“Lord, bless my time. My ankles done swole up so, I can barely walk. Gimme them scissors over there.” Mary Nell strained to reach the silver shears that lay just beyond her reach on the table.
"What you want with these scissors?" Her daughter Alpharetta picked them up.
“I am going to cut these shoes open, that’s what I’m going to do. I can’t stand it no more. They are just too tight.” Mary Nell's fingers just tapped the edge of the handle. “Why don’t you hand me those scissors?”
“Because if I do, you will ruin the last pair of shoes you have. I can’t let you do that. Just take the shoes off. It’s not even cold.”
“What if somebody come to visit? What would that look like if I was sitting here with no shoes on?” Her mama pointed at her feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table.
“What’s it going to look like if you’ve cut holes in your shoes? Will that look any better?” Alpha struggled with the laces of the old brogans her mother was wearing. “Have you talked with your doctor about this swelling you have?” She smoothed her hands over her mother’s legs. "I’m going to put some pillows and blankets under your feet so that you can lie back and relax. You’ve got to stop sitting with your feet dangling of the edge. That just makes it worse. Lay back.”
“I can’t lay back on this settee in the middle of the day.”
“Yes, you can. Be still and put your feet up so I can rub your legs. Let’s see if we can get that fluid moving back up.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Yes, I am. Too good by half.” She smiled at her mother. The sofa where Mary Nell lay was at least 30 years old. She couldn’t even remember when they’d bought it. It sat in the parlor covered with a sheet until a knock on the door sent them hurrying to fold the sheet and put it away.
“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d lay about like this.” Mary Nell hid her face with her hands.
“You done worked hard all your life. A little resting won’t do you any harm.” She stroked her mother’s leg in long, sweeping motions smoothing the fluid from her foot back up into the leg. “You just need to rest a little, then you’ll be able to do more.” The ropey veins in her mother’s legs were hard under her fingers. “It’s just you two now. You don’t have to stand at the stove and cook big meals anymore. Open up a jar of soup you made last fall. Your pantry is full of food. You don’t have to put up anything this year to have enough for the two of you. He can't eat all you cook anyway.
Mary Nell sighed. “I don’t know if I can stand not having a garden. Everything tastes better fresh.”
“Okay, how about two or three tomato plants, not a hundred, this year. And okra, you’ll want a few rows of okra. But let the rest go. Goodness, I can buy canned butter beans in the store, and they are such hard things to put up what with all that peeling. And stringing green beans. That takes forever. Let’s not do those this year.”
Mary Nell looked at her daughter, then out of the window above Alpha's head. She could see Annie’s house through the woods from her front porch.
“Alpha, did I ever tell you why your Aunt Annie’s house is that god-awful green?”
Alpha looked over her shoulder at the cabin. “I’m sure you have.”
“Annie handed over her last dollar to some man who promised to paint her house with bug paint. What nonsense. I’d have chased him down the steps before he finished talking.”
Alpha grinned. “I know you would have.”
“Perkins just died the day before. Strange how it happened like that. She wasn’t thinking straight. All them kids were hungry. Lord. She spent her last dollar and them starving. How’d she even have a dollar, I always thought.”
Alpha moved Mary Nell’s legs onto the pillows at the end of the sofa and spread a quilt over her mother’s them.
“She had a lot of reasons not to think straight her whole life, I reckon. Her husband dead. Eight babies born and died. All those little graves out there on the edge of the pasture. Burying all those babies was enough to touch a woman’s mind. No wonder she didn’t talk much.”
Mary Nell wiped at her eyes with the palms of her hands. “I should of tried harder. I should of drug her into town when she was still young and gotten her a job and shown her a world beyond these woods. I shouldn’t of left her here.”
The story wasn’t new. She’d heard it all before, but this time, she heard more than the words. This time, she could feel the pain behind them, the regret that hid behind the story.
“But you were gone before she came along. There wasn’t much you could have done.” Mary Nell shook her head.
“I could of come back for her. Mary Nell's face lit up. "I was 16. Sparkling new and not half pretty. I was in town one Wednesday when we went in to sell eggs and milk, and I saw that sign in the window of the General Forrest Hotel as we walked down Broad Street next to the cart. It said 'maids wanted'. I weren’t in no shape to walk up to the door that day, but day next, I washed my hair, put on my Sunday dress, and walked the four miles into town on my own. I carried a rag in my pocket to clean the dust off my shoes when I got there.”
“What if somebody come to visit? What would that look like if I was sitting here with no shoes on?” Her mama pointed at her feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table.
“What’s it going to look like if you’ve cut holes in your shoes? Will that look any better?” Alpha struggled with the laces of the old brogans her mother was wearing. “Have you talked with your doctor about this swelling you have?” She smoothed her hands over her mother’s legs. "I’m going to put some pillows and blankets under your feet so that you can lie back and relax. You’ve got to stop sitting with your feet dangling of the edge. That just makes it worse. Lay back.”
“I can’t lay back on this settee in the middle of the day.”
“Yes, you can. Be still and put your feet up so I can rub your legs. Let’s see if we can get that fluid moving back up.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“Yes, I am. Too good by half.” She smiled at her mother. The sofa where Mary Nell lay was at least 30 years old. She couldn’t even remember when they’d bought it. It sat in the parlor covered with a sheet until a knock on the door sent them hurrying to fold the sheet and put it away.
“I never thought I’d see the day when I’d lay about like this.” Mary Nell hid her face with her hands.
“You done worked hard all your life. A little resting won’t do you any harm.” She stroked her mother’s leg in long, sweeping motions smoothing the fluid from her foot back up into the leg. “You just need to rest a little, then you’ll be able to do more.” The ropey veins in her mother’s legs were hard under her fingers. “It’s just you two now. You don’t have to stand at the stove and cook big meals anymore. Open up a jar of soup you made last fall. Your pantry is full of food. You don’t have to put up anything this year to have enough for the two of you. He can't eat all you cook anyway.
Mary Nell sighed. “I don’t know if I can stand not having a garden. Everything tastes better fresh.”
“Okay, how about two or three tomato plants, not a hundred, this year. And okra, you’ll want a few rows of okra. But let the rest go. Goodness, I can buy canned butter beans in the store, and they are such hard things to put up what with all that peeling. And stringing green beans. That takes forever. Let’s not do those this year.”
Mary Nell looked at her daughter, then out of the window above Alpha's head. She could see Annie’s house through the woods from her front porch.
“Alpha, did I ever tell you why your Aunt Annie’s house is that god-awful green?”
Alpha looked over her shoulder at the cabin. “I’m sure you have.”
“Annie handed over her last dollar to some man who promised to paint her house with bug paint. What nonsense. I’d have chased him down the steps before he finished talking.”
Alpha grinned. “I know you would have.”
“Perkins just died the day before. Strange how it happened like that. She wasn’t thinking straight. All them kids were hungry. Lord. She spent her last dollar and them starving. How’d she even have a dollar, I always thought.”
Alpha moved Mary Nell’s legs onto the pillows at the end of the sofa and spread a quilt over her mother’s them.
“She had a lot of reasons not to think straight her whole life, I reckon. Her husband dead. Eight babies born and died. All those little graves out there on the edge of the pasture. Burying all those babies was enough to touch a woman’s mind. No wonder she didn’t talk much.”
Mary Nell wiped at her eyes with the palms of her hands. “I should of tried harder. I should of drug her into town when she was still young and gotten her a job and shown her a world beyond these woods. I shouldn’t of left her here.”
The story wasn’t new. She’d heard it all before, but this time, she heard more than the words. This time, she could feel the pain behind them, the regret that hid behind the story.
“But you were gone before she came along. There wasn’t much you could have done.” Mary Nell shook her head.
“I could of come back for her. Mary Nell's face lit up. "I was 16. Sparkling new and not half pretty. I was in town one Wednesday when we went in to sell eggs and milk, and I saw that sign in the window of the General Forrest Hotel as we walked down Broad Street next to the cart. It said 'maids wanted'. I weren’t in no shape to walk up to the door that day, but day next, I washed my hair, put on my Sunday dress, and walked the four miles into town on my own. I carried a rag in my pocket to clean the dust off my shoes when I got there.”
Alpha sat down on the chair opposite the sofa. “Did you go into the front door or the back?”
“Lord, I didn’t know no better, so I walked in through the front. I thought I was dressed up right, but then I seen those fancy women in their corsets and turned around and ran right out. I run half way down the street before I stopped. Got my shoes all dusty again.”
"But you wiped them off, right?"
"I did. Spit on them a little too to make them shine. I tell you what, even the back of that place was something to see. Dark, shiny wood on the walls. Green felt carpeting down the middle of the hall. It was fine." She smiled at her memory.
"I'm going to get some tea. You want some?"
"Yeah, get me some. I got to sit up here." She struggled to push herself up.
"Hang on, I'll help you up when I get back. Just keep on talking."
Mary Nell settled back into the pillows.
"Where was I? In the hallway. Miss Jefferson come out of her office to see who I was. She was real nice, gave me some papers to fill out, and told me to sit on a bench in the hallway until she called me in. I was nervous as a cat, but I stuck it out. I needed that job. Papa had died and Mama was having a hard time. Mr. Harding was nice, too. He saw I'd graduated from Model School, and that was enough. He asked Miss Jefferson when she was ready for me to start, and she said could I start right then. Whoo, I tell you what, I like to have fallen out right there."
Alpharetta had heard this story many times before, but it was a little different every time, and her mother enjoyed telling it so. She set the tea glasses on tatted coasters on the table.
"Here you go. Let me help you up."
Mary Nell held her arms out. Between them both, they managed to get her upright. Alpha put a pillow under her knees and propped her feet up on the ottoman.
"Lord have mercy, girl. You got me to looking like one of those women who stayed at the hotel like I saw."
"Well, you deserve it. Now here's your tea. Finish your story."
"I'm about wore out." She said as she sipped her tea."You make good tea. I like it extra sweet like this."
Alpharetta shook her head. "Just don't tell your doctor. You can't have tea like this all the time, you know. You got to watch your sugar."
"I know, but let me enjoy my tea without spoiling it. You're the worst. I can't put a bite in my mouth..."
"The hotel. What happened that afternoon?"
Mary Nell took a long slurp of her tea and smacked her lips. "Let's see. First she took me to meet the head maid. Then she took me up to the very top where they had these little bedrooms for the girls who worked there. They only let unmarried girls work there so they kept them close by. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. They even give me a uniform to wear."
"I bet so. You'd been living in a three room house with all those kids."
"We were sleeping on top of each other. I didn't care about money, that bed to myself was good enough, but it meant I could give Mama more. And they fed us!"
"No wonder you wanted to work there." Alpharetta leaned over to set her tea down as she looked at her watch. "I got to go, Mama."
"That's okay, girl. You been good enough to me today."
"Can I fix you some supper before I go?" Alpharetta petted her mama's legs.
Mary Nell let go a deep sigh.
“Lord, I didn’t know no better, so I walked in through the front. I thought I was dressed up right, but then I seen those fancy women in their corsets and turned around and ran right out. I run half way down the street before I stopped. Got my shoes all dusty again.”
"But you wiped them off, right?"
"I did. Spit on them a little too to make them shine. I tell you what, even the back of that place was something to see. Dark, shiny wood on the walls. Green felt carpeting down the middle of the hall. It was fine." She smiled at her memory.
"I'm going to get some tea. You want some?"
"Yeah, get me some. I got to sit up here." She struggled to push herself up.
"Hang on, I'll help you up when I get back. Just keep on talking."
Mary Nell settled back into the pillows.
"Where was I? In the hallway. Miss Jefferson come out of her office to see who I was. She was real nice, gave me some papers to fill out, and told me to sit on a bench in the hallway until she called me in. I was nervous as a cat, but I stuck it out. I needed that job. Papa had died and Mama was having a hard time. Mr. Harding was nice, too. He saw I'd graduated from Model School, and that was enough. He asked Miss Jefferson when she was ready for me to start, and she said could I start right then. Whoo, I tell you what, I like to have fallen out right there."
Alpharetta had heard this story many times before, but it was a little different every time, and her mother enjoyed telling it so. She set the tea glasses on tatted coasters on the table.
"Here you go. Let me help you up."
Mary Nell held her arms out. Between them both, they managed to get her upright. Alpha put a pillow under her knees and propped her feet up on the ottoman.
"Lord have mercy, girl. You got me to looking like one of those women who stayed at the hotel like I saw."
"Well, you deserve it. Now here's your tea. Finish your story."
"I'm about wore out." She said as she sipped her tea."You make good tea. I like it extra sweet like this."
Alpharetta shook her head. "Just don't tell your doctor. You can't have tea like this all the time, you know. You got to watch your sugar."
"I know, but let me enjoy my tea without spoiling it. You're the worst. I can't put a bite in my mouth..."
"The hotel. What happened that afternoon?"
Mary Nell took a long slurp of her tea and smacked her lips. "Let's see. First she took me to meet the head maid. Then she took me up to the very top where they had these little bedrooms for the girls who worked there. They only let unmarried girls work there so they kept them close by. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. They even give me a uniform to wear."
"I bet so. You'd been living in a three room house with all those kids."
"We were sleeping on top of each other. I didn't care about money, that bed to myself was good enough, but it meant I could give Mama more. And they fed us!"
"No wonder you wanted to work there." Alpharetta leaned over to set her tea down as she looked at her watch. "I got to go, Mama."
"That's okay, girl. You been good enough to me today."
"Can I fix you some supper before I go?" Alpharetta petted her mama's legs.
Mary Nell let go a deep sigh.
"I got some kind of leftovers, I think. You need to get on. Got to feed that family of yours. I bet they are wondering where you went to."
"Does it good for them to miss me now and then. Love you, Mama."
"Love you, too, sweet girl."
"Does it good for them to miss me now and then. Love you, Mama."
"Love you, too, sweet girl."
'