by Rosa Jordan
Mr. Wilson glowered at Bubba. “Take that noisy thing and get outta here, boy. You’ll be upsetting my goats so they don’t give a pint of milk tonight.”
“Yes sir,” Bubba said with a big grin.
Mom got the car restarted, but before she could pull away, Bubba zoomed past. Ruby was on the motorcycle behind him.
Kate heard Luther scream. She looked back. Mrs. Wilson was holding onto Luther to keep him from running after the motorcycle. His arms were stretched out in the direction his mother had gone and he was sobbing as if his heart would break.
Kate couldn’t tell for sure, but from the expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Wilsons’ faces, it looked like they might be crying, too.
15
Ugly Old Motorcycle
Mom was either too mad or in too much of a hurry to get to work to talk to Kate. When she stopped to let Kate out of the car, all she said was, “Don’t you dare step one foot off this place till I get back!”
Kate trudged to the house and holed up in her room.
A few minutes later Justin came in. “Whew! Hot in here,” he said.
“Well, I might as well get used to it,” Kate mumbled. “I’m probably grounded for life.”
“What happened?” he asked.
“Nothing.”
Justin stood there for a minute, jiggling his baseball. Then he asked, “Did it have anything to do with that motorcycle that just went by?”
“Yeah,” Kate answered. “I came home on it.”
“You’re kidding! That must’ve been fun.”
“It was. For about three seconds. Then everybody went crazy. Mrs. Wilson started yelling at Ruby and Mr. Wilson was yelling at this guy Bubba who brought us home and Mom came and started yelling at me and Ruby yelled at Mom. Then Ruby got back on Bubba’s bike and took off with him to Palm Beach and left Luther screaming after her like a two-year-old.”
“Bubba Lee?” Justin lifted his eyebrows. “What were you doing with him? They say he and Ralph sell crack.”
“So you think he slipped some into my root beer?” Kate said sarcastically. “Mom’s the one who went berserk, not me. All that happened was he gave us a ride home. It was just so hot and …”
Kate choked up and she stopped trying to explain. After a minute Justin left her alone. She lay on the bed staring at the ceiling as tears dripped out the corners of her eyes and slid down the sides of her face.
When she woke up, Justin was standing there with a pail of goat milk. “I did your chores for you,” he said. “Supper’s almost ready. Mom’ll be home pretty soon.”
“Thanks,” Kate said. “Did Sugar give you any trouble?”
“She wasn’t too happy to see me, but once she had her grain she behaved pretty well. Except when I first sat down to milk her. She gave me a little nip to show that she knew I wasn’t you.” Justin held out his arm to show the teeth prints where Sugar had bit him. “Didn’t break the skin, though.”
Kate took the pail of milk and carried it out to the kitchen.
“Where’s Chip?” she asked. She strained the milk and put it in the fridge. Through the window she saw Chip walking slowly up the driveway. He was scuffing his feet and looking unhappy. “Oh, there he is. Where’s he been?”
“I don’t know,” Justin said. “I guess over at the Wilsons’.”
“No,” Kate said. “he came from the other direction.”
Once again it crossed her mind that Chip might have gone to the big canal alone, but it didn’t seem likely now that he knew for a fact the big alligator was a killer. She was going to ask him where he’d been, but he didn’t come into the house right away. Instead, he went to feed the ducks and collect the eggs. Then Mom drove up and Chip came into the house with her. Kate didn’t want to ask where he’d been in front of Mom, in case it was somewhere he wasn’t supposed to go. No need to make Mom madder than she already was.
Kate suffered through a silent dinner. Nobody was smiling and nobody was hungry. Justin took only half as much food as usual. Mom pretended to eat, but Kate didn’t even try. Chip poked at his beans with his fork, pushing them from one side of his plate to another. Kate figured Chip was thinking about Go-Boy. She wished Go-Boy was under the table like he used to be, too, waiting to eat whatever Chip didn’t want.
Finally Mom looked at Chip. “You haven’t had your bath yet.”
“I’ll do it now.” Chip jumped up from the table and scooted into the bathroom before Mom could scold him about not finishing his food.
Mom said, “Kate, I want to talk to you about Ruby.”
Kate had been holding in her feelings all afternoon, holding in until she felt like she would explode. And explode is what she did. “It wasn’t Ruby who wanted to go on the motorcycle!” she yelled. “It was me. You never said I couldn’t!”
“It’s not just the motorcycle,” Mom said quietly.
Kate jumped up from the table. She started running dishwater and clattering plates into the sink, making a lot of noise. She didn’t want to hear what she knew Mom was about to say.
Mom raised her voice. “I just don’t want you hanging around with—”
“Fine!” Kate shouted. “You don’t want me going down to the Wilsons’, fine! Candy business is over. We won’t even fill the orders we got now!”
One of the plates slipped out of her hand and broke. Kate flung the pieces into the wastebasket and shrieked, “I hated that ugly old motorcycle anyway!”
Mom sat there not saying a word. She didn’t even scold Kate for breaking the plate. Instead, she stood up, went outside, and got into the car. Kate watched the car go up the driveway and turn down Lost Goat Lane toward the Wilsons’ place. Mom was probably going back to fight with the Wilsons some more. Anything that wasn’t already ruined, she was probably going to ruin now. Tears puddled in Kate’s eyes and dripped down into the dishwater.
Justin pushed her away from the sink. “Why don’t you go in your room to bawl? I’ll do the dishes tonight.”
Mom was gone about an hour. By the time she got back, Kate had her pajamas on and was in bed. When Mom peeked into her room, she pretended to be asleep. But Mom walked in, switched on the lamp, and sat down on the side of Kate’s bed.
“You don’t have to talk to me,” her mother said. “But I have some things to say and you do have to listen.”
Kate wanted to put her hands over her ears, but she didn’t dare. She threw her arm over her eyes instead, as if the light was bothering them.
“I just went to see the Wilsons. They’re pretty upset. Ruby’s still out with Bubba Lee, and he’s not the nicest boy in town. I don’t think he’s the kind of person they want their daughter running around with. And I know he’s not the kind of person I want my daughter running around with.”
There was a long silence. Then Mom said, “The reason I went down there tonight was to apologize. I had no right to blame Ruby. You are old enough to know that you should not have accepted a ride on anybody’s motorcycle.”
Mom was silent again. When she spoke it was in a strange, quiet voice, as if she was talking to herself.
“I always imagined how much fun we’d have when you got to this age. I wanted to teach you how to design your own clothes, and go to movies with you, sometimes without the boys, just the two of us, and afterwards go somewhere for ice cream sundaes and, you know, girl talk.” Mom paused. “But the way things have turned out, with me working all the time, we have hardly any time together. And you’re growing up,” she whispered. “So fast.”
Again Mom fell silent. She was quiet so long that Kate opened her eyes a crack to see her face. There were tears on Mom’s cheeks.
Kate didn’t care how Mom felt. She wasn’t going to feel sorry for her, and she wasn’t going to feel ashamed of herself for a two-minute ride on a motorcycle, which, while it lasted, was fun.
But Mom didn’t seem to be thinking about the motorcycle. She stroked Kate’s hair back from her forehead in an absent-minded way. When she got around to talking again, it turned out she�
�d been thinking about the Wilsons. “They were on the front porch. Mrs. Wilson seemed really hostile at first. Then Mr. Wilson went in and got some ice tea and invited me to sit down. We got to talking, me about how it worries me that I’m not spending enough time with you kids, and Mrs. Wilson about how she stayed home all the time when Ruby was growing up but that didn’t stop Ruby from running away. She said it seems like the smaller a family gets, the harder it is to hold together what’s left. Mr. Wilson said he reckons all of you kids are suffering from not having fathers, which is why it’s so nice for everybody when Booker comes home.” Mom let out a long sigh. “I can’t be both mom and dad to you kids, Katie. I would if I could, but some things one parent just can’t do.”
Kate knew that if she kept quiet, pretty soon Mom would stop talking. And sure enough, she gave up. Kate turned over so her face was to the wall. Mom leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, then went out of the room.
The Wilsons had their problems and Mom had hers and Kate had hers. Kate’s problem was that the only friend she had was Ruby. Even though it was a pretty one-sided friendship, it was better than nothing. But just when they’d started working together and it looked like Ruby might start liking her instead of just putting up with her, Mom was going to mess it up by forbidding her to do anything with Ruby.
Maybe Mom wouldn’t even have to forbid her, because maybe Ruby wouldn’t come back. Luther had screamed like he thought his mother was leaving forever. Maybe she was. Kate curled up in a ball and pulled the covers tight around her shoulders. Maybe Ruby had run away for good with Bubba Lee on that ugly old motorcycle.
16
Work, Not Fun
Kate stayed awake a long time, listening for the motorcycle to pass by. She finally fell asleep. If Ruby came home, Kate didn’t hear the motorcycle bringing her. When she woke up it was late morning, which was okay, since it was Sunday. Mom had already gone to work, but she’d left a note saying that she and the Wilsons had agreed that it would be a good idea for Kate and Ruby to continue their candy-making. People should finish what they’d started, the note said. So after the morning chores, Kate, Chip, and Justin walked down to the Wilsons’. Kate was worried. What if Ruby still wasn’t back?
When they got to the house, Justin went around back to the workshop to see what Mr. Wilson was doing. Chip went with him, probably expecting Luther to be there, too. But when Kate went up on the porch and looked through the screen door, she saw Luther sitting on the couch next to Mrs. Wilson. She was reading to him from The Jungle Book.
“Baloo taught him the Wood and Water Laws, how to speak politely to the wild bees and how to warn the water snakes in the pools before he splashed down among them,” Mrs. Wilson read.
“Now the animals won’t hurt him, huh?” Luther asked.
“Animals are just like people, honey. Most of them won’t bother you if you don’t bother them. Only now and then you run into one that’s dangerous. You have to use a little common sense.”
Mrs. Wilson looked up and saw Kate. “Come on in, honey. Ruby’s not waked up yet, but you can go on in the kitchen and get started if you want. I’ll tell her you’re here.” To Luther she said, “I bet Chip’s around back. Why don’t you go out and show him how good you can drive old Billy now?”
Luther went out through the kitchen. Mrs. Wilson went down the hall calling, “Ruby!”
There was no answer. For one terrible minute, Kate thought that Ruby wasn’t there—that Mrs. Wilson just thought she’d come home but she really hadn’t.
Then Mrs. Wilson spoke again, much louder. “You get your head out from under that pillow, girl! This is your mama speaking to you!”
“What time is it?” Kate heard Ruby ask.
“Late!” Mrs. Wilson snapped. “Get up, now, and help Kate fix that order for Miss Tutweiler.”
“I don’t owe that old biddy anything,” Ruby grumbled sleepily.
“No, but you owe those children something,” Mrs. Wilson told her.
“What children?”
“Your son. And Kate.”
“What are you talking about, Mama?”
Kate could see Mrs. Wilson standing in the hall with her hands on her hips, looking in at Ruby. “You owe them the self-same thing I give you, which is the example of a woman who works hard and keeps her word.”
“It’s my life!” Ruby’s voice was getting louder. “And my choice!”
Kate slipped into the kitchen so it wouldn’t look like she was eavesdropping. But even in the kitchen, she could hear Mrs. Wilson’s answer to that.
“Oh, yes, daughter, you have choices. You can stay home and raise your child, or you can get a job, or you can work your pretty painted fingernails to the bone trying to establish yourself in business. But you cannot hang out all night with some no-’count boy and lay up in bed all next day. That’s one choice you don’t have, not in this house!”
Ruby’s reply was sarcastic, but it came from the hall, meaning that at least she had gotten out of bed. “Is the sermon over?”
“I don’t intend to repeat myself,” Mrs. Wilson told her.
“Good, because I’d like to go to the bathroom.”
Kate heard the bathroom door slam. It was pretty obvious that Ruby was mad at her mother for the same reason Kate was mad at Mom. Here they were trying to work hard and earn some money, and they were both getting lectured and bossed around like they were little kids. Kate looked in the fridge. There were still a lot of centers left from the previous batch of candy. Kate got down Mrs. Wilson’s Joy of Cooking and found the recipe for chocolate coating. It didn’t sound too complicated. She found the double boiler pot Ruby had used before and got the chocolate out of the cupboard. She had her finger in the recipe book, trying to figure out what to do next, when Ruby appeared in the doorway.
Ruby was wearing a red silk wrapper, the sort of thing that normally would have made her look like a movie star. But this morning her hair was frowsy and her eyes all puffy.
“Hope you know what you’re doing,” she said in a nasty voice.
“I don’t,” Kate said. “But I’m trying.”
Ruby turned a burner on under the coffee. “Follow that recipe, you’ll get ordinary chocolate. Mine is something special. It’s what they used in that specialty shop where I used to work. It’s like what they make in Switzerland.” She pushed Kate aside and carefully measured some sugar and cream into the top of the double boiler, then dropped in several squares of chocolate. She set the pot on the stove, adjusted the flame under it, and handed Kate a big spoon. “There. Stir that.”
Kate stirred. Ruby poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down. “Reckon I didn’t get more than two hours’ sleep,” she said grumpily.
“Reckon you had a good time,” Kate retorted.
“How would you know?” Ruby asked.
“Riding motorcycles is supposed to be fun,” Kate said, trying to sound equally sarcastic.
“There’s more to it than that,” Ruby mumbled.
Kate didn’t want to seem interested, but she was curious. “You didn’t like him?” she asked.
Ruby snorted. “Now what’s there to like about a fool like Bubba Lee? All he’s got is a fancy motorcycle. And how do you figure he got the money for it anyway, bragging how he doesn’t have to work like common folks?”
Ruby came to the stove, took the spoon from Kate’s hand, and checked the thickness of the chocolate. “I told him, ‘Bubba, I appreciate you taking me around, but don’t come by anymore. I got a son to raise and I can see right now you are not the helpful type.’”
“You said that to him? Right out like that?”
Ruby put her hands on her hips and gave Kate a look. “Listen, honey, with men you got to speak up for yourself. Times I didn’t, I got in a mess of trouble.”
Ruby lifted the hot, bubbling chocolate off the stove and looked at it like it was mud. “I don’t know how I got myself into this mess either. Sunday might be a day of rest for some, but looks like we got a lot
of work ahead of us. How long till you get out of school for Christmas holidays?”
“Just this week and next,” Kate said. “Then I’ll be able to help more.”
“Good.” Ruby gave Kate something that could almost pass for a smile. “I’ll be needing all the help I can get.”
17
Billy-the-Bad
After the note, the one that said Kate and Ruby ought to finish what they started, Mom didn’t mention the candy business again except to ask once or twice if they’d gotten any more orders. Kate figured she had too many other things on her mind. Kate never brought it up either. That’s why it was all the way into December before something happened that made things go crazy all over again.
When they’d delivered the first order to Miss Tutweiler, she had ordered six more boxes. If those sold, she told them, she’d double the order just before Christmas or maybe even triple it, because by then people would be looking for last-minute gifts.
They had made Miss Tutweiler’s two small deliveries on Saturdays when Kate was home to go to town with Ruby. Both times Kate left a note for her mom saying she was helping Ruby and not mentioning anything about the fact that they were going to town to deliver candy. The second time, it was Kate who delivered the candy, because Ruby didn’t like talking to Miss Tutweiler.
Ruby said she’d wait on the bench in front of the ice cream parlor, but when she saw Bubba Lee roar into Ralph’s Gas-and-Go, she changed her mind and told Kate she’d wait next door at Brenda’s Boutique. Kate was pretty sure she chose Brenda’s because it was the sort of place Bubba would never go into.
Kate didn’t say so, but she figured it was best for her to deliver the candy by herself. Ruby had a little too much attitude for a person like Miss Tutweiler to handle. When Kate came back from the hotel, she gave the money to Ruby because they had to buy more supplies. Ruby said it would be awhile before they were able to tell just how much profit they were making.
