I had no idea just how right I was.
21 Miss Harper's Puppet
. Grandmother Emma didn't return from the hospital until shortly before our dinner was to be served. As it turned out, the work Miss Harper had given me took most of the afternoon and by the time I was finished and she looked at it, it was too late to go swimming. She reviewed the workbooks with a red pencil and marked all my mistakes. I really did feel as if I were back in school.
"Tomorrow, we will begin with your errors," she said, "and we will get you to understand
everything and get everything right. Every two days I will give you a test on what you've learned and we'll decide if you will go ahead or go back. With this sort of concentrated effort. Jordan, have you on a fourthgrade level well before the end of the summer. You'll see. You'll be very happy with yourself...
I gazed out the window. The beautiful blue sky was now covered with a thick layer of dark clouds. We were going to have a thunderstorm. I had missed a wonderful day. I wondered if Ian had missed it. too. I hadn't heard him or seen him. He wasn't at lunch as I had expected either. I could see Miss Harper didn't know where he was. Afterward, I heard her ask Nancy, who told her Ian was like a ghost around here. She never knew when to expect him or where he was.
"That will come to an abrupt end," Miss Harper vowed.
I don't think Nancy cared one way or another, although when I saw Miss Harper talk to her. I noticed that Nancy seemed just as frightened of her as she was of Grandmother Emma.
We heard Grandmother Emma come up the stairs and down the hallway. She paused at my father's bedroom doorway and looked in on us.
"How are we doing. Millicent?" she asked.
Miss Harper glanced at me and then walked out, closing the door so I wouldn't hear them talk. I strained to listen. Their voices were quite muffled, but Grandmother Emma's was full of disappointment and anger.
"I'm sorry," I heard her say. "I'll see about him as soon as possible."
The door was opened again and Miss Harper told m
e to run my bath. "I'll pick out what you should wear to dinner," she said. "Go on. Get started."
"I want to see Grandmother Emma first," I said.
I think Miss Harper assumed I was going to complain about her, about how she had washed my mouth with soap and slapped my face and made me work on schoolwork all day. She smiled and without hesitation turned and called to Grandmother Emma.
"Emma, your granddaughter would like a word with you."
Grandmother Emma returned to my doorway. She had removed her light coat and had begun to unpin her hair. "What is it, Jordan? I have much to do before I get ready for dinner."
"How was Daddy?" I asked. "Is he coming home? Is he in a wheelchair already? Does he know he won't walk again?"
"It isn't polite to ask so many questions before you get the answer to one, Jordan," Miss Harper said, but in a much softer voice than she usually spoke to me.
"Your father has learned the full extent of his injuries and he is in a deep depression about it," Grandmother Emma began. "That will pass in time and that's when I will bring you to see him. As to his therapy, it will begin as soon as possible, but I'm afraid it will take most of the summer before I can have him brought back to the house and he becomes accustomed to his wheelchair.
"Before you ask," she added, "there is no change in your mother's condition. She could be like she is for weeks, months, even years. It's not unheard of for people with her sort of injuries to be in prolonged comas.
"As you can see, this is why it is so important for you and your brother to behave and listen obediently to Miss Harper. We have to make the best of this situation and misbehavior cannot be tolerated. No one has time for it. You can help your brother by advising him about all that and telling him to behave, not that he'll listen to anyone. I'm afraid.
"I'll deal with him in a little while,," she added. "Anything else before I take my bath?"
This was my chance. I thought. I glanced at Miss Harper. She stood there with her smile mask on her face, waiting. Something in her eyes and in my grandmother's tired eyes told me that it would be a waste of time to complain and might even get me into deeper trouble.
"No," I said.
"Then do as you're told," Grandmother Emma said, and left
"Your bath," Miss Harper reminded me.
I went to the bathroom and ran the water. At least Nancy had brought my bath oil to this bedroom. I thought. Just smelling it when I poured it into the water reminded me of Mama and helped me feel she was nearby, watching over
After I got into the water and soaked in the soft, scented bubbles, Miss Harper came into the bathroom, but I noticed she took great pains to avoid looking directly at me.