Miss Julia Delivers the Goods by Ann B. Ross

Author:Ann B. Ross [Ross, Ann B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

The back door slammed and Lloyd came running in, sweaty from his tennis exertions and highly agitated. “Miss Julia! Your car’s all messed up!”

“Oh, my word,” I said, meeting him in the hall. “Ralph Peterson was supposed to have that car in the shop. I’m calling him again.”

“But what happened?” Lloyd asked. “Somebody wrecked it?”

Lillian walked out just then. “Wadn’t no somebody,” she said. “A Dipsy Dumpster did it.”

So then I had to explain, but when I got to the point of telling him that his mother had been put back to bed, he lost interest in car wreckage. “Just a little relapse,” I assured him, as he headed in to see her.

“Oh, Lillian,” I murmured, leading the way to the kitchen, “I don’t know how long we can keep this up. Something’s got to give, sooner or later.”

“Some lemonade be good right about now,” she said. “Let me make us a pitcher.”

“Gladly,” I said, collapsing in a chair at the table. “Hazel Marie looks all right, doesn’t she? I mean, she’d let us know if something happens, won’t she?”

“Yessum,” she said, getting out the sugar and the lemons. “Like I tole you, she don’t want to lose that baby. Them babies, I mean. Law, Miss Julia, can you believe us having two of ’em? Think how many years this house have no chil’ren at all, an’ now it gonna be crawlin’ with ’em.”

So I sat there and thought about the empty years. Then I thought about what it would be like with two more besides Lloyd. If they turned out to be as satisfactory as he was, I would have no complaints. None at all, regardless of what the town thought.

Lillian put a glass of lemonade in front of me, then left to take two more glasses in to Hazel Marie and Lloyd. I’d just picked up my glass when I heard Sam’s footsteps outside.

“Julia,” he said, coming in the door, “what happened to your car?”

“Oh, nothing much, Sam,” I said, getting up to pour lemonade for him. “It’s just a little ding, nothing to get upset about.”

Sam’s eyebrows went up. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“Nobody got hurt but the car and a Dumpster. But I’ve already called Ralph to come get it. So let’s not worry about it.”

I had had enough of the inordinate interest everybody was taking in the condition of my car. When something goes wrong, the polite thing to do is to pretend you don’t notice and carry on with general conversation. I just hated having attention drawn to any little mishap that could’ve happened to anybody, but if Ralph Peterson didn’t come on soon, half the town would stop by to tell me my car was wrecked. As if I didn’t know it.

“One good thing,” I told Sam that evening after I’d related, out of Lloyd’s hearing, the highlights of the afternoon, “she won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. But can you believe twins? It’s more than I can take in and just complicates matters that much more.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.