Playing by the Rules: A Novel (11 page)

“It won’t hurt to make yourself presentable. You’re twenty-six years old, and instead of dressing like a tomboy you should be looking more like a lady. Look at you now, with that sweatshirt on.” Nana threw up her arm at Louise as if the extra-large sweatshirt over her medium frame exemplified the kind of sloppiness she was talking about.

Louise felt her grandmother had gone too far, and it was time to go. “Nana, I love you. I’ll read the book. Just promise me you won’t quiz me on it. Besides, I don’t know if I want to get married. I don’t believe marriage is necessarily part of the natural order of things, nor is it the answer to loneliness, boredom, or even happiness for that matter. It didn’t work for Faye. And I know you may find this hard to believe, but not everyone wants to have children.” Louise grabbed more aluminum foil and finished wrapping up her leftovers. After packing up the food, she kissed and thanked Nana, then did an about-face so her grandmother could see the reverse side of her Afrobabies sweatshirt sign that displayed the word “Peace.”

As Louise turned the key and opened the outside door to her house, she heard the phone ringing. Taking two steps at a time, she reached the second floor and answered it.

“Hello,” she said out of breath.

“Who’s chasing you?” Medford asked.

“No one. I just came from Nana’s,” Louise managed to get out.

“Will you be home for a while? I’d like to come over.”

“Sure. I’ll be here for the rest of the day,” she said, still panting.

“See you shortly.” Medford hung up. He didn’t like the way Louise had left him last night, but it wasn’t worth bringing up. He had more important things to discuss with her.

Louise didn’t know what there could possibly be to talk about that couldn’t be communicated over the phone, and questioned whether or not Medford’s change of heart was even worth having a conversation about at all. Yet whatever was on his mind, she guessed it must be important. Breaking up was hard enough to do without scheduling a meeting about it. She would rather she and Medford just see less of each other or have the whole thing fade away like ink on an old newspaper long forgotten in an attic. Eventually they’d be back to just having sex like they usually did around the time of the Annual County Fair, and that would be just fine with her.

She turned on the oven to warm up the leftovers to eat.

By the time Medford arrived, she had finished washing the dishes.

They sat down at the kitchen table. After noticing the intense look on Medford’s face, Louise stood up and offered him a drink. Taking a glass from the cabinet, she poured some Boone’s Farm Apple Wine for herself and a shot of Johnny Walker Red for her guest.

Medford took a swig and let out the sound he usually made when the first taste of Scotch went down warm, creating a burning
sensation. He reached across the table for Louise’s hand, and she allowed him to take it.

“I’ve known you and your family for a long time.” He cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind my saying so, I’ve watched you grow into a fine young woman. It’s a fact that I’m a lot older than you but age ain’t nothing but a number, and I’ve always wanted to care for you. Not take care
of
you, mind you, ‘cause I know you’re a liberated woman. It may bother some of these brothers out here, the way you are, but I ain’t scared of you, so don’t think you’re gonna run me off.” He took time to catch his breath. “I’m not threatened by a strong woman. A woman who’s got the courage to keep her power appeals to me, and you’re a big part of what I need in my life.”

“A big part of what you need in your life?” Louise repeated, making sure she had heard him correctly. “What’s the other part?” she asked, half-joking.

“That’s one thing I need to sort out for myself. I can’t talk about it right now, but let’s say I’ve got some searching to do and when I’m done we can be together. I just need to know that you’ll be waiting for me.”

“Waiting?” Louise repeated. “I don’t like to be kept hanging.”

“Louise, you know I was adopted, right?”

Louise nodded her head.

Medford didn’t know how much he should tell her about his mission, mainly because he didn’t know that much about it himself. “I can’t tell you the details right now. But I need you to be patient. And then I need you to say yes.”

Louise didn’t respond on purpose, since she couldn’t think of any promises at that moment that she could keep.

Medford knew that marriage was something to be taken seriously, and he wanted to delay making his proposal official to Louise because he didn’t think the timing was right. He poured himself
one last shot of Scotch and slugged it down immediately. When he stood up, he put the red-and-black checkered jacket back on that Louise had given him for Christmas. Taking his gray wool hat out of his pocket, he lowered the flaps down over his ears, then kissed his girlfriend tenderly on the lips to let her know how gentle his persuasion could be. “I love you,” he said, waiting for Louise to reciprocate.

She cleared her throat. “I like you too, Medford,” was all Louise could offer. “It’s all happening way too fast for me anyway.” She looked at the table, then lifted her eyes to him again. “Remember, we haven’t spent enough time together to talk about love.”

“If you think about it, you’ve known me all your life, and I’ve known you for damn near half of mine. Not many folks get to spend that much time together. So don’t sweat the clock, baby. Look at what’s real.” He smoothed back her hair with his hand and kissed her on her forehead. “Have a good day, Louise.” After that, he closed the door.

Louise felt like Medford had left her with too much to think about, which wasn’t fair. She didn’t like guessing games and couldn’t believe he was asking her to commit to something he didn’t even bother to explain. It wasn’t like him to mess with her head, but if he didn’t want to discuss what was on his mind, that was his problem and she shouldn’t care. Life shouldn’t be so heavy, she thought as she got up from the table; it should be more about having fun.

Confused by the encounter, Louise needed a distraction from what had just taken place. Torn between doing an activity like making fruit juice in her new Sunbeam blender or reading
The Correct Thing to Do, to Say, to Wear
to take her mind off the conversation, she opted to sort through her albums and listen to Marvin Gaye. Stretching out on her couch while finishing her glass of wine, she tossed and turned trying to relax and get comfortable. When she finally did, it was “Let’s Get It On” that was coming
through the speakers, and the image of Jeremiah that was entering her mind.

When the song ended, Louise got the urge to call her sisterin-law. It was so quiet in the two-family house she could hear the phone ringing downstairs. While she was waiting for it to be picked up she thought about Rule Number Three: AIRING YOUR DIRTY LAUNDRY OUT IN THE STREET WILL SMELL UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD. But she was comfortable that this would be an exploratory conversation.

“Hello,” answered Elvira.

“Is Billy there?” Louise asked in a loud whisper.

“No. He had to work today. What’s going on? You sound funny.”

“I have to talk to you about Medford.”

“Wasn’t that a nice gift he gave you?” Elvira asked, making small talk.

“No,” Louise said flatly.

“You didn’t like the Sunbeam blender?” Elvira was surprised. “Girl, what’s wrong with you? That was expensive. That was the hottest-selling kitchen appliance in the stores this year. Those type a’ things hardly ever go on sale, and I know they ran out of ‘em downtown ‘cause I was looking for one for myself. If you don’t like it, give it here. Matter of fact, I could use it tonight to experiment with a recipe I found that makes a cracker dip out of vegetables and ground beef.”

Louise rolled her eyes. “Vi, listen. I’ve got to talk to you about Medford,” Louise repeated with a sense of urgency.

“Oooh. Sorry, girl. That’s right. You called me. You know sometimes how I can get carried away.” Elvira laid the phone flat against her ear, then sat down and propped her legs on the chair at the kitchen table. “What happened? What’d he do?”

“To answer both your questions, ‘I don’t know,’ but he says he’s searching for something and I still think he’s seeing someone else even though he ain’t saying.” Louise let out a big sigh. “I don’t know why he won’t just come out with it. He doesn’t have to beat around the bush. ‘Sides, the only thing a grown man searches for is women or whiskey, and Medford drinks Scotch.”

“Naw, he ain’t with another woman, Lou,” said Elvira. “Why you say that?”

“He ain’t been himself lately. He’s been distant, like his mind is always someplace else. There’s something going on that he’s not telling me, and I hate secrets. Something just ain’t right.”

“Aw…it’s just the holidays.” Elvira didn’t want to be dismissive, but at the same time she didn’t want Louise to worry.

“You mean running around shopping? Being stressed out? I don’t think that’s it,” Louise said, frustrated. “This is different.”

“You know that man loves you. You got his nose wide open, can put a big ring in it and tug on it like it’s a leash.” Elvira giggled.

“What do you think about Jeremiah?” Louise shifted gears.

“Who?” Elvira stopped laughing.

“You know, the Outsider.”

Elvira took her feet down from the chair and sat up straight. “Girl, you got to be out your mind! You better quit thinkin’ ‘bout that. You know what happened to Faye messin’ ‘round with one of them. You know better. That ain’t right. You can’t go ‘round with no stranger you don’t know. Didn’t you learn that lesson last year? What does it take to get somethin’ through your head, now? You better stick with Medford like you got some sense. At least you know what you’re getting into. You know you got a good thing, girl. He’s just going through a phase, that’s all. Whatever it is, it’s only temporary. Don’t you worry. He’ll come around.”

“Alright. Alright. I just asked a simple question. You don’t have to go on and on over the deep end. Forget I ever mentioned it, and don’t tell Billy.”

“You don’t have to remind me. I won’t say a word. I ain’t no fool. You just don’t go and do nothing stupid.”

Elvira tried not to get excited when she heard something she thought would be of interest to others, but she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t mean to share as much information as she did, but words would bubble up inside her like lava in a volcano and before she knew it, everything would spill out.

As soon as Billy got home from work, Elvira told him all about what was on his sister’s mind. Billy just sat in his favorite chair and listened. Under these kinds of circumstances, he usually kept his thoughts to himself. Since his sister was grown and there wasn’t any imposing threat, he didn’t feel a need to take any action. The only thing he hoped was that he wouldn’t have to repeat what he’d experienced last year with his other sister, Faye—a bad situation with an Outsider, in which he finally had to intercede. He no more needed another murder investigation than Joe Frazier wanted to be hammered by George Foreman again, or Hall of Fame player Frank Robinson wanted to be passed over for a manager’s position in major-league baseball.

It was a cloudless day in 1867 when Pastor Lucas T. Walker ventured up to Mt. Overpeck, where he meditated for a day or two. As the legend goes, it was the sacred place where God delivered him The Rules to pass on to all the Lemonites. It was a document that they should abide by in order to provide guidance to the town and its people. Everyone knew that the pastor had terrible handwriting and debilitating arthritis and that the parchment with the expert lettering could not possibly have been crafted by him. After much examination, the townspeople deemed the gift a miracle, and from that day forward they accepted The Rules as a guide for living because the dogma also made perfect sense.

The mountains created an ideal environment to support The Rules. Since the townspeople were surrounded by massive rock, it provided a natural barrier to keep strangers out while serving as a wall of protection to keep the Lemonites in. The Rules warning about Outsiders in general had merit. There was no doubt that the doctrine was responsible for making Lemon City the success it was today, but as Nana stood on her porch admiring her view, she
was conflicted. She couldn’t help but think about these two new Outsiders in particular, why they blew onto her porch on Christmas Day, why everyone was touched by their story, especially that of the little girl. Ruby Rose needed to be around some good women to find her example, Nana decided. Traveling on the road with her older brother, running from the law, was no way for a young girl to grow into womanhood. There would be no harm done if they remained in the cottage until the Annual County Fair in September, she thought—just long enough for them to collect their bearings and let a little time pass. Since she had talked her husband into letting them stay for these two nights, eight more months wouldn’t hurt, and she laughed at the wide range of comparison. She’d tell Granddaddy she was making an exception for the girl, that it was in her best interest, and with a little arm twisting, she hoped he’d understand. Now she wanted to know what Jeremiah thought about her idea and she picked up the phone to find out.