An Elderberry Fall (15 page)

The evening train came swiftly and right on time. As we waited for the colored porters to assist the passengers with their luggage, Adam said, “I've enjoyed this day with you. When you come home this weekend, please stop by. I'll accompany you on the train home.”

“I'm married, Adam.”

“All girls need to be cared for.”

“All right, I will.”

He stood in front of me, grinning. When he put his arms around me, I felt strange. I gazed through the crowd hoping Nadine's old man was not lurking somewhere. He was not anywhere to be seen. The embrace was innocent, and for some reason, it felt right.

“Take care, Carrie, and study hard!” Adam sputtered out just as the train door closed.

“I will!” I yelled, waving back at him.

It was lonely walking back to the Normal School, yet I knew it was the beginning of something grand.

T
he school was just like I'd imagined. Mainly young girls like me desiring to get into a classroom and teach colored children how to read, write and count. A lot of people from Jefferson never attended school or had quit as soon as they started because they had to work in the tobacco field. Signing a deed was sometimes left up to the white landowner who didn't care at all about them. Many times they were overcharged and even sometimes tricked into giving up their earnings.

Things were going to change when it came to my community. I knew education would be how I'd free myself and my friends. I couldn't help thinking about the letter I'd received from Hester. She said, “This is what you always wanted to do. Do your best.”

On the way home on the train, I smiled to myself, knowing a week of studies had been completed and I'd earned my stay at the boarding house. I had with me a leather book and a writing pad.

The weather was changing rapidly. It was chilly and the wind still. It smelled of moisture, and I wondered if snow was ahead. I walked straight over to Adam Murphy's house. It was something I'd looked forward to all week.

Adam was waiting. “I didn't know if you'd be on the early or late train, but I've been waiting for you.”

I threw my arms around his shoulders. “School is wonderful, Adam. I've met a lot of friends and new people,” I told him, elated about the experience.

“I know you can't wait to see your baby and husband.”

“My baby is waiting for me, but my husband is still with the team.”

“You will have a lot to catch up on when you get home. Do you have any bags I need to carry for you?”

“I left everything back in Petersburg. There was not a need to drag them home with me, when I'll be heading right back in a few days.”

He got on the trolley with me. I filled him in on the week's activities.

As we got off the trolley, Adam tightened up the scarf around his neck. He and I walked down Broad Street past the government buildings toward Jackson Heights. When we came to the bar Ms. Pearl sang in, I convinced Adam to go in with me to find her. She was there, sitting in the empty room with her pianist. She immediately recognized me when I walked through the door.

“Hey, girl, why are you here so early? The show doesn't start until sundown.” Her pianist got up and walked over to the bar.

“Who is the fellow with you?” she asked.

“Oh, this is Adam, a friend from school.”

She grinned. She was without the heavy makeup, and even appeared younger than when she was all made up. “Your husband was in here last night. He said he was headed back on the road again,” she said between sips of something that looked like water.

“It must have been someone else, Ms. Pearl. Simon is still out of town,” I said as I sat down in the empty seat beside the piano.

“Oh no, it was him all right,” she said and pointed toward the bar. “He sat right there and talked to me for a good half hour.”

“Good,” I commented, puzzled, “he must be home early.”

“Probably so,” she said. “He was in here last Saturday night too. I asked him about you. Did he tell you?”

“No, ma'am, he must have forgotten,” I lied.

“What made you stop in here today?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing since Mr. Willie passed.”

“I'm doing good. Willie was a good man, just too jealous,” she said, shaking her head. “I miss him, though. That man loved me.”

“He appeared to be a nice man too.”

Adam stood beside my chair quietly absorbing our conversation.

“Like I said, he was good, but a little too jealous. I'm an entertainer. I have to keep my customers coming back fo' mo'.”

“Have they found the killer yet?”

She raised her voice. “There ain't no damn killer. He brought it on his self. You just can't jump in nobody's face for no reason. Willie had a temper, and that's what killed him.”

Even though she had a smile on her face, I could feel a little frustration in her voice. She didn't like my last comment, so I quickly excused myself. “I'm glad you are doing good, Ms. Pearl. I ought to get on home now.”

“It was good you stopped by. How's your baby?”

“He is getting bigger.”

“Keep him away from the mess. If he is anything like his daddy, he's got some slick in him.”

“No, ma'am, he is just like Simon,” I quickly interjected.

“He's got some shit in him, too,” she said.

All the time, Adam Murphy was quiet, listening to everything and without a doubt absorbing every word like a sponge. His eyes sparkled with curiosity, either from meeting a star or from listening to our conversation, one which had my face turning pink.

She peered over at Adam and smiled. “Glad you ain't like some
of these women sitting around waiting for a man to come home.”

“Adam is just a friend, Ms. Pearl.”

“Everybody needs a good friend, chile. Don't feel bad for having a friend. I'll bet Simon has several women friends. Don't be no damn fool for no man.”

“Yes, ma'am,” I mumbled.

“You don't have to say ma'am to me. Just call me Pearl. If you need someone to talk to, come see me.”

As we were turning to leave, the white man from the club appeared.

“Who are these people, Pearl?”

“Just a couple of friends,” she answered, as we turned to walk away.

He seemed inquisitively nice. I studied Ms. Pearl before I walked away. I made note of her mannerisms when the white man entered. Her composure was the same. He didn't have the same effect on her, that Momma said Willie did. Ms. Pearl wasn't scared of him.

Adam asked me as we turned onto Adams Street toward my house, “Are you going to be all right? Ms. Pearl said your husband was home.”

“I don't know, Adam. Seems like things are changing.”

A concerned frown swept across his face, and his eyes appeared worried; all the time his brown eyes were squinted like he was thinking intensely.

I also had something brewing in my thoughts. On three different occasions women had orchestrated doubt concerning my husband's devotion to me. No one had ever said anything about him to me. He was the good guy, the one who opened his heart to me and to Robert. Simon loved me and I loved him. What was said bothered me, even made me sad. Why would they say those things?

When we made it to the gate of my house, I couldn't let Adam come in. I said to him softly, “Adam, I think it is best I deal with everybody before I introduce you to them.”

“I will leave, if you think you will be all right.”

“I am fine. My neighbors, the Halls, are like family to me.”

Adam hugged me in front of the apartment gate.

“I'll be going.”

As he walked away, I yelled to him, “I'll stop to see you on my way back to school!”

He turned and waved, but he didn't smile.

I watched him until he disappeared through the oak trees and was out of sight, headed back toward the college. Then I knocked on the front door.

Mrs. Hall came to the door. Robert was in her arms, clinging to her like he was glued to her.

“Come on in, Carrie,” she said.

I reached for Robert and he jumped into my arms. I couldn't resist smiling.

“You miss me?” I asked him.

He just smiled from ear to ear.

“Mrs. Hall, was Robert a good little boy?”

“He was real good. He is a happy child and so easy to care for.”

“I'll take him out of your hands for a few days.”

She laughed. “Tell me all about school.”

“It is everything you said it would be. I love my classes and the students are real nice. My living arrangements are okay. I share a room with two other girls.”

“Is that all right with you?” Mrs. Hall asked.

“It is probably a blessing. I am learning how to study and work from them. We cook the meals and clean for the owners. So far, we have a plan.”

“Good. I knew it would work out.”

Then I asked, “Has Simon been home, Mrs. Hall?”

“Nobody has been here, but us. I thought he was going to stay away for a few weeks.”

“That is what he said.”

“You sound like you doubt it.”

“It's just people say they saw him. I'm wondering if he is really out of town.”

“Now don't read too much into what people say.”

“I won't, but it all sounded so real, Mrs. Hall.”

“What did they say?”

I told her about Nadine coming over and about Ms. Pearl saying he had been at the nightclub. When I told her about Ms. Pearl, she sucked her teeth. “What's wrong, Mrs. Hall?”

She tucked her head. “Nothing, I tell you; nothing at all, Carrie. Now don't spend too much time worrying about it. Just talk to Simon when he comes home.”

When the words flowed out of her mouth, they seemed forced. It felt like an empty statement without conviction. When she changed the subject, I knew something was up.

She handed me Robert's things. I picked up the bag and started toward the door. I looked back at her, and she turned her head.

When I got home, everything was the same way I'd left it. I looked in the ice box and everything was still the same. I went into the bedroom and the bed was made the way I'd left it. How could Simon be in town? Where was he laying his head?

I unpacked my small bag, fed Robert and washed his clothes by hand on the washboard. I hung up his things on the clothesline in the bedroom. Then I said my prayers, and Robert and I curled up together and went off to sleep.

The next day around noon, I put the sweater Momma had knitted on Robert, and he gazed at me, waiting for me to pick him up. I threw on my coat and with Robert on my hip, we marched across the street to see Nadine. I couldn't wait for Simon to decide to come home. I wanted to know what was going on.

Nadine answered the door after one knock.

“Come on in,” she said as she opened the door wide.

I stepped inside. Her two children were sitting at the kitchen table eating biscuits.

“Y'all hurry and finish and go on into the front room. I'm going to make me and Carrie a cup of coffee.”

Her little girl got up from the table. She cleaned the crumbs away and put the dish cloth in the sink. “Can I hold him?” she asked, and pulled Robert from my arms. He smiled at the sight of other children.

“To what do I owe this visit?” Nadine asked, smiling.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“I knew you would come calling sooner or later. Have a seat, now that I have my kitchen back.”

The table had been cleaned and both children were in the front room playing with Robert on the floor.

We pulled out a seat at the wooden table. Nadine poured both of us a cup of coffee. It was the afternoon and I usually drank coffee only in the mornings. After adding sugar and cream, I sipped. “Nadine, I'm a young wife. I probably don't have the experience you do with men. Simon is the only man I've ever loved.”

“Carrie, I know you didn't come over here to go through your entire history with me, stuff like where you come from and your momma's first name I think you have a more serious reason.”

I cleared my throat. “Well, you said something about Simon that has me worried.”

“What is so confusing? Was it what I said or how I said it?”

I took a sip of the coffee since all of a sudden my throat was dry. I needed help getting out the words and making sense as I spoke. I inhaled and attempted to get my thoughts aligned so I could find out what I needed to know.

“I'm waiting,” Nadine said, twirling her long tresses as she always did. It was a habit you'd expect of a young girl.

“Nadine, you made mention of Simon and a girl the last time we talked. Could you explain what you meant to me.”

“I'm not sure you have it right. I never said Simon had a girl. I just suggested that you wise up, girl.”

“What did you mean?”

“Carrie, are you completely naïve? Your husband has been living in Richmond for some time now. He lived across the road there before you came here. Now, do you really think you are his only girl?”