Old Enough

PART III of YA series ~"Old Enough; Surviving Summer~

From under the white, formican kitchen table I watch Pearl's feet as she moves about the room. She has on white shoes, the kind that are for old feet or nurses, with knee high nylon hose. Her dark skin peeks out and says, " let me out!". It's too hot for anything, I don't have on socks and I would certainly not want to be in nylon knee highs. Her ankles are swollen; her legs look real strong though. Her yellow and white plaid dress buttons from the bottom up and her arms, although I can't see them from here, are busy as her hands as she whistles and slaps a big mound of dough. I watch flour dust fall to the floor like a fall morning's frost. I slither slowly toward Pearl's feet and grab onto her left leg and squeeze real tight. She just acts like I'm not here and says, " Hmmm. I smell a snake." I hiss and coil up, then unwind and slide back under the table. Pearl rolls an apple across the floor and it arrives to my den powdered in flour. " I hope snake has brushed it's teeth this morning." Snake bites into the apple with a mean grip and inches down the long hallway to the bathroom.

In the bathroom I hear Pearl stepping down the hallway; I press my ear to the door and stop crunching on my apple. She's talking to Paw-Paw who hasn't gotten out of bed yet; I hear his deep, warm voice but can't make out what he's saying. She says, " not gonna be a problem, Charles." Charles! When company is around she says, "Sir", never heard Pearl say Charles. I hear her turn back my way and start brushing my teeth. She taps on the door anyway and says for me to put on some shoes for walking. After I tie my red sneakers into sloppy bows, I curiously push open Paw-Paw's door. He's lying there with his heavy eyes closed and all the blinds are still shut. I want to touch him yet something tells me I shouldn't. Pearl hollers, " C'mon May!" I get to the kitchen and she's wrapping the dough in wax paper and stuffing it into the fridge. " Your Paw asked me to take you down to my place awhile. You alright with that?" I am more than happy, this has been my favorite dream come true. " Oh yes ma'am!" I reply. Before we leave she goes in my room and packs a "just in case bag". I never heard of one. Pearl explains a " just in case bag, is just that, a bag for stuff you need or like, just in case you miss it." I don't miss my underwear or my pj's when I am anywhere. Then she grabs my Raggedy Ann and stuffs her down in the growing " just in case bag". I remind her I don't like Raggedy Ann anymore and that I would miss my Chinese checkers and smiley face pillow case. She says fine and puts them in the bag. We then go to the bathroom and she gets my toothbrush and hairbrush. What the heck is happening? Is she adopting me? Oh please dear Jesus make my wish come true. We don't look alike but our hearts match like twins. We leave out the side door and she locks it behind her; we begin our journey into Pearl's world one step at a time. She holds my hand so tight like I am a kite that could fly away or a balloon that could burst. She's walking fast and my short legs are skipping beside her. I see a few cars and wave at the people inside; as we get to the bridge that crosses over the train tracks I beg to look over the rusty, green railing to check for hobos. I start to tell Pearl about hobos, train jumpers and almost Hank, my train hopping friend, then remember, barely, to shut my zippity-do-dah trap. She mumbles something like "silence is golden child." I agree that right now, being quiet as we enter Pearl's part of town is a good idea as everybody is staring at me with their big brown eyes from their front steps. Little kids like me playing hop-scotch all stop and gawk. I am tan for me, but I most definitely see that there's no way I can slink into Pearl's neighborhood without a whole lot of attention. Pearl just keeps her eyes straight ahead and grips my hand tighter. She says, "don't mind these folks, they just as curious as you. Don't start hissing at them like you do me; they don't know you yet, but they will as most of them are my cousins." I ask myself, who has this many dang cousins? I don't have one. I decide I possibly could pick up a few cousins here.

We get to Pearl's and even my feet hurt; we walked seven miles. That means Pearl walks fourteen miles everyday but Sunday to me and Paw-Paw. I don't know why she wouldn't just work around here cause it's obvious to me a lot of her cousins look like they could use some help. Her house is by far the best one I've seen. The door's wide open as we approach the steps; she hesitates and says, " I got family staying with me. You like family, too, Miss May. Just don't bite anybody, hear?" Then she laughs a little. " I gotta surprise for you!" My heart is thumping with joy; what could be more perfect of a day, of an unexpected adventure than walking seven whole miles with my " just in case bag", seeing Pearl's house and getting a surprise. I do wonder why Paw-Paw let me come along, but not enough to worry. In the doorway I see right away a little girl, just about my size with coconut hair and smiling eyes. Pearl says. " May, meet my niece Clara. Ya'll go play now."

Author's note; This should read Part III of Sequel, Old Enough; Surviving Summer - Pearl's Place