Friends and Enemies by Stephen A. Bly

Author:Stephen A. Bly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2002-11-11T05:00:00+00:00

Jamie Sue descended the staircase wearing her fancy new green dress and a flannel towel wrapped around her hair. Little Frank was propped up in a chair holding his neatly linen-wrapped hand. The twins were slicing peaches at the porcelain sink. Robert was mopping the floor.

“Are you alright, Mama?” Little Frank asked.

She bent over, kissed his forehead, then rubbed his shoulders. “I’m fine, honey. I just had the wind knocked out of me and got a bloody nose. You’re the one that’s injured.”

Little Frank rubbed his nose with his good hand. “That really, really hurt when you straightened my finger, Mama.”

“I know, darling, I know . . .” She stroked his matted hair.

“I tried not to cry. I didn’t want to cry.”

She stood next to his chair and cradled his curly, light brown head against her stomach. “That’s alright, honey . . . it’s alright.”

“But boys aren’t suppose to cry!” he murmured.

“That’s a dumb rule,” Veronica said.

“Everyone has the right to laugh, so everyone should have the right to cry,” Patricia said.

“Your sisters are right,” Robert encouraged. “The Bible says there’s a time to laugh and a time to cry . . . and this was your turn.”

“But I’m embarrassed.”

“You’re embarrassed?” Jamie Sue added. “How about me? I was the one who dropped the peaches, answered the phone with sticky fingers, tripped and fell flat on my nose . . . and . . .”

“And threw the chicken at the telephone!” Veronica added.

Jamie Sue strolled over to the girls and looked over their shoulders. “If I had a shotgun, I would have blasted it off the wall.”

“You can’t imagine what went through my mind when I came in the back door and saw you all on the floor and the blood . . .” Robert shook his head. “I thought . . . well . . .” He turned his head away.

Veronica glanced across the room. “Is it your turn to cry, Daddy?”

He turned back with a deep sigh. “It was very close to my turn.”

Jamie Sue gently rubbed her nose. “Even with my bruises, I can smell a cobbler. Did someone put one of those vicious peach pies in the oven?”

“We did, Mama,” Patricia said.

“Good, we can take the first one to Grandpa Brazos as soon as it cools.” Jamie Sue let her damp hair drape across her shoulders.

Wiping her hands on her apron, Patricia stepped up beside her. “You look very pretty in that green dress, Mama.”

Jamie Sue held out her hands and looked at the starched white lace cuffs. “It’s my only clean dress. It will be such a delight to get our belongings at last. Are you going to telephone Mr. Landusky?”

“I already have,” Robert replied. “With a quite sticky telephone, I might add.”

“It’s lucky to be alive. When will he deliver our trunks?”

“He couldn’t get away until after lunch. So I telephoned the express company. They’ll have it all delivered before noon,” Robert reported.

Jamie Sue threw her arms around his neck and kissed his lips.

“Mother!” Veronica scolded.

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