Butterfly (Orphans 1)

I went upstairs quietly, thinking again that I would just peek in on her, but Celine's door was closed. It remained closed for the rest of the day and night. I watched some television, read, and went up to bed before Sanford returned from the factory.

When I woke in the morning, I did feel better. The sun was shining brightly through my curtains. I wanted to wear something cheerful so I chose a yellow blouse with a white skirt and the light blue sneakers Celine and Sanford had bought me the first week I arrived. I fixed my hair into a ponytail. When I stepped out of my room, I saw that Celine's bedroom door was still closed, but I imagined Sanford was downstairs at the dining room table, reading his paper and waiting for me as he had been almost every morning since they brought me here from the orphanage.

When I got downstairs, however, there was no one in the dining room. Mildred came from the kitchen and told me Sanford had been up very early and was already gone.

"What about my mother?" I asked her.

"I brought her breakfast, but she didn't eat much of her dinner last night and she didn't look like she was very interested in any breakfast. She hardly spoke," she added, shaking her head. "I think she's sick."

"Maybe Sanford went for the doctor," I said.

"No," Mildred said. The way she pressed her lips shut told me she knew more. "He didn't go for the doctor."

"What is it, Mildred? What else is wrong?"

"I don't know that anything's wrong," she said. "Mr. Delorice, he was very concerned about his business this morning. Not that I listen in on his phone calls," she added quickly.

"I know you don't, Mildred Please tell me what you do know," I pleaded.

"Something happened at the factory this week, but I don't know what. I just know it's made him very upset," she said "I'll bring you some breakfast."

"I'm going up to see my mother first," I told her and hurried up the stairway. I knocked on Celine's door but she didn't respond. I waited a moment and then opened it slowly and peered in.

Celine was in her wheelchair staring out a window. She was still in her nightgown and her hair was unbrushed. She wore no lipstick.

"Mother?" I said coming up behind her. She didn't turn, so I spoke louder. She simply stared out the window. "Are you all right, Mother?"

Suddenly she started to laugh. It began with a low rumbling in her throat, and then her face broke into a wide smile with a wild look in her eyes and her laughter got louder, stranger. Tears began to stream out of her eyes. Her shoulders shook. She seized the wheels of her chair and rolled them forward and then backward, and forward again until she hit the wall.

"Mother, what are you doing? Why are you doing that?" I cried.

She simply laughed and continued.

I stepped away.

"Stop it," I screamed. "Please?'

Her laughter grew even louder as she wheeled forward and backward, each time slamming harder into the wall.

"Mother! Stop!"

She didn't so I turned and ran from the room right into Sanford, who was coming up the stairway.

"Something's wrong with Celine," I cried. "She won't stop laughing and she keeps wheeling her chair into the wall."

"What? Oh no."

He hurried past me and into the bedroom. I heard him pleading with her to stop. Her laughter was still so loud I had to cover my ears because it was so terrifying. Mildred came to the foot of the stairway.

"What's wrong, Janet?"

"It's Celine. She won't stop laughing."

"Oh no," she said and shook her head. "She did that once before." She shook her head again and walked away.

I looked toward Celine's bedroom, my heart thumping so hard I thought my chest would just split apart.

Finally the laughter stopped. I started toward the bedroom but before I got there, Sanford closed the door. I stood there for a while and then went downstairs to wait. Mildred brought me some juice, toast, and eggs, but I couldn't eat anything. Not long afterward, I heard the doorbell and Mildred welcomed Dr. Franklin. He hurried up the stairs. I followed, but again I heard the bedroom door shut.