Read Online The Women of Brewster Place by Gloria Naylor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gloria Naylor
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shoulder and squeezed. “Thank you.”
Mattie sucked her teeth and playfully shoved him away. “Thank me for what? Boy, go on and get the car before I catch my death of cold in all this beautiful snow of yours.”
Mattie watched him as he moved through the parking lot almost singing, and she took in his happiness and made it her own just as she’d done with every emotion that had ever claimed him. She took in the sweetness of his freedom and let it roll around her tongue, while she savored its fragrant juices and allowed the syrupy fluid to coat her mouth and drip slowly down her throat.
She feasted on this sweetness during the next two weeks. Basil had been returned to her, and she reveled in his presence. He drove her to work in the mornings and would often be waiting when she got off. They cleaned the yard together and covered her shrubbery with burlap. They rearranged furniture and straightened the attic, and he even washed windows for her—a chore he had hated from childhood. There was no end to the things he did for her, and he stayed close to home. It was so good to have a nice home to come to, he told her. And she grew full from this nectar and allowed herself to dream again of the wife he would bring home and the grandchildren who would keep her spirit there.
The lawyer called at the end of the second week to remind them of the court appointment, and Basil grew irritable. He told her he hated the thought of that place. He had tried to pretend that it didn’t exist, and he had been so happy. Now this. What if something went wrong and they kept him again? You couldn’t trust those honky lawyers—what did they care about him? Those people in that bar weren’t friends of his—what if they changed their stories? What if the girl hated him now and decided to lie? He remembered the way she had screamed over the dead man’s body. Yes, she would lie to get back at him. He knew it.
“I’ll blow my brains out before I spend my life in jail,” he said to Mattie while driving her to work.
“Basil, stop talkin’ stupidness!” Her voice was sharp. She had not been able to sleep well the last two nights, lying andlistening to him pacing around in his room. “I’ve been hearing nothing but nonsense the last coupla days, and I’m sick of it.”
“Nonsense!” He swung his head around.
“Yes, damned nonsense! You ain’t going to jail ’cause you ain’t done nothing to go to jail for. We go to court Tuesday; they’ll give all the evidence, and you’ll be clear. That’s all there is to it. The lawyer said so, and he should know.”
“Mama, he’ll say anything to get your money. If someone offered him a nickel more than you paid, he’d throw me in jail personally and swallow the key. You don’t know them like I do, and you don’t know what it’s like in those cells. And they’ll send me to a worse place than some county jail.” He looked at her sorrowfully. “I couldn’t stand it, Mama. I just couldn’t.”
Mattie sighed, turned her head from him, and looked out the window. There was nothing to say. Whatever was lacking within him that made it impossible to confront the difficulties of life could not be supplied with words. She saw it now. There was a void in his being that had been padded and cushioned over the years, and now that covering had grown impregnable. She bit on her bottom lip and swallowed back a sob. God had given her what she prayed for—a little boy who would always need her.
She felt him looking at her turned head from time to time and knew he was puzzled by her silence. He was waiting to be coaxed and petted into a lighter mood, but she forced herself to keep staring out the window. When the car pulled up to her job, she mumbled a good-bye and reached for the latch. Basil grabbed her hand, leaned over, and kissed her cheek.
“Good-bye, Mama.”
She was touched by the gentleness in his caress and immediately repentant of her attitude in the car. During the day she
Mattie sucked her teeth and playfully shoved him away. “Thank me for what? Boy, go on and get the car before I catch my death of cold in all this beautiful snow of yours.”
Mattie watched him as he moved through the parking lot almost singing, and she took in his happiness and made it her own just as she’d done with every emotion that had ever claimed him. She took in the sweetness of his freedom and let it roll around her tongue, while she savored its fragrant juices and allowed the syrupy fluid to coat her mouth and drip slowly down her throat.
She feasted on this sweetness during the next two weeks. Basil had been returned to her, and she reveled in his presence. He drove her to work in the mornings and would often be waiting when she got off. They cleaned the yard together and covered her shrubbery with burlap. They rearranged furniture and straightened the attic, and he even washed windows for her—a chore he had hated from childhood. There was no end to the things he did for her, and he stayed close to home. It was so good to have a nice home to come to, he told her. And she grew full from this nectar and allowed herself to dream again of the wife he would bring home and the grandchildren who would keep her spirit there.
The lawyer called at the end of the second week to remind them of the court appointment, and Basil grew irritable. He told her he hated the thought of that place. He had tried to pretend that it didn’t exist, and he had been so happy. Now this. What if something went wrong and they kept him again? You couldn’t trust those honky lawyers—what did they care about him? Those people in that bar weren’t friends of his—what if they changed their stories? What if the girl hated him now and decided to lie? He remembered the way she had screamed over the dead man’s body. Yes, she would lie to get back at him. He knew it.
“I’ll blow my brains out before I spend my life in jail,” he said to Mattie while driving her to work.
“Basil, stop talkin’ stupidness!” Her voice was sharp. She had not been able to sleep well the last two nights, lying andlistening to him pacing around in his room. “I’ve been hearing nothing but nonsense the last coupla days, and I’m sick of it.”
“Nonsense!” He swung his head around.
“Yes, damned nonsense! You ain’t going to jail ’cause you ain’t done nothing to go to jail for. We go to court Tuesday; they’ll give all the evidence, and you’ll be clear. That’s all there is to it. The lawyer said so, and he should know.”
“Mama, he’ll say anything to get your money. If someone offered him a nickel more than you paid, he’d throw me in jail personally and swallow the key. You don’t know them like I do, and you don’t know what it’s like in those cells. And they’ll send me to a worse place than some county jail.” He looked at her sorrowfully. “I couldn’t stand it, Mama. I just couldn’t.”
Mattie sighed, turned her head from him, and looked out the window. There was nothing to say. Whatever was lacking within him that made it impossible to confront the difficulties of life could not be supplied with words. She saw it now. There was a void in his being that had been padded and cushioned over the years, and now that covering had grown impregnable. She bit on her bottom lip and swallowed back a sob. God had given her what she prayed for—a little boy who would always need her.
She felt him looking at her turned head from time to time and knew he was puzzled by her silence. He was waiting to be coaxed and petted into a lighter mood, but she forced herself to keep staring out the window. When the car pulled up to her job, she mumbled a good-bye and reached for the latch. Basil grabbed her hand, leaned over, and kissed her cheek.
“Good-bye, Mama.”
She was touched by the gentleness in his caress and immediately repentant of her attitude in the car. During the day she
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