Nell and Lady: A Novel

by Ashley Farley

  “I don’t understand how this happened,” Miss Willa said on the drive home. “We ate lunch together, only hours ago, before my garden club meeting. Life is tragic that way. One minute you’re fine; next thing you know you’ve suffered a fatal stroke.” Her eyes filled with tears. “How will I ever survive without her?”

  Nell gaped at Willa but held her tongue. How will you survive without her? The bigger question is, how will I survive without her?

  Miss Willa removed a tissue from the travel pack she kept in the side pocket of her car door. She took a tissue for herself and handed the pack to Nell. “Mavis told me a little about her background,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. “As far as I know, she doesn’t have any other family.”

  She shook her head. “No, ma’am. My grandparents are dead, and Mama didn’t have any siblings. I’m the only one left in my family.” She’d never met her father. Never even knew who he was. But admitting that to Miss Willa seemed like she was betraying her mama. Her mama and Miss Willa were close. If Mavis had wanted Miss Willa to know about her daddy, whoever he was, she would’ve told her.

  When they got home, Nell retreated to the dingy rooms at the back of the house where she lived with her mama. The apartment, the only home she’d ever known, featured a bedroom they shared with twin beds, a minuscule bathroom with a rusted tub, and a living area. One wall of the main room boasted a kitchenette, complete with small refrigerator, hot plate, and single-bowl sink.

  She sat on the edge of her bed. Her mind buzzed, her limbs felt numb, and her heart ached. But as hard as she tried, no tears would come. She heard the back door slam and Lady call, “I’m home.” Nell waited and listened for the sound of her friend’s footsteps on the stairs outside her room. But two hours passed before she appeared at her door, still dressed from tryouts in her white polo and tennis skirt, her eyes puffy and her face tear stained.

  “I’m so sorry, Nell,” Lady said, wrapping her bony arms around Nell. “I would’ve come sooner, but Willa thought you needed some time alone to mourn.”

  Time alone is the last thing I need right now. I have the rest of my life to be alone.

  Lady held her at arm’s length. “I know how you must be feeling. Well, not exactly. Losing a father is way different than losing your mama. This is so unfair.” She buried her face in the crook of Nell’s neck and sobbed.

  The tables turned, as so often happened with them, and Lady became the star of the show, with Nell in a supporting role. Nell stroked her back and whispered in her ear until she finally stopped crying.

  “Willa said to tell you supper’s ready.” Lady pushed away from her, wiping her eyes with her shirttail.

  The thought of food made Nell sick to her stomach. “Tell her I’m not hungry.”

  “Okay, then. If you’re sure.” Lady turned toward the door. “I’ll come back later and check on you.”

  Alone once again, Nell lay down on her mother’s bed and buried her face in her pillow, inhaling the scent of Irish Spring soap. Finally, the tears came, soaking the pillow as she cried herself to sleep. Miss Willa awakened her sometime later with a supper tray. Nell’s stomach churned at the sight of the runny eggs and greasy bacon.

  “I’ll eat later. I’m not really hungry right now.” She took the tray from Miss Willa and set it down on the coffee table.

  “I haven’t been up here in years.” Miss Willa gave the room a once-over, her mouth twisted with distaste. She perched herself on the edge of the sofa and patted the cushion beside her. “We need to talk about your mother’s funeral.”

  Nell sat down next to her.

  “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to bury Mavis in our family plot at Magnolia Cemetery. There’s plenty of room. I think she’ll be happy there.”

  Nell stared at the woman. You think she’ll be happy there? She’s going to heaven, not on a cruise.

  “Unless, of course, you have other plans.”

  “No, Miss Willa. That is mighty kind of you. Mama would be grateful.”

  Willa stood to go. “Leave everything to me. I’ll take care of all the arrangements.”

  Nell insisted on going to school the rest of the week. She couldn’t bear the thought of staying in her apartment all alone, and she didn’t want to get behind in her schoolwork so early in the semester. Her commitment to making good grades was more important than ever. She was only fourteen with no means of supporting herself. Maybe the people in her church could help her find a place to live. She would need to be careful to avoid social services, though. She knew what happened to kids who were placed in foster homes. The feeling of helplessness haunted her through the long days at school and the even longer sleepless nights.

  Miss Willa arranged for the funeral to take place on Friday, with the minister of Mavis and Nell’s Baptist church presiding over the graveside service. About a dozen people attended—some of the help from other houses on the street, a few members of their church, and several of Miss Willa’s friends. Nell’s friends, not that any of them would’ve come, were all in school. Aside from going to church every Sunday, her mama had never been one for socializing. She was a shy woman, never had much to say and never talked about herself. She had no family, no husband, few acquaintances, and only one true friend—Miss Willa, her employer.

  They sang a few hymns, said a few prayers, and listened to the preacher read passages from the Bible and talk about what a strong Christian woman Mavis had been. After the service, Miss Willa and Lady waited in the car while Nell stayed behind to watch the cemetery workers lower her mama’s mahogany casket into the hole beside Mr. Bellemore.

  Lady’s daddy had been a man of great mystery in her life, sneaking in and out of the house under the cover of darkness. When he wasn’t working long hours at his investment firm downtown, he had been either playing golf or sailing on his boat. Two years ago, he’d had a massive coronary on the way home from the marina and had run his car into a telephone pole. Nell could still see the policeman’s somber face when he’d come to the house to deliver the news. It had taken time, but life had eventually moved on for Miss Willa and Lady. Nell didn’t see how life could possibly go on for her without her mama.

  Back at the house, she excused herself to go to her room. Lady found her there an hour later, folding her clothes and arranging them on the bed in neat piles.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, her blue eyes wide.

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m packing.”

  “But for what? Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to live with a friend,” Nell lied.

  “No!” Lady stepped between Nell and the bed. “You can’t leave me, Nell. First my daddy and now Mavis. I can’t lose you too. I just can’t.” She slumped to the floor. “Please don’t go!” she hollered over and over.

  Willa came running up the stairs at the sound of Lady’s carrying on. “Get up, Lady.” She pulled her daughter to her feet. “Whatever the matter is, it can’t be all that bad.”

  “Nell’s leaving us,” Lady sniffled. “She’s going to live with a friend.”

  Miss Willa cast a suspicious glance at Nell. “What friend?”

  “Just a friend from my church,” Nell said with a shrug. “You don’t know her.”

  “Now, Nell,” Willa said, draping her arm around her shoulder, “your mother and I never actually discussed it—we never thought we needed to—but she would want me to make certain you ended up with the right people. We’ve all had a difficult day. We need to give this some thought. You can stay here until we figure something out.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said to appease her, even though she had no intention of staying.

  “Good. Then that’s settled. I’ll have supper ready in fifteen minutes.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” In the five days since her mother’s death, Nell had grown to despise Miss Willa’s cooking. Willa desperately needed a cook and a maid. There was already talk of hiring someone to take Mavis’s place. And that someone would need a place
to live.

  “Come with me, Lady. You can help me get supper on the table,” Miss Willa said, and bustled her daughter out of the apartment.

  Nell scurried around the apartment gathering toiletries and tokens to remember her mama by. She stuffed everything, along with her clothes, into paper grocery bags. With no idea where she’d go or how she’d get there, she started down the stairs. She stopped in her tracks when she heard her name mentioned as she passed the doorway to the kitchen. She pressed herself against the wall and listened.

  In a shrill voice, Lady said, “I don’t understand why Nell can’t live here with us. She’s like family.”

  “Your father would roll over in his grave. Our friends and neighbors would think I’ve lost my mind.”

  “Since when do you care about what other people think?” Lady asked. “Please, Mama.”

  There she goes, calling her Mama, thought Nell. She must be really sad or want something real bad.

  Silence ensued, and Nell imagined Miss Willa’s face all scrunched up in thought. “You have a point. I do like to stir the pot.”

  “Nell says she’s going to stay with a friend, but that’s a lie. I know for a fact she doesn’t have any.”

  Ouch. That hurts. I have a few friends. Just none I would invite to come home with me.

  Lady rattled on, “You can’t throw her out on the street. It’s not right. She’s lived here all her life. Mavis would take care of me if something happened to you.”

  “That’s true,” Miss Willa said in a soft voice. “I owe Mavis this much, after all she did for us. Not only was she the best friend I ever had, she was the kindest person I’ve ever met. It’s true what they say about the good dying young. Nell is a sweet girl, and she doesn’t deserve this. Still, I need time to think about it. This is a big decision that will affect a lot of people.”

  “We don’t have time to think about it. If Nell leaves us now, she’ll never come back. And I can’t live without her. Please! Say yes, Mama. Please, oh please,” Lady whined. Nell smiled as she pictured her best friend bouncing on her toes with her hands in prayer formation.

  “Lord have mercy, Lady. Anything to make you stop calling me Mama.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “That’s a yes,” Miss Willa said. “At least for now. I don’t see any harm in giving it a try.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  WILLA

  Willa couldn’t remember the last time she’d gotten a full night’s sleep. It’d been decades, at least. She’d come to think of two o’clock as the witching hour, when her past came back to haunt her. She’d learned a long time ago that it was better to face her ghosts than allow them to torment her. Slipping on her pink chenille robe and her fur-lined slippers, she shuffled down the stairs and into the kitchen. She filled the teakettle with water and placed it on the stovetop to boil and then set two cups in saucers, dropping a chamomile tea bag into each cup. When the kettle whistled, she poured hot water over the tea bags and let them steep for four minutes. She added a lump of sugar to one and a dribble of milk to the other. She set the sweetened tea at her place at the table and the other cup next to her. Planting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands, she blew on the tea to cool it down. When the tips of her fingers felt the smooth skin of her bald head, she drew her hand away and gaped at the fistful of hair.

  “Tell me, Mavis, what exactly am I supposed to do about this?” she asked, holding the clump of long gray hair out to the ghost occupying the empty seat beside her. “I should probably have a stylist shave it all off, but I wouldn’t know where to go. I haven’t been to a beauty parlor in thirty years. I could find out where my friends have their weekly blowouts. I can see it now, the pity in their eyes when I march out of the salon with my bald head.”

  Willa twisted the hair into a tiny ball and set it on the table.

  “Why didn’t you take me to heaven with you, May May?” Willa hung her head as she sipped her tea. “Don’t say it. I already know what you’re thinking. One of us had to stay down here to take care of the girls. You would’ve done a much better job than me. You were counting on me, and I failed you.”

  Willa reached for the metal tin of cheese biscuits in the center of the table. She removed the lid and held it out to May May. “No? I don’t blame you. They’re not nearly as good as yours. Shhh! Don’t tell Regan. She made them. Followed your recipe to a T, but something’s missing.” Willa popped a cheese biscuit into her mouth and returned the lid to the container.

  “I don’t have the strength to fight anymore, May May. And I don’t mean my cancer. You’re up there watching us fools down here. You know what I’m talking about. This world has gone nuts. Plumb crazy. Mass shootings nearly every day. Crooked politicians and their unethical politics. Nobody cares about tradition anymore. Being politically correct is more important than doing what’s right. We live in a different world now from when you were here. Where did we go wrong? God gave us this big beautiful planet. The least we can do is live together in peace.”

  Willa blew her nose into her napkin. “I got just enough strength left in me to watch Regan deliver her valedictorian address. After that, I’m gonna leave this world behind so I can be with you. We’ll have ourselves a fine old time in heaven. Just like we used to do here.”

  Willa slumped back and folded her arms over her chest. “Back in the day, we spent many a night together at this table talking about life and how we wanted to raise our girls. Do you remember our first tea party? I do. It was the night before Thanksgiving in 1964, and you’d only been working here a month. I couldn’t sleep for worrying about cooking my first turkey. After hours of tossing and turning and fretting over Mr. Turkey Bird, I left my husband sawing logs and ventured downstairs in search of the Harlequin romance I’d left in the drawing room. When I saw the light on in the kitchen, I tiptoed in here and found you sitting at the table knitting.”

  Willa closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair and thought back to the night that had changed everything for them.

  Willa plunked down at the table across from Mavis. “Lord have mercy, Mavis, my mama has gone off on a shopping spree to New York City and dumped Thanksgiving in my lap. Christmas too. What do I know about hosting the holidays? When I called her to find out how to cook the turkey, she told me I’d learn better if I figured it out on my own. The nerve of her.”

  Without looking up from her knitting, Mavis said, “Don’t you worry about a thing, Mrs. Bellemore. I’ll cook your turkey for you. All the fixings too, if you want. Mashed potatoes. Sweet potatoes. Oyster stuffing.”

  “I was hoping I could count on you. My cooking’s so bad I’m liable to give my guests food poisoning.” With one hand on her belly, Willa eyed the tiny pink booties in Mavis’s hands. “Are those for me?”

  “No’m, they’re for me.” Mavis’s face grew darker as she stared down at her knitting.

  Willa gaped at Mavis, her blue eyes bulging. “Are you saying you’re pregnant?”

  Mavis’s gaze met hers. “Yes’m, I found out last week. I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

  Willa’s mind raced. As far as she could remember, when she’d hired Mavis a month ago as a live-in maid, she hadn’t mentioned a husband. “I didn’t know you were married.”

  Mavis wound the yarn around her needles and laid her knitting on the table. “I’m not.”

  “Oh. In that case, I’d better make us some tea.” Willa hauled herself up and went over to the stove. An awkward silence fell on the room as she prepared the tea. She didn’t know what to think of the situation. She’d hired and fired a handful of maids before she found Mavis. She approved of the quiet and efficient manner in which she performed her duties, and she hated to lose her.

  When the tea was ready, Willa returned to the table with the tray. “Do you know who the father is?” she asked as she filled two cups with tea.

  “Yes’m, we lived together for three years.” Mavis added a drop of cream to her tea. “He did
n’t treat me well, if you know what I mean.”

  Willa brought her hand to her throat. “You mean he beat you?”

  Mavis nodded and looked away. “I couldn’t leave him until I found another place to live. I was so grateful when you hired me. You gave me a job and a home.”

  “Does this man know where you are? Are you in any sort of danger? Are we in danger?” Willa worried about her own safety. She had her unborn child to think about.

  “No’m,” Mavis said. “He would’ve beaten me dead before he let me go. I packed my bags and snuck out of the house while he was at work. I heard through the grapevine that he’s gone back to his family up north.”

  “That’s a relief,” Willa said, slurping her tea. “How far along are you?”

  “Three months, according to the doctor. But they gotta run some tests to be sure.”

  Willa remembered Mavis asking for an afternoon off the week before to go to the doctor. “I see.”

  “You gotta believe me, Mrs. Bellemore. This ain’t what I planned. And I know you didn’t bargain for no pregnant maid. Can you please give me a little time to find another place to live?”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m sure we can figure out a solution that’ll work for everyone.” She went to the pantry for the tin of cheese biscuits that had become a staple on their shelves since Mavis had started working for them. She popped cheese biscuit after cheese biscuit into her mouth as she walked in circles around the kitchen. “Do you feel okay to work? At least for a while.”

  “Yes’m, I feel fine. As long as my health is good, I plan to work right up until the baby’s born. I’ll be back on my feet a few days afterward.”

  An idea formed in Willa’s mind as the logistics of their pregnancies fell into place like pieces of a puzzle. “This could actually work in our favor. When the time comes, I planned to hire a nanny. Would you be interested in the position? After you’ve recovered from childbirth, of course. I could get a housekeeper to come in twice a week to relieve you of the heavy cleaning. That way, your primary responsibilities would be taking care of the babies and doing the cooking. What do you think?”