Dust Bowl Girls by Lydia Reeder

Author:Lydia Reeder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2016-12-28T16:00:00+00:00

Maybe Aunt Lucy had convinced him, or maybe his attitude was softened by Atha’s presence, but Babb gave in and canceled Monday-morning practice. The girls could now make arrangements to spend the rest of the break at home if they wanted.

Atha grabbed his shirt sleeve, stood on her toes, and whispered something in his ear that made him start grinning. When she had finished telling him her secret, Babb turned toward Aunt Lucy and announced that tomorrow afternoon, if time allowed, they would throw the girls an ice-cream social in the middle of January. After a moment of stark silence, someone pointed out that there’s a depression on and cream is almost as costly as gold. Babb shrugged and said he had a few ideas.

Aunt Lucy’s face instantly brightened. She liked the notion of a celebration, and she was positive that Mrs. Hamilton, Alice and Ginny’s mother, would be happy to host it at her house across the street from OPC. The players treated Mrs. Hamilton like their second mother, anyway.

When everything had been decided, Babb and his group continued on to the church, where members were holding a potluck supper to collect money for Durant’s poor families.

Doll stared after them, a stony look on her face. Lucille wondered if Doll had met Atha before tonight. As Aunt Lucy motioned that it was time to get going, Doll followed Lucille, Coral, and Aunt Lucy back to the dorm. When Coral mentioned that she loved ice cream, Lucille said that she hadn’t tasted anything sweet in months. The girls were shocked that their strict coach was going to let them indulge, even throw the party. Doll was quiet. She looked like she was far away, thinking about something else.

THE NEXT EVENING, every Cardinal trotted across to the Hamiltons’ home during a cold, clear January sunset that shot fading bits of golden sunlight through bare tree branches. The girls were dressed for a party. Winter wool coats hid cotton and rayon Sunday dresses. Rubber boots covered leather pumps and Mary Janes. Lucille had put on her favorite red dress. Doll had pulled on a pair of white dress gloves bought with money she had earned giving weekend basketball lesson to young girls. Toka Lee wore earrings that sparkled. Even Vick left her warm woolen trousers folded in her dorm-room closet and wore her navy-blue flannel jumper over a white sweater, belted at the waist. Most had not ingested anything sweeter than orange juice since August. By the time everyone had tromped through Mrs. Hamilton’s front yard, they were nearly drooling.

La Homa threw off her coat as she hurried inside the Hamiltons’ small front room. Her nose told her that Mrs. Hamilton was serving other desserts besides ice cream. Brownies! And gingerbread! Bo-Peep followed La Homa into the living room—still decorated with red, green, and gold Christmas ornaments. The rest of the Cardinals—Lucille, Doll, Toka Lee, Teny, Vick, Coral, Lera, Vera, Allene, Buena, and Susie—rushed in through the front door.

Mrs. Hamilton greeted them

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