Chapter Eleven

Teddy spent the week making sure Ella Sue would be fine in his absence. He took her to her weekly checkup. All was well. The baby had dropped, which accounted for her awkward shape, but no dilation as yet. Granting that the first class hadn’t gone well, he forced her to go to the birthing class again. On the previous occasion, the instructor assumed him to be the father, introducing them to the group as “our new couple, Teddy and Ella.”

“He’s my brother,” Ella Sue corrected in her hillbilly accent.

Someone in the group barked a short laugh. Teddy sputtered, “I’m the baby’s uncle. The father isn’t in the picture. I’ll see Ella through this.”

A woman with a long black braid down her back already seated cross-legged on a floor mat, reached up and patted his hand. “Bless you, no woman should have to go through this alone.”

He’d come in on his crutches and faced the awkwardness of lowering himself to the floor. As Teddy rubbed his sister’s belly and encouraged her to inhale and puff out, hee-hee-hoo, he felt as if he wore the stain of Merv the Perv on his T-shirt. He had to ask for assistance getting up, but one of the dads, a big fellow yearning for a son, heaved him up by circling Teddy’s chest from behind much as he had his rotund wife who weighed lots more according to his helper.

Unhelpful that the next session began with a graphic film on natural childbirth that bared all, including an impressive muff on the woman who had not been shaved for the occasion. The big-headed baby emerged like a raccoon pushing through a forest thicket while the mother screamed in her last ditch effort. All the way home, Ella Sue whined, “I want drugs!”

“You’ll get the epidural, but you have to be prepared for pain before that happens. I’ve told you before. You want to go to the gym with me and Jessie again tomorrow?”

“Nope. Boring waiting for you two to finish. I’ll hang around the apartment.”

“Okay, but don’t be alarmed if someone comes. I have a cleaning lady twice a month to do the bathrooms, change the sheets, and dust.”

“Won’t be a problem. I’m not shy. I could use some company.”

On the way home, Teddy swung by the grocery store and stocked up on milk, salad, fruit, and cranberry juice, especially since Jessie should be drinking that to keep her bladder clear of infections. Eggs, too, since they appeared to be using them faster than a hen could lay. He tried to think of what else Jessie might want to survive an overnight with Ella Sue and finally left pizza money on the counter.

The next afternoon, Jessie’s father insisted on driving her to his place. When they got inside, Teddy noticed the coach checking out the apartment as if dropping off a teenage babysitter for the first time. With little guile, he asked to use the bathroom, and came out after a flush and the sound of running water smiling. “Wish we had as good a setup at home. Now, Jess, call if you need any help.”

“My number and the obstetrician’s are on that card on the counter.” Teddy checked his pocket. “Yes, I’ve got my phone which seems to be playing hide and seek lately. I’ll be at Junior’s place tonight. The game is at noon and should be over around three. I’ll get on the road as soon as I can, but it might be seven or even eight if traffic is bad. Help yourself to anything in the fridge or order a pizza.”

“Teddy, I have your number in my phone. Dad, thanks for the lift, but you can leave now. We’ll be fine.” Jessie made shooing motions toward the door. Both men left with the greatest reluctance.

This wasn’t her first babysitting gig, and Ella Sue’s care certainly fell into that category since she tended to be wayward as a child and just as outspoken. Jessie put on a bright smile. “It’s too hot to go outside. Want to binge watch Pride and Prejudice? It’s the best one with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.” She rummaged the set of CDs from the backpack she’d brought along and let Ella Sue examine it as if she’d presented her with porn—which maybe Teddy’s sister might have preferred.

“I guess. He’s a good-looking dude. Dresses like Prince though.”

“It’s a costume drama, the Regency period.” All of that lost on Ella Sue.

“I’ll give him a try.”

They viewed half the set before hunger came calling. “This baby needs something to eat. You want to call for the pizza, or should I?” Ella Sue launched herself off the sofa. “We got to use your phone since Teddy took his. Guards that thing like it was made of gold and diamonds.”

“It’s his lifeline. I know how he feels. But why don’t we make chef salads tonight? Better for all three of us. When I checked for cold drinks, I noticed Teddy has lots of cold cuts and cheese, bags of salad, too.”

“Yeah, mostly we have sandwiches and fruit for lunch. He sure pushes the fruit. I’m surprised he left us that six-pack of unsweet tea. Usually, it’s milk, milk, and more milk.”

“He’s thinking about your health. Can you boil a couple of eggs and find a big bowl for me?”

“I guess.” Ella Sue wore her disappointment over not getting pizza like a holy martyr with a hair shirt, but she did put two eggs on the stove while Jessie poured salad into the bowl and julienned ham, turkey, roast beef, and Swiss cheese into strips, plus adding a handful of cherry tomatoes to the mix.

“As soon as the eggs are hardboiled, we can eat. Meanwhile, what did you think of the movie?”

“I don’t understand all that’s going on. It might be nice to have a sister like Jane, but the rest are trouble, and that Caroline is a bitch. Mr. Darcy is a real prick, but handsome enough and so rich I’d let him lay me any day.”

Jessie blinked. Not a comment she ordinarily received on Pride and Prejudice. “He’s nicer than he seems, but yes, very rich.” One of the eggs cracked in the boiling, and the hot water overflowed the pot. “Would you turn down the heat, please?”

Ella Sue obliged. She waited for the eggs to finish cooking, ran cold water over them, cracked and quartered the eggs according to Jessie’s instruction. Jessie divvied up the salad and garnished it with the eggs, placing club crackers on the side. Taking a bottle of low-fat Thousand Island dressing from the fridge, she added a couple of dollops to her share and passed along the bottle to Ella Sue who made a pink moat around the greens. “Covers the taste,” she told Jessie.

They ate in front of the TV while watching the rest of P&P. Ella Sue tended to doze off during any scene where Mr. Darcy failed to appear, but in the end, she said she’d liked it well enough. Her final pronouncement was, “Her little sister was an idiot to go off with Wickham, but Mr. Darcy is sure fine. Say, could I use your phone to call my daddy?”

“I thought the two of you were estranged, um, don’t get along.” Jessie didn’t want to talk down to Ella Sue, but couldn’t be sure what the girl understood most of the time. Ella had gotten the gist of Pride and Prejudice though.

“Now that I’m not his problem anymore, we can talk without fightin’.”

As soon as Ella Sue got the phone in her mitts, she took off for her bedroom and shut the door, leaving Jessie to clear the bowls and forks and get them in the dishwasher herself. Laps came in handy when a person didn’t have functioning legs. She’d taken care of her daily maintenance routine and bathed at home before coming over, but took advantage of Ella Sue’s privacy issues to cath herself before bedtime, brush her teeth, and wash her face. On the way to the bathroom, she heard Ella’s laughter. No strain in her voice considering the circumstances, but then, the girl had managed to shift her medical bills from her old man to Teddy, something to celebrate, Jessie guessed. The way Ella Sue chattered, she also guessed the call wouldn’t end until the phone ran out of juice and needed recharging.

Might as well get ready for bed. Jessie came prepared to sleep in her clothes rather than ask Teddy’s sister for help changing. She went into his bedroom and parked close to the bed conveniently the right height for her to slide from her chair to the mattress. Lifting one leg across the other, she took off her athletic shoes with a rip of Velcro and placed them on the night table for easy retrieval. She left the socks in case her toes got cold, not that she’d know if they did, stacked the pillows, and transferred to the bed. Jessie unfastened her jeans, wiggled them off her hips, and bent low to draw them off her legs. Of course, they bunched around her ankles, and kicking them off was not an option. Trying to pull one leg up and remove them with her hands only tangled them more. So let them stay there. Her oversized T-shirt served well enough as a nightie, and the jeans would still be there in the morning. The hell with them. She pulled a paperback from her backpack, a Regency because that is what she was in the mood for, and settled in to read.

Before Jessie turned out her light, Ella Sue rapped on the door and entered, sheepishly holding out the phone. “I used up all your bars,” she said.

“No problem. The charger is in my backpack. Just plug it in.”

“I meant to help you clean up, but we got to talkin’.”

“I didn’t want to leave a mess for Teddy. His place is pretty tidy for a guy’s.”

“Oh, he don’t like clutter to get in the way of his wheelchair. He got a woman who does for him twice a month, too.”

“Really?” For some random reason, Jessie’s brain turned that statement into sexual content. Teddy had a regular date scheduled with a—prostitute, call girl, willing college student earning her tuition? The thought shouldn’t cause her any pangs, but it did.

“Yeah, she cleans the bathrooms and changes the sheets and some other stuff. Must be nice to have someone do for you.”

Oh, a cleaning lady! “You know I’d rather be able to do those things myself.”

Ella Sue’s gaze glided down Jessie’s legs. “How about I get those jeans the rest of the way off and promise to make breakfast and clean the mess since I ran up your phone bill?”

“Deal.”

Ella Sue not only handled the jeans and folded them beside the shoes, she tucked Jessie under the covers. “I took care of my mama some when she was dying and got so weak.”

“I know you loved her.”

“A bunch, but I think she always loved Teddy best.”

“I don’t believe that’s true.”

Ella Sue hunched her shoulders. “Whatever. See you in the mornin’.”

****

Jessie woke to the aroma of bacon sizzling and pancakes made from a batter perfumed with vanilla. She’d slept late and let Ella Sue get the jump on her. Good thing the girl wasn’t a toddler intent on getting the Cheerios off a high shelf. Her mom claimed that was how the Minvielles discovered Jessie’s gymnastic ability. She pushed that memory aside and maneuvered into her chair to do the bathroom routine. Jeans and shoes later.

“Smells delicious,” she told Ella Sue when she arrived in the kitchen.

“Hot and ready to serve. All I could find to drink was this cranberry juice and milk unless you want more of the ice tea.”

“Cranberry juice is good. I have some every day. Let’s eat.”

The girl kept her word and did the cleaning. She went out to fetch the newspaper from the rack under the unused mailbox by the door. “Look here, what Teddy wrote at about the UL team.”

“He did a good job.”

“Hard to imagine anyone can make a livin’ that way. Don’t know what I’ll do after the baby comes.”

“You could certainly cook at a restaurant with some more training.”

“Or maybe one of those LPNs that help people like you. Let’s get your britches and shoes on. I thought maybe we could go over to the Burger King and spend some of Teddy’s money for lunch.”

Jessie noticed the two twenties had vanished from the counter. Not her business. “We could do that, but let’s get the food before the Sinners’ game starts. I know it’s only preseason, but I’d like to watch it.” And hear Teddy’s warm voice with that tinge of a twang that made Ella Sue’s accent seem like a large-stringed instrument. She’d heard him call games in high school and college, never taking much notice, always busy with cheerleading, but now she realized she missed it on days they didn’t have PT together or time to talk going to and fro.

“Fine by me. We can get chicken fries and chocolate shakes.” Which would leave Ella Sue plenty of change to pocket.

Though she wasn’t hungry after the big breakfast, Jessie allowed Ella Sue to lead her out into the sweltering summer morning around eleven to get the game provisions. Perhaps out of respect for the Lord’s day, Teddy’s sister had donned a wildly floral, high-waisted dress with cute cap sleeves and a scooped neck. She padded along in her new white sandals like a bloodhound on the scent of chicken fries, breathing in the smoky smell of the restaurant on the corner.

Traffic ran heavy from the Episcopal and Presbyterian churches side by side releasing their worshipers for Sunday dinners and late brunches. The light turned yellow as they approached the intersection. Ella Sue simply kept walking, trusting to the good Lord and the kindness of strangers to get her to the other side. Jessie, more familiar with Cajun drivers running through red lights, stayed on the sloping curb and watched the girl disappear into the Burger King.

Finally, she got the green and rolled into the crosswalk, pushing hard, glad her exercise was paying dividends. She rarely went out on the street and never alone, unlike the courageous Teddy, who knew each inch of the campus from a wheelchair. Safe on the other side, Jessie searched for a sight of Ella Sue. The view from the front window showed a line queued up for burgers, but not Teddy’s sister. Maybe the bathroom since the girl couldn’t hold it for long in her condition.

A small boy held the door for Jessie and received a commendation for being a gentleman from his grandpa. She headed straight for the ladies’ room and shoved the door open wide enough to call, “Ella, are you in here?” No answer, though a guilty middle-aged woman emerged from the handicap stall and murmured, “Sorry,” on her way out. Jessie reversed in the narrow corridor and went outside again. There, behind the big dumpster enclosure in the back of the lot, she sighted a not quite hidden belly swathed in a tropical floral print. Jessie rolled that way.

A man, deeply swarthy with black curls hanging to his shoulders, stepped into her path. “Need some help, honey?” he asked, showing strong, white teeth feral as a coy dog.

Jessie tried to classify his face, not black, his features too sharp and defined, the cheekbones high. Probably not Hispanic either. The campus had its share of students from India and the Middle East, but he lacked the foreign accent, his from somewhere in the South. For no reason at all, she felt vaguely threatened as he discarded the butt of a cigarette and ground it out with the toe of a battered work boot.

“No, thank you. I’m looking for someone.”

Ella Sue stepped out behind him. “I guess that would be me. Sorry, this feller needed directions to Olde Tyme Grocery. Teddy took me there so I know where it’s at.”

“I believe they’re closed on Sundays. Lots of places in Lafayette are.”

“Thanks for the information, ma’am. I’ll try elsewhere.” He loped off with his worn jeans hanging low on lean hips and his none-too-clean white tee clinging to his sweaty shoulders.

“Ella, you shouldn’t talk to strangers like that. In your condition, he could have knocked you down and taken your money.”

“Got it in my bra. Besides, Teddy is always saying how friendly folks are around here. I ain’t a child, in case you haven’t noticed.” Ella Sue’s lips, glossed pink, pouted.

“I don’t think he’s from this area. Please be careful when you aren’t with Teddy.”

“Like either of you could stop an attack from happening.”

Jessie shivered in the ninety-degree heat because the girl was right. “Let’s go inside and order before it gets any hotter.”

No argument from Ella Sue. As they returned to the apartment with enough chicken fries, French fries, ketchup packets, and dipping sauces for four in a greasy bag, the girl asked, “How come you call me Ella instead of Ella Sue?”

“Oh, I think it sounds…”

“Less hick?”

“More elegant.”

Ella Sue mulled that as she waddled along sampling fries from the bag. “Yeah, more elegant. I’m gonna ask everyone to call me Ella from now on.”

Back at the apartment, Jessie sipped unsweet tea, but Ella sucked her chocolate shake and laid out the food on the coffee table. Most women this far in their pregnancy would have had heartburn from the fried food, but not Teddy’s sister. Jessie envied her, an unwed teenager with poor prospects. How could she? Here she sat in a wheelchair, close to a decade older than the girl, with no hope of bearing a child, and the meal still upset her stomach.

Game time! Despite the small size of the television, Teddy carried a full sports package, and they had no trouble getting it. As usual, his brother Dean, the star quarterback, played only the first quarter before retiring to the bench to save his arm for more important games. The rookies got a workout, and Coach Buck watched for weaknesses to be corrected. The final score came to an unimpressive fourteen-nine, the first touchdown having been thrown by Dean and the other team’s scores being three field goals. That spoke well of the new defensive players.

Mostly, Jessie listened to Teddy’s commentary. He usually did the color: stats, bios, the interesting facts, though he could do play-by-play as he had sometimes in high school. She remembered him struggling up the treacherous stairs to the high school booth on his crutches, giving her a quick thumbs-up when he achieved the platform. She shook a pom-pom his way and promptly forgot about Teddy Billodeaux in the excitement of the game. Rah-rah-rah! Now, she admired him more than she could say. How bravely he lived, but he would probably say he simply lived as well as he could. He’d taken on Ella Sue, no easy task.

The girl asked to use her phone again when the game ended. “I’m calling Daddy, then gonna take my nap. I swear I won’t run down the battery.”

“Sure.” Jessie turned over the phone ready for some quiet time herself, reminiscent of the times when the babies she sat for went to bed for the night and let her binge on old movies deep into the night. The ring of the doorbell woke her from a doze in her chair. Maybe Teddy had returned. She straightened from her slump and checked her chest for ketchup stains.

Ella Sue already stood at the door accepting a pizza delivery. “I called since you had yourself a little nap going on. Say, I’m kinda short. You have any cash?”

“Here.” Jessie dug in her backpack for her wallet and forked over the twenty her parents insisted she carry.

The money disappeared into the hand of the delivery guy who groped for change. “Keep it,” Ella Sue said magnanimously.

The fellow grinned. “You tip better than Teddy.”

“Don’t I just know that.” She shut the door and carried the box and a bag with two salads to the table. “I ordered from that Alesi’s place since Teddy had their menu stuck up on the refrigerator. They already knew the address and his regular order, but I got the special pizza for two ’cause it come with salads. I figured you’d want that. We can save the other one for Teddy. It says this pizza is for two in love or one hungry. I’m the hungry one, and you and Teddy are the other.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“Come on. You know he’s sweet on you.”

“Me and Teddy? No.”

“Why, because my brother is crippled? Well, so are you. Seems like you fit together real good.” Leave it to Ella Sue to be blunt and tactless.

“With both of us being handicapped, it’s probably not a good idea. I can’t imagine how we’d cope.”

“What? With sex? Where there’s will—and both of you got will—there’s a way. Or don’t you think he’s good enough because you were engaged to some football player? Let me tell you, my brother is good, maybe too good.”

“We can agree on that. Let’s eat.”

They shared the pizza, leaving a couple of slices for Teddy in case he arrived home hungry. Jessie ate her anchovy salad, and Ella Sue saved hers for her brother. They watched a second game with little interest until Teddy opened the door and cruised in at seven happy to accept their leftovers.

“Lucked out with light traffic and happy to see my girls,” he said.

His girls, they were his girls. Jessie felt a warmth that wasn’t connected to blushing. “Did you have a good time?”

“I always do. I love my job, and Junior is good company. Xochi drove down for the game though he only played in part of it. We had a late dinner on Saturday.”

“How’s she doing with her baby?” Ella Sue asked.

“Showing a little more and proud of it.”

Everywhere, women her age and younger were having babies. Jessie’s mood sank. “I should get home. I’ll call my dad. You’ll be tired from working and the long drive.”

“No, just let me finish eating. Speaking of which, my family is having a Labor Day picnic at the ranch, the last big to-do since the regular football season starts that week. You are both invited.”

Ella Sue’s face brightened. “I get to see Lorena Ranch at last! You think your mom will show me the bathroom with the chandelier?”

Teddy smiled at her obsession with celebrity bathing. “I’m sure she’ll give you a tour if you ask, but really, it’s just a big house with a lot of bedrooms.”

“And a movie theater and a gym and a great big swimming pool.”

“Yes, all of those things. We’ll have to get you a swimsuit since I don’t think you’ll be playing volleyball or riding the horses, Ella Sue. Jessie, bring yours, too.”

“Ella,” his sister said. “I want to be just Ella now. It’s more elegant.”

“Okay.” Teddy eyed Jessie to see if this was her doing.

She merely gave him a slight shrug and tried to hide her discomfort about the whole idea of going swimming. Once she’d been a strong swimmer, a person who fearlessly dove off the board into deep water. No more. Well, she could simply forget to bring a suit. “I’d better get going.”

“Right. Let’s get you loaded.”

Jessie took a moment to savor life when Teddy braced himself and lifted her into the front seat of his van. A warm chest and strong arms around her once more. He clicked her seatbelt with caring hands. She didn’t feel like talking, but that hardly stopped Teddy.

“How did you and Ella get along overnight?”

“She’s a strange combination of ignorant and insightful, cunning and naïve.”

“If you’d been raised by Newton Smalls, you’d be that way too. My birth mom and I spent most of our time trying to read Newt and not set him off. Didn’t matter. When she went to work, he’d slap me around for no reason but pleasure and tell my mother I fell out of my wheelchair. We lived in terror of him.”

“I’m so sorry!” Jessie gripped his arm as he carefully steered the van and felt the tension in his muscles.

“Don’t be. As Ella would say, I landed in clover. I think she resents that.”

“On the good side, she helped me get out of my clothes at night and ordered a pizza she thought I’d like—then hit me up for the cost.”

“Jesus, how much did she roll you for? I left plenty of food in the fridge and enough cash for a couple of fast food meals. Get my wallet out of my hip pocket. Take out eighty for the pizza and your time.”

“No, it’s fine. I was helping a friend, not hiring out my services. You did leave enough money for food. I think she kept the change from Burger King and didn’t want to use it. She escaped me when we crossed the street, and I found her talking to a shady character behind the dumpster. For a minute, I was afraid he’d propositioned her, but he went on his way when I showed up looking for her.”

“In her condition?”

“Ella seems to think where there’s a will, there’s a way when it comes to sex.”

“You talked about things like that?”

“Only briefly. She wasn’t rattled by the man. Said he’d asked for directions.” Jessie failed to tell him she’d been fearful of the guy. Perhaps she should have, but they turned into the Minvielle driveway.

“I’ll tell her to be more careful.”

“Just honk the horn. My dad will come out and get me.”

“Hey, what kind of man doesn’t walk a woman to the door?”

She wanted to say one who struggled for every step, but held it in. Fortunately, her father kept watch, probably an anxious watch, because he came out immediately. With no choice left, Teddy unlocked the van doors, and Coach Mo got to work setting up the wheelchair and shifting Jessie. “Have a good time?” he asked, very casually.

“Super,” Jessie claimed.

Teddy leaned toward the still-open car door. “I’ve invited Jessie to the ranch for Labor Day if that’s okay with you.”

“From what I’ve heard, Joe puts out quite a spread.”

“Always plenty. You and your wife could come if you want.”

The coach took time to consider before answering. “Not this time. I think Jessie needs to go places without Dale and me hovering over her.”

“It’s going to be amazing for her. I have lots of stuff planned she’ll enjoy.” As if Teddy had read her thoughts, he added, “Be sure she brings a bathing suit.”

“Will do. I’ll tell Dale.”

Jessie managed only a feeble wave as her dad slammed the door. Teddy promised her amazing, but she was fairly certain amazing experiences were no longer part of her life.