Read Online The Darkest Child by Delores Phillips - Free Book Online
Authors: Delores Phillips
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but something just ain’t right.Why this time Mama try to hide it, acting like she gon’ die and carrying on? Why she make it such a big secret?”
“Mama’s no stranger to secrets,” I said.“We should all know by now that she has a private life, and she does not feel obligated to share it with her children. And that is what we are—her children. She has a right to . . .”
“Shit!” Sam hissed.
I stopped. Mr. Pace undoubtedly would have been proud of my rhetoric, but my siblings were staring at me as though I had grown an extra head.
Tarabelle flicked a hand in my direction. “Y’all see,” she said. “That’s why I can’t stand her.”
“Tangy Mae, you oughta quit,” Sam said. “What you trying to say anyway?”
“Don’t matter how she say it, man, she right,” Harvey said.“Long as I can remember, Mama been hiding things from us. Far as I know, she didn’t tell nobody ’bout me, or you, or any of the rest of us. She got fat, and we just sort of knew it, but I don’t remember her coming right out saying nothing.”
“Yeah, but did you ever hear her talking ’bout dying like she was doing?” Sam asked.
“Don’t matter,” Harvey said.“Tan is right. Mama ain’t never told us much of nothing.”
Harvey had given me the encouragement I needed to speak again, and this time I intended to be heard.“Ain’t nobody got no daddy,” I said, “except Archie Preston claiming to be Harvey’s. How come?”
There was silence. I had broached a subject that was taboo, and they all stared at me again.“Tarabelle says it takes a man and . . .”
“Don’t worry ’bout what I said, ”Tarabelle snapped.
“You did say it, ”Wallace interjected.
“That’s why people don’t tell children nothing. Children got big mouths, ”Tarabelle said.
“You didn’t say it was a secret, ”Wallace responded in a wounded tone. He was big on keeping secrets.
“What did Tarabelle say?” Harvey asked.
Wallace glanced at Tarabelle, twiddled his thumbs for a second, then allowed his arms to swing at his sides as he began to repeat, verbatim, what Tarabelle had told us the night before.
Harvey and Sam roared with laughter when Wallace was done telling. I stared at Tarabelle, expecting to see her seething with anger or squirming with discomfort, but her expression was as stoic as ever.
Sam, carried away, jumped up and down on the floorboards which caused Laura and Edna to cease coloring, and Martha Jean to stare at him quizzically.“Pee?” he said between bouts of laughter. “She said it was pee?”
Had they been just a bit more subdued, they might have heard what I heard as Tarabelle turned to leave the kitchen.
“It feels like pee,” she mumbled.
Sam pulled himself together first.“C’mon, boy,” he said to Wallace. “Let’s walk over to Logan’s store.We gon’ get us some Nehi and celebrate our new sister.”
And I was relieved because I knew Sam was going to tell Wallace what went on between men and women, Wallace would tell me, and eventually I might share it with Tarabelle.
eight
M y dread of leaving Martha Jean alone, with only Laura and Edna as her ears, was shared by Wallace. “What if somebody comes in? She wouldn’t even hear ’em. She can’t hear if somebody knocks on the door, ”Wallace protested.“I ain’t going to school. It ain’t gon’ hurt nothing if I miss one day.”
“Martha Jean gon’ be awright,” Harvey assured him. “Ain’t nobody coming out here.You going to school, Wallace, so you might as well shut up and get dressed.”
Sam leaned against the back wall behind the stove, grinning at the exchange and smoking a cigarette. He wore the same overalls he had worn the week before, and they were still relatively clean.
“I’m trying to think, Wallace,” he teased, “who gon’ come out here and bother Martha Jean? Who you think?”
Wallace did not have to think about it. He was ready for the question. “A stranger,” he said, “or the
“Mama’s no stranger to secrets,” I said.“We should all know by now that she has a private life, and she does not feel obligated to share it with her children. And that is what we are—her children. She has a right to . . .”
“Shit!” Sam hissed.
I stopped. Mr. Pace undoubtedly would have been proud of my rhetoric, but my siblings were staring at me as though I had grown an extra head.
Tarabelle flicked a hand in my direction. “Y’all see,” she said. “That’s why I can’t stand her.”
“Tangy Mae, you oughta quit,” Sam said. “What you trying to say anyway?”
“Don’t matter how she say it, man, she right,” Harvey said.“Long as I can remember, Mama been hiding things from us. Far as I know, she didn’t tell nobody ’bout me, or you, or any of the rest of us. She got fat, and we just sort of knew it, but I don’t remember her coming right out saying nothing.”
“Yeah, but did you ever hear her talking ’bout dying like she was doing?” Sam asked.
“Don’t matter,” Harvey said.“Tan is right. Mama ain’t never told us much of nothing.”
Harvey had given me the encouragement I needed to speak again, and this time I intended to be heard.“Ain’t nobody got no daddy,” I said, “except Archie Preston claiming to be Harvey’s. How come?”
There was silence. I had broached a subject that was taboo, and they all stared at me again.“Tarabelle says it takes a man and . . .”
“Don’t worry ’bout what I said, ”Tarabelle snapped.
“You did say it, ”Wallace interjected.
“That’s why people don’t tell children nothing. Children got big mouths, ”Tarabelle said.
“You didn’t say it was a secret, ”Wallace responded in a wounded tone. He was big on keeping secrets.
“What did Tarabelle say?” Harvey asked.
Wallace glanced at Tarabelle, twiddled his thumbs for a second, then allowed his arms to swing at his sides as he began to repeat, verbatim, what Tarabelle had told us the night before.
Harvey and Sam roared with laughter when Wallace was done telling. I stared at Tarabelle, expecting to see her seething with anger or squirming with discomfort, but her expression was as stoic as ever.
Sam, carried away, jumped up and down on the floorboards which caused Laura and Edna to cease coloring, and Martha Jean to stare at him quizzically.“Pee?” he said between bouts of laughter. “She said it was pee?”
Had they been just a bit more subdued, they might have heard what I heard as Tarabelle turned to leave the kitchen.
“It feels like pee,” she mumbled.
Sam pulled himself together first.“C’mon, boy,” he said to Wallace. “Let’s walk over to Logan’s store.We gon’ get us some Nehi and celebrate our new sister.”
And I was relieved because I knew Sam was going to tell Wallace what went on between men and women, Wallace would tell me, and eventually I might share it with Tarabelle.
eight
M y dread of leaving Martha Jean alone, with only Laura and Edna as her ears, was shared by Wallace. “What if somebody comes in? She wouldn’t even hear ’em. She can’t hear if somebody knocks on the door, ”Wallace protested.“I ain’t going to school. It ain’t gon’ hurt nothing if I miss one day.”
“Martha Jean gon’ be awright,” Harvey assured him. “Ain’t nobody coming out here.You going to school, Wallace, so you might as well shut up and get dressed.”
Sam leaned against the back wall behind the stove, grinning at the exchange and smoking a cigarette. He wore the same overalls he had worn the week before, and they were still relatively clean.
“I’m trying to think, Wallace,” he teased, “who gon’ come out here and bother Martha Jean? Who you think?”
Wallace did not have to think about it. He was ready for the question. “A stranger,” he said, “or the
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