“Sister, you are a sight for sore eyes. Come on in and sit down. Let me get you something cool to drink. What have you got there? ”
“Glory be, Little Sister, if you’ll stop flapping your gums and let me catch my breath, I’ll tell you.” She laughed. “Geraldine volunteered to sit with Jo for a bit. Bless her heart. She’s as skittish as a colt around Jo. I reckon she was counting on my turning her down but I needed to get out of the house for a few hours. I needed to see you and your girls.”
Irene gave her sister a spontaneous hug and then, without any warning, she began to cry. “Oh, Sarah, it is just so good to see you. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“What’s wrong, Sister? Is something the matter with the girls?”
“It’s not the girls, Sarah. It’s Benjamin. He gets more hateful everyday. He’s just as mean as he can be – striding about, giving orders just like Grover did. Sarah, he even sounds like Grover.”
“Irene, be sensible. He’s just a boy trying to act like a man the only way he knows how."
Sarah kissed her sister. “Maybe what I have here will cheer your girls up a little. I brought them each a Jo doll.”
“Oh, Sarah, you shouldn’t have. It’s too much. Why there’s a week’s worth of work in those dolls.”
“To be sure, but it isn’t everyday my little angels turn six years old.”
“Their birthday is a week away.”
“I know that, but after I finished these dolls I just couldn’t wait to give them to Pearl and Rose. Can’t an old woman be impulsive now and then?”
“Oh, Sister. You aren’t an old woman. I wish I had half your energy.”
Sarah laughed as she placed her packages on the kitchen table. Irene’s features relaxed into a smile. One of her few pleasures were the infrequent visits with her sister.
Sarah looked at Irene. Her sister was looking worn. Her face was drawn and she had dark circles under her eyes. She was thinner than she remembered.
“Sarah, they are going to just burst when they see what you’ve brought them.”
“Where are my little darlings anyway?”
“They’re up in the barn. I expect they’ll be finished with their chores directly. You’re staying for dinner aren’t you, Sarah?”
“Of course I’m staying for dinner and I’m mighty hungry too. What can I do to help you?”
“You just sit there and keep me company.”
“You don’t have to ask me twice” she said sitting down at the table. “Where is that cool drink you promised me? I could do with a glass of water after that trip across the creek. It seems to get wider as I get older.”
Irene placed a glass of water in front of her sister and sat down across from her. “Well, Benjamin gets meaner as I get older.” She smiled but they both knew it wasn’t a laughing matter. “The girls still miss their father. I know Grover wasn’t a kind man but he loved those girls and they worshipped him. I see them trying to get close to Benjamin, but he won’t have anything to do with them.”
Just then the back door flew open and Pearl came running in with Pearl right behind her. “Rosie! Aunt Sarah is here!”
“I got eyes, don’t I?” said Rose running over and kissing her Aunt’s cheek.
“What’s that, Aunt Sarah?” asked Pearl, pointing to the packages on the table.
“Just a little something for my favorite nieces.”
“We’re your only nieces,” she laughed as she reached for the closest bundle.
Irene took hold of her daughter’s hands. “Hold on, Pearl. I think you better wash those dirty hands before you touch anything. You too, Rose.”
The twins groaned, but ran over to the sink, washed their hands and hurried back to receive their presents.
“Have you been good girls for your Mama?”
Both girls nodded enthusiastically.
“And can you tell me how old you are going to be next week?”
“Yes! Six!” Pearl held up six fingers. “And then we can go to school and we can read books.”
“Well school won’t be starting for a bit and you might need something to keep you out of mischief until then” she said handing them their presents. The girls tore off the twine and ripped off the brown wrapping paper.
“Jo Dolls,” they screamed in unison and immediately settled themselves at their Aunt’s feet.
“Sarah, remember that doll Mama gave me when I was their age? I wonder what every happened to that doll. You had one too. She made dresses for the dolls out of the same material she made our dresses from. My doll had a lavender plaid dress. Yours had a yellow dress.”
“It was gold. I remember. The dolls had porcelain faces, painted lips and blue eyes…and yellow hair – like Pearl has.”
Rose scowled and looked at her Jo doll. Her aunt had given her doll brown hair like her own. The yarn was cut short to resemble her own cropped hair. Pearl’s doll had long braids made of yellow yarn.
“Irene, I’ll bet those dolls are in the pack shed behind the old tenant house. We should take a walk down there after supper and see if we can find them. No telling what’s stored out there.”
“I went through those things after Daddy died. Field mice had ruined most of it. I did find our old Captain Billy Whiz Bang comic books. Remember those? I gave them to Benjamin. He loved them. Insisted on reading them to his father – over and over. Caleb didn’t mind. He was so proud of Benjamin. You know Caleb was ashamed that he’d never learned to read himself. He had such big dreams for Benjamin.”
Irene paused.
“Heavens, Sarah. I sure got wound up, didn’t I? I’d better get back to my cooking or we won’t be eating tonight.”
Benjamin walked into the house after a long day in the fields and found the twins playing with their dolls on the kitchen floor and his mother setting the table. A pot of collard greens was cooking on the stove. Benjamin ignored his Aunt, reached down and grabbed the dolls out of the twin’s hands and threw them against the wall. “Time for you two to grow up. No more playing with dolls. You have to pull your weight too. I’ve been breaking my back while you two play with your stupid dolls.”
“Benjamin! I know you’re tired but don’t take it out on your sisters. They’re just babies.”
“They’re nearly six. Old enough to contribute.” Benjamin sat down at the kitchen table. “Pearl, bring me a glass of water. And be quick about it.”
“Benjamin. Your Aunt Sarah is here. She brought them those dolls. You apologize to her for your rudeness and remove your hat.”
“I ain’t apologizing to nobody,” he growled as he scraped back his chair and stormed out the door.
“I hate him,” whispered Pearl, retrieving the dolls from where they had landed. Rose took her doll and checked it carefully for damage.
“You girls take your dolls in the other room. I want to talk to your mama. We’ll call you when supper’s ready.”
Sarah beckoned to her sister. “Come here, Irene. Sit down. We need to talk. Is he always that bad?”
Irene nodded, buried her face in her hands and cried. “I know he’s mad at me but I didn’t want him to quit school. It was his decision, but what choice did I give him?
“Well, Irene, you could have sold this old place and moved into Belhaven. You could still do that. Benjamin could go back to school.”
Irene wiped her face on her apron and shook her head.
“Sarah, I would never sell this farm. Why we were born in this house, Sarah. Daddy built this house with his own hands. He made this table.” She ran her hands over the rough surface of the kitchen table. “This is all I have left of him.” Her eyes filled with tears again. “No, Sarah. There has to be another way. I won’t sell Daddy’s house. I’ll never part with this house. I know it never meant the same to you, but I was born in this house and I’ll die in this house.”
* * *
Benjamin was sitting on the back porch swing when Pearl came out with his plate. “Here’s your supper, Brother,” she said, carefully balancing the plate. “Mama says she wishes you would come in and eat with us since Aunt Sarah it visiting.”
“I prefer my own company. Now scat.”
Pearl stood there a minute watching her brother eat his supper. “Haven’t you got something better to do?” he snarled at her.
Pearl shook her head. “I have something to ask you, Benjamin. After you finish your supper will you play with me?”
“Get lost, kid. Your ugly face is ruining my appetite.”
Irene was watching from the window. She turned to her sister. “Sarah” she whispered. “I just don’t know what I am going to do with that boy.”
“He has just been wounded, Irene. You can’t see the scars, but they are there. And he’s not a boy anymore. He’s nearly grown. Look at him. Soon he’ll be married with children of his own. God help us, Irene. It just goes on and on.”
* * *
Pearl was alone in the kitchen washing the supper dishes when Benjamin came in from the back porch. She had to stand on a chair to reach the sink. Benjamin dropped his dirty dishes into soapy water. With the toe of his boot he pushed the chair causing it to wobble. Pearl lost her balance and grabbed Benjamin’s shoulder to keep from falling. Benjamin wrapped his arm around Pearl’s waist.
“What did you push me for, Benjamin?”
“You said you wanted me to play with you, didn’t you?” Benjamin did not let go of Pearl. He ran his hand up under her dress. “Didn’t you want me to play with you, Pearl?”
Pearl squirmed out of her brother’s grasp and hopped down from the stool.
“I’m going to tell Mama, Benjamin.”
“No you’re not because if you do I am going to take that pretty doll that Aunt Sarah gave you and throw it in the creek. Now you get back up there and finish washing these dishes and stop acting like a baby.”
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