The Iow Review Volume 12 Issue 2 Spring-Summer: Extended Outlooks: The Iow Review Collection of Contemporry Writing by Women Article 36 1981 Summer, n Elegy Ellen Gilchrist Follow this nd dditionl works t: http://ir.uiow.edu/iowreview Prt of the Cretive Writing Commons Recommended Cittion Gilchrist, Ellen. "Summer, n Elegy." The Iow Review 12.2 (1981): 109-122. Web. Avilble t: https://doi.org/10.17077/0021-065x.2705 This Contents is brought to you for free nd open ccess by Iow Reserch Online. It hs been ccepted for inclusion in The Iow Review by n uthorized dministrtor of Iow Reserch Online. For more informtion, plese contct lib-ir@uiow.edu.
Summer, n Elegy Ellen Gilchrist HIS NAME WAS SHELBY fter the town where his mother ws born, nd he ws eight yers old nd ll tht summer he hd to wer little blck sling round the index finger of his right hnd. He hd to wer the sling becuse his gret-grnddddy hd been fmous portrit pinter nd hd pintings hnging in the White House. ws so Shelby high-strung his mother ws certin he ws destined to be n rtist like his fmous ncestor. So, when he broke his finger nd it grew bck crooked, of course they took him to specilist. They weren't tking ny chnces on deformity stnding in his wy. All summer long he ws to wer supposed the to sling limber up the finger, nd in the fll the doctor ws going to operte nd strighten it. While he wited for his opertion Shelby ws brought to Ber Grden Plnttion to spend the summer with his grndmother nd s soon s he got up every morning he rode over to to Espernz look for Mtille. He would come riding up in the yrd nd tie his sddle pony to the fence nd strt tlking before he even got on the porch. He ws beuti ful boy, five months younger thn Mtille nd hed shorter, nd he ws the biggest lir she hd ever met in her life. Mtille ws lonely little girl, the only child in house full of widows. She ws gld of this noisy compnion fte hd delivered to Issquen County right in the middle of World Wr. Shelby would wit for her while she te brekfst, helping himself to or pinch-cke, tost, or cold cornbred, or muffins, wlking round the kitchen touching everything nd tlking mile minute to nyone who would listen, tlking nd eting t the sme time. "My dddy's personl friend of Generl McArthur's," he would be sying. were "They buddies t Auburn. Generl McArthur wnts him to come work in Wshington but he cn't go becuse wht he does is too ws importnt." Shelby stnding in the pntry door mking pyrmid out of the cns. Cmpbell's Soup "Every time my dddy tlks bout going to Wshington my momm strts crying her hed off nd goes to bed with bckche." He topped off the pyrmid with cn of tomto pste nd returned to the present. "I don't know how nyone cn sleep this lte," he sid. "I'm the first one up t Ber Grden every single morning." 109 University of Iow is collborting with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, nd extend ccess to The Iow Review www.jstor.org
Mtille would et brekfst s fst s she could nd they would strt out for the byou tht rn in front of the house t the end of wide lwn. "Did I tell you I'm engged to be mrried," Shelby would begin, ting next to Mtille in the swing tht went out over the wter, pumping s hrd s he could with his thin legs, string off into the sky. "Her dddy's colonel in the Air Corps. They're rel rich." A drk secret look crossed his fce. "I lredy gve her dimond ring. Tht's why I've got to find the perl. So I cn get enough money to get mrried. But don't tell nyone becuse my momm nd dddy don't know bout it yet." "There ren't ny perls in mussels," Mtille sid. "Guy sid so. He sid we were wsting our time chopping open ll those mussels." "They do too hve perls," Shelby sid coldly. "Better ones thn oysters. My fther told me ll bout it. Everyone in New Orlens knows bout it." "Well," Mtille sid, "I'm not looking to the store nd ply the slot mchine." for ny perls tody. I'm going "You hven't got ny nickels." "I cn get one. me Guy'U give one." ws Guy Mtille's uncle. He ws 4-F. He hd lost n eye in crop-dusting ccident nd ws hving to miss the whole wr becuse of it. He couldn't get into the Army, Nvy, Mrines or Air Corps. Even the Cost Gurd hd turned him down. He tried to keep up cheerful fce, running round Espernz doing the work of three men, extr being nice to everyone, even the Germn wr prisoners who were over brought from the Greenville Air Force Bse to work in the fields. He ws lwys good for nickel, sometimes two or three if Mtille wited until fter he hd his evening toddies. "If you me help with the mussels I'll give you two nickels," Shelby sid. "Let me see," Mtille sid, drgging her feet to slow the swing. It ws nice in the swing with the sun beting down on the wter below nd the pecn trees csting cool shde. Shelby pulled hndkerchief from his pocket nd untied corner. Sure enough, there they were, three nickels nd qurter nd dime. Shelby lwys hd money. He ws the richest boy Mtille hd ever known. She sit 110
stred down t the nickels, imgining the cold thrill of the slot mchine hndle throbbing beneth her touch. "How long?" she sid. "Until I hve to go home," Shelby sid. "All right," Mtille sid. "Let's get strted." They went out to the shed nd found two rkes nd smll hoe nd picked their wy through the weeds to the byou bnk. The mud long the bnk ws blck nd hrd-pcked nd broken ll long the wter line by thick tree roots, cypress nd willow nd ctlp nd wter ok. They wlked pst the clered-off plce with its pier nd rope swings nd on down to where the bnks of mussels begn. The mussels ly in the shllow wter s fr s the rke could rech, n endless s s supply, plentiful ok leves, s s plentiful the fireflies tht covered the lwn t s s evening, plentiful the minnows csting their tiny shdows ll long the wter's or edge, the gnts tht buzzed round Mtille's fce s she worked, rking nd digging nd chopping, erning her nickels. She would throw the rke down into the wter nd pull it bck full of the drk-shelled, inedible, mud-covered cretures. Moments lter, rech ing into the sme plce, dozens more would hve ppered to tke their plce. They would rke in pile of mussels, then set to work breking them open with the hoe nd screwdriver. When they hd opened twenty or thirty, they would sit on the bnk serching the soft flesh for the perl. Behind them nd ll round them were piles of rotting shells left behind in the pst weeks. "I hd my fortune told by voodoo queen lst Mrdi Grs," Shelby sid. "Did I ever tell you bout tht? She gve me chrm mde out of ded bby's bone. You wnt to see it?" "I been to Ditty's house nd hd my fortune told," Mtille sid. "Ditty's rel old. She's the oldest person in Issquen County. She's older thn Nnnie-Mother. Mississippi." Mtille She's probbly picked up the oldest person in the whole stte of mussel nd exmined it, running finger inside, then tossed it into the wter. Where it lnded drgonfly hovered for moment, then rose in the humid ir, its electric-blue til flshing. her Ill
"You wnt to see the chrm or not?" pocket. Shelby sid, pulling it out of his "Sure," she sid. "Give it here." He opened his hnd nd held it out to her. It looked like the wishbone from tiny chicken. "It's voodoo," Shelby sid. He held it up in the ir, turning it to ctch the sunlight. "You cn touch it but you cn't hold it. No one cn hold it but the mster of it. Here, go on nd touch it if you wnt to." Mtille reched out nd stroked the little bone. "Wht's it good for?" she sid. "To mke whtever you wnt to hppen. It's white mgic. Momm Ulline is rel fmous. She's got on plce Royl Street next to n right ntique store. My Aunt Ktherine took me there when she ws bby sitting me lst Mrdi Grs." Mtille touched it gin. She gve little shudder. "Well, let's get bck to work," Shelby sid, putting the chrm into his pocket, wiping his hnds on his plysuit. His little blck sling ws covered with mud. "I think we're getting someplce tody. I think we're get wrm." ting They went bck to work. ws Shelby quiet, dreming of tresure, of the perl tht ly in wit for him, of riches beyond his wildest drems, of mnsions nd fine utomobiles nd chuffeurs nd butlers nd mids nd money, stcks nd stcks of crisp five-dollr bills nd ten-dollr bills nd twenty-dollr bills. Somewhere in Steele's Byou the perl wited. It loomed in his drems. It ly in wit for him beneth the roots of cypress or wter ok or willow. Every morning when he woke he could see it, ll s morning he dug nd rked nd chopped nd Mtille complined nd the hot sun bet down on the sweting mud nd the stgnnt pools of minnows nd the fst-moving, evil-looking grs swimming by like gunbots, ll dy the perl shone in his mind, smooth nd mysterious, cold to the touch. They worked in silence for while, moving downstrem until they were lmost to the bridge. "Looks like we could get something for ll these shells," Mtille sid, exmining the inside of one. It ws ll swirls of pink nd white, like pol ished mrble. "Looks like to they ought be worth something!" 112
"We could mke dogfood out of the insides," Shelby sid. "Mr. Green Bgett hd dog tht te mussels. My grndmother told me ll bout it. He would crry them up to the rod in his mouth nd when the sun mde them open he would suck out the insides." Shelby lened on his hoe, mking loud sucking noise. "He ws dog nmed Hrry fter Mr. Bg ett's dentist nd he would et mussels ll dy long if nobody stopped him." "Why don't we crry these mussels them?" Mtille sid. up to the rod nd let the sun open "Becuse it tkes too long tht wy," Shelby sid. "This is quicker." "We could mke shtrys out of the shells," Mtille sid. "Yeh," Shelby sid. "We could sell them in New Orlens. You cn sell nything in the French Qurter." "We could pint them nd decorte them with flowers," Mtille sid, flling into drem of her own, picturing herself wering long flowered dress, crt pushing through the crowded streets of city, selling sh trys to stisfied customers. Now they were lmost underneth the bridge. Here the trees were thicker nd festooned with vines tht dropped into the wter like swings. It ws drker here, nd secret. The ws bridge fine one for such smll byou. It ws drwbridge with high steel girders tht glemed like silver in the flt Delt country side. The bridge hd been built to connect the two prts of the county nd nyone going from Grce to Bleshed or or Espernz Pnther Brke or Greenfields hd to pss tht wy. Some mornings s mny s seven crs nd trucks over pssed it. All dy smll blck children on plyed the bridge nd fished from it nd lened over its rilings looking down into the brown wter, chunking rocks t the mud turtles or trying to hit the men-looking grs nd ctfish tht swm by in twos or threes with their teeth showing. This morning there were hlf dozen little blck boys on the bridge nd one little blck girl wering clen pron. Her hir ws in net corn rows with yellow yrn plited into the brids. Her hed looked like the wing of butterfly, ll yellow nd blck nd brown nd round s it could be. "Wht to her. y'll doing?" the girl clled down when "Wht to y'll doing them mussels?" they got close enough 113
"We're n doing experiment," Shelby clled bck. "Let's get Teentsy nd Kle to help us," Mtille sid. "Hey, Teentsy," she clled out, but Shelby grbbed her rm. Delt "Don't get them down here," he sid. "I don't wnt everyone in the "They in on this." dddy everyone sid Bby Doll mussels." ll know bout it nywy," Mtille sid. "Guy told Grnd t the store ws lughing bout us the other ws busting gut t us lughing for chopping "I don't cre," Shelby sid, putting his hnds on his hips nd out cross the wter with the grim resigntion of the born rtist. don't know wht we're doing it for." "Well, I'm bout worn out," Mtille sid. "Let's go up nd get Mvis to give us drink." dy. He ll these looking "They to the store "Let's open few more first. Then we'll get drink nd go over to the other side. I think it's better over there nywy. There's snd over there. You got to hve snd to mke perls." "We cn't go over there," Mtille sid. "Tht's not our property. Tht's Mr. Donlevy's plce." "He don't cre if we some dig mussels on his byou bnk, does he?" "I don't know. We got to sk him first. He's got rel bd temper." "Let's try under this tree," Shelby sid. "This looks like good plce. There's snd in this mud." He ws bending down trying the mud be tween his fingers, rubbing it bck nd forth to test the consistency. "Yeh, let's try here. This feels good." "Wht y'll tering up ll those mussels for," Kle clled down from his on perch the bridge. "They in't good for nothing. You cn't even use them for bit." "We're gonn mke shtrys out of them," Shelby sid. "We're strt ing us n shtry fctory." "Where bout?" Kle sid, getting interested, looking come down nd tke look for himself. like he would "Next to the store," Shelby sid. "We're gonn decorte them nd sell them in New Orlens. Rich folks will py lot for rel mussel sh trys." "Tht ought to hold them for while," he sid to Mtille. "Let them 114
tlk bout tht t the store. Come on, let's open few more. Then we'll get us drink." "All right," Mtille sid. "Let's try under this tree." She wded out into the wter until it ws up to her nkles, feeling the cold mud ooze up between her toes. She reched out with the rke. It cught, nd she be gn pulling it up the shore, bcking edges of the tree roots. The rke down to free it. s she pulled, tering the brk off the cught in the roots "Mtille!" Shelby yelled. "Mtille! Lookout!" nd she reched She herd his voice nd sw the snke t the sme moment, sw the snke nd Shelby lifting the hoe nd her hnd outlined ginst the wter, frozen nd dppled with sunlight nd the snke struggling to free itself nd the hoe flling towrd her hnd, nd she dropped the rke nd turned nd ws running up the bnk, stumbling nd running, with Shelby yelling his hed off behind her, nd Teentsy nd Kle nd the other children rose up from the bridge like flock of little blckbirds nd cme running down the hill to see wht the excitement ws. "I got him," Shelby yelled. "I cut him in two. I cut him in two with the hoe. I got him." Mtille snk down on the knees. "She's finting," edge of the rod nd put her hed on her Kle clled out, running up to her. "Mtille's fint ing." "No, she in't." Teentsy sid. "She's ll right." Teentsy st down by Mtille nd put hnd on her rm, ptting her. "It ws moccsin," Shelby yelled. "He ws big round s my rm. After I killed him the top hlf ws still live. He struck t me four times. I don't know if I'm bit or not." "Where's he gone to now?" Kle sid. "I don't know," Shelby sid, pulling off his shirt. "Come look nd see if he bit me." The children gthered round serching Shelby's skin for bite mrks. His little chest ws heving with excitement nd his fce ws shining. With his shirt off he looked bout s big round s blue jy. His little blck sling ws flopping round his wrist nd his rib cge rose nd fell beneth the strps of his seersucker plysuit. "Here's one!" Teentsy scremed, touching spot on Shelby's bck, but 115
it turned out to be n old mosquito bite. better." "Ly down on the ground," Kle yelled, "Where do you think he bit you?" Teentsy sid. "where we cn look t you But Shelby ws too excited to ly down on the ground. All he wnted to do ws jump up nd down nd tell his story over nd over. Then the grown people herd the commotion nd cme out from the store. Mvis Findley nd Mr. Beumont nd Bby Doll nd R.C. nd Overflow cme hurrying down the rod nd grbbed hold of Shelby so they could see where the snke bit him. "Didn't nothing bite him, Mr. Mvis," Kle sid. "He kilt it. He kilt it with the hoe." "He lmost chopped my hnd off," Mtille sid, but no one ws listening. Then Mvis nd Bby Doll nd Overflow escorted Mtille nd Shelby bck to the big house with the blck children skipping long beside nd in front of them like disorderly mrching bnd. By the time the procession reched the house the ws porch full of l dies. Mtille's mother nd grndmother nd gret-grndmother nd severl widowed unts hd mterilized from their rooms nd were stnding in circle. From distnce they looked like gret flowering shrub. The screen door ws open nd wsp buzzed round their heds to thretening be cught in their hirnets. The ldies ll begn tlking t once, their voices rising bove nd riding over nd flling into ech other in long chorus of mothering. "Thnk goodness you're ll in one piece," Miss Bbbie sid, swooping up Mtille nd enfolding her in cool frgrnce of dotted Swiss nd soft yielding bosom nd the smell of sndlwood nd the smell of coffee nd the smell of powder. Miss Nnnie-Mother, who ws 96, kissed her on the forehed nd clled her Eloise, fter long-ded cousin. Miss Nnnie-Mother hd lived so long nd grown so wise tht everyone in the world hd strted to look like to her. The rest of the ldies swirled round Shelby. Mtille struggled from her grndmother's embrce nd wtched disgustedly from the doorfrme s Shelby told his story for the tenth time. 116
"I didn't cre wht to hppened me," Shelby ws sying. "No rttle snke ws biting ldy while I ws in the neighborhood. After I chopped it in two the mouth prt cme t me like chicken with its hed cut off." "He lmost chopped my hnd off," Mtille sid gin, but the only ones to listening her were Teentsy nd Kle, who stood by the steps pick ing petls off Miss Teddy's prize pnsies nd covering their mouths with their hnds when they to giggled show wht nice mnners they hd. "This is wht comes of letting children run loose like wild Indins," Miss ws Teddy sying, brndishing bottle of Windsor nil polish. "Whtever will Rhod Hotchkiss think when she hers of this?" Miss Nell Grce sid. "She'll be terrified," Miss Bbbie nswered. "Then go to stright her knees to thnk the Lord for the nrrow escpe." "I knew ws something going to hppen," Miss Hnnie Cly sid, her hnds still full of rickrck for the smock she ws mking for her dughter in Shreveport. "I knew ws something coming. It ws too quiet round here ll morning if you sk my opinion." Mtille lened into the door frme with her hnds on her hips wtch ing her chnces of ever ner going the s byou gin s long she lived growing slimmer nd slimmer. Sure enough, when Mtille's cme grndfther in from the fields for the noon mel he mde his pronouncement before he even wshed his hnds or hung up his ht. "Well, then," he sid, looking down from his six feet four inches nd furrowing his brow. "I wnt everyone in this house to sty wy from the byou until I cn spre some men to cler the brush. Shelby, I'm count ing on you to keep Mtille wy from there, you her me?" "Yes sir," Shelby sid. He stood up very stright, stuck out his hnd nd shook on it. Now he's done it, Mtille nothing will be the sme. thought. Now our luck's ll gone. Now Now the summer wore on into August, nd Shelby nd Mtille mde lbortory in n old chicken house, nd collected lot of butterflies nd chloroformed them with fingernil polish remover, nd they tught fox terrier puppy how to dnce on his hind legs, nd spent some time spying 117
on the Germn prisoners, nd red ll the old love letters in the trunks under the house, nd built brod jump pit in the psture, but it ws not the sme. Somehow the hert hd gone out of the summer. Then one morning the grown people decided it ws time for typhoid shots, nd no mtter how Mtille cried nd bet her hed ginst the floor she ws bthed nd dressed nd sent off in the bck set of Miss Rhod's Buick to Doctor Findley's little brick office overlooking Lke Wshington. As rewrd Mtille ws to be llowed to sty over t Ber Grden un til the pin nd fever subsided. In those dys vccintions were much stronger thn re they now, nd well cred-for children were kept in bed for twenty-four hours nursing their sore rms, tking spirin dissolved in sugr wter nd being treted s were though they victims of the disese itself. Miss Rhod mde up the twin beds in Shelby's mother's old room, mde them up with her finest Belgin linens nd decorted the hedbords with Hero medls cut from crdbord nd hnd-pinted with wtercolors. The bedroom ws pinted ivory nd the chirs were covered with blue nd white chintz imported from Pris. It ws the finest room Mtille hd ever slept in. She snuggled down in the pillows dmiring the tll book cses filled with old dolls nd mementos of Crrie Hotchkiss's brillint creer s Rolling Fork cheerleder. Miss Rhod bthed their fces with lemon wter, drew the Austrin blinds nd went off for her np. "Does yours hurt yet?" Shelby sid, rubbing his shot s hrd s he could to get the pin going. "Mine's me killing lredy." "It hurts some," Mtille sid, touching the swollen re. "Not too much." She ws looking t Shelby's legs, remembering something Guy hd shown her, something tht hd hppened long time go, some thing hot nd exciting, something tht felt like fever, nd like fever, mde seem everything present, lwys present, so tht she could not re member where or how it hd or hppened how long time hd pssed since she hd forgotten it. "Just wit till tonight," Shelby rttled on. "You'll think your rm's fixing to fll off. I lmost died from mine lst yer. One yer boy in 118
New Orlens did die. They cut off his rm nd did everything they could to sve him but he died nywy. Think bout tht, being in grve with one only rm." Shelby ws tlking fster thn ever, to hide his embr rssment t the wy Mtille ws looking t him. "I cn't stnd to think bout being buried, cn you?" he continued, "ll shut up in the ground with the worms eting you. I'm getting buried in musoleum if I die. They're these little houses up off the ground mde out of concrete. Everyone in New Orlens tht cn fford it gets buried in musoleums. Tht's one good thing bout living there." "You wnt to get in bed with me?" Mtille sid, t surprised the sound of her own voice, so cler nd orderly in the still room. "Sure," Shelby sid, "if you're scred. It scres me to deth to think bout being buried nd stuff like tht. Are you scred?" "I don't know," Mtille sid. "I just feel funny. I feel like doing some thing bd." "Well, scoot over then," Shelby sid, crwling in beside her. "You're burning up," she sid, putting hnd on his forehed to see if he hd fever. Then she put her hnd on his chest s if to feel his hert bet, nd then, s if she hd been doing it every dy of her life, she reched down inside his pjms for the strnge hrd secret of boys. "I wnt to see it, Shelby," she sid, nd he ly bck with his hnds stiff by his sides while she touched nd looked to her hert's content. "Now you do it to me," she sid, nd she guided his fingers up nd down, up nd down, up nd down the thick tight opening between her legs. The fternoon ws going on for long time nd the smll bed ws rounded by yellow light nd the room filled with the smell of mussels. Long fterwrds, s she ly in cool bed in Acpulco, witing for her third husbnd to clim her s his bride, Mtille would remember tht light nd how, lter tht fternoon, the wind picked up nd could be herd for miles wy, moving towrd Issquen County with its lines of distnt thunder, nd how the cotton wood leves outside the window hd bet upon the house ll night with their exotic crckling. sur "You better not tell nyone bout this ever, Shelby," Mtille sid, when she woke in the morning. "You cn't tell nyone bout it, New Orlens." not even in 119
"The moon's still up," Shelby sid, s if he hdn't herd her. "I cn see it out the window." "How cn the moon be up," Mtille sid. "It's dylight." "It stys up when it wnts to," Shelby sid, "hven't you tht before?" ever seen It ws Mtille who mde up the gme now. They clened out n old plyhouse tht hd to belonged Mtille's mother nd mde bed from cot mttress. Mtille would lie down on the mttress with her hnd on her hed to pretending hve sick hedche. "Come sit by me, Honey," she would sy. "Pour me glss of sherry nd come lie down till I feel better." "God cn see in this plyhouse," Shelby sid, pulling his hnd wy. "No, he cn't, Shelby," Mtille sid, sitting up nd looking him hrd in the eye. "God cn't see through tin. This is tin roof nd God cn't see through it." "He cn see everywhere," Shelby sid. "Fther Godchux sid so." "Well, he cn't see through tin," Mtille sid. "He cn't be every where t once. He's got enough to do out helping the Allies without wtching little boys nd girls every minute of the night nd dy." M tille ws unbuttoning Shelby's plysuit. "Doesn't tht feel good, Shelby?" she sid. "Doesn't tht mke you feel better?" "God cn see everywhere," Shelby insisted. "He cn see every single thing in the whole world." "I don't cre," Mtille sid. "I don't like God nywy. If God's so good why did he let Uncle Robert die. And why did he mke lligtors nd snkes nd send my dddy off to fight the Jps. If God's so good why'd he let the Jews kill his own little boy." "You better not tlk like tht," Shelby sid, buttoning his suit bck to gether. "And we better get bck before Bby Doll comes looking for us gin." "Just little bit more," Mtille sid. "Just till we the comes bby out." get to the prt where August went s by if it hd only lsted moment. Then one fternoon Miss Rhod drove over Shelby in the Buick to sy He ws goodbye. 120
wering long pnts nd hd clen sling on the finger nd he hd brought Mtille the voodoo bone wrpped in tissue pper to keep for him. "You might need this," he sid, holding it out to her. He looked very grown up stnding by the stirs in his city clothes nd Mtille thought tht mybe she would mrry Shelby when she grew up nd be fine mr ried ldy in New Orlens. Then it ws September nd the cotton went to the gin nd Mtille ws in the third grde nd rode to school on the bus. One fternoon she ws stnding by the driver while the bus clttered cross the bridge nd cme to hlt by the store. It ws cool dy. A breeze ws blowing from the northest nd the cypress trees were turn ing dusty red nd the wild persimmons nd muscdines were mking. Mtille felt the trouble before she even got off the bus. The trouble reched out nd touched her before she even sw the ldies on stnding the porch in their drk dresses. It fell cross her shoulders like clok. It ws s if she hd touched single strnd of web nd felt the whole thing tremble nd knew herself to be cught forever in its trembling. They found out, she thought. Shelby told them. I knew he couldn't keep secret, she sid to herself. Now they'll kill me. Now they'll bet me like they did Guy. She looked down the grvel rod to the house, down the long line of pecn nd elm trees nd knew tht she should turn nd go bck the other wy, should run from this trouble, but something mde her keep on moving towrd the house. I'll sy he lied, she thought. I'll sy I didn't do it. I'll sy he mde it up, she sid to herself. lir Shelby is. Everyone knows wht Then her mother nd grndmother nd Miss Bbbie cme down off the porch nd took her into the prlor nd st beside her on the sof. And Miss Hnnie nd Miss Nell Grce nd Overflow nd Bby Doll stood round her in circle nd told her the terrible news. "Shelby is ded, Mtille," her grndmother sid. The words slid over her like wter on stones. poured Shelby hd gone to the hospitl to hve his finger fixed nd he hd lin down on the tble nd put the gs msk over his fce nd the mn who rn the gs mchine mde mistke nd Shelby hd gone to sleep, nd 121
nothing could wke him up, not ll the doctors or nurses or shots or slps on the fce or screms or pryers or remorse in the world could wke him. And tht ws the Lord's will, blessed be the nme of the Lord, Amen. Lter the ldies went into the kitchen to mke cold supper for nyone who felt like eting nd Mtille wlked down to the byou nd stood for long time string down into the wter, feeling strngely elted, s though this were some wonderful joke Shelby dremed up. She stred down into the tree roots, deep down into the muddy wter, down to the plce where Shelby's perl wited, grew nd moved inside the soft wtery flesh of its mother, luminous nd perfect nd live, s cold s the moon in the winter sky. 122