CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Nell’s family lived deep down a dirt road in what Trina called the show-nuff country. The light of the SUV was the only thing that lit the way down the narrow road. “You walk down this road every evening?” Trina asked Nell.
“Yes ma’am. That’s why they don’t want me out at dark because it’s hard to see in the nighttime.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll never keep you this late again.”
“I know that’s right,” said Nell, which surprised everybody in the SUV.
It caused Sophia to give her a high-five. “That’s right, Nell. Speak up for yourself.” She and Nell were around the same age. “I don’t care who it is, even if it’s my father, don’t ever be afraid to say how you feel.”
“Do your parents work?” Trina asked her.
“Yes ma’am. They all work at the factory.”
“Does the factory pay well?”
“They all get seven dollars and forty cents every hour they work,” said Nell, “but they have to pay the factory fees with that.”
Reno and Trina looked at each other. “What factory fees?” Trina asked her.
“I don’t know much about it,” said Nell, “but I know Mama’nem don’t like paying it. But they have to.”
Reno shook his head. “Another shakedown. Somebody’s taking full advantage of these poor folks.”
“For real,” agreed Trina.
And then Reno turned a corner and there was Nell’s small, shack of a house that looked as if it would blow over if you leaned against it too hard. But at least they had nice, bright porch lights.
“Are those your parents sitting on the porch?” asked Sophia.
“And my brother and my sister,” said Nell.
“Okay, Nell,” said Reno when he stopped in the dirt driveway. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
“Y’all gotta get out and meet Mama’nem,” said Nell as she was getting out of the SUV. “So they know who kept me this late.”
Trina smiled. “It’ll be our pleasure,” she said, although the rest of her family wasn’t so keen. But they all got out.
Trina and Sophia both wore Christian Louboutin shoes, and Reno wore Ferragamos. They were all grieved that they had to walk in all that dirt, which was far deeper than the dirt around their house, just to make it up to the front porch. Even Carmine, in his Jordans, didn’t want all that dirt on his shoes either. He was a fastidious dresser too.
“Hello everybody,” Trina said with a big smile on her face.
The family just stared at them. Specifically at Reno. “What you bringing a white man to my house for?” the mother asked Nell.
“He a good cracker, Mama,” said Nell. “He ain’t no bad man.”
“I’m no cracker either,” Reno pointed out.
Nell just looked at him.
“Never mind,” said Reno.
“He’s the new owner of Eats ,” Nell kept talking. “And this his wife Becky with the Good Hair.”
The mother gave Trina a hard look. “What’s so good about it? Her hair don’t look no gooder than anybody else’s.”
“You don’t have to say all of that, Nell,” said Trina. “Becky will do,” she added, embarrassed.
“And this her husband Tyrone,” said Nell.
Nell’s brother leaned back. “ Tyrone ? You don’t look like no Tyrone to me.”
“Me either,” said Reno. “Nice to meet you people.”
“You people?” the entire family said all at the same time. “Who you calling you people?” asked the father.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Reno said. “Damn!”
They all gave him the side eye when he used profanity in their presence.
“Who’s the pretty lady?” asked Nell’s smiling brother. He had been eyeing Sophia since they first walked up.
“Hi,” said Sophia smiling, “I’m Sophia.”
“No you ain’t,” said Nell. “Her name Clementine.”
“With the good hair too?” asked the mother.
“No, just Clementine,” said Nell. “They got a song name after her.”
“What song?” asked the father.
“Just a song, dang,” said Reno.
“What song?” asked the father again.
“Yeah, Tyrone,” said Trina. “What song?”
Reno rolled his eyes. But he sung it. “Oh my darlin’, oh my darlin’, oh my darlin’, Clementine.”
The sister frowned. “You’s a lie. That song ain’t about her. You’s a lie, Mister,” she said to Reno.
“Check you out,” Reno said, taken aback.
“That’s right,” said Sophia. “That song has nothing to do with me. And just call me Clem, by the way.”
“Who’s the pipsqueak?” asked the brother.
“That’s Car Is Mine,” said Nell. “He crazy.”
Carmine threw his hands in the air. He never did anything to anybody, but he was always singled out.
“They’re the Blacks,” Nell added.
“Some of’em are,” said the mother, giving Reno along with Carmine, who looked more white than black, a hard look.
“In any event,” said Reno, “it’s been fun making your acquaintances and we promise to never keep Nell this late ever again. Have a nice night, folks,” he added and began heading for the SUV without saying another word. The family gladly followed suit.
And when they drove away, the father let Nell have it. “We don’t have none of that round here,” he said. “Bringing that white man to my house!”
“He a good one, Pa.”
“You don’t know that,” said the mother. “Could be KKK. Could have a robe in that trunk for all you know. You ain’t going back there. Coming home this late and bringing that devil with you.”
“He gave me this for working late, Ma,” said Nell as she handed her envelope over to her mother. “It’s five twenties in that there envelope. He also said we was gonna start making fifteen dollars an hour and we didn’t have to give up half of the money coming in to that man like we been doing.”
“ What you say ?” said an astounded mother.
“ Fifteen dollars ? You lying, Nell,” said an astounded brother.
The father snatched the envelope from his wife. When he looked inside and saw five twenty-dollar bills, he was astounded too.
“But if y’all want me to quit,” said Nell innocently, if not cleverly, because before she could get all of those words out, every one of her family members on that porch were screaming no, don’t you dare, are you touched in the head ?
“You better not quit. Hell no!” screamed the father.
And then he apologized for cussing.