All the stores along Broad Street practically sparkled with their shiny windows and fresh-painted white trim. And the whole way was lined with streetlamps that had real electric bulbs. It was just like in the pictures Teacher showed us at school, only brighter. Wasn’t none of the peacefulness of Gee’s Bend. Seemed like everybody was moving, and I couldn’t keep one noise separate from the next. No wonder Ruben didn’t like it. Even I wanted to get out of there just as fast as I could.
Soon as Mrs. Cobb got the car parked and her hat off, I reached past the shotgun and patted her leg. “Thank you, Mrs. Cobb, for bringing me to Doc Nelson’s office.” I couldn’t see the doctor’s office, but I knew it had to be close. Wasn’t but a few more buildings before Broad Street came to an end. “My daddy will thank you. And my mama, too, just as soon as she gets better.”
Mrs. Cobb grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed. At first her glove felt soft against my fingers, and my heart flooded with gratefulness for all she’d done. Then the squeezing got harder. She was squeezing so tight I just about couldn’t feel my fingers no more.
I tried to pull away, but Mrs. Cobb wasn’t letting me go noplace.
“Mrs. Cobb?”
She wouldn’t look at me. I reckon that’s when I knew for sure something was wrong.
“Hush up, girl.” The hard edge was back in her voice, and she had a mean look in her eye.
A rattlesnake ready to strike.
“We’re not going to Doc Nelson’s, Ludelphia Bennett. We’re going to the store to look at the ledger. So I can decide what to do with you.”
The ledger. Dear Lord. My face froze and I stopped trying to pull my hand away from Mrs. Cobb. Wasn’t no doubt about it now. She was
the
Mrs. Cobb, wife of Mr. Cobb, the boss man who owned all the land we worked.
A picture of the armadillo with its insides spilling out came into my head. Didn’t matter that she had given me a fancy napkin or a drink of Coke. Ruben had warned me. And Patrick had warned me.
Oh, Mama! Tears collected in the corners of my eyes. What was wrong with me that I didn’t listen to the things folks told me?
I shook my head. I’d come all this way to save my mama from dying. Wasn’t nobody gonna keep me from finding Doc Nelson. Not Mrs. Cobb or nobody. I yanked my hand hard as I could. When it didn’t come loose, I yanked it again and again.
But wasn’t no way out of Mrs. Cobb’s grip. Her big piano hands held so tight to mine it felt like every little bitty bone was getting crushed.
Before I knew it, Mrs. Cobb was dragging me out of her side of the motorcar. My knees bumped up against the steering wheel, and I could hardly hold on to my quilt bundle. Beside us a rusty-colored horse was hitched to a post. It pushed its ears back and danced around in the dirt when I hit the street and Mrs. Cobb slammed the motorcar door behind me.
I might have screamed if not for the white lady and her little boy that was standing right in front of us. The boy pointed at me and said, “Look, Mama, it’s a pirate!” I wanted to bury my head in my arms, but I couldn’t, on account of Mrs. Cobb’s hand. I wasn’t no better off than a rabbit with its foot stuck in a trap, and now folks was poking fun at my eye patch.
I didn’t hear what the lady said as they hurried off. Didn’t matter nohow because I couldn’t think of nothing but how stupid I was to get in that trap in the first place. And how in the world was I gonna get out of it?
Just ahead was a door that had CAMDEN MERCANTILE painted on the glass. Everything we ever had that we didn’t make or grow ourselves came right from this store. All the seeds and tools for planting the fields. The pot for cooking soup. Mama’s umbrella. This here was the place Daddy came to settle up his account with Mr. Cobb. Wasn’t no good news coming out of this place lately, just Mr. Cobb telling Daddy how much we owed.
I wiped the tears from my cheeks as Mrs. Cobb held her shotgun in one hand and pulled me through the door with the other. Wasn’t no telling what she would decide to do with me.
As Mrs. Cobb dragged me to the back of the store, my eye got wide at the sight of all them bright bolts of cloth and shiny steel tools. I knew just what I’d do with all that cloth. I’d make new dresses for me and Mama and Rose, and wasn’t no telling how many quilts I could make.
Overhead, more electric bulbs lit up row after row of canned goods that was labeled with colorful pictures. Down low was bins filled with rice and meal and flour. Even after that big breakfast Mrs. Cobb fed me, my belly still started churning just at the sight of all that food.
I couldn’t believe how much stuff was packed in one room. Wasn’t no need for a garden with a store like this one. I reckon there was enough food in Camden Mercantile to feed Mama and Daddy and Ruben and the Pettways too. We could live for years inside that store.
Back, back we went, past a rack of fancy dresses and denim britches and a shelf that had nothing but shoes on it. Men’s work boots and shiny black shoes and little girl shoes too. I wanted to touch ’em, but Mrs. Cobb slapped my hand away.
“Get me the ledger,” Mrs. Cobb said to a half-bald man that wasn’t much taller than me. “Look for ‘Bennett.’ From Gee’s Bend.”
“Of course, Mrs. Cobb,” the man answered.
I knew right away it wasn’t Mr. Cobb. Because Ruben said Mr. Cobb looked like a hog that’s done ate too much. And wasn’t nothing big about this man. He looked like a newborn rabbit that ain’t never left its den.
If I could just talk to Mr. Cobb. Maybe I could get him to understand the only reason I came to Camden was to help save Mama from dying. That I didn’t mean no harm sleeping in the barn. Maybe he could help get Mrs. Cobb’s mind straight so she wouldn’t look at me so mean.
I lifted my chin. Wasn’t no time to be silent. Besides, what worse could Mrs. Cobb do to me than just about break all the bones in my hand? “I’d like to speak to Mr. Cobb,” I said. “He’s the boss man, and my daddy would want me to speak to the boss.”
I held my breath as a look passed between Mrs. Cobb and the man flipping the pages of the book.
“You tell her, Mr. Miller,” Mrs. Cobb said, finally letting go of my hand and shoving me forward. I wiggled my sore fingers to make sure they still worked.
I stared at Mr. Miller as he rubbed the top of his nose and squeezed his eyes tight. When he opened ’em, he looked at me hard. “Mr. Cobb is dead. Put him in the ground a week ago. Same day our new president was elected, Mr. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I reckon you’d have a better chance of talking to Mr. Roosevelt than Mr. Cobb.”
Mr. Cobb, dead? “How come we ain’t heard it in Gee’s Bend?” Something that important, Daddy surely would have talked about it if he knew.
“It’s not my job to tell folks,” Mr. Miller said. “That’s what newspapers are for.”
I scratched under my eye patch. That wasn’t how we got our news in Gee’s Bend. Now, why wasn’t Aunt Doshie gossiping about important things like Mr. Cobb dying instead of silly rumors about Etta Mae being a witch?
And poor Mrs. Cobb. No wonder she wasn’t acting right. Why, Mama would be about half crazy herself if Daddy up and died.
“Mrs. Cobb,” I said, turning toward her. What was it Mama always said at funerals? “I’m sorry for your loss. I ain’t never met Mr. Cobb, but my daddy said he was a real good boss man. Real good.” Mrs. Cobb didn’t say a word. Just kept holding herself stiff.
I wanted to ask what it was that killed him. He wasn’t coughing up blood, was he? They wasn’t calling it pneumonia? I wanted to know everything so I could tell Daddy just as soon as I got back to Gee’s Bend. But it wasn’t the right time. I didn’t need Mama there to tell me that. So I turned back to Mr. Miller.
“You the new boss man?” I asked him. “You the one Daddy will come to now for seed and fertilizer sacks?”
Mr. Miller shook his head and rubbed his chin. Like he was deciding what to say next. The whole time, Mrs. Cobb stayed real quiet.
“She got a name?” Mr. Miller said to Mrs. Cobb. Like I wasn’t even there. Why didn’t he just ask me?
“Ludelphia Bennett,” I said in a rush. Wasn’t no need for Mrs. Cobb to speak for me. And suddenly I wanted to tell Mr. Miller everything. If I could just make him understand I didn’t mean no harm.
“My mama’s real sick,” I said. “And I came to Camden to fetch Doc Nelson. Only the ferry broke loose from the cable and I ended up way downstream.” I looked over at Mrs. Cobb. She had both hands on the shotgun. I knew whatever I said next had to be just right.
“And Mrs. Cobb, she’s been so kind to me. Took me up to the big house for breakfast and a Coke to drink. Then she carried me over here in her motorcar. Can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
Mrs. Cobb banged the gun against the floor, making me jump. “Don’t you be fooled, Mr. Miller!” she said. “You see that eye patch?” She leaned toward him till there was only inches between their faces. “She’s one of them. I just know it!”
“Now, Mrs. Cobb.” His hands got fidgety and he backed away. “The girl just wants to get a doctor for her mama. No harm in that, now, is there?”
Mrs. Cobb’s face turned red, and it looked like she was about to explode. The blood rushed into my head, and I knew I had to get out of there. This could be my only chance.
Fast as I could, I turned on my heel and headed for the door.
Mrs. Cobb’s voice roared above the slap of my feet on the floor. “Ludelphia Bennett, you get back here! I’m not finished with you yet!”
Wasn’t no way I was stopping. Didn’t matter what Mrs. Cobb said.
“Stop her, Mr. Miller! You got to stop her!” Mrs. Cobb said, her voice snapping like a quilt on a clothesline.
“Now, Mrs. Cobb. That girl hasn’t done a thing to hurt you or nobody else. You just need to clear your head.”
“That girl’s from Gee’s Bend!” Mrs. Cobb’s voice came out in a screech. “You heard her say it. Just look at her, Mr. Miller, you just look!”
All my muscles ached and strained as I started to run. Wasn’t no time to think. I had to get out of that store!
Just as I was reaching for the handle, the door swung open, pushing me back inside the store. Two ladies that was talking to each other came right inside. They wasn’t paying a bit of attention. Of course I don’t reckon they was expecting a little black girl to be making her escape at the exact time they was coming in the store to do their shopping.
If I could just get outside, I could find the doctor’s office. I aimed for the space between the ladies and the door frame. Just when I thought I had it, the lady in the cream-colored dress shifted. I tried to stop myself, but it was too late. I slammed right into her, then she slammed into the other lady, and next thing I knew we was all falling.
Soon as I hit the floor, I could taste blood in my mouth where I had bitten my tongue. As I worked to get my feet under me, I realized my hands was empty. The fall had caused me to lose my quilt top. It had landed just a few feet away.
When I reached for it, my backside bumped the rack that was holding all the cloth. One after the other, them bolts came crashing down like bales of hay tumbling off a wagon. I was being buried alive!
After the last one fell, I cracked open my eye. Mrs. Cobb was standing with her arms crossed, looking on as Mr. Miller ran toward me.
Mama always said talking about fire don’t boil the pot. If I was gonna get away, I needed to move now. So I pushed off the heavy bolts of denim, then I started to kick. Just like I was back in that river fighting for air. I reached and grabbed till one bolt of soft cotton shifted just enough for me to wiggle my hips. With one more big kick, the rest of them bolts slid right off me.
Just before Mr. Miller could get to me, I picked myself up off the floor and scooted past the two ladies, who was huddled together like they was scared for their lives. As I climbed over the mountain of stripes and calico and polka dots, I grinned because I was almost there. I was almost out of that store.
Wasn’t till I got outside that I saw my hands was empty. My heart just about stopped beating right then and there. I didn’t have my quilt top no more. But wasn’t no going back for it. Had to find Doc Nelson. Had to find him now.
The Angel
OUT ON THE SIDEWALK, I TURNED FIRST TO THE right. There was a door that said ATTORNEY AT LAW. Beside that was a second door with a window and a wooden sign painted DOCTOR.
“Doc Nelson!” I said, pushing open the door. Above my head a little bell rang, but seemed like I was the only one that heard it. The room buzzed with the voices of ladies standing together in small groups. They was so busy visiting they didn’t even notice me come in.
It was just like the cabin on Sunday afternoons when Mama would meet up with all the other ladies in Gee’s Bend to put a quilt up in a frame. Once all the pieces was stitched together on the quilt top, then everybody worked together to beat the cotton down and stuff it between the top and bottom layers. There might be ten different needles working on the same quilt, and there was always a bunch of laughing and talking. Mama let me help sometimes. But most times I just watched.
As I made my way into the doctor’s office, I spotted on the far wall a poster that had a lady on it like I ain’t never seen before. Her arms was spread wide, and she was dressed all in white with a little hat on her head that had a red cross on it. There was another sign just below it that said JOIN THE RED CROSS AND HELP THE DISTRESSED AND NEEDY. And below that was a small locked cabinet marked MEDICINE.
As my heartbeat slowed and the voices faded, it was like that lady was calling to me. Wasn’t I distressed and needy? It was like she was an angel, and I couldn’t help it, I was walking toward her. Didn’t have no idea how a poster could help me. But there was something about it that made me all fluttery inside. And it made me think of Etta Mae. About all the times she took care of me.
Wasn’t nothing of the devil in Etta Mae. I was sure of it. All that witch business was just crazy talk. This here was where Etta Mae belonged. On a poster like this one.