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By Betty Almond “I really, really gotta go, Bethy,” Missy whined into Bethy’s ear. “I mean, really.” Bethy burrowed deeper into the nest of quilts on the bed. She made herself breathe slow and quiet. It was pitch black in the tiny alcove between Aunt Cat’s bedroom and her parent’s bedroom where the two slept in a single bed. “Bethy!” Missy hissed, lifting herself up and leaning down over Bethy’s face. “I can’t wait no more.” “Just use the pee-pot under the bed,” Bethy whispered, irritated to no end. Missy flopped back on the bed. She clamped her legs shut and grit her teeth. “Peeing won’t help.” Bethy cringed. She didn’t want to go to the outhouse. She didn’t want to tell Missy about the weird noises she heard sometimes. She’d already tried to tell her brother, Little Jim. He had just called her an old scaredy cat. “Now, I gotta go now,” Missy whimpered, then flipped back the covers and yanked Bethy’s arm. “I mean it, Bethy. I’m gonna tell Miss Angel Louise if you don’t go with me.” “Poot!” She ‘d be double dog danged if she’d ask Missy to spend the night again. “We’re going but you better do your business quick,” Bethy warned. She grabbed a flashlight and the screw driver she kept under a pillow in case someone tried to get her in the night, and followed Missy into the dark yard. With each step Bethy kept telling herself to be brave. A Hightower never, ever showed fear, especially in front of your best friend in the whole world. Daddy Jim always said a man didn’t know his own worth if he didn’t face fear head on. She wondered what he’d say about a scaredy cat little girl whose heart was threatening to jump out of her chest. As soon as they reached the outhouse and opened the door, Missy whimpered. “Shine the flashlight in both holes.” She shuddered. “I’m scared to death of snakes.” Bethy puffed up like a toady frog. “We don’t have snakes in our outhouse. Daddy Jim left the bottom boards off the back where the chickens could get in and peck around and scare off the snakes.” “Yeah, right.” Missy rolled her eyes. “I reckon he had some cockamamie reason for leaving off the top boards, too.” Bethy plopped her hands on her hips. “Anybody with any sense knows the back of our outhouse has that great big old chinaberry tree blocking the view.”
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2001 Betty Almond