you stood me up tonight to be with Otis. The night I was supposed to help you bathe your grandmother, you took off with him, too.”
“I asked what you had in common with that blind girl?” she snarled.
“That blind girl, she’s…she’s been molested, too, by three different men.”
Rhoda’s silence made me nervous.
“Rhoda, you still there?”
“Yeah.” Her voice suddenly seemed weak and small. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She sighed deeply. “That’s all the more reason why you should avoid her. Don’t tell me she won’t depress you when you guys start comparin’ rape stories.”
Rhoda was right. When Florence told me her abuse history, it depressed me.
“Did you tell her about Buttwright?” she asked in a whisper.
“Not yet.” I sighed, rubbing the side of my thigh.
“I don’t think you should, Annette.”
Three weeks later I left home with my coat on over my pajamas. I had been waiting for Rhoda to return from a date with that Otis boy.
“You look like you seen de devil,” Otis told me as I rushed into the Nelsons’ living room, where he was all hugged up with Rhoda.
“I feel like it, too,” I mumbled, pulling Rhoda into the kitchen where Mr. Nelson was fixing tea for Mrs. Nelson, who was in bed with God knows what.
“Girls, would you like some tea?” he asked.
I shook my head. As Rhoda grabbed a cup, I stood back and looked her over. She was flushed, her eyes were dilated, and her makeup was smudged. Her hair was matted, and there were still leaves on the back of her head, telling me that she and Otis had been rolling around on the ground.
“I gotta talk to you,” I whispered across the table. Mr. Nelson was standing over the stove with his back to us.
“Annette, how is your mama and Brother Boatwright?” Mr. Nelson asked. He sat down at the table and looked me up and down and frowned when he saw the bottom of my pajamas hanging below my coat.
“Um…they both are OK,” I said impatiently. “Excuse me, Mr. Nelson, but I need to talk to Rhoda in private—”
He shrugged and started to rise.
“Oh no, don’t leave.” I held up my hand and smiled. “We can go to Rhoda’s room.” Rhoda looked over my shoulder at Otis and Jock entering the kitchen. Jock avoided me whenever I visited the Nelsons’ house since the night I had pulled a knife on him in our kitchen. When he did look at me, it was just to roll his eyes.
“Got anyting strong to drink?” Otis asked. He didn’t see Mr. Nelson right away. Rhoda tried to warn Otis by clearing her throat. Jock covered his mouth to keep from laughing.
“There’s plenty of strong cider in the refrigerator,” Mr. Nelson said. “Jock”—he turned to Jock and waved his hand—“pour this boy some cider.”
Rhoda pulled me out into the hallway leading upstairs. “What’s up?”
“I’ll tell you in your room.” I started to cry before we even got to the top of the stairs. Rhoda gasped, grabbed my arm, and pulled me to her room, where she quickly slammed the door shut. Before we could sit down on the bed someone came banging on the door, then snatched it open before Rhoda could answer. It was the grandmother. She had wandered from her room next door, naked.
“Oh God!” Rhoda grabbed the old woman’s wrist and pulled her into the room. She led the woman to her bed, where she snatched off her white chenille spread and wrapped it around Granny Goose.
“I can’t find my clothes, Rhoda,” the old woman whined. She ignored me completely. “I think the dawgs got ’em.”
Rhoda gave me an apologetic look and took her grandmother back to her room. I could hear the old woman fussing and cussing. Rhoda was yelling back at her. After about five minutes, I could hear the whole family in Granny Goose’s room trying to subdue her. Rhoda was gone for ten minutes.
“Bitch!” Rhoda spat when she returned and joined me on the bed, rubbing her hand. “She bit me.”
“Poor old Granny Goose.” I mumbled, shaking my head. Right after I said that I heard Jock cry out in pain and cuss at the old woman.
Rhoda started to laugh at Jock’s outburst but stopped after a few seconds. She turned to me. “Why were you cryin’ a while ago?” She put her arm around me and smiled.
“I’m going to have a baby…by…by Mr. Boatwright,” I wailed.
CHAPTER 27
The day after I revealed my pregnancy to Rhoda, I hid in