by Mary Monroe
I didn’t think it would do much good for me to go to the hospital. At least not yet. One reason was that things were too chaotic and I probably would have just been in the way. Another reason was I knew Jade hated my company. And as long as Otis and Bully were there to support Rhoda, I knew she’d be all right. I decided to go home and wait until I heard from her. If she wanted me to be with her at the hospital too, I’d join her, whether Jade wanted me there or not.
While I was pacing my living room floor awaiting a call from Rhoda, Scary Mary stumbled up on my front porch again.
“Do you have any idea what happened at Rhoda’s house this evening?” I asked as soon as she made it in. She was walking slower than usual, and with the cane she sometimes had to rely on to get around. She was huffing and puffing so hard I had to hold her up as I led her to my couch. “Do you know what happened to Jade?”
“Of course I know. I was at the hospital when they brought her into emergency. You know how bad it gets when my grippe acts up. This time it was the grippe and a severe case of piles.” Scary Mary gave me a dry look as she focused her gaze on the half-full bottle of wine on my coffee table.
“Would you like a drink?” I asked, already heading to the kitchen to get some glasses.
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, fanning her face with a hand that resembled a piece of dried liver.
I literally ran back into the living room. “So what happened?” I asked, pouring myself a glass of wine, too. I plopped down on the love seat that faced Scary Mary. She took her time responding. First, she had to take a long swallow of wine.
“Now,” she said, releasing a burp. “A few drops of bourbon or scotch would get this wine up on its feet,” she commented, again looking toward my kitchen, where she knew I kept more liquor.
“Uh, I didn’t make it to the liquor store, so wine is all I have right now,” I lied.
She shrugged and finished her drink, then burped again. I was so impatient by now, I was ready to scream. But Scary Mary was the kind of person who did everything in her time. She wobbled up and hobbled across the floor. “I hope your bathroom is clean,” she mumbled.
Rhoda called while Scary Mary was using my bathroom. “What in the world is going on?” I hollered, twisting the telephone cord around my fingers like a vine. “Why were all those cops and an ambulance at your house?”
“Vernie finally snapped,” Rhoda replied, speaking in a flat voice. She sounded so tired that I got tired listening to her. “The boy snapped like a rubber band.” She stopped talking and sobbed softly for a few seconds, making squeaky, jerking noises like an injured mouse. Then she told me in a stone-cold voice, “He’s goin’ down for murder.”
CHAPTER 56
“Oh no!” Despite all of the unnecessary turmoil that Jade had put me through, I did not want to see any harm come to her. I certainly didn’t want to see her dead. “Is she…is she? Exactly what happened?” I had so many questions to ask, but I didn’t want to upset Rhoda any more than she already was. “Do you feel like discussing it now?”
“She’s still alive, but it’s touch and go right now. I’m still at the hospital. Otis was so upset he had to be sedated, and Bully is too upset to drive. I’ll find somebody else to drive him and Otis back home. But do you think you could come pick me up? We can talk then.”
“Of course I can pick you up. I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
As soon as I hung up, Scary Mary came stumbling back into the living room.
“Where you runnin’ off to?” she asked. “I thought you wanted me to tell you about what happened at Rhoda’s house.” She sat down hard on the sofa with a groan and a grimace.
“That was Rhoda who just called. She wants me to give her a ride home from the hospital. I’ll get all of the details from her. But could you do me a favor? Call up Pee Wee and tell him what’s going on, and tell him that I might leave Charlotte with him for a couple of days. I may need to spend some serious time with Rhoda,” I said. “Before I go, I need to freshen up a little,” I added as I ran to my bathroom.
When I returned to the living room, Scary Mary was on the telephone. She seemed agitated, so I decided to wait until she finished her call.
“Don’t you worry about who this is, you mongrel floozy!” she snarled. “I eat cunts like you for breakfast! Always did!” After what she had just said, I couldn’t wait for her to finish the call.
“Who in the world are you talking to?” I yelled, running across the floor to face her.
“I thought you wanted me to call up Pee Wee—”
I grabbed the phone out of Scary Mary’s hand. “Lizzie, this is Annette.”
There was a long silence before she responded. “Annette who?”
“Look, bitch. I don’t have time for any of your games tonight. You put my husband on this telephone right now, or I’m going to come over there and shove it down your throat!” The next voice I heard belonged to Pee Wee.
“Annette, what’s goin’ on now?” he asked in a weary voice.
“I don’t have time to go into detail, but there’s been some kind of violent incident at Rhoda’s house. Jade’s in the hospital, Vernie’s in jail—that’s all I know. I need to give Rhoda a ride home and spend some time with her. I need to leave Charlotte with you until I know what’s going on.”
“Sure, I’ll keep her here. Is there anything else I can do?”
“Not right now.”
“When you get Rhoda home, either you have her call me or you call me and tell me what’s goin’ on. Rhoda’s more like family to me than most of my family,” he reminded.
“We’ll call you.”
I hung up and ran out of the door with Scary Mary on my heels. There were times when I wondered if she really needed the cane she carried with her at times. This time she was running behind me like a track star, waving her cane in the air. She got in her van, and I got in my car.
We made it to the hospital parking lot in record time. Once we got inside the hospital, it was like we’d stumbled into a madhouse. Doctors, nurses, and police officers were all over the place. Otis and Bully were inconsolable. I was surprised to see Pee Wee there, looking like a wild man. I was glad that he had brought Charlotte with him. I didn’t like it when he left my daughter alone with Lizzie. Jade was out of surgery. After the doctor assured Rhoda and Otis that their daughter was going to be all right, we all decided to leave.
Pee Wee ended up driving Otis and Bully home from the hospital in Otis’s car. I had left my car in front of Rhoda’s house and accompanied Scary Mary to the hospital in her van. She transported Rhoda home. I drove Pee Wee’s car to Rhoda’s house, with my daughter riding shotgun. It was a mess, and this was one night that I couldn’t wait to end.
Charlotte said some interesting things to me on the way to Rhoda’s house. “Mama, they got roaches almost as big as me,” she said, forcing herself not to laugh by covering her mouth with her hand. But she couldn’t help herself. She giggled long and loud.
“Who’s got roaches?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the road.
“Daddy and Lizzie. You should hear him fussing at her about how nasty she is. She leaves used tampons on the floor in the bathroom. She don’t always wash her hands when she uses the bathroom. Every time I go over there, the kitchen sink is full of dirty dishes. Remember last week when I went? She had dropped an egg on the kitchen floor. When I got there today, that same egg was still on the floor.” Charlotte stopped talking and giggled some more. “There’s dust and crumbs and stuff everywhere you look, even in the refrigerator. There is moldy food and dirty dishes in the refrigerator, too. And boy does it stink when you open the door! Whew! She hardly ever sweeps or vacuums; I do it for her. She’s too busy in the mirror fussing with her hair and stuff. She hates doing laundry, too. When she runs out of clean panties, she wears Daddy’s shorts! Or she runs to the mall and buys some new ones. And that’s another thing. Daddy said she’s spending his money like he was printing it in the basement. She’s a mess,
Mama. I only go over there because I know it makes Daddy happy to see me.” Charlotte sighed before she laughed some more.
“Well, Lizzie’s bad habits must not bother your daddy that much if he puts up with them,” I snapped. I wanted to laugh myself, but I didn’t.
“Oh yes, it does bother him! He’s always telling her what a mistake he made leaving you for her. He told her tonight that you was worth five of her.”
I was glad that I had to stop for a red light. I turned to Charlotte and gave her a thoughtful look. “He said that in front of you?”
“He didn’t know I was listening. He thought I was in my room watching TV.”
“I see. What else did you hear?”
“She told him that if you was so great, how come he didn’t go back with you.”
I was so interested in what my daughter was telling me that I didn’t realize the light had turned green until the driver behind me honked his horn. I sped off. “And what did he say to that?” I asked.
“He told her that if he knew you would take him back, he’d move back home in a heartbeat. She said you was stupid, but you ain’t stupid enough to dump Jacob for him. Boy did that make him mad.”
“I’ll bet it did,” I muttered. “Uh, that’s something I wanted to talk to you about. Jacob.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Charlotte give me a surprised look. “Why come? I like Jacob. He never cooks greens and all that other nasty icky stuff you cook when I go to his house. He cooks frozen dinners and orders pizza. Just like Lizzie does most of the time. That’s another thing Daddy complains about. He said he hasn’t had a decent meal since he left you….”
“Charlotte, you haven’t been back to Jacob’s house since I told you not to go, have you?” I asked in a loud, menacing voice.
“Um, just once,” she admitted, hunching down in her seat. “This evening before you called Daddy. I didn’t stay long, though. And the only reason I went was because he had some Batman decals for me to put on my bike.”
“Jacob and I decided to stop seeing each other. He won’t be coming to the house anymore,” I stated.
“Oh.” I could tell from the tone of Charlotte’s voice that this news disappointed her tremendously. “First you ran my daddy off, now Jacob. Dang, Mama! What did you do to him?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What do you do to make men run off?”
“That’s something we’ll discuss in a few years. This is not the time.” I stopped at a stop sign and looked at Charlotte. “So you are no longer allowed to visit Jacob’s house, or that pregnant girl Patsy. Is that clear?”
“Well, who can I visit?”
“You have a lot of other friends. You can visit with any of them.”
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s change the subject and talk about something more pleasant.”
“Is Jade going to die?”
“No,” I said in an uncertain voice. “I said let’s talk about something pleasant.”
“I heard Lizzie fussing at Daddy about taking you back,” Charlotte blurted.
“I’m going to have a long talk with your daddy about being more careful about what he discusses when you’re with him,” I said, releasing an exasperated breath. “And if I have to talk to that…to Lizzie about watching her mouth when you’re in the house, I will.” I grunted. “You are too young to be hearing all that mess!”
“Mama, I already know about all that mess. I watch cable TV.”
“That’s different. And we are going to have to monitor what you watch on TV, too, I guess.”
I pulled in front of Rhoda’s house a minute later.
“Let’s get inside so we can find out what’s going on with Jade,” I said. I parked Pee Wee’s car right behind mine where I had left it on the street.
CHAPTER 57
Pee Wee greeted me at the door with a clumsy hug. The only reason I hugged him back was because of what Charlotte had told me in the car.
I ran into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. Then I joined Rhoda in her bedroom where she lay splayed on the bed with an ice pack on her forehead. There was blood all over the front of her pretty yellow dress.
“Rhoda, what happened?” I asked gently, sitting at the foot of the bed in her fairy-tale–like bedroom—a brass bed, pastels and frills everywhere.
She sat up, her back against the headboard. “Jade and Vernie were in their room when the fight started this time. I don’t know what they were arguing about, but whatever it was, it pissed Jade off so bad, she chased Vernie out of the room into the hallway with a lamp—that expensive antique gooseneck lamp I bought in Cleveland. He tried to get away. He tried to protect his head with his hands. She grabbed one of his hands and bit the hell out of it. Then she did the same thing to his other hand. She knocked him down and straddled him, beating him about the chest with that lamp.”
“You didn’t try to stop her?”
“It happened so fast. Otis, Bully, and I saw the whole thing. We were all yellin’ at her to put the lamp down before somebody got hurt. Otis got the lamp away from her. Bully grabbed her off of Vernie, and for a minute it seemed like everything was under control. As soon as we turned to go back into the living room, she grabbed that lamp again and raised it to bash Vernie some more. But he was ready for her this time. He got it away from her and brought it down on her head. She didn’t move anymore….”
“So he was just defending himself, right?”
Rhoda gave me a hopeless look.
“Rhoda,” I began slowly and cautiously, “if he was only defending himself, you and Otis and Bully have to do the right thing.”
“What are you gettin’ at? My child is the one in the hospital at death’s door, not Vernie!” Rhoda snapped.
“But Jade’s going to be all right,” I reminded her.
Rhoda’s mouth dropped open and she blinked until the anger disappeared from her eyes. In a soft, hesitant voice, she whispered, “Didn’t you see all that blood on my floors? She was out cold when they hauled her out of my house on a stretcher!”
“Yes, I saw all of that blood, and she was unconscious because she’d fainted. But her doctor said that she’ll be fine if she takes it easy.”
“I just hope we didn’t get her to the hospital too late. If she has brain damage, she will never be the same again.”
I had a feeling that Jade was going to come out of this mess with an even worse attitude, but I couldn’t say that to Rhoda. “She’ll be fine. Dr. Hall is on duty, so she’s in good hands.” I paused and cleared my throat. “The police took Vernie to jail.”
“Well, that’s just where he should be! The boy did attack her!” Rhoda yelled, giving me an incredulous look.
“Rhoda, honey, she attacked him first. You just told me that yourself,” I said in a gentle voice, patting her shoulder. “What are you and Otis and Bully going to tell the police? Or have you already given them a statement?”
“No,” she mumbled. “Thanks for remindin’ me. Even though that’s one thing I don’t want to even think about.”
“Well, you can’t not think about it, Rhoda.” I had pushed the thought of what had happened to me in the restaurant with Jacob to the back of my head. But I could not ignore it. When I did think about it, I recalled the sting of the slap he had delivered to my face. “This has been a long day for me, too. I’ll…tell you about it later. I can’t think straight right now,” I managed to say through dried, cracked lips. I rubbed the spot where Jacob had slapped me. It stung just as much now as it did when he’d hit me.
“I can’t think straight either,” Rhoda moaned, massaging her head. “Please help me get through this.”
I never thought that I’d see the day that I would be on my knees praying for Jade. But that’s just what I was doing now. Rhoda was on one side of me, Scary Mary was on the other. We were all kneeling and swaying from side to side on the floor in front of Rhoda’s bed, hands cupped in prayer with Scary Mary leading. “
…and another thing, Lord, don’t be too harsh on Vernie. He’s limited and weak…. He didn’t mean to hurt Jade so bad…didn’t know what he was doin’…Amen.” Scary Mary stumbled to rise but fell back to the floor, moaning in pain. “Praise the Lord!” she whispered, shaking her head and waving her arms and cane in the air. “God is good!”
Between breaths and holy references, she reminded us that she’d recently had hip replacement surgery and her gallbladder removed. Rhoda grabbed her by one arm and I grabbed her by the other. We all rose at the same time.
“Rhoda, go out yonder to wherever you keep your liquor and pour me a real strong highball,” Scary Mary ordered, wobbling on her cane as she followed Rhoda and me to the living room.
From the mood in the living room, you would have thought that Jade was already dead and that people had come to pay their respects. Lizel and Wyrita, the two attractive young women who practically ran Rhoda’s childcare center, were humped over on Rhoda’s plush couch, with tears streaming down their faces.
Several people from the neighborhood were huddled by the window, mumbling, speaking in hushed tones, and shaking their heads. Since Jade had verbally trashed so many of them, I knew they were present more because of curiosity than concern.
I had my share of problems, but Rhoda had enough for an army. And most of them were centered around Jade. Despite all she had done to Vernie—and me and countless others—some of the people present were now talking about her like she was a cherub. Even Pee Wee.
“I just hope that child is goin’ to be good as new,” he muttered, giving Rhoda a concerned look. Over the years, Pee Wee had replaced the two older brothers that Rhoda had lost. One had died at the hands of an out-of-control cop, and her other brother had come back from Vietnam with so many mental setbacks, he was as good as dead. He was a permanent resident at an asylum in Louisiana near Rhoda’s parents. I totally understood Pee Wee and Rhoda’s allegiance to one another. He sat in an easy chair near the door. Charlotte, who was asleep, lay in his lap with her head on his chest.
