Sweet Potato Jones

by Jen Lowry

  I snuggled in beside Maize, resting my head on his shoulder, as Ray squatted cross-legged against the bunk and leaned back. Daddy looked over at us, making sure we were proper, and I mouthed to him, “Thanks.”

  He tried to give me the evil eye and whispered, “First and last time, young lady.”

  I saluted him and turned my attention to Bean. The flashlight beamed right off his big eyes and bright, white teeth. “Knock, knock.”

  I whispered to Ray, “Here it comes. Get ready to laugh.”

  We all said in unison, “Who’s there?”

  He flexed his muscles and spun in a fast circle. “Broccoli.”

  We all used that same voice. “Broccoli who?”

  “Count Broccula, baby, and I vant to suck your blood.”

  We giggled as he came at us with arms raised, trying his best to look wild-eyed, which didn’t take much effort. The mystery of it all was that we could continue to laugh—the genuine kind. It was the love of a family that could withstand all storms.

  A tear escaped the corner of my eye after Ray had long gone and the room had gone off to sleep. That was what Mrs. Sunshine had seen in my eyes. I didn’t know what she meant until this very night. Now, in the quiet of the night, I knew. Jesus was always calming my storms. Jesus was always my boat, my sea, my in-between. My faith, and Bell’s prayers brought us to this place. I had faith in what could be, and the word “future” didn’t scare me anymore. Even if I didn’t have it all figured out, I knew I wasn’t navigating this life alone. I could cast the burdens to Jesus, and we could build ourselves a life that mattered. What I always knew deep down could be for us. Faith materialized it into very existence, and we could claim the sky.

  The next morning, when I stared at myself in the mirror, I could see a new light there in those pupils. It was the recognizing of a faith that could move mountains, no matter the circumstance. I smiled all the way to school, knowing my secret about myself was all good. And now that Momma’s secret had been revealed to me, I would carry it for the world to see. It was about time I let some love in and out.

  And it was comforting to know that there could be a tomorrow, and a next day, and a next day after that in a place called Newport News, Virginia.

  Mrs. Sunshine surprised me at the restaurant door on Thursday, after school. She was dangling her gold keyring in her hand. “It’s up to me and you today, child.”

  I frowned. “What? We are running the place by ourselves?”

  She laughed, squeezing my shoulder. “Honey child, no. We are leaving that to the menfolk. We are running to that mall right by ourselves. Let’s go. Hang back up that apron.”

  Ray came up, waving my waitress pad. “Looks like I’ve got mighty pretty shoes to fill. Hey, Sweet Potato.”

  “Hey, Ray.” Hey, love of my life. Hey, you handsome somebody.

  Mr. Joe called out, “You better not spend all my money, woman. I’m wanting that Bahamian cruise, I tell you.”

  Mrs. Sunshine rolled her eyes. “I’ve been the one wanting that cruise. You are a lying Jack Rabbit. And one day I’m gonna leave you here stirring up them collard greens by your lonesome and soaking me in that Caribbean sunshine all by my grown-up self.”

  He stuck his head through the diamond shaped-cut-out. “I soak in your sunshine all day long, baby. No need to have some sunburn out across that Atlantic. You got me all fired up just thinking about you in one of them ’kinis.”

  Mrs. Sunshine grabbed my arm and pulled me away from staring at Ray, who had apparently forgotten all about how to take an order when I smiled at him. “Tell your Ray bye, now. You’ll see him in a little while.”

  “But I just got here.”

  My time with Ray was very precious, and I didn’t want to waste a single day. Seeing him in the afternoons made my life worthwhile.

  Mrs. Sunshine led me out through the kitchen before I could even tell Ray bye. We went through her pretty, little attached house and out to the car. “You ever been on a date before?”

  Before I could even answer, she did it for me. “No, of course you haven’t. So, that’s the purpose of this outing. Go with the flow, Sweet Potato.”

  “You’re taking me out on a date?” I was so lost with this woman sometimes!

  “I guess you could say that. I’m taking you on a date before the date. Let’s call it the pre-date.”

  She backed the car out, turned a few corners, and hopped back on that scary freeway as I held on to the little door handle for dear life.

  “Dear Jesus,” I whispered as she swerved onto an on-ramp.

  “Jesus is, child. Dear He is.”

  But I was more about asking dear Jesus to get me safe and sound through the pre-date so I could make it to the date date.

  She pulled up to the Macy’s parking lot. I’d never once been in a mall. We had ventured to the Wal-Mart on very rare, special occasions. Been to a few thrifts when we’d outgrown our hand-me-downs. We did the Saturday-yard-sale-shopping like champs, and if anyone ever asked us where we got our outfits, we said “The YS,” like it was the name of an actual store. Who knew? With all the online shopping today, we could get away with it. The bottom line was that we were clothed. We were the walking testament of not holding on to worldly possessions or taking stock in treasures of this Earth. That’s how I’d explained it all to Bell, to make her believe that what we lived was for a purpose. Honestly, I believed that down to my core.

  I tried to hold in my twinge of pleasure as I looked at all the mannequins dressed up in fancy, frilly shirts and matching six-inch heels. I shifted my feet beside Mrs. Sunshine as she pulled hangers across silver, spinning racks. The scraping noises sounded like a cash register already ringing. She wasn’t even looking at the tags hanging off the clothes, holding up one shirt after the next, swishing them to and fro in front of me, hanging them back up again.

  She turned to me, putting her hand on her hip. “Don’t act like you ain’t never went to no mall clothes shopping. Let’s look, now.”

  I stood there, watching her slinging clothes around. Her hand was still on my hip. “No, ma’am.”

  “No, ma’am, what? You ain’t never been to no mall?”

  She answered her own question again. “No. I guess you haven’t. Okay, let’s go. We going to go walking for a little bit.”

  She took me by the smell-good counters, and I got sprayed without even being asked if I wanted to. I felt like I was in some automated carwash. When we stepped out into the massive, windowed world of pristine tile and columns, I wondered how many trees had to be cut down to make this happen.

  Echoes bounced off the walls, rising above the escalators: children’s voices, baby buggies with squealing tires. Teenagers walked past in groups. They didn’t look like Dream kids; they looked like they went to preppy, private schools.

  The fountain in the middle of the atrium seemed like a safe haven. I needed a rest from all this excitement. It wasn’t that I was out of shape—heavens, no. It might take me a minute to get it all together. I sure knew Bell would adore this place. I hoped one day she’d have a chance to experience it.

  “I thought it might be nice to take you shopping to get you an outfit to wear out on your date with Ray. Would you like that?”

  Mrs. Sunshine was rocking back and forth on the concrete fountain edge, and by her body language, I could tell this meant something to her.

  “You’ve already done so much for me. Can’t you see that?”

  Her arm came around me again. I loved how she wasn’t ashamed to reach out for me, and she always seemed to do it right when I needed it. A hug from her was something special, and each time it made my heart seem to grow a little more. But that beating heart also reminded me it could break, and it could hurt mighty hard. Please, God, let this all be real.

  “I ain’t done nothing for you, not yet. You’ve got your whole life to be with me, child. So, get used to me and my ways. I wanted this. Thought about it since the minut
e Ray told me about the date plans. I want this to be memorable for you. You don’t ever get another first date.” She winked at me and nudged my arm.

  “So, you remember your first date? Was it with Mr. Joe?”

  By the look on her face, I thought she’d fall over into that fountain and make a splash.

  “Honey, no! Let’s not go that far back in time. But do I remember my first date with Joseph Patterson? Sure do. He took me to the movies and held my hand the whole time. When we were driving back home, he told me he was never getting serious with no woman, and I needed to know that about him right away. You see where that got him, don’t you?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh, imagining Mr. Joe trying to act tough around Mrs. Sunshine. She always seemed to put him right back into his place. I loved that.

  “Sure do. Can I ask you one thing?”

  “Yes, child. Just don’t ask me to start naming out all them boys and dates and stuff from the past. The past is in the—”

  I cut her off, not really wanting to go there at all.

  “No, ma’am. I want to ask you one thing about today, please. If it’s not too much to ask.” I bit my lip. I hated to be so greedy.

  “What is it? Anything, Sweet Potato. Ask away.” She seemed all ears, probably expecting I needed advice or some such.

  That wasn’t it at all. I didn’t need no advice about my Ray. Me and him seemed to be fitting together all right. “Instead of trying to dress me up, can we get something pretty for Bell, like a simple, pink dress? And maybe new shirts for Bean and Maize. I don’t need anything, I promise. I think Ray loves me all the same, without me getting anything pretty. Those kids deserve it more than me, and it’s gonna be their first date, too.”

  For some reason, that made Mrs. Sunshine cry. Right there in the mall, right at the fountain, in front of onlookers and passers-by who gave her second and third glances. I felt a rush of regret, but I couldn’t take it back. It was already out there, echoing all around.

  Mrs. Sunshine reached for a tiny Kleenex pack out of her pocketbook, tore out half the pack trying to get at one, and waved the wad across her eyes.

  She apologized through her tears. “Oh, me! I’m so sorry. Sweet Potato, you don’t know how big your heart is, even. But you don’t know how big my pocketbook is, either. So, I say let’s get that pink dress, them shirts, and one outfit for you, too.”

  I insisted. “No pink dress for me, please. That won’t do.”

  She sighed through sniffles. “You don’t like dresses?”

  I hadn’t ever seen Mrs. Sunshine in a dress, either. She always wore her jeans like me, every single day. Except for Sunday, that is. That was black choir-pants day.

  “I really don’t need a new pair of jeans. These are just fine. See.” I stood up and twisted around.

  “Okay. Here.” She pulled out a penny. “Throw it in that fountain, and let’s go on.”

  I wouldn’t dare. “Why would I go and do that?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t really know. Everybody does it, I guess. You make a wish, and you throw it in.” She pointed to the bottom of the fountain, and I tried to guesstimate how much change was scattered about on the black-and-white patterned tiles of the bottom of the fountain.

  I stuck the penny in my pocket. “I don’t think I’m everybody, Mrs. Sunshine. Think of all those people that threw in that money. If they would have thrown it in a church plate, they might have helped somebody in need, you know that? We don’t need wishes, only prayers. I’m resigned not to be a wisher woman.” I tried to shake off the thoughts of Momma that were trying to creep into my perfect day.

  She put her arm around me again as we walked into the Belk’s department store. We went right to the little girl’s department. There on a dress rack hung a precious, straight, pink dress with a matching gingham coat.

  “You know what, Sweet Potato? When God answers prayers, He sure does it with style.”

  “What? You are giving God credit for making this dress, too?” I held it up, trying to measure it to see if it would be a perfect fit for Bell, and I was sure that it would be.

  “Yes, honey, and something more. I’m giving Him credit for making you. I’d always prayed for a godly woman for my son to love. Loving a preacher man ain’t going to be the easiest to do, or so I’ve heard. It takes a whole lot of woman and prayer to help lead a congregation. But right when I saw them eyes …”

  I smiled at her. “I see it now, too, Mrs. Sunshine. And there is one thing I can tell you. It is mighty easy to love a preacher man when it’s going to be Ray Patterson. After all, it won’t be me helping to lead a congregation. It will be the Lord moving through me. So, it’ll be all right.”

  She clapped, never minding the other shoppers and found her way to the boy’s department, straight to the fancy polo shirt side. She held up a teal-striped shirt that would look mighty fine on Maize and a darker blue matching one for Bean.

  “Well said, Sweet Potato. Now, let’s go get what you want for your date.”

  I stopped her. “Where are we off to tomorrow night?”

  Ray hadn’t spoken about it since. Every second that I was with him, I was happy to be with him in the moment, and I forgot all about our Friday night Jones Family First Date. But every second of my day without him, I had daydreamed of it, wondered about it.

  “You’ll find out soon enough. Let’s see what would look nice.”

  She held up a shirt with silver buttons on the cuffs. Way too dressy. One shirt after another—I didn’t even have to tell her. She’d snatch it and put it right back up.

  “Okay. This is getting us nowhere. You only wear t-shirts, I know that. Don’t you want something silky?”

  We went from polka-dotted, pleated stuff all the way to tie-dye, and she was laughing through her pain at not being able to match me up with an outfit.

  She paid for the kids’ stuff and took me out of the fancy store. She led me down to a record store that had all kinds of music shirts and shirts with silly prints on them.

  “Oh, look!” I squealed, covering my mouth.

  It was perfect. Lordy!

  I held up the t-shirt, and she gave me a look. “You want a t-shirt over a blouse?”

  I smiled wide, nodding. “Every day of the week.”

  It was a pale-yellow shirt with a Care Bear on the front—Hopeful Heart Bear. Six colors of rainbow light shone from the heart on her chest. It seemed like my heart was bursting with so much love for my God and my world. The words underneath spelled out Hope Springs Eternal in purple, bubble letters. A butterfly swirled among the letters.

  Mrs. Sunshine shrugged. “I was thinking more along the lines of a dressy-up blouse for a first date. Something to make you feel special.”

  I said, “Don’t you get it? This is what is special. Look at those colors bursting out of her heart. That first blue—this one right here. This is where I feel most special. That is the water, the living water of the Spirit covering over my soul. Bright yellow is the ray of light from Ray, shining in my heart. The orange beside him, it’s you—the orange sun warming me with acceptance. The red is for the color of the Assembly Revival pew, and I know that it will be a shelter for me to worship for many years to come. That violet, well, that’s Soul Food. And don’t get me started on what you and that place did for my family. And that last blue is for my family. Blue sky claiming for us from here on out. So, that is my date shirt, if it’s okay with you.”

  Mrs. Sunshine didn’t say anything, just took the hanger from me and paid the nice cashier. We headed on back to the car. She didn’t speak on the short ride home neither, turned up the radio and went off into her own little world.

  When we made it back to the house, she grabbed the bags and went straight on into the restaurant. I followed, scared I’d made some mistake. Did I hurt her feelings? Should I have let her buy me that black-and-pink polka-dotted shirt? I would have worn it if it would have made her happy. Had I oversteppe
d myself by asking for the kids? What had I done wrong? I knew I would mess this all up.

  She went right up to Ray, who was talking to a young customer. Before he could finish his sentence, Mrs. Sunshine grabbed Ray and gave him this big, old hug, lifting him right off the ground, shocking me and him in the process.

  He laughed, shaking his head. “Momma, are you all right?”

  “Praise Jesus, boy. You hear me, now? You praise Jesus, and you thank the good Lord with every single breath you got for bringing that girl into your life. You hear me?”

  I was frozen solid by the counter. Did that mean I didn’t do anything wrong?

  “I know that, Momma. I do every day. Trust me.”

  She patted him on the head as she sat him down. “You better, or you’ll be answering to me. Not just her daddy, but me first. You got that? Don’t you forget it.”

  Ray’s laughter was one of the best sounds I knew, next to Bell’s singing, and I smiled at him, reckoning that I was okay.

  “What did you say to Momma, Sweet Potato?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. She bought me a t-shirt to wear to our date tomorrow night.”

  Mrs. Sunshine said, “Just a t-shirt! Just a t-shirt. Don’t get me started, because I’m going to be testifying right up in this place.” She waved her hands. “Let me go see Joe. Go on and get to work.”

  I took the pad from Ray, and he leaned over and kissed me quickly on the cheek. “Whatever it was that you said to Momma got her spirit all moved and working. That’s a good thing, Sweet Potato. Why do you look like you got in trouble with the principal?”

  “Just figured I probably did, that’s all. Glad to know that I’m off the hook.” I checked the pad and wondered how in the world Mr. Joe could follow Ray’s order-taking. I was glad that I was back. Not to help the whole place run more smoothly, but to get that kiss on the cheek. To get that smile.

  I whispered, “I love you, Ray.”

  He whispered back, his voice thick with emotion, “I love you, too.”

  I wanted to fall into his arms right there, to let him hold me. I was so filled up with love for that man, but it wasn’t the proper time. I smiled at him and watched as he went on back to his duties in the kitchen. Mrs. Sunshine would come out to greet customers and cash them out, giving me this look the whole night through. It wasn’t a you’re-in-trouble kinda look, but a warm toaster-oven kinda look that told me for some strange reason she approved of me for Ray. And for the life of me, I still didn’t know why.