Page 32 of Leave It to Us
Yvonne didn’t recognize any of the faces that were now staring at them as they made their way up the four wooden stairs. But she did say “Good evening” as she stepped onto the porch. She said it once as she looked to the left and then again as she turned her head to the right, figuring she’d covered speaking to them all. There were a few waves in return and some nods, but mostly just these looks, which she couldn’t quite explain.
Right behind her, she heard Tami speaking in the same way she had, but Lana remained silent. As odd as it may sound, Lana had always been shy when she was on the island. Where she was a social butterfly back in the city, she would get down here each summer and act like she didn’t have two words for anyone other than Grandma Betty, Daddy, or whoever was working at their grandmother’s house at the time. It seemed that no matter how much time had passed, her sister hadn’t gotten over that.
“Hey, you made it,” Jeremiah said, coming from across the room to greet them the second they stepped into the house.
The living room was a wide space, with a matching couch, love seat, and chair. There were wood end tables with lamps on each, dark-brown rugs on the floor, and heavy cream-colored curtains at the windows. Every available seat was taken by more people holding more plates and enjoying the meal and conversation. She had no idea where Jeremiah had come from, but Tami’s exuberant “Hey” meant that she, at least, was happy to see him.
Yvonne didn’t really dislike him—she supposed he was doing his job. She just wondered why—out of all the lawyers she could’vehired—Grandma had chosen this very young, albeit attractive, guy to assist them with something as important as her estate.
“Come on out to the back porch,” Jeremiah said. “Ms.Janie’s out there, and she wanted me to bring you to her as soon as you arrived.”
“Why do I feel like we’re being summoned?” Lana asked.
She stood closer to Yvonne’s left side, while Tami had already broken their line of three to stand next to Jeremiah. That girl could go any way the wind blew.
“Nah, it’s nothing like that,” Jeremiah said. “She’s just been looking forward to seeing you. Sallie’s out there too.”
“I thought she was supposed to come by today,” Yvonne said.
Jeremiah looked at her and asked, “She didn’t?”
“Nope,” Tami replied.
“Hmm, well, I guess that’s no nevermind—you’ll see her in just a few minutes.” Jeremiah led them through the rest of the house.
There were people everywhere, either sitting or standing, all of them talking and eating and having a good time. Jeremiah had been right: this was definitely an informal gathering, where all these people seemed to know and have a rapport with each other. She felt out of place, and she figured her sisters did too. Even Tami, who, although she was clinging to Jeremiah at the moment, had often felt left out when they were young. It was because of the age gap between them, just like Lana had said earlier. Yvonne was eleven years older than Tami, and Lana was six years older than Tami was, so for the most part, she had grown up in a space of her own. She was also the only one of them who’d grown up in the house without their father—an experience Yvonne knew Tami despised her and Lana for having.
“Ms.Janie,” she heard Jeremiah say after they’d walked through the kitchen with its old linoleum—that’s right, after all these years, that’s what it was, and despite it looking faded in some spots, the floor seemed to still be in good shape. “Here they are: the Butler sisters.”
They’d traveled out the back door and onto another long porch. At the end of this one was a rocking chair, where a heavyset woman with silver hair in six fat plaits sat, her chubby hands in her lap. In the chairs immediately next to her were two women, one with a riot of brown and black curls, the other wearing a short Afro.
“Well, I’ll be ...” Ms.Janie’s words trailed off as she stared at them. “Come closer,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I ain’t got my glasses on, so I can’t see too good from all the way ovah here.”
Yvonne moved first, feeling her sisters flank her sides and follow.
“Good evening, ma’am,” she said, and extended a hand once she was close enough for the woman to accept. “Thank you so much for inviting us here tonight.”
Ms.Janie took Yvonne’s hand and pulled her down for a hug. Startled by the motion, Yvonne tried to both keep from toppling over the woman and keep from being suffocated as Ms.Janie wrapped her arms around her in a tight-ass embrace. It didn’t help that her face was smushed into the woman’s ample bosom, because she hadn’t been expecting a hug and thus hadn’t aimed herself correctly.
“It’s so good to see Betty’s babies,” Ms.Janie was saying as Yvonne continued to struggle for breath. “I ain’t seen you gurls in a long, long time.”
When she was finally released, Yvonne took two steps back from the woman and pasted on a smile.
“You the oldest one, right?” Ms.Janie asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m Yvonne. And this is my sister Lana.” Yvonne had to yank Lana’s arm to get her to move closer to the woman.
Ms.Janie’s arms were already outstretched for Lana, who barely croaked a “Hello” before she was pulled into the older woman’s embrace.
Ms.Janie wore a burgundy dress that stretched over her belly and her bulky knees, which were spread wide. Luckily, the material was flexible enough to come down over those knees and keep hidden allthat was between Ms.Janie’s legs, or this greeting would’ve been made much worse.
Tami just walked right into the embrace, probably figuring she didn’t have a choice anyway. “Hi, I’m Tami,” she said, before her next breath came out in a whoosh when Ms.Janie folded her arms around her and pounded her on the back.
“Such pretty gurls. Ain’t they, Cora?” Ms.Janie said as she looked at the three of them standing side by side again. “Betty sure did brag on y’all and all that fancy stuff y’all did in the city.”
“She sure did.” The woman who Yvonne supposed was Cora—because she’d given a slow nod in answer to Ms.Janie’s question about them being pretty—sat to Ms.Janie’s right. She was the woman with the short Afro, who had a slim build and wore a black-and-white maxi dress and flat black sandals.
“Well, I’m Sallie.” The woman who was probably closer to Yvonne’s age—or possibly older—with the big curly hairdo stood from beside Ms.Janie. “My mama was Ms.Odessa, and she used to be good friends with Ms.Betty. I guess the two of them are reunited in heaven now.” Sallie didn’t extend her hand, but she made eye contact with each of them, so Yvonne only nodded in her direction.
