Stolen Lives

by Joy Redmond

  Aunt July stopped and looked around her. “It sure is good to see home. That was the longest week of my life. Ali, you’ve done a wonderful job with the flowers and lawn. Why that grass looks like a carpet. I hope you kept up with the garden.”

  “The garden is perfect and the vegetables are coming in. Soon we’ll be canning.”

  “My sweet girl,” Aunt July said and she patted Ali’s face.

  Ali got Aunt July inside the house and Sister Bea helped her get Aunt July into bed. Then, Sister Bea went back to her car and brought in a sack with everything that was needed to change the dressings on the surgical wound. Sister Bea gave Ali instructions on how to clean and change the bandages.

  “I’ll take her pills to the kitchen, Then I’ll be on my way. The directions are written on the bottle. Be sure to give them to her correctly. The doctor said it was some strong stuff. If you need me, just call,” Sister Bea said as she left the bedroom.

  Aunt July stretched out in her bed. “Oh my. It sure feels good to be back home and in my own bed. Those hospital beds are terrible. The pillows are flat and I was plum miserable, I tell you.” Then she glanced toward the dresser. “Oh, I love those roses. They smell heavenly. You sure have done a good job with things. I hope you were a good girl while I was gone.”

  “I was a very good girl,” Ali replied with a big smile.

  * * *

  Two weeks later, Aunt July was out of bed and puttering around the house, doing a little cooking and she went out to check on the garden every day. “Those vegetables will be ready to pick and can by this time next week,” she said, and her eyes seemed to light up.

  “I do believe they will. And I’ll get them canned. And if it’s okay, I’d like to take some to Toots and Nancy. Nancy loves to cook fresh vegetables for her family, and she says it sure helps with the grocery bill.”

  “You take them all they need. They sure have been good to you. I don’t agree with their lifestyle but that’s on them. It’s my Christian duty to help my neighbors. And I think I’ll be able to help with the canning. I’m getting stronger every day. I think the surgery got all that cancer out and with prayer I’ll be completely healed.”

  Ali merely smiled.

  By the end of summer, Aunt July seemed to be as healthy as she ever was. She worked every day in the house and garden, she sewed, she went to church on Sundays, and it was as if she had never been sick.

  Summer came to an end and it was time for Ali to begin her junior year of high school. She was anxious to get back to school.

  Every day of Ali’s junior year, she changed clothes at Toots’ house, applied makeup, and Nancy continued to trim and layer her hair once a month. She fit in with the other students and she didn’t feel like a complete freak. When the boys asked her out, she declined, saying that she had to take care of her sick aunt. She had no interest in boys and since she wasn’t allowed to go to the places where her dates wanted to take her, she felt it best that she stay home.

  The weekends were long, boring and hard work. She got through them by daydreaming and planning what her life would be like once she got away from Morrisville and Aunt July.

  The day school let out for Christmas break, Aunt July told Ali to bring Toots home with her that afternoon. Toots said, “Do you think she’s got a nice present for us like she did on our birthday?”

  “Not hardly! She doesn’t believe in celebrating Christmas. She says decorating trees and giving presents is pagan. Celebrating Christmas to her is going to church and she and all the congregation sing and praise God for sending His son. She thinks that’s all a person is supposed to do to celebrate his birth. Maybe she baked a birthday cake for Jesus.”

  Toots giggled. “Well, that sounds good too.”

  Ali dreaded the two week break from school. All the other kids would be celebrating with parties, giving gifts, decorating trees, front yards, and having big family dinners, and she’d spend them with Aunt July, reading her Bible, reading about the birth of Jesus, the story she knew from heart.

  “Crappy Christmas!” Ali mumbled.

  They walked into the house and the fresh smell of pine wafted in the air. Ali stared in disbelief as she saw a pine tree decorated with bulbs, multi-colored lights, and silver tinsel. “What?” she mumbled as she walked over to the tree and touched it, making sure it was real and not a dream.

  Aunt July came into the living room. “I know. I’ve never had a tree or celebrated Christmas the way other people do. But I’ve been thinking that maybe Jesus would think a tree was pretty for His birthday. And if the wise men brought gifts to baby Jesus, then maybe it would be okay if I gave my favorite girls a gift in His honor.”

  Ali looked under the tree and saw two wrapped presents. What has come over her? “Aunt July, do you feel okay?”

  “Well, I didn’t want to mention it to you but I’ve been feeling poorly for a few days and I’ve been in some pain. But those pills I had left after my surgery sure do make me feel much better. They stop my pain and make me down right cheerful.”

  “’Tis the season to be jolly.” Ali said and she and Toots giggled.

  Aunt July giggled too. “It’s been many a year since I helped decorate a tree. The Hawkins always loved to put up a tree, and then we’d have our special hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows floating on top. So I went up in the attic this morning and dragged down all the decorations. Then I went and asked Mr. Wells if he’d mind to go buy me a large tree. He has that tree farm, you know. He sure brought us a nice one. He even trimmed the lower branches and fit it into the stand. It sure was nice of him.” Aunt July chuckled. “He almost acted like he was scared of me. My word, he’s been my neighbor forever, but I admit I’ve never been all that friendly to him, well, I’m not all that friendly to any of the neighbors, but I was in a friendly mood today, and so what do you think of the tree?”

  She’s drunk as a lord and her mouth is going a mile a minute and she’s in a friendly mood, sure enough, Ali thought and did her best to stifle another giggle.

  “Do we get our present today,” Ali asked, her eyes dancing.

  “No, you have to wait till Christmas Day. But we’re gonna fix some of that special hot chocolate with little marshmallows and I baked us some sugar cookies. I know sugar is something else I seldom allow, but hey, it’s Christmas!” Aunt July said, and raised her arms in the air much the way Ali had seen her do when she was praising God while they were in church.

  “That sounds great to me,” Ali said.

  “Me, too,” Toots echoed. “You know how I love sweets.”

  The three of them sat around the kitchen table, drank the hot chocolate and ate a plate full of sugar cookies. As soon as they had finished off the last cookie, Aunt July held her stomach. “I think I over-loaded on sugar. I don’t feel so good. Maybe I need to go lay down. It sure was fun though. You girls clean up the mess, okay?” she said as she pushed herself away from the table.

  “Do you need another pill?” Ali asked.

  “Nah, I think maybe I’ve taken enough of them for one day. I think I just need to lay down. I’ve worked pretty hard today. Be sure and call the doctor and see if he’ll call me in another prescription tomorrow, will you?”

  “I sure will. Now you go lay down. Me and Toots will take care of things. And I sure do thank you for putting up such a beautiful tree. I only remember one Christmas when Mama Jane put up a tree. I remember how beautiful I thought it was. I can’t remember how old I was,” Ali said and tears welled.

  Aunt July was out of the kitchen before Ali had finished her sentence. Then Ali heard Aunt July in the bathroom throwing up.

  Ali ran to her aunt, wet a wash cloth and wiped her aunt’s face. “Are you okay? Do I need to call the doctor?”

  “Naw, I’ll be alright. I just need to get to bed. Can you help me undress? I’m a bit unsteady.”

  Ali assisted her aunt into her bedroom and undressed her. Aunt July was a modest person but since her surgery, she had lost her modesty.
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  Soon, Ali had a clean gown on her aunt and she helped her into bed, pulled the covers around her, and said, “I’ll be in the living room if you need me.”

  “Thank you, honey,” Aunt July said, then her head fell to the side and she was in a deep sleep.

  Ali headed back into the living room, where she found Toots waiting on the couch. “Is she okay?”

  “I guess so. She fell asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. I think she took too many pills, but I sure like her better when she’s pilled-up. You can bet I’ll get that prescription refilled tomorrow.”

  Toots said, “Maybe I need to spend the night with you in case she gets worse. She’s a big woman and hard for a tiny thing like you to handle. I’ll call Mama, but I’m sure she’ll let me.”

  “I managed to handle her when she came home from the hospital last summer but she sure is a load. I’d like for you to spend the night with me even if I don’t need help. Aunt July has never let me have a sleep-over. I think she’ll think it’s sweet of you to offer to stay in case I need help. Heck, the mood she’s in, I think she’d agree with most anything. Those pills sure do change her personality. Believe me, that decorated tree is plum out of character for her. Those pills seem to change her thinking process and make her more human.”

  “Yeah, I almost like her when she’s tanked,” Toots said. She laughed, then went to call her mother.

  Toots spent the night and the two played music very low, laughed a lot, and recapped the week of fun they had had together when Aunt July was in the hospital. Aunt July slept through it all.

  The next morning, Ali and Toots were up early even though they didn’t have school. They checked on Aunt July before heading for the kitchen to make breakfast. She was still asleep, so they didn’t bother her. When nine o’clock rolled around, Ali became concerned. She went in to check on her aunt again. Aunt July was snoring, but when Ali patted her arm and called her name, she fluttered her eyes and looked around the room as if she was trying to figure out where she was.

  “Are you ready to get up? You’ve been asleep for almost twelve hours.”

  “Lord, have mercy. I don’t sleep like that. I don’t know why I was so tired. I guess I overdid yesterday, but I had fun. What do I smell? Did you make breakfast?”

  “I made breakfast over an hour ago but you probably smell the toast that I burned. The toaster doesn’t pop up anymore and I left it too long. I’ll go fix you some more and I’ll fix you some oatmeal if you feel like eating.”

  “I think that sounds good, honey. You run along and get it started. I’ll get dressed and get my bathroom duties over with, then I’ll be right there.”

  “Do you need help getting dressed?”

  “No. I can manage. Now, go on and get that breakfast started. I’m hungry.”

  Ali made a pan of oatmeal and fixed a plate of buttered toast and set out three different kind of homemade jellies. Toots set a plate in Aunt July’s place at the table, placed a fork and knife beside it, and filled a glass of orange juice. It was all done and waiting when Aunt July came into the kitchen.

  “Well, good morning, Toots. You sure got here early. Good to see you.” Aunt July took her seat. “This sure does look good.” She smeared some apple jelly on a piece of toast, then said, “Ali, see if I have any of them feel good pills left. My back is beginning to hurt something fierce.”

  Ali picked up the pill bottle that was sitting on the window ledge. “You’ve got one. I’ll call the doctor and see about a refill for you. Here you go,” she said as she handed the pill to her aunt.

  Ali went into the living room and called the doctor’s office. The nurse said she would have the doctor call in a prescription.

  An hour later the drugstore called and said the prescription was ready. Ali told Aunt July that Toots was going after her pills and she needed some money. Aunt July said, “I have an account there. Tell them to charge it. I’ll get them paid at the first of the month like I always do.” She paused, then added, “Thank you, Toots. If they give you any trouble, you just tell them to call me. I’ll set them straight.”

  Twenty minutes later, Toots was back, and Aunt July wanted a pill as soon as Toots walked into the house.

  Ali reached into the sack, pulled the bottle out and read Demerol. It was a different name than the last batch. She hoped they worked as well and kept her aunt in a good mood and also out of pain. Aunt July was never one to complain, which meant she was hurting badly. Ali filled a glass with water and gave her aunt the pill.

  Christmas morning, Ali fixed her and Aunt July a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and pancakes. Aunt July ate hardily, but asked for a pill. She told Ali they would wait until Toots had Christmas with her family, then they could open their presents when Toots was ready to come over. Aunt July went into the living room, stretched out on the couch and turned on the TV while Ali cleaned up the kitchen.

  Ali had just finished the dishes when she heard her aunt chuckle. She walked into the living room and saw a parade on the screen. There was a float of Disney characters and they were waving at the crowd and Aunt July waved at the characters.

  “I’ve never watched a Christmas parade before. That’s neat,” Ali said.

  “Me either, child. I’ll have to admit it’s right pretty. But I don’t hold to those girls in the marching band wearing next to nothing, twirling those batons. I mean, that takes talent and I admire that, but they need to put on more clothes. That’s a disgrace. And you know they’re freezing. Lord, have mercy!”

  Ali was expecting her aunt to turn off the TV, but she just watched, complained, and acted as if she was enjoying it, even if the girls were not dressed properly. Ali enjoyed it too. Mr. Puss meowed a few times as if he were enjoying it too. By the time the parade was over, Toots was knocking on the front door.

  Before Ali reached the door, Toots pushed it opened, jumped inside as if she were on springs, and throwing her arms into the air as she held two boxes in her hands, she yelled, “Merry Christmas!”

  “Well, Merry Christmas to you too, Toots. Come on in and get warm. Ali and I just finished watching a parade and I gotta say it was pretty. All them floats and decorations and characters and bands and half naked girls and all the flowers and that big crowd, I’ve never seen anything to beat it.”

  Toots gave Ali a puzzled look.

  Ali made the motion of putting a pill into her mouth and slightly giggled.

  Toots nodded. “I brought you and Aunt July a little something,” Toots said as she put the presents under the tree. Then she took off her coat, cap and gloves. “It’s right nippy out there but I’m glad we got a little snow for Christmas. I love snow. Maybe we can go outside and make a snowman later. I haven’t helped Rick make one for years.”

  Aunt July said, “I’ve never made one. I’ve never had a snowball fight either. I would go out and have some fun with you girls, but I’m just plum tuckered out today. I’d kind of like it if you girls would stay in and keep me company.”

  Ali made a face. Yep, you always find a way to ruin any fun, she thought as she took Toots’ coat, cap and gloves into her bedroom and threw them on her bed. She walked back into the living room just as Toots was sitting down in the recliner.

  “When can we open our presents, Aunt July?” Ali asked sweetly.

  “No time like the present,” Aunt July answered and laughed at her pun. “Ali, hand out the gifts and we’ll get the party started.”

  Ali and Toots eyed each other and giggled. “Aunt July is higher than a kite,” Toots mumbled.

  “I try to keep her that way,” Ali whispered.

  Ali handed everybody a present, then took a seat and all three of them ripped off paper at the same time. Ali and Toots lifted the lid off their boxes and saw that they had gotten a matching set of baby-blue hats, scarfs and gloves from Aunt July.

  Aunt July and Ali opened their presents from Toots. Ali got a box of homemade candies: chocolate fudge, divinity, taffy and coconut balls. Aunt July got a bo
x of homemade cookies that had the shapes of Christmas trees, Santas, reindeer, and wreaths. Each was sprinkled with edible glitter.

  Aunt July examined the cookies. “Well, these are pagan symbols but I reckon I’m gonna eat them not worship them, so what the heck,” she said as she bit the head off of a Santa. “He sure is good. Ho Ho Ho!”

  Ali and Toots laughed so hard they couldn’t catch their breath.

  Aunt July seemed as if she was having the best Christmas of her life, and Ali didn’t doubt for a minute that she was.

  The real July Monroe had been unleashed.

  Chapter Seventeen

  At the end of the school year, Todd asked Ali if she would attend the junior/senior prom with him. Ali declined. What would she wear? How would she sneak off?

  Ali was ready for a summer break for the first time. Aunt July had told her that she could start spending Saturdays with Toots again because she had earned her trust and because she had worked so hard keeping things done in the house and yard, and mostly because Ali had been so attentive to her when she was sick or having a bad day.

  The thought of spending Saturday afternoons with Toots and going for pizza was as good as Ali could have hoped for.

  Ali came home from school on her seventeenth birthday, and Aunt July said she hadn’t felt like baking a cake, and she didn’t want to bother any of her church sisters to take her shopping for a birthday gift since they took her to do the grocery shopping and to Woolworths for sewing materials.

  Ali smiled. “I understand. We don’t want to put too much on them and we might need them later. So don’t fret about it. ”

  Birthdays to Ali only meant she was a year older and closer to freedom. That thought was so comforting it was a great birthday present. She sat on the front porch with Mr. Puss. “Today is our birthday, old boy. You’re eleven years old. But I figure you’ve got a few more good years in you. You promised that you’d hang with me. Remember?”