Orphan Girl Read Free Page B

Anna was the day she died.
    I did not know what to do. I wanted to get back in bed because I was cold, but I knew if Papa came back and caught me in bed, he would beat the hide off me. I had never started a fire before, but I had watched Mama do it many times. I dressed, went to the wood box, got a log out of it and a few splinters of fat lighter’d. I had to pull a stool over to the mantle to reach the matches. I placed some pine straw on the bottom, then struck a match and set it afire. I held a splinter of the fat lighter’d over it until it caught fire, then another. Once it had caught up a good flame, I placed the log on the firedogs.
    Once I got the fire burning good, I walked back over to Mama’s bed; she was still not awake. By then, I knew she was not going to wake up. I sat on the bed beside her and started crying. After a minute, I laid my head on her stomach and wrapped my arms around her; my little heart was breaking… As I lay on her stomach crying, I felt something move beneath me. Joy sprung through me; I thought she was waking up. When I looked up at her face, she was still asleep. Her stomach moved again and I felt something thump against my arm. It thumped hard several times. I stood up and backed away.
    That was when I figured out there was a baby inside of her. I did not know why or how babies come to be back then, but I knew that was what it was. I wondered how it was going to get out… but the fear of Papa’s strap worried me more than the thumping in Mama’s belly did. If Mama could not get up and fix for him, I knew that I had better!
    I went to the pantry, got some potatoes and started peeling them. By that time, I had been doing that for about a year. Mama showed me how to peel them and keep the peelings real thin. She said it was wasteful to take too much meat off the potato with the peeling.
    After I peeled them, I washed them off, then tried to slice them the way I had seen her do it. The knife sliced right into my hand! I had never seen Mama cut her hand slicing potatoes. I wrapped a rag around my hand and continued until all of the potatoes were sliced. They were not as thin as Mama’s were, but it was the best I could do.
    I throwed some bacon into the pot, then swung it over the fire. As it sizzled, I stirred it several times, the way I’d seen my mama do. After the bacon was done and on the platter, I added a scoop of lard and waited until the grease got hot. Then I placed the potatoes into the hot grease. I had watched Mama do it every day of my life. I was a quick study; it paid to be around my papa.
    When the right amount of time had passed, I dipped the potatoes out onto the platter alongside the bacon the way I had seen her do it. Papa was not back yet. As I waited, I went back to check on Mama. I would have thought she was asleep, if I didn’t know better. I watched her stomach to see if it was still moving, but it was still.
    I sat there awhile, my stomach growling with hunger, but I was scared to eat. Mama always said we had to wait until Papa had his fill first. I knew that Mama usually put on the beans after we eat in the mornings, so I got another log, put it on the fire, and then dipped out the amount of beans she usually did. I washed them as I had seen her do and then put them into the pot and added some water, salt, and fatback. I checked the larder to see how many biscuits and corndodgers there were. I had watched her make those too, but there was plenty. I would not have to worry about those yet. I snuck a biscuit and ate it quickly, praying Papa did not come in and catch me.
    The biscuit stopped my stomach from growling, but not my heart from pounding. It took a few minutes for it to calm down.
    When the clock struck ten times, I added a pitcher of water to the beans and stirred them. I had swept the floor and made up my bed. I had washed what dishes I could and placed the platter of bacon and potatoes on the warmer, but they did not look as good as they had when I