Gospel According to Prissy

by Barbara Casey

  Lara hadn’t mentioned to the others her conversation with Miriam and the new work project she was trying to put in place at Braden. Ironically, the same day she met Miriam for lunch, Randall had made it a point to tell Lara that if she found something more challenging to do with her time, she must not feel obligated in any way to the Maids. They would make it fine regardless.

  June would soon be behind them, and with July would come the final State budget approvals. Miriam had called Lara on several occasions just to chat, but she didn’t mention the new project. She seemed to know that Lara wouldn’t be able to tell her anything yet anyway. Miriam would give her the time she needed knowing she would make a decision when she was ready.

  Meanwhile, Lara learned as she was leaving the detention center that Darnell’s trial date was still hanging in the balance; it had been delayed for at least another week. It was upsetting news, especially to Mrs. Tilden who wanted everything to get settled as soon as possible, but there was nothing they could do.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THIS WAS THE third day Jake had spent in jail. Neither the company lawyer nor the Caldwells’ family lawyer had returned any of his calls. Not only that, apparently Leona had gotten the bank to close the checking account that was in his name. With no visible source of income available, the court had given him a State-appointed lawyer. Jake as yet had not seen him, and he couldn’t get anyone to tell him when the guy was going to show up. “Maybe he just doesn’t like you,” one of the guards had mouthed off when Jake asked for the umpteenth time. Without the lawyer, he couldn’t even get the bond set for bail.

  He had tried calling everyone he knew as well as every jail bondsman within both Edgecombe and Nash Counties for when his lawyer did show up. His own parents had turned him down, claiming they didn’t have the money. They probably didn’t. Out of desperation, he had finally called Mark the day before and given him an abbreviated half-truth version of what was happening. Then he asked Mark to loan him the bail money. Not only had Mark refused, he told him his services were no longer needed at Caldwell AgriServices. Any personal things he had in his office were now in a box in a closet in the secretary’s office for if or when he could pick them up. With no lawyer, no access to cash, and no one willing to give him bail money, he had no other choice but to sit and wait. “Looks like nobody likes you,” that same guard told Jake after his phone call to Mark.

  “How would you know!” Jake was furious and would have given anything to be able to punch that guy out. Not only were the Caldwells treating him like dirt, Mark hadn’t even bothered to ask his side of it. Apparently, Leona had gotten to him and everyone else. Well, eventually he would get out, if that stupid State-appointed lawyer ever showed up, and when he did someone would pay.

  * * *

  “Is this Lara Kruger?” The woman talking on the phone sounded tentative.

  Lara had run back into the house to answer the phone. Since they didn’t have any jobs scheduled until that afternoon, she had planned to go to the grocery store and take care of some other personal errands.

  “My name is Martha Lovejoy. I’m with the Department of Social Services.” The voice paused briefly before continuing. “Do you have a moment?”

  Lara immediately thought about Bulah Tilden and Prissy. “Is Mrs. Tilden all right?” Lara asked.

  “Yes, she’s fine, considering she is seventy-nine years old.”

  “And Prissy?” asked Lara, worried that something had happened to her.

  “Yes, she is fine, too.” Again there was a pause. “Could you possibly come to my office. I’d like to talk to you.”

  “I’ll leave right now.”

  After Lara hung up the phone she called Tyree and told him that if she was delayed for any reason, they were to go on to their scheduled appointments and then all meet back at Lara’s house later.

  Lara easily located the large, rather old, red brick government building facing the south side of Second Street and parked in front.

  “My name is Lara Kruger. I’m looking for Martha Lovejoy. She’s expecting me,” she said to the receptionist. Lara was directed to Room 317 on the third floor.

  The office was one large refuse container. Loose papers and file folders were piled everywhere. Behind one particularly tall stack of papers Lara found an older woman with short white hair, her brown eyes framed with black-rimmed glasses. It was Martha Lovejoy.

  “We feel that it would be in the best interest of the child if someone younger took care of her until the situation with Darnell is settled.” Martha had cleared off a section of a bench where Lara could sit. “You know about the trial being delayed, of course?”

  “Yes. But I understood it would only be delayed a week.”

  “We can’t really count on that, and as much as I admire Mrs. Tilden for being willing, she simply isn’t physically able to care for a five year old. Therefore, we need to make other arrangements for the child. The problem, of course, is that there is no family other than Darnell and the grandmother. And, of course, since the child’s father was never identified on the birth certificate – well, you see our dilemma.”

  Mrs. Lovejoy looked closely at Lara after readjusting her glasses that covered a large portion of her face. “It was Darnell who told us about you. She feels you could look after Prissy.”

  “Of course. I’ll take her home with me,” said Lara. “I’ll take care of Prissy.”

  Mrs. Lovejoy’s eyes strayed to Lara’s tee-shirt. For an instant Lara was afraid Mrs. Lovejoy was going to refuse.

  “I hope you don’t mind. When Darnell told us about you, I did a brief check on your background. I’m sure you understand. It’s standard procedure. I believe you are recently divorced, and the child’s aunt is a friend? You have no children of your own? Darnell tells me you have your own cleaning business.”

  “Yes,” answered Lara. “Of course I want to help Darnell if I can.” Then Lara told her about the events that had led to her meeting Darnell.

  Mrs. Lovejoy continued to stare at Lara and then finally smiled and nodded. She had reached her decision.

  Lara drove back to her house. Mrs. Lovejoy had asked Lara to come back later that afternoon. She would have the necessary paperwork ready for her to sign and she could collect Prissy then as well. When she got there, everyone was already in the van ready to go to work across town – two large houses, one with a guest house on the premises that the owner wanted cleaned as well for some visitors expected for the weekend. She parked her car and climbed into the van with the others.

  “What’s up?” Randall was the first to notice something different about Lara.

  Lara explained to the others what had taken place, not knowing how they would react. Here they were just getting a business off the ground, and now there would be a small child thrown into the mix. She hoped they would understand. She didn’t have any choice. Not only that, she wanted to do it. “With the trial date being so uncertain, I think Social Services feels it is too much of a burden for Mrs. Tilden. They want to work out another solution, and it looks like I am the only one who can take care of Prissy.”

  “What happens if it isn’t temporary? I mean what if Darnell has to go to prison? What happens to Prissy then?” asked Tyree.

  “I don’t know,” answered Lara. “I don’t think anyone has thought that far in advance. We’re just taking it a day at a time.”

  “This shouldn’t be a problem,” Randall said after a while. “There is no reason why she can’t come with us on our jobs. There are enough of us to look after her. And if for any reason that doesn’t work out, then we can take turns looking after her here.”

  Lara looked at him appreciatively. The last thing she would have wanted was to upset what they had already started to build. But she had made a promise to Darnell. And, there was something else. Even though she would never try to explain it to the others, Prissy had given something back to Lara. Prissy couldn’t replace the baby Lara had lost, but she soothed the pain of that loss so
that now it could at least be endured.

  * * *

  When the Maids finished their last job, Lara left the others behind and drove back to see Martha Lovejoy. Remarkably, she had everything ready for Lara, but even so, by the time Martha had gone over everything with Lara, it was almost six o’clock. Martha led Lara to a large playroom where Prissy had assembled what appeared to be a giant church out of blocks and was now filling it with a variety of stuffed animals. She sat in the midst of toy bears, dogs, cats, and, what looked like, a monkey with no tail. Lara hesitated for a moment watching Prissy.

  “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which Santa Claus has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of Santa, which he bought with his own blood,” she heard Prissy say.

  “The child has been preaching the gospel to those stuffed animals all afternoon,” said Mrs. Lovejoy. “She’s such a bright little girl. With the right environment and a little encouragement, who knows.”

  Prissy looked up from her circle of play friends and saw Lara.

  “LaLa,” she squealed, and she stumbled through the menagerie to embrace Lara’s legs. Lara touched the little girl’s soft curly hair and picked her up into her arms.

  “You want to go home with LaLa?” she asked.

  “I want to go to LaLa’s house,” she said grinning impishly.

  * * *

  The van was parked in the driveway when Lara got home. She led Prissy by her hand into the house. Doc, Jimmy, and Tyree had one of the vacuum cleaners disassembled and spread out on some newspaper in the middle of Lara’s living room floor. Beth was in the utility room washing a load of towels and tee-shirts. Lara’s house had quite naturally become the gathering place for all of them, even on the days when they didn’t have a cleaning job to do.

  “Well, hello. So this is Prissy?” Beth closed the door to the utility room and went over to give Prissy a hug. Randall wandered into the living room from the kitchen where he was cooking something that smelled like beef stew. He, along with Doc, Jimmy, and Tyree stared at the miniature person not knowing exactly what to say or do. They had all heard Lara talk about Prissy, but this was the first time they had actually seen her. Big eyed, Prissy looked at each of them, one by one, seeing Doc last.

  Lara was afraid the paint on Doc’s face might frighten her. It didn’t. Instead she pointed to his wheelchair. “And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed.”

  “She thinks it’s a chariot,” explained Lara. Everyone laughed.

  Later, as they all sat around the kitchen table eating Randall’s stew, Lara tried to explain the situation. Tyree had rigged up a chair for Prissy tall enough for her to reach the table by strapping her on top of several stacked books. The whole contraption, complete with Prissy, was sitting inside a cardboard box so that all of the food she dropped would fall into the box. He had never been around kids this young before, but he had heard they make a mess and he didn’t want to take any chances.

  Jimmy discovered that Prissy liked crackers and was sharing his with her. Doc kept doing maneuvers with his “chariot,” inching it close to Prissy’s chair, and then quickly back again, causing uproarious laughter from the little girl and Beth. Even Randall, normally so serious, seemed amused by Prissy and the reaction of the others to her.

  “Naturally I said I would take care of her,” said Lara as she once again explained the circumstances leading to Prissy’s arrival. “Otherwise she would be made a ward of the State.”

  “And we wouldn’t want that, would we?” said Beth to Prissy shaking her head. Prissy shook her head back causing instant laughter among the men.

  * * *

  Miriam hadn’t been faced with this many problems since the early days at The Rock in Raleigh. Inmates who had never been any trouble were now acting out their frustrations on everything and everyone. Fights were happening too frequently; property was getting damaged beyond repair. It was after a particularly trying day that she received a phone call at home from Lara.

  “Am I keeping you from anything?” Lara thought Miriam sounded tired when she answered the phone. Miriam gave her a quick rundown on what had been taking place at Braden since Prissy’s departure.

  “I am sure we’ll get through it, but it isn’t going to be easy. How have you been?” she asked changing the subject.

  Lara told her about the Maids and how they were getting more business than they could handle. Then she told her about Darnell and her own involvement with the Social Services that day. “So it looks as though I will be taking care of Prissy unless something happens to change it.

  “Frankly, I’m relieved,” said Miriam. “I never felt comfortable with the idea of Mrs. Tilden taking care of Prissy. If anything, the old woman needs someone to help look after her. Do you think she will be all right living by herself?”

  “There doesn’t seem to be any other family except for Darnell, and Darnell has only been living with her grandmother a short time since returning from Atlanta. Mrs. Tilden is used to living alone, but Social Services will be helping out there as well. She doesn’t have much income. And, of course, I’ll take Prissy to see her and try to help out a little.”

  “Lara, I’d like to help, too, if you don’t mind – with Prissy and Mrs. Tilden.”

  “I don’t mind at all. In fact, I was hoping you would feel that way.” Lara was more than a little anxious about taking care of Prissy. Miriam already knew Prissy, probably better than anyone, and besides that, she was a psychologist. She would make a valuable contribution toward Prissy’s development. “We can decide together what needs to be done,” she suggested. “Also, I was wondering, would you like to go with me tomorrow to get Prissy’s things out of Mrs. Tilden’s house? I have absolutely nothing here at home for a five-year-old, and I think it would be nice if she had some of her own things.” Then she added, “I thought I’d bring Prissy along, too, and she could visit with the inmates for a little while when I come pick you up.”

  “Lara, nothing would please me more. What time?”

  The two women set it up that Lara would bring Prissy by the prison about mid-morning so she could visit with her friends there. Then Miriam would go with them to the grandmother’s home.

  After Miriam hung up the phone, she went outside and cut several of the heavily-scented light pink roses growing on the wooden trellis that covered the gazebo. The same roses had grown in her grandmother’s yard, and probably her great grandmother’s yard. Back inside, she arranged them in a crystal bowl. She would take some to Mrs. Tilden. She would also make a point to stop by the store and pick up a tin of Cophenhagen. She was sure the old woman probably dipped snuff and would appreciate that even more than the flowers.

  Things always had a way of working out. She didn’t know how yet, but she had a strong feeling that whatever happened, she and her girls and Lara and Prissy were all part of some universal, cosmic plan – something beyond her control.

  * * *

  After five days of recuperating from Jake’s brutal attack, Leona felt like she was ready to face the world again, and the first thing she wanted to do was find a place to live. Jeanie and Ralph had been more than kind to put up with her as long as they had, but there was an old Southern expression about guests who overstayed their welcome and three-day-old fish. She didn’t want to be either.

  She had contacted a nice realtor she knew, Carole Parker, a couple of days earlier and told her basically what she was looking for: something in the older section of town that had been taken care of and wouldn’t require any immediate major repairs. The price of the house didn’t matter so much as the character and charm of the house and its location. When Carole called Leona to tell her she had some homes she would like to show her, Leona was ready. She had been in hiding too long. Jake was in jail and as far as she knew he wouldn’t be getting out any time soon. She needed to start taking steps to get on with her life.

  Carole picked
Leona up where she was staying at Jeanie and Ralph Langdon’s. “The type of home you are looking for doesn’t go on the market that often,” explained Carole. “Normally, it just stays in the family. I do have a few to show you, though, that you might like.”

  Carole first drove her out to the country club area with its stately homes, large, heavily-wooded lots, and an ambience that only comes from having wealth. It was a beautiful area, and one which Leona was especially fond of. There were two homes available for immediate occupancy. Leona looked at both of them. Then Carole drove her to a different area which also had big beautiful homes, but the neighborhood was newer and the architecture overall was more modern. Leona looked at the three homes Carole had picked out. Finally, there was one home at the other side of town, again in an older development, but the development itself was being encroached on somewhat by lands recently zoned commercial. Leona didn’t bother to look at this one. She wanted a home that she would spend the rest of her life in, and having some sort of strip mall or car wash next door just didn’t sound appealing. She had already decided on the house she wanted anyway. She wanted Jake Kruger’s house. After all, she had paid off the mortgage on it, and at that time her name was added to the deed. It should be hers. After looking at what was available on the real estate market, it was the best home around. Besides, all of her things were already there. She wouldn’t have to move again.