Miss Janie’s Girls

by Brown, Carolyn

  “That’s exactly what I made this morning,” Kayla said. “And Teresa is making beans and ham and fried potatoes for dinner. She’s going to fry up some okra, slice some tomatoes, and make some corn bread, too. I remember that’s one of your favorite meals.”

  “I had a horrible time getting you to eat when you came to live with me. You wouldn’t try anything new, and you hated it when it was Teresa’s turn to choose what we had for supper.”

  “I hadn’t had much variety until I came here,” Kayla said, “but I’ve learned to eat more in these past years. How about a cup of coffee while I make your waffles?”

  “Great.” Miss Janie smiled again, lighting up her eyes. “Well, good mornin’, Noah,” she said when she saw him sitting at the table. “Were you glad to see the girls come home?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Pure shock registered in his expression. “Did you get a good night’s sleep?”

  “Yes, I did. I guess the cancer is keeping me from walking, right?” she asked.

  Teresa pushed her up to the table and sat down to her left. “That’s what the doctor says.”

  “At least I didn’t drink myself to death like Luther did. Do any of y’all say grace?” she asked.

  “We did when we lived with you.” Kayla was still amazed that Miss Janie was in her right mind.

  “That’s right.” Miss Janie nodded. “I thought it would be good training for you. Noah, you can say it this morning.”

  They all bowed their heads and Noah said a simple prayer. Kayla was afraid that in that length of time, Miss Janie’s mind would slip back to another time in her life. When he said, “Amen,” she looked across the table to see that Miss Janie had snatched a piece of sausage from the platter and was biting into it.

  “Mama would have slapped me for this, but I’m dying, so I can do what I want,” she told them. “A good daughter never ate with her fingers, and they did not sneak anything until the husband was served. I’m so glad I never got me one of those husband critters. No offense, Noah.”

  “None taken,” he said. “Did you and Luther get along?”

  “I idolized him,” she answered as she poured syrup on her waffles. “I didn’t even fault him too much for having a drink or two. Daddy was so against drinking, but then he was the head of the almighty household. That’s kind of funny, really. He put out that myth with his long Sunday-morning sermons, but it was Mama who really ran things. She’s the one that made the decision to send me away and who wouldn’t even let me come back home. Aunt Ruthie told me that Daddy wanted to send me right here to Birthright to stay with her and let me make up my own mind about the babies. But Mama said no, and that was that.”

  Everyone at the table waited for her to go on. No way would any of the three of them break this magic moment. “She hated Aunt Ruthie, so she thought it would punish me for my great sin to send me to live with her. When I was a little girl, Aunt Ruthie kind of scared me. She looked like one of those spider monkeys from the zoo—a skinny woman with a thin face and beady little eyes that could look right into a person’s soul and read their thoughts. She came and got me at the home for unwed mothers. She talked to me all the way back, and by the time we got here, I found out I’d misjudged Aunt Ruthie. She was old, maybe fifty.” She laughed out loud. “That’s old to a sixteen-year-old girl who’s scared out of her wits. Aunt Ruthie was Daddy’s aunt, but she was the oldest and Daddy was the youngest of ten kids.”

  She stopped long enough to eat a few bites, and Kayla thought that any moment now, they’d lose her, but then she went on. “Aunt Ruthie was one of those free-thinking women. She inherited this place from her mama when she died, because she’d stayed around and taken care of her. My mother wanted this place sold and divided among all the children instead of Aunt Ruthie inheriting everything, but she had taken care of her mama, so, in my opinion, it should’ve been hers. I guess they’ll all work that out in heaven—if they get there.” She giggled.

  “What’s so funny?” Kayla asked.

  “I’m not so sure about Aunt Ruthie getting to heaven. She told me some stories on her deathbed that made even me blush, and I thought I was pretty worldly by then,” Miss Janie said.

  “Were you mad at Luther when he drank himself to death?” Noah asked.

  “Yes, I was,” she said.

  Kayla noticed that the light was leaving her eyes, so she hurriedly asked, “Why did you decide to be a foster mother to me and Teresa?”

  “You needed a home. I had a big house. I was lonely”—she hesitated—“and you both had brown skin like the babies I gave away. I was looking for redemption.”

  “Did you find it?” Kayla asked.

  “Yes, darlin’, I did. I love you both, and I think I found a measure of peace in getting to raise y’all for a few years.” Miss Janie smiled.

  “Did you never fall in love?” Teresa asked.

  Miss Janie shook her head slowly. “There was a teacher”—she paused—“and we . . .” The light was fading fast. “I’d like some cookies and milk now.”

  Kayla wanted to know more about the teacher. Had they had a relationship? Was he her age? Why didn’t they commit to each other?

  “How old are you?” Teresa asked.

  “I’m seventeen, and I’ll be a senior next year at the Sulphur Springs High School. Are you friends of Aunt Ruthie’s?” She pursed her lips.

  Kayla realized more in that brief moment than ever before how miserable it must be to constantly move from time to time. Two minutes ago, she’d been seventy-five, and now she was seventeen.

  “What are you studying?” Noah asked.

  “Home economics is my favorite class. I’m hoping that when I graduate, I’ll get a job with Aunt Ruthie in the lunchroom at the school,” she said with pride.

  “Would you like to go to college?” Noah asked.

  “Of course I would, but that costs a lot of money, and Daddy says that girls don’t need to go to college. He says that they don’t need an education to rock a cradle or cook a fine supper.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Don’t tell Aunt Ruthie, but I’d like to design clothes for rich people, but folks from Birthright don’t do those kinds of things.”

  “I liked home economics because I love to cook.” Kayla hoped that by mentioning that she liked the class, maybe Miss Janie would remember back when Kayla took it at school.

  “That’s nice,” Miss Janie said. “Would you get me some cookies and milk and push me out to the back porch? I’d like a little fresh air now. Tell Aunt Ruthie to come join me.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Kayla got up and pushed the wheelchair outside. “Is this spot all right?” she asked.

  “No. I like it over there by that little table, so I have a place to put my milk,” Miss Janie answered.

  Kayla rolled her to the right spot and sat down beside her. “It’s going to be a pretty day. Do you remember the first day you were here?”

  “Of course,” Miss Janie said. “Aunt Ruthie made a pot roast and hot yeast rolls. She thought Daddy and Mama might come to see me after all, but they didn’t. They were packing to move to Mexico and be missionaries for five years.” She picked up her milk and drank all of it.

  “Think you’ll ever see them again?” Kayla asked.

  “Right now I don’t care if I do or don’t. I feel like I’ve been abandoned,” she whispered. “Aunt Ruthie says that she’s glad they didn’t come to dinner and that she’s really mad at her niece for the way she’s treated me. You should go on inside and help Aunt Ruthie with the dishes now.”

  “I sure will. You holler when you want to come back in, and one of us will come out and get you,” Kayla said.

  “I can roll myself.” Miss Janie almost snorted. “I’m not a baby.”

  “I bet you can,” Kayla agreed.

  When she got back to the kitchen, the table had been cleared and she was alone. She leaned against the sink and thanked God that Miss Janie had seen something in her to warrant taking her in when not even her
own mother wanted her.

  Chapter Eleven

  Teresa took a deep breath and let it out slowly when she found her pink diary still hidden away in her desk drawer. The little book had never left the desk except for one time when she was a freshman in high school. She had taken it to school because after Miss Janie had given it to her, Teresa had vowed that she would write in it every single night, and she’d forgotten to put anything down the night before. She’d had some free time after the English test that morning, so she had taken out the diary and written that she wanted to be a nurse after she finished high school. She had sat beside Prissy Wilson in that class, and the girl had jerked it out of her hands and read what she had written.

  “Are you crazy?” Prissy had said, loud enough for everyone around her to hear. “Someone like you could never be a nurse. That takes college, and you’re a foster kid.” She had flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, and her clique of popular girls had added their own little snickers.

  Thinking about the humiliation of that day, Teresa wished now she’d asked her to explain that comment. Did someone like her never have a chance at an education like Prissy Wilson had?

  She tucked the diary back into the drawer, went down to check on Miss Janie, and found Sam and Kayla sitting beside Miss Janie’s bed.

  “Good mornin’,” Sam said. “I stopped by and Kayla treated me to leftover breakfast. I’m goin’ to weigh two hunnerd pounds if you girls don’t stop feedin’ me. If I wasn’t so damned old and if I hadn’t promised Delia there’d never be another woman in my life, I’d ask Kayla to marry me.”

  “Why Kayla and not me?” Teresa asked.

  “I got my reasons, but they don’t matter none, since y’all are both too young for this old rooster. Kayla, are you goin’ to your class reunion?” Sam asked.

  “I always go to the alumni dinner,” Miss Janie said. “But since my hip is hurting, I guess I won’t go this year.”

  Teresa patted her arm. “Maybe next year you’ll be all healed and you can go then. This year we’ll send Kayla to it, and she can tell everyone that you said hello.”

  Kayla shook her finger at both of them. “No, thank you. I didn’t fit in with that bunch of kids when I was in school, and I’m not going to go and let them put me down again.”

  Miss Janie’s chin began to quiver. “You have to go or else no one will be there to tell them hello for me.”

  Kayla cut her eyes toward Teresa. “Look what you caused.”

  “I always go to the reunion, and the kids miss me if I don’t.” Tears welled up in Miss Janie’s eyes. “I’m glad I broke my legs in the summer, so I don’t miss the first day of school.”

  Teresa wondered how many of the thousands who’d passed through the high school would remember the school secretary or even come to the funeral when she passed away.

  “It’ll be good for you to go to the reunion,” Sam said. “Ten years changes a lot of people. Going might make you feel better about them, and about yourself. Besides, you need to bring home stories to tell Miss Janie.”

  “All right then, I’ll go,” Kayla agreed.

  “You will come back, won’t you? You promised you’d stay with me.” Miss Janie’s expression had gone from happy to weepy to frantic in a matter of minutes. No wonder she needed so many naps—that had to be exhausting.

  “I’m not going anywhere today. We were talking about my class reunion. I’ll go, but I’ll only be gone for an hour or two.” Kayla reached through the hospital rails and held Miss Janie’s hand.

  Teresa could loan Kayla a dress. She had a cute little sundress that she’d gotten at a thrift shop before the divorce last year, but she’d never had a chance to wear it herself. She grimaced at the idea of her foster sister getting to wear one of her few pretty things before she did.

  Do it for Miss Janie’s sake, the voice in her head said loud and clear.

  But I never got to wear it, Teresa argued. And she’s only been nice a few times in her life, so why should I let her have my best summer dress?

  “We could go shopping for a dress. There’s a couple of thrift shops in Sulphur Springs.” Teresa was willing to compromise that much.

  Kayla shook her head. “Hell no! What if I bought something that had belonged to one of the girls I graduated with? That would only give them more ammunition to throw at me.”

  “I’ll loan you a pair of my overalls,” Sam chuckled. “You can fancy them up with fake diamonds on the pockets. Girl, you need to get comfortable in your skin and not give a damn what folks think. Prove ’em wrong by showin’ ’em who you are at heart.”

  “Where’s Noah?” Miss Janie asked.

  “Right here.” Noah came into the room and stood behind Sam’s chair.

  “I want you to take Kayla shopping for a new dress for the reunion,” Miss Janie said. “I will pay for whatever she needs.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Noah said.

  Everyone’s willingness to help—especially Sam’s words—pierced Teresa’s heart like a sharp dart. “I have a dress she can have. It will look better on her than it does on me, anyway.”

  “Why’s that?” Noah asked.

  “Why is what?” Teresa answered with a question.

  “Why would it look better on her?” Noah asked.

  “Because it’s green. I was always a little jealous of her eyes. Mine are plain old dull brown.” Admitting that she liked anything about her foster sister, even now that they were grown women, wasn’t easy.

  “You were jealous of me?” Kayla’s eyes popped open as round as pancakes. “I was always envious of you for your good hair and gorgeous complexion. I always felt like a misfit with freckles.”

  “You fit here.” Miss Janie turned away from the television. “Both of my babies grew up to be lovely women. You got your daddy’s skin and my freckles. Your eyes are the same color as Aunt Ruthie’s, and she had curly hair. I wish I could have kept you and watched you grow up.”

  Kayla squeezed her hand. “You used to tell us that everything happens for a reason.”

  “I did?” Miss Janie frowned. “I don’t remember too well some days. What were we talking about? Have the babies been good?”

  “Yes, they’ve been really good all day, and they slept through the night,” Teresa answered.

  “I’m so glad.” Miss Janie smiled. “We were talking about dresses, weren’t we?”

  “Yes, we were,” Kayla answered. “Thank you, Teresa, for the offer of your dress. I would definitely like to try it on.”

  “Bet that hurt.” Teresa grinned.

  “Why would you say that?” Sam asked.

  “She’s never thanked me for anything in her life,” Teresa answered.

  “Never needed to.” Kayla let go of Miss Janie’s hand and stood up. “But if I borrow your dress, I can always back out of going. If money was spent on one, I’d feel obligated to go. One question, though? Are you going to be mad at me if I get blood on it?”

  “Why would you get blood on it?” Noah asked.

  “The juniors and seniors had art class together, and Prissy Wilson was downright mean to me,” Kayla explained. “I’m not takin’ bull crap off her. If she says an ugly word to me, I intend to use her blonde hair to mop up the floor.”

  “That’s my girl.” Miss Janie clapped her hands. “Prissy always was a bitch.”

  “Miss Janie, I can’t believe you said that,” Teresa gasped.

  Miss Janie crossed her arms over her chest. “Truth is truth. Prissy was a smart-ass little girl, and she grew into a first-rate bitch who controlled her friends. I never did like that kid. If her mama left her in a ditch, I wouldn’t have taken her in. Bullying other kids made her the queen of Sulphur Springs. Well, mark my words: her comeuppance will arrive one of these days, and it ain’t goin’ to be pretty.”

  Teresa hadn’t realized that Prissy had been mean to Kayla. She had thought she was the only one that Prissy and her posse picked on. She had thought of dozens of questions she’d writ
ten down that she wanted to put to Miss Janie if and when she was lucid, but she was so shocked she couldn’t think of a single one after what Miss Janie had said.

  “I read in the newspaper that she’s the president of the alumni association,” Sam said. “I sure wish I was a fly on the wall to see Kayla put her in her place.”

  Kayla started toward the door and then turned back. “Noah, do you want to be my plus-one?”

  “Nope, but if you need someone to bail you out of jail, just call me.” He grinned.

  Teresa didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until Noah turned down the invitation. Lord, what a mess it could turn out to be if Kayla liked Noah. Teresa had just begun to get along with her foster sister, and they were dreaming about starting a little business together. Both of them liking the same guy could be catastrophic.

  Noah turned his attention to Miss Janie. “I thought you might like to go sit on the porch and get some fresh air this morning. The girls will get you in your wheelchair. We can have a cup of coffee and have a visit.”

  “I’d love that. Teresa, you can get me up. Sam, you and Noah go wait on the porch,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Sam pushed up out of the chair with a groan. “These old bones are about worn out.”

  “Mine, too, but they were good to us for a lot of years,” Miss Janie agreed.

  Teresa had no problem getting her into the wheelchair, but when she started to push her down the hall toward the porch, Miss Janie held up a hand.

  “Stop right here for a minute,” she said. “Feel that breeze? They don’t build houses like this no more.”

  “No, they don’t.” Teresa didn’t have the heart to tell Miss Janie that cool air from the air-conditioning vent right above her was causing the breeze. There was no way any kind of wind could find its way through two glass storm doors.

  “When I’m gone, I want y’all to promise me that you’ll convince Kayla to stay here awhile. She’s not as grounded as you are,” Miss Janie whispered. “She needs family.”

  “Of course we will,” Teresa agreed. If Miss Janie asked her to gather up the stars into a big basket, Teresa would give it her best shot.