by Joyce Magnin
That tore it. Ruby Day punched her head and wailed like a banshee. She wailed so loud that April and June and Jasper came running inside.
“What’s wrong? Did someone else die?” Jasper called.
Mama jumped up faster than a jack-in-the-box clown and shuttled my brother and sisters outside. “Get on now. Nobody died. But it does seem that little garter isn’t the only snake in town.”
The twins pressed their noses against the porch window until Daddy saw them. All he had to do was pretend to stand up and those girls bolted a mile down the road.
“So what?” I said. “So what if Aunt Sapphire owns the house? It’s still Ruby Day’s.”
Daddy shook his head. “Luna Fish, it means Sapphire can force Ruby Day out if she wants, or she can just up and sell it right out from under Ruby Day.”
My heart pounded. “No. That’s not fair. Why would she do that?”
“We don’t know,” Mama said. “But there is obviously some reason this Sapphire woman wants Ruby Day to go back to that dreadful hospital.”
I watched Ruby Day’s face turn as red as a Radio Flyer wagon. “Mason told me he was fixin’ to buy my house when he got older. Buy it right out from under Sapphire.”
“So Mason knew all along?” I said. “I bet he taped the deed under the lid. In case he needed it someday.”
Ruby Day tilted her head at me like she did when she didn’t understand, or when she was really sorry about something.
“Mason knew about Sapphire?” I said.
She cried, and I cried with her.
That was when Mama got her dander up. She stood with both fists on the table. “There must be something we can do. Some way to fight this, Justus.”
Daddy folded the deed back into its three equal sections and stuffed it back inside the envelope. “Can’t fight a legal document.”
“Then we’ll move,” I said. “Ruby Day and I will get another place to live.”
“You are still in school and not old enough to get a place, Luna,” Mama said. “And Ruby Day certainly does not make enough money to support a household.”
“Oh, Mama, we can’t let Sapphire take her back.
We can’t.”
“Family,” Daddy said. “You can’t fight family ties.”
Mama sat back down and helped herself to another helping of chocolate pudding. She put some in Ruby Day’s bowl, but Ruby Day pushed it away.
“I can’t help but think that that woman has an ulterior motive,” Mama said. “Something else is going on. I can feel it in my chest.”
I felt the same ugly feeling in my chest. I just didn’t know how to express it except to say, “I think you’re right, Mama. Something is not right about this whole thing.”
Daddy finished his pudding and set his bowl on the end table. He stretched and laid his head back.
“Will you think on it, Daddy?” I asked. “Think about talking to Sapphire. Maybe get to the truth?”
“God has the answer, Luna Fish. It might not be the one we’re looking for, but he has the answer.”
“That’s right,” Mama said. “If Ruby Day is meant to stay, she will. Even Aunt Sapphire isn’t stronger than God.”
Ruby Day swallowed several times, like something sour was stuck in her throat.
“Mama,” I said. “Would you mind terribly if I didn’t help wash the dishes and just took Ruby Day home?”
“That’s fine. You take her home and Daddy and me will think on it. We will.”
Ordinarily, Ruby Day would have been out in her garden on such a pretty fall day. She liked to rake the leaves into a big pile. Mason used to help her and we would always take running, leaping, flying, head-first jumps into the pile. Then we’d laugh and rake them again. Mason liked to burn them. He would turn up his jazz records, especially Rosemary Clooney singing “Autumn Leaves,” while they burned.
But that day, the leaves were left to blanket the backyard. An occasional gust swirled them around like they were being mixed by a great big spoon. Ruby Day and I sat in the kitchen for a long, long time.
“You sure you don’t want to rake the leaves?” I asked.
“Not today, Luna.” “Want a cup of tea?” “No, thank you, Luna.”
Suddenly it seemed like the best thing that could happen would be for Tuesday to come.
“Maybe I should get my suitcase, Luna. Put my clothes inside.”
“Ruby Day, don’t even say that. We still got all of tomorrow to get through. We’ll think of something. Daddy said God has the answer. Let’s just wait.”
“Okay, Luna.”
“Did you hate the hospital?” I asked. “Yes. But … not Jeb. I didn’t hate him.”
“You mean Mason’s father?”
Ruby Day’s bottom lip started to quiver. “Yes. Mason’s daddy.” She fiddled with the saltshaker. “He used to be my husband.”
I pulled Ruby Day close. “I’m sorry. I’m sure you miss him.”
She pulled back and wiped her eyes under her glasses. “Everybody dies. Don’t die, Luna.” “I won’t.”
We stayed quiet for a couple more minutes, and then Ruby Day got up and headed for the dining room and the shoebox. She dumped the pictures out onto the floor. They scattered just like the leaves outside. She shuffled through the pile until she found what she was looking for.
“Him,” she said. “Jeb.”
I took the picture of a tall, lanky man with close-cut hair and big eyes behind thick lenses who stood next to the Henry R. Mason Home for the Feebleminded sign.
“Did you get married at the hospital?”
“Yes,” Ruby Day said. “But only for”—she counted on her fingers—”six, seven, eight—a little while. Jeb died.” She snuffed snot down the back of her throat and wiped tears from her cheek.
“I’m sorry. I really am.”
It was impossible for me to imagine what Ruby Day felt. I only knew how sad I was when Mason died. It was double for her. And now she was on the verge of losing her home.
CHAPTER 16
The next morning, Monday, Ruby Day ate her breakfast—Cheerios with milk and a sliced banana. She dressed for work like it was any ordinary day.
“Ruby Day,” I said as I sliced a banana into my own cereal. “Are you sure you want to go to work this morning?”
She nodded. “I got to go, Luna. It’s my job.”
“I guess you’ll need to talk to Mr. Haskell. Tell him about Sapphire.”
Ruby Day didn’t say anything for what felt like ten whole minutes, but I knew it was just a few seconds. “I … I don’t know what to tell him.”
“Just tell him the truth.” I swallowed a mouthful of Cheerios.
Tears formed in Ruby Day’s eyes. She whipped her glasses off and rubbed her face until it looked like a red apple.
“Now you stop it, Ruby Day,” I said. I took her hands. “I’m just saying you should tell him in case … in case I can’t find a way to stop Sapphire from taking you back with her, but … I will. You’ll see.”
Ruby Day pushed her cereal bowl away from her. She put her glasses on and stood up. “I need to get to work. Will you come with me?”
“Me? But I have school and …”
“Please, Luna. You can tell Mr. Haskell better than me.”
I sucked a breath through my nose. “Okay. I’ll go. I’ll just call school and tell them I’m going to be a little late.”
I watched Ruby Day punch in her time card and tie her Haskell’s Grocery Store apron around her waist. “He ain’t here yet,” she said. “I don’t see his coat or hat on the hooks.”
That was when Lavinia popped her head into the break room. “Morning, Ruby Day. Morning, Luna.” We said “Good morning, Lavinia” together.
“What’s wrong?” Lavinia asked. “How come you look so sad, Ruby Day?”
“Aunt Sapphire come to take me back,” Ruby Day said.
By now Lavinia was all the way in the break room and standing just a couple feet away from Ruby Day.
“What?” She looked at me.
“Ruby Day’s aunt wants her to move back to Philadelphia with her.”
Lavinia’s brown eyes grew about as big as bottle caps. “How come?”
I explained the best I could without going into too much detail. I figured it wasn’t any of Lavinia’s business that Sapphire was really planning on having Ruby Day sent back to the Home for the Feebleminded.
“Why, that’s just awful,” Lavinia said. “Imagine that. How come you’re gonna let her, Luna? Can’t you stop her?”
“I’m trying,” I said. “But I can’t figure out how—exactly.”
“Well there must be something,” Lavinia said. She put her hand on Ruby Day’s shoulder. “It ain’t right.”
Ruby Day started to shake a little and Lavinia pulled her close. Lavinia looked over at me. “I got a feeling there’s more than meets the eye going on. I can tell about these things sometimes. I have a sinking feeling in my guts.”
“You and me and Mama,” I said. “We all have a bad feeling, but we don’t know why, not yet anyway.”
Ruby Day rubbed her eyes just as Mr. Haskell walked into the break room. “What’s going on, ladies? We got customers out there looking for a checker.”
“Sorry, Mr. Haskell,” Lavinia said. “I’ll get right out there.”
He hung up his coat and hat. “Anything wrong?”
I told Mr. Haskell the same thing I told Lavinia.
He said the same thing everybody had said. “That’s not right.” But even Mr. Haskell had no ideas about stopping it.
“You don’t have to work today, Ruby Day,” he said. “Seeing how you’re leaving tomorrow. Wish I’d known. I’d have given you a proper send-off —you know, a party.”
“No, thank you,” Ruby Day said, and she headed toward the cash register as if bagging canned beans and briskets was the most important thing in the world.
I stayed a few more minutes and talked with Mr. Haskell. But it just seemed the more we talked about the problem, the bigger it got. Finally I said, “I need to get to school.”
Mr. Haskell nodded as he looked out into the store. “I hate to lose her. She’s a good person, a good worker.”
“Well, if I count my chickens right,” I said, “she won’t go.”
At school that day I told everyone who would listen about the situation. I told Mrs. Grady, Coach Trawler, and even Principal Saletsky. Nobody had an answer, and they all just kind of shrugged their shoulders and said, “What a shame.”
I could hardly concentrate on my schoolwork all day and was never so glad to get home. Ruby Day’s shoebox was still on the dining room table, everything jumbled from being dumped out so many times. I decided to look through the pictures again, hoping to find something that would change the course of events. Nothing new. Nothing different. No answers. I did find a picture of a man wearing a hat, a gray suit, and white shirt with a black bowtie, and he was standing near a car—a very old car. I wondered if he was Ruby Day’s grandfather or maybe Uncle Charles.
Five o’clock rolled around and Ruby Day had still not come home from work. My heart raced every time I stepped out on the porch looking for her. Where could she be? I waited on the porch, thinking how terrible it must be for her. I could see her crouching like she did on her heels, crying and rocking. Rocking and crying.
The five twenty-three bus pulled up to the curb. Please, Lord, let her be on this one. It’s getting dark. I didn’t like the idea of Ruby Day being out that late. Relief filled my heart when I saw her step onto the curb. She stopped a second and waved to the driver just like she always did.
“Ruby Day,” I called. “I was worried about you.”
“Don’t be worried, Luna,” she called back. Then she walked to the porch before saying anything else.
“I went to … to say good-bye to Mason.”
“Oh, I should have thought of that. But I wish I had known. I would have gone with you.”
She shook her head. “No, Luna, I wanted to go by myself, like after Daddy died, before I moved here. Uncle Charles drove me to the cemetery but I said good-bye by myself.”
“I understand,” I said. I opened the screen door and we went inside, and that was when it dawned on me.
“Uncle Charles?” I said. “Is this him?” I showed her the picture I saw. “He looks nice.”
Ruby Day removed her hat and coat and hung them on the coat rack. She laughed. “Yep, Uncle Charles. He helped my daddy with things.”
“Was he Aunt Sapphire’s husband?”
Ruby Day laughed so hard she grabbed her stomach. “No. Just Daddy’s friend.”
I still didn’t quite get it, but I supposed it didn’t matter.
CHAPTER 17
Tuesday arrived cold and blustery. I woke around seven o’clock and couldn’t find Ruby Day anywhere in the house. I searched every room. I went through the kitchen to the garden thinking she must be there, tending to her flowers. Ruby Day grew beautiful yellow and orange mums in fall, and I wouldn’t put it past her to want to say good-bye to her garden. But she wasn’t there.
I started to get a little scared that maybe she’d run off, or worse—maybe Aunt Sapphire came back in the night and took her, just took her like she was nothing more than a doll baby on a shelf.
“Mama,” I said to myself. “I better call Mama.”
But then I heard Ruby Day calling me from outside. I pulled open the front door and pushed open the screen. Ruby Day had put on her heavy wool coat and wrapped a long red scarf around her neck. Her yellow knit hat was pulled down over her ears. She was clutching the porch post like someone onboard a ship in a stormy sea, hanging on for dear life as the waves rolled and the winds whipped around her.
“Ruby Day, what are you doing out there? It’s cold. You’ll blow away in this wind.”
“Don’t want to go,” she said.
“I know, but you can’t stay out here. You can’t cling to that post forever.”
“Can too, Luna. I can stay here.”
“But we’re not even sure what time Sapphire is coming back. Come inside and wait.” I shivered against the cold. “Please. Come inside.”
Ruby Day shook her head. “No.”
“Okay, but don’t go anywhere else. Just stay on the porch.”
I ran to the kitchen and was just about to call Mama when the telephone rang. It was Mr. Haskell.
“Morning, Luna,” he said. “I wanted to check on Ruby Day. Is she okay? Did Sapphire come back for her?”
I hesitated for a few seconds. “Not yet,” I said. “And yes, sir, she’s all right—mostly. But you see, she’s hanging on the porch post and won’t let go on account of she doesn’t want to go back to Philadelphia.”
The receiver went silent.
“Mr. Haskell?” I said.
I heard him chuckle and that made me kind of mad. “How come you’re laughing?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “But that sounds like Ruby Day. She can be stubborn. Sapphire might have to take her to Philly attached to the house.”
“I just hope I can stop her,” I said.
Next, I called my school and told the secretary, Mrs. Swanson, that I wouldn’t be coming in. She didn’t care as much as Mr. Haskell.
“Now, Luna,” she said. “You can’t stay home from school because Ruby Day is refusing to go home.”
“I didn’t say home,” I said into the phone with my voice getting screechy. “I said THE HOME—for the feebleminded. It’s a terrible place.”
“You’ll need a note from your mother,” was all she said. “But I’ll tell your teacher.”
I went back to the porch. Ruby Day was still hanging on for dear life, it seemed.
“Ruby Day, please come back inside.”
“No.” Her face and hands were bright red. She looked uncomfortable and tired like she hadn’t slept all night, and her eyes kept threatening to close. I felt I had no other choice but to let her stand there until she grew tired enough to come inside. Finall
y, an hour later she did. There was still no sign of Aunt Sapphire, and so I sent Ruby Day to bed while I tried to figure out what to do.
It was three o’clock in the afternoon before Ruby Day woke up and came to the living room, and I still hadn’t thought of a solution. I sat on the couch with my head in my hands. “There must be some way. Some way to stop this. If only Uncle Charles were here. You said he helped your daddy. Maybe he can help you.”
“Uncle Charles,” Ruby Day said. “He wrote me a letter.”
“A letter? Really? Where is it?”
I wanted to see this letter, but before I could ask, Ruby Day jumped up as though a firecracker went off under her bottom, and she ran up the steps. She had a sloppy way of running, and I thought she might trip and fall. “I’ll get it, Luna,” she said. “My letter.”
“Here you go, Luna.” She handed me an envelope. The writing on the outside was the same as the lettering on the other envelope. The one with the deed inside. I worried that I was holding nothing but bad news in my hand.
“It’s from Uncle Charles,” Ruby Day said.
I pulled a sheet of paper from the envelope and unfolded it. I started to read, and once I got to the end I could hardly believe my eyes.
“Ruby Day,” I said. “You knew this all along?”
But just then I heard a car pull into the driveway.
“Aunt Sapphire,” said Ruby Day, and she dashed back out the door. I followed. Ruby Day resumed her grasp on the porch post, and I stood there next to her holding the letter in my hand as we watched Aunt Sapphire’s fancy car come to a stop.
CHAPTER 18
I watched Aunt Sapphire’s chauffeur help her out of the backseat.
“Thank you, Frederick. I won’t be too long. You should wait in the car.”
Frederick tipped his cap. “Very good, Ma’am.” And he closed the door with a bang.
