Absalom's Daughters Read Online Free PDF Page B

calculating and narrow.
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    Miz Tabitha Bromley died that year, Christmas Day 1954, one month after Cassie turned sixteen. Miz Tabitha had been married to the late Elmer Tawney, who’d run Tawney’s Store on the south end of Market Street in Heron-Neck ever since he’d come back, one-legged, from the Great War. Miz Tabitha had never changed her last name. That and the fact that Elmer had left her the store against his family’s wishes made the fate of Tawney’s Store a subject of widespread speculation at the time of Miz Tabitha’s death. It was no surprise when Elmer’s relatives got themselves a lawyer from up in Tennessee and announced that there would be an estate sale—not just the merchandise in the store, but every single thing left on the old Tawney plantation.
    Since Miz Tabitha had sold out the front door to whites and out the back door to coloreds, on the day of her funeral, folks on both sides of the tracks were taking down the holiday decorations they’d bought from her at Tawney’s Store. When the Thompson County Weekly announced that the estate sale would be held the next Saturday in February and would be open to all, white and colored, Grandmother marked the date on the OXYDOL DETERGENT calendar that hung on the wall behind the laundry counter. “Miz Tabitha had a new wringer,” she said.
    â€œThey’ll want too much for it,” said Lil Ma, ironing on the board set up beside the stove.
    â€œThey won’t want it the same way they didn’t want her,” said Grandmother.
    Cassie sat by the window where the light was best, even though rain was pouring down outside. She was scrubbing a red wine stain out of Armenia Sutter’s wedding gown. Armenia’s first cousin was getting married, and the wedding gown would be hers. The wedding was in three weeks, but Armenia wanted the dress back tomorrow . In the summer, Cassie would have used vinegar and salt, spread the dress out on the roof in the relentless Mississippi sun, and waited for the elements of nature and the kitchen to do their work. In February, weakened bleach would have to do the job.
    â€œYou’ll ruin the fabric, scraping at it like that.” Grandmother dipped her fingers right into the bleach water and dabbed at the fading stain. “Rub a little at a time. You can’t scratch at it till it’s gone.”
    Lil Ma came out from the kitchen with a basket of freshly ironed shirts. “Why does that woman want it so quick?”
    â€œHer cousin’s gettin’ married,” said Cassie. “Miz Sutter givin’ it to her as a engagement present.”
    â€œIf you’re going to gossip,” said Grandmother, “at least speak properly.”
    â€œAnd how would you know what kind of wedding plans white folks have?” said Lil Ma.
    At that moment, Judith ran past the front window with a scarf over her head and a patched red coat. She flung open the laundry door and pulled the soaked scarf off her head with arms so lanky and long that it almost looked like a magic trick. “Rainin’ like all hail out theah!”
    â€œClose that door tight,” said Grandmother. “You know better than to use that language.”
    Judith flushed as red as her coat and shut the door.
    â€œHow’s Henry?” asked Lil Ma.
    â€œHe sick, ma’am,” said Judith. “He ain’t never been truly well since the weather turned. My momma say he coughin’ too much to be runnin’ round out in the cold.”
    â€œGo in back and get dry.” Lil Ma opened the swinging door in the counter, and Judith passed into the heat of the kitchen. “The stove’s hot. Make yourself some tea.”
    â€œYessum,” said Judith. “Thanks, ma’am.”
    When Judith was out of sight, Grandmother said to Lil Ma in a low voice, “That girl should not be living here.”
    â€œShe’s been