Part VII

As soon as I could get Grandma alone, I would have to enlist her in my plan. My opportunity came quickly, and I jumped on it.

Our little family went to see Grandma and Grandpa often. Mama helped Grandma line the kitchen and bathroom cabinets with contact paper, and helped her unpack dishes. Grandpa and Daddy strolled around the orchard studying all the fruit trees while Grandpa shared his plans for the future garden he would plant. Grandpa also brought cotton seeds from Tennessee, so they decided where the best location would be for growing cotton.

Mama went outside to check on Rosanne and Cindy and made sure the men were watching out for them. I peeked outside the door and saw my sisters following the men around, eating apples off a tree, so I decided it was time to make my move.

"Grandma, PLEEEAASSEE talk to Mama about something for me." My voice was urgent, so she turned around to give me her full attention. "What is it Baby? Tell Grandma what's wrong." "Mama says me and Bawe have to go to school! Bawe wants to, but I don't, and if you tell Mama not to make me, then Daddy will say it's okay." There, I got it out and Mama was still in the orchard so I had a few more minutes. Then Grandma laughed! How could she do that? This was very serious! I started feeling tears welling up and she stopped laughing, but now my feelings were very hurt. How could she laugh at the serious predicament I was in? Had Grandma changed that much since Memphis?

Grandma knelt down and wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close. "Kath-a-leen, I didn't mean to laugh. I'm sorry I did that. Everybody has to go to school. That's how you learn very important things. You'll make new friends, and learn all kinds of things that you will use for the rest of your life. You're lucky. I didn't get to finish school and neither did your Grandpa."

OH NO. This was not going the way I planned at all. I pleaded, "But Grandma, you and Grandpa are smart and know lots of things! You didn't need school! I don't WANT to go. I want to stay home with Mama and Cindy and...I can help Mama!" About that time, Mama came through the back screen door. I just kept hoping Grandma wouldn't share my secret plan with Mama. I felt my face get warm and my stomach started churning. Grandma patted me on the shoulder as if to say, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me." I relaxed for the moment but had to come up with an alternate plan. I still had time to work on it, so I joined my sisters and the men outside.

Back at home I discovered that kneeling backwards on the bench in the foyer watching all the fish was helping me think. I prayed that the fish and little pirate ship would somehow give me inspiration for solving my dilemma. I also used Jethro as a sounding board whispering my problem to him, expecting some great phrase or solution of some kind. Instead, his reply was always useless. "Jethro wants cracker, Honey! Where are the keys? Come in! Damn it, Hell, Damn it! Wash your hands girls!" He was no use whatsoever. Sigh.

My only hope now would be Daddy. I'll wait until he's alone in his office and plead my case. He'll know what to do. When Daddy made his mind up to do something, he could always talk Mama into changing her mind. Okay, now I had a new plan. I still had time before school started, so I'd work on it later.

My night terrors were still frequent visitors, but they had become more bothersome now. Mama took me to see a doctor and he explained that many children have them, and I would grow out of it. The doctor asked me if anything was bothering me, but Mama explained that it had now been years and she wondered if there was something she could do to help me rest better. He had no answers except to repeat that I would "grow out of it." I was tired during the day because my sleep was interrupted, but I had learned to cope with it after all this time.

It did cause a problem, though, when I wanted to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. I also think it was beginning to be a problem for Rosanne, because every night she was jarred out of a deep sleep by the screaming and commotion.

I'm sure Mama and Daddy had explained all this to Grandma and Grandpa, but it didn't seem to matter. I was going to spend the night, and couldn't wait. It was my first night out away from home, and I got my Grandparents all to myself! I was so excited, I was going to sleep with Grandma in her bed! Grandma and Grandpa always had separate bedrooms. I thought that was strange, but it was going to come in handy for me, so I was happy.

I walked around the trailer park with Grandpa while Grandma was hanging up the wash outside on the clothes line. We picked a few apples, and strolled through the park watching the residents play horseshoes or hopscotch. That was fun. Then we went in for dinner... "supper" Grandma called it. She always had so many different things to eat. She said it was because she had always cooked for a lot of kids and never got out of the habit. I helped Grandma dry the dishes after we ate and then watched her sew a button on or fix a hem while Grandpa rolled his own cigarette with tobacco he got from a red tin he always kept nearby. The television was on, but it was one of those boring shows Daddy watched, so I wasn't interested.

A short while later, it was bedtime. I thought it must have been pretty late, because all three of us went to bed at the same time. I felt privileged. (I found out later that they got up at the crack of dawn, and went to bed shortly after dark.)

Grandma and Grandpa turned off every single night when they went to bed. Not one ray of light in the house, so I was very relieved to be in the bed with Grandma listening to her steady breathing. The first time I spent the night with them, I woke up scratching furiously at their back door, hard enough to leave marks on the paint and hurting my fingertips enough to wake me up. I felt Grandma's hand around my shoulder, and turned to look at her terrified and confused face. I was just as terrified and confused. "What happened, why am I at the door?!" She had no answer or explanation. I looked down to see my fingertips bleeding and that confused me even more. My throat was sore and as I turned around, I saw Grandpa look ashen and afraid. He was holding a walking stick and seemed frozen with fear. "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DREAMIN' 'BOUT, KATH-A-LEEN!?? I ain't never heard anybody scream like that." I was embarrassed, afraid, and had no idea what had happened. I couldn't answer that question because I didn't know, so we all three just stood there for a few minutes, looking back and forth at each other.