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Authors: Diane Mckinney-Whetstone
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cry.
“Come on, Tore, don’t cry.” Bliss wrapped her arm around Victoria’s neck. “And you don’t have to take up for me, I know that’s what you were getting ready to do, but Mommie did always tell us not to stuff our hats in our coat pockets, and I’m not going against what Mommie says for anybody.” She rolled her eyes at Ramona and then pulled her coat off her shoulder.
“Furthermore”—Bliss directed her words at Ramona again—“my aunt Til, and aunt Ness, and uncle Blue, and uncle Show are coming for us anyhow.” Bliss curled her coat around her arm as she spoke. “So we’re not even going to be here long enough foranything to drop on your old closet floor. And my aunt Til doesn’t play, especially when it comes to my sisters and me.” Bliss continued to pout.
“I don’t play either.” Ramona tried to hold her meanness in her balled fist, but it seeped out between her fingers. Now she just opened her hand and let it take her over. “And you can tell your aunt Til I said so—that is, if you can find whatever jail they threw her in when she tried to jump bad down at the courthouse. Furthermore, the judge fixed it so none of your strange-assed people can try to contact you. And if you try to contact them, you’ll be the cause of never seeing them again. Now what your little fresh mouth got to say about that?” Ramona stopped. Wished she had held her meanness and not said the part about jail. She could tell by the way Bliss was twirling her coat around her arms that the child was more afraid than she was fresh.
Bliss’s coat was almost a ball now, and she mashed it against her stomach. “You’re lying,” she shouted up at Ramona. “My aunt Til isn’t in jail. She’s on her way here to get us, isn’t she, Shern? Isn’t that what you just told me when we were waiting in the car?”
Shern didn’t answer Bliss. She gently pulled the balled-up coat from Bliss’s arms without looking in her face.
“Shern, isn’t that what you said? You said it! You promised me that Aunt Til was on her way here to get us.”
Shern could feel the kerchief in her stomach starting to loosen, threatening to come undone. She had promised Bliss that the aunts would be coming for them shortly. Even though the fat social worker had told them they’d be living here for the next six weeks or so, Shern had whispered otherwise to her sisters. She’d had to. She’d needed to tell them, and herself, something so they’d stop crying. And now she wanted to cry all over again, hearing this dark news about her aunt Til. She swallowed hard, but the kerchief in her stomach wasn’t going to stay tied. She felt it open completely now, one end, then the next, and the creamed corn and whatever else she hadn’t eaten that day spilled out of the kerchief. She didn’t even have time to gag. Now she was standing there feeling it seep down the front of her white cotton blouse. She put her hands under her mouth, trying to catch it; now she was gagging, and in between trying to ask where the bathroom was.
“Oh, shit, damn,” Ramona said when she saw it. “Run, go to the kitchen sink, hurry up, and try to stay on the plastic runner. My mother just had this overpriced carpet installed. Shit!”
Shern ran back to the kitchen with Bliss and Victoria at her heels. She spit and gagged into the sink, and her sisters patted her back, and Victoria was crying, “I want Mommie.” Then they all three were crying and moaning, “Mommie, Mommie,” and hugging one another in a circle.
Ramona stood in the kitchen doorway, just watching them. For the thousandth time that day she wished Mae were here, and she never wished forMae to be here. Most of her wishing had to do with Mae not being here, sometimes even wishing Mae dead. But at least Mae would know how to respond to this kind of outpouring. Ramona didn’t. She only knew what to do or say with the fosters when they misstepped, when she had to threaten to kick ass. She
“Come on, Tore, don’t cry.” Bliss wrapped her arm around Victoria’s neck. “And you don’t have to take up for me, I know that’s what you were getting ready to do, but Mommie did always tell us not to stuff our hats in our coat pockets, and I’m not going against what Mommie says for anybody.” She rolled her eyes at Ramona and then pulled her coat off her shoulder.
“Furthermore”—Bliss directed her words at Ramona again—“my aunt Til, and aunt Ness, and uncle Blue, and uncle Show are coming for us anyhow.” Bliss curled her coat around her arm as she spoke. “So we’re not even going to be here long enough foranything to drop on your old closet floor. And my aunt Til doesn’t play, especially when it comes to my sisters and me.” Bliss continued to pout.
“I don’t play either.” Ramona tried to hold her meanness in her balled fist, but it seeped out between her fingers. Now she just opened her hand and let it take her over. “And you can tell your aunt Til I said so—that is, if you can find whatever jail they threw her in when she tried to jump bad down at the courthouse. Furthermore, the judge fixed it so none of your strange-assed people can try to contact you. And if you try to contact them, you’ll be the cause of never seeing them again. Now what your little fresh mouth got to say about that?” Ramona stopped. Wished she had held her meanness and not said the part about jail. She could tell by the way Bliss was twirling her coat around her arms that the child was more afraid than she was fresh.
Bliss’s coat was almost a ball now, and she mashed it against her stomach. “You’re lying,” she shouted up at Ramona. “My aunt Til isn’t in jail. She’s on her way here to get us, isn’t she, Shern? Isn’t that what you just told me when we were waiting in the car?”
Shern didn’t answer Bliss. She gently pulled the balled-up coat from Bliss’s arms without looking in her face.
“Shern, isn’t that what you said? You said it! You promised me that Aunt Til was on her way here to get us.”
Shern could feel the kerchief in her stomach starting to loosen, threatening to come undone. She had promised Bliss that the aunts would be coming for them shortly. Even though the fat social worker had told them they’d be living here for the next six weeks or so, Shern had whispered otherwise to her sisters. She’d had to. She’d needed to tell them, and herself, something so they’d stop crying. And now she wanted to cry all over again, hearing this dark news about her aunt Til. She swallowed hard, but the kerchief in her stomach wasn’t going to stay tied. She felt it open completely now, one end, then the next, and the creamed corn and whatever else she hadn’t eaten that day spilled out of the kerchief. She didn’t even have time to gag. Now she was standing there feeling it seep down the front of her white cotton blouse. She put her hands under her mouth, trying to catch it; now she was gagging, and in between trying to ask where the bathroom was.
“Oh, shit, damn,” Ramona said when she saw it. “Run, go to the kitchen sink, hurry up, and try to stay on the plastic runner. My mother just had this overpriced carpet installed. Shit!”
Shern ran back to the kitchen with Bliss and Victoria at her heels. She spit and gagged into the sink, and her sisters patted her back, and Victoria was crying, “I want Mommie.” Then they all three were crying and moaning, “Mommie, Mommie,” and hugging one another in a circle.
Ramona stood in the kitchen doorway, just watching them. For the thousandth time that day she wished Mae were here, and she never wished forMae to be here. Most of her wishing had to do with Mae not being here, sometimes even wishing Mae dead. But at least Mae would know how to respond to this kind of outpouring. Ramona didn’t. She only knew what to do or say with the fosters when they misstepped, when she had to threaten to kick ass. She
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