They had joined in “yes-my-darling” a week ago, along with three more girls in their class. Anytime someone you had joined in with called your name and you said “huh” like Ludell had, or “what” “yes” or anything but “yes-my-darling,” you had to do whatever that person told you.
“Well it don’ make no difference your catching me, Ruthie Mae, cause you still owe me one from that time I caught you in school and Mis Rivers came back in the room before I could make you do anything.”
“Okay then,” she said. “We even.”
“Let’s go jump some sprangboard,” suggested Ludell.
“All right, but we gotta make a new one. Know that good sprangboard we had all this week?”
“Yeah,” said Ludell as they walked around back. “What about it? Where’s it at?” she asked, looking where they’d jumped the day before.
“Well,” began Ruthie Mae. “Mr. Willie had the devil in him bout me throwing his books in the mud, and since Mattie wouldn’t let him beat me, he came out here and chopped up ou-r sprangboard for spite. Took the boards and used them for firewood in our room. Alllll the wood we got back here, and he had to chop up our sprangboard. Firse place he didn’t need to start no fire, cause it aine cold. He got it justa blazing in the front room fireplace! Mattie she asked him why he started a fire, and he come talking bout to take the dampness off the house. Mama gon dampness him, cause I’m sho gon tell! Him wasting that wood like that! When it really git cold and we be short o’ wood he gon be wishing he hadda saved it! Come on over here behind the wood shack, there’s some long pieces stacked back there. Maybe we can find another good wide board like we had. He-eey, there go a good piece right over yonder! Come on, help me pull it outta there.”
They pulled the board out from under the stack, then took two short blocks of wood and placed them beneath it, and their new sprangboard was ready.
Willie walked out the back door just as they were finishing and looked at them and laughed.
“You thank you hurt somebody, don’t ya?” hollered Ruthie Mae. “But we got a better one than we had before!”
“Oh I aine stutting bout yall,” he said, going on about his business picking up pecans.
Willie was always getting into it with Ruthie Mae, but he never messed with Ludell except going or coming from school. The rest of the time he just ignored her, even when she tried to be friendly. He’d pass by her in their house just like she was a chair, and outside like she was a tree or something standing there. He was so innocent at home! Ludell was sure that was why Mis Johnson didn’t do no more than fuss a little when she’d told about him chasing her from school. She knew Mis Johnson probably thought she started it all, the way that boy was so quiet around her. Other than hollering at Ruthie Mae—which he did very little of in front of his mama—he hardly said a word. Sometimes Ludell would catch him looking at her out the corner of his eye; then he’d quickly turn the other way. He was so-ooome strange to her, that Willie.
Ruthie Mae stepped on one end of the sprangboard and Ludell on the other. As they bounced each other into the air they sang, “My mama gave me fifteen cent, to see the elephant jump the fence . . .”
“Sure wished I had some money for real,” Ludell said as they continued to bounce each other higher and higher.
“Me too,” said Ruthie Mae. “Mama was short of money this morning, so she said to eat all ou-r breakfast and that would hold us till we came from school. I thought she was gon have something good waiting, but she just left word for Mattie to heat up some peas and rice from las night if we wanted something ’fore supper. Shoot, I just rather starve till this evening myself, cause I aine in the mood for no heated-up mess like that!”
Ludell laughed and went, “I know what you mean chile.” She paused, then said, “On the way over here I was looking down wishing I could find me a nickel or something.”
“Onetime I found a whole dollar!” Ruthie Mae shouted. “And gir-rl,” she said, starting to jump slower, “I bought me so much good can-deee! And ya know them big pickles roun to Mis Kelly’s that come in the package with the juice?”
“Yeah,” said Ludell.
“Well I used to always say when I got me fifteen cents at one time, I was gonna git me one of them sw-eeeet big juicy lookin pickles! Well, girl, I bought one and foundt out they wasn’t no sweet pickles! That thang was so sour! I couldn’t even git that greedy Hawk to eat it, and you know that Hawk! He usually eat ANY-THANG!” she shouted, causing them both to laugh so heartily that they missed and jumped completely off the springboard.
“Oooh, I nearly bout broke my leg chile,” cried Ludell. “I ’on wanna jump no mo! Yeeah, I really do wish I had some money,” she said, rubbing her leg as they walked around front.
“No more than I do,” said Ruthie Mae. “If Willie hadn’t picked up them las lil pe-cans, we coulda at least got them together and traded for a quarter’s worth o’ candy. And I’d ’ave made sure to ask for the candy insteada the money too, cause one day las week, me, Buddie Boy, and Hawk had picked a big-o bag fulla pe-cans, and when we went roun to Mis Kelly’s to sell them, she come giving us a dime apiece. One thin dime!” she shouted. “Willie said we shoulda waited and went to the pe-can factory. He said he bet we coulda got bout two dollars for all them pe-cans we had. He say that’s what Mis Kelly do when she git enough up from all the Colored children roun here dumb enough to take their pe-cans to her—like me and Hawk nem. Willie say she take em rat uptown and sell em!”
“That’s a shame!” Ludell said as they flopped down on the steps.
“I hate to see pe-can season leaving,” went Ruthie Mae. “At least you could trade them when you be hungry.”
“Or eat em one,” Ludell added. “All of em gone offa ou-r tree for the season already.”
“Them got to be the last of ou-rs what the rain knocked down today,” said Ruthie Mae. “Willie would have bout a whole croker sack full by now, if the rest o’ us hadn’t been stealing em—running roun to Mis Kelly’s like fools, plus eating em up. That’s why he took em inside. Got em way in back of mama’s chiafarobe wit all kine o’ junk piled round em, where aine no way you can git in em wifout making some noise!”
“Hee, hee,” laughed Ludell. “You must be done tried.”
“You know that!” she shouted. “I’ll sure be glad when he do sell them,” she continued. “So I can get my money. I wish it was today. We could go roun to Mis Kelly’s and git some of them new kind o’ creme cookies she got. You only get ten for a dime, but they worth it! They got thick creamy lemon iceling in the middle, and . . .”
“Oh hush, don’t talk about them no mo girl!” went Ludell. “I caine stand it! You making me so hungry, and I aine in no hurry for supper cause we had stewbeef left over from supper las night, and wit mama ironing she aine bout gon stop to cook nothing new for tonight. And chile, nothing in the worle taste worse to me than some leftover stewbeef!”
“That’s cause you aine never tried Mattie’s heated-up peas and rice!” Ruthie Mae laughed.
“Girl you crazy,” Ludell said, shaking her head as they continued to sit there with their elbows propped on their knees and their chins cupped in their hands.
“Sho is something how the sun came out so bright like this after it rained so hard today, ain’t it?” Ludell asked.
“Sure is. I thought the steps was gon feel damp, didn’t you?”
“Uh-huh,” Ludell answered.
Then they just sat there all quiet for a while until Ruthie Mae went, “Ludell?”
“Yes-my-darling,” she answered.
“Oh I wasn’t thanking bout no ‘yes-my-darling,’ chile,” Ruthie Mae said. “I’m figuring out something.”