Miss McGhee by Bett Norris

Author:Bett Norris [Norris, Bett]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian
ISBN: 1932859330
Google: OGtkrCEBEe4C
Amazon: B004OC0096
Publisher: Bywater Books
Published: 2006-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

After the last man had received his pay packet and walked back to the mill, Lila opened one of the windows, and Mary put away the cash box in the safe hidden inside a closet. They pulled chairs over to the window to catch the slight breeze, and Lila took off her shoes and put her feet in Mary’s lap. Mary pushed them away. Lila smiled, though with a softly disappointed look.

“What are you going to do this weekend?”

Mary frowned. “I don’t know. I might go down to the beach. It should be nice weather. I don’t think I can take a whole weekend with Miss Louise right now.”

“Why not?”

“She prattles on and on. I need to think. That’s all.”

“Think about what? How we never seem to have any time alone?”

“Lila, don’t, please.”

“If you say this is not the time or the place one more time, I’ll scream. This is the only time alone we have together, and you know it. You refuse every suggestion I make.”

“Dinner with you and Tommie is hardly alone. And hardly appropriate.”

“Of course it’s appropriate. You mean it would be uncomfortable. What if I’m out for a walk and stop to admire Miss Louise’s yard? Is that casual and appropriate enough?”

Mary was certain that Buchanan, too, was becoming a frequent customer of Myrtlewood’s official purveyor of information. “She thought I was putting on airs to hire Henry to cut the grass.”

Lila looked surprised. “When will he have time? When he’s not in school he’s helping Thad at our place.”

“He needs the money. He graduates from high school next spring and he wants to save enough by then to go to college.”

Lila glanced at her. “He wants to go to college?”

“Thad’s making sure every single one of them graduates high school. Henry’s older sister worked her way through school and became a teacher.”

“Where would Henry go to college?”

“Tuskegee Institute. He wants to study agriculture.”

“See, that’s just like a Negro. Why spend all that money to go off from home and study something he’s been doing all his life? They’d be better off if he stayed at home and helped his daddy like he’s been doing. It would be a waste of money.”

Mary looked out the window.

“I wish I could go with you to the beach,” Lila said. “Annie’s says it’s time to do the canning before the garden goes to waste. We have so many tomatoes and cucumbers I don’t know what we will do with them all. The squash and the pole beans have just gone crazy. Want to skip the beach and come over and help us?”

Mary watched Lila’s slow grin, and she sighed. “You know I can’t. I can’t be here, be around you, without wanting you. It’s better if I go sit on the beach. I’ll be all right.”

“It might be better for you, but what about me? I want to be alone with you. I don’t see why we can’t go to the beach together. But if I can’t have that, then I want whatever I can get.

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.