This’ll be your room, TJ.” Miss Dixie was out of breath. We had only walked to the second floor. I could see there was one more flight of stairs. Large arms opened the fIrst door at the top of the steps.
Miss Miller was standing behind me. “Go on in, TJ.” I turned and glared at her. She did nothing but piss me off. So I didn’t move. I sucked air between my teeth, so she would know I wasn’t doing anything she said.
“Oh, Patty,” Miss Dixie took Miss Miller’s arm. “Let’s leave TJ alone and just give him some time. Why don’t you come on down for some sweet tea?”
“But …” Miss Miller began to protest.
“I won’t take no for an answer.” Miss Dixie was practically pulling the skinny woman away from me.
I waited until they were gone before I turned to look at my room. I touched the door. I’d never had a door to my room. Then I frowned. But it wasn’t really mine.
I stood in the doorway and saw a bed sitting up off the floor. It already had a blue blanket spread across it, and two pillows sat neatly at the head. A small desk with a lamp was next to the bed. I could see the lamp would work for the desk and the bed. A picture of some mountain was hanging above the desk. A small closet was on the other side of the bed. I wondered what I’d put in the closet since I was only holding a trash bag with a few shirts, pants, and a handful of underwear.
“I have the same room.” A voice broke into my thoughts. I turned to see the redhead from the bridge looking into my room. She didn’t look at me. She just stared into the room. “But mine has a green blanket and a picture of a lake. Wish I knew where the lake was. Would like to go there someday.” Then she looked at me. Her eyes were so blue that I stared into them a second too long. She smiled for just a second, and then she turned and headed up the stairs. I could hear a door close right above me.
I stared after the girl for a minute thinking I must have landed in a nut house. Never had any white girl just talked to me like that. And I wasn’t sure what that was about. At school there were a few white girls. But they would either fiirt with me or stay clear of me.
I finally walked into my room. I threw the bag into the closet and fell down on the bed. There was a window next to the bed. I could see the pond and the houses. They surrounded Grant Park like a small fort.
“So how do you like it?” Miss Dixie was in my doorway. I had forgotten to close the door. Something I needed to start doing. Now that I had one.
“Okay I guess.” I looked out the window again. I soon felt the weight of someone sitting down on the foot of my bed. I quickly pulled my legs up to my chest. Miss Dixie was sitting so close to me. It freaked me out just a little. “What do you want?” I didn’t try to sound mean. But it still came out that way.
Miss Dixie smiled. “TJ, I just want to rest, son. You see how many times I went up those stairs in the last twenty minutes? I think I deserve a sit down.” She raised her eyebrows. “Don’t you?”
I stared at her and saw a single drop of sweat fall down her cheek. “I guess so,” I said, not really knowing what to say.
“TJ.” She looked at me with the same smile. But there was a serious look in her eyes. “I know this is not home. I don’t expect it to be. But maybe,” she paused and reached out for a quick pat on my leg, “maybe you can think of this as your sit-down time.” I frowned slightly. She continued, “I think you need it.”
“What do you know of what I need?” My anger was rising, and I pulled my legs in even closer. I could hardly breathe.
Miss Dixie didn’t answer. She just stood up and took a deep breath. “Ah, I feel better already.” She looked at me and smiled. “Thank you for letting me rest.” She began to walk out my door. She spoke without looking back. “Wash up. Dinner is in ten minutes.”