CHAPTER 15
Mary sat up with a start. “Uh, Mr. Leigh,” she started, squeezing her hands together and pressing them deep into her lap. “I been thankin’ ‘bout somethin’ lately.” She cleared her throat and talked on. “I was just wonderin’ what ya thank ‘bout me comin’ up here an’ helpin’ out a li’l bit wit’ the child’n?” Mary spoke softly, nervously stroking the top of her right hand with her left one. The room fell silent again. She glanced at Fred as he stared at her, his mouth open but no words emerging. Then he stood up abruptly and walked over to Mary, extending his hand in genuine appreciation as he went.
“Miz Mayree, I like that a lot, I sho do,” he said as he took Mary’s hand from her lap and began shaking it. He continued, “I ’preciate it too, Miz Mayree, Lord knows I ’preciate it!” By now Mary had come to her feet and Fred was still holding her hand, although the shaking had ceased. They stood face to face and Mary wasn’t sure what to say or do next.
Fred spoke again. “Ya know, Miz Mayree, the good Lord answer prayers, Lord knows He do!” Then Fred opened up even more. “Miz Mayree, you know somethin’?
kinfolks been comin’ here an’ callin’ me askin’ to take some of my child’n. I told ’em I ain’t goin’ split up my child’n. They take ‘em all or they don’t git none of ‘em. That what I told ‘em. I ain’t goin’ split up my child’n,” he now spoke in a high pitched voice, which signaled his excitement. Then he confessed, “I promise my wife I wouldn’ separate ‘em an’ I ain’t goin’ separate ‘em. They goin’ stay together.”
“That good, Mr. Leigh. That mighty fine of you.” Mary cleared her throat again. “Now I ain’t promise ya I’m goin’ stay, Mr. Leigh, but it ain’t no harm in tryin’, ain’t that right, child’n?” She let out her first visibly nervous chuckle since her arrival.
“Yessum!” the children said in singsong fashion; even Junior giggled and nudged his arms against the twins excitedly.
“Uh, Miz Mayree,” Fred started, “please don’t call me ’Mr. Leigh’. Jus’ call me Fred, please. I sho would 'preciate that.”
“That be fine, Mr., uh, Fred. It goin’ take some gittin’ used to, but that be fine wit’ me,” Mary chuckled.
Back home, Mary went about her business of preparing supper while Bernice was away at college. Bernice attended a small community college in Memphis where she drove her old but dependable truck a few days a week. She also worked at a department store in Memphis four days a week.
Bernice realized once she graduated, she would have to make a very important decision in her life, and that decision would not include Leesville. She knew also that leaving Leesville would cause some tongues to wag but she was determined to expand her knowledge of the world and its people. As dedicated as she was to her family, she was also an independent thinker. She knew she had so much more to offer the world than what she had given already, and she was determined to step out on faith.
Of course, Bernice’s main concern was leaving Mary, although she knew she would always come back to visit as often as she could. In the meantime, she had tried in vein to get Mary involved in goings-on throughout Leesville and the surrounding communities. She even attempted, on a few occasions, to match Mary with a nice gentleman companion, but Mary had dismissed the idea totally, saying that she'd had her share of men and that she didn’t “want to have that headache again.” Mary had said often that “I can come and go as I please and ain’t no man tellin’ me what ta do,“ whenever anybody tried to get into her personal business.
Having been widowed for many years, Mary had long before gotten used to being without a constant male companion and was now “set in her ways,” as Bernice had often quipped to her.
Mary much preferred to stay home and sew, having been an expert seamstress for many years; she often sewed for the townspeople as well as out-of-towners. Over the years, her name and skills had spread like a raging inferno and she was kept much busier than she cared to be oftentimes. Still, she enjoyed her life tremendously and felt no desire or need to include anything or anyone else in her daily routine of activities until most recently.