Raney (9 page)

It flashed in my mind again about what these prostitutes probably do, and I wondered if Mrs. Shepherd maybe had any idea, and I wondered what she thought about all that. She might think
it's
okay! I wondered if some of Charles's attitudes could have somehow come from her
—
if she had the same weakness Charles had. If Charles's weakness came from her! I remembered her and Mr. Shepherd hugging and kissing in front of everybody at the wedding. Putting on like that. I wondered about all the connections. How can you tell? You can't ask!

"I don't know what
victims has
to do with all this," said Aunt Naomi. "You don't need to have a victim to break the word of God."

"If a you-know-what is not a
victim,"
says Mama, "I don't know who is
—
but I haven't studied all that about different kinds of crimes."

"Daddy," I said, "what if he is convicted? You'll fire him then, won't you? I mean if he's convicted."

"I don't see what difference it makes whether he's convicted.
He done
it. Anybody knows that," says Aunt Naomi.

"Well," says Daddy. "I'd want to wait and see what happens."

I had never thought about Daddy keeping somebody on the job who'd do something like that. But the problem is: it didn't seem to make any difference to about half the table sitting in my own mama's house for Sunday dinner, every one kin to me in some way. I don't understand why people won't take a stand where they ought to. Especially my own daddy.

"It's your store," says Mama.

Things got quiet again, except for forks hitting on dishes and Uncle Nate chewing with his mouth open.

"Millie, did you hear about Norris getting the fishing hook hung in his nose at the beach?" said Aunt Flossie.

"Yes, I did. Charles told me on the phone. That must have been something. Were you afraid, Norris?"

"I was afraid when it first happened. I thought a bird or something had
flew
up my nose."

We all laughed and then Uncle Nate told about the time one of Uncle Springer's boys told his little brother to stick his tongue to a froze ax. We'd all heard it but Millie and Charles hadn't. That got Uncle Nate into telling about the first car Uncle Springer ever saw that had a rear view mirror on the inside and Uncle Springer says, "I comb
my
hair
before
I leave home."

Uncle Springer was the one who was so bashful that on his wedding night he peed down his leg into the pot so he wouldn't make any noise. So they
say.

The stories eased the tension some. For me, anyway. We finished eating; Mama and Aunt Flossie cleaned up; then we sat and talked for awhile. At about two-thirty we left and drove home. I could tell Charles was getting tired of sitting and talking. Then at about five o'clock we took Millie and those big suitcases to the airport.

Just before she got on the plane, she gave me a big hug and a kiss. I hugged her back but didn't have time to figure out where to kiss her before we'd turned each other loose. I've just never hugged and kissed people I don't know real well. Or people I do know real well, for that matter.

VIII

It won't Sneeds they arrested. It was Sam Perry, Sneeds's first cousin. The newspaper got it mixed up because Sam signed Sneeds's name and gave Sneeds's address, and at the police station he actually had the driver's license that Sneeds thought he'd lost. Daddy said Sam told Sneeds he didn't want his wife and kids to find out and he figured Sneeds wouldn't mind. Sneeds told Daddy that Sam had done the same thing before and so
he
wadn't too surprised. I can't believe somebody would do something like that to their own cousin.

I was in the store Saturday morning trying to figure out whether I should mention the whole thing to Sneeds when Charles called and said to call Mama. I did, and she wanted to know if I could come over and stay with Norris and Mary Faye that afternoon while she went to sit with Uncle Newton
—
while Aunt Minnie helped with the church barbecue. Aunt Minnie is Daddy's sister and has had an awful time taking care of Uncle Newton. She has to stay with him all the time. Charles was supposed to play tennis that afternoon with somebody from the library, so I said I'd be glad to come over and help out.

The only reason Mama wanted me to stay is because Uncle Nate had disappeared for two days and she was afraid he might come riding up in a Yellow Cab, drunk, with nobody at home but Mary Faye and Norris.

So I went over Saturday at about two. Right before Mama
drove
off she blew the police whistle for Mary Faye and Norris, who were up the road at Teresa Campbell's house, to come on home. When she saw them coming
—
on their bicycles
—
she got in the car and drove off.

She was just out of sight around the curve when Norris, going about fifty miles an hour, turned, or tried to turn, into the driveway
—
on his Piggly Wiggly Special (that bike he won at the Piggly Wiggly opening: with a row of little red glass rubies up and down the fenders, and a saddle bag, and black rubber mud flaps, and sticking right out front under where the handlebars come together, this solid cast, little brown and white pig head). He had just passed Mary Faye, going as fast as he could, standing up. Then he sat back down and turned about one foot short of the edge of the driveway. The front wheel dipped into the ditch; the bike stopped; and he made
a
arc through the air
—
landing full on his thumb.

When I got to him he was sitting on the ground looking at his right hand like he'd never seen it before. His thumb was drooped down like a broke tree limb, and where it connected to his hand looked like a golf ball.

Mary Faye was standing there. "That thumb is broke, Norris. You can't move it, can you?"

Norris looked up at her, then at me, then at his thumb, and started bawling. I gathered myself as best I could. "Come on," I said. "We'll take you to emergency, right now. Do you hurt anywhere else?" All I could do was take him to the emergency room. That was the only thing to do. His hand looked awful.

Norris said No he wadn't hurting anywhere else, and stood up slow, crying, holding his hurt hand up and in front with his other hand like he was carrying a bunch of flowers.

We hadn't walked no more than ten steps when a Yellow Cab pulls into the driveway.
It was like the ocean had pulled in and was about to drown everything. I just stopped and stood there. "Oh
no,"
says Mary Faye.

"Ya'll stay right here," I said. It was clear I had to take over. I'd have to do what Mama would do, which was take over. I walked to the driver's side of the taxi. The driver was a pale little man with short red and gray hair, a scrawny mustache, and no teeth. "Howdy," I said.

"Howdy, ma'am."

I looked through at Uncle Nate sitting on the passenger side. His head was down like he was asleep. "Uncle Nate, you ought to be ashamed of yourself." He didn't even look up. "Mary Faye, ya'll go on up and sit down on the porch. No, wait a minute. Go in and call Aunt Minnie and tell her to tell Mama, when she gets there, to come back home and sit with Uncle Nate
—
that it looks like Norris broke his thumb and I got to take him to emergency. Tell her his thumb is all that's hurt. Tell her it might just be out of place. Ask Aunt Minnie if she minds being a little late for the barbecue."

"I don't know the number."

"It's in that address thing
—
under Minnie."

"Sir," I said to the cab driver. "Can you wait one minute while I figure out what to do?"

"No problem. Meter's running."

"Uncle Nate, I ought to call the sheriff right now. If I didn't have to take care of Norris, I would."

Uncle Nate looked up. "Where's Doris at?"

"She's on the way to Aunt Minnie's, to sit with Uncle Newton."

"How's ole Newt?"

"He's okay, I guess. He's
sober.
That's for sure."

"Me and Newt were in the war together," Uncle Nate said to the cab driver.

"Uncle Nate, he
don't
care. Can you get out? You ought to be ashamed of yourself. I'm in the middle of Norris's broke thumb and here you show up, drunk, and probably without one cent. Have you got any money?"

Uncle Nate stuck his hand down in his front pocket.

"He said his sister would pay," said the cab driver.

"That's what I figured," I said.

Mary Faye came out. "The line's busy."

Norris was sitting on the front steps. He started crying, and then hollering. "Oh, it's starting to hurt! Ohhhh!" He was holding his hand down between his legs, rocking back and forth, looking at me.

"Elevate it
—
hold it up," I said.

"They might have to take it off," said Mary Faye.

I was standing there in the front yard, knowing I had to make a decision. I decided Uncle Nate would have to go to the emergency room with us. There was nothing else to do. I went around to the passenger side and opened the door. Or I could call the sheriff. Or I could send him over to Uncle Newton's in the taxi and let Mama look after him. No, that would get Uncle Newton all upset. But Uncle Nate was about asleep. That was good. I figured if he'd stay in the car at emergency, everything would be okay.

"Sir, would you please help me get him in the back seat of my car over there."

"Yeah, I'll help," said the cab driver. "That's a broke thumb if ever I seen one." He'd caught a glimpse of Norris's thumb.

"I know. I've got to get him to emergency."

We got Uncle Nate out of the taxi and into the back seat of my car. He went right on down,
laying
on his side in the seat with his feet in the floor. His shirt tail was out on the side and his hair was pushed up in back with little flecks of white thread or something all in there.

I paid the taxi driver; Norris and Mary Faye got in the car, up front with me.

Norris stopped crying about halfway to the emergency room, and when we turned into the hospital driveway, Uncle Nate sat up. "Is Newt up here?" he said.

"Uncle Newton's at home, Uncle Nate. Norris hurt his thumb and
we're having
to take him to emergency."

"Less see that thumb, boy."

Norris held up his thumb.

"Oh, that ain't
nothing
." He leaned up right behind me. "Raney." I could smell his breath. I was almost afraid of him. I had this flash thought of him grabbing me around the neck, although Uncle Nate is normally pretty gentle, drunk or sober, except when he's drunk and gets mad and cusses. "Raney, where's Doris?"

"She's at Uncle Newton's. I told you a minute ago."

We pulled the car up close to the emergency room door and stopped. "Now, Uncle Nate, you stay right here. I'll be right back."

"
Does
Mary Faye and Norris remember me and Newt were in the war together?"

"Yessir," I said. "Now please stay in the back seat, Uncle Nate. Will you do that? I'll be right back."

"I certainly will. You know I love you, Raney."

I got out and came around and opened the door for Norris. He had stopped crying. He got out, holding his hand up with that thumb dangling, and we all started in, except for Uncle Nate. I looked back. He was sitting with his head slumped over.

When we got to the emergency room door, I said, "Mary Faye, stand right here at the door, and if Uncle Nate gets out of the car, you come in and tell me."

"I want to go in."

"Mary Faye."

"I won't know where you're at," she said.

"Raney, what are they going to do to it?" says Norris, looking up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Wait a minute, Norris." I looked at Mary Faye. "Do what you have to do, Mary Faye
—
for goodness sakes. They're going to fix it, Norris."

We all three went in through the door. Some people were sitting in chairs and there was a big nurse across the room at a desk. Two nigger orderlies were sitting behind her
—
smoking cigarettes and wearing those little green scarf hats with strings hanging down beside their ears.

We walked up to the desk. The nurse asked a bunch of questions and about time I finished answering them all I hear this loud, banging crash behind me at the door. I look, and there's Uncle Nate: sitting on the floor, half in and half out the emergency room door. Some woman wearing a dress, brown shoes, and white socks jumped up and rushed over to him. I started toward him, but Norris almost hollered, "Raney, wait a minute, what are they going to do? It hurts!" The orderlies stood up to look at Uncle Nate.

The woman with white socks said, "This man needs help! His
eyeballs is
rolled back!" The orderlies started running toward Uncle Nate, pushing a table-bed. I heard the woman say, "I think he had a stroke," and before I could say anything
—
Norris was holding on to my arm with his good hand
—
the orderlies had Uncle Nate on the bed, rolling him right by me. "Wait a minute, he's my uncle!" I said. They stopped. And here Uncle Nate sort of came around and started cussing the orderlies terrible.

"Uncle Nate
stop
that right now or I'm going to call Dorcus Kerr to come get you and take you to jail. You all unstrap him from there."

"That woman said he had a stroke," said one orderly.

"Don't let him off there," said the other one.

"I thought you were with this boy," said the nurse to me.

"Raney, I don't want to get it operated on," said Norris. "You
better
be
quiet,"
said Mary Faye.

"I'm with both of them," I said to the nurse. "This one's drunk; he didn't have a stroke."

One of the orderlies pulled a strap tighter on Uncle Nate. Uncle Nate was cussing him awful. "And where you got Newt?" he said to the one closest to his head.

"I ain't got
no
Newt. What you talking about, man?"

"Young woman, we're not equipped to handle alcoholism," said the nurse.

"I didn't bring him to the emergency room," I said.

"Who brought this man?" said the nurse to everybody in the emergency room. Then she said to me. "Is your mother here?"

"I'm twenty-four years old," I said.

Norris pulled at my arm. The woman with the white socks came walking up. "I thought he might
a had
a stroke," she said. "His eyes was rolled back and all. It was that way with my granddaddy. He had a stroke last year and when
—
"

"I brought him," I said, "but I left him in the car and
—
"

"Raney!" said Norris.

"Somebody has to take care of his thumb," I said to the nurse.

"I got papers in on him," said the nurse. "The doctor will be here in a minute."

"How do you feel?" said the woman with socks
—
to Uncle Nate.

"I feel like if I don't get off this goddamned table in five seconds, I'm gone whip ass when I do."

"I'm gonna strap your ass down so tight your eyeballs'll pop out," said the orderly. "Then I'm calling the police."

"I'll
call the law," I said. "You don't know who to call."

"The hell I don't."

"Wait a minute, Jerry." said the nurse. "I'll call Security."

"Call the goddamned Security," said Uncle Nate.

There was Mary Faye and Norris standing there hearing all that.

"Uncle Nate, please be quiet. You're in trouble. Don't make it worse."

"I was in trouble when I was born."

"Not like you gonna be," said the orderly.

"Stop egging him on," I said.

Up walked the doctor, thank the Lord. The nurse was on the phone: "Donald, send somebody to emergency. We've got a man disturbing the peace."

"What's his name?" said the doctor. He was picking up a clipboard.