Read Online Finding Bluefield by Elan Branehama - Free Book Online

behind the shed, and disappeared.
    Nicky started her car. It took her a few minutes to find familiar roads and make her way out of town toward home. As the road narrowed to two lanes and fewer and fewer houses interrupted the landscape and the dirt became visible, she began to relax. Along this part of the road, the old houses had been kept up; few new ones had been built.
    As Nicky downshifted into second and turned onto her driveway, it began to drizzle. The smell of the fresh rain made her smile and she walked slowly from the car to the house. She opened the screen door, and let herself into the mudroom where she hung her jacket on a hook, sat on the bench, and kicked off her muddied shoes. In the kitchen, she noticed the time. Barbara was sure to be worried. She grabbed the phone and called Barbara at the hospital.
    “Where were you?” Barbara said. “Why didn’t you call? I checked downstairs to see if you went into labor.”
    “I’m fine,” Nicky said. “I was in town and I didn’t realize how late it was or I would have come by the hospital. I stopped by the diner and Lucinda told me that Leroy got beaten, so I tried to find him.”
    “You know where he lives?”
    “I asked around the North End, but no one would tell me where he lived. I wanted to see if he was okay.”
    “And if he wasn’t, what would you have done?”
    “Can you check to see if he was brought in last night? Get his address for me?”
    “People were talking about how this group of blacks and whites were out registering voters and that they got beat real bad.”
    “The ER will have his address.”
    “No one was brought here. You know that,” Barbara said.
    “I’ll have to go back and look for him.”
    “Don’t go anywhere; don’t do anything till I get home,” Barbara said. “Don’t worry me like this. Did you forget that you’re pregnant?”
    “Not even for one second.” Nicky hung up the phone and put a kettle of water on the stove. She leaned her back against the counter and watched the water boil. Outside, the much needed rain had stopped. A false hope. Through the window over the sink, she saw her unplanted garden. She hadn’t gotten to it yet. When the baby was out, she would plant a garden and she would bring him out on the dirt with her. Nicky’s father taught her to tend the eating garden. You come from a people who work the earth, he told her often. Dust to dust. There is no more noble an undertaking, no more crucial a task, no more satisfying an occupation. Soon, Nicky thought, soon my baby will be a part of this land, and he will work this earth, and then he too will be part of this place, this history, this patch of earth.
    When the water boiled, Nicky carried her tea upstairs and ran the bath. While waiting on her tub to fill, the phone rang.
    “Nicky Stewart?” a man’s voice said.
    “Who’s this?”
    “I got the envelope.”
    “Leroy?” Nicky said.
    “Thank you.”
    “Are you okay?”
    “I need a favor.”
    “What is it?”
    “I need a ride.”
    “Sure,” Nicky said, sitting down on the bed. “Where?”
    “Richmond.”
    “That’s two hours from here,” she said.
    “Yes.”
    “I’m pregnant,” Nicky said.
    “I know.”
    “I mean, I’m almost due and I’m not supposed to go that far from the hospital.”
    “It’s a bad idea. I’m sorry to have bothered you,” Leroy said.
    “Wait.” Couldn’t they ask someone else, Nicky thought? But I did offer help. I’ll get Barbara to come along with me.
    “Are you there?”
    “I’m thinking,” Nicky said. “When would you need to go?”
    “Tomorrow.”
    “Tomorrow?” Nicky said. “Where would I meet you?”
    “At the First Baptist.”
    “I’ll be there by eleven.”
    “If you decide you can’t drive me, I’ll understand.”
    “I’ll be there.” Nicky hung up the phone and got into the tub. She slid her head under water and wet her hair and thought about swimming. It’s just a ride, she thought, he’s just asking for