Mama Ruby Read online

  “No problem. The lady could be from Mars for all I care,” Dobie replied, nodding and licking his thin lips. He hadn’t even had a drink yet, and his breath was already as foul as cow dung. Every time he spoke, Maureen had to lean her head back and hold her breath to keep from gagging on the fumes floating out of his mouth. But she’d dealt with a lot worse. Bad breath was nothing compared to some of the other things her girls had to put up with. Last night, Marielle had been with a highly intoxicated man who’d lost control of his bowels right after he’d climaxed while he was still on top of her. She’d been so upset that Maureen dismissed her for the night. She had helped her clean herself off, and let her keep all of the money that she’d made for the whole week. But Ruby had been even more upset because she had to clean up the mess in the bedroom. Maureen had given Ruby the rest of the night off, too, and she still wanted to do something nice for Ruby because as far as she was concerned, Ruby had been traumatized by that gruesome episode as much as Marielle.

  “You sure you don’t care what she looks like?”

  “Maureen, I am serious. I do not care about that. I keep my eye closed durin’ the whole session anyway. I always did. It adds a bit of mystery to the act,” Dobie said with a wink.

  “And her size and color don’t matter, you say?”

  “That’s what I said. Nor does her age.” Dobie stopped talking for a moment, and scratched the side of his neck. “Hold on. Let me back up. I need to clarify one thing some more, though: no babies and no hags. She’s got to be at least thirteen. And no offense, but I don’t want some old crone in your age group. Forty-five is as old as I’ll accept. As long as she’s never been touched.”

  Maureen wanted to laugh and then show this persnickety fool the way out. Finding a teenage virgin was not that far-fetched, but did he seriously think that he’d find a forty-five-year-old virgin anywhere in New Orleans?

  “I get it. Well, I’ll see what I can do for you, sir. Now don’t you move until I come back, hear?” Maureen gave Dobie a thoughtful look before she rose from her settee and shuffled across the floor to Othella. “Is Ruby still fresh?” she asked, whispering in Othella’s ear with a hopeful look on her face. While she awaited Othella’s response, she glanced at the man she’d left sitting on the settee, who was dying to bust open a virgin. She smiled, nodded, and waved at him. He smiled, nodded, and waved back. The way he kept crossing and uncrossing his legs, Maureen knew that his dick was on fire, and that she didn’t have much time to get this man into bed with a virgin.

  “What? What do you mean by that?” Othella asked, her heart thumping. She had been very cautious since Maureen had fired Cat Fish. She was still worried that if that racist bitch came back to make another fuss, Maureen might fire her, too. “Uh, do you mean is Ruby clean?”

  “I know the girl is clean, but that ain’t what I meant. She is fifteen, and I know how frisky you colored gals are when you get that age. Y’all drop your drawers and spread your legs earlier in life than regular folks. But Ruby bein’ a preacher’s girl, and bein’ a little on the heavy side and a little plain, I figured she might not have crossed that bridge yet. Is she still a virgin? She sure enough looks and acts like one. And I hope you say she is, because there is a whole bunch of money at stake.”

  Othella was momentarily speechless. She didn’t know where this conversation was coming from, or where it was going. The most important thing to her was, she didn’t want to disappoint the madam. She knew that as long as Maureen was happy with her, she and Ruby would have a place to stay. “Yes, ma’am, she sure is still a virgin. But let me tell you right now, she can’t wait to get herself busted,” Othella lied. The hungry look on Maureen’s face puzzled and frightened Othella at the same time. “But bein’ a preacher’s daughter, Ruby is right shy when it comes to things like, uh, you know ... Before you approach her about it, let me put a bug in her ear first. She’s real mentally limited. But I got her trained so good, she’ll do anything I tell her to do.”

  “Good! You go hunt her up, and do that right now then,” Maureen commanded.

  Othella sprinted across the floor toward the kitchen, weaving her way through the crowd squeezed into the parlor. She almost knocked down Fat Fanny and the man that she was buttering up.

  As soon as Othella reached the kitchen and swung open the door, she almost gagged on the smell of boiled pig ears and cabbage greens, the same meal they’d had the day before. She didn’t have time to complain, but she would later on. “Where is Ruby at?” she asked Mazel.

  “I don’t know where that lazy heifer at. Them same dishes been sittin’ in that sink for two hours,” Mazel snarled, chewing on a toothpick. “She probably off somewhere nursin’ that white woman’s baby like she always do when she supposed to be helpin’ me.”

  “Miss Mo’reen need her in the parlor straightaway,” Othella reported.

  “For what?” Mazel asked, hand on her hip. “Since when do Miss Mo’reen want the help up in there ’round all them fancy peckerwoods? Especially Ruby with her musty, rusty, dusty self. What done happened in that parlor this time? Another one of them clumsy oxes done wasted a highball on the floor, and Miss Mo’reen want Ruby to sop it up, or what?”

  “Never mind all that. If you do see Ruby before I do, send her to me. I’m goin’ to wait for her in the parlor by the piano man,” Othella said.

  Othella left the kitchen, but she didn’t return to the parlor. Instead, she galloped upstairs and checked every room that was not occupied, but Ruby was nowhere to be found. Othella returned to the parlor and saw the impatient look on Maureen’s face. She skittered back into the kitchen, ignoring Mazel, who was still fussing about the dishes in the sink, and ran out the back door.

  Othella found Ruby sitting on a stump in the backyard, serenading Viola with a lullaby that Ruby had made up herself. The baby was cooing like she was in heaven. There was just enough light coming from the moon and the dim coal oil lamp on the back porch steps for Othella to see the ecstatic look on Ruby’s face.

  “Ruby Jean!” Othella called, almost out of breath. Ruby didn’t notice Othella right away. Othella had to call her name again and snap her fingers.

  “What?” Ruby said gruffly, clutching the baby like she was afraid Othella was going to snatch her out of her arms.

  “Remember that trick with the chicken blood in a capsule?” Othella asked with an anxious look on her face. She had worked up a sweat from running around looking for Ruby. She wiped some of it off her forehead with the back of her hand.

  “What? What about that trick?” Ruby asked, wiping a few drops of sweat off Othella’s chin with the tip of her finger.

  “We might have to use it on one of Miss Mo’reen’s new tricks tonight. He’s out there in the parlor, ready to mount a goat as long as it’s a virgin.”

  “Well, there is plenty of chicken blood available,” Ruby snickered, nodding toward the three chicken coops that Maureen kept at the end of the backyard next to the toolshed. “But you ain’t got to kill no chicken tonight to get no blood. There’s plenty of blood in a bowl in the icebox, with them three chickens that I helped that lazy-ass Mazel cut up this evenin’ in case somebody wants a snack later.”

  “Ruby, you need to come with me,” Othella said, holding her hands out to Ruby. “Now give me that baby. I’ll take her to Mazel, or I’ll put her to bed myself—which is where she should be now anyway. I swear to God, you spoilin’ this child. Come on!”

  “You ain’t makin’ no sense,” Ruby commented, handing the baby to Othella.

  “You need to get to your room and get them capsules, and we got plenty of alum for a tightenin’ up douche. I’ll bring that bowl of bloody raw chicken to you so you can drain enough blood to go in one of them capsules.”

  Ruby chuckled. “That’s fine with me. My sister told me that all you got to do is slide it up in you, and when the man sticks his pecker in, it’ll bust open right away. Then all you have to do is lay there and moan and hump. After he pulls out, tell him wh
at a Romeo he is. That’s all you got to do.”

  Othella shook her head. “Uh-uh, honey. That’s all you got to do.”

  CHAPTER 40

  THE ONE-EYED VIRGIN-LOVING MAN WAS SO IMPRESSED AND pleased with Ruby, he kissed her on the lips after he’d busted what he believed to be her cherry. It had been hard for Ruby to pretend she was having sex for the first time. She had hollered and yelped in pain, and then she had moaned like a woman in ecstasy. She had writhed like her butt was on fire, the same way that she had done when Othella’s brother took her virginity.

  “There, there, darlin’. The soreness won’t last but a little while, and the next time will be so much better for you,” Dobie told her, massaging her thigh.

  “That’s ... that’s what Miss Mo’reen told me,” Ruby whimpered.

  “But the fact of the matter is, it had to happen sooner or later.” Dobie sniffed. He felt right proud of himself and more manly than he’d felt in a long time. “I love bein’ a gal’s first, but it’s gettin’ harder and harder to be that lucky in this day and age,” Dobie told Ruby, kissing her this time on her sweaty forehead. “I know I hurt you.” He paused long enough to fish a cigar out of his jacket pocket and light it. After a few hearty puffs he continued. “But a big strappin’ gal like you, you’ll get over it real quick. Now what did you say your name was again?”

  “Ruby, sir.” Being polite and demure helped her look more innocent, and she was having fun playing the part. It just reinforced her belief that a horny man could be played like a fiddle.

  “Ruby what?” Dobie sniffed again and brushed a lock of her marcelled hair off her face. He felt so comfortable with her. Even though she was young enough to be his daughter, she reminded him of his mother, a buxom woman with breasts like eiderdown pillows. He gently squeezed one of Ruby’s massive breasts, then the other. He was becoming aroused again.

  “Excuse me? You want to know my whole name?”

  “Whatever it is, it ought to include Mama Ruby. For a gal with no experience, you sure enough know how to make a man feel good. And generally speakin’, nobody but a man’s mama can do that. Not that me and my mama ever did anything unnatural in the bedroom.” Dobie chuckled and took another drag from his cigar, then passed it to Ruby. She hated smoke of any kind and couldn’t understand how anybody could put anything as vile as a cigar, a cigarette, a pipe, chewing tobacco, or a cud of snuff in their mouth. However, she knew that if she remained in a whorehouse she would eventually put things that were even more vile in her mouth. Othella had told her about a client who had paid her to suck his toes. She held her breath and puffed on the cigar, choking until Dobie slapped her on the back and gave her a mighty hug. He chuckled again. “Sorry, darlin’.”

  “That’s all right. I sucked in too much smoke too fast, I guess.”

  “As I was sayin’, you ought to be called Mama Ruby,” Dobie told her again. He was now holding her hand, squeezing and caressing it like a real lover. Ruby just didn’t know what to do with herself! Was being a whore this easy? she wondered. It must be. Why else would she be feeling so special lying in this strange white man’s arms, and getting paid to be with him? He obviously liked her, and it didn’t bother Ruby one bit that it was because she reminded him of his mother. Becoming a mother was her main goal in life anyway!

  “Mama Ruby? I like that—and it suits me. See, I always wanted to be somebody’s mama,” Ruby chirped, surprised at how giddy she was feeling now. She suddenly felt remorseful about deceiving this nice and thoughtful man with the missing fingers. He was probably closer to being a virgin than she was. “Um, you glad you spent some time and money on me?”

  “Of course I am, sugar. Now don’t you take this the wrong way, but if you wasn’t a colored gal you’d be makin’ a real killin’ in a place like this.” Dobie paused and lowered his voice. “Now you ain’t no beauty, and I suspect you already know that. But the truth is, most of the women who work here wouldn’t win no blue ribbons in a beauty contest. Between you and me and the bed post, that Fat Fanny reminds me of a white elephant. But you ... you know ...”

  “I know I’m colored, and that’s a heavy burden to some folks, but it ain’t to me. I wouldn’t want to be anything but colored. You white folks got too many problems for me. And, y’all can’t cook that good... .” She laughed and Dobie laughed and agreed with her assessment. “But I am glad that you didn’t let my color stop you from spendin’ time and money on me,” Ruby said, rising, tickling Dobie under his chin. “I better go now.”

  Ruby dressed and eased back downstairs to her room where she washed herself up, just enough to remove Dobie’s scent and body juices. She also took a vinegar/bleach/vanilla extract douche, and haphazardly prayed that it would prevent her from getting pregnant. But if she ended up pregnant again anyway, oh well. She just hoped that it would be with another baby girl.

  Afterward, Ruby returned to the kitchen where Mazel was preparing fried chicken, crawfish, and hush puppies. She frowned as soon as she saw Ruby’s face.

  “Where you been, gal? I been runnin’ around like a fool all night tryin’ to keep these stinky white folks happy! They been eatin’ like pigs at a hog trough! If you don’t get the spirit, I’m goin’ to talk to Miss Mo’reen about gettin’ me another gal to help out!” Mazel thundered, slathering the crawfish with homemade butter and then sprinkling them with cayenne pepper. “When I was your age, I was way more responsible!” She accidentally dropped a crawfish on the floor, stooped down to retrieve it, blew on it, and returned it to the tray. She looked at Ruby again. “You done put that baby and them other two young’uns of Fat Fanny’s to bed, girl?”

  “Yessum,” Ruby said, grabbing her apron from a hook on the back of the door and joining Mazel at the counter. She ignored the suspicious look on Mazel’s mean face.

  “You smell like smoke,” Mazel noticed. “And why you got on that blue dress instead of your work uniform? You goin’ to church or a juke joint later tonight, or what?”

  Ruby rolled her eyes and reared back on her legs, hand on a hip. “So what? What damn business is it of yours?”

  Mazel gasped and shuddered. Then she blinked hard a couple of times, clearly frightened by Ruby’s outburst. “I ... I just thought I’d mention it.”

  Ruby let out a disgusted sigh and shook her head, not taking her eyes off Mazel’s face. “What do you want me to do now?”

  “You can haul this tray into the parlor and see who needs a drink refill. I swear to God, these white folks get on my nerves so bad with they lazy selves! Ain’t no reason in the world why Miss Mo’reen can’t get them whore heifers to take turns carryin’ these trays and refillin’ glasses. I been on my feet, workin’ my fingers to the bone since eight this mornin’.” Mazel was about to say something else but she held her tongue when she noticed the smug look on Ruby’s face. “You look like you just swallowed a carp. One of them horny crackers lose his billfold and you found it or what?”

  “Oh no. It ain’t nothin’ like that,” Ruby said. Just then Fat Fanny rushed into the kitchen holding Viola, who was wide awake. As soon as the baby spotted Ruby, she started to sniffle and reach for her.

  “What’s wrong with the baby, Fat Fanny?” Ruby asked, alarmed. “She was sleepin’ like a log when I checked on her a little while ago.” Before Fat Fanny or Mazel could say anything, Ruby was already on the other side of the room, pulling Viola out of Fat Fanny’s arms.

  “I declare, this child has become so fussy. Must be the croup.” Fat Fanny was exasperated and slightly drunk. She was slurring her words and swaying from side to side. “Ruby, you are the only one that knows how to calm her down. She was makin’ such a fuss, them boys of mine couldn’t get to sleep if you knocked ’em out with a baseball bat. I had to leave Mr. Stanton in the middle of his session. Poor thing. This is the second time I’ve done that to him this week. With his sensitive male equipment, I sure hope he don’t end up with the blue balls again.”

  As soon as Ruby wrapped her in her arms, the
baby stopped fidgeting. And even as young as she was, she was obviously pleased to be back in Ruby’s arms. She immediately stopped crying and started smiling, cooing, and beaming like a lighthouse.

  “Ain’t it a wonder to see a baby that young smilin’?” Fat Fanny noticed, fanning her face with a dustpan that she had snatched up off the floor.

  “That’s just gas,” Mazel suggested. “A child that young don’t know nothin’ about nothin’.”

  “This one does. She always behaves like a lamb when she is with Ruby. I swear to God, Ruby, if you still around when she start talkin’, I wouldn’t be surprised if she called you mama.”

  “That’s Mama Ruby,” Ruby indicated.

  “Huh?” Fat Fanny responded, puzzled. She fanned herself faster.

  Mazel snickered and shook her head.

  “Mama Ruby. That’s my name now,” Ruby said, putting a lot of emphasis on her words. She lifted her chin so that her nose was way up in the air, where she thought it should be. “I’d appreciate it if y’all would remember that.” Ruby turned to Mazel and added, “All of y’all.”

  Mazel glared at Ruby and was tempted to maul the side of her head. If there was one thing she couldn’t stand, it was an uppity colored woman, especially a young one. And as far as she was concerned, that’s just what Mama Ruby was. Her attitude was going to get her in a whole lot of trouble, maybe even murdered. But what was even worse was the fact that she seemed like the kind of wench who thought she could get away with murder. A cold chill crawled up Mazel’s wide back like a lizard. She didn’t know if the cold chill meant she was having a bad premonition or if she’d drunk too much of Miss Maureen’s elderberry wine. But there was suddenly something very ominous about Mama Ruby, and that scared Mazel.