Healing Ruby: A Novel

by Jennifer H. Westall

  I swallowed all the things I wanted to say to him, along with a good bit of my admiration. “Well then, I guess you better teach me a thing or two about birthing babies while I’m here.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I’ve heard people say that something they saw once, or something that happened to them, was life-altering. I’ve thought a good deal about that saying, and I’ve come to believe that a person’s whole life is full of moments that alter the path they’re on, sending them off in a direction they never imagined. It can be something small, like a smile shared between two people. It can be something wonderful, like God breathing life into failing lungs. It can be something so final, like death.

  I sometimes wonder how many different paths my life could’ve taken if Daddy had lived longer, or if I’d never went to work at the Doyles’ house, or if Uncle Asa hadn’t come to Daddy’s funeral. What if I’d never brought Hannah that first jar of food? I realized later on that all those moments, and all the moments in between, were just smaller twists and turns that God used to direct me to something much bigger. They were all life-altering. But if I had to pick out one event that sent my life careening off into a direction I’d never imagined, it would be that Sunday in March of ’32, when lives all over Alabama were altered forever.

  Things around our house had been pretty peaceful for a few weeks. Asa had even come to visit for a spell in February. He helped James make some improvements around the house. They added a small bedroom to one side for me and Mother to share, repaired the enclosures for the baby pigs and chickens we were anticipating, and worked out a planting schedule so we’d have better stores of food for the next year. It was wonderful having Asa around, and I noticed when he left that there was a fondness growing between him and Mother. He promised to return and help James with the plowing just as soon as there was no more threat of frost.

  As spring teased us with occasional warm days, Hannah’s belly grew past what I thought any normal person should be able to bear. I knew her time was coming, and every day my nerves tightened a little more wondering if that day would be the day. I’d learned all I could, from Dr. Fisher and Hannah, but I prayed and prayed Dr. Fisher would change his mind. Matthew tried talking to him, but he didn’t have any more luck than I did. So we did our best to keep Hannah comfortable and to be ready. I started going down to see her several times a week to help her with chores. Of course, Matthew was pretty mad at me for going on days he couldn’t go with me, and he let me know about it. He said he knew I’d never let him win an argument with me for very long, even if it was for my own good.

  I had the hardest time concentrating on my schoolwork. My grades starting falling around the beginning of March. A couple of my teachers asked if I was all right, but I didn’t know what I could say. I didn’t even tell Mary what was going on cause Matthew practically forbade me to do it. Not that I usually let him tell me what to do, but in this case he was right. Telling Mary would mean she’d want to help, and getting her mixed up in what I was doing would put a target on her. Of course, that made me wonder out loud if Matthew wasn’t putting the same target on himself.

  “That’s different,” he’d said. “Somebody comes after me like they did you, and I can take care of myself.” He’d been quiet for a minute before he finished with a dark edge to his voice. “B’sides, I’d just like to see that coward show himself to me. He wouldn’t live to regret it.”

  That made me even more certain that I should never, ever tell him who’d attacked me in the woods. So that Sunday afternoon, the one in late March, I’m not quite sure how he got me so turned around as to spill the beans. We were walking back to my house from Hannah’s in between thunderstorms when he’d started pushing me to tell him everything. I kept quiet, like I usually did, but this time he didn’t stop.

  “Ruby, you’re gonna have to tell me or I’m gonna go mad. If I got to, I’ll head right over to Calhoun’s and start hounding him about it too.”

  “Why are you so determined to know?” I asked. “I already told you, it’s not our place to take vengeance.”

  “This ain’t about vengeance!” His voice got louder and louder, until it was as angry as the wind whipping around us. “All them workers are gonna be back in these fields this week! Whoever attacked you will be here, right here! And he can do it again any time he wants to when you get some crazy notion to go down into them woods by yourself! Cause Lord knows you ain’t gonna listen to me and stay away!”

  “Why are you hollering at me?”

  He threw his head back and groaned. We stopped walking, and he looked down at me with such fierceness, I felt a twinge of fear run through me. “I don’t know how to keep you safe. I don’t know how to be your friend. I don’t know nothing! And you come at me with these crazy notions about getting mixed up with things we got no business messing with. I know you want to help Hannah and Samuel, but it just ain’t our business, Ruby! Why can’t you see reason?”

  “Why can’t you see my heart? Don’t you see what they mean to me?”

  “Yes, believe me, I see more than you know. I do see your heart, and it’s a heart that’s got more love in it than I’ve ever seen. But what good is it if you’re dead?”

  I’d done my best to stay calm, to try to listen to him and get him to understand. But even though I thought I was getting better at controlling my tongue, my anger sneaked up on me and flew right out of my mouth.

  “Stop treating me like I’m some poor helpless little girl! God shows me what I’m supposed to do, and you are not going to stop me from doing it. You can bluster and holler at me all day long till the sun goes down, but not you, not James, certainly not that old goat Cass and his cowardly little spy Chester, are going to keep me from helping Hannah!”

  Matthew’s expression went dark, and he took a step back. For a second, I thought he was mad at me about what I’d said. I was getting ready to take another verbal lashing, when I realized what I’d done.

  “What did you say?” We stared at each other, cause I couldn’t think of one thing to say. “What would Cass or Chester have to do with any of this? Are you saying that Cass sent Chester to attack you? Chester? Calhoun’s son?”

  He looked across the empty fields towards Calhoun’s place, and I could’ve sworn heat was coming right off his skin. My brain was racing through a jumble of ways to explain away what I’d just blurted out, but nothing came to me that made sense. Before I could put together a coherent thought, he started marching across the field right toward Calhoun’s house.

  “Wait! What are you going to do?” My feet sank into the muddy field as I tried to keep up with Matthew’s long strides.

  He didn’t say anything for a good while. Just kept stomping through the mud as it splattered all over us. I kept trying to get him to stop and talk to me, but it was like trying to stop a train. When we were about a hundred yards from crossing into Calhoun’s yard, he finally spoke to me.

  “I can’t believe you kept this a secret, Ruby! What were you thinking?”

  “I told you! I didn’t want to put Hannah in more danger!”

  “And you think she’s safer with this guy running around here like nothing happened? Do you think you’re safer?”

  I couldn’t answer. I knew he was right, but still, I hadn’t been able to work out a way to protect us both from the danger that was approaching.

  “Matthew, please don’t make this worse!”

  He stopped and looked down at me, still filled with anger that poured out of him with every word. “I intend to do what you should’ve done the very first chance you had. Tell the truth!” He started walking, but then he stopped and turned back to me. “And you’re gonna tell me exactly what part Brother Cass had in all this as soon as we get this settled.”

  “But what about Hannah and Samuel? I don’t even know if Calhoun knows they’re down there. What if he kicks them off his land?”

  “Even better!”

  “You can’t be serious! I will never forgive you if
they lose their home!”

  He went back to marching. We finally reached Calhoun’s yard, so I had to run to match his pace. I tried to get in front of him and stop him a couple of times, but he just stepped around me and kept on going. He rounded the side of the house, took the front stairs two at a time, and pounded on the door. I chased him up the steps, trying to catch my breath.

  “Please think this through for a minute,” I said. “If you tell Calhoun, what’s going to happen?”

  “He better get the sheriff out here to throw him in jail!”

  “For what?”

  He looked sideways at me like I was crazy. “What do you mean? For nearly beating you to death!”

  “It’s my word against his. There’s no proof! All you’re going to do is get Chester so mad that he goes down there and kills Hannah!”

  Calhoun opened the door, wiping his dinner from his beard. “Hi there, Ruby. Can I help you?” He took a suspicious glance at Matthew.

  “No sir,” I started. “We’re just—”

  “I need a word with you,” Matthew interrupted. “It’s very important.”

  I turned to Matthew and tried one last time to get control of the situation. “We don’t need to disrupt Mr. Calhoun’s Sunday afternoon. We can come back sometime when you’ve thought this through.”

  “No. I’m not waiting. Not when it’s your safety at stake.”

  That seemed to get Calhoun’s attention. “You’re Patrick Doyle’s boy, right?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mr. Calhoun turned back to me. “What’s this all about?”

  Matthew spoke before I could. “She finally told me who attacked her last fall. And it was your son.”

  “Chester?” Calhoun’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.

  “Yes, sir,” Matthew answered.

  “Ruby, is this true?” Calhoun asked.

  I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t lie, but I couldn’t say the truth out loud. All I could do was drop my head and nod. Calhoun stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind him. He looked between me and Matthew several times, like he wasn’t quite sure what was happening. Then he went over to a rocking chair and fell into it.

  “I just can’t believe…” He shook his head as his words trailed off.

  Matthew got more agitated. “Mr. Calhoun, we have to call the sheriff.”

  Calhoun looked over at Matthew like he wasn’t quite sure who he was. “The sheriff?”

  “He nearly killed Ruby!”

  Calhoun jerked his head up then. “Look here, boy. Don’t nobody tell me how to do things on my own property. Now I’m gonna get Chester out here to explain himself before I go off halfcocked calling the sheriff.”

  Then Calhoun stood and stomped back into his house. He didn’t close the door behind him, so Matthew followed him inside. “What are you going to do about this?” he called out.

  “I done told ya!” Calhoun went over to the phone on his wall. A female voice called out from another room, asking if everything was all right. He yelled back that everything was fine as he waited for an operator. “Mrs. Ethridge, could you put me through to Chester’s place in town?” He waited a moment while my heart raced. I didn’t like the direction this was going.

  After a moment, Calhoun spoke again. “Son, you better get over here quick as you can. Something’s come up.” Another pause. “Naw, it can’t wait. Come on out here now.”

  When Chester showed up, I thought my heart was going to beat clean out of my chest. I hadn’t seen him since that day down in the woods, and all it took was for his eyes to meet mine to send my legs to shaking. I stood behind Matthew on Calhoun’s front porch, watching Chester climb the stairs. He kept looking from me and Matthew on his left, to Calhoun sitting in the chair on his right. Calhoun stood as Chester reached the top of the stairs.

  “Come on and have a seat for a spell.”

  Chester stopped and stared real hard at Matthew and me. I hated the way my body shook, making me feel like a terrified child. But it was like having a real-life nightmare come out of my dream and just stand there in front of me. I wanted to shut my eyes and make him go away. But every time I blinked, he was still there.

  “What’s this all about?” he asked.

  Matthew’s whole body was so tight you could’ve snapped him like elastic. He clenched his fists, and I was afraid he was going to punch Chester before he could even say a word.

  “You know Miss Ruby,” Calhoun said.

  “Why, sure I do.”

  “This is Matthew. Patrick Doyle’s youngest boy.”

  Matthew crossed his arms over his chest, but Chester didn’t make a move to shake hands or anything.

  “Well,” Calhoun said. “It’s like this. These two here showed up on my porch this afternoon with an interesting tale. Now, Matthew says it was you that beat up on Ruby back a few months ago. And when I asked her, she agreed. So you’re gonna need to explain to me why these two younguns would be saying such things.”

  Chester’s dark eyes burned into me before Matthew shifted slightly, blocking my view of his face. “That’s quite a tall tale,” Chester said.

  Thunder rumbled across the sky, as if God was warning him not to lie. I thought about all my prayers for God to bring about justice for Hannah and me. But if this was the time, I wasn’t ready.

  Chester’s voice filled the air around the porch and bounced around inside my head. “Them two don’t know what they’s talking about. You can’t really believe that. Why, I’d never do such a thing.”

  Calhoun turned his gaze toward me. “Ruby, you got anything to say?”

  I swear it felt like my insides might just fall right out of me. Even with Matthew standing right there, even though I knew there was no way Chester could touch me in that moment, I could feel his boot in my side and hear his ragged breath over me. Lord, what do I do? Speak for me. Save Hannah.

  I took a deep breath. “It was Chester that attacked me.”

  Chester stepped sideways so he could see me again, pointing his finger at me. “That’s a dirty lie! I ain’t never laid a finger on you!”

  Matthew blocked him from seeing me again. “It’s you who’s doing the lying here! What kind of man beats up on a young girl?” He took a step closer. “Why don’t you try that on me next time? I’d love to teach you a lesson!”

  Calhoun stepped between them as a crash of thunder shook the house. It seemed like the weather was getting angry too. A blast of cool air swept through the porch, knocking over a jar that had been sitting off to one side. It rolled toward us.

  Suddenly my mind cleared, and I hardened my resolve. I stepped around Matthew and set my feet like I was bracing for battle. “Mr. Calhoun, I swear to you on my Daddy’s grave that it was Chester that came at me. He’s been going down there for months, beating up on a young colored woman living down by the creek. I’ve been taking her and her son food, and Chester thought he needed to teach me a lesson.”

  Calhoun turned sharply toward Chester. “You?”

  Chester faced his dad with cold, hard eyes. “What? That Negro woman’s good enough for you, but not me?”

  Calhoun’s mouth dropped open, and so did mine. I waited for him to respond, but Chester kept on going.

  “You think you can go around behind my back with some Negro, making little Negro babies with her, and there wouldn’t be no consequences?”

  “You…you…” Calhoun couldn’t even speak.

  “Truth is,” Chester said. “I didn’t see what all the fuss was about. It was only fun when she was putting up a fight.”

  Lightning and thunder crashed at the same time as hail began pelting the roof. The sound nearly drowned out Calhoun as he shouted.

  “You get off my property before I get the sheriff! You are not my son!”

  Chester stared him down for a long moment. “I guess you gonna get that Negro child of yours to run things around here? That little thief? Don’t matter none. You quit being my father the day you p
ut yourself between that Negro’s legs!”

  Then he turned and pointed a finger at me. “I done warned you once little girl! You’re gonna regret the day you crossed me!”

  And before I could even react, Matthew threw a punch that sent Chester flying into the railing. He staggered up, rubbed his jaw, and then charged at Matthew. He hit him full on in the chest, like a football tackle, and the two of them went flying against the front door. Calhoun hollered for them to stop. I barely got out of the way before they tumbled past me. It seemed to happen so fast, I wasn’t sure what to do. Before I knew it, they’d rolled down the stairs and stumbled into Calhoun’s yard, still grabbing at each other and throwing punches.

  I ran down the stairs, wondering what in the world I could do to stop them. That was when I first caught a glimpse of the blackening sky. Hail hit me in the head, and I saw stars for a second.

  “Matthew! Stop! The storm!”

  The two men finally broke apart, both of them panting and ducking the hail. Chester pointed at Matthew, yelling over the howling wind. “I don’t care who your daddy is, boy! You’re gonna pay for that!”

  Then Chester stumbled to his car as he tried to shield his head from the hail. He slammed the door and tore out along the dirt road toward town. Matthew grabbed my arm and pulled me back onto the porch. I tried to look him over to see if he was hurt, but he ran to the end of the porch to get a better look at the sky.

  “This is bad.” He turned to Calhoun, who’d joined him. “You got shelter?”

  “Out back.” Calhoun still looked stunned. He didn’t even move.

  “Get everybody in there now.” Matthew turned back to me, and I could see where the side of his eye was beginning to swell. “Ruby, you get in Calhoun’s shelter here.”

  “What about you?” I said. “And Mother and James? We don’t have a storm cellar yet!”

  “Emma Rae’s down there,” Calhoun said. He brushed past me, hollering at his wife and other daughter to get out to the storm cellar. Matthew started toward the stairs.