21
When we got back to the house, we found the others sitting around the big dining room table eating. Grace, who had just returned home from the hospital, was giving a report on Laura's condition. Her face looked splotchy, like she had been crying, but now she spoke in a strong voice.
"The doctor says the next few hours will tell the tale," she said. "If she wakes up, it's possible there won't be any brain damage. If she remains in a coma— well, nobody knows."
"Why'd you come home anyway?" Abner barked. "Somebody ought to be there with her."
Grace gave him a dirty look. "Don't you think I wanted to stay, you old fool? They sent me home. Said I could only come back after I'd had something to eat and a little rest. Speaking of which…"She pushed her chair back from the table. It was then that she noticed us standing at the door, Stacie looking a lot like a cow that had been stuck in the mud.
Biggie reached us first. She put her hand on Stacie's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "She seems to be in shock," she said. "Rosebud, get her on the sofa. Somebody bring blankets. Quick!"
"Should we call the doctor?" Grace asked, her voice trembling.
"No!" Stacie said.
"Let's wait and see," Biggie said. "She may just need rest and food. Are you hungry, honey?"
When Stacie nodded vigorously, Josefina headed for the kitchen and came back carrying a mug of soup. She sat down beside Stacie and began spooning it into her. Stacie made little grunting sounds as she slurped down the soup. She rolled her eyes at Grace.
"It's okay," Grace said. "All diets are suspended for now."
"Now," Biggie said, standing up and facing Grace. "You go get some rest. Later, after this young lady has had time to recover, she has some explaining to do." She looked down at Stacie, who nodded as if she knew exactly what Biggie was talking about.
"Fine." Biggie walked over to a table against the wall and picked up her big black purse. "Come, Rosebud and J.R. We'll just go home for now." She turned to face Abner. "We'll be back at seven with Ranger Upchurch. I expect we're on the verge of having this whole matter cleared up."
* * *
Later, at home, I asked Biggie what she meant by that, but she wouldn't tell me a thing, just said I'd find out soon enough.
Biggie decided to have Rosebud drive her out to the hospital to see how Laura was doing. After they left, I went into the kitchen to find Willie Mae and tell her all about me and Misty finding Stacie. She was rolling out a piecrust on the table, but she kept saying "Uh-huh," while I talked, so I was sure she was listening. Finally, she said, "That all?"
"I guess. Biggie knows more than she's telling. I can tell. Willie Mae, she makes me so mad when she does that. What would it hurt for her to tell me what she's thinking?"
"Reckon I knows who done it, too." She rolled the dough around her rolling pin and laid it over the pie pan.
"How? Willie Mae, how could you know? Oh… I forgot…." What I forgot was that Willie Mae is a voodoo lady. She knows most everything. "Who?"
"You be finding out soon enough." She trimmed the extra dough from around the pie and started pricking it with a fork.
"Willie Mae, say you know, too. But how could you? You don't even know those people."
"Maybe I do, and maybe I don't."
I got up and left the room. I know when I'm licked. I went into the den and picked up the phone to call Monica, figuring she'd be interested in the latest developments.
"So that's it," I said, after I'd told her everything. "Me and Misty found that old gal and brought her home."
"Hey, that Misty, she's something, isn't she?" Monica said. "I could be friends with her."
"Yeah."
"I've got an idea, J.R. Why don't you find her a date for the dance? We could go on a double date!"
"Umm…"I thought fast. "I don't know… I'll have to think…."
"Okay, you think about it. Guess what! My mom's gone and bought me a new dress. I will have to wear a dress, won't I?" I have never in my life seen Monica wearing a dress.
"Yeah, I guess."
"And something else, J.R."
"What?"
"She's bought me a wig. I tried the thing on, and it doesn't look all that bad. Now you won't have to be embarrassed or anything— taking an old girl with only half her hair to the dance."
"Hey, I wouldn't… but you see, the thing is…"
"I got to go now. Papa's got the truck stuck down by the creek. I've got to help him get it out. Bye."
I went outside and shot baskets in the driveway until Biggie and Rosebud drove up. Soon after, Willie Mae stuck her head out the door and called me to come to supper. We had King Ranch Chicken Casserole with warm homemade flour tortillas to go with it. We also had green jellied salad with cottage cheese, crushed pineapple, and grated carrots, which frankly, is not one of my favorite things, but I ate a little just to be polite. The pie was cherry, my favorite.
"So, how was Laura?" Willie Mae asked, setting my milk in front of me.
"No change." Biggie took a large helping of casserole. "Umm, this is good. The doctor says she could wake up any minute just fine, she could have brain damage, or she may never wake up."
"Never wake up?" I stopped spreading butter on my tortilla.
"That's right. They just don't know."
"The same thing happened to my cousin, Theotus Robichaux," Rosebud said. "He got kicked upside the head by a mule." He winked at Willie Mae. "That boy slept for seven days and seven nights. On the seventh day, he got up out of bed and went outside and commenced plowin' just like nothin' had ever happened."
"I don't believe that, Rosebud. He must have been hungry."
"Well, now that I recollect, I believe he did ask his wife to fry him up a mess of bacon and eggs before he left. But soon's he finished eatin' he went back to plowin'."
I giggled. "Didn't he have to go to the bathroom?"
"Hush," Biggie said, "I hear the doorbell. That must be Red Upchurch. Willie Mae, we'll have pie and coffee in the den." She went to answer the door, then took the ranger directly to the den and shut the door.
I had started up the stairs to my bedroom when the best idea of my whole life came to me in a flash. I had the solution to my problem, if only I could pull it off. I came back downstairs and, after peeking into the den and seeing Biggie and the ranger sitting on the couch, heads together, I picked up the hall telephone and dialed a number. My heart pounded as I heard the receiver being lifted on the other side of the line. When I hung up, I let out a sigh of relief and sprinted upstairs to my room.
At six-thirty, I tapped on the den door. "Biggie! Wheel of Fortune is coming on." That is Biggie's all-time favorite television show.
The door opened and Biggie came out followed by Ranger Upchurch. "Never mind," she said, "we're going out to the ranch. Where is Rosebud?"
I ran to get Rosebud, and quick as a chicken on a June bug, we were all piled in the car and headed for the country.