“So, Gerald, my darling, what time will you be here tomorrow for us to go and get Eleanor?” Mama Pearl asked too sweetly.
“Oh, man,” Gerald groaned. His brothers and mother laughed loudly.
Life was definitely going to be interesting from now on.
Chapter Nineteen
“Wow. This is so beautiful,” Eleanor said under her breath as Gerald pulled his car into Mama Pearl’s driveway. With her head hanging out the car window, she looked at the beautiful house in awe. Modest in and of itself but to Eleanor who lived in a one-bedroom house all her life, this looked like a mini mansion.
Gerald got out of the car and walked around to open the front passenger door for his mother. He then proceeded to open the back door for Eleanor who sat in the backseat.
“I’ll get the door,” Mama Pearl said and hurried up the driveway to open the front door.
“Here, take my hand,” Gerald said and held out his hand to Eleanor.
Eleanor took ahold of it, and he slowly helped her out of the car.
“Now lean on me and walk slowly,” he instructed. “I know it still hurts when you move, so please be careful.”
Eleanor smiled at him gratefully and allowed him to help her inside the house.
“She’s in here, Gerald,” Mama Pearl shouted from a bedroom in the back.
Gerald walked behind Eleanor as she took baby-like steps toward Mama Pearl’s voice. As she entered the room, Eleanor stopped suddenly, causing Gerald to bump into her back. She was at a loss for words as she looked around the nicely decorated room. To say the room was beautiful was an understatement. The tears she had been struggling to hold back came rushing out. Eleanor leaned her back against the wall and sobbed. Deep, heart wrenching sobs that caused her abdomen to hurt, but she was oblivious to the pain.
Gerald and Mama Pearl looked at each other. They weren’t sure what to do.
“Eleanor, it’s okay, sweetheart,” Mama Pearl said soothingly as she walked over to her. Her big, welcoming smile pulled at Eleanor’s heartstrings. “Please come and lie down before you hurt yourself again.”
Eleanor continued crying, her eyes searching Mama Pearl’s face questioningly.
“It’s all right, Eleanor,” Gerald said and cautiously walked over to her. “I can imagine how overwhelming this is for you.” Gerald felt like an eel for the way he behaved when his mother told him that Eleanor would be staying with her. To see Eleanor’s reaction to being inside a room where she would be staying was priceless.
Gerald looked over at his mother, and she smiled at him as if she had read his mind.
“Thank you again for doing this for me, Mama Pearl,” Eleanor said as her crying tapered off. “I . . . I . . . I’m so grateful.” She hiccupped. “Excuse me.”
“You are welcome, my dear,” Mama Pearl said warmly. “Please, come and lie down.” She took ahold of Eleanor’s hand and led her over to the full-sized bed. “Tomorrow I’ll show you the rest of the house.”
Eleanor sat on the edge of the bed. She slipped her feet out of the flip-flop slippers that Mama Pearl had brought for her to the hospital that morning. Slowly, she swung her body onto the bed, flinching at the sharp pain in her abdomen, her face looking up at the ceiling.
Mama Pearl quickly fixed her head on the fluffy pillow before pulling the clean, floral, cotton sheet over her body. “Your bathroom is right there.” Mama Pearl pointed to a closed door. “If you need help with anything, please ring this bell.”
Eleanor turned her head to look at the little bell sitting on the bedside table. “Thank you, Aunt Madge.” Eleanor smiled. “I think I can manage.”
Mama Pearl and Gerald looked at each other. “Who is Aunt Madge?” Mama Pearl asked curiously.
Eleanor’s eyes bugged out of her head. “What . . . What are you talking about?” She nervously twirled the sheet between her fingers.
“You just called her ‘Aunt Madge.’ Who is that?” Gerald said as he stared down on Eleanor in the bed. “Is that your aunt? Is she alive? Where is she now?”
“Gerald, please slow down.” Mama Pearl gave him a stern look. “We are going to let Eleanor get some rest now. We can talk about this later.”
Eleanor nodded her head, avoiding their stares. After Mama Pearl and Gerald left the room, she closed her eyes tightly. This can’t be real, Eleanor thought. Over the last month she was beaten, almost raped twice, ate scraps and leftovers, even out of garbage bins, slept in an old abandoned car, got sick and lay in her own feces praying for death. Now here she was, lying in a clean bed, in a nice house, warm, safe, and comfortable. She had never had her own room before.
“Is this you, God?” Eleanor whispered, looking up at the ceiling. “Thank you, Lord.” The tears returned and joyfully glided down her cheeks.
Chapter Twenty
Eleanor quickly pinned the wet clothes on the clothesline. This was the last batch, and she was finished for the day. She wanted to surprise Mama Pearl with dinner when she got home from church. Easter was just a few days away, and Mama Pearl was on the planning committee for the Easter festivities at church. “I need to make sure everything is perfect as we celebrate the resurrection of my Jesus Christ on the third day after His crucifixion,” Mama Pearl had told Eleanor. In order to accomplish this goal, she spent a lot of time at the church.
Eleanor still found it difficult to comprehend how her life had changed over the last two months she had been living with Mama Pearl. For the first week, Mama Pearl ignored her protests and waited on her, hand and foot. She adhered to the doctor’s advice of a strict liquid diet, making her every different type of soup: chicken, chicken foot, red peas, beef and gungo peas. Not to mention the different types of mouthwatering porridge: cornmeal, oatmeal, green banana, and rice. Mama Pearl was on a mission to get Eleanor well and healthy, and it worked, for the most part.
Fully recovered, Eleanor decided to earn her keep by doing household work. She washed, cleaned, cooked, and went grocery shopping. Mama Pearl’s sons were astonished at her transformation. “She must have lived with someone who taught her to do these things,” Robert said one day to his mother when he came to visit. The house was sweetly perfumed with the brown stew chicken that Eleanor was preparing in the kitchen.
“Yes, I knew that girl didn’t belong on the street. She doesn’t want to talk about her past,” Mama Pearl told him. “I’ve tried to get her to tell me where she’s from, but she would either start to cry or run to her room to lock herself away.”
“Wow, I wonder what had happened to cause her to choose the street than stay home?” Robert asked puzzled.
“We will probably never know,” Mama Pearl replied, shaking her head. “But she will never be on the streets again. Eleanor is becoming a part of this family.” And she was.
Eleanor felt great, physically. However, mentally, she was a mess. Most of her nights were restless as she twisted and turned, fighting against her demons. She had nightmares of the scary creature eating Aunt Madge. She would see Aunt Madge weeping at losing her niece. Aunt Madge sitting up at nights, looking through the small window, watching for her to come through the door.
I need to go home, Eleanor often contemplated. I miss Aunt Madge. But as soon as the thought popped up in her mind, so did the images of the gun held to her head and the flowerpots flying through the air toward her. “I can’t go back now. Officer Gregg is surely going to kill me now that I told his wife about the scary creature. No, I have to stay away, not only for myself, but for Aunt Madge as well.”
Eleanor knew that there were secrets that she had to take to her grave. Mama Pearl treated her like the daughter she never had. Her sons and their families had finally come around and began to treat her like family as well. And while she shared herself physically, Eleanor shut herself away from the world emotionally, like a snail that came out for a while, then retreated back into its shell, hiding away from the world.
It was Eleanor’s birthday, May 26, 1979. She was sixteen, but her troubled mi
nd made her feel like sixty. As the sun rose that morning, Eleanor got out of bed and walked over to her bedroom window that overlooked the backyard. The breadfruit and mango trees in the yard appeared blurry as the tears ran down her face.
If she was home now in Falmouth, the smoke would already be pouring out of the small outside kitchen which was really rough, uneven boards held together by long, sharp nails with some naked sheets of zinc as the roof. Aunt Madge would be cooking her favorite breakfast of roasted breadfruit, ackee, saltfish, and chocolate tea.
“Oh, Aunt Madge, will you ever forgive me?” Eleanor whispered. “I made such a mess of my life. If only I had listened to you instead of Dolly. Why did my life have to be this way?” Eleanor rested her forehead against the glass pane and wept. Months of suffering, aches, and pains came rushing out like a tsunami. “Please, help me, Lord,” Eleanor cried. Her slender body shook with the intensity of her pain.
“Eleanor! Eleanor! Are you okay?” came Mama Pearl’s panicked voice from outside the door, followed by a loud knocking. “Sweetheart, please let me in.”
Eleanor turned around and looked at the closed door in terror. Instantly she stopped crying and wiped her wet face with the edge of her nightgown.
“Eleanor, I heard you crying and just want to make sure you’re okay,” Mama Pearl said in a concerned voice. “Please, let me help you.”
Eleanor stared at the door like it was a poisonous snake. What was she supposed to do now? She took a few small steps toward the door, then stopped. Rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet, she nibbled on her thumb as she contemplated her situation. She had no idea she was crying that loud for Mama Pearl to have heard her. This would only lead to a slew of questions which she wanted to avoid. On the other hand, Mama Pearl would not just go away. She cared about her and would not let up until she knew Eleanor was okay.
Without a further thought, Eleanor walked to the door and unlocked it. She pulled it open to see Mama Pearl and Omar staring at her with worry.
“Come here, my dear,” Mama Pearl said and drew Eleanor into her ample bosom. As Mama Pearl rocked her gently, she soothingly rubbed her back. “It’s all right now,” Mama Pearl said softly into her hair. “You are going to be okay by the grace of God.”
Omar stood and stared awkwardly at Eleanor and his mother. He had no idea what to do or say to help make things better and this frustrated him. “Eleanor, can I get you a glass of water?” he asked gently.
Eleanor raised her head and looked at him in surprise. She could tell from the day she moved in that Omar wasn’t pleased with her being there. While he hadn’t been outright rude, he certainly wasn’t welcoming either.
For the first few days, he had watched her like a hawk. If she was in the living room, as soon as she walked out, he would walk in. Eleanor once hid behind the door and watched as he took inventory of his mother’s fine china, antique pieces, and other valuables that she had collected over the years. “My God,” Eleanor had whispered under her breath, “he is checking to see if I’ve taken anything.” Embarrassed, she tiptoed into her room, refusing to let the tears swimming in her eyes fall.
However, before it got better, it got worse. It was laundry day. Eleanor sat on a small wooden stool separating the clothes into two piles; color here and white there. As she pushed her hand into the pocket of a pair of jeans pants belonging to Omar, she felt a piece of paper. Puzzled, she pulled it out and stared in shock at the twenty-dollar bill in her hand. Suddenly it hit her like a pivot jab to her stomach. “He’s trying to set me up,” Eleanor said aloud. “He wants to tell Mama Pearl that I stole his money so she’ll put me out of the house.”
Eleanor sat as still as a statue, the money crumbled into her tight fist. Her eyes narrowed into slits as the anger rushed through her pores. “I am not going back to live in the streets, so help me God,” Eleanor said aloud. “The Lord sent Mama Pearl to help me, and I’m not going to let Omar ruin this for me.”
Eleanor stood up, huffing and puffing. Furious, she marched up the back steps into the house. As she approached Omar’s bedroom door, the urge to kick it entered her mind, but Mama Pearl was in her room taking a nap. Instead, Eleanor knelt down and shoved the twenty-dollar bill under the bottom of the door. Standing up, she dusted off her hands as if she had just touched something vile, turned on her heels, and walked back out of the door.
Later that evening Eleanor watched from her hiding place behind the couch as Omar walked toward his bedroom. She saw him open the door, then looked down at his feet. Suddenly Omar looked up and glanced around questioningly. Seeing no one, he reached down and picked up his money. Eleanor smirked as she saw him lower his head in shame before entering his room and closing the door.
“That’s what you get for trying to set me up,” Eleanor muttered to herself. “I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a thief.”
The next few days were uncomfortable between Omar and Eleanor. However, it was as if an unspoken understanding had been formed between them. Omar eased up on Eleanor, and she continued to work hard to prove herself worthy of living there. It didn’t take long for Omar to let his guard down and begin to see Eleanor as a part of the family. As the days went by, he started to think of her as the little sister that he never had.
“Eleanor?” Mama Pearl’s voice snatched her off memory lane.
“Huh?” Eleanor asked as she looked at her puzzled. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She turned to Omar and smiled apologetically. “Yes, I would like a glass of water. Thanks.”
Omar nodded and hurried away.
“Come and sit down,” Mama Pearl said and led Eleanor over to the bed. Eleanor sat on the edge with her hands folded in her lap, looking down on the bedside rug under her feet. Mama Pearl sat down beside her, placed her hand around her shoulder, pulling her closer to her body. “Do you want to talk about it?” Mama Pearl asked. “Maybe I can help you.”
Eleanor shook her head, still refusing to look at her.
“Here you go,” Omar said as he entered the room. He handed the glass of water to Eleanor and took a few steps back into the corner.
Eleanor put the glass to her mouth and drank greedily. “Thank you,” she said looking from Omar to Mama Pearl. “I’ll be all right now.”
But Mama Pearl decided to try one more time. “Eleanor, I know you are going through some stuff, baby. But today, you seem to be in more pain than usual. What’s going on?”
“It’s my birthday.” It slipped out before Eleanor realized what she had said.
“It’s your birthday?” Omar asked surprised as he took a few steps closer to her.
“It’s your birthday?” Mama Pearl squealed and jumped to her feet. “Happy birthday, Eleanor!” She reached down and pulled Eleanor to her feet and into her arms again. Mama Pearl was big on birthdays. She believed it was the day that the Lord first allowed His people to take their first breath; therefore it should be celebrated and appreciated. Even when she struggled to find food for her boys to eat while they were growing up, she commemorated each of their birthdays. Whether it was a homemade cake with a lit candle in it or a cheap toy from the store, she taught her children to appreciate the day she gave birth to them. Eleanor would be no exception to the rule. After all, she was now family.
“We are going to have a party,” Mama Pearl said excitedly. “Omar, you have to go and notify your brothers immediately.”
“No!” Eleanor shouted. Omar and Mama Pearl looked at her with their mouths opened. “Sorry, but I don’t want a party. Please.”
“Why not?” Omar asked. “We always celebrate birthdays in this family.”
Eleanor smiled at his reference to her being in the family. “Thank you, but not this year, okay?” She looked at them pleadingly, yearning for their understanding.
“Okay,” Mama Pearl said in a low voice. “We won’t have a party, but I’m going to make all your favorite dishes today and invite over just the family for dinner.”
Eleanor opened her mouth to protest, but Mam
a Pearl raised a hand in warning. “No. I don’t want to hear it. It will be a small, informal dinner with us. No party, no excitement, just dinner.”
Eleanor gave her a knowing look but nodded her head in defeat. She was quickly learning that it was hard to win against Mama Pearl.
“Yay!” Mama Pearl shouted like a child.
Omar laughed out loud, and Eleanor couldn’t help the smile that crept up on her face.
“So what’s for breakfast?” Mama Pearl looked at Eleanor with a big grin.
“So what’s for breakfast?” Aunt Madge had asked Tiny last year. The memory flashed in Eleanor’s mind. There it was again. That pivot jab to her gut. Subconsciously, Eleanor wrapped her arms around her waist. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. “It’s roasted breadfruit, ackee, saltfish, and chocolate tea.”
“Great, I just happen to have everything here for the birthday girl,” Mama Pearl said happily. “Omar, why don’t you call your brothers and tell them about dinner?”
“All right, Mama,” Omar replied and turned to walk out of the room. He turned back around and walked over to Eleanor. “Happy birthday, Eleanor.” He gave her a quick hug, before he turned on his heels and strolled out of the room.
“Okay, let’s get the party . . . hmmm . . . I mean the breakfast started.” Mama Pearl looked at Eleanor sheepishly.
Eleanor shook her head and gave her a warning look, a little smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” Mama Pearl said with a big grin on her face as she backed out the door, closing it shut behind her.
Eleanor looked at the closed door and sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Happy birthday to you,” Aunt Madge sang softly as she sat on the three-legged, wooden stool in the kitchen with Baby Dupree gurgling and wiggling in her arms. “Happy birthday, dear, Tiny. Happy Birthday to . . . to . . . to . . .” Aunt Madge dissolved into tears. Her small body vibrated at the heavy sobs pouring from her.
God Has Spoken Page 10
