he would only wind up being hurt again.

  When he came home a few hours later, he was grinning from ear to ear. “She’s going to the movies with me Saturday, Mom.”

  Though he looked so happy, I was afraid for him. I didn’t know what would be worse for him, getting Evelyn back, or losing her again.

  As time passed, I could tell by the expression on Gene’s face how the renewed courtship was
going. If he had a date with Evelyn on the weekend, he smiled all week, looking forward to it. She was dating other men besides Gene, and when she was out with one of them, he was miserable.

  A few months later, she stopped seeing Gene altogether and she married a man named Delmous Newland, Junior from Tennessee.

  I saw Mrs. Mayse on the street one day, and she told me about them and showed me a picture. I had to admit, he and Evelyn made a good-looking couple. He was as handsome as she was beautiful. They had a flat a few blocks from her mother’s, and she told me they even had Donna over once in a while for a visit. As far as I knew, she didn’t do that a single time when she was married to Herschell.

  Delmous drove a truck and delivered lumber for the Sibley Lumber Company. His friends called him Junior. Unlike Herschell, who couldn’t abide being in the same room with the child, Mrs. Mayse said that Junior was always friendly to Donna, and she got along with him on the few occasions they were together, but Evelyn never mentioned Donna coming to live with them, and that was a relief to Gene.

  The only time he cheered up was when he was with Donna. They went to movies or shopping for clothes. The time he had with her almost kept his mind off Evelyn. He hoped she wouldn’t be any happier with Junior than she had been with Herschell, and that when the marriage was over he would again have another chance to win her back.

  A few years later, Evelyn became pregnant, but she miscarried in her fourth month. Donna was looking forward to having a baby sister and was so disappointed she cried. They didn’t explain what a miscarriage was to her.

  I learned about it when she was at our house that weekend. Donna wasn’t her usual bubbly self. I sat on the sofa next to her and wrapped my arm around my granddaughter. “Are you all right, baby?”

  Donna stuck out her lip in a pout that was like her mother’s. “My mother was going to get me a baby sister, and now she changed her mind.”