"I can't believe she asked him for a divorce"
she sobbed, wiping her eyes with a hanky
and holding on tight to Mom's hand.
"I told Darla that all women have things to put up with
and just because he doesn't talk much
or seem interested in her
or the kids
doesn't mean he's not a good husband."
Mom made a soothing mmmmm.
"I told her that people like us
just plain folks
have as much a chance of meeting Mr. Right
as we do of getting rich and famous."
We waited 'til Sister Mary cried herself dry
then the three of us left
with our mops and brooms and buckets
and walked down the road a piece
to Darla's little house.
Darla was unhappy.
She had been crying, too.
So had her daughter, Lena
and her son, Lewis.
Sister Mary sent me and Lena upstairs
to dustmop the bedroom floors
and wash down the walls.
I was glad to go
because the downstairs was such a hot unhappy place.
"I'm not living here,"
Lena said, slamming a bedroom door so hard
that the little house trembled.
"I'm going home.
I'm old enough to make up my own mind.
I'm sixteen, for Pete's sake."
"Maybe you should stay with your Mom
for a little bit
just to help out"
I said.
"My Mom has gone crazy.
Stark raving mad."
Lena threw a wet rag at me and motioned for me to start
washing the walls.
Which I did.
She was too mad to mess with.
The upstairs was hot
but not very dirty
so we got done pretty quick.
Downstairs, Lewis was running in and out
being a first-class pest
and Darla was sitting on the floor
crying
and Mom was sitting in front of her
on the floor
smoothing her forehead with a wet washcloth.
"Near the end, we left notes on the table for each other"
Darla sobbed to Mom
"not that he could read them anyway
he was so dumb."
"I don't miss him
but I really really miss my kitchen."
Mom gently pushed her hair behind her ears
because it was hanging in her eyes.
"Well, honey, you can always go back
and tell him you're sorry."
"Yeah, let's go back and tell Daddy we're sorry"
Lena said
tossing the dustmop at Lewis who was coming in the back door
making sure to hit him
and make him holler.
Sister Mary wet another washcloth under the rusty spigot
and handed it to Mom.
"Look at this house, Darla sweetie"
she said.
"Why, this is just an old crackerbox
compared to your place.
You don't want to live here, honey."
Darla stood up and glared at her Mom.
"Just because you stayed with Daddy all these years
putting up with him drinking
and only taking a bath on Saturday nights
and making your life miserable
is no reason I should have to do the same thing."
"Well, your Daddy had to put up with me, too
going to church all the time which he didn't like
burning his biscuits
and expecting him to get to work every day even when his head hurt
which he has done every day since we got married."
Everybody fell silent.
All of a sudden Darla collapsed on the floor
and screamed
"Oh, why couldn't he just do what I asked him to do?
Would it be so hard to pay attention to me
and talk to me
and the kids?"
"I don't care if he talks to me or not!"
Lena said
squatting so that she could look her Mom in the eye
"Daddy's a farmer
and what he cares about
is if the corn's up and the cows are fed."
"Oh, what do you know!"
Darla said, glaring back at her daughter.
Lena stood up and sashayed outside
slamming the screened door behind her.
"Just promise me that you'll think about it."
Sister Mary said, leaning down to help her daughter up.
Darla looked exhausted.
She sat down in a broken chair
and pulled it up to the kitchen table
and started making little doodles with her fingertip
in the dust on the table.
"Okay, Ma, I'll think about it."
All the fight was wrung right out of her.
Mom and me had to get going
because Daddy wanted to go calling on his congregation
so we said our goodbyes
and Mom hugged Darla
and I waved at Lena
who was leaning on the fence
with a mean look on her face
and we started walking home.
"Mom, do you have to put up with Daddy?"
I asked.
Mom laughed
and took my hand
so that we held hands walking
and she said
"Do I ever!
Sometimes your Daddy about drives me crazy!"
Mom stepped up the pace
because Daddy didn't like it if we weren't prompt
and she said
"But I wouldn't have it any other way."
Down the road we saw Daddy's car
with the boys and the baby stuffed into it.
Daddy was hunched over the steering wheel
looking mad
and when he stopped for us
Mom jumped in beside him
and said
"Oh, honey, we got held up a little bit.
It's such a sad story
I'll tell you all about it later."
Daddy's face smoothed out
and he made a u-turn
and took us home
and smooched with Mom a minute
before he drove off to visit his congregation.
Music playing: There Goes My Everything
This page contains copyrighted material
Go to Page 29
Penny, for this stunning banner!
Click on my banner to go to INDEX
This is a friend's site which is "under construction" - bookmark it to see it grow and develop!
From Jim and Pat Sanders
