nodded.
Mother eyes looked past me at the circling birds. I knew this was her way of thinking through the puzzles in life, as it was mine. “It appears that you don’t know her very well. Are you sure that the child is yours?”
I squirmed a little at the question. Mother and I never talked about such matters. I nodded at the tub of beans. “I’m pretty sure. She’s so young. I didn’t know until last night that she was so young.”
“ How young?” she asked.
The words popped from my lips, sounding almost disrespectful. “We’ll say sixteen.”
“ Well, there’s only one thing to do. She’s your responsibility now. You go see Willie Chalmers tomorrow and arrange for an immediate ceremony.”
She gave me a hard eye and said, “You’re a good boy, Mickey. But when you make your bed hard, you have to lie in it. Do you love her?”
My eyes sought out the iridescent birds that had flown into their coop. I shook my head. “I hardly know her. She’s pretty as a peach and sweet like that, too, sometimes. I have compassion for her but not true love.”
A loud scream cut through the quiet summer morning. Knowing that it had to be Flo, I feared the worst. I bolted off the porch, wondering if she was hurt or if the baby was coming. Mother followed no more than two steps behind to the car parked by the barn. Sophia and Sadie ran from behind the house, already halfway there. Flo tumbled out of the car door and fell against me. She buried herself into my chest, looking around at Lewis with eyes as big as saucers.
Lewis extended his neck and looked back at Flo. He enlarged his eyes by raising his eyebrows and turned his mouth down, scaring her even more. He scratched his bald head with the brim of his straw hat and got so tickled he doubled over. Lewis had one of those infectious laughs—nhee, nhee-ee—that ended on a high note and begged to be repeated. Sadie looked at Lewis and me and then at Flo. She couldn’t resist the temptation to join in. Sadie and Lewis held each other up, bursting at the seams until tears ran down their cheeks. Mother and Sophia stifled spurts and spatters in spite of themselves. It looked like everyone was having a grand old time except me and a terrified Flo.
More baffled than amused, I carried Flo to the house. I couldn’t imagine what made her act that way. I laid her on the guest room bed, dampened a cloth at the wash basin pitcher, and dabbed her pale, red-splotched face. I spoke gently to calm her shivering body.
“ Flo, what made you act that way?”
She ran her hand over the chenille bedcover, watching the knotted fabric spring up between her fingers. “I’ve always been afraid of them.”
“ You mean colored people like Lewis?”
She nodded. “Ma told me stories about how the darkies set their house afire. She was expecting at the time just like me now. She said the whole city was on fire, and it was all because of them. After Ma and Pa left for California, I used to dream about them running from the darkies and the fire. I would wake up scared, wondering if they’d come after me.
“ A little while ago, I woke up in the car and didn’t know where I was. He was at the window looking at me. I got scared. I remembered Ma’s stories, how she ran from them and the burning house with me in her belly. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me.”
Poor little kitten, I thought. So misled and confused. I cuddled Flo in my arms and told her what I knew about the Great Atlanta Fire in 1917.
“ Ah, Little Kitten, your mother only told you part of the story, possibly the only part she knew herself. The fire started in a warehouse on Decatur Street. It wasn’t started by anyone in particular.”
The story caught Flo’s full attention. Her pretty face set flatly on mine.
“ I’m sure that it was very frightening to your mother in her —. Flo, do you know what this means? If your mother was carrying you during the Great Fire – let’s see,
Mother eyes looked past me at the circling birds. I knew this was her way of thinking through the puzzles in life, as it was mine. “It appears that you don’t know her very well. Are you sure that the child is yours?”
I squirmed a little at the question. Mother and I never talked about such matters. I nodded at the tub of beans. “I’m pretty sure. She’s so young. I didn’t know until last night that she was so young.”
“ How young?” she asked.
The words popped from my lips, sounding almost disrespectful. “We’ll say sixteen.”
“ Well, there’s only one thing to do. She’s your responsibility now. You go see Willie Chalmers tomorrow and arrange for an immediate ceremony.”
She gave me a hard eye and said, “You’re a good boy, Mickey. But when you make your bed hard, you have to lie in it. Do you love her?”
My eyes sought out the iridescent birds that had flown into their coop. I shook my head. “I hardly know her. She’s pretty as a peach and sweet like that, too, sometimes. I have compassion for her but not true love.”
A loud scream cut through the quiet summer morning. Knowing that it had to be Flo, I feared the worst. I bolted off the porch, wondering if she was hurt or if the baby was coming. Mother followed no more than two steps behind to the car parked by the barn. Sophia and Sadie ran from behind the house, already halfway there. Flo tumbled out of the car door and fell against me. She buried herself into my chest, looking around at Lewis with eyes as big as saucers.
Lewis extended his neck and looked back at Flo. He enlarged his eyes by raising his eyebrows and turned his mouth down, scaring her even more. He scratched his bald head with the brim of his straw hat and got so tickled he doubled over. Lewis had one of those infectious laughs—nhee, nhee-ee—that ended on a high note and begged to be repeated. Sadie looked at Lewis and me and then at Flo. She couldn’t resist the temptation to join in. Sadie and Lewis held each other up, bursting at the seams until tears ran down their cheeks. Mother and Sophia stifled spurts and spatters in spite of themselves. It looked like everyone was having a grand old time except me and a terrified Flo.
More baffled than amused, I carried Flo to the house. I couldn’t imagine what made her act that way. I laid her on the guest room bed, dampened a cloth at the wash basin pitcher, and dabbed her pale, red-splotched face. I spoke gently to calm her shivering body.
“ Flo, what made you act that way?”
She ran her hand over the chenille bedcover, watching the knotted fabric spring up between her fingers. “I’ve always been afraid of them.”
“ You mean colored people like Lewis?”
She nodded. “Ma told me stories about how the darkies set their house afire. She was expecting at the time just like me now. She said the whole city was on fire, and it was all because of them. After Ma and Pa left for California, I used to dream about them running from the darkies and the fire. I would wake up scared, wondering if they’d come after me.
“ A little while ago, I woke up in the car and didn’t know where I was. He was at the window looking at me. I got scared. I remembered Ma’s stories, how she ran from them and the burning house with me in her belly. I didn’t know what he was going to do to me.”
Poor little kitten, I thought. So misled and confused. I cuddled Flo in my arms and told her what I knew about the Great Atlanta Fire in 1917.
“ Ah, Little Kitten, your mother only told you part of the story, possibly the only part she knew herself. The fire started in a warehouse on Decatur Street. It wasn’t started by anyone in particular.”
The story caught Flo’s full attention. Her pretty face set flatly on mine.
“ I’m sure that it was very frightening to your mother in her —. Flo, do you know what this means? If your mother was carrying you during the Great Fire – let’s see,
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