Somebody's Someone (14 page)

“My, oh my, those sure are the prettiest names I heard yet,” the stranger told me.

Even though I had been warned not to talk to strangers, there was nobody to make me mind, so I did what I very well pleased. Plus, she was so nice and friendly, what could it hurt?

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“Oh, darlin’, pardon my bad manners, my name is Private Virginia Reed.”

“What’s so private ’bout that?” I asked.

She let out a big ole laugh, and clapped her hand on her leg. “No, silly. My name is Virginia Reed, and I am a private in the marine corps.”

“Oh, you like Gomer Pyle,” I replied, happy to figure her out.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” She was still grinning. “It’s just that I don’t have my own television show.”

I felt betta’ ’bout her already. She seemed real nice.

“Well now, baby, where’s your people? Who you traveling with?”

Suddenly, what seemed real nice and friendly made me wanna kick her up and down the aisles of that stupid bus. I had no answers for her or worse, for me. I was all by myself! My mind told me not to let that nosey-ass Miss Virginia get in my business. She probably got lots of whoopin’s for being so mouthy when she was little. I didn’t wanna talk no more. But I knew I had to answer her.

“I ain’t with nobody!” I told her as I looked straight into her eyes and lowered my voice. I was careful not to say it too loud. I didn’t want anybody else to hear me.

I was trying to hold the water in my eyes. To keep it in that place where I have to count the beats b’tween every breath. Silently, I prayed that she wouldn’t go on asking ’bout things that didn’t concern her like all the grown-ups in my life. Miss Private Virginia must have somehow seen the prayer in my soul. I’m almost sure of it. She saw what I was hiding and musta decided not to make me speak ’bout it.

“Well, Regina Louise, you and me are gonna ride together, until whoever gets off first. And in the meantime, we’s gonna have us a good time.”

We rode in silence for a long while. I guess all that needed to be said had been spoke of. I stared out the window and watched as Mr. Moon only gave us a small piece of his face. It seemed as though he wasn’t sure if he wanted to shine tonight. My stomach began rumblin’, and it wanted something more than some nasty Nilla Wafers. I wouldn’t eat another one if my life depended on it. Far as I was concerned, they was “devil’s food” cookies, and I’d have nothing to do with ’em. Not only had they made me sick, but just thinking ’bout ’em made a churchgoing person want to turn on they own mama. Knowing there was nothing I could do ’bout my hunger, I turned and stared out the window again. When me and Big Mama went bus riding, I would sometimes count the streetlights from the time I got on till the time I got off. That’s how I learned to know where my house was. My mind was too shaky to r’member the exact amount right then, but they was the most straight line of anything I had ever seen. It was too bad I hadn’t thought to count from the time I left the house till now; maybe then I’d be able to find my way back if I wanted to.

Looking ahead, I could see that Miss Virginia had pushed her seat back and that her feet was stretched out in front of her. I’d wanted to do that b’fore; but Big Mama said that we might get on somebody’s nerves, so she wouldn’t let me. But without her here to see me I figured I’d do just like Miss Virginia. I pushed the button on the side of the chair arm and then used my body to move it backwards, and like Miss Virginia, I stretched my legs and closed my eyes. I could tell she was sleeping by the way her head slipped and slid from side to side. I decided to join her.

I woke up when we pulled into what looked like a rickety building posing as a bus depot. I watched as a few folks got off and headed inside the station. I seen this one woman walk smack into the arms of someone who was waiting on her. It might’ve been her sister or daughter. I wasn’t for sure. The one who was doing the waiting came running out to greet the one who had gotten off the bus. Man was their arms open wide for one another. They seemed hungry for touching. I couldn’t help but turn my head and wonder who would be waiting on me to come, wherever it was that I was going.

I turned to watching Miss Virginia, sleeping in her chair. Who was she going home to, and where was her home? Maybe she had children that also had to wear little green outfits with matching hats like she had on. Maybe she was goin’ back to ’em after a long time of being gone. What made some folks keep they promises and others break ’em?

One person stood out for her habit of breakin’ her promises, and that was Ruby. I took myself back to the last time I heard my mama on the phone swearing to Big Mama that she was on her way to come and get me and Sister. Nobody knowed it, but I was on the line listening. I thought of the times she’d call and say she was on her way and the ga-trillions of times she wasn’t. Every doggone time she would make me a believer, though. Her voice rolled ’cross the Southern Bell line, sounding too much like rot-gut scotch and Pall Mall Reds. But that didn’t bother me not one bit. I just had to give her a chance to do right every single time. After all, the Scriptures say to honor yo’ mama and daddy, no matter what. I was all for “no matter what.” I ’magined my mama’s pretty mouth on the other end of the phone, promising Big Mama that she was round the corner; and to have us dressed so that she wouldn’t have to turn off the engine of her new Riviera Cutlass Supreme—she got a new one each year, I heard. Like Snow White, I knew that my mama was gonna come and kiss me and wake me up from this horror dream.

My sister, on the other hand, she knowed betta’ than to believe a word Ruby said, and she had no qualms in telling me.

“Gina, you’re stupider than a hound dog. How come you gonna go and believe somebody you barely even know, let alone see, over me your sister? Ruby ain’t coming nowhere to get nobody!” I normally loved to hear Sister talk on things ’cause she was so smart, but on the subject of Ruby, she got more and more on my nerves, and I wasn’t up for listening to her trash.

This one time, Ruby called and I answered the phone. “Hello, who’s this?”

“Is that any way to answer a phone? This here is Ruby. Who the hell is
this?
”

All my insides gathered in the center of me, and I could barely keep still.

“When you coming for us?”

“Who’s this, Regina? Girl, that’s why I’m calling.”

Ruby told me that a friend-girl of hers was gonna pick me and Sister up for the evening. That was all she had to say—I dropped the receiver and ran to find Sister. Me, being the biggest fool believer,
again,
convinced Doretha that “this time” we was leaving for real.

“Come on, Doretha, you gotta give her a chance. This time she gonna come—I could hear it in her voice. Plus she sending somebody else, which means it’s gonna happen.”

“She ain’t coming! Gina, why do you keep this craziness up?”

“Just one mo’ time pleeease! Just get dressed with me this one time.” After what seemed like way too much pleading and promising of what I’d do for her if she agreed, and convincing Sister that Ruby wouldn’t come for just one of us, she finally gave in. I started gettin’ ready. I took to the rag and washed all the places that might hold odor. Starting with my feet, I scrubbed between my toes—just in case Ruby would want to buy me a pair of shoes. After paying a little extra attention to cover up the dirt rings around my ankles, I put on my folded-down white socks, reserved for special occasions, folding ’em up just enough to hide the dirt. I put on clean panties and my best outfit—a light blue dress with a rounded collar. Now the truth is, you could hardly catch me alive in a stupid dress, so for me to be going through all this rigamarole meant I was taking myself real serious. I also threw on a pair of bottom-laced bloomers, just in case my panties wasn’t as clean as they needed to be. They would also let me kick my heels up and sit with my legs open, and nobody’d say nothing.

Then, I brushed my teeth and gargled with my cinnamon rinse, and cupped my hands over my mouth and blew to be sure my breath wasn’t stinky. Saving the best part for last, I started combing my hair. I loved doing hair. Making a zigzag part down the middle of my head, I put a plait on each side. Because my hair usually had so much grease in it from being pressed straight, it didn’t wanna move. Since I wanted it to swing like the li’l white girls I seen, I put barrettes at the ends. Sometimes, if I really wanted a good swing, I’d use clothespins. But that was only when I was gonna hang round the house.

We sat in the small kitchen, staring out the window. Sister waited with me the first hour and asked me if I thought it was queer that Ruby’s friend hadn’t called yet.
Queer,
I thought to myself. I had no idea what that meant, or what she was going on ’bout. Ruby had told us to be dressed, and I had done my part. Now everything was in its place. I decided that since the best view of the street was from the kitchen window, we should take a seat there and wait. I saw lots of cars go by, but not any Rivieras. After a while I just started counting cars, and every time I got to a hundred, I gave myself a point, so that I could tell Ruby that’s how many kisses she owed me for waitin’. My points was addin’ up.

“You don’t have to wait no more,” I told Sister. I could tell Doretha was getting antsy and wanted to go.

“You will be waiting for the cows to come home before you ever see Ruby, stupid! And did you ever notice that we ain’t never had any cows? Stupid jackass!” Doretha yelled, and pushed me as she left the room crying.

I still sat by that window. I kept on waitin’. After a while, my head would go bobbing back and forth. I would catch it each time, ’cause I didn’t want to mess up my hair. I wanted to show Ruby how good I had combed it. I waited longer, watching as many cars as my eyes could catch, hoping one of ’em would pull into the carport. Every now and again, when I’d remember, I’d stand up and smooth the wrinkles from my dress. I sure didn’t want Ruby to think I didn’t try to look nice for her. The very next time I woke myself up Sister was sitting right next to me. This time, she was trying her damnedest to pick a fight with me. She was pinching me and acting crazy by saying stupid stuff. Like I was a dumber ass than she thought me to be, waiting on someone who had no mind to keep her word. As far as I was concerned, Sister was being jealous that I could wait longer than her. She just kept right on making fun. I liked her too much to hurt her, and I knew that if I really went off that I would prob’ly kill her; so I let her pick until she was tired. Just b’fore she ran out the room, she pulled one of my plaits, and the barrettes flew in all directions. I didn’t care. I still waited.

When Big Mama stumbled over me the next morning, nobody said a word. She turned away from me, like she couldn’t stand to look into my face. I simply got up and went to school like I had been planning on it all night.

The next stop we came to looked more like a real bus station. The driver said that everybody should get off and have dinner if we wanted, since this was a designated rest stop. Laying back in my seat, I played like I was asleep, even though I was sure ’nough hungry. I figured it wasn’t nothing sleep couldn’t cure. With my eyes only half opened, I watched Miss Virginia get up and straighten herself out. She was a real pretty woman with good hair that fell back in small pencil-size waves away from her face. After pulling through her hair with a wooden pick, she put on her hat and shoes, grabbed her purse, then turned towards me. I closed my eyes tightly, wishing she would go on without bugging me. Her hand gently touched my upper arm, the place right above my elbow.

“Hey, honey girl, you wanna go and get some food? I know you gotta be hungry.” I played like she had just woke me up from a deep sleep. I stretched my back and legs out and yawned like an alley cat. “Yeah, I’m hungry,” I answered. “But I ain’t got no money.” There, I had said it. Now there was nothing left to be ’shamed of.

“Come on with me then, and let’s see what we can do,” Miss Private Virginia Reed called to me as she turned to get off the bus. I got up and put my shoes on like I had all the right in the world to be going into a restaurant and ordering anything I wanted. I caught up to Miss Virginia as she stepped onto the ground. Somebody must have sprayed the road down where we stood, ’cause it was real wet, and I could see the steam coming up from the ground. I could tell we was still in the South by the way the air felt on my skin. It was still, thick, and sticky, just like home. Miss Virginia had made her way to the cafeteria that was next door to the place where the bus was being serviced. I turned and looked down and saw where Miss Virginia’s footsteps had left wet prints on the concrete. Without a second thought, I placed my own feet in each of her steps and traveled my way to the restaurant door.

Once inside, I realized that I’d never eaten in such a place. Me and Big Mama had always brought our own food while travelin’. She would load us up with sardines, crackers, and li’l cans of Vienna sausages. On real special trips, ones that was longer than usual, we’d have Underwood deviled ham spread sandwiches. We had no reason to eat in fancy restaurants.

Miss Virginia had a tray with fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy; she also had a Dad’s root beer to finish it off. I got the same thing she did, except for the soda. I got a Orange Crush—my sister’s favorite drink. I could feel myself starting to miss all my folks, but I knew I didn’t have time to think ’bout ’em. Miss Virginia was at the cash register, and I slid up right behind her. She told me to get in front and show the man all I had. After ringing up all my goods the man told me that my total would be three dollars and ninety-five cents. I felt my face turn red-hot. I just knew he could see I had no money or peoples and that he wasn’t gonna let Miss Virginia pay for me. I thought I was gonna go on myself.

“Here, ring them together,” I heard her voice say from over my shoulder. As the man rang up our stuff together, Miss Virginia handed him three green cards that had words and numbers wrote all over ’em. After handing her the change, the man sucked his teeth as we went for a table.