Playing by the Rules: A Novel (32 page)

“Is that another yes?” Medford smiled.

“How many major decisions can one woman make in a day?”

“My lady can handle anything. That’s why I love her.”

“You really know how to sweet-talk a girl, don’t you?”

Medford was patient, looking into Louise’s eyes until he got the answer he hoped for.

“Okay. Yes.” She didn’t like reacting to pressure, but she thought about
The Charlotte Hawkins Brown Papers
, how Charlotte provided a place “where Negro boys and girls could combine training of a practical nature with the development of a larger sense and deeper appreciation of beauty.” Louise thought she could extend some of that knowledge to Ruby Rose. She didn’t know if she could meet Charlotte’s goal of teaching and preparing children for tomorrow’s world, but she thought she might give it a try. Besides, before Clement had found out the truth he’d had the courage to adopt Medford, and Medford turned out just fine. Push come to shove, if nothing else, a third party in her marriage might at least keep things lively and break up the monotony.

Medford grabbed Louise by her waist and lifted her off her feet as if she were weightless. He kissed her for a long time until he remembered there were people inside the house, waiting for them to return.

“There’s one more thing,” Medford said to everyone in the room. Then he made sure they had all quieted down and that he had their attention before turning to Jeremiah. “When we get married we’d like to adopt Ruby Rose. In the meantime, we’d like her to stay here in Lemon City and live with us.”

The whole room fell silent again. Nana stopped sniffling and Ruby Rose nearly jumped out of her seat. Before Jeremiah could answer Medford’s question, she ran over to her brother, nearly breaking her neck in the process, begging him to please let her stay, to please let Medford and Louise adopt her. It was like waiting for a courtroom verdict with Jeremiah speaking for the jury.

Jeremiah didn’t know what to say. He had never seen hope in Ruby Rose’s eyes before, only sadness beyond her years. After coming this far with his sister, he especially didn’t want to leave
her in the hands of strangers, but as he looked around the room, he knew that nothing was farther from the truth. These people were kinder to her than anyone had ever been in his sister’s life and equally as important, she loved them too. Ruby Rose gained a lot living in this town. Besides all that, Louise was a good woman. He knew that for a fact, and there was no doubt in his mind that his Ruby Rose was attached to Medford. He looked at his sister, then focused on Louise and Medford, and saw the family that he and Ruby Rose could never be—the family that she deserved. Life on the road, on the run, was no place for a child, even if he planned to settle down on Dick Gregory’s farm. After just having found his sister, it was hard to give her up, but the expression on her face and on those of the people in the room helped him come to a decision. He’d have to make a change of plans.

“We promise we’ll take good care of her,” Medford assured Jeremiah with Louise at his side. “We’ll raise her like she was our own.”

“She’ll have four parents,” added Nana, speaking for Granddaddy.

“She’ll have six parents,” said Elvira, looking at Billy while rubbing her pregnant belly, and everyone else in the room agreed to raise the child and parent by committee.

“Until Medford and I get married, Ruby Rose can live with me,” offered Louise, looking at Ruby Rose for her approval. Ruby Rose smiled as wide as a mountain trail, and for the first time she gave Louise a hug.

“And Granddaddy,” volunteered Medford. “I’d like your permission to build an addition to the two-family house, since Billy and Elvira will be needing the extra room and Louise and me will be needing some extra space too.”

“That’s plenty fine by me,” agreed Granddaddy.

“Yes. We’ll have to prepare for the babies that are coming.”

Nana clasped her hands together and looked toward the ceiling in a gesture of prayer. Then she grabbed Ruby Rose and added, “You’re my baby too.”

That’s all Jeremiah needed to hear, and all he needed to see.

“I want to stay,” she said. “I want to have make-believe real parents.”

Jeremiah smiled and lowered his body to be at eye level with his sister. “You know I’m gonna miss you.” He struggled to hold back the tears even though he knew the decision he was about to announce to the room was best for her.

“I’m sorry I got you into trouble with the law,” she said.

“You didn’t get me into trouble. I guess my purpose was to bring you here.” Jeremiah thought for a few seconds. “Nana, what about those Outsider Rules?”

“Oh, we got to fill out the paperwork and file a petition at the Municipal Building and get at least a hundred signatures from the Ladies of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Fortunately for Ruby Rose, there are provisions. The process is more involved than getting a passport and the conversion from one religion to the next, but it can be done. You gotta have blood work, fingerprints, psychology tests, a battery of interviews, intense Rules training in classes from beginner through advance—that’s why hardly anyone goes through the trouble. But when you’re done with all your training you get a certificate that needs to be notarized, which is the official document to becoming a Lemonite. If the truth be known, Outsider citizenship has only occurred a few times around here. Interestingly enough, the cutoff age is twelve, so it’s only happened for children, and Ruby Rose here would be going through the assimilation process at just the right time.

“Once you become a Lemonite,” Nana said to Ruby Rose, “it’s a lifetime commitment, so be sure you’re not going to change your mind and you really, truly, absolutely, positively want to stay.”

Nana breathed the kind of sigh that only comes from the exhaustion of having too much joy. “I feel like you’re already a part of this family, and it would be a variation on supporting Rule Number Ten: ‘Support the Community in Every Way Possible and Imaginable.’ ”

Jeremiah looked at his sister and could tell she wouldn’t take no for an answer, and the truth was, there was no reason to tell her no. “Yes. You can stay.”

Ruby Rose jumped up into his arms and kissed him all over his face. “You can visit,” she said. “Can’t he, Nana?”

“Sure, baby.”

“Come any time,” reinforced Granddaddy.

“Sure ‘nough, brother,” said Billy. Then he thought about what he’d said, and that if Medford and Louise were to adopt Ruby Rose, that would actually make Jeremiah his nephew. That part had the least appeal to him. Billy felt he was too young for that.

“When you pass through New York on your way to Massachusetts, be sure to visit or at least call my sister, Faye,” said Louise without hesitation, as part of her Southern hospitality. “She lives in one of those brownstones in Harlem. I don’t have a clue where, but I’m sure she can direct you to it when you get there.” Louise found a scrap of paper and wrote down Faye’s address and phone number.

Jeremiah took the paper from Louise, folded it, and put it inside his back pocket. Then he hugged Ruby Rose and they held on to each other for a long time, until she felt she had enough of his energy and could finally let him go.

“So long, folks,” Jeremiah said to everyone in the room, and he went around to kiss all the women and shake hands with all the men. “Thank you for a great party, for a great stay. Thanks for everything. I hope to see all you good folks again some day.” Then he addressed his sister. “Ruby Rose, I’ll be back.”

She waved at her brother as he walked out the door, knowing he would keep his promise and she would see him again.

Before the door closed, Billy mumbled something underneath his breath about don’t call us if you have car trouble.

They heard the loud rumble of the white GTO as it backfired down Tuckahoe Road, and while the Dunlaps hoped to see Jeremiah again, if they never saw that car for the rest of their lives, it would be too soon.

Winter wind came whipping down the snow-capped mountains, ripping through the town, cutting its teeth against the heaviest coats, leaving its bite to chill the Lemonites right down to their bones. The only saving grace was that the energy crisis was over and the townspeople were free to turn up their thermostats and enjoy the heat. Nana spent the winter crocheting for the great-grandchild that she couldn’t wait to come. Instead of using single-colored yarn, she thought she’d use multicolored so that whatever sex the child turned out to be, it would be dressed as beautifully as a rainbow stretching across a perfect sky on a clear day.

Then in the middle of winter, in February, the telephone rang and Nana received the announcement she had been waiting for. It was Billy taking Elvira to the hospital, and after Nana shouted for joy into his ear and hung up, she picked up the receiver again and started dialing everyone else.

Elvira had a baby girl, eight pounds, seven ounces, and she named the little one Aurelia Hope after Nana’s daughter, who was Louise, Billy, and Faye’s mother. The baby was the prettiest little
thing Nana had ever seen in her life, and she could hardly wait for Elvira to finish breast-feeding in her hospital bed so she could hold the newborn and take a closer look. Granddaddy was beaming at his great-granddaughter and couldn’t wait until she was old enough to teach her how to play chess.

When Ruby Rose arrived at the hospital, she was happy to see little baby Aurelia. She was thinking that Aurelia could be like her little sister, even though they would really be cousins, and when she got bigger they could play together. Nana let her hold the baby and Ruby Rose was careful, cradling her neck in the right place with her head up, smelling her newness, saying to her face with soft breath that she was lucky to have two parents who cared about her and she should be forever grateful. She squeezed her eyes shut and said a private prayer, wishing that Aurelia would be happy and grow up with love as wide as the Blue Ridge Mountains, as deep as the Shenandoah Valley, and as beautiful as the Virginia Highlands. She kissed the little baby girl on her puffy cheek that smelled like freshly made chocolate milk, then handed her back to her mother.

Nana looked through the opened door as the men were milling about and chatting in the hallway. Feeling proud of her family and cherishing the love and support that was circulating throughout the room, Nana felt blessed to be in the presence of such wonderful company, especially with the two new, young additions to the group, who she was certain would carry on with traditions and play by The Rules.

ELAINE MERYL BROWN

A Reader’s Guide

Reading Group Questions and Topics for Discussion

1) After her sister chooses to violate Rule Number One (Never Marry an Outsider), why does Louise decide to get involved with an Outsider at the expense of losing Medford?

2) Ruby Rose grew up in an abusive foster-home environment. What ultimately happens to help her adjust to Lemon City life?

3) With the Black Power movement, the Black Feminist movement, the close of the Vietnam War, and Watergate, why does the author choose to use the backdrop of the 1970s to tell her story?