KATIE AND EMMA AND I WERE ALREADY UP AND working in the kitchen when we heard Aleta’s footsteps on the stairs. Katie set down the knife in her hand she’d been slicing bread with, wiped her hands, and went to meet her.
She brought Aleta into the kitchen and asked her, “Would you like some breakfast?”
“What are they doing here?” said Aleta, glancing first toward me, then with a frown toward Emma.
“I told you before, they live here.”
“They live in the same house with you?”
“Yes. Mayme and Emma are my friends.”
“They will never be my friends.”
I turned away. I knew she was just a confused little girl who didn’t know better. But the words hurt. And I knew there was nothing I could do to help. If I’d have tried to be nice to her or go over and talk to her, to show her that I was a normal person just like her, it wouldn’t have done any good. If there was going to be a change in what she thought of my being black, it would have to come from inside her. Even Emma was uncharacteristically quiet. After getting used to Katie’s kindness, I think the words took her by surprise and shocked her into silence.
Katie walked over and took William from Emma, cradled him gently in her arms, then returned to where Aleta stood.
“And this is William, Aleta,” she said with a smile. “William is Emma’s son. Isn’t he a fine-looking little boy?”
Aleta stared down at him in silence.
“Would you like to hold him just for a second, Aleta?”
“No,” she said.
“All right, maybe later. Are you hungry? Would you like some breakfast?”
Aleta nodded. Katie sat her down at the table, poured her a glass of milk, and began slicing some bread, talking gently and quietly to her, just like a grown-up would.
Sometimes Katie amazed me, and now was one of those times!
After a minute or two, I left the kitchen and went outside. I started walking away from the house and then heard Katie’s voice.
“Mayme,” she said.
I turned around. She was standing in the doorway, then took a few steps toward me.
“Mayme … I’m sorry,” she said.
“I know, Miss Katie. It’s all right,” I said. “You just take care of her the best you can. She needs your help. I’ll be all right.”
The next couple of days were awkward and hard. Katie didn’t know what to do. Aleta followed her around with the devotion of a puppy dog. But whenever she saw Emma or me, she got an angry expression on her face and tried to get as far away as she could. With William to tend to, Emma hardly seemed to notice it much. But Katie knew it hurt me, especially after how close she and I had become. She always looked at me apologetically, but we didn’t know what to do.
The rest of the time Aleta had kind of a dazed look on her face. She didn’t cry or talk about her mother or ask any questions about Katie’s parents or why there were just three girls and a baby here. But then I remembered that I hadn’t cried much at first either. Neither Katie or me knew what she was thinking. She just did what Katie told her and followed her around, or else silently stood and watched with a scowl on her face when Katie and me were talking about something or doing our work, or when Emma went into one of her fits of chattering. I tried to keep out of her way as much as I could. I figured that would be best for now.
At the end of the second day, I walked back to the house from the barn where I’d done the milking by myself. As I went in, Aleta and Katie were in the kitchen. Emma and William were napping.
Aleta glanced up and got that look on her face again.
“My daddy hates coloreds,” she said. “If he saw you, he’d kill you.”
“Aleta,” said Katie, shocked. “How can you say such a thing!”
“He says coloreds are bad and mean and ugly.”
“Then he’s wrong,” said Katie. “Mayme saved my life, Aleta. She helped me just like I helped you. She’s as nice a girl as you could ever meet.”
Aleta didn’t say any more.
“Do you want to hate people like your father does?” asked Katie. “Do you want to be like him?”
The thought seemed to sober her. She got up from her chair. “May I play with your dolls?” she asked.
“Yes,” answered Katie. “Yes … you may.”
Aleta left the kitchen and went upstairs.