2Edna's Garden
Chapter one: Scrutiny in the dark
'It was always a wonder why the girl never said anything. For years it was always shrugging and nodding, we had to pretty much learn a funky kind of sign language just to know what it was she wanted. To this day I wonder why we even accepted her as our friend. Being the mean kids in town befriending a shy loner girl definitely bended our reputation. Perhaps it was the fact that we felt sorry for her, her mother dying when she was only six. Nah that couldn't be it, my mother died when I was ten and my friends barely pitied me. Maybe it was because of Edna, the sweet old woman that the whole world should praise. But unfortunately though she deserved more respect, all she got was the admiration of us, the Anderson kids. We looked up to her, that's why we befriended Anna, the shy girl. All because of that day Edna told us to be nice to her, that she was a very sweet and gentle angel. From that day on Anna became known as, hushed Angel. The red headed girl that never said anything.'
"You're a beautiful artist mommy." Cindy smiled down at the little chubby cheeked, pig-tailed girl leaning on her lap. "Thank you doll, wanna help me?" The young girl looked animated the way her face twisted into many smiles. She clapped continuously "I wanna help mommy!" The cutie was picked up and sat down on her mother's lap a goofy grin on her face. She was handed a paint- brush, which she immediately jammed into the paint. Her mother laughed, "Slow down Carmen, watch mommy." The child's eyes never left the movement of her mother's hand as she painted a blue streak along the wings of a red headed girl.
Carmen did her best to copy her mother. Who watched her as she concentrated, then laughed at Carmen's cross- eyed face. "Did I do good mommy?" Her mother rubbed her back compassionately, "good job sweetie."
"When I grow up I'm going to be a beautiful artist just like you mommy."
She stopped rubbing her back as a memory pierced through her mind. With an uneasy sigh she replied, "maybe someday you will." The girl giggled frenziedly wholly conceited of her work. The woman continued rubbing her child's back, which turned into running her hand through Carmen's hair that soothed and calmed her. "Hey Cindy," alleged a fatigued voice pending into her bedroom. "Bobby look I'm painting mommy's picture." The fifteen- year- old walked up, hands in his pockets, looking at the painting. "An Angel?" Cindy patted Carmen's back. "She's my little helper, remember when you use to do this?" Bobby smiled, "ya," he walked backwards until the back of his legs hit the bed and let himself back flop onto it.
"Why so tired?" the boy sighed, "Baseball game, we lost." "Why didn't you invite me? Carmen and I would've gone to watch you." Bobby sat up with an exhausted expression, "What's the story behind that one?" It took Cindy a moment to realize he was asking about the painting.
"She's called, 'Hushed Angel,' a girl I use to know…"
"Hushed Angel." Carmen whispered aloud. Bobby pulled off his baseball cap tossing it to the side and back flopped the bed feebly. "Hushed Angel… is your mother." Bobby shot up his weariness seem to all at once leap out from his eyes. "My mother?" He gasped as he looked at the painting. "That's her? That's what she looks like? That child is my mother?" Cindy nodded, "I met her in my home town Jefferson Alabama when I was eleven she was about nine." A disquieting silence fell upon the room. Carmen hiccupped as her paint- brush moved around the wing of the angel.
Jefferson Alabama sometime in early June…
Who is ugly?
Who really smells?
Who is retarded?
That can't even spell!
My brother, Billy, threw a paper ball at the blonde boy, whom had braces on his legs and began crying a bit. "Cut it out Billy!" I demanded as he crumpled up another piece of paper to throw. He was always picking on the disabled, called them all stupid. He was also racist, especially to Dominique the only black girl in our grade. "I said cut it out!" It was always like this every single morning on the bus. Billy picking on someone, me telling him to stop, my other brother's playing the role of Billy's followers, "Oh shut up Cindy." Jimmy said as he to crumpled up a piece of paper. I rolled my eyes at my brother's sick behavior. No one dared to sit in the back of the bus with them, The Anderson boys, me on the other hand, being the only Anderson girl didn't matter. There was always someone who wanted to sit next to me or be my friend. Probably because I was considered a type of shield against my brothers, protection if that's what you want to call it. All of Jefferson knew about us, the Anderson family. The loud obnoxious boys, the single parent, and… me, they even knew our history. How my mother died just last year in the fire. How Billy was arrested for starting the fire, he never talks about what jail was like, probably because he likes the fact that people think he's not afraid of anything. And jail scared him half to death. No one can forget Jimmy, my second to the oldest brother. How he caught a bass, which beat the record, he won't let them forget.
It's actually really Billy, Jimmy, and my parents that make the Anderson's so known. My other brothers… Benny, Steven, Jordan, and George are just followers of Billy and Jimmy. Then, there's me… The tom- boyish girl who loves to paint and hang with the boys, who's smart and befriends anybody and everybody. But can also be a little fighter, picking that up from her brothers.
The bus came to a complete stop. "Single file off the bus, hurry up we aint gots all day." The bus driver lady was a favorite of Billy's to hassle. I can tell he was up to no good as he neared the front of the bus, his eerie grin said it all. "Good morning ma'am." She gave him a dark look, a look, which read… 'Death.' The two had been enemies since the first day she drove Billy to school. "Good morning." She said flatly. I knew something was about to happen, I could feel it, and she knew it to. "Get on Billy your holdin up the line." I affirmed agitatedly.
"Do you hear that ma'am?" She didn't look at all convinced that he wasn't about to pull something. "What?" she asked very emphatically. Billy giggled, "I hear… Oh say can you see, get ya fat ass off me…" he sung, children laughing from behind him, everyone except me. "Get on Billy," I shoved him forward and he proudly exited the bus. "You a devil boy," the bus lady said before driving off. "Be sure to pull the penny from ya fat ass or Lincoln gonna keep singin!" My brothers laughed as they jogged to the school. I followed from behind, "That aint funny Billy! You hurt that ole ladies feelins."
It was stupid things like that they gave my family such a bad reputation. Was it all Billy's doings? No, my other brother's weren't all that peachy either. The ruler slapping the desk brought everyone to notice. "Pay attention." She all but shouted. Miss Harper, our teacher, was one of the loudest and scariest teachers of all teachers. My brother George proudly gave her the reputation of the witch teacher. "Wanna know why Charlie Baker aint here?" George whispered to Molly lee, the girl he's had a crush on since… for as long as I can remember. She ignored him, her blue eyes unmoving from the chalk- board. "Its cause Charlie Baker's dog got loose from his backyard and went into Miss Harper's garden, she gots so mad that she casted a spell on him."
I rolled my eyes George will never get Molly lee's attention. Why even bother with that girl? She acts like she's too good for anyone. "… You see the frog on Miss Harper's desk? That's Charlie Baker." Molly lee, sat up straighter and flicked her blonde curly hair with her pallid hands before folding them back on her desk. She acted as though she didn't hear a word he was saying. George sighed leaning into his chair staring at the frog in the jar. That's when what seemed to be a good idea popped into his head. He raised his hand with a mischievous grin stamped on his face. Miss Harper didn't notice the boy was raising his hand until she turned around to lecture Jordan who threw an airplane across the room. "Yes George?"
"Where do babies come from?" I guess you can say rolling my eyes became an everyday thing. The old, 'where do babies come,' from trick… that would never get Molly lee's attention, only make him look like a fool. "Your off subject George pay attention… now a cursive L goes like this…"
George looked out from the corner of his eye wondering if Molly had giggled. But she, like me, thought of him nothing more but a fool. "Miss Harper..." George chewed his lip nervously "I think I might be pregnant." The class laughed even I did not with him but more… at him. "Mr. Anderson, if you honestly enjoy this kind of attention then perhaps you should stand in front of the class wearing this dummy hat…"
"Is that how you turned Charlie Baker into a frog? By putting that hat on him?" I could hear the class whispering from all around and I swallowed nervously. I hated having to watch George get switched with a stick like I had to last time. "One more word is all it takes George… just one more word." She waited for a few seconds staring at those depraved brown eyes. "So then it's true, you turned Charlie into a frog…" Miss Harper slapped her desk with a ruler angrily "Enough George! Take a seat out in the hall way, I will not have you disruptin my class." George smiled "I understand ma'am," he turned to grab his book from his desk before leaving and winked at Molly lee who looked at him like he was an idiot. I rolled my eyes for the third time today.
That was the dumbest thing my brother ever came up with, or… one of the dumbest. And it was all to be noticed by Molly lee, she didn't even notice him the way he wanted to be noticed. The things boy's do for attention, like that pregnant thing that was the stupidest thing ever. And here I thought he was actually gonna make sense of something, I guess I was wrong.
That wasn't the first stupid thing I recall my brother's doing. Billy did something stupid like that to a teacher last summer. He found himself a gardener snake and thought it would be funny to stick it in the teacher's desk. It would've worked if he didn't get caught. What was so good about attention anyways?
"Chicken shit," Billy shoved Steven who in returned shoved him back. "If you so damn tough then you go first!" Billy snorted "Hell no I aint goin first, you go first." After the long boring days at school my brothers and I would run up the hills to the watering hole. And we still haven't jumped off the highest precipice yet. I didn't think much about which cliff to jump off of. The lowest one was good enough for me. I called up to them, "Wanna bet that I can do a front flip off the cliff!" My brother's looked down at me and I smiled before jumping up and rolling over into a flip.
"Why don't you go on down to the small cliff since you can't jump off here." Billy said while grabbing Steven's shoulder. He grunted at the pressure and whined. "Let go, I aint no girl! I can jump off from here." Billy's expression darkened "Then get on!" he shoved him forward, nearly knocking him off the cliff. I didn't miss what my brother just said, "Just cause Ima girl aint mean I can't jump off from up there!" My brother's ignored me as they waited for Steven to jump. Jordan, the youngest of us all, laughed. "Chicken shit, Chicken shit." He sung until the others joined in. "Chicken shit, Chicken shit, Steven's a chicken shit…" They stopped all together as a braided pig-tailed brown haired girl threw herself over the edge and fell from the highest cliff. Steven gasped as I hit the water. "Cindy!" All five of my brothers ran down to the bank searching for me.
The fall was extremely long and dangerous so after two minutes of waiting Jimmy started to panic, "She's been under water a long time Billy." He ran in the water till it reached his knees. "Cindy!" I walked resignedly out of the water while ringing my hair, feeling heavy. I smiled proudly "Girls can jump to."
"Holy smokers Cindy jumped off!" Benny said gaily while jumping up and down.
Billy snorted, "So what if she did, She's just a girl." He gathered his school -books and buttoned up his school shirt. "What did you say?" I asked furiously. "You heard me, your just a girl, it makes no difference that you jumped off and not Steven."
"You just mad cause I jumped off and your too chicken shit to!" My brother's mouths dropped at the way I was acting… and toward Billy. "I'm just as better as jumping as any boy is!" Billy laughed which only fueled me more. "What in the Sam hell is so funny?" Billy's eyes showed sustain, like no matter what I could say he would remain unsympathetic. That's when he said it… The strongest and most painful words anyone could ever say to me. "Too bad mama died, no one alive to teach you how to be a real bitch. Gather up your school books it's late and pa wants us home before dark."
He insulted both himself and me. How dare he say that, how DARE he. Without vacillation I threw myself on him. Head on, throwing punches and all the while growling. "Don't… ya… talk… like… that bout… mama," I hissed in between punches. Within five punches Billy flipped me over and slapped me across the face. Then threw down a punch, which knocked my jaw to the side so hard a tooth flew out and I screamed. Minutes before the fight even started Jordan had, took off up the hills, through the school- yard and into town to get papa. "No… good… stupid… girl!"
"Billy!" Snapped a strong potent voice. But surprisingly Billy didn't stop punching. He was too heavy to push off. And I couldn't react fast enough to do anything about being punched. "Billy Anderson, get off your sista!" It was then I realized my papa was here and had wrapped his arms around Billy's stomach pulling him off me. I lay there panting while Billy threw his arms from side to side kicking and grunting as my pa tried to still him. "Billy," My pa growled but Billy cared less for the warning and threw himself into his Pa's arms breaking them open and ran tremendously prompt into the woods and up the hills.
My pa didn't bother to chase him. His concern at the moment was his bloody and black-and-blue daughter on the ground. He picked me up bridal style and slowly made his way up the hill. Jimmy, Benny, Steven, and George followed from behind. Not one of them said a word about what had just happened. But I'm sure they were talking about it in the back of the truck where papa can't hear them. Me, however, I was in the front seat next to pa afraid to look into the driver's mirror.
The truck slowed coming to a stop at the sight of Billy. His hands in his pockets, swaggering along side of the road, his eyes fixed on the ground. Pa rolled the window down. "Get in Billy." Billy, not looking up, walked to the passenger door and opened it. I scooted over allowing him to sit next to me. The second Billy shut the door pa took off driving down the road. All was silent and it made me… uneasy. I didn't want to look at my pa's serious expression. And I sure as heck didn't want to look at Billy's bruised face. So I looked out the passenger window where I saw an old looking black woman watching us drive away.
Ask questions you'll get answers. Thanks for reading