Terrence
August 7, 1943
Thirteen! Terrence couldn’t believe his little sister was a teenager, and he felt kinda sad about the “little girl” time he’d missed. He drummed the table to clear his mind. This was supposed to be a happy day, with Momma bringing Patty and Missy for a birthday celebration later on. He’d been trying to think of something to give Patty, but pickings were kinda slim.
Archy the Cockroach skittered under the bunk. Maybe a new pet? Nah. She hated bugs. Besides, he’d miss having the little guy around. But maybe the book. He’d finished reading and correcting it and was sure Mr. Blake wouldn’t mind if he passed it on to his sister. She’d get a kick outta knowing he’d found himself his own cockroach and named it Archy.
He’d have to make a card. But dang, he was no artist. Tearing a piece of paper from his notebook, he tried to think of something to draw. He pulled archy and mehitabel from the stack of books on the table. Mehitabel the Cat. Perfect. Patty loved cats. He’d draw Mehitabel dressed in the Cleopatra costume of her previous life.
“What’re you drawing?” asked Carter.
“A cat. Today is Patty’s birthday.”
“How old is she?”
“Thirteen.”
“A teenager, huh?” Carter’s voice got quiet and he stared out at the corridor.
“How old’s Jenny anyways?” Terrence asked.
“She’s nine. Be ten next month.”
He could tell by the distant look in Carter’s eyes—sad and mad at the same time—he was probably thinking about his daddy doing things to Jenny.
Time to change the subject. He didn’t want Carter dwelling on it and he for sure didn’t wanna let it ruin Patty’s birthday. “Man, this is one time I think I’m glad to be holed up in this place. Can you imagine having a teenage sister? All that time she’ll be spending in the bathroom, trying to make herself pretty for all the boys?”
Carter flashed a toothless grin. “Yeah. Sometimes girls aren’t much fun to be around. One minute, they’re happy-go-lucky. Next minute, they’re little witches.”
Terrence had already seen some of that moodiness in Patty. Like that time she scowled all through dinner, then left the table crying when he took a carrot off her plate. Heck, she didn’t even like carrots. He thought he was doing her a favor.
“Momma!” she had yelled, tearing away from the table. “Make him stop!” Then she stormed off to her room.
Momma just shook her head and smiled. “Don’t pay her no mind, son. It’s just she getting ready for the monthly curse. You best get ready for it, too.”
He didn’t know nothing about the monthly curse, but he’d seen enough to decide not to touch it with a ten-foot pole.
Grinning at Carter, he clasped his hands and stretched them over his head. “Like I said. I’m sure not gonna miss being around my sister during her crazy times.” He drew Cleopatra eyes on Mehitabel the Cat and held it up for Carter to see. “Finished.”
“Patty like cats?”
“Yeah. We got one at home named Clyde. But this here is Mehitabel. She’s Archy’s friend. I’m giving her my copy of archy and mehitabel for her birthday.”
“Why don’t you give her your pet cockroach, too?” Carter shuddered. “’Fraid I can’t take the same liking to Archy as you.”
When Terrence walked into the visitor area, he slowed his pace to study Patty. She looked all grown up, sitting next to Momma and Missy. Dressed all pretty in her birthday dress. How was it that turning thirteen could make her look so different, not like a little girl anymore? He kind of missed his little-girl sister. All of a sudden, she was gone.
But it wasn’t just that she looked older. She had some kinda weird, dreamy look in her eyes, like she was in some faraway place. Had Momma seen it, too?
Momma turned in his direction and flashed a big smile that made her cheeks even rounder. It always gave him a happy feeling inside. He pulled out a chair. “Happy birthday, Sis.”
Patty giggled, and for a second, she looked like the little girl he remembered.
“Got something for you.” He flashed his gift, then hid it under his shirt again. “Gonna have to give it to the guard to bring around to you.”
Patty’s eyes got real big. “Really? What is it?”
Missy’s eyes rolled, an unmistakable message. He shoulda brought something for her, too. “I got a big surprise for you next time, little Miss. But this time it’s Patty’s special day.” He held up a finger—a motion to wait—and left his booth to give Patty’s present to the guard.
When he returned, he found Patty whispering in Momma’s ear. Though curious as all get out, he pretended not to see. They jolted back to their original positions when he sat again.
“The guard’s bringing your present around,” he said.
Patty nudged Momma.
“Son,” Momma said, “Missy and me’ll go after the guard bring your present. Patty say she wanna have some time alone with you.” She frowned at Patty and shook her head. “Don’t like cutting off my time with you, but it’s her birthday and all.”
Prison had sure enough changed things in the Harris family. There was a time when Patty didn’t want anything to do with Terrence. Now she was asking to be alone with him.
The guard arrived on the visitors’ side with the gift. Missy jumped out of her chair to see what it was, then grabbed for it.
Patty whined, “Hey, that’s for me.”
Some things hadn’t changed.
Patty crinkled her nose. “Archy and Mehi … Mehi?”
“Archy and Mehitabel,” he said. “Mr. Blake gave it to me.”
She flipped through the pages, Missy gawking over her shoulder.
“I think you’ll like Mehitabel. She used to be Cleopatra, you know. Me? I like Archy. Matter a fact …” He hesitated.
“What?” Patty and Missy asked at the same time.
Terrence leaned in. “Now, don’t laugh, but I got a pet cockroach. Named him Archy.”
Momma slapped her hands on the table. “Terrence! You got a pet roach?”
His sisters giggled.
“Hey, now. Don’t knock it. It ain’t—I mean it isn’t—like I can have a dog or a cat for a pet. We make do with what we got around here. Anyways, Patty, that’s one of my favorite books. I expect to see it taken care of real good when I get outta here.”
Missy tried to pull the book closer.
“Careful now, Missy. Sis will read it to you. Right, Patty?”
“Yeah, I guess,” she mumbled, then glanced at Momma with raised brows.
Momma clucked her tongue. “Guess me and Missy will leave you two alone now.” She blew a kiss to Terrence. “See you next week, son. Take care yourself.”
“Okay, bye, Momma. Bye, Missy.” He watched Patty, waiting for her to say something.
She stared at her hands, folded on the table and bit the corner of her lip.
The silence seemed too long. “What’s going on, Patty?”
“Terrence?” She bit her nails.
“Yeah?”
“You ever had a real bad crush on someone?”
He exhaled, relieved and tickled, and stifled a chuckle. An urge to tease struck him, but right now he had to be a good big brother. “Yeah. ’Course, it’s usually the girls that have a crush on me.” He winked.
“Well, actually, I think he—his name is William—William has a crush on me, too. Anyways, he keeps smiling at me from across the classroom.” She twirled her ponytail around her finger and had that faraway look in her eyes again.
He tried to remember his first big crush. Maria. Man, she was pretty. Not as pretty as Patty though. Sure, that first crush had been a big deal, but he still didn’t know why his sister needed to talk to him alone. Momma would’ve understood.
Sitting back in his chair, he waited, trying hard to be patient. Girls!
“Well …” She seemed to be avoiding looking at him.
He checked the clock on the wall. “Patty, I don’t wanna rush you, but my time is almost up. You need to talk to me about something?”
“Terrence, now don’t you get mad at me.”
Uneasiness swiped at him. What was going on? “I ain’t gonna get mad at you, but you best tell me quick.” He glanced at the clock again.
She took a deep breath. “Well … what would you say if I told you … William is, well, he’s white?”