Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

Author:Sandra Dallas [Dallas, Sandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780312360191
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2007-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

MOM RESTED ON HER bed with an afghan spread over her while Marthalice and I took the Colfax trolley to Grant Street. Marthalice’s apartment was called a studio, which meant it was one room. There was barely space for a single bed shoved against a wall, a chair, a bureau, and a table. She shared a bathroom with three other girls, but she had a corner sink in her room and a hot plate, which was good enough to fix hen scratch, she said. She showed me the rest of the house, a mansion built by a silver king. “Sometimes I pretend I’m one of the rich ladies who owned the house in the old days,” she said, and looked away, embarrassed. But I thought that was swell, because if I lived there, I’d have pretended to be the maid.

We left the apartment and walked to the Pencol Drug, where we sat at a little table and ordered grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

“Helen Reddick works at the fountain at the Lee Drug. She’s Helen Archuleta now. She has a baby,” I told Marthalice.

“I know. She married a beet worker. He’s no good. Mom wrote that her folks were pretty mad.”

“They were so mad, they threw her out of the house. The Jolly Stitchers brought her a charity basket. She almost wouldn’t take it.”

“Even girls like Helen, who’ve been ditched, have their pride.”

“She wasn’t ditched. Bobby Archuleta got drafted.” Ice cream from my soda got stuck in the straw, so I sucked it out of the bottom.

Marthalice cocked her head and studied me. “I don’t think he got drafted, honey. I think he just took off.”

“Can he do that?” I held the straw in the air, and melted ice cream dripped onto the table.

“Men can do anything they want to, especially after a girl gets in the family way.” I looked startled, and Marthalice gave me a sad smile.

“That’s not very nice. The sheriff ought to go after him,” I said.

“Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.” She picked up a pickle chip and bit off a tiny piece of it. “Men don’t think it’s such a big deal. They aren’t always so responsible, especially beet workers. Bobby Archuleta got his draft notice, so he left out. Helen knows it. Everybody in Ellis knows it. I guess she’s trying to save face by saying he’s in the army. I bet she doesn’t have the least idea where he’s at.” Marthalice finished her drink and shook the ice in her bulb-shaped Coke glass. “Helen’ll be all right. He was a jerk. She’s probably glad he’s gone. Maybe I’ll write her. There are lots of jobs for women in Denver, and she can find somebody to take care of the baby.”

“Her mom wants her to move home, but her dad won’t let her. Mr. Reddick says Helen is dead to him. I heard Mrs. Reddick say so.”

“Mr. Reddick can go to hell.”

“What?” Nobody in our family talked like that.

Marthalice didn’t reply. Instead, she stared

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