For Keeps (Aggie's Inheritance) (21 page)

“
Not good.
”
He reached into a pocket of his tool belt and found a skinny screwdriver.
“
I’ll be praying for you.
”

“
Thanks. Oh, I’ll need a regular sized Philip’s head screwdriver too.
”
With tools in hand, Aggie retraced her steps and began fumbling with the door. A muffled protest, followed by a screech when the door opened, prepared Aggie for the girl’s mental attitude.

“
Aunt Aggie!
”

“
Vannie!
”
Aggie echoed with a little more sarcasm than she’d intended.

“
You can’t just barge in here!
”

“
I can, and I did. You’ve just lost the privilege of a lock.
”

“
I wish Mommy had chosen someone who knew what they are doing. You don’t know anything.
”

“
I know,
”
Aggie said calmly as she unscrewed the door knob,
“
that your mother would never let you talk to her like this, and I won’t either. I also know,
”
she continued before Vannie could interrupt,
“
that you know better than this. There’s a right way to issue a complaint in this family, and you know how to do it. You chose to
--”

Tears exploded from Vannie who flounced to her bed and flung herself across it in a display that was freakishly familiar. Aggie remembered making a similar gesture when she was upset with Allie, and her mother didn’t show sufficient sympathy. She also remembered her mother’s very effective response.

“
Get up off that bed and blow your nose.
”

“
No.
”

“
You can do it yourself, or I can do it for you.
”

Vannie’s head shot up, stunned.
“
You
--”

“
Will treat you as you act. If you want to act like you’re Cari’s age, I’ll treat you like Cari. Let’s go.
”

“
I can’t believe this,
”
Vannie muttered as she shuffled out of her room, into the bathroom, and blew her nose on a tissue. She followed Aggie downstairs and into the kitchen.
“
Laird gets away with murder
--”

“
You can focus on what you think Laird did wrong and end up in trouble for hours or days, or you can own up to your own faults and leave Laird’s between him, me, and the Lord. Which will it be?
”

“
I
--”

“
Think carefully before you answer.
”

“
This isn’t fair!
”

“
In the corner.
”
Aggie swallowed hard and prayed that Vannie didn’t see.

“
What!
”

“
Nose in the corner.
”
That lazy, almost bored, expression that Aggie had been practicing came in handy. She schooled her features into perfect lazy ranks and raised one eyebrow as if using it to point to the corner.

“
This is ridiculous! You’re treating me like I’m five!
”

“
You’re acting five. Every second you argue results in that many more minutes in there. Go.
”

Though still obviously inwardly defiant, Vannie marched to the corner, looking like a giant version of a livid Cari, and crossed her arms as she faced the corner. She muttered a few more times, but when Aggie didn’t respond, she gave up. Aggie, working to control her emotions, began unloading the dishwasher as if nothing had happened.

The seconds ticked into minutes and then into the better part of an hour. Each time Aggie began to suggest Vannie could come out and they could talk like mature people, the girl began a fresh whine fest worthy of any preschooler. At last, Aggie spoke.
“
When you’re ready to come talk to me on the couch with some self-control and respect, you can come out. But,
”
she continued with an authoritative tone she rarely assumed,
“
if you come out with the kind of display you’ve been showing this morning, you’ll go right back in there, so be sure you’re ready.
”

Vannie whirled in place, fury on her face, and at Aggie’s shake of the head, spun back into the corner. Her fists were clenched, her body stiff and rigid. Aggie began to despair of the girl ever softening her heart. With a sigh, she grabbed a dust cloth and the polish and went to work on the living room furniture.

The three littlest girls raced into the kitchen begging for snacks, and then stopped, frozen in shock, at the sight of Vannie in the corner. Cari’s awed voice whispered in a near shout,
“
Vannie does bad stuff too!
”

Loyal to a fault, Lorna shook her head.
“
Maybe not.
”

“
She’s in the corner!
”
Cari protested with a tone in her voice that seemed to scream,
“
duh
”
at the end of the sentence.

“
Maybe Aunt Aggie was wrong.
”
Kenzie seemed confused
--
worried even.

Cari raced into the living room.
“
What did Vannie do? Why is she in the cownew? Did she get swats?
”

As she knelt to Cari’s eye level, Aggie dashed another P-mail off to the Lord for wisdom.
“
I think that is for Vannie to tell you if she ever wants to.
”
The child whirled to go ask, but Aggie stopped her.
“
You can’t bother her right now. Right now, I think you guys need to go get apples and then play outside with your mud pies.
”
Aggie tried to ignore the dirt crusted fingernails and shoes.

To her absolute amazement, Cari smiled, hugged her, and dashed off to the kitchen shouting that they could all have apples. At the back door, the child let the others go ahead of her and crept back to where Vannie stood.
“
You should make that mad go away. It feels nicew when it’s all gone.
”
Then, as if nothing had interrupted her play, she skipped outside again, calling for dibs on a mud hole near the fence.

Humming to herself, Aggie resumed her dusting, expecting a long wait for Vannie. She wasn’t aware of the song she hummed or even that she was humming at all. However, the young girl in the corner heard her and the softening in the girl’s face would have been visible had she not been staring at a corner. The living room and library were both dusted and the rag just put away when Aggie heard a sniffle. Her heart leapt at the thought that this could be over, but after puttering around the room for a few minutes, she gave up and pulled out the vacuum. With all the hardwood floors in the house, she hadn’t expected to need it anymore, but once the area rugs were down, it had become essential.

The peppy hymns of praise that usually seemed to try to drown out the noise of the vacuum were noticeably absent. She hummed a few bars of different hymns, but the joy that generally radiated from her as she worked was gone. Section by section, she vacuumed, lifted the rug, sucked up any dirt that had beaten its way beneath it, and then vacuumed over the surface again. So intent was she to get one corner straight, she didn’t see Vannie appear at the library door.

“
Aunt Aggie?
”

Aggie glanced up and saw her eldest niece standing in the doorway, tears pouring down her face.
“
I am so sorry.
”

All doubt disappeared at the visible repentance in Vannie. She hurried to hug the girl and pulled her to one of the loveseats in the library.
“
I forgive you.
”

They talked for nearly an hour, and when Vannie finally climbed the stairs to make things right with Laird, Aggie had a better understanding of what was on the girl’s heart. All day, she mulled their conversation in her mind, anxious to talk it out with Libby when the children were in bed. Just knowing that someone was there to help her think through things filled her with a sense of gratitude. Vannie spent most of the rest of the day close by
--
as if needing reassurance that all was well between them. That day, another facet of their relationship was chiseled to reflect a brighter light.

Mibs says:
Libby? Ohhhh Liiiibbbyyyy….

Libby says:
I see you’ve embraced your nickname.

Mibs says:
Well, I was saving that to tease Luke with; I just forgot to change it.

Aggie says:
There.

Libby says:
Well, I think he’ll be crushed if he gets online tonight and sees you’ve changed it. ;)

Aggie says:
It’s good for him to experience a few crushes now and then.

Aggie says:
Well, that didn’t come out right.

Libby says:
It was a little amusing. I wasn’t going to say anything, but I did chuckle.

Aggie says:
Oh well, you know what I meant.

Libby says:
That I did.

Aggie says:
Did Luke tell you about our drama-fest today?

Libby says:
A little. He said that Vannie has been putting too much responsibility on herself.

Aggie says:
After we talked for a while, I found out that she has been trying to shoulder everything she can so Geraldine can’t find just cause to have them taken away. She’d pushed herself to the breaking point, and then snapped when Laird wasn’t ready to give her the break she needed at that precise moment.

Libby says:
Then it’s a good thing he didn’t.

Aggie says:
I was trying to think that way, but I failed. I just want them to have as normal a childhood as possible.

Libby says:
Aaah, but Vannie is at that lovely but terrifying age where she doesn’t feel like a child anymore, she knows she’s not an adult, and the alternative is terrifying.

Aggie says:
What alternative?

Libby says:
A TEENAGER.