Her Own Place by Dori Sanders

Author:Dori Sanders [Sanders, Dori]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 1993-09-29T22:00:00+00:00

: 12 :

Bethel Petty wasn’t intentionally rude or dismissive, but she had a way of saying things that could be annoying, and sometimes even upsetting, as in her remark about the navy blue jacket. Mae Lee wore the jacket on a damp morning when it was a bit too cool to go out without one. It looked quite nice over the pearl gray blouse she’d bought at a yard sale the Saturday before.

Bethel Petty was hard at work on the volunteer schedule when Mae Lee walked in. She spoke but didn’t look up. “Thanks for totaling up the hours for the volunteer report, Mae Lee,” she said. “It’s sad that the more the workload for the doctors and nurses increases, the more the hours of the volunteer group decrease. I see that Deborah Ross is having out-of-town company next Tuesday. Do you think you could switch your day next week with her?” She looked up, and before Mae Lee could answer, the woman started, got up, moved forward, and lightly ran her fingers along the jacket sleeve. “Um, nice,” she said, adding, “good Ultrasuede. Where did you get it?”

Mae Lee, obviously pleased, answered, “One of my daughters sent it to me.”

“Which one?”

“Nellie Grace.”

Bethel raised her eyebrows, “Oh, the one who drives the new BMW. My Lord, Mae Lee, what in the world does your daughter do to earn that kind of money?”

Mae Lee read doubts in Bethel Petty’s eyes, and simply answered, “Nellie Grace was recently divorced, and in her words, won a very generous settlement and she has a very good job.” She thought to herself, “She’s a computer specialist, but you will not get me out on a limb trying to go into details, Professor.” Then she began to think about it. She thought of the time she’d visited her daughter in New York, thought of all the nice things in her apartment. She started mentally adding up all the things her daughter had bought that Bethel Petty didn’t even know about.

It was troubling to have someone question the conduct of her child. It worked on her nerves.

The workday seemed to stretch on forever, but she doggedly pressed on to the end. That evening she was getting ready to start cooking supper when Ellabelle called to say she was bringing over a freshly baked beef casserole. It was one of Mae Lee’s favorite dishes, but this time she only picked at the food.

“Something is bothering you, Mae Lee,” Ellabelle said. “You don’t look sick, but when you can’t eat, something is bad wrong. What happened today to set you off?”

Mae Lee frowned. “I guess it was the way Bethel Petty talked about Nellie Grace’s car and the clothes she sent me. It was kind of like nobody could afford such fine things from just the money they are paid on their jobs. She wanted to know ‘what in the world’ my child did for a living.”

Ellabelle pulled both feet upon the chair rung. Mercifully it didn’t break. She slapped her thighs hard and clenched her fists.

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