I never did call her back, though I’d see her in church. After service, I’d hug my granny and then walk to the other side of the fellowship hall to avoid Mama. She’d look over at me, her face painted with an aggrieved expression, as if I’d done something awful. I’d breezily wave at her, and she’d turn her back.
In July, I drove the old man out to the farm and dropped him off at the family reunion, though he asked me to reconsider. Didn’t I want to see anybody? My mother had been asking about me, and David and Carla were coming. Surely, I wanted to sit with the young folks a spell.
“No, I’m good,” I said.
“Ailey, this thing between you and Belle has got to stop. The both of you are still grieving. You need to cling to each other, instead of fighting.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. She’s the one spreading my business around the family. Telling Uncle Norman I’m some kind of derelict. I’m tired of her bad-mouthing me.”
“She’s just worried about you, Ailey. You know, she’s lost one daughter. Can’t you understand her being a little overprotective?”
“More like over bossy. She doesn’t need to worry about me! I’m twenty-four years old! I’m grown.”
Uncle Root sighed. “All right. I’ll call you when I’m ready to go. Do you want me to pack you a plate?”
“Yes, and can you put me some ribs in there? Like, five? Oh! And some sweet potato pie and pound cake? And some greens? And some macaroni and cheese.”
“You could pack your own plate if you came to the party.”
“No, I’m not even that hungry.”
All summer, I avoided my mother, but in August, she didn’t call the house before she stopped by. The old man called up the stairs. There was somebody to see me, and there was Mama, in her T-shirt and jeans, looking almost like a girl. She’d made a pie. Did we want a piece? and Uncle Root said, hot dog, he was never going to turn down pie. She stayed a long time, until the sun went down. Then the old man said he believed he’d go upstairs and do some reading.
Mama and I stood there awkwardly, until I said, did she want to go sit outside? I picked up two church fans from the foyer table, and we sat on the glider, waving at mosquitoes. She told me that she had gotten reconciled. Every child needed to be independent, and she knew that the old man and I were thick. He needed somebody and so did I. We could keep each other out of trouble.
“I’m leaving tomorrow, baby,” she said.
“You can stay a little longer,” I said. “You can even stay, like, forever. You know you’re surely welcome.”
“No, I can’t leave Coco by herself.”
“She’s got Melissa.”
“You know Melissa’s people are in Detroit. So the both of them need me. And maybe I can convince one of them to have a baby.”
I laughed. “How didn’t I see this coming!”
“Somebody gone have me some grandkids! Now, y’all need to decide who gone do it.”
Mama nudged me, and I giggled.
“But can I call you sometimes, Ailey? I mean, I know you don’t want to be bothered and everything.”
“Aw, Mama, don’t say that! You know I always want to hear from you.”
*
When the summer ended, the days crawled, even slower than when I was a child. I had no sisters to keep me company. My former playmates were grown and had mates. Even the town seemed smaller, the sides of the streets pushed together.
There was only so much visiting that one could do. The walks over to Miss Cordelia’s house. The drives out to the country to see my granny. Church on Sunday at Red Mound. After I made our simple dinner of baked chicken or warmed-up leftovers from Miss Rose’s big Sunday spread, the old man and I would talk quietly in the evenings, discussing the news or the books that we were reading. There was a peace that I didn’t know that I’d craved.
On odd Saturdays, I drove with the old man to Atlanta and met up with David. Carla and he were married now, and they had an apartment in Buckhead. While David studied for the bar exam, she was the breadwinner, working as a high school teacher. She’d be on maternity leave soon, though: she was pregnant with their baby. The neighborhoods in the southwest area of the city had more Black folks, and the real estate was cheaper, but the crime was too much. The thieves had become too bold.
David would ask his wife along to our arty film, rubbing on her round belly.
“I don’t like to leave you alone,” he said. “What if something happened?”