The Last Ballad(80)

“Watch where you walk now,” Ella said. “There’s holes that’ll get your shoes good and wet. Just walk along behind me. I could do this with my eyes closed.”

A few lights burned in the cabins they passed, and a few people recognized Ella’s shape as she moved down the road toward home. They called out to her, and she said hello, said, “I’ve got a friend here with me,” and they said, “Okay, well, y’all have a good night,” and Ella said, “You too.”

“How did you come to live here?” Kate asked.

“You mean how’d I come to live with colored folks?”

“Well, I didn’t mean—”

“Because I’m poor,” Ella said. “And they’re poor too.” She turned around, faced Kate, and walked backward for a moment. She lifted her arms as if showcasing everything around her. “And here we all are.”

Lilly had an oil lamp burning inside the cabin, and she and Rose were sitting on the floor, playing a game. Their fingers were threaded with yarn, and they moved their hands in a way that weaved some kind of pattern. Wink was asleep on one of the skids, his face turned away from the light.

“Otis is still out somewhere,” Lilly said. “I told him to be home before it got dark, but he don’t care a lick about nothing I tell him.”

“I’ll get after him,” Ella said. She smoothed down Lilly’s hair, bent and kissed Rose. She saw that Lilly stared up at Kate. Rose noted her sister’s interest in something, and she lifted her face and looked up at Kate too.

“This is my friend,” Ella said. “This is Miss Kate.”

Kate held her hands behind her back, but she lifted one of them and gave the girls a small wave. She looked over to where the baby slept.

“Hello,” she whispered.

Lilly raised her hand and waved back, but neither she nor Rose said anything.

“These are my babies,” Ella said. She put her hand back on Lilly’s head. “This here’s Lilly, my oldest. And this is Rose, and that’s Joseph over there. We all call him Wink.”

“It’s ’cause he winks instead of blinks,” Rose said. She pointed to her eyes and did her best to wink one and then the other at Kate.

“That’s right,” Ella said. “He winks when he blinks.”

Rose laughed, looked back at her sister. The girls returned to their game.

“Did you eat?” Ella asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Lilly said. “We ate what you left out.”

“Good,” Ella said.

“Did Otis eat?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Lilly said.

Ella walked to the stove, found a biscuit that Lilly had left behind for her. A small cut of salt meat had hardened in the pan. Ella looked up at Kate, who was standing just inside the door. She hadn’t moved.

“You hungry?” Ella asked.

“No,” Kate said. “I’m fine. Really. I couldn’t eat a thing.”



Otis had come in a few minutes after Ella and Kate had arrived. Ella had made him introduce himself to Kate, made him take her hand “like a grown man should do when he meets a lady.” Otis was shy; he always had been. He stood barefoot, the bottoms of his pant legs damp.

“I don’t like you being out there after it gets dark,” Ella had said. “What would you do if some booger came along and tried to snatch you up and run off with you?”

“I’d punch him right in his nose,” Otis said.

“Some boogers don’t got noses,” Ella said. “So you’d be in real trouble if you met up with one of them, wouldn’t you.”

Kate had stood by while Ella put each of the children to bed, Rose first, then Otis, and Lilly last. She kissed each one of them, pulled a thin sheet up around each of their shoulders even though the night was warm. Lilly curled up beside the baby like she always did. He’d begun to snore.

“Y’all want a song?” Ella had asked.

Lilly and Rose had nodded their heads yes, but Otis hadn’t responded. He always wanted Ella to sing them to sleep whenever she was home for their bedtime, but Ella knew that now he was trying to look tough in front of Kate.

“What do y’all want to hear?” Ella asked.

Lilly turned and looked toward Kate, who’d taken off her jacket and sat down on the floor. Her legs were curled beneath her. She propped herself up with her right hand.

“Do you know any songs?” Lilly asked her.

Kate seemed surprised. She picked up her hand, dusted her palms against one another, and leaned toward Lilly, readjusting herself so she could get closer.

“I do,” she said. “I know some songs. My daughter used to be your age, and I used to sing to her just like your mother sings to you. But my little girl’s old now. She’s getting married soon.”

“What’s her name?” Lilly asked.

“Claire,” Kate said. “Her name’s Claire. And she’s marrying a nice man named Paul.”

“What songs do you know?” Lilly asked.

“‘Two Little Blackbirds’ is my favorite,” Rose said.

“That’s a good one,” Kate said. “Does everybody like that one?” Ella watched as Kate looked toward Otis. He nodded his head yes. Kate looked over at Ella, smiled. “I’d be embarrassed to sing in front of you,” she said.