CHAPTER 28
Fred was worried that Mary had bad news. He wondered if she had decided to stop coming up to help out every day. Or maybe she had decided that she didn’t want to live there full time. He felt something was wrong and he was afraid of what it was. “Lord, help me,” he murmured as he walked from the kitchen with Derek in tow.
Mary was still sitting in the living room, rocking and clutching her hands as if her life depended on it.
“Miz Mayree, what wrong?” Fred asked as he sat on the couch facing Mary. “Ya feel alright?”
“I feel jus’ fine, Fred,” Mary started. “Bernice help me brang my thangs up here this mornin’,” she said, still rocking, “an’ all my stuff in Junior room back there,” she told him, nodding her head toward Junior’s room. “So I guess I’m goin’ stay here wit’ you an’ the child’n.” Then, as if reminding Fred of his earlier conversation, she said, “You ask me to stay here an’ the Lord told me to stay here so I’m here.” Then she looked at Fred straight on for the first time and said, “This my new home.”
For a minute Fred thought he was imagining the words coming from Mary’s mouth. He removed Derek from his knee and stood up facing Mary, who was still rocking in the chair.
“Miz Mayree, I sho do thank ya fo’ this. Lord knows I thank ya. My child’n sho’ do need a mother in this house ‘cause I can’t be they mother,“ Fred said as he took Mary’s hand from her lap and shook it like he was shaking the hand of someone that had just handed him a check for $1 million. “Lord bless ya, Miz Mayree.”
“I’m goin’ do my best, Fred,” Mary responded as she pulled her hand from Fred’s grip and returned it to her lap. “That’s all I can do is my best.”
By that time Junior and the twins were standing just inside the living room, not sure whether to walk in or stay out. They had heard enough of the conversation to figure out what was going on and, although silent, they were visibly excited.
“Yall come in here an’ sit down,” Fred said to them, pointing to the couch. “I gotta talk ta ya.” He could hardly contain himself.
The children rushed to the couch and sat down, looking from Fred to Mary curiously.
Junior picked up Derek and sat him on the couch also. Then Fred pulled up a chair. As he looked from one small face to the other, he fought back tears of joy.
“Miz Mayree goin’ stay here wit us from now on,” Fred began. “She goin’ be yall’s mother,” he said through a shaky voice.
“Thank ya, Miz Mayree!” Junior said first, smiling larger than life. The twins followed suit. They bounced around on the couch with joy.
“And yall goin’ mind her, ya hear me?” Fred interrupted with a warning “Yessah,” the children said in unison.
“If she ever tell me ya did somethin’ bad, I’m whippin’ ya tails when I git home, ya hear me?” Fred said sternly, looking from face to face.
“Yessah!” They said in unison again.
Fred sat quietly for a moment. Then he turned to Mary. “Miz Mayree, can my child’n call ya ‘Momma’?” Mary was startled momentarily. She looked at Fred. Then she looked at the children as they looked back at her, their eyes filled with excitement.
“Well, I reckon if I’m goin’ be they Momma, they can call me Momma,” Mary said as she looked at Fred with her familiar giggle. “Yeah,” she said, looking at the children again, “yall child’n can call me ‘Momma’.”
“Daddy, you goin’ call Miz Mayree ‘Momma’, too?” asked Mary Jane pleadingly. Fred hesitated, looked at Mary for approval, then said, “Yeah, babe, I’m goin’ call her ‘Momma’ too.” Then, as an after thought, he said, “We all goin’ call her ‘Momma’!” After all, Mary was indeed old enough to be Fred’s mother, as well.
At that moment the children rushed from the couch and stood near Mary in the rocking chair. Fred remained in his chair, watching the children and Mary with a look of renewal sketched across his face.
Junior reached out to Mary first. As he held out his hand to shake Mary’s hand, Mary pulled him to her and hugged him. Then she turned to the twins and hugged them simultaneously.
Finally, she picked up Derek and hugged him then placed him on her lap. Fred stood up and walked over to Mary. He leaned over and hugged her while she continued to hold on to Derek.
“Thank ya, Miz, uh, Momma,” he said as he patted her on the back. “We sho do thank ya.” Fred felt awkward hugging Mary but he felt it needed to be done.
“Don’t thank me,” Mary quipped, shaking off Fred’s hug. “Thank the good Lord. That’s who ya thank!” Then she stood up and placed Derek on the floor before walking from the living room and toward Junior’s room. Then she turned around. “Well, if I’m goin’ stay here, Junior need ta clean out that room back there, don’t ya thank, Fred?”
Then with a giggle she said, “I’m goin’ need somewhere ta lay my head.”
Before Mary finished her sentence, Junior was out of the living room. From the hallway he called back to Fred. “Dad, ya want me to move my stuff to yo room?”
“Yeah, son. Move everythang ta my room,” Fred said, as he walked from the living room into the hallway toward Junior’s room. “But leave yo bed in there. Mama need a bed.” As Fred stood in Junior’s doorway, he continued to talk, “We goin’ go ta her house Friday when I git off work an’ git her bed an’ brang it back here.” Then as an after thought, he said, “Make you a pallet on my floor.”
Then the phone rang. Fred rushed back to the living room. It was Bernice. After exchanging a few words and blessings with her, Fred called Mary to the phone. Then he walked back toward Junior’s room, beckoning the children to follow. He always made the children leave the room whenever he or Mary was on the phone. Still, there was excitement in the air in the Leigh home that night, for sure.
On Mary’s way out of Junior’s room, she passed Fred and the children in the doorway.
“Fred,” she said without stopping, “move that baby’ bed in my room. I want him near me.”
And without hesitating or looking back, she walked into the living room and picked up the phone.