Halley (7 page)

Bootsie dropped down on a bench. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. When not even the Lord wants me, I know for sure nobody here on earth is going to have a thing to do with me.”

“I’m your friend,” Halley said, “and it sure won’t make me think less of you because Stan Duncan broke up with you. He’s not good enough for you.”

“You won’t say that when you know.” Bootsie looked up with despairing eyes. “Halley, I’m going to have a baby.”

“Oh Bootsie!” Halley sank down on the bench beside her. This was worse than she had imagined. “Are you sure?”

Bootsie nodded. “I didn’t come around this month, and I never miss. I’m never even late. And when I told him, Stan said . . .” She broke into sobs. “He said the baby wasn’t his. Said he used protection. Said his mama told him if I let him, I let other men, too. Stan knows that ain’t so. He knows he was the first one—the only one. And he knows it was only after he was talking getting married that I give in.”

“When I went to see old Miz Duncan this morning, I told her I’d go to court. I reckon she’ll see to it I lose my job now. But I’m glad I told her. At least I got her worried. Kept saying going to court would ruin their good name and mine, too. I looked her right in the eye and I said, ’My name is already going to be mud. I ain’t got a thing to lose, but you have.’”

“What are you going to do?” Halley asked.

“Keep on working, long as I have a job. Save all I can, I guess. Just wait as long as I can to tell anybody. You’re the only one I’ve told besides Stan and his mama.”

“I won’t say anything,” Halley promised.

“I never thought you would.”

Halley reached for the paper bag Mrs. Calvin had given her. She pulled out a biscuit with a thick piece of ham in it and gave it to Bootsie and then took the second one for herself. “I never thought Stan was good enough for you. Now he’s proved it.”

Bootsie looked at her mournfully. “How come you could see him for what he was, and I couldn’t?”

Halley shrugged. “I guess you just trust people more than I do.” Two fried apple pies remained in the bag. “Here,” Halley said, “you eat these. Pa Franklin will be out looking for me if I don’t get home.” Halley picked up her tufting bundle and retrieved her rain bonnet from the corner of the pew.

Bootsie pulled herself to her feet and together they walked outside and headed for the road. “Well, I’ve got to get home myself, so I can begin acting like nothing in the world is wrong.”

They walked in silence for a while. When the Franklin mailbox came into sight, Bootsie asked, “Reckon you could come to see me sometime?”

“I don’t think so,” Halley said. “You know how my grandfather is. Well, my mother is getting more and more like him. And they have so much work loaded on me that I wouldn’t have time to walk to Belton.”

“Can’t you go
anywhere
?”

“I guess they’ll let me go to the Calvins’ to get my tufting stuff once a week. Far as I know they’re going to let me go to the high school in Belton. And, oh yes, Pa Franklin told me yesterday I had to clean his church on Saturdays.”

“I’ll come sometimes and help you,” Bootsie waved good-bye and headed on toward Belton. Halley watched her and thought of the day Dimple tried to walk like Bootsie. Downcast as she was, not even Bootsie could walk like that today.

7. Gid Makes a Decision

Kate got the job at the mill that very day. She was telling Ma Franklin about it when Halley arrived home. Halley stood near the open kitchen window and scraped mud from her shoes.

“Bernice knew of an opening,” Kate was saying, “and Bernice’s boy was taking her to the doctor today, so she went by the mill and spoke for me to the foreman. When I’m a full hand, I can draw nine dollars a week.”

“And be lucky if Pa Franklin lets her keep a dollar of it,” Halley muttered and then went through the dogtrot to the far room. At the back porch she paused to watch Robbie and Gid in the barn shed. Robbie pulled a long oak weaving-strip from a tub of water, shook it off, and handed it to Gid while Golly watched.

“Put a few more strips in to soak, Robbie,” Gid said. “Believe you and me gonna finish up before supper.”

Halley went into the dimness of the far room. Only one small window and the open door to the porch provided light. Carefully, she unwrapped her stamped bedspreads and yarn. Her book box would be the best place to keep the tufting stuff, she decided. She hung Mrs. Calvin’s oilcloth across the foot of the bed she shared with her mother. Ma Franklin’s oilcloth, she had better return to her grandparents’ bedroom. Ma Franklin didn’t have much, but she was big on keeping it all in place.

Stepping out on the porch, Halley walked down the dogtrot hallway. As always, a stiff breeze stirred the air. It was nice in warm weather but would be miserable in winter. The movement of air made the hall an excellent place for drying clothes during rainy weather. For this reason lines were strung from wall to wall just above head level. Right now several dish towels and an apron hung near the kitchen door.

She came to the door to Ma and Pa Franklin’s room, which was always kept closed. Halley tapped, though she could hear her grandmother talking in the kitchen. Her grandfather, she knew was gone, since his second best hat was missing from its nail just outside the kitchen door. Getting no answer, she opened the door. The storage shelves were in a corner. In front of them was strung a wire for hanging Ma Franklin’s three dresses and all Pa Franklin’s clothing. His suits were draped in sheets, except for the white suit with the shoe polish stains. Ma Franklin had not completely given up on it yet.

Turning to go, Halley’s eyes were caught by the hearth. Around it the late afternoon sunlight showed a dusting of sand. Each room in the house except the far room had a fireplace, though none were actually used except the one in the kitchen. All the hearths were made of bricks set in sand. The sand was held by a box under the house. Halley felt a flicker of irritation. How did her grandparents manage to mess up this hearth when they never used the fireplace? Probably Pa Framlin did it on purpose to make work. When Halley was the one to sweep and mop in there, he always made sure to stand and watch until she finished.

At that very moment she heard her grandmother say, “Didn’t I see that girl go by while ago? I need water.”

Heaving a sigh, Halley stepped back into the dogtrot and pulled the door quietly shut. In the far room she changed into her everyday dress. Then she pulled her book box from beneath the bed. Removing the spreads and yarn, she reached underneath the books. Her diary was right where she had left it, and the clasp was still locked.

Halley hugged her knees and dropped her head. She thought of her mother working in that dangerous mill. Despite their angry words and the slap at the church, she loved her mother and didn’t want her injured. Halley thought of Bootsie and the baby and wondered what on earth the girl was going to do. She thought of Mrs. Gravitt’s death. Bootsie could die having her baby, she suddenly realized. The whole world seemed full of death and trouble.

Hearing footsteps, Halley shoved the book box back under the bed so hastily that she knocked against her mother’s sewing basket.

Robbie entered. “I helped Gid today,” he said.

“That’s good,” said Halley, picking up a spool of yarn with a big needle stuck in it.

“We fixed a chair, and then when it quit raining, we went to the corn mill, and then we come home and done another chair.”

“Good,” said Halley, spreading out the stamped muslin she’d started tufting at the Calvins.

“At the mill Gid talked to some men about a camp.”

“Uh-huh.” Halley examined the stitches she had already put in the spread. They seemed pretty even.

“Pa Franklin is gone to Belton.”

“Good.”

Robbie looked at her, a puzzled look on his face. “All you’re saying is good, good. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” said Halley, reaching for her mother’s sewing basket. She pulled out the scissors. “Everything’s fine.”

“Good,” said Robbie, and he grinned.

Halley didn’t feel like grinning back, and Ma Franklin saved her the effort. “You, girl,” she called. “I need water.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Halley headed for the porch with the spread and yarn. Maybe she could get some work done before supper. She left her work on a rocker and then headed to the well with the water bucket.

Robbie followed, still talking. “School starts in two weeks.”

School! Halley had forgotten to include homework among all the chores she must do every day before she could tuft. She might not even be able to do
two
spreads each week. Halley took the bucket to the water shelf.

“Fresh water!” she called into the kitchen and then hurried to the rocker before her mother could speak. Stabbing the needle in and out, in and out, she tried to see how much she could get done before the next interruption.

Halley managed to avoid her mother until suppertime. Pa Franklin got home just as Ma Franklin and Kate were putting food on the table. The old man said his usual long grace and then, just as Halley was figuring how to tell the news about Orrie Gravitt without getting into forbidden areas, Pa Franklin saved her the trouble.

“Orrie Gravitt died,” he said.

“No!” said Kate.

“Tate Shropshire says Bud Gravitt put her away first class.”

Gid grunted. “That’s a comfort to her, I know!”

Kate cleared her throat. “Was . . . was there a new baby?”

“A fine boy, they say.”

“Lord be thanked,” said Kate. “Who’s taking care of it?”

“Mr. Gravitt’s youngest sister. She’s got a baby of her own, and milk enough to feed two.”

Ma Franklin was thoughtful. “It’s a blessing Gravitt’s got girls big enough to take over the work of the house.”

“At least Mr. Gravitt and his children won’t have to leave home,” Halley said.

Pa Franklin looked at her sharply. “Better count yourself lucky you got folks willing to take you in.”

Gid laughed. “Not only take you in, but let you lay around in the lap of luxury.”

“Kate got a job at the mill today,” said Ma Franklin. “Starts Monday.”

Pa Franklin’s eyes lit up. “How much you making?”

“Nothing until I’m trained.”

“Makes sense,” said Pa Franklin, helping himself to more turnip greens and cornbread. “A feller can’t pay you till you’re worth something.”

“The foreman asked where I live and when I told him, he said that was a long way to walk every day.”

Pa Franklin snorted. “Two, three miles? That ain’t nothing. A little walking never hurt nobody.”

“The foreman says they’ve got a mill house right next to the mill, and the rent would be nearly nothing if three in the same family work for Belton.”

Halley figured out where her mother was heading and added, “They have inside toilets.”

“Yeah, they draw in some folks with such as that,” said Pa Franklin. “
I
say, who wants to live under the same roof with a
toilet
?”

Gid spoke up. “They don’t stink. Water takes the mess way off from the house.”

“Might be nice in cold weather,” said Ma Franklin. Then she looked at her husband’s scowl and smiled apologetically. “But I reckon a chamber pot works fine.”

Kate spoke hurriedly. “Pa, the mill foreman said you and Gid could hire on and we could have that house. I said I’d ask.”

For once Gid and his father were in total agreement. “And give up farming?” Pa Franklin demanded. “You’re a dreaming.”

“Forget it, Kate,” Gid said. “I ain’t going to be no slave to a mill whistle, and I ain’t going to suck in lint with ever breath I take.”

“The foreman said we could have a garden plot behind the house,” Kate continued. “Halley and Robbie could keep it going.”

“Ha!” said Pa Franklin. “I hope I live to see the day when them two do enough work to earn the grub they eat! Besides ever’ thing else, I can’t move off and leave my church. No sir! And what about my Jesus messages? When would I have time for them? Me and Gid are staying right here, thank you just the same!”

“Speak for yourself, Pa,” Gid said. “I talked to Buford Cobb again today about that CCC the government has started, and I decided to sign up. It’ll be a way of earning some money, and I’m figuring to learn something else besides farming.”

Ma Franklin clutched at her chest.

“Something ’sides farming?” Pa Franklin said. “What else is there that’s worth doing?”

“All kinds of things,” Gid answered. “CCC boys put up buildings and bridges, they learn electric wiring and fixing motors, they learn plumbing and . . .”

Ma Franklin began to cry. “You mean to tell me you’d go off and leave us with this farm to run by ourselves?”

“Try to understand, Ma,” Gid pleaded. “It’s time I made a life of my own. And I can still help you. The CCC will send you and Pa $25 a month. A dollar a week of that is to hire somebody to do the wash for you. Pa, you knowed I wasn’t staying here forever. I already stayed longer than any of the other young’uns.
You
married by the time you was my age.”

There was no reply, and after a silence Gid continued.“You be thinking of what jobs you need me to catch up before I leave. I figure it’ll be a week or two ’fore I go. I’ll try to get all the heavy stuff done ahead, and I aim to leave you with a shed full of split wood.”

Disturbed by the loud voices, Goliath leaned in through the doorway as far as he dared.

“Out!” Pa Franklin yelled, and the dog drew back. “Reckon even my dog’s trying to take it on hisself to do as he pleases.”

Gid stood and headed for the porch. Soon one of the rockers began to squeak.

Pa Franklin turned on Kate. “See what you started? I take you and these young’uns in out of the goodness of my heart, and how do you repay me? You try to be the big boss. Trying to make me and Gid go to work in the mill. Then that gives Gid the big idea of joining the CCC.”

Halley had to speak up. “Gid already had his mind made up about CCC before the mill jobs got mentioned.”

Pa Franklin ignored Halley and kept talking to Kate. “You’re so hot to get somebody else in the family on at the mill–well, you got a daughter.” He jerked his head at Halley. “She’s plenty big enough to start earning her keep.”

“I’m going to school,” Halley said.

“School?” exclaimed Pa Franklin, looking from Halley to Kate. “Surely to goodness you’re not aiming to send her to school this year! She’s finished with eighth grade. What does she need more book learning for?”

“I don’t see much good in it myself,” Kate said, “but Jim believed in it and Halley wants to go.”

Pa Franklin said no more, but he set his mouth in a firm line that left no doubt as to how he felt. He got up from the table and moved out to the porch. While Halley helped clean the kitchen, she listened to the squeaking rockers. Pa Franklin and Gid were mostly silent. Only when Ma Franklin joined the men did the conversation pick up a little.

Halley and Kate did not go to the porch. They sat at the kitchen table and worked by lamplight. Halley did her tufting while Kate caught up on mending. Several times Kate looked at Halley as though to speak, but then she would only heave a sigh and go back to work.

The mill job began. Kate left home before full daylight every morning and got home when twilight was moving in. Every night her hair and clothing were frosted with lint, and she had the oily, cottony smell of the mill about her. At supper she did not talk much and when she did, it was only about the weaving job she was learning. How she had to learn to catch broken threads and tie them back in right away. How fast the cloth moved through the loom and how one thread gone wrong could ruin an entire run. How closely the boss man watched, and how easily a person could be dismissed if the supervisor was displeased. Kate’s night time praying continued, to Halley’s dismay. She wondered how her mother could go in to work after missing sleep for those long prayers every night.

Little more was said about the CCC in the days after Gid’s announcement. It was as if Pa and Ma Franklin hoped that if they ignored it, Gid would forget all about it. Halley dreaded Gid’s departure almost as much as the old folks did. Now that he was leaving, she realized all the little things Gid did and said that made the Franklin house more pleasant. She almost wished along with her grandparents that he would fail the physical examinations all CCC boys had to pass. He didn’t.

All too soon came the day for Gid to leave. Kate told him good-bye before leaving for work, and the rest of them were there to see him off when his friend Buford came by. They were walking to town to catch the bus together with several other recruits.

Halley thought Gid looked a little scared, maybe a little reluctant to leave, now that the time had come. He hung back behind Buford. Pulling Halley to one side, he pressed a bill and a little change into her hand.

“Ain’t much,” he said in a low voice, “a buck thirty-five. But I wanted you to have it in case you or Kate need something—like school stuff—that the old man won’t pay for.”

Halley tried to give it back. “You’ll need it worse than us,” she said. She looked over her shoulder at her grandfather. “Besides, I’m not sure Pa Franklin is going to let me go to school.” She could have added that sometimes she wondered if she really wanted to do it badly enough. Her clothes would not be right. In this city school would probably be behind in all her subjects. How would she catch up and do all her work at home?