“What are we going to do?” Aunt Bett asked.
“I don’t know, but we have to find a way to keep him from taking Molly away. Why, I don’t know how she could get along without Dove.” Another long silence.
“He knows where we live,” Crystal said. “And he’s already called on the phone. We have to figure something out fast!” Another silence, before Crystal went on. “He could show up with court papers anytime he wants, and there wouldn’t be a thing we could do about it.”
“Can’t we hide Molly somewhere?” Aunt Bett asked.
“But if he took us to court, they could make us tell, if we knew.”
“If we knew . . .” Aunt Bett repeated.
“But even if we sent her off and hid her somewhere, she would still lose Dove and Little Ellis.” Crystal paused and added, “And me. It would break up our family!”
“Maybe you could all hide?” Aunt Bett suggested.
“Maybe we could,” Crystal muttered. “We just have to think this through, and we have to do that in a hurry!”
“Well, show me that letter first,” Aunt Bett said. I heard the chair scrape, so I ran down the hall and got ready to plop myself onto the couch, like I’d been reading or watching television the whole time. But as soon as I got into the living room, I knew this was something I couldn’t pretend I hadn’t heard. That would be impossible. So I took a deep breath and went back toward the kitchen. Crystal was coming out of the bedroom with an envelope in her hands. Aunt Bett was still sitting at the table.
“I heard,” I said at once to both of them. Why, I was surprised as could be to hear my voice sounding so calm and strong. I was expecting to squeak when I made my confession to them.
“You heard?” Crystal looked at Aunt Bett. But Aunt Bett’s eyes were boring into my own.
“You eavesdropped on our conversation?” Aunt Bett demanded.
“Yes ma’am, I did.”
“Why Dove! That isn’t like you!” Aunt Bett moaned.
“I’m not a baby, Aunt Bett,” I whispered. “And I have a right to know what’s going on.”
“Well, I never!” Aunt Bett was truly mad, and I kept watching her mouth like any minute all those terrible words out of the Old Testament would come spewing out, but this time, they would be meant for me.
But before Aunt Bett could say a word, Crystal spoke up. “Dove’s right, Bett. She’s not a baby.” And to me she said, “I’m sorry. I should have told you and then asked you to be with me while I told Bett.”
Aunt Bett’s mouth fell open, but she didn’t say a word.
“Was Roy-Ellis really my daddy?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. Because I wanted to hear it said right out and not just words coming through the kitchen door.
“Yes,” Crystal said. “Yes, Roy-Ellis was your daddy. That’s what your mama said in this letter to him that he never did open.” Crystal handed the letter to Aunt Bett, who opened it and stared at the words. “Yes, it’s her handwriting,” Aunt Bett finally said.
I thought for a moment. “Roy-Ellis never knew.”
“That’s right,” Crystal almost whispered.
“He never knew,” I repeated.
Everything felt all strange at our house that evening, even though we all went about doing what we usually did. Aunt Bett went home after hugging all of us and telling Crystal, “It will be okay. We’ll find a way.” Crystal washed up the dishes while I got Little Ellis and Molly in bed, but after that we sat at the kitchen table together and just thought hard, trying to find out how to keep Molly with us. A knock at the back door, and Crystal and I both jumped. But when Crystal opened the door, it was Aunt Mee, standing there with a basket of fresh butterbeans.
“I just came over to bring you all some butterbeans, if you can use them,” she said, holding out the basket. “My old garden is cranking out more than I can use this year,” she added. “You feeling better, Crystal?” she asked carefully.
“Yes, thank you,” Crystal said, taking the basket. “And please don’t go.”
To me, Crystal said, “I think we should tell Aunt Mee about what’s going on and ask advice from someone with such a good head. The more folks we got figuring for us, the better.”
“Well, I don’t know just how good my old head is,” Aunt Mee protested. “But if I can help with anything, I will. You all know that.”
“Come on and sit down,” Crystal swung her arm toward the kitchen table.
Aunt Mee sort of rolled her eyes at the invitation. Because Aunt Mee had lived most of her life in the way things used to be between black people and white people, and in her way of thinking, no black woman would ever sit down at the kitchen table with a white woman. It was different when I was at Aunt Mee’s house, because it was her house, and I wasn’t a grown woman. Yet. And I don’t even know how we knew all those things, because they weren’t written down anyplace that I knew of. But still, we all knew them.
“Please?” Crystal added.
Aunt Mee relented and walked over to the table. Ever so slowly, she pulled out a chair. But she looked at Crystal and me again before she finally sat down. Even then, she sat at the very edge of the chair, as if she needed to be able to lift off at a moment’s notice. Crystal and I approached the table almost on tiptoe, and we sat down on the edge of our chairs, as well. Aunt Mee studied us carefully and then scooted back in her chair a little.
“What on earth is bothering you children?” she asked.
The way she called us both “children” made Crystal and me look at each other in surprise. And when we looked back at Aunt Mee, I guess we both saw her in a new way—Aunt Mee, wise-woman!
Slowly and carefully, Crystal told Aunt Mee everything about what had happened, and Aunt Mee never changed the expression on her face at all, not even when Crystal told her about me being Roy-Ellis’s own child. She just sat and listened, like she was drinking in every single word and rolling it around behind those black eyes. When Crystal came to the end, we all just sat there in silence, with Aunt Mee rubbing her thumb on the oilcloth tablecloth, humming under her breath, and wearing three deep creases between her eyes. We sat and sat and sat some more. Finally, Crystal said, “Can I fix you a cup of coffee?” Aunt Mee didn’t look up but just nodded her head slowly. So Crystal got up, glanced at me, shrugged her shoulders a little, and put the kettle on the stove. I stayed at the table, watching Aunt Mee. Crystal put a cup of coffee in front of Aunt Mee, and Aunt Mee picked it up and sipped from it, still without speaking. Finally, finally, Aunt Mee finished her coffee and put the cup in the saucer with a little click.
“Here’s what I can do to help you all out,” she announced. “I got me a cousin lives in a little town about fifteen or twenty miles from here. Works for a real rich white lady who’s gone almost all the time. You all can go there. My cousin will take you all in.”
Crystal and I glanced at each other.
“You still working at the mall?” Aunt Mee asked.
“Well, yes,” Crystal said. “Why do you ask?”
“‘Cause that little town she lives in is on the other side of the mall—maybe even a little closer to it than you are here. Won’t be as long a drive for you, and you won’t have to look for another job. Yes!” Aunt Mee suddenly exclaimed. “That will work.” Then she added, “But I don’t know for how long. Long enough for you all to get things figured out anyways.”
Crystal was nodding her head. “And nobody would know,” she whispered.
“‘Cept for me,” Aunt Mee added. “And nobody would think to ask me.”
“Yes,” Crystal said. “Yes!”
“Got a funny name, though,” Aunt Mee said.
“Excuse me?”
“Got a funny name,” Aunt Mee said again.
“What’s got a funny name? The town?”
“Oh!” Aunt Mee laughed. “Not the town. My cousin.” Then she laughed again. “Name’s Buzzard.”
“Buzzard?” Crystal and I both said at exactly the same time.
> We all laughed a little, but we stopped real fast when Aunt Mee said, “Her mama named her that because she said a black woman had to be able to live off what nobody else wanted.”
“Lord have mercy!” Crystal breathed. Then she added, “Was it really that way back then?”
Aunt Mee was forthcoming: “Oh yes. It certainly was. Still is, in some little towns. ‘Cause the old ways die so slow.” Then she looked at me. “But mostly, things are better now. There was a time when you and Savannah couldn’t have been good friends. Not really. Well, let me go on home,” Aunt Mee said. “I’ll talk to Buzzard on the phone tonight and tell her about you all. I’ll let you know what she says.” Aunt Mee stood up and looked down at the kitchen table, staring and staring at the coffee cup.
“Dear Lord in Heaven!” she exclaimed, grinning. “I guess times certainly are better! I drank me a cup of coffee and me sitting at the very table with white women and never even thought about it!” How Crystal and I had changed from “children” to “women,” we didn’t know. We just grinned back at Aunt Mee.
We found a way!
The next day, Crystal and I took Molly and Little Ellis and walked down to Aunt Bett’s house. We left Molly and Little Ellis playing in the bedroom, under Darlene’s watchful eye and went into the kitchen. Crystal got us started. “Bett, Aunt Mee came over last night and I told her what has happened. And I think she can help us find a way.”
“What?” Aunt Bett sort of squeaked, as if she had forgotten what we were talking about.
“I think we’ve found a way,” Crystal repeated.
“A way to do what?” Aunt Bett was still staring at me.
“A way for us to stay together.”
“How?”
“Well,” Crystal started. “Aunt Mee has a cousin who lives in a town not far away, and her cousin keeps house for a real rich lady who’s gone most of the time. We can go there, Aunt Mee says.”
“Aunt Mee’s cousin? What’s her name? Where does she live?”
Crystal sighed. “I can’t tell you.”
“Why on earth not?” Aunt Bett was starting to sound alarmed.
“Because if he takes you to court, the judge would make you put your hand on a Bible and you would have to swear to tell what you know.” The breath went out of Aunt Bett.
“It’s the only way I can see, for now at least.” Crystal said. “And Bett, there’s nothing holding me here now.” Aunt Bett’s mouth dropped open.
“Why, you have everything to keep you here!” Aunt Bett sputtered. “The house you’re in and . . .” she swept her arm toward me. “And the children and me to help you!”
“Would you have us stay even if it means losing Molly?” Crystal leveled the question at Aunt Bett. Her words sat in the air for a long time and just wouldn’t go away.
“No,” Aunt Bett admitted at last. “Not if it means losing Molly.”
A long silence then, with all our thoughts kind of fluttering around like little birds looking for a branch to land on. When Crystal finally broke the silence, her voice was strong and calm-sounding. “I can’t tell you where we’re going,” she said. “But I’ll be even closer to work than I am now. It’ll mean less driving.”
“Closer?” Aunt Bett fairly pounced on Crystal’s words. “Someplace between here and the mall?”
“No, Bett. And don’t try to figure it out,” Crystal warned. “You just think about having to put your hand on a Bible and swear to tell the truth.” She added, “And make us lose Molly.”
Aunt Bett blushed. “You’re right, of course.”
Aunt Bett looked back and forth between Crystal and me, and I could tell that she was coming to agree with everything Crystal had said. Finally, her lips parted. “Not knowing where you all are? Or what’s happening to you?”
Crystal nodded.
“For how long?”
Crystal shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “I guess I’ll have to talk with a lawyer or something. We’ll figure it all out.”
“And what about clothes?” she asked suddenly. “What about clothes, huh? How you going to put clothes on three growing children, Crystal? You tell me that!” Well, there it was—Aunt Bett’s fear had turned into anger, right in front of my eyes. I thought it was probably a good sign, and Crystal was wise enough not to say anything, just yet. So we just were quiet and watched Aunt Bett struggling with herself.
Finally, Crystal said, “I got me a good job, Bett, and you’ve provided clothes for your own and mine as well. From now on, I can provide for my own.”
My own! How beautiful!
Chapter Twelve
But oh, it was going to be so hard, saying good-bye to Aunt Bett and never knowing when we would see her again. And I just stood there, looking at her and thinking about how fast everything had changed and about how little it took to throw everything off track.
“You all take all the clothes I loaned you,” Aunt Bett whispered. “And find a way to let me know you’re okay.”
“I’ll call from a pay phone every once in a while,” Crystal promised. “We’ll be all right, Bett.”
“Well, go on, then,” Aunt Bett said in a gruff-sounding voice. “And God go with you. Let me know what you find out about getting a legal claim to Molly.” Aunt Bett swallowed a sob. So we walked away in the dusk, with the porch light from Aunt Bett’s house giving us all long, sad shadows that walked ahead of us.
But just as we got close to our house, we could hear a loud knocking. Crystal pulled us into the bushes, and when we peeked out from our hiding place, we could see a sheriff’s car parked in our front yard. We ducked back into hiding, not saying a single word. The loud knocking went on for a long time, with a loud shouting of “Hello? Open up! Sheriff’s department!”
Molly started whimpering, and I put my hand over her mouth and hugged her to me. Little Ellis never made a sound. Finally, the knocking stopped. We heard heavy footsteps go across our porch and down the steps. A car door opened and closed and an engine started up. Then the sound of tires on gravel and the red taillights growing smaller and smaller. Until they were gone.
“Jesus, help us!” Crystal breathed, and I added, “Amen!”
“Follow me,” Crystal ordered, and we did. She led us through the bushes and around to our back porch.
“We mustn’t turn on any lights,” she warned. Then to me, she said, “Go get Aunt Mee!” I started running across the backyard, while Crystal herded Molly and Little Ellis into our house. Aunt Mee appeared just as soon as I knocked on her door.
“I been waiting and waiting for you all’s lights to come on,” she fussed. “Been wanting to tell you about what Buzzard had to say.”
“Please come on over, Aunt Mee,” I begged. “We’ve got big trouble!” She frowned and followed me down the steps and across the backyard, muttering things I couldn’t quite make out.
“Why, your lights are still out!” she exclaimed as we got close to the house.
“Crystal’s inside with Molly and Little Ellis,” I explained. “But we’re scared to turn on the lights. The sheriff’s been here.”
“Lord, help us!” Aunt Mee muttered. Crystal was waiting for us on the dark back porch.
“Aunt Mee, we gotta leave right away. Tonight!”
“I talked to Buzzard and she says for you all to come right ahead. She didn’t expect it to be so fast, I don’t think.”
“I know,” Crystal said. “I’m sorry.”
“So what’s going on over here? Dove said the sheriff’s been around.”
“It can only be one thing: He must be trying to serve a warrant so Molly’s daddy can get her.”
“Lord, help us!” Aunt Mee whispered yet again. “Now let’s us think . . . and pray! Where are Molly and Little Ellis?” Aunt Mee finally asked.
“Sitting at the kitchen table,” Crystal said. “I told them not to move an inch.”
“Okay,” Aunt Mee said. “First thing is we gotta get your car around here in the backyard, so you can load i
t up without anybody seeing. You get as much of your stuff as you can, throw it in the car, and then get out of here. I’ll call Buzzard back and tell her you’re on your way.”
“Yes,” Crystal breathed. “Oh thank you!”
“You all get the car,” Aunt Mee said in a commanding voice. “I’ll take Molly and Little Ellis home with me and keep them quiet. And when you’re done, we’ll put them in the backseat and you can be off.”
We all went into the dark kitchen and found Molly and Little Ellis sitting exactly where Crystal had put them, their eyes wide and faces pale.
“Come on with Aunt Mee, you sweet babies,” Aunt Mee crooned. And she led them out of the kitchen, across the porch, and into the dark backyard. Very quietly, Crystal drove the car around back, not putting on the headlights or stepping on the brakes, and in all that darkness, we started gathering up what all we could and throwing it into the open trunk. The whole thing felt like some kind of a terrible dream. I grabbed armloads of all those nice clothes Aunt Bett worked so hard to get us, and Roy-Ellis’s hat because I couldn’t leave it. I got all my treasures and wrapped them and my hand lotion in a towel and put them in the trunk, and Molly and Little Ellis’s clothes I jammed into a pillowcase. When the car’s trunk was full, we shut it without making a sound and got in the car. Crystal didn’t turn on the headlights; she just eased the car out onto the road and turned in at Aunt Mee’s. I’d already put Molly and Little Ellis’s pillows and blankets into the backseat, and Crystal and Aunt Mee got Molly and Little Ellis loaded in. Our most precious cargo loaded in, all safe and sound.
Aunt Mee put a piece of folded-up paper into Crystal’s hand.
“Now don’t you lose this,” she warned. “Just go straight to the mall, like you’re going to work. These directions will tell you how to get to Buzzard’s from there.” Then Aunt Mee suddenly reached out, grabbed Crystal’s shoulders, and pulled her into a long, hard hug.
“Jesus go with you,” she gulped. And then we were really on our way—to where, we didn’t know. Just the quiet hum of the engine and the quiet, gentle sounds of Molly and Little Ellis breathing deep in sleep in the backseat.
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