Page 53 of Leave It to Us
“Hello,” Yvonne said, stepping forward and extending her hand. “I’m Yvonne Butler. I’m ...” She didn’t get to finish the rest because—like Ms.Janie—Deacon’s mother pushed her outstretched hand out of the way and stepped forward to fold Yvonne into a hug.
It wasn’t nearly as forceful or uncomfortable as the hug from Ms.Janie, but it was still a very friendly one coming from a person she’d just met.
“You gotta be kiddin’,” the woman said, pulling back but keeping her hands on Yvonne’s shoulders.
They were just about the same height, but she was a little thinner than Yvonne’s 152 pounds—and deceptively a hell of a lot stronger.
“This can’t be Ms.Betty’s grandbaby.”
“It is, Mama, and you’re gonna crush her if you hug her like that again.” Deacon spoke evenly as he grinned. “Yvonne, this is my mother, Jolene.”
Jolene was already shaking her head. “Folks ’round ’Fuskie just call me Mama Jo,” she said, and grabbed Yvonne’s hand. “And a good hug ain’t nevah hurt nobody.”
Yvonne could probably argue that, but she didn’t. If nothing else, the woman’s cheerful welcome was working to ease some of the jitters she’d started to feel. Not all of them, because this still felt like she was being presented to the family as more than a friend, but she was trying like hell not to let that overwhelm her.
An hour later, Yvonne was full from crab patties and butter beans. Mama Jo had also prepared what she called Sea Island Okra Gumbo, but since Yvonne had never liked okra, she’d passed on that part of the meal. She’d also passed on the carrot cake for dessert, asking if she could instead take a few pieces home to share with her sisters later. To that, Mama Jo had been elated. They were sitting in the small living room now: she and Deacon were on one couch; Emory, his sister, was acrossfrom them in a chair; and Mama Jo and Deacon’s father—Paul Sr., they called him, even though Deacon wasn’t a junior—sat on another couch.
“We’re gonna miss Ms.Betty around here,” Emory said. “She was our only star for the longest time.”
Mama Jo nodded. “She sure was. I remember back in the sixties, we was listenin’ to Smokey Robinson and the Temptations on those old battery-powered radios while the oil lamps glowed in the living room.” She paused and gave them a serious glance with a nod. “Electricity and telephones and stuff took a while to trickle out here to us. But even when it came, not all of us could afford it right away.”
Yvonne felt a pang of sadness at the fact that even when it had seemed like the world was moving forward, there’d been people—those who’d eventually becomeherpeople—down here, still left behind.
“We heard Ms.Betty’s songs, but when Mr.Riley came back from one of his trips—you know he used to go around, trying to sell those things he carved from the old tree trunks in back of their house. Well, when he’d come home from one of those trips, he had Ms.Betty with him, lookin’ like one of those shiny new dolls that used to be in the window at the stores over in Bluffton,” Mama Jo continued.
Paul Sr.nodded. “Yup. Me and some other young fellas was helpin’ him down at the docks one day and asked all kinds of questions ’bout how he was able to get such a good-lookin’ woman, seeing as he could barely see good without his big ole glasses.” He laughed.
The way Deacon clenched her hand said he didn’t find what his father said that funny. “I think we’re gonna head out now,” he hurriedly said.
But Yvonne wasn’t bothered by Paul Sr.’s words. To the contrary, she was intrigued to hear another side of the story of how her grandparents came to be. Of course, Grandma Betty had shared the story when they were younger, leaving Tami with a starry-eyed gaze and Lana with wedding dreams floating in her mind. But for Yvonne, it had been all about the times the two of them were together, the feelings she couldstill see in her grandmother’s eyes as she spoke about the love of her life and how many times she’d wondered if she’d ever feel that for herself.
“Oh, well, no, wait a minute,” Mama Jo said before getting up from her seat. “I’ve got something for Yvonne.”
Deacon passed his mother a baleful look, and Emory sucked her teeth. His sister wasn’t as tall as Deacon, and her skin was a few shades lighter, but she had her father’s smile and her mother’s sandy-brown hair. “I don’t know why you’re acting like that. You knew she was going to be excited. If you’d bring more of your girlfriends home to meet her, she wouldn’t have to act like this was such a monumentous occasion.”
“I’m not his girlfriend,” Yvonne quickly replied, and Emory’s brow went up.
“This here used to belong to your grandmother,” Mama Jo said when she came back into the room. She walked over to Yvonne and put the multicolored beaded purse in her hands. “When Mr.Cab and Ms.Dessa had a second wedding, they wanted everybody to dress up like we were fancy. I was just a young girl then, barely sixteen, so I only had a couple of dresses that I wore to church. But I’d saved up some nickels that I made sewing for people. So I was on the ferry one day, heading over to Bluffton to find me some fancy things, and who did I look up to see on the same ferry but Ms.Betty.”
Yvonne had been running her fingers over the beads, which seemed to shimmer in the lamplight. It looked like something her grandmother would carry, and the thought had unexpected tears springing to Yvonne’s eyes. “Grandma Betty always told us she hated riding on the ferry and going into town. That’s why she had all the things she needed shipped over here.”
Mama Jo shook her head. “Not back then. Ms.Betty shopped a lot, and she would get right on that ferry at the drop of a dime. Youknow, during the times she was here with Mr.Riley and not going around the world touring.” She sat back down, and Paul Sr.put his arm across the back of the couch behind her. “Anyway, Ms.Betty wondered why I was traveling all by myself, and when I told her my mama was busy with cookin’ and my sister was busy with runnin’ ’round after her man, Ms.Betty just chuckled. Then she said she’d keep an eye on me. And shoot, I didn’t mind. I got to spend the day with a star.” Mama Jo’s eyes lit up. “We shopped all afternoon and talked. I believe that was the start of our friendship, although she was a lot closer to Ms.Dessa than anybody else on the island. But that day, Ms.Betty said she had the perfect purse to go with the dress I bought. So when we got off the ferry, I went up to that big ole pretty house with her.”
“And you’re just returning her purse after all this time. Dang, Mama, that’s rude,” Emory said and grinned.
Deacon rubbed a finger over his forehead, and Paul Sr.chuckled. Yvonne remained silent as that wave of sadness she’d just experienced passed, and instead she found herself kind of agreeing with Emory. Not that she was offended in any way. To the contrary, she was mostly amused by this easy, laid-back family vibe she’d been getting from them the past couple of hours.
“I just forgot about it, I guess, and I think Ms.Betty did too. Or she probably had so many purses and things, she just didn’t worry about it. Your daddy, Daniel, he was around my age. I think he might’ve been a year older than me. And one time, Ms.Betty had even suggested to him that he take me out, but I already had my eyes set on Paul Sr., so that wasn’t happenin’.”
“You got that right it wasn’t happenin’,” Paul Sr.said. “I would’ve put my foot up his—”
“That’s it,” Deacon said, cutting his father off. “We’re leaving.”
Now Yvonne bit back a grin as Deacon hurried to take her hand and help her to her feet. “It’s okay. I understand, Mr.Paul,” she said,because she couldn’t bring herself to call this man Paul Sr.when there was no logical reason for the name. “I totally understand you protecting what’s yours.”
When the older man stood, he pushed Deacon out of the way and pulled Yvonne in for a hug. “That’s ’cause you’re a smart girl,” he said. “Just like my Jolene.”
Mama Jo hugged her next. “You come on back whenever you feel like it. And don’t be afraid to call me if you need something. I know Deacon’s up there working on the house, so if you just need to get away to some quiet, or you need me to fix you and your sisters something to eat, just give me a call.”
