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the decent mechanics work at the
phosphate plant. The boy knows how to work on farm equipment. And, while it
might not mean much, he said he wants to do something to make up for everything
that went on between you two and was willin’ to do the job for free.”
    “For
free?” That certainly didn’t sound like the Hale I knew. “I still can’t believe
you’d hire him.”
    “Listen,
Lil’ Bit, I understand you and him got problems, and that ain’t none of my
business, but runnin’ this farm is. Just avoid each other and you’ll be fine. I
think the boy can do the job, and he acts like he wants to, and that’s all
there is to it.”
    Daddy
stuck his unlit pipe in his mouth and that was the end of it. I could plead and
beg all I wanted and it wouldn’t do any good.
     
    I
was a bit nervous driving mother to her chemotherapy treatment the next day.
The roads around Wilmington had never been the easiest to travel, and all the
traffic reminded me of being aboard the bus before it crashed. Thanks to a few
stern, unnecessary reminders from the backseat driver sitting beside me to,
“Slow down, ‘fore you get us both killed,” I made it through.
    The
cancer clinic was near the big hospital in the middle of town. On the outside,
the place looked cheerful, with low-cut boxwoods stretching down the brick
exterior all the way around the front and a sidewalk lined with pretty,
blooming flowers of all the colors in the rainbow.
    Inside,
it was a much different story; rows of identical, pale blue easy chairs pushed
against the wall, each one with a patient sitting in them, and each patient hooked
up to an unnatural, neon-yellow bag of fluid that slowly dripped out the poison
that doctors hoped would cure them. What little natural light there was came
from narrow, slit-like windows situated at the top of one wall. The rest was a
steady, reliable glow from the rows of fluorescents arranged overhead. A few
nurses walked around quietly, checking connections or talking amongst
themselves.
    There
were dozens of televisions that hung down from the ceiling so the patients that
weren’t sleeping could watch something to pass the time and large bins placed
around the room held loads of old magazines to read. The scent of bleach and
cleaner hung in the air and reminded me of a nursing home I’d spent a few weeks
interning at during spring semester. It was difficult to get past the
depressing atmosphere of the place and being there made me feel out of sorts.
    “This
isn’t so bad,” I said, trying to encourage myself along with mother, who was
busily clicking the buttons on a remote control. “Nicer than the one I toured
in school.”
    “I
ain’t never spent so much time watching television in all my life, honey. It
feels downright lazy sitting ‘round like this, when there’s so much work to be
done at the house.”
    “It’s
not lazy. You’ve got cancer, momma.”
    She
only held up one hand and waved my comment off, like cancer wasn’t a big deal
at all and clean dishes were the height of importance. When the nurse came by
to hook her up, mother looked away with a sick expression while the woman went
about the work of flushing out the tubing and attaching the thin hose full of
medication to her arm.
    “Mary
Katherine, ain’t no use in you wasting your entire day sitting here with little
ol’ me.” Mother unzipped her purse, which never left her shoulder outside the
house, and she handed me a crumpled hundred dollar bill. “Take the car and go
on down to Folson’s. The cupboards are nearly bare and your father ain’t much
for shopping. That ought to be enough to get some groceries for the house.”
    I
looked up at the friendly nurse and she gave me a slight nod, as if to say that
wasn’t a bad idea and that she’d leave too if she could.
    “Momma,
are you sure? Won’t you get bored sitting here all alone?”
    “I’m
sure. Got my stories here to keep me company. Go on now.”
    I
felt bad about leaving her there,