May the Road Rise Up to Meet You: A Novel (14 page)

’At’s enough of th’play fo’ now, Miss Justinia, Cora said in her usual
mean way ’round noontime. You gots yo’ lessons t’tend to. Miss Randall here now t’learn ya.

Miss Randall walked in an’ all the upset from that mornin’ blew right on out the window far as Mary was concerned, an’ she smiled from ear to ear, same as always ’round noontime every Monday an Wen’sday an’ Thursday. Mary’d heard Misses Kittredge complain sometimes ’bout Miss Randall’s appearance. She wore her hair tucked back behind her an’ tight to her head, an’ she always had on her thick, square-rimmed glasses an’ a dress that wasn’t as fancy as Mary’s even. Misses Kittredge was always noticin’ such things an’ said more than once how she thought Miss Randall might still find herself a husband, even with all that learnin’ she done scarin’ most of the men off, if only she’d do somethin ’bout her appearance. But Mary thought Miss Randall was ’bout as pretty as any lady she’d ever seen, what with the way she walked perfectly straight an’ took small steps that made it look like her feet wasn’t movin’ at all but she was just glidin’ ’cross the floor instead. But even better than that was the way Miss Randall spoke. Every word was said just the way she imagined it was ’sposed to be, like when whoever thunk up that particular word they decided this is how you say it, then over the years it got twisted an’ turned ’round into all kindsa things. ’Cept when Miss Randall said it. An’ she could go from English to far-off languages like French an’ Greek an’ Latin, like she lived in those places her whole life.

Bonjour, ma petite élève
, she said to Miss Justinia when she walked into the room.

Bonjour, mad-em-o-sell
, Justinia said back after she got done breathin’ out through her flappin’ lips an’ rollin’ her eyes so only Mary could see, which was her usual reaction whenever it was time for her studies.

Mary smiled an’ curtseyed deeply, the way Miss Randall had taught Miss Juss, and Miss Randall nodded her head an’ smiled.

Bonjour, Mary
, she said.

Bonjour, Mademoiselle
, Mary replied, an’ couldn’t help but laugh a little.

Mary walked to the chair in the corner an’ picked up her stitchin’ while Miss Randall an’ Miss Juss said some more French about the weather and what day it was an’ then set down to the lessons. Ever since
Mary’d come here, this was the way it went, since Miss Justinia’d made such a fuss ’bout Mary bein’ told to leave the room when Miss Randall came, that Misses Kittredge set Mary in the corner wit’ some mendin’ to do. She asked Miss Randall if she cared, an’ Miss Randall said that it was okay, an’ Miss Randall became ’bout the greatest person in the world in Mary’s eyes, ’cept for Gertie of course, right that very moment. Seven months later Mary still worked in the corner, only now instead of mendin’ hems an’ such, she worked on what Misses Kittredge called embroidery just like Misses Wilkens done, only they’d always be just stitchin’s.

Miss Randall’d only been comin’ to learn Miss Justinia for a few months before Mary arrived. Cora said it wasn’t ’til the Kittredges start makin’ lotsa money that they start thinkin’ ’bout learnin’ a girl how to read an’ speak French an’ other such silly things. The good part of that for Mary was that Miss Juss wasn’t much ahead of her when they started learnin’ together, Mary sittin’ in the corner pretendin’ not to hear what Miss Randall was sayin’, an’ Miss Juss sittin’ at the desk, strugglin’ to sound out words Mary was picturin’ in her head. Mary read everything she could, titles of books on the shelves in Mista Kittredge’s library, names on the labels of cans in the store, an’ the signs in the storefront windows. Just a week earlier she’d picked an old newspaper out of the trash an’ hid it in her dress ’til she got back to her room. An’ she’d pract’ly memorized it by now, readin’ by the moonlight comin’ through her window on the nights Miss Juss didn’t come to sleep with her.

But it wasn’t just readin’ Mary’d learned by now. She was even better in math’matics, memorizin’ something called the mult’plication tables in just two weeks, an’ learnin’ to do all kinds of ’rithmetic in her head. She liked ’rithmetic an’ history an’ liter’ture just fine, but she
adored
French. An’ she adored most of all how she kept learnin’ new words, like
adore
, that she didn’t ever hear from Gertie or the hands in the field back in Carolina. Still, Mary’d become a little frustrated with Miss Juss when it came to the lessons, since she was holdin’ them back, the way she struggled an’ all. She’d try to help Miss Juss little bits at a time when she did lessons on her own, pretendin’ not to know the thing herself but askin’ her what it was Miss Randall said, knowin’ all the time just what it was.

This day’s lessons started with Miss Juss readin’ aloud from the
Cousin Lucy
book for most of a chapter, an’ Mary’d picture some of the bigger words an’ spell them out in her head while she sat there doin’ her stitchin’. They did some history, an’ then something called division, an’ it was a good while ’fore they finally got to French an’ somethin’ Miss Randall called con-ju-gatin’ verbs. The spellin’ an’ pronouncin’ was completely different in French, Mary’d learned by now. If you had a book in French, it was called a
livre
, only it was pronounced
lee-vra
an’ not like
liver
, which was somethin called an organ in the body an’ had nothin’ to do with books. Miss Juss was havin’ an awful time with pronouncin’ the French words, worse even than Mary was havin’ tryin’ to spell them. But Miss Randall was determined, she’d said, to teach Miss Juss to speak French so she could walk into a place called
Versailles
an’ nobody’d know she was from Virginia. Mary didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it sounded good to her, much as she liked French an’ the idea that she an’ Juss might one day go there with Miss Randall.

The day’s lessons passed along quick as ever, with three hours feelin’ practically like one to Mary. Cora’s knock on the door brought the session to an end, an’ when she walked in the room it was like clouds movin’ in an’ coverin’ the entire sky.

Miss Randall, beggin’ yo’ pardon Miss, Cora said, but Miss Kittredge sent me t’fetch Miss Justinia fo’ t’bring her to the sto’. Dat is if you all through wit’ yo’ learnin’ fo’ the day.

Yes Cora, we are all through, thank you. You may take Miss Justinia.

That was another reason for Mary to
adore
Miss Randall so, since she was the only person that Cora spoke to that way, polite an’ curtseyin’ an’ all, like she didn’t even to Mista Kittredge or the Misses. Miss Randall closed the books on the desk an’ put her coat on over her shoulders. But Miss Justinia was slow as ever puttin’ on her own coat, so Miss Randall walked to the door by herself.

Au revoir, ma petite élève
, she said to Miss Justinia.

Oh re-va, ma-dem-o-sell
, Juss answered.

Et Mar-ee, au revoir à vous aussi
.

Mary hesitated to show off in front of Cora, but then decided she’d show her she was more than just a little puppy the Kittredges’d sell off without a thought.

Au revoir, Mademoiselle Randall. Merci beaucoup
, she added, flashin’ a quick glance at Cora.

Tres bien, Mar-ee
.

Miss Randall walked out the door an’ Cora started gettin’ impatient with Miss Justinia, who was rollin’ her eyes toward Mary. An’ that was how they ended up walkin’ out the room together without anyone realizin’ the chance they were leavin’ behind for Mary. She waited a moment to hear their footsteps on the stairs, an’ then went straight for the French book, knowin’ she could practice readin’ her English anytime she wanted. The leather cover was as elegant as the words in it, an’ she whispered the title out loud best as she could.
Gram-mare ay Vo-cab-ooo-lare Frahn-sayse
. The second page of printin’ had pictures of everyday things an’ then the French words for them printed next to the pictures. And Mary looked at each of ’em, all words she knew, but only now could see for sure how they were spelled.
Plume
, pen, plooome.
Chapeau
, hat, sha-poh.
Cheval
, horse, shu-val. She remembered Miss Randall callin’ the
ch
in
cheval
soft an’ different from the hard
ch
in the English word
chair
, an’ how the
i
in
livre
was pronounced like a long
e
but in the English word livery it was a short
i
sound. She became so caught up in studyin’ these little differences page after page that she didn’t notice the heavy footsteps in the hallway approachin’ the room a few minutes later. It wasn’t ’til she heard the doorknob turnin’ that she snapped outta her dream.

Whachu doin’ near Miss Justinia’s books?! Cora said, yellin’ wit’out raisin’ her voice like only she could do.

Mary closed the book quickly an’ squeezed it back in place between the bookends.

I’s jus fixin dem cause dey was crooked an’ I didn’ wan’ Miss Randall seein’ dem’ in a mess, Mary replied. She was already developin’ different speech patterns dependin’ on who she was talkin’ to an’ whether she might be in trouble or not. And in this situation she decided to go all the way back to the fields of Carolina just to show Cora she wasn’t gettin’ uppity.

Oh, you didn’ wan’ Miss Randall seein’ nuthin’? Chil’, if you thinkin’ on gettin any o’ dis here learnin’ in yo’ head, you bes’ put it outta yo’ mine right now, less’n you wants t’get yo’ hide whupped an’ den sol’ off downa one o’ dem cotton plantations down in Georgia or Alabammy.

Mary said nothin’, but she hated to hear Cora call her
Chil’
the way Gertie always had. It sounded so different comin’ from Cora’s lips.

Dese white folks might think you some kinda fool ain’t learnin’ nothin’ sittin’ in the corner there, Cora said, but I knows whachu up to. It against the law for a nigger to learn howta read. You wanna get the Mista an’ Misses an’ Miss Randall throwed in jail an’ get yo’sef sold to Alabammy?

Mary shook her head, starin’ down at the ground by her feet.

Well den you stop wit’ all this tryin’ to learn, an’ you fo’get what you already done learnt, or you gonna make a mess fo’ the whole lotta us. Now you get yo’sef downa the sto’ an’ bring yo’ knittin’ witcha. Miss Kittredge wanna see whachu been doin’.

She walked back over to her stool and picked up her stitchin’, a lady’s handkerchief with a design in the shape of a daisy sewn in light blue thread. Cora walked right behind Mary as they went down through the kitchen entrance an’ out across the open grass field to the store. Lilly was another of the Kittredges’ slaves, an’ she worked as a seamstress in the store all day long. She didn’t say anything to them as they walked through. Lilly didn’t like Cora ’cause of how mean she was, an’ she didn’t like Mary,
just ’cause
, the way Mary figured it. The dress shop was kinda quiet, but the gen’ral store part seemed busy as usual with Mista Kittredge talkin’ to the customers an’ three slave workers runnin’ round gettin’ things for them. Misses Kittredge was with Miss Justinia holdin’ a bolt of fine yellow fabric up against her shoulders.

Oh, this is just lovely with your beautiful hair, she said. Oh yes, this
must
be the color of your birthday dress.

Miss Juss smiled at Mary as she and Cora approached.

Mary, look at the pretty fabric Mommy’s picked out for my birthday dress, she said.

It’s
almos’
as beautiful as you, Miss Justinia, Mary said. And the Misses smiled big as Miss Juss did, but Cora just rolled her eyes standin’ beside them.

Give Miss Kittredge whachu been workin’ on dese coupla hours, Cora said.

Mary handed over the white handkerchief with the blue stitchin’, an’ it seemed like the Misses was pract’ly amazed by it.

Why Mary, the Misses said, how did you … this is quite good, Mary.
Quite
good. I believe even Mrs.
Fenton
would be happy to do work like this.

Mary smiled an’ looked at Cora in her moment of glory, seein’ how she took the news, but Cora just rolled her eyes again as Miss Juss an’ the Misses ran their fingers over the stitchin’.

Mommy, I want
Mary
to make my birthday dress, Miss Juss said, an’ the Misses suddenly got a worried look on her face.

Oh Justinia Dear, I’ve already asked Mrs. Fenton to do it, the Misses replied.

But you just said that Mary’s work was good as Mrs. Fenton’s.

I said … I
meant
that … well, that Mrs. Fenton would
accept
such work, but Mary has only been … Dear, there’s a reason why Mrs. Fenton makes so many of the dresses we sell here. She’s the finest dressmaker in Richmond. Mary is good, but—

I don’t
want
to wear a dress from Mrs. Fenton, Miss Juss interrupted. She’s old, and she smells like mothballs and Daddy’s brandy.

Justinia! The Misses said like she was shocked.

Mary laughed a little out loud, then caught herself an’ covered her mouth with her hand.

Whachu laughin’ at, Cora said in her yellin’-without-raisin’-her-voice kinda way.

I want
Mary
to do my dress, Miss Juss repeated.

An’ it wasn’t long ’fore Mary, Cora, an’ even Lilly in the storeroom knew how it was gonna turn out in the end. The Misses put up a fight better than usual, but a few minutes later Mary was pullin’ the measurin’ tape ’round Miss Juss’s waist, figurin’ in her head what she wanted to do here an’ how she’d put some green silk ribbon there, just like she was a dressmaker herself, just like Gertie’d taught her to do.

That night couldn’t come fast enough, an’ Mary knew that she’d only have a little while to talk to Gertie since Juss’d almost certainly come down to spend the night wit’ her. So soon as her head hit the pillow she turned her eyes toward the window an’ whispered just loud enough that even she could barely hear her words …