Playing by the Rules: A Novel (21 page)

Disappointment weighed heavily on Medford like an anvil resting on his chest, but then he remembered he hadn’t gone to the Child Welfare Bureau. Spotting the arrow pointing to the other end of the hallway, he grabbed Ruby Rose’s hand and followed the sign.

Chester Goody was biting the last remaining nail on his finger while reading the
Lemon City Chronicle
. He was sitting at his desk, peering at the clock every now and then as he usually did when it was an hour before quitting time. The Child Welfare Bureau was hardly ever busy, and today the phone had rung only four times, so when the two people came walking through the door, he was looking forward to having direct human contact and conversation.

“What can I do for you two today?” Chester offered getting up from his desk, trying not to appear too anxious to help. He looked the tall, dark-skinned man up and down, lingering a bit longer on his face. “Medford, is that you?”

“You know me?” Medford asked the man, who looked to be about the same age as Clement and Granddaddy.

“I know your father, Clement. I see you two together in town. Figured you were his son.” He glanced down at Ruby Rose. “That your daughter?”

“No. Sorry. This here is my friend, Ruby Rose.” The way Chester looked at him, Medford thought he’d rephrase the statement. “Ruby Rose is a family friend. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m here… because of family.”

“Pray, tell,” said Chester, becoming more interested.

Tired of hearing the same story over and over again, Ruby Rose found a chair and began to read her social studies book while Medford explained about his mama.

“If you know my father, then you’re probably familiar with the story.” Medford made sure that Chester understood.

“Sure am.” Chester nodded, looking at the clock, determining he still had time to chat. “Never forget it. Seemed like every other week there was a headline about it in the
Chronicle
, or a story in the news. Let’s see, that was back there in the late twenties…”

“Nineteen twenty-nine, to be exact. In fact, the reason I’m here is because I’m investigating how I got to Lemon City. What exactly happened? Why did it happen? Somebody must know something.”

“We was all together,” started Chester.

“Who?” asked Medford.

“Back in high school, we were all in the same class—Clement, Willie, Ernestine, Lurleen, Easley, Theola, Sadie, and Vernelle. They used to be in a group. All of ‘em as tight as a metal cap on a bottle of root beer.” Chester laughed at his own little joke. “But I also knew Earthalee Tisdale.”

“Earthalee?”

“Yes. Earthalee wasn’t in that group. But I knew her too.”

“The woman who owns and manages Do Drop In Stay As Long As You Like?” Do Drop In was an apothecary, on Mansahutten and Main, on the other side of town.

“That would be the same.”

“What about her?”

Chester looked at the clock. He had about a half-hour left before closing, enough time to tell his story.

“Earthalee Tisdale. Everyone used to call her Dizzy-Tizzy, but she wasn’t nobody’s fool. She was ambitious and ruddy-looking; a
woman whose name suited her, because she was as brown as the earth with her feet planted firmly on the ground because it seemed no one could uproot her from her opinions, least of all me, but I’ll get to that later. She was a woman who knew what she wanted and would stop at nothing to get it. When Earthalee decided to expand on the apothecary her great-great-great-grandfather Solomon Butler built, she knocked down and renovated the original structure, made it more modern, and turned it into a coffee shop so folks could have a casual place to eat and relax. Then she built a large addition off the coffee shop for the drugstore part of her business. In the middle of her project, something terrible happened. Her husband Horace died when he was crushed by fallen scaffolding that broke his back. But that didn’t strop Earthalee. She wanted to stay on schedule, and that’s when she found herself a new husband named Profitt to finish what she started, and things have been going smooth for her ever since. Of course, Earthalee had it in her mind since high school that she was gonna be successful, and that’s when we dated, but she left me for Horace.”

Chester lowered his eyes to the counter, shaking his head, remembering the day he was dumped like old clothes into the Goodwill bin like it was yesterday. Medford wondered what this story had to do with him.

“Now here’s the part I think you’ll find interesting.” Chester began to perk back up. “Next thing I know, I see Earthalee walking down the street and she’s bigger than I’ve ever seen her before. Looked to be round in a family kind of way to me. Then the next thing I know is I don’t see her for almost a year and when I do, she’s back to being herself again. Now I always had been suspicious about that—women skinny and then fat and then skinny again—weight going up and down like a yo-yo, disappearing for an extended period of time. Maybe she told her first husband,
Horace, she didn’t want any kids and she got pregnant and went away somewhere and had you. Now that you’re standing here telling me that you’re looking for you mama, I’m thinking Earth-alee might be the one. She’s probably the right age to have given birth to a man like you. She’s a big woman now and you’re kinda big-boned yourself. Don’t hold me to it, but I’m sure you’re familiar with Rule Number Six: ‘What Goes Around Will Always Come Back Around and Hit You in the Head.’ ” Chester leaned over the counter, closer to Medford, so Ruby Rose couldn’t hear. “All I know is, sooner or later, you were bound to show up and come a-lookin’ for her.” Chester took a deep breath, then glanced at the clock. “If I were you, I’d have a talk with Earthalee. But remember Rule Number Four: ‘Don’t Let the Mojo Lady Know You Got Troubles. If You Do, She’ll Give You More.’ ” Chester leaned closer to Medford and said in a whisper, “If I were you, I’d also keep this to myself.” He made a head gesture toward Ruby Rose. “I’d suggest you go to Do Drop In Stay As Long As You Like, but you probably won’t make it there before closing time. The doors lock at five o’clock on Thursdays.”

Ruby Rose gasped at how late it was. “Medford, I have to be at Elvira’s by five-thirty.”

“What’s your name again?” Medford thought that was an amazing story.

“Chester… Chester Goody… that’s with a ‘y.’ Some people think it’s spelled with an ‘ing,’ but that’s not me. That’s someone else.”

“Chester, brother. Thanks a million.” Medford shook his hand.

“My pleasure.” As Medford and Ruby Rose walked out the door, Chester added, “I thought Earthalee was coming back to me after Horace died, but she got attached to Profitt instead.”

Medford closed the door.

“I wished things had turned out different,” Chester continued,
talking to himself. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy for her. Honestly I am,” he said to no one. He searched his fingernails for something left to chew and found a piece of skin to satisfy his hunger, then he turned out the lights and locked the door.

When Medford got into his pickup, he hoped it would be the last time he’d have to see Town Hall. He had a smile on his face and was happy for the lead. He was excited to learn about Earth-alee. However, since Do Drop In Stay As Long As You Like was on the other side of town and he had only been there on a few occasions, he had a hard time attaching a face to the name. Now that he had his first piece of concrete information—had finally encountered someone who had some thoughts on the matter, despite the fact that the old guy was a little weird—Medford thought he’d follow up first thing in the morning. At that moment, his stomach began to feel queasy, and he pulled over to the side of the road and vomited.

Ruby Rose watched in horror until she realized Medford’s stomach was probably having a hard time digesting everything that had happened today.

“I’ll go with you in the morning,” she offered, while reaching over to pat his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’m your friend.”

Medford looked at the little girl who was becoming such a gem in his life.

Ruby Rose was trying to read her social studies book, but every time Medford hit a bump in the road her eyes jumped off the page. So far she had just learned about the Civil War, which was the chapter preceding Lemon City history. She’d read about the Founding Fathers, the five men who established Lemon City: Benjamin T. Washington, who was responsible for Religion; Shadrach Mosby Dunlap, who was responsible for Law and Government; Tobias Crawford, whose area was Education; Eli Johnson,
whose job was Agriculture; and Solomon Butler, who was responsible for Medicine and Health.

Based on her new knowledge, she determined that if Medford was related to Earthalee Tisdale, whose great-great-grandfather was Solomon Butler, then he would be descended from one of the Founding Fathers of Lemon City, and she thought that would be pretty cool. If that were the case, she also thought it would be pretty neat that his ancestor’s name was Jeremiah. More than a coincidence, it would be something else they had in common.

Medford pulled up outside the two-family house and Ruby Rose jumped out of the truck.

“Don’t forget to pick me up in the morning.”

“Okay. I’ll call first.”

“Okay.” Ruby Rose trotted up the walkway and rang Elvira’s doorbell.

Medford looked upstairs to see if there was any movement in Louise’s top half of the house. The curtains were pulled back and the windows were cracked open, but it didn’t look like anyone was home.

When Elvira came to the door, she and Medford waved to each other. Then he pressed the clutch down to the floor, put the truck in gear, and pulled off.

As soon as Ruby Rose walked through the door, she was excited to tell Elvira everything she had learned about the Civil War, leading up to Lemon City history. Then she said hello to Billy and gave him a big hug. Then she turned around suddenly, having heard unexpected footsteps coming from the kitchen. The sight of Louise made her jaw drop and her feet stop dead in her tracks as if they had their own brakes.

“Hello, Ruby Rose,” said Louise, coming out of the kitchen. “Elvira tells me you’re a pretty good student.” When Ruby Rose didn’t respond, Louise continued. “Because you work really hard,
and I hear you’re doing so well, I thought you deserved a little reward. I was hoping after your lesson today, the three of us could make some lemon cookies.”

Ruby Rose looked at Elvira, who nodded her head and smiled. Then she looked at Louise and was at a loss for words. She didn’t want to respond with the truth, but she didn’t want to tell a lie.

“What do you say to that?” asked Elvira, prodding for a favorable response.

“I guess it’s okay.” Ruby Rose looked at her shoes.

“Okay?” asked Billy, who couldn’t help overhearing. “Is that all you have to say? All that sugar you just gave me, I know you must like sweets.”

Ruby Rose giggled when she looked at Billy, but her mouth straightened when she returned to Louise. “I like cookies.”

“Good.” Louise smiled. “Just come on back in the kitchen when you’re done. We’ll have fun.” Then she disappeared behind the door.

Ruby Rose took a test that Elvira gave her based on her social studies homework. After that it was time for science, and Elvira gave an introduction to the biology of plants. Botany, she called it, and spoke specifically about the growth process, using tomatoes as an example. By the time the lesson ended, Ruby Rose knew a lot about tomatoes—the classification of seeds, tomato reproduction, how to plant a tomato garden, the different tomato varieties, pests and diseases. The more she learned about tomatoes, the more respect she had for Nana and the more guilty she felt about giving Ole Miss Johnson the jumbo bush. She wished she could get it back from the old lady, but she already knew it was too late.

Now that Louise was making an effort to be nice to her, Ruby Rose was starting to feel guilty about that too. Maybe she was wrong about Louise. It was probably way too early to tell, since
baking a batch of cookies wasn’t enough evidence to remove her doubt.

When Ruby Rose’s home schooling ended, she dragged her feet to the kitchen. Elvira and Louise were waiting for her so they could begin to prepare the cookie dough. They tried to get Billy to join them, but he complained there were too many women in the kitchen and he went to visit Granddaddy across the street.

While Ruby Rose was measuring the flour, she kept looking up at Louise as if she were waiting for a two-headed monster to appear, but it never did. When they finished making the batter and dropping the round shapes onto the cookie sheet, they listened to music. Elvira had an eight-track tape that played all the songs Ruby Rose heard on the radio, and they danced while they waited for the cookies to bake.

They talked about the last episode of
Good Times
, in which J.J. sold the family TV set in exchange for rent money, and how awful that was. When they started feeling sad, they cheered themselves up by talking about all the rides, games, and various performances and the amazing animals in the petting zoo at the Annual County Fair. With only four months left to go until the big event, the sisters promised Ruby Rose she’d have the time of her life.

When the cookies finished baking and cooling, they ate them along with a cold glass of milk.

“Let’s not care about spoiling our appetites, just for one day,” exclaimed Elvira. “I’m starving.”

“Yeah. Let’s have cookies for dinner,” agreed Ruby Rose, toasting the sisters.

“I’ll drink to that.” Louise winked at Ruby Rose.

Ruby Rose half-smiled at Louise, which was more of a reflex reaction than a show of kindness. She also chose not to reciprocate the wink.

When they were all stuffed, Elvira put some cookies away for Billy. She also set aside a couple dozen for her fourth-grade class at school, and while she was saving cookies for other people, she ate a few more herself.

It was getting late and Ruby Rose decided it was time to go home. She put on her sweater and grabbed her books.

“Ruby Rose, would you like me to walk you to the cottage?” Louise was cheerful, feeling good about their time together.

Ruby Rose bristled like a porcupine, feeling the goose bumps rise on her neck. “No thank you. I know the way,” she said coldly.