mouth, Daniel will say, âItâs me, Danny, your son.â
If Sara Kate had done some of all the crying sheâs doing now at Gatenâs funeral, she wouldnât have seemed so curious. There wouldnât have been so much talk about how easy she took her husbandâs death, either. Everleen says white folks donât cry and carry on like we do when somebody dies. They donât love as hard as we do.
Weâre just different, I guess. Miss Katieâs still mourning over Gaten and sheâs not even kin. After Gaten was killed, she tried to cook but the pans fell to the floor. So she took to her rocking chair. Sometimes I would go and sit on the floor beside her. To tell you the truth, it was about the only place I could find space to sit. Anyway, she made me cry, too. Iâm glad sheâs getting over Gaten.
People in Round Hill donât know it, but Sara Kate didnât really get over Gaten dying as fast as they think she did. Sara Kate was powerfully sad after my daddy died.
After the funeral she lit a candle and sat alone in the dark. I havenât been able to quite figure out why. People I know in Round Hill donât light candles when folks die. I didnât ask Sara Kate about the candle. I didnât even tell Everleen about it, either. I guess, in a strange sort of way, I donât want anybody thinking like, well, that Sara Kate was strange and everything. Maybe in a sly way I was trying to protect Sara Kate even if I canât stand her sometimes. Somehow, I really believe it was because Iâm trying to please my dead daddy.
Iâll probably find out about this candle business when Iâm watching TV. I donât care what people say, you can so learn a lot of stuff from TV.
Daniel said if his grandma had watched enough TV, she would have known that the movie
57 Pick-Up
wasnât about a pickup truck, and would have never gone with him to see it. She liked to have died when they started spitting out all them nasty cuss words. And when the half-naked women started prancing about, she was more ashamed to leave than to stay. So she slid down in her seat, pulled her hat down over closed eyes and prayed and prayed that if the Lord would forgive her that time sheâd never set foot in a movie place again.
Sara Kateâs got to be bad lonely working in the house all day, all by herself. Sometimes she writes little notes on fancy flowered paper. I never see her mail them. I think she likes the pretty stamp too much to use.
She hurries up and mails the letters to the places that send the pictures of all them little sad-eyed dogs and cats. On the outside of the envelopes they beg, âWill You Please Help Save Them?â I do believe she sends money every time the little pictures come in the mail. It didnât take them people long to find Sara Kate in Round Hill.
Everleen says all white women give money to the animals if they have it to spare. She says itâs because they feelso guilty over the way their people treated us. They think by being extra kind to animals, itâll get them into heaven. But Everleen says the Bible says âthe animals are born to be destroyed.â She thinks the Lord would smile down more on Sara Kate if she took some of that money and helped out the poor children right in Round Hill. Everleen knows her Bible.
I guess if I had extra money Iâd feed kids before Iâd feed the animals.
Sometimes Sara Kate plays the piano in a room empty now except for one new chair. Itâs covered in cloth that feels slick. Sara Kate bought it. She calls the cloth chintz. Everything else is pretty much like it was when Grandpa died. He made Gaten promise never to sell the mirrored umbrella and hat stand in the front hall.
I like it when Sara Kate plays. The house seems to come alive. Gaten used to play tapes of the same kind of music. Miss Kenyon used to play classical music also. Maybe thatâs why Gaten was in love with her
If Sara Kate had done some of all the crying sheâs doing now at Gatenâs funeral, she wouldnât have seemed so curious. There wouldnât have been so much talk about how easy she took her husbandâs death, either. Everleen says white folks donât cry and carry on like we do when somebody dies. They donât love as hard as we do.
Weâre just different, I guess. Miss Katieâs still mourning over Gaten and sheâs not even kin. After Gaten was killed, she tried to cook but the pans fell to the floor. So she took to her rocking chair. Sometimes I would go and sit on the floor beside her. To tell you the truth, it was about the only place I could find space to sit. Anyway, she made me cry, too. Iâm glad sheâs getting over Gaten.
People in Round Hill donât know it, but Sara Kate didnât really get over Gaten dying as fast as they think she did. Sara Kate was powerfully sad after my daddy died.
After the funeral she lit a candle and sat alone in the dark. I havenât been able to quite figure out why. People I know in Round Hill donât light candles when folks die. I didnât ask Sara Kate about the candle. I didnât even tell Everleen about it, either. I guess, in a strange sort of way, I donât want anybody thinking like, well, that Sara Kate was strange and everything. Maybe in a sly way I was trying to protect Sara Kate even if I canât stand her sometimes. Somehow, I really believe it was because Iâm trying to please my dead daddy.
Iâll probably find out about this candle business when Iâm watching TV. I donât care what people say, you can so learn a lot of stuff from TV.
Daniel said if his grandma had watched enough TV, she would have known that the movie
57 Pick-Up
wasnât about a pickup truck, and would have never gone with him to see it. She liked to have died when they started spitting out all them nasty cuss words. And when the half-naked women started prancing about, she was more ashamed to leave than to stay. So she slid down in her seat, pulled her hat down over closed eyes and prayed and prayed that if the Lord would forgive her that time sheâd never set foot in a movie place again.
Sara Kateâs got to be bad lonely working in the house all day, all by herself. Sometimes she writes little notes on fancy flowered paper. I never see her mail them. I think she likes the pretty stamp too much to use.
She hurries up and mails the letters to the places that send the pictures of all them little sad-eyed dogs and cats. On the outside of the envelopes they beg, âWill You Please Help Save Them?â I do believe she sends money every time the little pictures come in the mail. It didnât take them people long to find Sara Kate in Round Hill.
Everleen says all white women give money to the animals if they have it to spare. She says itâs because they feelso guilty over the way their people treated us. They think by being extra kind to animals, itâll get them into heaven. But Everleen says the Bible says âthe animals are born to be destroyed.â She thinks the Lord would smile down more on Sara Kate if she took some of that money and helped out the poor children right in Round Hill. Everleen knows her Bible.
I guess if I had extra money Iâd feed kids before Iâd feed the animals.
Sometimes Sara Kate plays the piano in a room empty now except for one new chair. Itâs covered in cloth that feels slick. Sara Kate bought it. She calls the cloth chintz. Everything else is pretty much like it was when Grandpa died. He made Gaten promise never to sell the mirrored umbrella and hat stand in the front hall.
I like it when Sara Kate plays. The house seems to come alive. Gaten used to play tapes of the same kind of music. Miss Kenyon used to play classical music also. Maybe thatâs why Gaten was in love with her
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