The Girl in the Torch by Robert Sharenow

Author:Robert Sharenow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Smitty and Miss Jean

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?”

Miss Jean stood by the front door with her hands on her hips as Sarah entered the hall.

“Oh, I was just out walking around,” Sarah said.

“Well, it was my understanding that you were working for Mrs. Lee now, so you should let us know if you’re planning on going anywhere.”

“I’m sorry. I will.”

“As long as you’ve got your coat on, you can leave it on and come out with me. Mrs. Lee asked me to pick up some things for the evening meal. I could use an extra set of hands. Smitty’s out back fixing the drain. Go ask him if he needs any pipe tobacco while we’re out and then meet me in the front hall.”

Sarah discovered Smitty in the backyard, leaning against a shovel beside a freshly dug hole. As she approached, Sarah saw that the hole revealed some exposed pipes in the ground and Smitty was reading from a set of plans that seemed to be a map of some kind.

“Hello there,” he said, glancing up at her. “We’ve got a blocked pipe somewhere out here that’s making all the sinks back up. I’m just trying to figure out which one it is.”

None of the homes in Sarah’s village had running water, and she was fascinated by the advanced plumbing system that seemed to be in place at Mrs. Lee’s.

“Would you believe, I drew up these plans myself and now I can’t make sense of them.”

“You made this?” she asked with surprise.

“Studied engineering at Tuskegee. Class of ninety.”

“You are an engineer?”

“By education if not in practice. Most of the time I’m dedicated to the janitorial arts.” He wryly chuckled.

“What is that?”

“Means I fix and clean things up around here. Turns out there weren’t many opportunities at engineering firms for people of my particular shade.”

“Shade?”

“My skin color, dear. You don’t meet many Negro engineers.”

“Why?” Sarah said.

His expression turned serious.

“I’m afraid that one-word question has a long, complicated, and not very good answer.”

Sarah genuinely wondered what about his skin would make someone not want him to be an engineer. America seemed to be full of people of different colors.

“What can I do for you?” he said.

“Miss Jean and I are going out and she wanted me to ask you if you need any more tobacco.”

“That’s awfully considerate of you both. But I think I’m all set for now.”

Sarah returned inside and found Miss Jean waiting for her in the front hall, putting on her coat and scarf. “Ah, there you are,” she said.

“He said he did not need any tobacco.”

“All right.”

Sarah watched as Miss Jean stared into a round, framed mirror by the door and put on a wide-brimmed, navy-blue felt hat with a sharp little brown feather sticking up out of the band. Miss Jean glimpsed Sarah out of the corner of her eye.

Sarah quickly looked away.

“You really have got to control that habit of staring at people,” Miss Jean said.

“Sorry,” she said.

Miss Jean paused and then went into the closet and retrieved a gray felt hat with a red band and a small silk flower attached to the side.

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