Mama Ruby Page 17

  “Ruby, there is a war goin’ on right now. As soon as things settle, people will open up their places. Eventually one of them will rent us a room. Trust me.”

  “Well, it better be soon, because I can’t take too much more of this,” Ruby snarled. “I knew I should have listened to my folks and kept my butt home!”

  “For what? All you did was complain about your home and the way you had to behave. You got away from all of that, and now you thinkin’ about goin’ back to it? Well, be my guest! You go on back to Shreveport and sit on the porch. I am stayin’ in New Orleans, and I’m goin’ to make somethin’ of myself, even if it kills me.”

  Othella and Ruby continued roaming around, mostly in silence. Evening had come, and it would be dark soon. Their suitcases seemed to be getting heavier by the minute. Now they were not just tired, but they were also extremely hungry and light-headed. And because Othella was on her period, she was experiencing cramps, too.

  “Ruby Jean, we got to do somethin’, and we got to do it real fast. These cramps is killin’ me. And I can feel blood oozin’ out of me so heavy and thick, I am goin’ to need to change my plug soon,” Othella said, almost in tears.

  “I got plenty of them capsules that I take for my cramps. I can give you some as soon as we stop again, and I can root through my purse to find ’em.” Ruby said. “And if you got any ideas about what we should do next, I’d sure enough like to hear ’em. I can’t believe you came all this way and didn’t have no plan!”

  Othella stopped walking and set her suitcase down on the ground again. She punched the side of Ruby’s arm, forcing her to stop, too.

  “I did have a plan, and you knew what it was. If you didn’t like it, you should have come up with one yourself. And you didn’t have to come with me.” Othella didn’t even try to hide her anger. “Give me one of them cramp capsules.” Ruby fished a plastic container out of her purse, removed two capsules and gave them to Othella. She snatched them and swallowed them immediately. “I hope you got a big supply in case I need some next month.”

  “I got three whole bottles, but I can get more over the counter at any drugstore.”

  Othella looked relieved.

  “Now let’s keep walkin’ until we do find a place to stay. And if we don’t find a place before it gets too dark, you will be sorry because I’m gettin’ my tail back on that train and I’m goin’ back home!” Ruby hollered.

  Othella didn’t like to be threatened, and she didn’t want Ruby to know that she was scaring her. “Ruby Jean, I know I got us in this mess, and it’s up to me to straighten it out. I promise you I will. Please don’t go back home and leave me here by myself—”

  “You can go back home, too!” Ruby reminded.

  “To what?”

  Ruby dipped her head and gave Othella a dry look. “You can go back to your mama’s house!”

  Othella groaned. “Ruby, you ain’t got no idea what it was like livin’ with a woman like my mama, and I hope you never have to find out. She wasn’t fit to raise a cat, let alone seven kids. No matter what I run into out here, in the long run I’ll be better off than I was at my mama’s house.”

  Ruby stared at Othella, searching her eyes like she was looking for a deep dark secret that Othella was keeping from her. “Did she beat you? Is that why you don’t want to go back there?”

  “I got my share of punishment, and most of the time I deserved it. I sassed my mama a lot. But my mama is a whore. She always been a whore and probably always will be. Every day and every night, her men was after me. And ... she seen it all and didn’t do nothin’ to stop it. As a matter of fact, she tried to get me to do what she was doin’ with all of them men. And she’ll groom my little sisters sooner or later, if she ain’t started on them already. Her motto was ‘more pussy, more money’ and that’s all she cares about. Now if your mama was that kind of mama, would you want to go back to live with her?”

  “I guess not,” Ruby responded, giving Othella a sympathetic look. “I didn’t know that Simone was that triflin’.”

  “Come on.” Othella released a loud breath and picked up her suitcase. “We best keep movin’ until we find a place for tonight.”

  Just when Ruby didn’t think she could stand another minute of the madness that she’d let Othella drag her into, they found themselves right back in front of the same restaurant where they had spent the night. Ruby pressed her face against the window. She was glad to see that the same man who owned the place was still on the premises. He was wiping the counter with a white rag. They wasted no time going back in. An elderly couple occupied one of the tables.

  “What y’all doin’ back up in here?” the man asked, strutting from behind the counter. He stopped in front of Ruby and Othella, hands on his hips.

  “Sir, can you give us the name of a roomin’ house, or a real cheap colored motel, or somethin’? We didn’t have no luck findin’ a place to stay,” Ruby said. There was a pleading look on her face, and the man felt truly sorry for them.

  “We got money, but we’ll do anything else we have to do to get a place to sleep,” Othella announced. “Anything.”

  The man’s long homely face softened. He caressed his chin as he looked Othella up and down, realizing for the first time how pretty she really was. And that she had the kind of hips and lips that a man like him could appreciate. It had been six months since that lazy bitch he’d married had run off with one of his friends, and he had not enjoyed the pleasure of a female body since. Now here were two young female bodies, practically being served to him on a platter! Christmas was coming early this year, he told himself.

  “Anything, huh? Hmm,” the man replied, still looking Othella up and down.

  “Like housecleanin’, washin’ dishes, and stuff like that.” Ruby tossed that information in as soon as she saw the excited look on the man’s face. “We can cook, too.”

  “Y’all go sit at the table on the end yonder. I’m fixin’ to shet down for the night,” the man said, now looking friendly for the first time since they’d met him. “Uh, I got some shirts need ironin’ upstairs in my place and a sink full of dishes that y’all can wash, I guess.”

  “We can take care of all that,” Othella said with relief. “You goin’ to let us sleep in that restroom again tonight?”

  “You already took our money,” Ruby reminded. “We ain’t got that much money, so every penny counts.”

  “I think I can do better than that restroom for y’all tonight. Even longer than just tonight, if y’all get a notion to stay,” he told them.

  “What about your lady friend, and your son in Shreveport? When we was here before, you said somethin’ about closin’ down and goin’ to live with one of them until this thing with them Japanese people cool off,” Othella reminded.

  “I intend to, but that won’t be for a few days, or a couple of weeks. And, uh, like I said, I think I can do y’all better than that nasty, funky restroom.” The man licked his lips and nodded toward the empty table by the door that led to the restroom. “Now, like I said, y’all go sit down at that table yonder and behave yourselves until I close up. Lemme get y’all nice young girls some hot tea, so you can be more relaxed when we get to my place upstairs.”

  CHAPTER 30

  THE FIRST FEW MINUTES IN THE RESTAURANT OWNER’S cramped one bedroom apartment upstairs was not bad. As a matter of fact, it was almost pleasant. The man was not as crude and rude as he had acted in the restroom. It seemed like he was trying hard to be hospitable.

  “Y’all young ladies set down and make yourselves comfortable,” he said, waving them to a gray couch with lumpy pillows.

  The couch was backed up against the wall in front of a window. Ruby sat down immediately.

  “Uh, sir, can I use your bathroom?” Othella asked shyly. She had changed her pad in the restroom downstairs half an hour ago, but she had done it in such a hurry, it didn’t feel so secure now. Even though she felt dry down below at the moment, she didn’t want to take a chance on her m
enstrual blood leaking through her clothes and soiling this nice man’s furniture.

  “Just go in that door by the stove yonder,” the man pointed.

  As soon as Othella was out of the room, he turned to Ruby and smiled. She smiled back and looked toward a sink next to the stove. The kitchen was just a small area facing the living room. It contained a stove with just two burners, an icebox that was about half the size of the one Ruby’s parents owned, and a table with four mismatched chairs. The living room had even less. Other than the couch that Ruby occupied, the only other pieces in the living room were a scarred coffee table with a jar lid on it that was overflowing with cigarette butts and a large easy chair facing the couch.

  “You got a nice place,” Ruby commented.

  “Thank you. I just can’t seem to keep it clean though,” the man chuckled.

  It had started to rain again. It was beating down on the roof and against the window behind the couch. It sounded like a drum to Ruby. She looked out the window, asking herself for the tenth time, “What have I gotten myself into?” The sight of an abandoned feed store with every window boarded up and a skinny hound dog chewing on a shabby old shoe made her feel sad for the people who lived in this dreary neighborhood. Old cars rattled down the street. A large puddle had formed on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. It was a brownish color and looked solid, as if it had turned to ice. Ruby let out her breath and turned back around to face the man.

  “New Orleans sure ain’t as glamorous as I thought it would be,” she remarked, displaying a wide, fake smile. The man stood at the stove with his back to her. He grunted in response to her comment. Ruby noticed water stains and mold on the bottom half of the wall facing her. The dull brown shag carpet on the living room area of the floor was so thin she could see the wooden floor beneath it. And the smell in the apartment was an unholy stench of stale cigarettes, cabbage greens, and grease. What kind of person could live in a snake pit like this and not go crazy? she wondered. She felt so sorry for her “host,” she wanted to ease up behind him and give him a hug. But she didn’t. A female had to be careful with men. She reminded herself that an innocent gesture like a hug could easily give this old man the wrong idea, and that was one thing that Ruby didn’t want to deal with.

  Othella returned and dropped down on the couch at the other end where they had placed their suitcases on the floor.

  “Y’all hungry?” the man asked, turning around just enough to see their faces.

  “Oh, yes!” Ruby said, almost leaping off the couch. Her stomach had been growling for hours.

  “I figured so,” the man said with a chuckle.

  Ruby used the bathroom and returned to the kitchen area, smiling from ear to ear. She was so happy to be off the street.

  The man heated some left over collard greens with neck bones, while Ruby and Othella made hot water corn bread and a pitcher of iced tea.

  “Sir, how come a nice man like you ain’t got no wife?” Othella asked, speaking over her shoulder from where she stood in front of the sink washing dishes for them to eat from.

  “I had a wife, but she was triflin’. That heifer! She didn’t want to do nothin’ that a woman is supposed to do! She didn’t know her place. God made woman to take care of man, and I hope y’all already know that!” the man barked. “By the way, I’m Glenn Boates. What do I call y’all? I don’t even know who’s who.” He grinned, looking from Othella to Ruby.

  “I’m Ruby and she’s Othella,” Ruby said with a proud sniff. “We been best friends for a long time.” She had just removed the corn bread from the skillet and was standing over the table spooning greens onto three cracked, mismatched plates. She blinked at a plump roach crawling across the top of the table, like the dinner had been prepared for him. She hit at it, knocking it to the floor. The pest scurried off so fast, Ruby didn’t have time to squash it. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a roach in somebody’s house—other than Othella’s mama’s.

  “Where is your wife at now?” Othella asked. She was not prepared for Glenn’s hostile response.

  “That bitch is long gone! But when she left here, I made sure she had a well-whupped ass! I beat her down before she took off with my so-called friend! If she ever comes back this way, I’m goin’ to beat her some more!” Glenn bellowed, practically spitting out the words. “I’ll beat her and that black-ass spook she left me for. If I wasn’t a church-goin’ man, I’d pay a conjure woman to put a serious hex on ’em both!” Glenn snorted. “That bitch!”

  Ruby rolled her eyes and eased down in a seat at the table, hoping she wouldn’t see another roach, or something worse. “When I get married, the first time my husband beats me, he’d better make sure I’m dead. Or that he can get far away before I can get my hands on him. Because any man that hits me I will seriously hurt ... real bad,” she said.

  Othella and Glenn laughed; Ruby didn’t.

  The dinner conversation was boring because Glenn Boates was a bitter, boring man. He seemed to be mad at the world, because he had nothing good to say about anybody or anything. “Just when this damn country was beginnin’ to do right by us colored folks, them damn rice-eatin’ Japs had to go and upset things! They got this whole world in a uproar! I hope that four-eyed, punk-ass President Roosevelt sends some troops over there to Japan and blows them all to Kingdom Come!” he snarled. Glenn didn’t let the fact that his mouth was full of food stop him from speaking. “Y’all got boyfriends back home?” Pot liquor from the greens trickled down his chin, corn bread crumbs dotted his lips.

  Othella nodded, Ruby shook her head.

  “I had a few but they turned out to be triflin’, too. That’s why I left,” Ruby said.

  “Well, it’s a good thing y’all didn’t have no babies to worry about. Or did y’all?” Glenn asked, looking from Othella to Ruby.

  “I didn’t,” Othella said without hesitation.

  “I ... I didn’t neither,” Ruby mumbled, rising. “Uh, we can sleep on a pallet on the livin’ room floor.” She placed her empty plate in the sink. “It’s gettin’ late, and we both real tired.”

  “Go yonder to the bathroom. There’s some kivver in there on a shelf, some handmade quilts and some blankets. It’s goin’ to get mighty cold durin’ the night, so y’all take all of the kivver you want. Them handmade quilts—the only decent thing that wench I married done right—is real thick, so that might be enough for young girls like y’all. I know how hot natured some of y’all can be... .”

  Ruby gave Othella a puzzled look.

  It was a quiet, peaceful night. Ruby and Othella slept side by side on the pallet on Glenn’s living room floor that night. Even though he had a bed in his bedroom, he slept on the couch facing the girls.

  When Othella and Ruby rose the next morning, Glenn was not in the apartment. Ruby was glad to see that their host had already cooked breakfast for them: bacon, grits, and fried eggs. He had run out of sliced white bread, but he had made some biscuits. Everything was on the table, paper napkins included.

  “Mr. Glenn sure is a nice man,” Ruby commented as she and Othella sat at the table enjoying the breakfast like it was their last meal. “Lettin’ us stay here for a dollar, feedin’ us and all.”

  “Yeah, but that don’t mean nothin’. I know for a fact that even the worst men can be nice when they want somethin’ from you,” Othella insisted.

  Ruby didn’t ask Othella what she meant, but it didn’t take long for her to find out.

  About an hour later, Glenn pushed open his front door and rushed inside with a mysterious grin on his face. “Uh, it’s real slow downstairs, so I decided to lock up for a few hours and come chitchat with y’all for a spell,” he said, plopping down on the couch next to Ruby. He removed his run-over shoes and fraying socks, exposing his sour-smelling, lizardlike feet. Ruby wanted to move closer to the window, or anywhere else in the room to get away from the odor of Glenn’s feet, but she didn’t want to be rude. She decided that it would be better to grin and bear
it, which is what she did.

  Othella was at the sink, washing the breakfast dishes, but she could smell Glenn’s feet, too. She had smelled worse, so she wasn’t as offended as Ruby. But, like Ruby, she didn’t want to be rude so she pretended not to notice the unholy stench in the room.

  “You got somebody to help you run this place, Mr. Glenn? Maybe you can give us a job for a while until we get ourselves situated,” Othella said eagerly, rubbing her nose to keep from sneezing. She perched herself on the couch arm on Ruby’s side with the dishrag still in her hand.

  “Doin’ what?” Glenn chuckled. “Y’all ain’t blind. There ain’t nothin’ around here for me to do! What I need somebody on the payroll for? There’s a war goin’ on. And didn’t I tell y’all that I was goin’ to go to either my lady friend’s house or to my son’s place to hole up for a spell?”

  “I just meant that we could help you out until you leave,” Othella said with a heavy sigh. She rose from the couch arm and returned to the sink, dropping the dish-rag onto the counter.

  Ruby didn’t like the look that was on Glenn’s face, but he was looking at Othella, not her. Othella didn’t see the disgusted look on Ruby’s face.

  “Uh, can you give us the address or the names of a few colored churches that we can go to and try to get some help? We went to one a few blocks from here, but there was a real mean lady there. She didn’t help us none,” Ruby told Glenn, as she crossed her legs and folded her arms. She didn’t like the way his eyes roamed up and down her legs and then her bosom.

  “Y’all ain’t got to rush off,” Glenn replied with a series of rapid blinks. “I’m enjoyin’ y’all’s company, and it’s nice to have a couple of sweet juicy young girls in my place to gaze at, instead of them old crones I usually get stuck with. Them menopausal bitches!”

  “We don’t want to put you out too much longer. We’ll be out of your hair real soon,” Othella said, holding up a hand. The truth of the matter was, she wanted to hang around as long as possible. She’d only mentioned leaving because she thought it was the polite thing to do. “Uh, but if you don’t mind us stayin’ a little longer ...” She wanted to hear Glenn mention dinner or at least one more meal, but he didn’t. He just looked at her for a few uncomfortable moments, then he looked at Ruby, making them both nervous.