The Light Through the Leaves(25)

“The doctor is with her,” Mama said.

That meant more needles. Dr. Pat usually came with Aunt Sondra. She was a pediatrician, a person who studied children, Mama said. She always wanted to put medicine in Raven’s arms with needles. Mama would argue, but Aunt Sondra and Dr. Pat kept at her until she gave in.

“You know the rules,” Mama said before she opened the front door.

“Yes,” Raven said.

Mama unbolted the three locks and opened the door.

“Hello, Audrey,” Aunt Sondra said to Mama.

“Why have you come?” Mama said.

Aunt Sondra ignored her and pushed into the house with the doctor. She was a big woman with a soft body. Her face looked a little like Mama’s, and she had the same creamy skin and pale hair. But she wore her hair short, and Mama usually wore hers in two long braids. Aunt Sondra’s eyes were blue, but regular blue. Mama’s were white-blue. Raven liked to imagine Mama’s eyes had once been sky blue like her sister’s, but her time in the spirit world had changed them to look more like starlight.

Aunt Sondra was carrying two paper bags with handles. The doctor had her black leather bag. That was where the needles were.

Aunt Sondra and the doctor looked over Raven the way they always did. As if they expected to find something terribly wrong with her. “How are you, Raven?” Aunt Sondra asked.

“I’m well,” Raven said.

“You look well,” Dr. Pat said, smiling. “You’ve grown tall since I last saw you.”

“Today is a school day,” Aunt Sondra said. “I’m surprised to see you home.”

Mama’s storm clouds were gathering. Raven wanted to get it all over with fast. She lifted the right sleeve of her shirt all the way up to her shoulder. She turned her bare arm to the doctor and said, “Put the needles in now. Mama and I want to finish cooking, and you have to go.”

Mama made a little laugh and put her hand over her mouth.

“It’s not funny,” Aunt Sondra said. “Are you programming her to say things like that now?”

Mama’s storm returned quickly. “My daughter speaks her own mind,” she said.

“Why isn’t she in school? Patricia gave her the immunizations with the understanding that she would go to school.”

“There was no understanding,” Mama said.

“Now she’s missed both kindergarten and first grade,” Aunt Sondra said. “She’s two years behind children her age.”

“Not true,” Mama said. “My lessons are better than any school’s.”

“I study reading, writing, math, science, and social studies,” Raven said.

Aunt Sondra didn’t even look at Raven. “The importance of school is more than lessons. Patricia and I explained all this the last time we were here. She needs to play with other children. She needs socialization.”

“We go to the library,” Mama said. “She sees other children there.”

“Sees? Does she have playdates with them?”

“Playdates!” Mama said with a laugh. “I don’t recall I ever had one of those.”

“I rest my case,” Aunt Sondra said.

Raven didn’t understand why Mama suddenly looked about to explode. “Leave my house! I want you to stop interfering with her!” she shouted.

Raven and Dr. Pat backed away from Mama’s storm, but Aunt Sondra, as always, stood up to it without fear. “Stop interfering? What about the next time she has a high fever?”

Mama said nothing.

“You were the one who brought me into this child’s life!” Aunt Sondra said, pointing at Raven. “I wouldn’t even know she exists if you hadn’t called me that day she was sick. Do you remember that, Audrey? Do you remember how you begged me to come?”

Mama wilted like a flower stuck in a jar without water.

“And just a year later, you called me because she couldn’t stop vomiting. Do you know what it’s like to get these calls? To think my niece might die because her mother is too stubborn to take her to a doctor? To have to drop everything and rush out here? Do you know how much I pay to fly Patricia here from Chicago?”

“I’m so sorry I’ve spent some of your millions,” Mama said. “Or is it billions now?”

“Just because we have money doesn’t mean we should throw it away.”

“I’ll pay for Patricia to come if it’s such a hardship for you,” Mama said.

“Why not take her to a doctor in this area?”

“I prefer my life to be separate from this community,” Mama said.

“Why, when you live in it? If you can go to the library, you can take her to a pediatrician. You should have a doctor in town, too.”

“I need no doctor,” Mama said.

“You might one day. And you both should have a dentist. You’re on well water without fluoride. She needs fluoride treatment or her teeth will rot.”

Mama closed her eyes and put her hands on the sides of her head. She squeezed like she was trying to push out great pain. Usually she was about to have one of her bad moods when she did that. Raven knew it well. Aunt Sondra knew, too, because she looked worried.

“Audrey, I’m only trying to make sure she stays safe and well,” she said in a soft voice. “I feel responsibility. She’s my niece.”