I treated Joy like a princess. She toured every spot of that facility. Met Joshua. Liked him immensely. (She had been hit on the head, remember.) Didn’t think Jessica had very good manners for a Southern young woman. (So maybe she wasn’t hit real hard.) Loved to watch the printing press. Got her a snack in the break room . The woman couldn’t pass up food if she was muzzled.
She and Paige would have been soulmates.
We stole away to Jezebel’s and got her a great yellow linen ensemble. Then I stole her away to my parents’ house for thirty minutes to let her shower and to make her beautiful. If the newspaper thing failed, I definitely had a fallback career: personal stylist to street people. She was still beautiful but greasy by the time we finished lunch at Lady & Sons. But Miss Paula Dean made over her like she was royalty. Joy told her she had some recipes she would send, but she couldn’t quite remember where they were right now. Miss Paula told her to mail them when she got the time.
By our return to the paper at noon, a page came over the loudspeaker, asking me to come to Mr. Hicks’s office. I knew what this meant. Joy was going home. I left her at my desk for a minute so I could make sure everything was okay upstairs. It was. And when I returned to fetch her, she had neatly folded up Section B with my article on top and laid it on my desk.
I touched her arm, and she looked up at me with a smile.“I’m proud of you, baby girl. Real proud.”
I tried to fight the burning in my nose and the swell of tears in my eyes.“Come on, Joy. Let me take you to see my boss’s office. He has the best view in the place.”
“Oh, I’d like that, Savannah.” She hooked her black arm around mine, giving them an Oreo effect. “I sure have enjoyed this day.”
I smiled at her sincere black eyes. “Me too, me too.” I put her black hand in mine and appreciated the nice way we had cleaned up her short nails. Her hair looked good too, for the rush job we did.
“Think we can do this again?”
I knew that after today I might never see my new friend again. “Sure, I would love that.” And I meant every word.
I could hear voices coming from Mr. Hicks’s office. And as soon as we rounded the corner, a fortyish man ran out of the room and down the hall.“Mama! Oh, Mama! We’ve looked and looked for you . Thank God you’re safe.”
When he reached her, he wrapped her in a death grip. And his arms made it all the way around her. I could see her eyes as her head rested on his broad shoulder . They were searching and almost frightened. For a moment I wanted to reach out and protect her; she thought he was a stranger. But this was his mama. He had lost her, and now he had found her. And he wasn’t letting her go.
Finally she pushed him away and stared blankly into his matching dark eyes. He looked at her with such an ache. I couldn’t imagine the pain of not being recognized by the one who took you to preschool and taught you to tie your shoes (or in my case, buckle your pumps). But then there was a flicker beneath the bewilderment. And her sweet and smooth hand went up to his face and touched it.“Baby boy,” she said.“My baby boy.”
And with that he fell back into her arms and began to cry. And she patted his head, just like a mama would. And he wept.
“Hush, baby. Mama’s okay. Mama’s just fine,” she assured him as she stroked his head. By then her other children had surrounded us, and I stepped back to let them have this moment to themselves. I did notice there was no Mr. Joy. Just children. But no matter why Mr. Joy didn’t exist, she still lived her name. Even that untold story refused to deter her from being Joy. Her children gushed over her and patted her and loved her and scolded her, and she just loved the whole thing. She laughed and talked and patted and told them stories. Oh, the stories she had to tell.
As they made their way to the elevator, I wiped my tears on the back of my hand . They thanked me and Mr. Hicks, even Jessica, because she had witnessed the whole thing. I didn’t even care . Who would care about that at this point? I might care about it later, but right now it was all okay.
I listened to Joy’s familiar swooshing sound and wished I had one more plate of catfish that we could share. I watched as the yellow ensemble made its way up the hall and planned to burn her old one with Mother’s blue number upon my arrival home. I saw Joy reach her hand over to her oldest son and stop him. She turned around and looked at me.
She held out her arms. And I gladly accepted. I walked over to her and buried my head in her ample bosom, one I was certain had held many the head of a child through the years. My head fit perfectly. I tried to stifle my tears but couldn’t. Again, I didn’t care. I leaned up and whispered in her ear. “I’m going to miss you, Ms. Joy.”
She whispered back.“I’m going to miss you too,Miss Savannah.” She pulled me back and looked me square in the eye. Her eyes pierced me one last time. At least I hoped for a while . The woman had about worn me out.
“You see that man over there?” she asked me, pointing at Mr. Hicks.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“His name’s Samuel. I saw his placard on his door . Do you know what that means?”
“I have no idea.”
“It means ‘man who heard from God.’ And men who hear, Savannah, teach. If they are any men at all,” she said, peering up to give him a clear message.
He winked at her in response. She replied in kind. She looked back at me.“You’re going to see a lot and do a lot, baby girl . You’re going to touch people and tell people’s stories and share more dinners with strangers.” She was tickled with herself, and her belly bounced. “But you learned something this week . You’re learning how to be. ’Cause you’ve been something to me.”
I wanted to be stoic. I bit my lip in a vain attempt. But the tears fell freely. “And you’ve been to me, Ms. Joy. I’ve seen and heard every word. I’ll never forget you.”
“I wouldn’t want you to. ’Cause we’re going to do this again, remember?”
That made me laugh. She was telling me to remember. “I remember.”
“And you chose the right road, baby,” she said with a knowing smile. “You’re right, every treasure you need for being is etched right here.” She tapped her finger on my heart. “And no one can ever steal what is in your heart.” She kissed me on my cheek and gave me one final penetrating look.
I stared into her beautiful dark eyes, which revealed her very soul.“You’re an angel, aren’t you?”
“No, baby girl. I’m a mother.” She took the hand of her oldest son and turned to leave. She left humming.
That familiar tune rolled around in my head. Finally it hit me. “I know it!” I hollered loud enough to frighten us all. “I know what you’re humming!”
“Took you long enough.” She turned around with a sly smile.
“‘Rock of Ages.’That’s it, isn’t it? It’s ‘Rock of Ages.’”
“You got it, baby girl. ‘Rock of Ages.’ And that won’t change, no matter what happens up the street.”