by Rosa Jordan
“Reckon I’ll go get me some of that action.” Bubba grinned at his buddies.
Ralph laughed. “Bubba Lee, if you ain’t got the flappinest mouth I ever heard! You come within three feet of that woman, she’ll be hitting at you with a flyswatter.” He swatted at Bubba’s back with a greasy rag.
José looked up from the car he was working on. “Honey like that’s looking for a man, hombre. One with a job. Which you don’t exactly have.”
“You don’t know nothing, man. She’s coming right over here.” Bubba patted his motorcycle. “Me and this machine, we’re mag-netic.”
“Man, when’s the last time you looked in the mirror?” Ralph scoffed. “What you got that a woman like that might be wantin’?”
“Something neither of you chumps got.” Bubba gunned the motorcycle. “Trans-por-tay-shun.”
Kate stood by the watercooler feeling totally invisible. But Ruby saw her and instead of continuing across the street, made an impatient motion for Kate to come there. Kate ran to her. She wanted to tell Ruby about what the guys had said, but before she could open her mouth, Ruby snapped, “Let’s go home.”
Kate looked into Ruby’s basket. “You’ve got one sample left. We ought to give it to somebody.”
“Like who?” Ruby said irritably. “I’ve just about had it.” She glanced up the street. “There’s the hotel. Didn’t it used to have a gift shop? You know who runs it?”
“Yes,” Kate said hesitantly. “Miss Tutweiler.”
“That old biddy? I’d have thought she’d dried up and blown away by now.”
“Oh no. She’s very active in, well, in just about everything.” Kate stood there thinking about Miss Tutweiler and whether it was a good idea to go there with Ruby, considering that Ruby had one kind of attitude and Miss Tutweiler had another. If either of them showed too much attitude, that could be a problem.
But Kate was also thinking about something else. “Miss Tutweiler goes to the same church as us,” she told Ruby. “She loves sweets. At church socials, I’ve seen her take three desserts on her plate at one time.”
“Hmph” was all Ruby said.
Kate saw that Ruby didn’t understand. “You know how some people can’t keep from taking more even when it’s not polite? That’s how Miss Tutweiler is. I bet if you opened a box of candy in front of her, even if she was saying no-thank-you, she’d be grabbing a piece before she could stop herself.”
Ruby stood there a minute. She seemed to be considering what Kate had said. The guys at the gas station were still clowning around trying to get her attention, but as far as Kate could tell Ruby was ignoring them.
“All right,” Ruby decided suddenly. “Let’s give the old hog a chance.”
Kate liked Miss Tutweiler’s hotel. It had a patio dining area that was especially nice in the summertime. Mom used to take Kate, Justin, and Chip there sometimes for an ice cream sundae or a banana split. But now Mom said they couldn’t afford it.
Miss Tutweiler was behind the cash register, which was located so that nobody could pass through the hotel lobby or the dining room without her seeing them. She had white hair and wore a white suit, plus makeup about an inch thick.
Kate knew how Miss Tutweiler felt about black people. She had heard her at church talking about how wonderful the “coloreds” were who used to work for her family. She always added that times sure had changed, in a tone of voice that let you know that she, for one, did not approve of the changes.
Among the people having lunch in the patio was one black man. He was Mr. Jackson, the new high school math teacher. Kate was pretty sure that his having lunch here was one of the changes that Miss Tutweiler didn’t like. Miss Tutweiler hadn’t seen Ruby yet, but when she did, she probably wasn’t going to like that either, not with Ruby holding her head so high and not smiling even a little. In this town, even if you didn’t like somebody, you smiled. Otherwise people thought you were stuck-up.
Kate stepped quickly to the cash register ahead of Ruby and said, “Good afternoon, Miss Tutweiler.”
“Good afternoon, Katie.” Miss Tutweiler looked Kate up and down. For one awful second Kate thought she was going to make some remark about her coming to town dressed in cutoffs and a T-shirt. Miss Tutweiler only smiled sadly and said, “How’s your mama, dear?”
“Fine, Miss Tutweiler, ma’am,” Kate said in her most polite voice. “This is my friend Ruby.”
Ruby stripped the bow off the last box of samples, lifted the lid, and held it out to Miss Tutweiler. Ruby held the box high and close, so Miss Tutweiler couldn’t help but smell the candy.
“Hand-dipped chocolates,” Ruby urged. “Go ahead, have one.”
Miss Tutweiler looked startled. “No thank you. I—” Her powdered nose twitched slightly.
“They’re true gourmet chocolates,” Ruby added. “The kind you’d normally find only in the very finest New York shops.”
Miss Tutweiler’s fingertips moved upward, toward the box. “Well, maybe one,” she murmured.
Miss Tutweiler nibbled at the chocolate, then, with a little moan, pushed the whole thing into her mouth. “Mmmm.”
Ruby set the box next to the cash register. “This is just a sample. For you, ma’am. Though I am taking orders.”
Miss Tutweiler’s fingers were already inching out for a second piece. “It is very good,” she admitted. She stuffed the candy into her mouth and looked over the counter at Kate’s ragged tennis shoes. Then she said briskly to Ruby, “How much is it?”
“The sample is free,” Ruby said patiently. “But if you’d like to order more, here’s my card. The prices are listed on the back. It’s a traditional Swiss recipe. I use only the very finest ingredients.”
Kate noticed that Mr. Jackson had come up and was waiting behind them to pay his check. She nudged Ruby and they stepped aside so he could get to the cash register.
“Excellent lunch,” he said, giving Miss Tutweiler a big smile. He handed over the money and then reached right into Miss Tutweiler’s sample box, took one of the chocolates, and popped it into his mouth.
“Mmmm! No cheap after-dinner mints for your customers, eh? Leave it to you, Miss Tutweiler, to add the quality touch.”
“Why, of course, Mr. Jackson,” Miss Tutweiler said, looking annoyed and pleased at the same time. “That’s how I was brought up.”
“Hospitality in the finest Southern tradition,” he said, spilling another big smile all over her. “Thank you again for the lovely lunch.” As he turned to go he winked at Kate, but he didn’t once look at Ruby, which was pretty surprising, since just about everybody looked at Ruby. Kate noticed that Ruby hadn’t looked at him either. Still, she had a feeling that they had definitely checked each other out.
Miss Tutweiler studied the card Ruby had given her. “I’ll take three one-pound boxes,” she said briskly. “If they sell, I’ll order more. When can you deliver them?”
“Uh, next Saturday,” Ruby said, and actually smiled.
“Very good. I’ll expect you on Saturday.”
As they turned away, Miss Tutweiler added, “I do like to see girls like you trying to get ahead.”
14
Trouble on Wheels
Out on the sidewalk Kate looked up at Ruby, expecting to see the smile still on her face. Instead, Ruby looked furious. She walked so fast that Kate had to trot to keep up with her.
“What are you mad about?” Kate asked. “She gave us an order!”
“Charity,” Ruby exploded. “Sugar-coated charity from that gluttonous old biddy. A person can go to hell for gluttony, you know. I hope she does! Her and all this town’s close-minded—”
They stopped at an intersection. Ruby’s voice was drowned out by the roar of a motorcycle. Bubba Lee pulled up in front of them, blocking the crosswalk. He grinned at Ruby.
“You wasn’t baby-sittin’, I’d give you a lift. Save you wearing out them pretty boots on the hard pavement.”
“Get that thing out of my way!” Ruby snapped.
She tried to walk in front of the motorcycle.
Bubba pulled forward, blocking her path. “Thirty minutes and we could be in Palm Beach.”
Ruby grabbed Kate’s hand and practically dragged her behind the motorcycle and across the street against the light.
Bubba circled around and pulled alongside them on the other side of the street, in front of the root beer stand. Still grinning, he asked, “How about a root beer?”
When Ruby didn’t answer, he looked at Kate. “What about you, little sister? Sun’s mighty hot today. You want something to drink?”
Kate gave Ruby a questioning look. She really was thirsty, and she couldn’t think of anything she’d rather have right then than an ice-cold root beer. But she didn’t want to make Ruby more upset than she already was.
“Well?” Ruby asked sharply. “Do you want something to drink?”
“Uh, yeah. If you do,” Kate answered uncertainly.
Ruby turned a sharp left and walked across the parking lot toward the root beer stand. Kate trotted beside her.
Bubba roared his bike up to the window ahead of them. “Three root beers,” he yelled at the clerk.
The clerk filled two frosty mugs with foamy root beer and shoved them through the window. Bubba handed one to Ruby and one to Kate. Kate wondered why he didn’t fill three mugs and pass them through all at once, the way he did when Mom ordered three for her and Justin and Chip. The clerk not only didn’t set one out for Bubba, but he turned away and started washing dirty mugs, like he didn’t see Bubba standing there.
Bubba put his head halfway in the window and yelled, “How about one more, buddy?”
“Ain’t your buddy,” the clerk mumbled into the sink, and washed another couple of mugs before he finally turned around and filled one—not a cold one but one hot out of the dishwater—for Bubba.
“Four dollars thirty-three cents,” he said sourly.
Bubba didn’t say anything about not getting a frosty mug. He slowly took out his wallet, slowly opened it, and slowly pulled out a wad of bills. In fact, he took almost as much time handing a twenty-dollar bill to the clerk as the clerk had taken handing him his root beer.
The clerk flipped greasy blond hair back from his forehead and stared at the twenty-dollar bill. “Got anything smaller?” he asked.
“Nope.” Bubba waited for his change, then put the bills back in the wad and shoved it in his pocket.
It was the most money Kate had ever seen, but Ruby didn’t seem to notice. She didn’t pay much attention to Bubba either, not even bothering to say “thank you” for the root beers.
Bubba slurped his drink. “Where you gals headed?”
Ruby didn’t answer, so Kate said, “We’re just on our way home.”
“And where’s home?” Bubba asked.
“On Lost Goat Lane.” Kate pointed down the highway they’d walked in on. “It’s about three miles thataway.”
Bubba looked past Kate to Ruby, who was standing behind her. “Sure you wouldn’t druther take a spin out to Palm Beach?”
Ruby didn’t answer. Kate thought it wasn’t polite to drink the root beer Bubba bought for them and not talk to him, so she said, “Bet it’d be fun to go to Palm Beach on a motorcycle.”
Bubba grinned at her in a teasing way. “Get yourself growed up some, little sister, and I might think about it.”
Kate heard the clerk make a snorting noise. She glanced at him. He had his eyes narrowed, watching her in a really mean way.
“If you want a ride home, Kate, just say so,” Ruby said sharply.
Kate almost choked on the last sip of her root beer. Ruby’s moods were changing so fast she couldn’t keep up with them. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, I never rode on a motorcycle before.”
“Up to you,” Ruby said.
Kate looked at the shining motorcycle. The black gas tank was so polished you could see your reflection in it. The seat behind Bubba was big and padded. Kate took a step toward the bike and stopped, scared. Then she flung one leg over the seat and slipped on behind Bubba. Ruby slid on behind her. Kate leaned over to set her empty root beer mug on the counter next to Ruby’s, which was still half-full. The clerk said a word Kate couldn’t make out, but from the way his lip curled at her and from the way he jerked his head at Bubba, she knew it was about her being with him. And she knew it was not a nice word.
Bubba gunned the engine. Ruby wrapped her arms around Kate’s waist and yelled, “Hold on!”
Kate grabbed Bubba’s waist and held on. As they drove past the side of the root beer stand, a door opened and somebody flung out a pan of hot water. Most of it went on the ground, but some of it splashed on Ruby’s boot and Kate’s leg.
“Ow!” Kate yelled, more surprised than hurt.
Ruby jerked her wet boot up in the air. Bubba pulled the bike to the side of the road and, holding the handlebars with one hand, he yanked a bandanna out of his pocket and wiped Ruby’s boot. Then he stuck the bandanna back in his pocket, grabbed the handlebars with both hands, and roared away, all of them laughing like fools.
In one minute they were out of town sailing along the highway. Kate, snug between Bubba and Ruby, felt both protected and free as a bird. It had taken her and Ruby almost an hour to walk to town this morning. They’d be home in a few minutes. Kate wished they’d never get there. She closed her eyes and imagined they were on their way to Palm Beach. She pretended that when she opened her eyes she’d see waves curling out of a blue ocean and crashing on a long sandy beach shaded by green palm trees.
What she saw, when she opened her eyes, was Mom’s car. Kate’s stomach did a flip-flop. Mom had never told her not to ride on a motorcycle, but, well, some things you didn’t need to be told. Some things you just knew your mother would never in a million years let you do. And if you did them without asking and your mother found out, you’d be in serious trouble.
But Bubba was driving fast, and Mom was going the opposite way. Maybe Mom hadn’t seen her. After all, Kate was behind Bubba, who was a pretty big guy.
“It’s that dirt road up there. Go right,” Kate yelled, although right was the only direction you could go, since on the other side of the highway was nothing but the trail leading to the big canal.
“Hang on,” Bubba yelled back.
Ruby’s arms squeezed Kate’s waist and Kate clung tight to Bubba as he turned off the highway onto Lost Goat Lane.
“About half a mile down,” Ruby yelled.
They bumped down the dusty road faster than Kate ever had before. She hoped there were no turtles crossing, because if one got in the way, it didn’t stand a chance.
Bubba roared into the Wilsons’ front yard. For an instant Kate thought he was going to drive the motorcycle right up Booker’s wheelchair ramp onto the porch. But he stopped at the bottom of the ramp and sat there racing the engine. The noise seemed to hit the side of the house and bounce back at them twice as loud.
Mrs. Wilson rushed out onto the porch. “What on earth?”
When she saw Kate and Ruby getting off the bike, her expression turned to outrage. “Ruby Wilson, you got no better sense than to put that child on the back of a motorcycle?” she shouted down at her daughter.
Ruby looked embarrassed, and Kate felt herself flush. How awful of Mrs. Wilson to scold Ruby as if she were a child, especially in front of a guy! Not that Bubba seemed to mind. He just sat there on his big black Harley, grinning at Ruby like he thought she was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen—which she probably was.
“Oh, Mama, we just—”
Mr. Wilson appeared from the side of the house. “What’s going on?” he asked loudly.
Ruby took a deep breath. “Not a thing, Papa. Bubba here just gave us a two-minute ride and—”
“In two minutes you’ve wiped out the respect I spent fifty years building!” Mrs. Wilson shouted.
Kate was dumbfounded. She had never heard Mrs. Wilson raise her voice, and couldn’t believe she could get this angry.
Luther came out onto the porch. “Mama,” he called. “There’s a lady on the phone. She said she asked for three boxes of candy and now she wants six.”
“Take a message,” Ruby snapped. “Come on,” she said to Kate. “We got work to do.”
“You see what I mean?” Mrs. Wilson cried, pointing up the road. A car was approaching in a storm cloud of dust. Kate didn’t need to be told who it was.
Mom spun a U-turn, stopped in front of the house, and jumped out of the car. “Get in the car, Kate,” she said in a voice that made Kate’s stomach do a double flip-flop.
“But Mom, Ruby and me—”
Mrs. Wilson came down the steps. “Mrs. Martin, I am awfully sorry.”
Mom interrupted in a tight, furious voice. “I’m sorry, too, Mrs. Wilson. I would’ve thought my daughter had better sense, even if yours doesn’t!”
Ruby, who had already started up the steps, came back down and leaned against the motorcycle. “Go ahead, Mama. ‘Pologize to that white lady,” she said in an exaggerated drawl.
“Well, I do apologize,” Mrs. Wilson said sharply. “I am very sorry that my daughter’s lacking common sense. And Mrs. Martin, I’m sorry that you’re so lacking common courtesy that you could come up in my yard like this and start in on me and my family! Why, we … we got better things to do!”
Kate’s mother looked like she’d been slapped in the face. “Well, I never! You people—”
Ruby started toward Mom, her fists clenched. “Nobody stands on our property and mouths off about ‘you people’!”
Mom gasped and backed toward the car. “You’re not going to town with Ruby again, Kate! Get in the car right now!”
“Mom, are you crazy?” Kate yelled from the front seat. “I am in the car!”
Mom jumped in and tried to take off so fast she killed the engine.
