Chapter Eight

FOR THE SECOND TIME in less than twelve hours, Beatrice watched her granddaughter come to. But not on her kitchen floor. This time, Evelyn was stretched out on a rolling cot with lights glaring down in her face. From her spot in the corner of the frigid, sterile room, Beatrice’s eyes followed a groggy Evelyn as she conducted a self-inspection. Her bushy silver eyebrows furrowed as her granddaughter’s fingers found the bandage pasted squarely across the middle of her forehead.

“Ever’thang still in place?”

Evelyn cried out. Her wide eyes darted across the space to Granny B, sitting in a chair on the left side of the room.

She stood and walked over. She read Evelyn’s shock.

Evelyn tried to raise herself to a sitting position. “Wh-what h-happened? Wh-what are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? Well, obviously, I’m here to see you. You need to be explainin’ whatchyou doin’ here.” She gripped her granddaughter’s left arm and hand and helped her sit upright on the bed. The girl’s hand shook slightly in her own. “Take it slow, gal.”

Beatrice could feel Evelyn watching her every move. Does this crazy chile think I done somethin’ to her? Her mouth twitched as she propped a pillow behind Evelyn’s head and back. “You gon’ be all right, gal. Why don’t you lay back on this pillow and get yo’self together. You gon’ be all right. From what the police can tell, you was parked ’side the road and some fool car slammed right into you.” She inclined her head toward Evelyn. “It don’t make much sense to me, why you woulda been parked along that highway, but that’s what they say happened.” Granny B studied Evelyn.

“I was driving home . . . and I pulled beside the road because . . . I felt a bad headache coming on . . . so I decided to pull off to the side . . . right at the turnoff. . . . I sat there for a few minutes . . . then I thought . . . if I could just close my eyes for a moment and lean back on the headrest, I would feel better and I could drive on to Mama’s.”

Granny B craned her head toward Evelyn as the words tumbled over each other, gaining momentum as the memory of the entire morning’s events rushed back. She watched her let down her guard and relax in tiny increments—first the small of her back, then the middle, her shoulders, and finally her head against the pillow.

“So how you feelin’? Anythang hurt? Do I need to get one of them doctors or nurses in here?”

Evelyn slowly moved her arms and wriggled each of her fingers. She shifted her right leg, then her left, rotated her ankles, and curled her toes.

Granny B commented dryly, “In case you wonderin’, yo’ baby is fine.”

“The baby.”

Has she not even wondered how this accident affected it . . . her . . . him? “Yes, ‘the baby.’ You ain’t even thought ’bout that baby, have you? I watched you. You gave mo’ ’tention to that little toe longer than you gave to whatchyou carryin’ round in that belly of yours. You ever gon’ ask about it?”

“I haven’t . . . I mean, did you . . . ?”

Granny B knew the answer to the question Evelyn couldn’t speak. “No, I ain’t told nobody. It’s still that secret you been workin’ so hard to hide.” She paused. “It ain’t none of my business to tell, though I’m sho yo’ mama wouldn’t agree with that.”

Evelyn closed her eyes and expelled a whoosh of air.

“Well, ’course you never said you was pregnant, but I knew better.” Granny B folded back the sheet and tucked it a bit under Evelyn’s armpits. “So when yo’ mama and I got here, I made sure to tell them doctors ’bout you being pregnant so they wouldn’t do nuthin’ they shouldn’t be doin’.”

“Mama’s here? Why were you together? Where is she now?”

Seeing her eyes water and the obvious pain she was in, Granny B stopped judging, at least long enough to put Evelyn’s whirring mind to rest. “’Lis’beth called me up to find out what had happened to you, why it was takin’ you so long to get home. ’Fo’ I could explain that you was long gone, somebody called her on her phone. Turned out it was the hospital, sayin’ you was here. I guess they got the number from ’Lis’beth’s car. I got Ruby and Lerenzo to bring me over, but they can pick me up now I see you fine.”

Evelyn’s shoulders relaxed. “So where’s Mama now?”

“It’s not my whereabouts you should worry about.” The woman in question pranced into the room before Granny B could answer. “You should be more concerned about you. What were you thinking, parking along that road like that?” Lis strode briskly over to the cot and started smoothing down her daughter’s hair.

Gruffly Granny B instructed, “’Lis’beth, stop messin’ over the girl. You prob’ly makin’ her head hurt with all that rubbin’.”

Lis threw her a this-is-my-daughter-and-I’ll-do-what-I-want-to glare. Continuing to finger-comb her daughter’s curly strands, she demanded, “Explain yourself, Evelyn. You could have been killed! Not to say anything about the fact that that crazy driver demolished my car!” She pursed her lips and added under her breath, “My new car, at that.”

Evelyn brushed away her mama’s hand. “Do you mind if we continue this particular discussion later when I’m not lying on my deathbed?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call this your winding sheet.” Lis perched on the end of the cot.

Granny B stepped back, silently witnessing the tableau created by the two who never could abide much of each other. Lis fussed over and at her daughter while Evelyn stiff-armed her mother, flicking away her hands and answering her in one-word sentences. Neither looked satisfied; both seemed frustrated. That chile wish ’Lis’beth would disappear in a puff of smoke . . . and take me with her.

But the only puff either was rewarded with was a whiff of Dolce & Gabbana’s Light Blue as Lis lifted and straightened the starchy white hospital linen crumpled around Evelyn. “Don’t worry; you’re not in danger of taking your last breath. Doctors say you can go home in the morning. They just want to make sure you don’t experience complications.” Lis searched the room. “In fact, I should get one of those doctors in here so they can check your eyes with that light or take your pulse or do whatever it is they need to do to give you a clean bill of health.”

She turned to Beatrice. “Mama, did you let anybody know she was awake?”

Granny B shook her head curtly. Who do I look like?

“I’ll see if I can find somebody who can help us out.” Lis halted at the door. “But you’re going to have to tell me why you were parked beside the road. You couldn’t have made it another ten miles to the house before taking a nap?”

After the doors whispered closed behind her, Evelyn retreated to the pillows to accept whatever thin comfort they could provide. “Thank you for not telling her about the baby. That’s one discussion I’m not ready for.”

“Don’t be thankin’ me. That’s between you and yo’ mama, and I ain’t in it. But you better tell her—”

“Better tell me what?” Lis emerged suddenly through the doors. Medical personnel squished behind her in loafered feet.

“Uh . . .”

“She needs to tell you the truth,” Granny B cut in. “Ain’t no need layin’ up here hidin’ nuthin’. Not when there’s folks here to help.”

Lis parked herself at the end of the bed as medical staff examined their patient efficiently and thoroughly. “I hope you have sense enough to tell the doctors if something is hurting you, Evelyn.”

“Of course I do. I’m fine. Just a headache—and I had that before the accident. That’s why I pulled over, to rest my head a bit.”

Granny B grunted and ignored Evelyn’s look. She let her granddaughter continue her awkward dance along that thin line between fact and fiction. Her face an impassive mask that belied her turbulent thoughts, she watched Evelyn turn this way and that, according to the doctor’s directions. She tsk-tsked silently at the sense of their final decision to skip the overnight observation but concluded that these folks were grown. It ain’t none of my business. These here doctors and their practice of medicine. Hmmph. These folks can’t even heal my big toe, let alone this disease I’m totin’ around. I don’t blame that girl for bein’ ready to leave. I could do a heap better takin’ care of her.

Evelyn signed the release papers and checked out the tag on the nearest white coat. “Is it Dr. LaSalle?”

The doctor looked up at her from her clipboard.

“May I talk to you a minute?”

When Granny B heard Evelyn clear her throat, she leaned over to Lis. “Let’s give Ev’lyn a minute to get herself together.” She picked up her daughter’s purse.

“What?” Lis seemed intent on helping Evelyn inhale and exhale, coaching her through each breath, if need be. Her eyes and ears were pinned to her. It took Beatrice’s formidable resolve to overcome her protests and steer her from the room and close the door.

Once they stood on the other side of the double doors, Lis unleashed her frustrations. “Mama, what in the world! Why’d you pull me out like that?”

“’Lis’beth, you need to give that chile some privacy. She can get dressed on her own.”

“You think so? I thought she could drive on her own, too, but look where we are.”

“Blame that other driver. You need to give her some room to breathe. Y’all like two banty roosters fightin’ for control over the same henhouse.”

“Nobody’s fighting, Mama.”

“But you ’bout to.”

“You know I don’t like hospitals. You remember the last time I was in one like this—”

“Yes, I remember. And I also remember that gal was here with you. That was a hard road for you and her both. It was yo’ husband, but that was her daddy.” She pointed to a young man in blue scrubs chatting it up with a nurse at the central station. “Why don’t you find somebody to help us get her to the car. Ain’t that boy free right there?”

Lis glared at her mama, but Beatrice didn’t back down, so Lis stalked over to the orderly. Beatrice watched her daughter use her considerable Southern charm on him, and just as he pushed over a wheelchair, the doors to Evelyn’s room swooshed open. The doctor and nurse breezed through with barely a nod at either of them. Before the doors could swing to, Granny B and Lis pushed through, followed by the orderly she’d pressed into service.

Beatrice took in Evelyn dressed in her bloodstained dress. “So, gal, you ready to go?”

Evelyn nodded at her grandmother. “As I can be. How are we getting home?”

Lis laughed and coughed simultaneously. “Well, unfortunately, not in my new Infiniti. It’s practically totaled. As a matter of fact, it’s a miracle you made it out of the accident with just some bumps and bruises and a scrape or two. The other driver suffered several broken bones and had to be admitted.”

“Serve him right, since he the cause of all this trouble,” Granny B harrumphed under her breath. She pulled Lis out of the way while the orderly helped Evelyn into the chair and arranged her feet.

“Then how are we getting home?”

“The same way I got here. You forget about Jackson’s car?” Lis thumped her daughter softly on the head and settled Evelyn’s purse in her lap.

Wincing, Evelyn managed a small “Oh—”

“The hoopty,” Lis and Evelyn said in unison. The “hoopty” was Jackson’s pride and joy, a 1985 Chevy Impala that had been around the blocks a few times—quite literally. Lis raised a carefully plucked eyebrow at Evelyn’s unspoken complaint. “Remember, Jackson took your car this morning because you’d blocked him in.”

Granny B retreated to silent partner status as Evelyn’s eyes skittered from hers to Lis’s, then to the brown-speckled tile floor.

“I’ll take you home and get you settled,” Lis explained. “Then I’ll see Mama home.”

“I’m gon’ call Ruby to come back here,” Granny B declared. She stopped beside the courtesy phones at the right side of the automatic doors leading outside. One hand held her worn leather bag.

“Don’t be silly, Mama. I’ve got two people to take care of now. So come on. Let’s not keep this nice young man waiting.” She threw the hospital attendant a radiant smile, which he sheepishly returned. “Now, come on, Mama.”

Granny B bristled at the command but didn’t ask what two people Lis had in mind. “Well, Ev’lyn, at least you came out in one piece.”

The attendant wheeled Evelyn out to the hospital’s nearly deserted parking lot. Only the distant moon hovering in the early evening sky greeted them. They easily picked out Jackson’s tangerine four-door sedan with rims and profile tires. Granny B opened the back passenger door. “You might wont to stretch out in the backseat, put yo’ feet up on the ride home.”

“Thanks.” Evelyn gave her mama the bag holding her release papers and jewelry. She climbed into the backseat and stretched out.

Beatrice took the bag from Lis. She could tell by her granddaughter’s closed eyes that she had no intention of uttering a word during the trip. And neither did she.

——————

Evelyn expected that her semiconscious state during the smooth ride would prevent further interrogation about just why she was parked along the road so close to home. But she didn’t expect to wake up parked in front of Granny B’s house. She straightened abruptly. Pain stabbed her right behind her eyes. “Mama, I thought you were dropping me off at home first?”

“No, not exactly.” She turned from her daughter to stare pointedly at Granny B.

Evelyn sensed something afoot. “What do you mean ‘not exactly’?” She took in Granny B’s firm jaw and her mama’s determined expression. “What’s going on? Why are we stopped here?”

Lis looked straight ahead. “We discussed it and decided it was best that you stay in Spring Hope for the next few days. The doctors want you to have complete bed rest, and I won’t be able to take off work to take care of you—”

“I don’t need you to take care of me, Mama. I’ll be fine at your house. All I need is food, something to drink, and a remote control. Not that I don’t appreciate your offer, Granny B.” Sarcasm peeked out from behind Evelyn’s words like the delicate lace edges on a doily. “But I can get along just fine. Really. I can manage.”

Lis readjusted herself in her seat to turn around. “It’s not up for discussion, Evelyn. You heard what the doctor said. You have a concussion, and you’re going to be stiff and sore for quite a while. The stairs at home would wear you out, and I won’t be there to help you get to the bathroom or check in on you during the day.”

Evelyn hoped Granny B would offer a word or two in her defense. In her own defense. God knew she didn’t want someone underfoot, least of all someone she considered public enemy number one. Granny B, however, sat there. So Evelyn sat up straighter in her seat and tried to look the picture of health—bandaged, bruised, bleeding, and all.

“Thank you, Mama.” Evelyn cleared her throat. “And, Granny B. But I vote that you drive me home to Mount Laurel. All my work is at your house, all my clothes. Everything. I won’t be in town for that long, and I came here to spend some quality time with you and Jackson—and you, too, Granny B. If you’re worried about the stairs, just set me up in Daddy’s den. There’s a pullout sofa in there and a television. And the den is near the kitchen . . .”

But her mama adamantly shook her head. “No, Evelyn, absolutely not. You wouldn’t get any real rest on that sofa, and there still wouldn’t be anyone there during the day to help you. And this is just for a few days, until the weekend. When you come home, you’ll still have plenty of time to visit with us and get some work done.”

Lis sighed. “My goodness, girl, a car just slammed into you—sure, it could’ve been avoided, but I don’t blame you. You’re hurt, Evelyn, and you need help. Why are you putting up such a fight?”

Feeling her last line of defense slipping away, hearing her own hotly spoken words thrown in her face, Evelyn turned to Granny B. “You’ve been sitting there without saying a word. What do you think of this? I’m sure you’re not happy about the idea of having an invalid underfoot. You’re busy enough. And you need to take care of yourself.”

“Oh, so now you’re an invalid. A minute ago you felt strong enough to—”

“Hush, ’Lis’beth. Now I sho’ ain’t gon’ say it was my idea. But I can stand the comp’ny for a couple days. And I’m sho’ the doctor told you why you need to take it easy.” Granny B cast a sidewise glance back at Evelyn as she dangled that warning. “I don’t thank neither of us have much to say, even though it is my house. Least that’s what it say on the deed, last I checked. ’Sides, you can stand on your own two feet. I won’t be at your beck and call, contrary to what yo’ mama thank. But I will ’spect you to stay out from under me while I get on with thangs.”

While Evelyn stared stupidly at the back of Granny B’s iron-gray hair, Lis quickly exited the car and opened the back door. She stood there, hand outstretched toward her daughter.

For a moment, Evelyn silently rebuffed the offer of help, but a sudden stab of pain in her left temple finally spurred her to grasp her mother’s slender fingers and emerge, albeit ungracefully, from the car. “I cannot believe you are forcing me to do this,” she seethed.

“It makes perfect sense. While she’s seeing to you, you can talk to her about her own situation. I couldn’t have planned it better. Well, maybe without the accident,” Lis hissed back. Then she added loudly, “Come on, Evelyn, let’s get you settled in the house,” as Granny B slammed her door and walked toward them.

The two older women escorted their victim up to the porch and into the front room. Then Granny B directed her assistant to sit Evelyn down on the sofa while she readied the bedroom. “Didn’t know I’d be havin’ comp’ny,” she explained saucily before leaving.

“I’ll expect you to do as you’re told.” Lis propped sofa pillows behind her daughter. “And I mean everything. Right, Evelyn?” she added with a raised brow.

A prisoner of war, Evelyn churlishly turned her head to stare out at the woods bathed in the murky evening light.

“We-ll-l . . .” Her mama expelled the word with a lungful of air. “Jackson and I will bring you some clothes and your computer. Is there anything else you think you’ll need over the next three or four days? Although I can’t imagine you’ll have the energy to think clearly enough to write one word during that time.”

“Just bring some clothes, please, and the portfolio by my bed. What about Cocoa? And Kevin? I don’t want you to tell him anything, upsetting him when he’s halfway around the world.”

“Well, you not brangin’ that little piece of dog here,” Granny B grumbled from some unseen spot in the hallway. “I’m likely to sweep her up with the rest of the dust and hairballs on this flo’.”

“Now, Mama.” To Evelyn, Lis responded, “Jackson can walk Cocoa when he gets home from work. I’m sure she’s used to being alone all day anyway.” She pointed a crimson-tipped nail in Evelyn’s direction. “But she better not have any accidents on my floors or get on my furniture.”

“Cocoa is house-trained. You don’t have to worry about that, as long as you don’t forget to take her out. But what about Kevin—?”

“I’m not planning to call him—and it’s not like he calls the house anyway. You can tell him what you want to, even though the truth is always right. Speaking of, I should give Kevin a piece of my mind for going away for so long, not taking care of you.”

“Kevin doesn’t have to take care of me.”

“And why not? He’s your husband, isn’t he? Now that you’ve lost your job, he is paying the bills. I’d say that means he’s taking care of you. Wouldn’t you agree? Or are you afraid he’d say he was too busy flitting around the world to come see about his wife?”

Evelyn wouldn’t admit her mama had stepped on her tail, but she yelped nonetheless. She fought back tears. “For the last time, I did not lose my job. I quit. And don’t bother explaining Kevin’s duties as a husband to me.” She sucked in a breath to launch another missile. “Furthermore—”

“’Lis’beth, ain’t it ’bout time you got yo’self home? Won’t Jackson be lookin’ fo’ you?” Granny B appeared in the doorway.

Lis looked like she was considering saying something more before Granny B took her arm. “Now I said Ev’lyn could stay here, but I ain’t said nuthin’ ’bout the rest of y’all. Don’t thank y’all gon’ be clutterin’ up my house, all in the way over the next day or two. This gal gon’ be all right. By the sound of things, you ain’t helpin’ her get no peace and quiet nohow.” Granny B directed her daughter from the room to the porch.

“And don’t be callin’ here all day. I ain’t got time to be jibber-jabberin’ on no phone,” Granny B called out as Elisabeth started the car.

Evelyn listened as Granny B’s solid footsteps crossed the front porch and watched as she entered the front room—or holding cell, as she felt at that moment.

“I told you I ain’t gon’ be sittin’ round here, just waitin’ for you to ring some little bell. You know where things are, so you can get up and get ’em. Since there ain’t no TV in the bedroom, you just gon’ have to stare out that window for entertainment until yo’ mama brang you somethin’ to do. Or you can come back out here. But don’t thank you gon’ run up my ’lectric bill while you here burnin’ up the TV. As you is just gettin’ here, I will brang you somethin’ to eat and drink, but I ain’t takin’ orders. You’ll just have to eat what I give you.”

With that, she disappeared.

Truth be told, Evelyn had expected a lot less, and if experience proved anything, she’d love whatever flowed from Granny B’s kitchen. So she settled in, alternately gazing out the window and dozing. The moon played hide-and-seek with the clouds as nearby crickets called to neighbors. Granny B moved about in the kitchen, clinking pots and rattling utensils, providing a soothing background to Evelyn’s what-ifs and maybes. Sighing to herself, she decided to focus on making the best out of the current situation. “Better yet, maybe I need to concentrate on seeing how I can best make it out of here alive.”

Granny B came around the corner of the front room, holding a tray laden with food.

Evelyn’s fluttery stomach growled in welcome at the appealing aroma.

Granny B set the tray beside her. “There’s grits here and fish. I know it ain’t fresh, but I froze it when it was. And a corn muffin with some preserves Ruby made. This cold coffee oughta settle your stomach if you feelin’ sick, but you prob’ly oughta drink this prune juice. That should flush any germs and thangs outta yo’ system. No tellin’ what you done picked up in that hospital, and I don’t need you passin’ anythang on to me.”

The juices suddenly flowed in Evelyn’s mouth, and her stomach answered with another grumble. She managed a hasty “Thanks” as she picked up the tray and settled it solidly down on her lap. Slathering on some butter and strawberry preserves, she tucked into the corn muffin. She was so knee-deep in eating that she nearly missed the self-satisfied curl of her grandma’s lips.

Evelyn lost track of time as she polished off the grits and fish. She sipped a little prune juice and then sat back, full, happy, and ready for a good sleep.

Granny B must have been hovering right outside the room because the moment Evelyn rested her fork on the plate, she emerged. “I see you took no time in finishin’ this off. But you didn’t drank the coffee or all the prune juice. They would help yo’ bowels if you feelin’—”

“I’m fine, Granny B.” Evelyn didn’t want to ruin the memories of a good meal with more talk about her intestinal tract. “Thank you again for cooking for me. I know you have plenty to do without taking the time to do all this.”

Granny B used the napkin to brush away the few crumbs Evelyn hadn’t managed to inhale, then picked up the tray. “Don’t be ’spectin’ me to do this all day.”

Evelyn held up a hand. “I know, I know. You’ve explained that you won’t wait on me hand and foot. But even so, doing what you did . . . taking me in . . .”

“Not that you was reachin’ out or nuthin’.”

Evelyn grimaced. “But all the same, you reached out to me, and I appreciate it.”

“You didn’t appreciate it much when yo’ mama told you, you was gon’ be stayin’ here. In fact, you had better thangs to do than put a foot in this house.”

“It’s not that. But we both know I was the last person you thought you’d be welcoming back—especially within hours of kicking me out.” Evelyn added softly, “Again.”

“Well, thangs change. If I ain’t learned nuthin’ else in this life, I’ve learned that,” Granny B pronounced. “You should get some rest and I’ve got yo’ bed all made up now. ’Sides, it’s gettin’ late and I got some thangs to do before bed. And you know yo’ mama will be back ’fo’ long, interruptin’ me.”

Granny B helped Evelyn to her feet. She winced as bruised muscles stretched.

“Maybe if you feelin’ better tomorrow, you can get up and come outside a bit and sit in the sun. You won’t get better layin’ up in that bed all the time. You just gon’ get sore on top of everythang else.”

“Yes, maybe.” Tomorrow seemed like forever away. She could only focus on each difficult step she took to reach the end of Granny B’s short hallway. As Evelyn turned toward the extra room, however, Granny B pushed her in the opposite direction, to the right, toward her own room. “What?” Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks. “I thought I was going to bed.”

“You is. There’s only a twin in that other room, and I ’spect you gon’ need some extra space to get comf’table. You gon’ take my bed.”

“But—”

Granny B’s eyes locked with her granddaughter’s. “In the state you in, I don’t thank you’ll be gettin’ into much trouble this time round—or do you want to fight it out again? Whatchyou thank?”

Evelyn smiled at Granny B, for the first time in what felt like years. “I ‘thank’ you right, Granny B.” She squeezed the gnarled fingers of the hand cupping her elbow and peered into her grandmother’s eyes.

After a moment, Granny B nodded. Then she guided Evelyn the few remaining steps between the door and the double bed. She’d pulled back the cream-colored bedspread to reveal white cotton sheets, ivy leaves sprouting over them, and piled two pillows, one atop the other, on the side of the bed closer to her nightstand, beside the window looking into the front yard. With her help, Evelyn changed into a nightgown. It barely reached her ankles, but its well-worn fabric felt downy to her skin. Granny B stopped well short of tucking her in, but that didn’t detract from Evelyn’s feelings of being well cared for.

“You gon’ be all right?”

Evelyn nodded drowsily, barely hearing her parting question, too weary to murmur good-night before Granny B closed the door. She didn’t move until the sun poked her between her eyelashes the next morning.