An Elderberry Fall Read Online Free

do inside,” he said, sipping on his coffee.
    â€œMaybe they are not getting done. Maybe she is too busy in other people’s business, and sitting on the porch is her way of being nosey,” I commented, still a little uptight about her visit early this morning.
    â€œRight…she is always staring at us and waving,” Simon said, shaking his head.
    â€œOnly when you are home, Simon.”
    â€œWhat are you trying to say?”
    â€œNothing, but something is wrong with her.”
    â€œHer husband is gone a lot like I am. She is probably just lonely.”
    â€œMaybe so…”
    â€œDon’t say it like that,” he said. “I hate being away from you and Robert.”
    After breakfast, Simon went outside to gather the eggs from the hens. I watched through the kitchen window as Nadine sat on her front porch twirling her curls with her fingers, and ravenously staring at my husband. She yelled across the road in a long Southern drawl, “Hi, Mr. Simon.”
    Simon turned and peered at her from across the yard. He waved, but kept moving like she didn’t matter. I could see she wanted more, since she stood there grinning and then pacing back and forth on her porch like an anxious school girl. When Simon returned with the eggs, she yelled again, “Thank you for the eggs this mo’ning!”
    Simon answered, “Welcome,” and walked back into the house.
    â€œWhat eggs are Nadine talking about? She said we gave her eggs.”
    â€œShe borrowed some early this morning while you were sleeping.”
    â€œOh,” he said, and added, “I told you she wants to be your friend.”
    â€œAll I have time for is Robert.”
    Simon was naïve when it came to certain things, or had I just grown up fast. I was nearly eighteen, but I felt much older. Iassumed that was why Momma used to say “stay out of grown folks’ business. Be careful what you want for because growing up can be painful.” From the moment Mr. Camm showed up unannounced at our house, dressed like a city slicker, and told my momma he loved her, and then proved to everyone in the town that he was telling a lie, I learned a lot. And the day the no-good bastard intruded on me, I was forced to grow up. I’d been forced to put away my black doll baby and take care of one of my own. I had Robert now. I didn’t understand anything about being a mother. All I learned from playing with the doll was combing hair and pinning a diaper. I felt I had more inside of me than just changing diapers, and cooking food every day.
    â€œNothing turns out the way you expect it to be,” Simon said. “It is not Robert’s fault; he is only a baby. I love him no matter how painfully he came into this world. He is still my boy,” he added, tapping his chest, “and I am going to make him a man.”
    For the most part, Simon was the wiser one, yet I was still baffled. He seemed to overlook things, like answering the letter his sister wrote him over a month ago. And when I mentioned to him how much I miss him, he always felt his desire to be a colored baseball player was so important. His point of view on what was occurring now is more optimistic than real to me. All of my decisions relate directly to what happened to me the last two years. I was young, and tough times were the things I wanted to forget, so I struggled with maturity. My task now was to figure out my future. Would I be a teacher, or settle for taking care of my baby and my man. To add to it all, I believed my life would also include Nadine for some reason. She seemed to have her eyes focused in the wrong direction, and that gave me an uneasy feeling.
    Simon was always different and the recollection of me sneaking behind my momma’s back to the school yard to see him still remained,in my memory, the best days of my life. He seemed better and more mature than any boy in Jefferson County. I’d watch Simon when he