One House Over Read online

  “Me who?” Lonnie put his glasses on and stared at his son. “Mighty Moses! It’s my baby boy!” The way his eyes suddenly lit up, you would have thought Odell really was Moses. He started grinning and patting Odell’s shoulder. “Boy, I’m so glad you came. We killed a hog yesterday, so there’s a pile of chitlins and hog maws that need to be cleaned, and the rest of the meat need to be hung up in the smokehouse. After we do that, I got a itching to go fishing.”

  I could tell from the look on Odell’s face that he was embarrassed. I was sure that he would not have brought me to this place today if he had known we’d be asked to clean a butchered hog! “We can’t do none of that this time, and I can’t take you fishing today, Daddy. I just stopped by for a few minutes to introduce y’all to Joyce.”

  Lonnie squinted and gazed at me. “Hmmm. It’s been a long time since Odell brung a lady to the house, so you must be special!” he gushed as he shook my hand.

  “She is special, Daddy,” Odell confirmed, smiling at me.

  “I’m glad she ain’t as fat, black, and ugly as that last one you dragged out here.” Lonnie shrugged and scratched his head, and turned to face me. “Joyce, you hungry? Ellamae baked a great big possum last night and there’s plenty left over.”

  Odell answered for me. “No, thanks. We got a bunch of things to do when we leave here. I’ll come take you fishing one day next week and we’ll stay for supper.”

  “Y’all can’t stay long enough to drink a Dr. Pepper?” I could tell from the glum expression on Lonnie’s face and his dry tone that he was disappointed.

  Odell looked at me, and I blinked three times like he’d told me to do if I wanted to leave. He immediately opened the screen door and held it open. “No, we can’t stay that long, Daddy.”

  “Hurry up and close that damn door before you let them flies and gnats in! We ran out of bug spray last week!” Ellamae shrieked.

  We literally ran back to the car. “I told you that you probably wouldn’t want to stay long,” Odell laughed as he started up the motor.

  “You were right about that,” I chuckled. “Your daddy seems like a real nice man, and I can’t wait to get to know him better. But I don’t think I’ll want to spend too much time around his wife.”

  “And you won’t have to. I want to keep you all to myself for as long as I can,” he declared before he hauled off and kissed me.

  I didn’t think things could get any better between us, but I hoped they would.

  A week after our visit to Odell’s daddy’s house, I decided that if he didn’t propose by the end of the month, I’d do it. If he turned me down, I wouldn’t be too broken up. At least I’d have some wonderful memories.

  When June ended and he still hadn’t proposed, I got real nervous. I decided not to propose because after I’d given it a little more thought, I was afraid something that serious might scare him off. And that was one thing I didn’t want to deal with anytime soon.

  Odell loved working in our store and Mama and Daddy adored him. I was glad to know that I was seeing a man my folks approved of. Six weeks after he’d come into our lives, Daddy bought a newer model of the same ancient Ford Model T he’d been driving for years and sold his old one to Odell for fifty dollars, which he had to pay only a dollar a week until it was paid in full. It was the first car that Odell ever owned, so he was even happier. He was on such good terms with Mama and Daddy, he even came to the house when I wasn’t home. It made my heart sing to come home from work or a long shopping trip and see the three of them on the living room couch.

  Odell was very good with his hands, and not just in the bedroom. He fixed things around the house that Daddy had been neglecting, and he was always eager to chauffeur Mama and her friends around when Daddy didn’t feel like driving.

  If he wasn’t leading up to a marriage proposal, I couldn’t imagine any other reason for him to be doing so much for me and my folks. He had told me several times that he loved me. But I still didn’t feel too secure. I wanted a real commitment from him. I didn’t know what else I could do to lock him in so that he’d be more permanent. The answer came to me five weeks after our first date when I realized I was pregnant.

  Odell came to the house several times a week, but it had already been three days since our last date and I hadn’t seen or heard from him. By the fourth day, I had run out of patience. I left work early that Friday and walked the two miles from my work to the store.

  “Hey, baby. I was just thinking about you,” he said when he saw me. I had entered through the back door so I could bypass Buddy and Sadie. Mama and Daddy spent most of their time in the office when they were on the premises, so I wasn’t worried about bumping into them before I talked to Odell. He was in the aisle closest to the door. He slid a box that contained corsets off to the side and rushed up to me and kissed my cheek. “Ain’t you working today?”

  “I left early because I wasn’t feeling well,” I told him in a dry tone.

  He gave me a concerned look. “Oh? Is everything all right? You do look a little tired and flushed.”

  “Can I talk to you for a few minutes?”

  “Yeah, sugar. What about?”

  I took a quick glance around first. Other than a few customers in line to pay for their purchases, Buddy was the only other employee I could see. “Where are Sadie and Mama and Daddy?”

  “Sadie left to go take a toilet break. Your mama and daddy can’t be too far away. All three just walked by me a few minutes ago.” Odell let out a raspy breath and looked toward the back door. “Do you need to see your mama or your daddy? I’m sure they can’t be too far. Probably out back getting some fresh air. You didn’t see them when—”

  I didn’t give Odell time to finish his sentence. His eyes almost popped out when I blurted out the words, “I’m in trouble.”

  “Oh?” He scratched his chin, and then he started shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “This trouble have anything to do with me?”

  “It’s got everything to do with you. . . .”

  He sucked in some air and looked at me from the corner of his eye. “Joyce, what’s going on? You don’t look too happy. And exactly what is it you need to talk to me about?” He swallowed hard, and a worried look suddenly crossed his face. “Did you . . . did you . . . come to tell me you done met another man and don’t want to be bothered with me no more? Is that it?” Tears pooled in Odell’s eyes, and he started blinking.

  I leaned closer to him and whispered in his ear, “I’m pregnant.”

  Chapter 10

  Odell

  IF JOYCE HAD PULLED A GUN ON ME, I COULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE stunned. A baby was going to have a big impact on our relationship. But I didn’t know if it would be a good one, or a bad one. “What did you just say?” I asked dumbly. I had heard her the first time, but I needed to be sure I had heard right.

  “I’m going to have a baby.”

  “My Lord!” I croaked. In my mind, I could see Mac loading up his shotgun. It wasn’t easy, but I was able to keep the fear out of my tone and body language. I stood up straight and spoke in the most serious tone I could manage. “You been to a doctor yet?”

  Joyce shook her head. “I don’t need no doctor to tell me what I already know. I knew something was wrong last week when I started throwing up every morning.”

  I raked my fingers through my hair and looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear what we was discussing. Especially Mac! Since she was so close to her mama and daddy, I didn’t know what kind of influence their reaction to her condition would have on her. They were old-fashioned, churchgoing people, and they associated with some of the snootiest, most self-righteous people in town. The funny thing about that was, some of the same men in Mac and Millie’s circle of friends spent a lot of time and money in Aunt Mattie’s whorehouse. I’d seen them there with my own eyes before I got fired. But since Joyce was the MacPhersons’ only child and they doted on her, I knew they only wanted her to have the best things in life. Having
a baby before she got married was not one of them things.

  I had to think fast and not say something that might upset Joyce more than she already was. “Baby, we in this together,” I acknowledged in a firm tone. She looked relieved, at least for now. “Did you tell anybody else yet?”

  “The only person that knows so far is Miss Kirksey, the teacher I work with. I didn’t tell her, but she figured it out on her own. She’s had six kids and knows all the pregnancy signs.”

  “Good. Let’s keep this to ourselves for now. I don’t think we need to worry about the Kirksey woman blabbing before we figure out what to do about this problem.”

  Joyce gasped and looked like she was about to have a panic attack. But she continued speaking in a calm manner. “Problem? You think this is a problem?”

  “Well, we didn’t plan it. When people get involved like us, things happen. But everybody makes mistakes.”

  A threatening look suddenly crossed her face. She looked mad enough to cut my throat. “Odell, you need to make up your mind. First you said we had a problem. Now you’re telling me we made a mistake. If you think I’m a problem and a mistake, you need to let me know now so I can go on about my business and forget about you.”

  This time I gasped. “What’s wrong with you, girl? Don’t you be twisting my words. I ain’t said you was no problem or a mistake.”

  “I’m not deaf. I know what I heard.”

  “Okay, let me start over. First off, I’m sorry if what I said upset you. I didn’t mean to. I care too much about you. But we have a serious situation on our hands, and I just want to know how you going to handle it.”

  Joyce’s eyes got big. “What do you mean? Shouldn’t you be asking me how we are going to handle this ‘situation’? I didn’t get pregnant by myself!” she hissed like a snake. This was the first time I seen her get mad.

  I pulled her into my arms. “Joyce, there ain’t but one thing for us to do and that is to get married.” I held my breath, hoping I’d said what she wanted to hear.

  She looked so surprised, you would have thought I’d just threatened to kill her. “You want to marry me?” Her voice was so weak and raspy now, she didn’t even sound like herself.

  I wasn’t sure what words to say next, so I just started grinning and nodding. “I know I ain’t in your league, but I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And the sooner we get married the better.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Damn right, I’m sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I never expected you to . . .” Joyce stopped talking and cleared her throat. “Um . . . I’m not fresh and haven’t been since I was fourteen. I’ve been to bed with a bunch of other men.”

  “You ain’t been with nobody but me since last year,” I reminded. “Or was your daddy exaggerating about that?”

  “No, he wasn’t.”

  “Then what’s your point?”

  “I was surprised you didn’t ask me if I knew for sure you were the father.”

  “Well, since I know you ain’t been with nobody else since last year, why would I think another man got you pregnant?” I stood up straighter and puffed out my chest. “Joyce, if you snuck out with another man and that’s his baby, I love you so much I’d even be willing to claim it as my own and help you raise it.”

  Next thing I knew, she was crying like a baby. I held her even tighter. Her body was as stiff as a pine tree. “I . . . I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” she boo-hooed.

  “Well, you better believe it because I meant everything I just said. The first time l laid eyes on you, I knew you was the only woman for me.”

  “But you don’t even know me that well, and I don’t know much about you.”

  “Look, I know enough about you. What do you not know about me that you want to know?”

  “I need to know that if we get married, you won’t ever leave me.”

  “Why would I leave? I just told you that you was the only woman for me and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “You say that now, but some men do change after a while.”

  “Joyce, I will change in some ways over time. That’s the law of nature, so I can’t do nothing about that. But one thing that won’t change is my love for you. If you marry me, I will never leave you. The main thing I’m worried about is you changing on me. For all I know, you might be the one to up and run off someday.”

  “No, I won’t! I can’t think of anything bad enough you could do that would make me leave you.”

  Chapter 11

  Joyce

  ODELL WANTED TO BE PRESENT WHEN I TOLD MAMA AND DADDY I was pregnant and that he wanted to marry me. But I insisted on telling them alone and not until they got home from the store in a few hours. I was not looking forward to dropping such a big bombshell on them.

  I loved my parents, and I went out of my way not to do or say anything that would upset them. I’d only received a few whup-pings a year when I was growing up. They used to brag to their friends about how “perfect” I was and to this day they still thought I was a virgin. They had told me more than a few times that I’d better not spread my legs for any man except the one I married. Mama had told me when I was twelve, on the first day of my first period, that being with a man “in the flesh” was not going to be a bed of roses for me, and that men would “pester” me to do it until the day I died. She also told me that the only acceptable excuse to have sex was to have children. I cringed when I thought about how my parents were going to react when I told them about my condition. I was scared to death.

  When I stopped crying, Odell asked, “You want me to drive you home?”

  “I can walk or take the bus. And—”

  He cut me off and wagged his finger in my face. “Uh-uh! That’s a long walk for a pregnant woman. I ain’t about to let you do nothing that might hurt you or our baby. And one of the first things I want you to do is take a break from drinking.”

  “Drinking?”

  “No alcohol. Not even elderberry wine.”

  I was happy that Odell was so concerned about me and our baby. “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” I said with fresh hot tears flowing down my face again like a waterfall. I hadn’t shed so many tears since I was a baby. But I was not as “upset” as I appeared to be. Things were going just the way I’d hoped they would. I’d been trying to get pregnant for years so I wouldn’t have to grow old alone. Now that I’d reached part of my goal, I no longer cared if I had a husband or not. I was prepared to be a single mother in case Odell took off.

  I was so busy thinking about my future and what I was going to name my baby, I didn’t hear Daddy, Mama, and Sadie approach us. “What’s going on here?” Daddy boomed. I was glad Odell still had his arms around me. “Joyce, what you crying about?”

  I immediately stopped crying. I never had a handkerchief when I needed one, so I wiped snot and tears off my face with the back of my hand. “Daddy, Mama, we all need to talk,” I sniffled. I paused long enough to clear my throat, and when I spoke again, my tone was much stronger. “I have something to tell y’all, but it can wait until we get home.”

  “We ain’t waiting for nothing! Whatever it is, you need to tell us now!” Daddy fired back.

  After a stern look from Mama, Sadie skittered back out to her cash register.

  “I don’t think this is something we should discuss here,” Odell said gently. He took his arms from around me and placed his hands on his hips. I was happy to see that he didn’t look nervous or scared.

  “You let us decide that. Now what’s going on here? Joyce, you look sick!” Mama howled as she felt my forehead. “We ain’t leaving this spot until one of y’all tell us.”

  “Joyce is fixing to have my baby and I want to marry her,” Odell blurted out. For about five seconds, it seemed like the world had come to a standstill. Mama and Daddy stood rooted in place looking as grim-faced as undertakers. Odell still didn’t look nervous or scared, but I was both.
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  After letting out a loud breath, Daddy looked at me and whimpered, “Gal, you . . . you done fooled around and got yourself pregnant? How did this happen?”

  “We had sex,” I confessed in a flat tone.

  “Do you mean to tell me that you up and spread your legs—AFTER ALL YOU BEEN TAUGHT?” he roared with his nostrils flaring and his eyes bugged out.

  “Great balls of fire, girl! Didn’t we tell you to wait until you got married?” Mama threw in.

  “I couldn’t wait,” I sniffled.

  “I guess not! What about them other men?” Daddy’s voice had dropped almost to a whisper. But from the scowl on his face, I knew he was still stunned and mad.

  I gave him a curious look. “What other men?” I asked as I hunched my shoulders.

  “Them ones you used to go out with!” he boomed. “You couldn’t wait with them neither?”

  Mama didn’t give me time to respond. “Lord save us!” she yelped, and covered her mouth with her hand. There was a wild-eyed look on her face as she glared at Odell. I was glad Daddy’s shotgun was not close by. “I . . . I wanted your first time to be special,” she said, choking on a sob.

  It was hard to imagine that my mother was naïve enough to believe that Odell was the first man I’d slept with. “My ‘first time’ was special, Mama, sixteen years ago.” The look on her face was a combination of horror, disbelief, and disappointment. But I thought it was important for her and Daddy to know the real me and that when it came to sex, I was no different from other women my age.

  The look on Daddy’s face was the same as the one on Mama’s. “If you couldn’t keep your bloomers on with them other men, how do you know Odell is the one that got you in this mess?” he asked.

  I was absolutely horrified to hear him ask such a question! He knew that I hadn’t been out with another man since last year—something he couldn’t stop broadcasting.

  “Shame on you, Daddy. You ought to know better! Yes, I’m sure Odell is the one!” I hollered. My heart was beating so fast and my blood pressure had shot up so high, I was surprised I was still conscious. “And for your information, I am not in the ‘mess’ you say I’m in. I already love this baby and I can’t wait to have it.”