The House of Eve (98)
Homemade pound cake had always been the balm to Eleanor’s soul, and as she took the first bite, the last few months pooled at the tip of her tongue. She sank inside herself and told her mother the story she had vowed to take to her grave. She left no detail out, and when she was finally finished, her mother reached across the table and smoothed her hair away from her face.
“Why don’t you go lay down and get some sleep.”
“You don’t have nothing to say?”
“It’s been a long drive, Sugar. We’ll deal with it in the morning.”
Eleanor was beyond exhausted as she stumbled down the narrow hall to the second bedroom. In the dark she could see the silhouette of her poster of Sarah Vaughan and her first date with William at the Lincoln Theatre flashed through her thoughts. How sweet and innocent their lives had been then, before they were weighed down with expectation, loss and life. Despite everything, she missed him. Eleanor crawled into her childhood bed, rounded her body into a ball and nestled her head into her pillow. She was knocked out before her feet warmed under the covers.
* * *
Eleanor slept until the middle of the afternoon. When she pulled herself from the bed, she found an old T-shirt from high school and slipped on a pair of gym shorts. Before she even reached the kitchen, she could smell ham hocks and beans simmering in the Dutch oven. Lorraine was hanging up the telephone when she shuffled heavy-footed across the linoleum floor. Her mother’s hips had spread since Eleanor had seen her last, and her hair was more salt than pepper.
“Coffee?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Mahalia Jackson’s “I’m Glad Salvation Is Free” floated from the record player in the dining room. Without even thinking about it, Eleanor started rocking her shoulders from side to side.
“How’s everyone down at the church?”
“Fair to middlin’. Deacon getting old. Keep saying the same stuff every other week. We could use some new blood.”
“Your cakes and pies still in high demand?”
“Of course, honey. Is the sky still blue?” Her mother grinned, stretching her right fingers open and closed. “Got a little arthritis in my hand, but it’s only slowed me down a touch. Just gotta take breaks and take my time.”
Lorraine placed a mug of coffee in front of her, light with carnation milk and sweet with sugar. Eleanor sipped as her mother leaned against the counter gripping her own cup with both hands.
“Where is the baby now?”
“Home.”
“You left a newborn with a man?”
“I’m sure his mother is there.”
“Still.”
“It’s not my baby, Mama. She said the green eyes come from her family. How could that be unless William was stepping out on me.”
Lorraine lowered herself into the seat across from Eleanor and reached for her package of Camels. She placed the filter between her lips, lit the cigarette, then fanned the match until the fire went out. Puffing slowly, she said, “Sometimes when I would look at your father from the side, it was because my own eyes had gone crooked. Something you want to tell me?”
Eleanor’s thoughts went immediately to Bernie. She had enjoyed his company and liked having him around, but it was nothing more than that.
“I told you everything, Mama.”
They drank in silence.
Stubbing out her cigarette, Lorraine went back to the two-burner stove, and then returned with a heaping dish of ham hocks and beans. Eleanor demolished the bowl. The only thing missing was the cornbread.
Her mother emptied her ashtray in the garbage can. “William’s a good man. A doctor. And he chose you.”
“Money isn’t everything, Mama.”
“It ain’t. But you done married well. Don’t throw it away because William got a highfalutin, uppity mama who can’t stop meddling.”
“What if he was unfaithful?”
“Sugar, women have been through worse. Don’t get so caught up in your feelings that you can’t see the forest for the trees.” She twisted her lips. “At the end of the day, you are his wife.”
Eleanor carried her plate to the sink and started hand-washing it. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He peeked in on you before he went back out this morning. They’re still short on workers at the factory, so he’s been working double shifts round the clock. Can’t complain too much cause the money is good.”
Eleanor sighed. It had been so long since she’d seen him. “What do you need me to do around here?”
“I got some cakes to deliver up in Lorain. Come on and take a ride with me, the fresh air will do you some good. You left a few things here at the back of your closet, go take a bath and get changed.”
Eleanor stood.
“I sure am glad you here,” she said, pulling Eleanor into her arms for a squeeze that made her pain ooze from her pores. “It’s all gonna be fine. Just trust your mama on this.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE BITTER TASTE
Ruby
I had been home for a full week before I saw Inez. Secretly, I had been waiting for her to come looking for me, but she had not even called Aunt Marie’s since I returned. When the dismissal bell at school rang on Friday afternoon, I decided to take a detour and walk down her block.