Passing through Perfect (Wyattsville #3)(42)

From the money he collected he held back enough to pay Sylvester Crane’s monthly land fee, buy a bit of fatback, a jar of molasses, and some ready-made biscuits. He bought nothing for himself and saved every extra penny, hoping one day he’d have enough for Isaac to go off to college. With Delia gone Benjamin took her wish for Isaac and made it his own; it was his way of hanging on to a small piece of their life together.

Sunday was the only day Benjamin set aside and did no work other than the hospital cleaning. Sunday was a day reserved for Isaac.

Saturday night when he finished his work at the hospital, Benjamin most always drove home. He’d sleep for a few hours, then rise, scrub the grime from his skin, pull on a clean shirt, and head over to Luella’s to spend the day with his boy.





After the third week, Isaac started asking to come home.

“There ain’t nobody home to see to you,” Benjamin said. “I thought you liked being here ’n having Jerome to play with.”

“Yeah, well, now I’m sick a’ being here,” Isaac answered.

At first Isaac welcomed the thought of staying at Luella’s house. But when Jerome lost interest in a playmate who barely hobbled along, they started to squabble. Two days ago the weather turned blazing hot, and Jerome went off to the pond. They hadn’t spoken since.

“Jerome’s got no interest in playing with me,” Isaac complained. “And there ain’t nothing else to do here.”

“With me working all the time, there ain’t nothing much to do at home neither,” Benjamin replied.

“Yeah, there is,” Isaac said. “Mama got me some books for fun reading.”

Benjamin had already counted up the millions of reasons he had for missing Delia; this was one he’d forgotten to add to the list.

“Your mama did that, did she?”

“Yes, sir. She said they was for fun reading, ’n I’d get smarter if I done it.”

Benjamin gave an apprehensive smile. “There’s nobody at the house; don’t you think it’d be better if I bring those books over here?”

“Unh-unh. I figure it’s better if I come home.”

After a fair bit of back and forth on the subject Benjamin agreed that on Sunday, a week from the day, he’d come to take Isaac home.

“I got a few arrangements to make,” he said, “so you got to wait a week.”





That week Benjamin took every job he could get. The day he did the patchwork on Hiram Lettinger’s roof, it was near dark when he finished. He was late getting to the hospital and didn’t finish cleaning until a few minutes before the sun broke free of the horizon.

That night he didn’t sleep at all. Still he pushed through the next day and the day after. This was the last week he’d be working these hours, so he had to make the most of them.

He’d already spoken to Mamie Beasley who was in charge of the colored wing of the Bakerstown Hospital, and she’d given an okay for him to come in at four o’clock each morning to do the cleaning.

“Just make sure you’re done by nine,” she’d warned, and Benjamin happily agreed.

When the end of the week rolled around, Benjamin took his earnings and stocked up on things he wasn’t used to buying. He got five cans of soup, sliced bread, peanut butter, and a can of Spam. It wasn’t the same as the hearty stews Delia made, but at least the boy wouldn’t go hungry. He also bought Isaac three comic books. He reasoned that although it was a good thing to have an eye to the future, there were times when a man had to be living for the day. This was one of those times.

On Friday morning he went by Bessie’s house and asked if she could look in on Isaac every so often.

“’Course I will,” she nodded. Although she said nothing else, judging by the look of Benjamin’s clothes she figured he could also use some help with the laundry and cleaning. That afternoon she hitched the small wagon to the mule and visited five of Delia’s friends.

“It’s time we step up to help,” she said, and no one disagreed.

Viola said she’d be willing to take care of the laundry. Bertha agreed to do the cleaning, and Rosalie said she’d have her strapping sixteen-year-old son come over and chop firewood for the stove.

“Boy’s lazy as a log,” she added, “but when I tells him to do something, he knows he got to get it done.”

Friendship wasn’t a thing that needed to be repaid, but when Bessie Mae returned home she could almost see Delia smiling down from heaven.





Benjamin





Sheriff Haledon is a good man. He’s fair, and I’m trusting he’ll find the truck that killed Delia. Yes, Isaac’s just a boy, but he knows to tell the truth. I don’t for one minute think he’s lying about what happened. It’s a fact that Deputy Moran got a sharp tongue ’n don’t care much for colored folks, but the law is the law. The law’s got to do with right ’n wrong, it’s got nothing to do with colored or white.

It ain’t gonna be easy having Isaac living home, but I’m still looking forward to it. I’ve been staying away most of the time because all this quiet keeps reminding me of how much I lost. Now that Isaac’s gonna be here I can’t be thinking of how much I lost, I gotta be thinking of how much I still got. I’m Isaac’s daddy, and I got to look after him.