Belle Teal Read Free

gazing out the window, up our hill.
    â€œWhat is it, Gran?” I ask, thinking she sees an animal. Maybe a coyote.
    Slowly her focus shifts back to me. “Oh,” is all she says.
    â€œIs dinner ready?”
    â€œYes, indeed. Go get your mother. But tell her she can’t come to the table unless she’s clean,” which is Gran’s way of saying Mama had better put that cigarette out.
    A few minutes later, Mama and Gran and me are sitting around the table, holding hands. Gran’s eyes are squeezed tight shut as she says, “Heavenly Father, bless this food to our use and us to Thy service. We beg for Christ’s sake. Amen.” I am watching Gran, who looks so holy when she is conversing with the Lord. Mama is gazing out the window. She probably has Mr. Titus and double shifts and other work things on her mind.
    When the blessing is over we dig into the food. I don’t know how Gran manages to put together our meals day in and day out. Mama, she earns the money for what food we have to buy, but Gran, she is in charge of the cooking, and as far as I can see that is some job. I reach across the table and give Gran’s hand a pat.
    â€œNow, what is that for, Belle Teal?” she asks me with a little smile.
    â€œNothing,” I say, with a smile back.
    Mama looks up and smiles at both of us. Then she says to me, “All ready for school?”
    â€œYes, ma’am.”
    â€œYou got enough pencils and things?”
    â€œI think so.”
    â€œAnd you finally have Miss Casey.”
    â€œYes!”
    â€œWho all is going to be in your class this year?” Gran wants to know.
    â€œOh, you know. All the regulars,” I say. “Clarice. And Little Boss. And Chas and Vernon.” I make a face.
    â€œBelle Teal . . .” says Mama with a warning in her voice.
    â€œI am not judging Chas and Vernon based on their appearance,” I tell her. “I am judging them based on what’s inside. I know their insides and they’re mean.” I think for a moment. “Mama, is it wrong to hate someone —” I start to ask.
    â€œIt is wrong to hate anyone,” Mama replies quickly.
    â€œBut is it wrong to hate someone because that person hates other people?”
    Mama sighs. She looks like she wishes she had a cigarette. “Hate just creates more hate,” she says finally.
    I think of those school meetings Mama went to over the summer. The meetings the parents held after it was announced that the colored students would be going to Coker Creek in the fall. Mama couldn’t get to all the meetings, but she got to some of them. And she came home from them looking tired and a little angry. She said she didn’t think she was a very popular person. But when Mama believes something she sticks to her guns about it. And she speaks up. Says the Lord gave her a mouth and she intends to put it to good use.
    â€œSounds like everyone is putting their mouths to good use,” I told her after one meeting. “Only most people have something different to say than you do.”
    â€œI know.” Mama didn’t talk too much about those meetings.
    And eventually it didn’t seem to matter who thought what, because it turned out the colored students were going to go to Coker Creek in any case. “It’s not the parents’ decision to make,” said Mama. “It’s the law. Although I’m sure the parents will have more to say on the subject.”
    Now Gran puts down her fork and directs her gaze at Mama. “You don’t think there’ll be any trouble at school tomorrow, do you?” she asks.
    Mama shakes her head. “Nope. It’s all died down. Besides, this isn’t Little Rock.”
    â€œLittle Rock? The Little Rock Nine?” I say. Everyone has heard about the Little Rock Nine, the nine colored students who were chosen to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, a few years