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What with school and general craziness, it was Thursday afternoon before I was finally able to talk to Miss Nancy.
“Jake!” she said, opening her front door. “I was starting to wonder if you’d forgotten about me.”
“As if,” I said, stepping inside and bending down for my usual hug. It always feels strange being taller than Miss Nancy. For so much of my life she was the taller one, taking care of me and helping to teach and guide me into the adult I had become. To this day, whenever we weren’t standing side-by-side I still thought of her as taller because her personality – her spirit – is monumental.
“Well, come in, come in,” she told me, leading me back to her kitchen as usual.
“I came by a couple of times earlier this week, but you were with clients so I kept driving.”
“Well, it was true what I told your parents. It’s been a busy week and I couldn’t leave Houston. Your mama’s been calling me every day.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s worried about you, and you know how she likes to worry.”
“Well, she’s good at it because someone,” she turned to look over her shoulder at me, “helps her get a lot of practice.” She turned back to the teapot she was fussing over.
“The difference here is that this time I think she’s got a real reason for worrying. Have you seen or heard anything out of the ordinary? Man, I wish you had a dog. Maybe Dani would let you borrow Ruby?”
“I have not,” Miss Nancy said. “And I don’t want to mess around with taking care of a dog. Vicki is still staying here at night, so I feel perfectly safe. I swear, you’re almost as bad as your mama.”
“Well, if that means we both worry because we love you and don’t want anything to happen to you, then I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Miss Nancy finished putting the tea together and set the pot on the table before getting mugs from the cabinet. I didn’t get the unicorn this time and picked it up to read it. There was a wreath of pink flowers around fancy script that read, “World’s Greatest Mom”. Hilarious.
“Think you’re funny, huh?” I asked my old friend.
She shrugged. “It was the first one I saw when I opened the cabinet.”
It probably was. I sighed and held out the mug so she could fill it with tea. Whatever. I bet I’d make a great mom, or dad, or whatever. Oh, no. Now I was thinking about it. Maybe Mom put her up to it and that was her plan all along.
“So, Miss Nancy...”
“Hmm?”
“So, something weird happened the other day...”
“Oh, sweetie, you are going to have to be more specific.”
“Yeah, I’m getting to that. See, it’s about my dad.”
“Your dad? Does this have anything to do with my car?”
“Your car? No. But it happened right after we were looking at your car. It’s about dad and, well, Raymond.”
“Raymond the squirrel? Oh, I cannot believe I just said that. The strange turns our conversations take these days.”
“I know, right? But seriously, we were in the backyard, and Dad was picking limequats when he started acting weird. At first I thought he was talking to the tree. You know, some kind of silly tipsy thing. But when I went over, he was talking to Raymond, and it seemed like an actual conversation, not that he was talking to an animal like some people do.”
“Hmm.”
“Dad said that Raymond called him a thief for picking your limequats. And Raymond was pissed off.”
“Has this happened with anyone else that you know of? Raymond seeming to communicate?”
“No,” I shook my head. “Not that I’m aware of. So I’m wondering if you’ve ever heard or noticed anything else like that with Dad?”
She tilted her head back and thought about it for a minute.
“No. Nothing comes to mind, and I think I’d remember something like that. And I think, if your mama had noticed something she would have mentioned it to me. What did your daddy say? Did you ask him about it?”
“I tried, but when I asked he just said – and I think he was pretending – that he had no idea what I was talking about and acted like nothing had happened.”
“I guess we could ask Rosemary. She raised him, after all. Although if he was like you, then there might not have been anything to notice until he was all grown up.”
“I called but got her voicemail. I left a message. But you know Grandma Rosemary. I have to be careful what I ask and how or she’ll figure out something’s up with me and...” I let my voice trail off and shrugged.
Miss Nancy nodded. “Sometimes I wonder if Rosemary doesn’t have some kind of gift herself.”
“That’s a scary thought. But... hmm... that would explain a lot, and maybe it’s a family thing?”
“I think it’s more that she’s highly intuitive and empathetic, but those are gifts themselves, in a way. A family trait, though...”
“Don floated the theory that maybe there was something about the tea you used to make for my mom – back in Haiti – that had something to do with my, you know,” I made a twirly motion with my hand, “abilities.”
She shook her head. “Oh, that Don. No, it was just tea, nothing special. All your mama needed to do was stop trying so hard and worrying so much and let things happen. I just gave her a sympathetic ear and a little advice, and it all worked out.”
“What about you Miss Nancy? Did you ever want to get married or have kids?”
“Oh, lordy no. Ever since I was a little girl I was too independent for my own good. I liked things the way I liked them and didn’t like sharing my space. I’ve had my share of men wanting to court me, even had a couple of proposals, but I didn’t want to settle down or make compromises.”
“And kids?”
“Ah, well, sometimes I think that might have been nice, but I had you to look after for a long time and that put me right off children.”
“I – wait. What?!” I gaped in shock at my oldest friend.
She threw her head back and laughed, the sound filling the house. “Oh, Jake! Your face!” she gasped as she wiped tears from beneath her eyes. “Oh, it was worth it just for the look on your face!”
“Miss Nancy! I can’t... I mean... gosh!”
“You know I’m just teasing you. Settle down now. I love you like you’re my own, and you know that. No, I don’t think motherhood would have been a good fit for me either. You have to give up even more for a child than you would for a man.”
I sipped my tea and pondered those last words. What would I have to give up for a life with Petreski? Would it be something I wanted back later?
