Finding Will Hennie

by Joy Redmond

  “Yes, you can wear them for at least two days. Berta will be serving breakfast by the time we go downstairs. You don’t have to do chores before you eat, and you’ll eat a big breakfast just like you did yesterday morning. But I want to show you something else before we go down for breakfast. I was saving it for the right moment. I didn’t want to shower you with too much yesterday. Come over here,” she said, as she walked around the end of the bed.

  Will headed across the floor and was by her side before she made it around the bed. “Miss Marylee, what’s them things around yer neck? They sure are purty.”

  “Why, thank you, son. This is a string of pearls. They belonged to my mother. I wear them every day. I feel as if my mother is still with me when I touch them.”

  “I know that feelin’. I hug my picture book ‘cause it makes me feel like Gram is close to my heart.”

  “I think that’s a good thing. We both have something to hold next to our hearts to remind us of the people we loved. Follow me. I have another surprise for you.”

  Will followed her. She turned a knob and opened a small door. He peered around her, then screamed and ran across the floor and crawled under the high bed. He folded his body into the fetal position and whimpered.

  Miss Marylee squatted and looked under the bed. “Will, what on earth is wrong? Come out from under there!” she said, as she tried to reach him, but he scooted further and further away.

  “Don’t put me in the box! I ain’t gonna sass. I’ll be good. I promise! Please don’t make me go in the box!”

  “Will, it isn’t a box. It’s a closet. I have something nice in there for you. Please come out from under the bed. You know I won’t hurt you.”

  Will slowly stuck his head out. When he saw the closet door still open, he scooted backward. You close that box or I ain’t never comin’ out!”

  Miss Marylee closed the closet door. “Okay. The door is closed. Please come out from under the bed.”

  Will poked his head out again. The door was closed but chills ran up his spine. “Ya gonna keep it closed? Are ya tryin’ to fool me?”

  “I’ll walk to the other side of the bed. You crawl out from that side. I promise I’m not trying to fool you and I won’t put you in the closet. I promise.”

  Will crawled out on the other side. He stood and looked at the closed closet. “Whatever ya got in the box fer me, I don’t want it. Don’t mean to be ungrateful about it, just don’t want it.” Tears ran down his face.

  “Oh, son,” Miss Marylee said as she gathered Will in her arms. “I don’t know what you’re so scared of but you never have to go into the closet. I’ll take out what I have for you and you just take a seat in the chair. Just close your eyes until I get it.”

  Will’s heart was pounding so hard he could feel it beat against his ear drums. He held his hands over his eyes, hoping he’d calm down so he could be nice. He had an overwhelming urge to jump out the window and run down the street until he found a hitch.

  Miss Marylee gently pulled his hands from his face. “Will, I don’t know what you’ve been through, and if it’s too painful for you to talk about, I won’t question. I just need to get to know you better. Why did you think I was going to put you in the box as you called it? It’s a closet where you hang clothes that are too big to fold and put in drawers. You know, like heavy coats. They have to be put on coat hangers.”

  “Coat hangers!” Will’s face turned white.

  “Don’t faint on me!” She fanned his face with her hand. “I’m sorry. You poor little thing. Did somebody beat you with a coat hanger and lock you in a closet?”

  Will struggled to breathe. “The woman what called herself Bee said if’n the coat hanger would have worked I wouldn’t ever come outta her belly. She locked me in a box just like that one,” he said, pointing toward the closet. “It was dark and scary and the only time I got out was when she handed me a biscuit. When Gram come to see me, she took me outta the box and brung me outside. But she didn’t come too much.” Will burst into sobs.

  Miss Marylee hugged him tightly to her breast. “Calm down, honey. That’s a terrible memory. You just try to forget it. I’ll never put you in there. In time you’ll come to see that it’s a safe place and you’ll understand what’s it’s supposed to be used for. We have to overcome our fears, but one day at a time. You poor child.” Miss Marylee reached into her dress pocket and took out a handkerchief. She wiped her eyes, then wiped Will’s.

  “I laid the surprise on the bed. Please come have a look at it.” She took Will’s hand and he didn’t balk. “This is a suit. It’s to wear to church, which we will attend every Sunday. And I bought you a pair of Sunday shoes. See how shiny they are? I’ll show you how to polish them with the shoe rag and they’ll be so shiny you’ll be able to see your face in them. Almost as good as the mirror.” She laughed. “This is a white shirt, and this,” she said picking up what looked like a long, wide string to Will, “is a tie. I’ll show you how to put it under the collar of the shirt and tie it. I taught my nephews and my brother how to tie a Winsor knot. Do you like it?”

  “Wow! That’s some fancy duds, alright. I’m sure I’m gonna be handsome come Sunday,” he said, as he picked up the shoes. “I think I can see my face in them. They ain’t made like my others. They sure be fancy. Thank ya, Miss Marylee.” He hugged her around the waist.

  “You’re welcome, son. Now, get dressed. We’re going to be late for breakfast and Berta will get all in a bunch.”

  As Will quickly dressed, he looked up at Miss Marylee. “Do I—”

  Miss Marylee didn’t let him finish. “No. You don’t have to eat at the big table with the boarders. You can eat in the kitchen with Berta. I think she likes your company. I’ll eat in the dining room or the boarders will think I’m being uppity. I don’t socialize with them except at meal time and Berta told me they say I think I’m too good for them. That’s not true. I’ve never thought I was too good for anybody. I just have other interests. I guess I’m a loner and they don’t understand.”

  Will wiped his brow. “Whew. I’m sure glad to hear that. I like eatin’ with Berta. She’s funny. And yeah, she likes fer me to eat with’ er. She said you’d start making me talk different. Are ya gonna do that?”

  “Yes, I will. I’ll correct a word or two a day. The first word for today is ‘for.’ There’s no such word as ‘fer’. Repeat after me. For.”

  “For.” Will repeated. When am I s’posed to say it?”

  “Word two. Supposed, not s’posed.”

  “Ah, shit. I ain’t never gonna get it straight. But I’ll try.”

  Miss Marylee wagged her finger. “You’ve got to stop that cussing, too. That’s your two words for the day. We’ll do more, later. Now, hurry!” she said, clapping her hands.

  Will didn’t wait for her. He ran down the stairs, through the parlor, through the dining room and into the kitchen. “Mornin’, Berta!” He hugged her around the waist as she was lifting a pan of biscuits out of the oven.

  “Heavens to Betsy! You’re gonna make me drop the biscuits. Go sit at the table till I get the food in the dinin’ room. Then I’ll fix you a helpin’.”

  Berta acted as if she was fussing, but Will saw her big smile. “The boarders are already at the table. I nodded as I run through. I’ll wait fer, ya! Er, I mean, for ya”

  As soon as Berta left the kitchen, Will ran out the back door and over to the outhouse. He unzipped his trousers, peed, shook it and put it back. He laughed. Jed done learned me somethin’ that Miss Marylee don’t know ‘bout.

  By the time he was back in the kitchen, Berta was spooning grits into a bowl. She placed it in front of him and handed him a spoon. “I’ll be gettin’ your eggs and bacon as soon as I eat my grits and catch my second wind. I put in extra butter fer ya.”

  “Thank ya, Berta.” He watched how Berta held her spoon and he mimicked her. “I done learned how to use a spoon. Watch me!”

  “You’re learning fast, Will. But ya sure got a
long way to go before you do things the way Miss Marylee will approve of.” She chuckled. “I like that you wanna eat with me. I really enjoy your company. I reckon Miss Marylee is gonna eat at the dinin’ table. She’s a good woman but a might uppity at times.”

  “She said she ain’t uppity. She said she be a loner. Whatever that is. Is my eggs and bacon ready?”

  “Give me a minute. I’ll get ’em as soon as I finish my grits. I have to eat to keep up my strength.”

  Will waited but it seemed to take Berta forever to get her second wind. While she finished her bowl of grits, Will said,

  “Berta, one night I slept in the woods and you know what?” he asked with wide eyes.

  “What,” Berta mumbled as she filled her mouth.

  “A wolf laid down by me. He didn’t want to eat me. His fur was nice and warm. It was like he knowed I was cold. I swear!”

  “A wolf! Ah, Will, I don’t think a wolf would do that. It was probably a stray dog who wanted company.”

  “It was a wolf!” Will said as she slammed his fist on the table. “I looked it up in my picture book. I don’t care what you say!”

  “Well, don’t go getting’ yer drawers in a wad. I wasn’t there so I can’t say you’re lying.” She seemed to study for a moment. “You know, I’ve heard of wolves takin’ in babies what were forsook. They raised them and loved them. So I reckon it’s possible. I dunno. ”

  “I ain’t gonna tell ya nothin’ else!” Will said, gritting his teeth.

  “I said it was possible. Laws, boy, just simmer down.”

  When breakfast was over and Berta was cleaning the dining room table, Miss Marylee came into the kitchen. “Will, you don’t have to do chores this morning. I’m going to take to see Dr. Ford. I want him to give you a complete physical. Maybe he can even figure out how old you are. Berta will put up a fuss, but she’ll get over it.”

  “I don’t know what a doctor is but I won’t balk on ya. I reckon it’ll be better than doin’ chores.”

  “I’ve got my purse. So if you’ve finished eating, we’ll be on our way.” She reached into a small sack. “I forgot to give this to you. It’s a cap. It belonged to my nephew, too. You put it on your head and the bill will keep the sun out of your eyes.” She ran her hand over the cap and Will saw her tear-up as she put it on his head. “We won’t worry about combing your hair. The cap will keep it in place. Come on.” She held out her hand.

  “Miss Marylee, I ain’t no baby. I can walk without you leadin’ me like I’m blind. I can’t hear that good outta my bad ear, but I can see plenty.”

  “I’m sorry. I just enjoy holding your hand, but I have to learn to stop treating you like a baby. See, you’re teaching me, too. That’s good. We’ll teach each other and we’ll be a great team. You can lead the way. Now, out the back door before Berta comes back.”

  Dr. Ford was old but he seemed like a nice man to Will. He wondered what the doctor was doing when he stuck a cold thing to his back and stomach.

  The thing had two hoses attached and Will thought it was strange when Dr. Ford stuck them into his ears. Each time Dr. Ford moved the cold thing around on Will’s stomach, then his back, he uttered, “Uh-hum”

  When he checked Will’s ears, he looked at Miss Marylee. “His left ear looks fine. But his right ear has scar tissue over the eardrum. I’m thinking he doesn’t hear out of that ear very well. His lungs and heart sound healthy, but he’s sure malnourished. I’m going to give you a bottle of tonic and you give him a teaspoon full every morning. It’ll build his blood. He’s severely anemic. If you keep him fed well, he’ll soon put some meat on his bones.”

  “How old do you think he is, Dr. Ford? As I said, he’s an orphan who showed up at the boarding house and I took him under my wing, so to speak. He doesn’t remember much of his past, but I need to know as much about him as I can.”

  “Since his baby teeth have fallen out and his permanent ones are coming in, that tells me he’s somewhere between seven and eight. I’m going to say he’s maybe already eight. His teeth might be slow coming in because of malnutrition. There’s no way to tell for sure.”

  “Then we’ll just say he’s eight,” Miss Marylee said. “I’d rather guess him a little older than too young. How does eight sound to you, Will?”

  “Eight’s fine with me.”

  Dr. Ford reached into a cabinet and took out a bottle of tonic. “One teaspoon full every morning. Bring him back in a month. I want to see how he’s progressing.”

  “Is there anything that can be done about his bad ear?”

  “I’m afraid not. That’s permanent damage. He hasn’t lost all hearing out of the right ear, he just doesn’t hear as keen as he does out of the left ear. Do you know what happened?”

  Miss Marylee twisted her handkerchief and said, “No, sir. I really don’t know the particulars.” She shot Will a look that plainly said, ‘Don’t mention what happened to you.’

  Miss Marylee paid Dr. Ford, then said, “Let’s go, Will.”

  They walked outside and Will looked around. It was a strange world to him, but he loved it. “Do I have to go back and do my chores? I like walkin’ around and seein’ things.”

  “I think we can walk until the heat gets too bad. Then we’ll go back to the boarding house and the school lessons will begin. How does that sound?”

  “Ya mean I ain’t got to do no chores today?”

  “Only for today. But starting tomorrow, you’ll do chores, have lunch, then it’s school time. I’ve got all the books I need to get you through eighth grade. That’s called grade school. After that I’ll start you in what’s called high school. That’s grades nine through twelve. I can get you as far as a high school education. If you wish to pursue a college education, we’ll talk about that when the time comes.”

  “Berta is gonna be mad as hell, ain’t she?”

  Miss Marylee laughed. “Berta is going to raise nine kinds of hell.”

  Will laughed. “Miss Marylee, you cussed.”

  “I guess I did. But I cussed in a different way.”

  They made it back to the boarding house in time for lunch. Will ate in the kitchen with Berta and told her about Dr. Ford, his tonic, and his bad ear. Berta seemed to hang on his every word. “I’m sorry about the bad ear, but you got one good one, so it ain’t like you’re deef. That confounded ole cuss I married is deef as a doorknob.”

  “Dagnabbit, that’s terrible,” Will said, shaking his head. “What be that confounded ol’ cuss’s real name?”

  “His name is Jim Bob, but it don’t make no difference. He’s so deef, he wouldn’t come if ya called him anyways.”

  “Jim Bob is your husband? I thought he was a boarder. But that was funny what ya said. And I won’t be callin’ im. He don’t like me.”

  Berta snorted, but before she could say anything else, Miss Marylee came into the kitchen. “Berta, Will didn’t do his chores this morning because I had to take him to the doctor. He’ll resume them in the morning. This afternoon, we’re going to do schooling. We won’t be back until supper time. Come, Will.”

  “You pays the bills. I keeps my mouth shut,” Berta said.

  Once they were upstairs, Miss Marylee scooted the two chairs together. “I’ll start with teaching you colors.” She picked up the color chart. “Then I’ll teach you numbers. Then I’ll teach you the ABC’s. After you learn them, I’ll start you reading from the first grade primer.”

  After supper, Will was allowed to listen to music on the radio. He was about to fall asleep as he leaned against the radio stand when Miss Marylee called down from upstairs. “Time for bed, Will”

  Will hurried upstairs.

  Miss Marylee turned out the lights and they undressed, then climbed into bed.

  Will fluffed his pillow. “I thank ya for learning me some of my colors and some of my numbers. I want my brain as full as you can get it.”

  “You’re welcome, son. But I taught you, not learned you.”

  Will giggled. “Ok
ay. Night, Miss Marylee.”

  “Goodnight, Will.”

  Chapter Seven

  Will and Miss Marylee were walking home from church and Will slipped his hand into hers. He still loved the feel of her soft, smooth hands. And today was Sunday, the day she always smelled like lilacs. Will loved her more than anybody on earth, except Gram.

  “Miss Marylee, I’ve been with you for four years now. That’s a long time. But you’ve taught me how to talk properly, how to dress and you’ve taught me to be a gentlemen, just like you said you would. I sure do thank you.”

  “You’re welcome, son. And four years probably does seem like a long time to you, but to me it’s a blink of the eyes. You’ve brought happiness to my heart that I never thought I’d feel again.”

  Will felt his throat tighten, so he didn’t say anything else, he just thought about the four years with his new family. Berta was like his big sister and he loved her, too. He had so much fun tormenting her, and although she acted as if it was aggravating her, Will knew she enjoyed it. She couldn’t hide her big smile.

  “Miss Marylee, I’ve been wearing my gentleman hat to church every Sunday and it’s nice, but I really see no point in it. I wear it to church, take it off, put it on the hat rack, then put it back on to walk home. It just seems pointless to me, and it’s hot.” He wiped the sweat that was running down his face.

  “Gentlemen always wear hats, Will. And it sets off your nice suit.” She squeezed his hand. “However, if it’s pointless to you and if it’s too hot, then you don’t have to wear it. Just please keep the handkerchief in your breast pocket and don’t be wiping your face with it. The one in your pant pocket is for that.”

  Will pulled his hat off. “The handkerchief isn’t hot and it dresses up my suit. No problem there.” He squeezed Miss Marylee’s hand. He was sure he saw her face light up as bright as the hot sun.

  “Well, since you took off your hat, I think I will, too,” she said, as she reached up and pulled a long hat pin from the back of it and stuck it into her dress. “I’ll use the brim as a fan. It sure is a hot day. I’ll be glad when we get a break from this terrible heat. In another month, we’ll get some relief.” Miss Marylee fanned her hat and Will enjoyed the breeze it made on his face.