Stolen Lives

by Joy Redmond

  “I think that’s a good idea. Now where’s my pill?”

  “Coming right up,” Ali answered as she hurried off to the kitchen. She picked up the bottle and read Darvon Compound 65. “Mr. Puss, I’m tempted to take one myself. I’m a bit nervous. We’re gonna pray real hard for her tonight. She’s all we’ve got.”

  Mr. Puss meowed in agreement.

  Ali gave Aunt July the pill, then sat by her side until her aunt fell asleep. She picked up Mr. Puss and headed for bed. She turned on her night light, undressed and slipped on a nightgown. She turned back the bed covers and eased herself into bed. Mr. Puss jumped upon the bed and lay on the pillow beside Ali’s head. He purred his usual music until Ali fell asleep.

  The next morning, Ali woke up when she heard Aunt July running her bath water. She quickly dressed and headed for the kitchen to grab a piece of toast and drink a glass of orange juice. She opened a can of Friskies for Mr. Puss and as she emptied it into his bowl, she said, “I bet this is the first breakfast that Aunt July has ever missed in her life. Now you pray for her while we’re gone to get this surgery done.”

  Mr. Puss meowed, and then began eating.

  When Aunt July came out of the bathroom, Ali hurried in to brush her teeth, wash her face and pull her hair back in a ponytail. I’ll be ready in a jiffy, Aunt July.”

  Aunt July smiled, and said, “Thank you for wearing one of your church outfits to the hospital. You look very respectful.”

  “I thought it was only proper. And you’re welcome.”

  As soon as Ali had finished her bathroom duties and Aunt July had dressed, Sister Bea was knocking on the front door. Aunt July opened the door and said, “We’re ready. I want to get this over with.”

  Ali said, “Hold on. I need to get your pill.”

  Aunt July swallowed the pill with one sip of water. “I don’t think one little sip of water is going to hurt anything. But don’t tell on me. I’m not supposed to have anything in my stomach after midnight, last night.”

  Ali smiled. “Nobody is gonna tell on you.” She put her hand in Aunt July’s hand and they walked to the car.

  The nurses had Aunt July prepped and ready for surgery thirty minutes after they arrived. Sister Bea and Ali kissed her cheek before she was wheeled away. “We’ll be praying for you, Sister July,” Sister Bea called out.

  Ali felt her eyes stinging as she watched her aunt disappear through the double doors. “God be with you,” she whispered.

  Three hours later, Dr. Tully came into the waiting room. “Everything went fine. I think we got it all but she’ll need a few chemotherapy treatments just to make sure it’s all killed. She’ll be in recovery for an hour, then she’ll be taken to her room. She’ll be groggy for a few hours so don’t be surprised if her personality isn’t the same and she might say things that are out of character for her. It’s the effects of the anesthesia and the morphine drip. Don’t let all the tubes scare you. It’ll look a lot worse than it is.”

  Ali asked, “How long will she have to stay in the hospital?”

  “Probably a week, but it’ll depend on how she does. Some patients respond faster than others. We’ll just keep a close eye on her and when she seems strong enough, I’ll dismiss her.”

  After Dr. Tully left the waiting room, Ali looked at Sister Bea. “Do you want to grab a bite to eat? We’ve got an hour to wait.”

  Sister Bea wiped her eyes. “No, child. I’m fasting and praying. But if you must, just go on down to the cafeteria.”

  Ali went on her way. I don’t guess I’ll ever understand all this church stuff. I’m hungry and I don’t think me eating is going to make a difference in how well Aunt July does. I prayed for her and God will either answer my prayers or he won’t. I don’t get it. I never will.

  Finally, Aunt July was brought to her room. Ali couldn’t believe her eyes. Her aunt was pale and had a gray color around her lips. She had IV tubes in both arms and oxygen tubes up her nose.

  Ali stood by the bedside and Aunt July fluttered her eyes. “Hi. How are you feeling?”

  “I hurt a little bit but it’s not bad. Did they get it all?”

  “Dr. Tully said he thinks so,” Ali answered. She didn’t dare mention the chemotherapy. “He says you can probably go home in a week. You’re doing good. Me and Sister Bea are right here with you. I think Sister Bertha is coming later. You rest now.”

  Aunt July was asleep before Ali finished her sentence.

  By four in the afternoon, Aunt July was talking and said she wasn’t in much pain. Then she gave Ali her instructions. “Ali, now don’t think you have to come up here every day. There’s nothing you can do for me and there’s plenty of work to be done at home. I’ll get to worrying and won’t get well if you don’t tend the garden, weed the flowers, mow the lawn, clean the house and keep laundry done. So you stay home and get it done and I’ll rest easy. Will you promise that you’ll do all that for me?”

  “I surely will, Aunt July. And it’s a long way for me to walk to the hospital after working all day. You rest easy and I’ll take care of things at home.” She patted her aunt’s hand.

  “That’s how I want things. And I don’t want you spending the nights by yourself. You get Toots to spend the nights with you. We live in a safe neighborhood but you never know when some crazy man might get the notion to bust in.”

  “If that’s what you want, I’m sure Toots will be glad to stay with me.”

  Ali kept waiting for her aunt to say something out of character, or maybe say something odd like the doctor said she would, but she was talking like her usual self.

  Sister Bea and Sister Bertha said it was time for them to go home and Sister Bea said she would drop Ali off at her home. The sisters promised they would be back every day and they would call Ali and give her an update on how she was doing every afternoon.

  Aunt July thanked them, told them goodbye and fell asleep.

  Sister Bea took Ali home and the drive was done in silence. When she pulled the car up in front of the house, Ali thanked her for the ride and for being with her during her aunt’s surgery.

  Sister Bea said, “You’re welcome. Now remember what your duties are. I know how you can be head strong and disobey your sweet aunt.”

  Ali merely nodded and got out of the car. She went inside the house, picked up Mr. Puss and sat on the couch. “It’s just you and me, big boy. Aunt July will be gone for a few days and it’s up to us to see that things are done. But Toots can spend the night with us, so I guess we need to make that call and tell her to hurry up and get over here.”

  Mr. Puss happily meowed.

  Ali smiled. “She told me what my duties were but she didn’t tell me that I couldn’t go someplace with my friends. So, the way I see it, I won’t be disobeying or being disrespectful. This might be the best week of my life!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ten minutes after Ali had made the call, she heard Toots pull up to the curb in front of the house.

  Ali ran out to meet her. They hugged and danced in circles. “Come on in, Toots. I’ll get some supper started for us. I’m hungry and I know you can always eat.”

  “Yep, I’ve never turned down a meal. I think I can help you cook supper too. What are we waiting for?”

  The girls hurried inside and Toots picked up Mr. Puss. “Hey there, big boy. I haven’t seen you for a while. We’re gonna have a good time together, but you have to share the bed with me tonight too.”

  Mr. Puss softly purred.

  Ali opened the pantry and she and Toots went through all the home canned vegetables. Nothing seemed to be what their taste buds were wanting. “There’s a chicken in the freezer but it’ll take a long time to thaw. I guess we can pop some—”

  Before Ali finished her sentence, Toots said. “Why don’t we go to the new pizza place? I’ve got some money on me. I love pizza.”

  “Great idea! I’ve got some extra money, it’ll be my treat. I’ve never had one,” Ali said and her eyes were dancing. “W
ow! My first pizza. I can’t wait. I need to change clothes before we go. I really don’t want to go out dressed in my Sunday-go-to-meeting outfit. I look like somebody from back in the prairie days. Dang, all I’ve got is skirts and blouses. You’ve got on peddle-pushers and a pullover. I’ll still look like a freak.”

  “We’ll stop by my house and you can change. I’ve still got outfits for you. My cousin keeps you in style with her castoffs. Mama makes sure she collects everything that Marylou is tired of.”

  When they got to Toots’ house, Ali quickly changed into a pair of peddle-pushers, a backless blouse, and she slipped on a pair of fancy sandals with fake jewels across the top strap. She put on makeup and took her hair out of the ponytail. Her hair fell to her waist, but the layers that Nancy had painstakingly put in her hair had taken the mop look away.

  When Ali was ready, they hurried back to the car and Toots drove them to the opposite side of town and parked in front of a place with a big sign that read Dave’s Family Pizza. Ali got out of the car and looked around. “This is my home town and when I have a chance to get out, which is next to never, it’s like I don’t even know where I am. You have no idea how wonderful this is for me. I know you’re used to it, but it’s a new world for me.”

  “Well, come on. I’ll show you the best place there is in your new world. All the kids come here. We’ll probably see a lot of our high school bunch.”

  They went inside and sure enough, the place was packed with the kids that Ali only saw during the school year. Ali heard somebody yelling her name. She turned her head and saw Todd and Jimmy sitting at a table with four other friends. “Come over here, we’ll make room for you,” Todd called out.

  Ali noticed that Jimmy’s eyes seem to light up at the sight of Toots. They joined their friends at the table and Todd pulled up an extra chair next to him for Ali, which was a tight squeeze. Ali was so happy, she didn’t care that she was almost sitting in Todd’s lap.

  Toots looked at Ali and said, “Why don’t we order a large beef, sausage and Canadian bacon?”

  “That sounds good to me,” Ali answered. Sausage and bacon, she thought and almost giggled as she pictured her grandparents’ faces. But they weren’t around and she felt that she had the right to decide what she wanted to eat. And she wanted sausage, which she had never eaten, and she had no idea what Canadian bacon was but she loved American bacon and she figured it would be just as good, if not better.

  Ali ate half of the pizza and Toots ate the other half. Ali had never felt so stuffed but she had never eaten anything that tasted so good. “I could eat pizza every night!” she said. Then she noticed a few strange looks and she realized that she had been overzealous in proclaiming her love for her new found food. “Well, maybe not every night,” she quickly added.

  After they had finished eating, Todd asked Ali what her plans were for the rest of the night. “I don’t have any. Toots is spending the night with me since my aunt is in the hospital, so I guess we’ll go to my house and watch TV. Aunt July isn’t there to pick the shows and we’ll watch whatever we darn well please!”

  Todd glanced toward Jimmy. “Would you two mind if we come over. We’ll leave early and I’ll bring my record player and some new albums.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Ali said, looking at Toots.

  “I’m in,” Toots said.

  Ali was bouncing in the passenger seat as Toots drove them home. “Oh, my goodness. I’m so excited I hope I don’t pee my panties. Wow! The first night without Aunt July, and it’s been great, and it’s not over yet. I feel alive for the first time in my life!”

  For the next week, Toots helped Ali keep the yard and house work done and they waited for the phone call from one of the church sisters to get an update on Aunt July. Every day Ali was told that her aunt was doing well and the doctor was happy with her progress. After Ali had received the call, she and Toots, along with Todd and Jimmy went out on the town. They went to the pavilion and danced. They went to the new Putt-Putt and played miniature golf. Ali got the hang of swinging a club, quickly, and a few times she made a hole-in-one. One night they went to the drive-in, which was the biggest taboo on Aunt July’s list. For the first time, Ali let Todd kiss her. The kiss was okay, but there was no thrill. It was just a kiss.

  The day before Aunt July was released from the hospital, Ali changed her aunt’s bed, putting fresh sheets on it. She pulled all of her nightgowns from the chest and washed them. “I think I’ve got everything she’ll need all fresh and clean. The house is spotless, the garden is hoed, and the flowers and lawn are perfect. Surely she won’t find anything to complain about. I’ve done everything she asked of me.”

  Toots hugged Ali. “You’ve done a splendid job with all your chores. And what she doesn’t know about won’t hurt her or get you killed. Tonight is our last hurrah so what do you want to do? I’m sure Todd and Jimmy will take us somewhere.”

  Ali sighed deeply. “I think we’ll stay home tonight. Todd drives me crazy wanting to kiss me all the time. We’ll listen to music, dance on the front porch, eat popcorn, and watch TV. Just the two of us. What do you say?”

  “Suits me. I just thought you might want to make your last night of freedom a big blowout.”

  “This whole week has been a big blowout for me. I didn’t know life could be so much fun. But I might as well get used to the idea of going back to Monroe Prison.”

  “Well then, we’ll crank up the music, go out on the front porch and dance ourselves silly. You’ve got rhythm like nobody I’ve ever seen.”

  Ali smiled. “It just seems to come natural. I had no idea myself. I love to dance and so did Mama Jane. She used to dance all over the house when she turned on the radio. I never danced with her. I wish I had now.”

  “Well, you made up for lost time this week. And I bet you that Jane was smiling and bouncing on a cloud, watching you dance and have a little fun.”

  Ali smiled. “I hope so.”

  The girls fixed two large bowls of popcorn and they drank Pepsi, another beverage that Ali was never allowed to have. She held up the Pepsi can and said, “Here’s to the devils spit and to the best friend in the whole world.”

  Toots touched her can to Ali’s and they turned them up and drank. Then they took Toots’ radio out on the front porch, turned it up so loudly they began to wonder if the neighbors were going to yell at them. Popcorn had never tasted so good to Ali, and she drank three Pepsi’s, knowing she wouldn’t get another one until she found a day to make it over to visit Toots.

  With Aunt July coming home, Ali knew it would be a long time before she would be able to go anywhere. But it had been a week she would remember for the rest of her life.

  Ali promised herself that she was going to have plenty of fun as soon as she was on her own. Mama Jane had the right idea—except for the alcohol. Ali vowed she would never let a drop go down her throat. And she was never going to put a cigarette in her mouth. Mama Jane had been wrong about those two things, and she had even admitted to it. As for the rest of Mama Jane’s ways, well, it wouldn’t include men callers. No man was ever going to paw her or do the other things that she had seen Mama Jane do. She’d work for her money and it wouldn’t be on a bed with a man.

  The next morning, Ali and Toots were up early. They double-checked the house and it was spotless. They turned back the clean sheets on Aunt July’s bed and laid a clean gown at the foot.

  Ali went into her bedroom and gathered up the clothes she had worn all week and put them in a sack. “I didn’t get them washed, but I sure appreciate you and Nancy collecting them for me.”

  “I’m sure there’s plenty of laundry for me to get done when I get home. I’ll just throw them in with the rest. Just seeing you in them and looking so pretty is all the thanks I need. Mama is happy for you too. She hates it so badly that you can’t go out with me and the other kids, but she said it’s not her place to say anything and she knows if she did it would only cause more trouble.”

  “S
he can say that twice and mean it. But my day is coming.”

  “I hate it when you talk like that. I know you’re going to leave me and I really don’t know how I’ll go on if you’re ever out of my life. We’ve been friends since we were about three years old. Mama has pictures of us toddling down the sidewalk. My life will never be the same, Ali,” Toots said as she wiped a tear.

  “I know. I don’t want to leave you but it’s the only way I’ll ever have a life. But let’s not talk about that now. It’ll be a while before I can move on. Maybe longer than I had planned with Aunt July being so sick and all. And as much as we butt heads, she’s my aunt and she did take me in when I became an orphan. It’s my duty to see her through this.”

  “I guess so,” Toots said. “I’ll be going now. If you need help with her just let me know. I’ll do what I can, but I have to warn you, I’m not good with sick people.”

  “Thanks, Toots. I’ll manage. And thanks for the best week of my life!”

  “It was my pleasure. Nothing makes me happier than seeing you so happy. We sure had us some fun. Now let’s hope word doesn’t get back to Aunt July.”

  “You let me worry about that. Whatever she thinks up, it was worth any wrath she throws my way.”

  Toots left and Ali looked around the house one more time. She was dressed in an outfit that Aunt July had made for her. She sat on the couch and stroked Mr. Puss. Then she decided it would be nice to have fresh flowers in Aunt July’s bedroom. She and Mr. Puss went outside and Ali cut a dozen roses, leaving the stems long. She brought them back inside, found a vase in the cabinet over the fridge, and arranged them just so. She took the vase and set it on the end of Aunt July’s dresser. She deeply inhaled. “They smell wonderful. I hope they help cheer her up.”

  Ali heard a car door slam. She hurried into the living room, looked out the front window, and saw Sister Bea assisting Aunt July out of the car. Ali quickly ran outside. “Here, let me get her,” she said as she took her aunts arm. “Easy does it,” she added as Aunt July took a few steps.