Bring on the Blessings

by Beverly Jenkins

  Finally, Zoey, in the T-shirt that brushed her ankles, scooted to the edge of the chair and took Crystal’s hand. Crystal could feel the little girl’s trembling but didn’t mention it. Together they walked across the half-lit room to the beds. “You get in. I’ll get your pillow.”

  Zoey climbed in.

  “And don’t worry about kicking me or anything. I’ve slept with little kids all my life. I’m used to waking up with feet in my face.” She put Zoey’s pillow next to her own and got under the blanket.

  “Okay?”

  She sensed Zoey relax.

  “Good girl. Now go on to sleep. If you need to wake me up that’s okay. I won’t yell at you.”

  Crystal threw a protective arm across Zoey’s thin frame and a few minutes later they were both asleep.

  The next morning was Marie’s party, and Crystal came in for breakfast first. “Where’s Zoey?” Bernadine asked.

  “In the bathroom. She’ll be out in a minute. Do you know that she’s scared of the dark?”

  Bernadine stopped. “She is?”

  “Yeah. I woke up in the middle of the night and she had the curtains open and was sitting in the moonlight. She was shaking.”

  Bernadine sighed, wishing she knew what was going on inside her youngest child. “What did you do?”

  So Crystal told her the rest of the story.

  Moved by the teen’s heart and spirit, Bernadine said, “She’s blessed to have you in her life, Crystal.”

  “Aw come on. Don’t go all mushy on me.”

  “It’s a mushy moment, girl. Somebody else would have just left her sitting there and gone on back to sleep. Shows your good heart and your maturity.” She had to remember to get the teen something nice as a reward for her kindness. “I won’t forget this, Crys. Is it okay to call you that or do you prefer Crystal?”

  “I prefer Crystal but Crys is okay too.”

  Bernadine looked at the ratty Day-Glo gold weave and wondered how she could convince the teen to do something different with her hair, but since they had a lot to do today, she set the thoughts aside for now.

  Zoey entered looking sleepy.

  “’Morning Zoey. We’re going to a picnic birthday party today, are you ready for breakfast so we can head on over?”

  Her face said she was. She climbed onto the stool next to Crystal and they began their day.

  It took Bernadine a while to find a place to park on the road to Marie’s, but once she did, she and the girls got out and started the long walk back toward the house. It had been a while since she’d hiked any kind of distance as evidenced by her increased breathing and the straining muscles in her legs, but the exertion felt good. She made a mental note to work some exercise into her daily routine; she had no idea where she’d find the time, but for her age and size she was in good shape and she wanted to keep it that way.

  “Whose party are we going to?” Crystal asked. She was holding Zoey’s hand.

  “Marie Jefferson. She was the lady with the cat eye glasses last night at dinner. She’s also going to be your teacher once we get school started.”

  “School?”

  “Yep. You can’t grow up and get a good job without an education. Any idea what you might want to be after college?”

  “College? I’m not going to college!”

  “And why not?”

  “College is for geeks.”

  “I see.”

  Cars and trucks were still arriving so they walked close to the edge of the road. Folks waved as they passed them by.

  “Do you know all those people?” Crystal asked.

  Bernadine shook her head.

  “Then why you waving at them?”

  “They waved at me, I wave back. It’s called being friendly.”

  “Where I live you don’t just be waving at people you don’t know. People’ll think you’re a crackhead or something.”

  “Small towns are different. People care about each other and want to say hi.”

  “I’m not going to be waving.”

  “That’s okay. You may change your mind once you’re here for a while.”

  The look on the teen’s face said she didn’t agree, but Bernadine didn’t press. An old red truck she recognized as belonging to Malachi rolled up slowly beside them and kept pace. “Hey Ms. Brown. Hey ladies.”

  “Hey, Mr. July,” she said, looking in at him and his dark assessing eyes. A smile played along the salt-and-pepper mustache crowning his lips. A young brown-skinned woman dressed in a yellow halter top and gold chains was in the seat beside him.

  “Want you to meet Tarika Sims.”

  “Hi there, Tarika,” Bernadine responded.

  Tarika leaned forward and waved. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Brown. Hi, girls.”

  Crystal nodded. Zoey looked away shyly.

  Bernadine knew it was not her place to judge, but she had shoes older than the girl with him and he probably did too. Directing her attention back to him she said, “Good luck finding a place to park. We’re way down the road. Are Marie’s parties always this packed?”

  “Always.”

  Bernadine didn’t know what else to say, so she said, “Ok. Well, we’ll see you all there.”

  He flashed a smile. “See you later.”

  With a wave, he drove on. Bernadine shook her head and continued her walk up the road.

  Crystal said, “He’s kind of cute for an old guy. Is that his granddaughter?”

  “No. I believe she’s a friend.”

  “As in girlfriend?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Whoa. Mr. Malachi’s a player.”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  The weather was much cooler than it had been for the past few days and Bernadine was thankful for that. Nothing like arriving at a function a sweaty mess, but she was fine. The Jefferson place was a sizeable brick structure laid out on flat land just like most of the other places in the area and had a lone tree in the front yard. There was music in the air, along with the smells of meat grilling, and she could hear the distant sounds of voices.

  As she and the girls approached, some of the folks immediately waved. She waved back.

  “Do you know them?” Crystal asked.

  When she responded that she didn’t, Crystal rolled her eyes. “Is it just going to be old people here?”

  Bernadine shrugged. “This is my first time.”

  “If me and Zoey get bored can we go back to your place?”

  “Let’s see how it goes first.”

  “I’m not going to have a good time and neither is Zoey.”

  “You don’t know that Crystal.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  The sight of Lily coming out of the front door carrying a carrying a large cookie sheet groaning with halved, seasoned chickens covered with a long sheet of waxed paper cut off further discussion. Bernadine could have kissed her.

  “Hey, there. Hi, Zoey. Crystal. How are you?”

  “Bored.”

  Lily replied, “Well don’t let Tamar hear you say that, she’ll put you to work peeling potatoes or something.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me, so act like you’re having a good time even if you’re not.”

  Lily threw Bernadine a wink, then said, “Everybody’s around back. Come on. Trent and the boys are already here.”

  CHAPTER

  14

  Clay Dobbs was tending the grills. “I hear you steal cars, Amari.”

  “Yep.”

  Clay looked him in the eye. “You bragging?”

  “I just thought you wanted me to tell the truth.”

  Trent rolled his eyes and shook his head.

  “What’s the fastest one you ever rode in?”

  “Two thousand five Mustang. I buried the speedometer at one forty.”

  Trent, Bing, Clay, and Preston stared.

  Amari said, “You asked. I got sent to juvie for thirty days that time, but it was worth it. The car belonged to a Ford engineer. He tol
d me to look him up when I turned eighteen if I wasn’t in jail and he’d get me a job test driving at the proving grounds because I didn’t crash his car.”

  Trent had never met a youngster like Amari.

  Preston looked out over the gathering and said, “Hey, Devon. Here comes Zoey.”

  The men watched the little deacon’s face light up. Trent said, “You can go meet them if you want, Devon.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Trent thought the boy would take off running but he didn’t. He walked.

  Amari said, “Is it just me or is Creflo strange.”

  “Quit calling him that,” Trent said pointedly.

  “I give everybody nicknames. It’s fun. You don’t think he’s strange.”

  “No stranger than you,” Bing said.

  Amari grinned. “Good one. I think I’m going to like living here.”

  By Bernadine’s estimate the open field behind the house was filled with a good sixty people. There were blankets spread out, card games going on, and people sitting and laughing in lawn chairs. From speakers somewhere Stevie Wonder was singing “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours,” and a few of the oldsters were up doing their thing. Coolers of all shapes and sizes were filled with ice and canned drinks. Canopies that appeared to be made of stitched-together tablecloths held up by poles and then staked to the ground with lengths of plastic rope offered shade where nature provided none. There were dozens of them all over the field, fluttering like colorful flags, and the people camped beneath them looked to be having a good time.

  She even saw children playing off in the distance. She hadn’t seen any kids since coming to Henry Adams. It made her think of her kids and wondered if they’d find some playmates. “Do all of these people live here?”

  “No. Most of them drove in or flew in from other places. Marie taught school here for a long time before retiring. A lot are former students and their families. When I was growing up there was some kind of summer celebration like this every year.”

  Bernadine noticed that some of the people were in period dress. The men had on long-sleeved old-time shirts and vests and women were in high-collar dresses. They made her sweat just to look at them. “What’s up with the old clothes?”

  “There’s a Henry Adams Historical Society and whenever there’s an event the members encourage folks to dress up, but in this heat that’s insane.”

  Bernadine thought so too but was fascinated by the idea. “Reminds me of the people at Colonial Williamsburg.” She wondered if duplicating that idea on a regular basis might be a way to generate some tourism dollars. One of Agnes’s suggestions had been to build a museum to house all of the Henry Adams artifacts. Bernadine wondered if maybe they could hold some type of an annual Founding Days event to show off the history.

  Up ahead was a large purple and white canopy. Beneath it were two extra-long tables covered with red-and-white-checkered tablecloths.

  “This is where we put all the food when it’s time to eat,” Lily explained. “Are you hungry? Mr. Dobbs just took some hot dogs off the grill.”

  “Are you girls hungry?”

  Zoey didn’t appear to hear the question because she was too busy smiling at the suit-wearing Devon coming their way.

  “You can go on ahead, Zoey.” Still wearing her green flip-flops she hurried off to meet up with her friend.

  Crystal was dressed in a pair of Daisy Dukes and a halter top. Bernadine could see the attention she was drawing from some of the men and the disapproval on the faces of some of the women. She was going to have to take Crys shopping as soon as it could be arranged.

  The meat was being cooked on three huge oil-drum grills tended by the aforementioned Clay Dobbs. He was decked out in an apron that read “If You Can Shoot It—I Can Cook It!” and he was moving around the pits with a practiced efficiency.

  Seated at a table nearby were Trent, Bing, Preston, and Amari.

  Mr. Dobbs took the sheets of seasoned chicken from Lily and opened one of the drums. While he placed the pieces on an empty section, the sweet smell of the meat already cooking inside rolled out on hickory-laced smoke. Bernadine couldn’t wait for dinner.”

  Lily said, “I’m going to head back inside for a minute. You going to be okay, Bernadine and Crystal?”

  Clay waved his fork. “They’ll be fine. You just go tell Ms. Agnes to hurry up with that sauce.”

  She saluted and barked, “Yes, sir,” before hurrying off.

  Bernadine saw Trent’s eyes follow her departure for a moment. When he saw Bernadine watching him, he asked Crystal, “You sleep okay?”

  “Yeah, but this is boring.”

  “Oh, really?”

  It was Tamar. She’d just walked up and Crystal froze.

  “You ever shuck corn?” Tamar asked

  “No.”

  “Then I’ll teach you. Come on.” She handed Clay the large pot of sauce he’d been waiting on, but Crystal didn’t move.

  “I think Ms. Bernadine needs me to keep an eye on Zoey and Devon.”

  “I think Ms. Bernadine can do that herself. Come on.”

  Crystal turned to Bernadine. “Do I have to?”

  “I think you do, Crystal. Might be fun.”

  Crystal’s highly glossed pink lip poked out. She huffed out her displeasure, then followed Tamar back across the field.

  Bernadine shook her head and took a seat at the picnic table with the men. Amari began asking Clay and the others a million questions, but some of the answers he received helped Bernadine learn things she didn’t know, either, like Clay, Malachi, and Genevieve Curry all graduated from high school together and that Clay was Trent’s godfather. Malachi and Clay had been friends since kindergarten.

  Before long they were rejoined by the women from the kitchen, including Crystal, whose skimpy clothing was now hidden beneath a long T-shirt with a Kansas State University logo on the front.

  Tamar explained, “Her top got all wet washing the corn.”

  “Ah.”

  Crystal sat down at the picnic table as if she was mad at the world. Hoping it might cheer her up, Bernadine said, “Thanks for helping Tamar.”

  “Not that I had a choice, but you’re welcome,” she grumbled.

  All of the prep work in the kitchen was done, so now it was time for them to relax and enjoy the festivities. Bernadine could see Marie walking the field and holding court. She gave hugs to her former students, kissed grandbabies, and stopped and talked with everyone. It was obvious the schoolteacher was well loved. “What did Marie teach?” Bernadine asked Lily.

  “Everything. English, science, math. You didn’t play in her classroom either. If she had to call your parents because you were cutting up, forget it. She ruled. And Lord help you if you didn’t do your homework.”

  Tamar cut in, “I remember the time Trent decided football was more important than algebra. Marie made him spend a whole weekend at her house catching up. He ate there, slept there. Grandson never missed another assignment. Did you?”

  “No and neither did anybody else. She didn’t play.”

  Before he could say more, the sound of jeers swept across the field and everyone at the table turned to see the cause. Riley Curry, Genevieve, and a tall skeleton of a man Bernadine didn’t know had just arrived. Trotting beside them on a leash was Cletus, who was decked out today like a Green Beret complete with camo uniform and a small beret. Riley, dressed in that same black suit, was grinning and acknowledging the boos with presidential-like inclinations of his head.

  “Good grief,” Ms. Agnes said.

  Bernadine had to agree. The hog was apparently accustomed to being in the spotlight because it seemed to be showing off like a pure bred at a dog show. She noticed mothers were holding onto their younger children, though, and wondered what that was about?

  “What the hell is that?” Amari asked. “Sorry for cussing.”

  “A hog,” Trent said, his eyes hard.

  “Looks like a big rat.”

 
; “He’s mean enough and he bites.”

  “What’s wrong with Zoey?” Preston asked with alarm. “Look!”

  Bernadine turned to see Zoey running toward the table. She was looking at the hog with terror in her eyes. Crystal stood and took off at a run and scooped her up. Zoey practically climbed Crystal’s neck.

  Holding the small child tight, the teen carried her back. “She’s shaking.”

  Everyone at the table could see the shivers coursing her little body.

  “Hand her here,” Bernadine said, concerned. “It’s okay, Zoey. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”

  By then the Currys were on them, and Zoey was clutching Bernadine so tight, she thought she might suffocate.

  Clay snarled, “Get him out of here, Riley. The little girl’s scared.”

  Riley smiled. “Of Cletus? Oh come now, we all know Cletus wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  Clay snapped, “Did you hear me? Get that hog out of here or I’ll gut him right here and throw him on this pit!”

  Riley immediately placed his hands over the hog’s ears. “Hey. You know how sensitive he is.”

  Tamar had fire in her eyes. “Git!”

  Bernadine said, “I’m going to take her in the house.” Although she’d seen the hog a few days ago and knew it was big, up close and personal the true girth and size was jaw-dropping. It was a scary-looking thing and seemed to be surveying the scene with malevolent little eyes.

  Riley pulled himself up to his full five-foot-four-and-a-half-inch height. “I just came to make sure the pieces he gets are done.”

  Bernadine wondered if all hogs were carnivorous but was too outdone to ask.

  Clearly irritated, Clay said, “The meat’ll be done just like it always is. Now get that thing out of here.”

  But he didn’t leave. Instead he turned to Bernadine and said, “Ms. Brown. This is Morton Prell. He’s a banker over in Franklin and a friend of mine.”

  Prell looked old enough to have known Frederick Douglass. His brown flesh seemed to have been stretched over his bones and his dun brown suit looked two sizes too big on his frail, thin frame, but his eyes were sharp as he took in Bernadine and held out his hand. “Pleased to meet you, Ms. Brown.”