“You aine go to school today?” she asked chewing.
“Yeah, but I got sick and had to come home,” Ludell lied.
“What you got girl?” she asked pulling her baby back as though Ludell were poison.
“Oh I aine gon’ give him nothing,” Ludell said walking on in the house. “I might as well gone tell you the truth, ’fore the ‘street committee’ do! I peed in school and had to come home.”
“Oowee, hee, hee,” laughed Mattie. “You got sick!” she said, mocking Ludell who was looking some kinda shame.
“Don’ feel bad chile,” said Mattie. “You not the firse one! When I was in Mis Rivers’ room a girl did the same thing. She asked that woman bout twenty times, and she kept telling the girl she shoulda went at recess. Sometimes you don’ even have to go till you get back! That woman crazy! I done tole Ruthie Mae nem that if they ever have to go bad and she or any of them teachers say they can’t, to just walk out the class, and I’ll go out there to tell whoever the teacher is off!”
Mattie was quiet for a second, then she started up again shouting, “A person could git their bladder outta control holding their water when they need to go!”
Ludell felt better now after listening to her. She no longer was hurt about Mattie mocking her, realizing that it had to be funny, her making up that story.
Mattie turned her True Confessions magazine and came to a page of decorative furniture.
“This how me and Alvin Jr.’s house gon look,” she said pointing it out to Ludell.
Mattie was always talking about what she and Alvin Jr. were going to do. He was the father of her baby, but had never seen the child. He’d left Waycross long before the baby came, but Mattie claimed he’d told her he was coming back for the two of them. She hadn’t received one word from him, but had insisted on naming the baby Alvin the third over Mis Johnson’s objections.
Ludell just smiled while she talked about her and Alvin Jr.’s marriage plans. Mattie smiled too.
She was still telling her stuff when they heard the others coming in. Ludell decided she’d better go home and check in with mama. She ran into Willie on the way out and braced herself for what she knew was coming today, even if she was on grounds out of territory for him messing with her. She was so sure he was going to say something about what had happened, but to her surprise he just passed by ignoring her. “I guess he aine heard yet—or saving it one!” she concluded as she walked on.
When Ruthie Mae passed her, she gave her a look like the kind she herself flashed when she visited sick friends and wanted to appear cheerful.
“Why you going Ludell?” she asked her.
“I got to let mama know where I’m at. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Ludell replied.
“Okay,” she said, with a sweet gentle ring to her voice.
“Dog, I ’on know why she treating me so tender,” thought Ludell. “All I did was peed. I aine bout to die or nothing!”
As she came to the porch, Mis Henley pulled up with mama. She was in the backseat, Mis Henley in the front alone as usual. One day Ludell had asked mama why she didn’t sit up front, and she told her that white people liked for the help to sit in back. In response Ludell had laughed and remarked, “Seem kinda silly to me, cause with the help sitting in the back riding, and the white person sitting up front driving, they look like the help their ownself!’ And mama just laughed about that thing until she cried.
“Mama can I go over to Ruthie Mae’s?” she asked the moment her grandmother stepped out the car.
“Chile cain’t you speak ’fore you go begging bout rambling off?” she said.
“Yes mam. Good afternoon mama. Kin I go. . .?”
“You aine got to repeat the whole thang girl. Common sense should tell you I heard you the firse time. I reckon you can go on. You better have yo fun this afternoon though, cause we got plenty washing to do in the morning!”
“Yes mam,” she shouted, then turned and ran back next door.
When she saw Ruthie Mae again, she had the same funny dry look on her face. She was all quiet, but Ludell wanted to hear! She wanted to know what people were saying, so since Ruthie Mae wouldn’t say anything, she brought the subject up herself.
“What they say bout me peeing on myself Ruthie Mae?” she asked trying to put a bounce in her voice, as if she didn’t really care.
“Nobody was saying much,” Ruthie Mae replied. “They was just saying it was funny the way you said ‘MIS RIVERS MAY I BE EXCUSED?’ and took off ’fore she could answer.”
“That’s all they said?” Ludell pressed further.
“Yeah, that’s all I heard. By then, them fool boys was after us. Girl by Monday everybody gon be done forgot the whole mess!” Ruthie Mae shouted, perking out her mouth and giving that confident wave of the hand she was famous for. She was always acting and talking like she couldn’t be wrong about anything. This was one time Ludell was hoping she wasn’t!
Willie was gathering his pecans for selling. He had pulled their old wagon around front and was steady loading it up. Buddie Boy told him that he would be too shame to pull that ole rusty wagon all the way uptown if he was him, and Willie just said, “You ain’t!” and kept loading on up.
“M-m-m, let me see what I’m gon git from the store today,” Ruthie Mae said to Ludell, who assumed she meant with the money Willie gave her when he came back. But then Ruthie Mae just kept naming so much stuff.
“Some gingersnaps, some candy, some head-cheese. . .”
“How much you think he giving you, a dollar?” Ludell asked.
“Shhh,” went Ruthie Mae. “Don’ talk so loud. I’m crediting this.”
“You going back again?” exclaimed Ludell.
“Why—you scared to come?” Ruthie Mae wanted to know.
“Naw!” snapped Ludell, jumping up more than ready. Her mouth watered just thinking about all the good stuff Ruthie Mae had named.
Soon as they began walking off, along comes lil snotty-nosed Cathy running up to them.
“Gone back!” Ruthie Mae shouted.
“I wanna go, I wanna go,” Cathy hollered, jumping up and down like an idiot.
Mattie heard her from inside and came wobbling on the front porch and shouted, “Yall let her go, or Ruthie Mae you can just brang yo lil butt on back home! Aine no reason she caine play wif yall!”
“I git tide o’ her following me everywhere I go!” screamed Ruthie Mae.
“Well I usta git tide o’ you following me too! But that didn’t stop you, did it?” went Mattie. “Now you let her go, or like I say, you don’ go!”
“Come on,” Ruthie Mae shouted to Cathy. “You make me sick girl! Don’t you know people git tide o’ you? I’m gon take you wif me, but you gon wish you’d ’ave stayed yo behind home!”
Cathy wouldn’t say anything. She just wiped her nose on her sleeve and kept walking way over to the side of the road, like she was afraid Ruthie Mae would hit her if she got too close.
“Mattie get on my nerves bossing people,” Ruthie Mae complained to Ludell. “That’s all she good for! Firse thing she say when I tell her I ’on wanna be bothered with Cathy is that I followed her, and I aine never hardly go noplace with her, cause she wouldn’t let me. Once I begged like a dog to go to the drive-in with her and Alvin Jr. and she still said no. So while he was in the house waiting for her, I got in the backseat and laid down and kept