Chapter 27 #2
I act pleasantly surprised by this. They are too far out in the water to recognize. We also see two ladies in the shade enjoying themselves, and a few feet behind them is a colored woman in a white uniform, not enjoying herself. She is fanning her face to beat the band. It is hot out.
At the bottom of the hill, Tom sets the towels down and unrobes himself. Soon as I see his skinny, pale self in a red-and-white swim costume with straps over the shoulders, I laugh so hard I got to roll on the ground a minute. I know I got some nerve.
He sets his hands up on his hips, grinning, and says, Alright, that’s enough, you turkey.
I have never seen a man in a swim costume before, so I try not to look at all his parts. Tom tells me to keep my shoes on, walking on the dock it is called, because there are some terrific splinters.
The sun is bright hot as we walk on the old gray boards.
It smells swampy and green. I can tell now that out in the water are one boy and three girls, and one of those I believe is Marybeth!
She is pudgy so I know it is her and I wave and smile and wave and smile until she waves back.
They are all watching me while I stare down into the green lake at the end of the dock.
Tom takes his glasses off and climbs down a metal ladder into the water. He holds his arms up to me to come on. That water looks deep, and there could be slippery biting things down there. I might change my mind …
Climb down and I’ll get you, I promise.
You promise you’ll get me?
I promise.
I take the ladder slow, first a foot, then my rear dipping into the cool water. It feels nice, but it looks very scary underneath that dock. Tom tucks his hands up in my armpits, but I will not be letting go of this ladder.
Let go when you’re ready, Meg. You ready to let go?
I take some breaths first. Then I peel one finger off the metal at a time and let go, and Tom says, Now I want you to dog paddle.
Kick your legs now, kick and kick, I got you.
I do as I am told, I kick and he is kicking and holding me away so I don’t kick him.
I kick and I am getting the hang of it and then a thing slithers past my foot!
I squirm and slip out of his hands and down I go, water goes up my nose.
This is wrong! I open my eyes and I cannot breathe.
All I see is green and brown mold like up on the ceiling, Tom, I cannot breathe—
Tom jerks me up quick and I cough and it burns! Green water shoots out my nose and he pulls me back over to the ladder. I clutch it hard, shaking and coughing until it hurts.
You’re alright, Meg, you just slipped out of my hands. I should’ve held you tighter.
You got to hold me tighter, Tom!
I cry a little and look over and hope the cousins didn’t see that.
When I get my breath back, Tom says, You ready to try again, Meg?
I do not want to try again.
But he says, I want you to try again, Meg, you can do it, like he is counting on me. Remember, you’ve got to kick your legs hard, alright? If you kick hard as you can, it’ll keep your head from going under the water.
I look into his light brown eyes. His eyelashes are wet and spiky, but his eyes are kind.
I don’t want to disappoint him. So I kick and kick and push the water away with my hands and do the dog paddle, and after a few minutes I look down and he is not holding me anymore!
I am staying up on my own, but he keeps his hands out to catch me in case, he keeps them right out in case.
Don’t go—
I’m not going anywhere, you just keep on kicking. Now push with your arms and come towards me. You’re doing it, Meg, you’re doing it! Good job, Meg! He says this like he is actual excited. Not just a grown-up trying to have a good attitude.
We do this for a while, kick and use my arms. When I am able to relax and be confident I will not drown myself again, I look around. Marybeth and another girl are climbing out at the shore. They sit on their own towels they got spread out by the edge of the lake.
Soon, Tom says it’s time for a break. My legs feel quivery when I climb up the ladder. I smell like lake now. I like it. My wet skin feels prickly and good in the hot sun burning down on me.
Tom wraps a towel around me and looks up the hill at the two women. We should probably say hello to my sister-in-law. He does not sound excited about it.
Can I go see my cousins instead? He frowns and I know he is thinking Lucille will not like that. But Lucille is not here, is she? Do not worry, I know exactly what to do, Tom. I won’t say anything wrong.
He still looks worried but says, Alright. But you won’t go in that water without me?
No sir, I promise.
I run over to where Marybeth and the other girl are sitting on a blue-striped towel.
Her belly makes her green suit round out in front, but the girl she is with is thin.
I am pretty sure she is one of those older cousins that gave me the stare-down at the party.
They both have dark hair and skin that browns in the sun, and they look very related. I feel how I stick out, white as I am.
Marybeth flaps her hand at me. Her nose turns up on the end like I wish mine did. Well, where in the world have you been, Meg? We hadn’t heard a peep out of you since the party. Also she has the BEST dimples.
I sit down beside Marybeth and say, Tom’s teaching me how to swim, and I think I about got the hang of it on that second try.
The older girl wrinkles her nose stinky at me. You can’t swim yet? Aren’t you eleven or something?
Marybeth makes big rolling eyes at her. Glor-i-a. Meg was a orphan in Memphis. They didn’t have a lake to swim in like we do in Byhalia.
Well maybe you ought to go back there before you drown yourself, Gloria says.
I say nothing. Ask me, this Gloria has got some Dorella to her.
Quit being such a meanie, Gloria, Marybeth says. Meg is my first cousin and your regular cousin now, so if you can’t say something nice, you ought not say nothing at all. She takes hold of my arm.
Fine. I don’t want to sit here anyway, with her polluting up the air. And she walks off.
I tuck my knees under my chin. What did I do to her? I ask.
Marybeth squeezes my hand. Don’t worry, she’s just upset about y’all taking the red house.
You mean Tom’s house?
Marybeth nods.
Why would she be mad about that?
She takes a big deep breath and says, Alright, I’ll tell you, but do not say it came from me.
Gloria’s cross with you on account of Grandmama made Aunt Sarah and Uncle Doc—that’s Gloria’s mamandaddy—move out the red house so Tom and Lucille could have it when they moved back from New York City, and now Gloria has to share a room with her sister and her brother gets his own room and Aunt Sarah just about had a hissy fit over the whole thing so Gloria’s mad at you.
Grandmama is Tom’s mama? Those were a lot of names.
She’s your grandmama too, silly, she says. Why, what do you call her?
Mrs. Heidelberg.
She pats my hand. Don’t worry, she’ll ask you to call her Grandmama soon. These things take time.
I see Tom walk out on the dock by himself. He waves, and I wave back that I am fine. At the end, he points his arms forward and jumps in, sliding over the water easy as a eel.
On top of it all, Grandmama don’t trust Lucille far as she can throw her.
Why not? Though I ought to know, considering the big lie she has told everybody about me.
You mean you ain’t heard? Why they had to leave New York City?
Because Tom’s mama missed him or something?
She sighs and shakes her head like a grown woman.
What I heard was, when Lucille and Tom lived in New York City, Lucille made Tom drink a lot of alcoholic whiskey and spend money like it was going out of style while they were wrecking motorcars on Fifth Avenue and feeding cash money to horses, so Grandmama ordered them to pack up and come home to dry him off good. Or it went sumpin’ like that.
I got no idea of what half that means, but I don’t want Tom to get in trouble. Well I have not seen Tom drink anything since I got here except iced tea or water. And I’m about to ask her about feeding cash to horses, when all a sudden Marybeth’s eyes go very round.
Meg, she says. My heart stops. Lord, I didn’t let something slip, did I?
Have you tasted. A lemon Chantilly dessert square before?
I get my heart started again and ask her what that is.
She runs up the hill to report this news to her mama. Her mama shakes her head and points toward home, and Marybeth stomps her foot. A minute later, Marybeth comes back with her head held high, proud as a lady toting a covered dish to the Ladies’ Lounge.
Taste this. She holds out a sticky yellow thing in one hand and has one for herself in the other. We both bite into them and oh she is right! It is lemony AND sweet, with a nice crunchy crust bottom.
My maid Rosalee makes the best lemon Chantilly dessert squares in the county, ask anybody.
It’s just too bad we got to share her with those other cousins.
She sighs. I keep telling Mama, we got to get more help out at the house.
With Marybeth, one minute you are talking to a eleven-year-old having a fit about a dessert and the next to a grown woman apt to have a husband and three kids at home. It is something to watch.
While we eat and lick our fingers, I watch Tom swim smooth across the lake.
He moves in long strokes, keeping his body flat on top of the water.
After a while he stops and he is very still and then he slips down under the surface.
Every bit of him, gone just like that! I hold my breath until he pops up again.
Marybeth says maybe I can come along next time they go shopping in Memphis. We could bring your friends at the orphanage some lemon Chantilly dessert squares!
All I can think of to say is, That would be something.