boy.’
And he
did.
‘I
ain’t worried ‘bout yo’ pride, honey. You can see
that Ernestine is out tryin t’make men appreciate what she got.
That’s ‘cause she want sumpin’. She want
satisfaction.’
Ernestine started crying.
Mouse had
that invisible smile across his face.
‘I
can he’p you chirren,’ Momma said. ‘I got a powder
bring out what’s sleepin’ in you, make you see each other
a whole new way.’
She went
to her table and started working with her powders and spoons. Mouse
crawled over and nudged my arm. ‘Oh this gonna be a gem, Easy,’
he whispered. ‘Momma Jo’s especiality is love.’
‘But
what’s this gotta do wit’ yo’ stepdaddy?’
‘Dont
know, but it’s lookin’ good,’ he said. ‘Aftah
while I’ma go out t’see a friend. Don’t you be
worried though.’
‘I
go wichyou.’
‘Uh-uh,
Easy. These country folks don’t like crowds too much.’
Right then
Momma Jo interrupted, ‘Ezekiel? Honey, reach over on that shelf
and bring me that blue jug. Yeah, that’s it. Bring it over
here, baby. Now, Clifton an’ Ernestine you’all bring me
yo’ cups.’
She poured
a strong alcohol liquid into their bowls and then carefully measured
some powder and dried leaves into each one.
Clifton
got a brown powder and Ernestine a white. ‘Now drink it all
down at once, don’t leave nuthin in the cup… yeah, that’s
it.’
They did
what she said like they were children. But I didn’t question it
either, because that’s how life was back then. You listened to
older folks and did what you were told. Even if you knew better you’d
follow the rules because that’s how we were raised. Everybody
but Mouse.
Mouse
never took an order unless that’s what he wanted to do. Mouse
wasn’t the only man I knew who’d stand up for what he
believed, but he was different in one way: Most men who stood up for
themselves would rather die than be slaves; Mouse would’ve
rather killed.
‘Okay,
babies,’ Momma said to Ernestine and Clifton. ‘You go sit
together next to the hearth. Ezekiel baby? Why don’t you blow
out some’a them lights an’ I tell you all a story.’
Chapter Four
I went
around the big room blowing out lamps. It became more nighttime than
ever but I knew it was afternoon not ten yards from where we sat.
Momma Jo brought her stool in front of us and looked down on the two
lovers.
‘How you chirren feelin’?’
‘Fine,’ they said together.
Clifton
had softened with the drink. I think he felt better too, once he told
Jo his story. Good men always need to confess.
‘That’s
good,’ she said. ‘You was lookin’ at my husband,
huh, ‘Zekiel?’
I felt her
attention burning on me even though she was looking at them.
‘What
husband?’ I asked.
‘That’s
him up on the mantel place,’ she said, nodding at the row of
skulls. ‘I met him more’n twenny-three years ago. I’as
just a girl, hardly in my teens. He was a big man with a great big
laugh and powerful arms. Ev’rything about Domaque was big.’
A shiver
ran through Ernestine.
‘But
the biggest thing about him was his heart,’ Momma Jo continued.
‘He loved chirren an’ animals an’ trees an’
even dirt. He used to say that he wanted everybody to know him an’
he wanted to get to know ev’rybody he could.
‘If
a man had a job to do and it was too much for him, he’d call on
Domaque an’ that job was done. Dom didn’t ask fo’money
or barter or anything; if you give him somethin’ he was glad
t’take it and if you couldn’t pay, well, Dom knew what it
was like t’be poor too.’
The lovers
were frozen like startled deer. But every once in a while Ernestine
shook.
Momma Jo
flashed her yellow teeth and said, ‘Well, you know it’s
the same old story over and over again. I was a big girl fo’my
age. Matter’a fact I was bigger’n most women by the time
I was thirteen, and womanly too. My parents wanted t’fool
themselves that I was still a chile, but