Yesterday

by Fern Michaels

  “I don’t know, Sela.”

  “Did you make coffee?”

  “Yes, but we drank it all. I’m making some more. Do you want anything else?”

  “Are you kidding? I’d choke if I tried to eat now. How long has he been in there?”

  “Fifteen minutes or so. Sela, I was afraid to open Pearl’s door this morning. I heard the screech owls last night, and the night before, and the night before that.”

  “I know, I heard them, too. That’s only folklore, Brie. Just because they screech doesn’t mean someone is going to die. I stopped believing that a long time ago. I’m surprised at you.”

  “They screeched for a week before Lazarus died. Pearl said so,” Brie reminded her.

  “They probably would have screeched anyway. Don’t spook me, Brie, I’m antsy enough without all that nonsense. It was different when we were kids. God, when is that coffee going to be ready?”

  “Right now,” Brie said, filling her cup.

  “Brie?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Are we jealous of Bode?”

  “I think so. I feel like I should pack and leave now that he’s here. It’s like, what can I possibly do?”

  “That’s funny, that’s exactly how I feel. He’ll get Pearl to agree to see a doctor, he’ll give her something to clear up whatever it is she has, build her up, and then Callie will come out of her coma and everything will be wonderful. Why do we think like this? Do we have self-esteem problems? Does Bode have an ego? Maybe I should think about going back to New York. Who died and appointed him God anyway?”

  “Could you really walk away, Sela?”

  Sela dabbed at the tears in her eyes. “It would break my heart, but yes, I could do it. I wouldn’t look back. How about you?”

  “Me too.”

  Sela leaned over and whispered, “You love Bode, don’t you? It’s okay, Brie. It really is. I won’t ever say anything. You need to get it through your head that it’s okay. Don’t you ever, ever be ashamed of your feelings.”

  “What about Wyn?”

  “Look, it happened. At first I thought it was just a fun thing. Then I got to know him better . . . I didn’t mean for it to happen, neither did Wyn. I can walk away from that, too, Brie. If I have to. Do I? Or is this one of those things we have to wait and see how Bode reacts to?”

  “Not as far as I’m concerned, Sela. I don’t want to see you get hurt. I wish someone could tell me if broken hearts heal, and if they do, how long it takes.”

  “What is he doing in there?”

  “I’m going to make some breakfast,” Brie said, jumping up from the chair. “You’re going to eat whether you like it or not, Sela. I have to do something.”

  “Okay, okay, bacon and eggs. Are you going to make some for Bode?”

  “No, I’m not. Let him make his own. Those days are gone, my friend.”

  “Listen, why don’t I make the breakfast and you go fix yourself. Your hair looks like a haystack. Surely you have a better-looking robe?”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “I’m not trying. I’m telling you that you look like shit.”

  “Tough,” Brie said, slapping bacon into the frying pan.

  She was draining the bacon when Bode walked into the kitchen. He kissed Sela lightly on the cheek.

  “Well?” Brie snapped.

  “Mama Pearl is sleeping. I didn’t want to wake her. I was just sitting by her bed. She doesn’t look good to me. She must have lost about fifty pounds.”

  “Sixty-five. We weighed her at the hospital one day. She eats very little, and her stamina is gone,” Sela said.

  “What time is the doctor coming?”

  “Ten,” Brie said. She sat down with her plate.

  “Where’s mine?” Bode asked politely.

  “Where mine was. What that means, Bode, is—cook it yourself.”

  “Do I sense a rebellion of some kind?” Bode inquired.

  “How come you aren’t at the nursing home?” Sela asked him. “I thought that’s the first place you would go. Or have you been there already?”

  “I came here first,” Bode said quietly. He filched a slice of bacon from Brie’s plate.

  “Just like that. We don’t hear from you for months and suddenly you show up and now the world is going to stop. You really burn me up, Bode,” Sela said, wolfing down the eggs she didn’t want so that Bode wouldn’t eat them. She swallowed some coffee. “We’re all grown-up now. As you can see, we’ve been managing pretty well. What does that tell you?”

  “That you don’t need me anymore,” Bode said. “Look, I came back here because I had a feeling something was wrong with Mama Pearl. I didn’t know about Callie. You girls haven’t needed me for a long time. I was simply a . . . nudge, to get you to where you are now. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Look at you, I’m so damn proud of the two of you I could bust. If I had some small part in helping you along the way, it was my pleasure. My hat’s off to the two of you.”

  As one, the two young women screeched, “I hate you, Bode Jessup,” and ran down the hall to Sela’s room where they threw themselves on the bed and wailed in each other’s arms. “I told you he always says just the right thing at the right time,” Brie sobbed. “See, he made us feel bad and grateful at the same time. The worst thing is, he meant every word he said!”

  “I guess you know we acted pretty asinine out there. I recall having more sense when I was ten years old.” Sela blubbered.

  “It’s this place,” Brie said. “We have to let go. I think, Sela, we should stay long enough to see Pearl through this and then I say we get on with our lives. How about coming to Atlanta?”

  “Would you really like me to, Brie?”

  “Sure, we could be roommates. Atlanta is a fast-moving place. Or, I could ask for a transfer and we would go wherever that place turns out to be. You’d love California. Let’s agree to think about it, okay?”

  “Okay.” The relief on Sela’s face was almost comic. Brie felt better than she had in days.

  It was almost nine o’clock when they walked back to the kitchen, showered, and dressed for the day. Bode had washed and dried the dishes. A fresh pot of coffee was on the table along with clean cups and saucers.

  “He’s sucking up,” Sela said.

  “I see that.” Brie nodded.

  “I’m being considerate and nice,” Bode said. “Do you still hate me?” He sounded genuinely sad, like he really cared. Harry ran to Brie and leaped into her arms. Sela squealed in delight. Harry barked and barked as he licked Brie’s face.

  “No,” they said in unison.

  Bode smiled and reached for their hands. “Smile for me.” They did, because they could deny him nothing. He was that rare person they called friend.

  “If Pearl is still sleeping, we should wake her as the doctor is coming at ten. She’ll want to fuss a bit. Go ahead, Bode, you wake her. She won’t want you to help her, we’ll do that,” Brie said.

  Bode nodded. He entered the dim room and called softly, “Mama Pearl, it’s Bode. Time to get up.”

  “Chile, is it really you? I dreamed you called on the telephone, and now you’re here. Bless you, Bode. I’ve been feeling poorly these past days. I cain’t believe old Pearl is lying in this here bed. My bones are getting old.”

  She was in his arms and he was squeezing her close to his chest. Again he wanted to cry at the feel of her. A lump in his throat the size of a walnut choked him, and his chest felt tight. “Everyone needs a lazy day or two, Mama Pearl. You have a lot of days coming to you. Brie has made some breakfast—can I fetch it for you?”

  “No, no, my stomach is poorly. Maybe later. I missed church, chile. I cain’t hardly believe that. What time is it?”

  “Almost nine-thirty. Mama Pearl, the doctor is coming at ten. Don’t you be fussing now.”

  “There’s money in the Mason jar to pay him, Bode. Pearl is so happy to see her chile again. You best be getting cleaned up and out to the home to see
Miz Callie. Poor girl, she jest lies there. I keep her pretty, Bode.”

  “I know you do, Mama Pearl.”

  “Miz Brie and Miz Sela, they help me a lot. Pearl has such good children. Will you promise me something, Bode?”

  “Whatever you want, Mama Pearl.”

  “Swear on Lazarus and Miz Callie, Bode.”

  Oh, God, Bode thought, this is important. “I swear,” he said quietly.

  “Fetch Miz Brie and Miz Sela in here, too. Pearl needs to be hearing them promise the same thing.”

  It’s got to be the Queen Mother of all promises, Bode thought as he opened the door and motioned to Brie and Sela. “Pearl wants you to make a promise to her and to swear on Lazarus and Callie.”

  Brie’s eyes rolled back in her head. Sela cleared her throat.

  “Say the words,” Pearl said.

  “I swear on Lazarus and Callie,” Brie and Sela repeated solemnly; then they asked, “What are we promising, Mama Pearl?”

  “That you won’t let that town doctor put me in no hospital. If Pearl is going to die, she wants to do it right here in her own bed. You made the promise. Don’t you shame me now, you hear?”

  Sela ran from the room. Brie stood rooted in the doorway. She nodded numbly. Bode stared at the string bag on the bed next to Pearl, too full of emotion to speak. Just then, a small body leaped up onto the bed and, much to Pearl’s delight, began to burrow happily into the curve of the sick woman’s arm.

  While the girls washed Pearl, and prepared her for the doctor’s visit, Bode walked through the old manor house, into the dining room that was no longer used, to the living room with the scratchy furniture. He wandered about, reacquainting himself with yesterday, feeling something squeezing his heart.

  Dr. Obecoe arrived promptly at ten and was immediately ushered into Pearl’s room. The Judge had chosen carefully, for the doctor was African-American, female, and old enough that Pearl would be able to relate to her. Together, Brie, Sela, and Bode paced the kitchen. They were still restlessly pacing, coffee cups in hand, when the doctor emerged from the room at ten past ten.

  “I don’t know what to say,” she began carefully. “Pearl absolutely refuses to go to the hospital. I can come back again tomorrow and do a few tests, but it will be difficult. The indications are that she has an obstruction of some sort—I’d say a tumor. She hasn’t moved her bowels in a very long time—that’s why she’s afraid to eat. She truly does belong in a hospital. If you could just get her there for one day, we could schedule the tests one after the other and she could go home right afterward. But if we find something that requires surgery, what will we do? I suggest you talk to her, try to make her understand what is required.”

  “If she refuses, then what?” Brie whispered.

  The doctor shook her head. “You don’t really expect me to answer that, do you?”

  “I do,” Bode said.

  “She’ll die,” the woman stated curtly. “She’s in a great deal of pain. Have these prescriptions filled, and get her to take fluids. If she won’t take the fluids, I warned her she’d have to have an IV. I scared her out of her wits. She’ll need nutrients and glucose. If she asked me once she asked me half a dozen times how long it would be before she can get out of bed and go visit Miss Parker. I told her it would depend on how well she responded. I hate to say this, but maybe you can sort of blackmail her into following the treatment. I don’t know what else to advise. I can bring Dr. Lewison out tomorrow if you want a second opinion. Arquette and Coletta are patients of mine. Perhaps they can talk to Pearl. It’s something to think about. Make sure you follow the directions on the painkillers and try to get her to take liquids as much as possible.”

  When the doctor had gone, they stared at one another for a long time. It was Brie who finally broke the silence. “If you two feel this is something we should vote on, then I would vote to tell Pearl the truth. If it’s something we think Bode should do, that’s okay with me, too. Sela?”

  “The truth,” she said, dabbing at her eyes.

  “Bode?”

  “The truth. But we’ll do it together.”

  Solemnly they followed Bode into Pearl’s room. She looked so drawn, so tired, Brie wanted to cry. She bit down on her lower lip. Somehow she found Sela’s hand in hers. She squeezed it.

  It didn’t matter what Bode said, what Brie or Sela said, Pearl was adamant. No hospital. No operation.

  “Pearl,” Brie pleaded, dropping to her knees by the side of the bed. “You understand what the doctor said, don’t you? If you do as she says, before you know it, you’ll be up tending Callie like before. You wore yourself out so now you have to get patched up. Think about when I leave and Bode leaves. Who’s going to take care of Callie during the day? Sela can go in the evening, but it isn’t the same thing. What happens if Sela gets worn out and sick? Then strangers will be taking care of Callie. Mama Pearl, will you at least think about it today?”

  “No, chile, Pearl’s mind be made up. If the Lord wants me, He’s going to take me and Miss Callie, too. I seen it. I didn’t know what it was so I asked Arquette and he tole me. The Lord, He be fixing to take Miz Callie, so Pearl is going first. Don’t you be shaming me now and acting like little children. The Lord, He means it to be like this.”

  “What did you see, Mama Pearl?” Bode asked harshly.

  “I saw a bag in the closet where the soap and toilet paper is. That’s where I keep Miz Callie’s special powder and liniment. That bag wasn’t there last week. It was new. I seen it,” she fretted.

  “What was in the bag, Pearl?” Brie asked, her eyes wild. She felt Sela’s fierce grip on her hand.

  “It was my sweet baby love’s shroud. Arquette tole me what it was when I explained to him what it looked like. The Lord is fixing to take my chile. It don’t make no never mind about old Pearl. Leave me be now. I have some praying to do. Don’t you be bringing no more doctors here—you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they said as one.

  “Close the door, my praying is my privacy. You can leave this little dog here.”

  They trooped out to the kitchen. Brie found herself fighting with Sela over the coffeepot. Bode stood by the window, his head bowed.

  “I think we should go and kill Arquette,” Sela said in a strangled voice. “How could he say such a thing to Pearl?”

  “Arquette is a plain, simple man. Mama Pearl asked him a question, and he answered it. He told her the truth,” Bode said from his position by the window. His shoulders started to shake.

  “Can’t we go to the home and take it away—tell Pearl it was put there by mistake? How do you think it found its way there? Is there one to go with each room, or what?” Brie shuddered.

  “I guess they have to keep them somewhere. I rather thought they’d be kept in one place, you know, like where they store the bandages and stuff. I don’t know,” Sela wailed.

  “Mama Pearl would never believe anything we came up with. She saw it, and that’s the beginning and the end of it,” Bode said.

  “That means Pearl is willing to die so she can be there if Callie . . . if Callie . . . you know. She doesn’t care about any of us. If she did she’d want to get well. It was all a lie. I thought she cared about me, about all of us, but the only one she loves is Callie.” Sela burst into noisy tears. “My God, I never heard such a thing. All these years . . .”

  Brie’s hand shot out and slapped her, hard. Stunned, Sela turned and ran out to the car. Tires screeched as she raced away and she was almost to the main road before Brie could gather her wits about her. “She’s hysterical,” she muttered in a shaky voice. “When she thinks about this she’ll calm down.”

  “No, she won’t. Mama Pearl could stand on her head in the middle of Route 17 and profess undying love for Sela and she wouldn’t believe her now. To Sela, this is the ultimate betrayal. Nothing could ever cut this deep. I know what I’m talking about. How about you, Brie?” Bode said quietly.

  “Well, I always knew Callie w
as first in Pearl’s heart. I wanted to believe she loved us equally, but part of me accepted that it wasn’t true. Oh, Pearl loves us, of that I have no doubt. She loves you second best, Bode. It’s worse this way, worse than being a middle child, I guess. I wonder if Callie ever knew how very special she was to Pearl? Callie herself loved Pearl with all her heart, and I think that was part of her reason for calling off her wedding at the last minute. She knew Pearl didn’t want to go to Beaufort, and she didn’t want to give Pearl up. When my heart isn’t so sore, I think I’ll be able to look at that love and marvel at it. It’s wonderful that two people can care about each other that much. Look, Bode, I think you should call the doctor and cancel tomorrow’s appointment.”

  “What are you going to do, Brie?”

  “Well, first of all I’m going to make some chicken soup for Pearl. I make chicken soup a lot around here. Then I’ll do a little cleaning up, call my boss and see how things are going. Maybe I’ll drive into town and see Sela. She’ll need me. I’ll wait though till Pearl falls asleep. I assume you’re going out to see Callie? Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll cut some camellias for you to take. Either Sela or I will stop and clean up Callie later on.”

  “Why—don’t they have nurses? What kind of place is it?”

  “Of course they have nurses, plenty of them, but Pearl wouldn’t hear of them taking care of her sweet baby love. She always did it, and when she wasn’t able to, Sela and I took over. Pearl irons her gowns and her hair ribbons, and does her laundry by hand. She used to wash her with special soap and powder her with her special powder. It’s an all-day job, Bode. Pearl massaged her arms and legs every day, hour after hour.”

  Brie gently took his arm and looked him in the eyes.

  “Listen, you better go. Pearl has her own inner clock and somehow she always knows when it’s time for something to be done for Callie. Bode, the person in that bed isn’t the Callie we all knew. You need to be prepared.”

  But nothing in the world could have prepared Bode for his first sight of Callie Parker. He gasped and choked back a sob. “Oh God, Callie.”