Birthright

A knock at my door brings me out of my melancholy musings. I open the door to find an African American woman on the latter side of middle age with a plate full of cookies in her hands.

“Hello there, dear!” she says with a big smile. “I’m Jessie, and I live just across the hall from you. I wanted to make sure my new neighbor got a proper welcome!”

She shoves the plate of cookies into my hands as she shoves her way into the apartment.

“I see they didn’t upgrade the furniture.” Jessie makes a clicking sound with her tongue. “I had to fight for a year before they finally upgraded mine. If you want, I can speak to management for you. Us Eastsiders have to stick together!”

“Eastsiders?”

“Of course, hunny,” she says as she examines the labels on my boxes. “We’re hardly in the west!”

“I guess not.” I thought Ohio was considered a midwestern state, but I wasn’t going to argue the point with her. I shake my head a little as Jessie takes the plate of cookies out of my hand and takes it over to the Formica-topped kitchen table.

“Do you need some help unpacking?” Jessie asks. “I’m great at organizing things! I used to work at one of those space-organizing shops. You know, where you come in and they start by handing you a couple of plastic tubs and then talk you into rebuilding your whole closet?” She laughs. “That was before I retired. I’m retired now, you know. And only fifty-eight!”

“That’s...great.” I try to sound enthusiastic, but it doesn’t really work. I’m a little overwhelmed by Jessie’s energy and not sure how to respond.

“I have a great financial advisor,” she says. “Do you have one? I can give you my guy’s number. He doesn’t usually take on new clients, but I can put in a good word for you. Oh! I love that plant!”

“That’s Vee,” I blurt out before I can stop myself.

“You name your plants?” Jessie turns on me with narrowed eyes.

“Well, um, I only have the one. My Aunt Ginny gave me a cutting from one of hers years ago. It’s the only plant I’ve managed to keep alive.” I laugh nervously. “I’ve got a black thumb, I guess.”

“Hmm…” Jessie eyes me suspiciously for a moment. She raises one eyebrow briefly before she co

ntinues on. “Why Vee?”

“After my aunt, Virginia.” I glance at the plant and then down at my feet. “When she gave me the cutting, she swore that if I could keep anything alive, it would be a pothos plant. I’ve always been pretty bad about watering plants, and Vee the pothos just curls up her leaves when she needs water, and eventually I notice.” I laugh nervously. “I even killed a cactus. Watered that one too much, I guess.”

“Oh, that kind of Ginny!” Jessie seems oblivious to my blabbering and continues to focus on her own. “I thought you said Jenny. That makes sense, then.” She nods and then gives me a big smile. “You should bring Vee over and introduce her to my mother-in-law’s tongue, Marie. Named after my own mother-in-law, God rest her judgmental soul.” Jessie places her hand over her heart and looks up at the ceiling before breaking out in laughter. “That woman could give a tongue lashing like no other!”

I bite my lip, not sure if I should laugh at the joke or not.

“She never fit in with the Eastsiders, that’s for sure.”

There’s that term again.

“What exactly do you mean, ‘Eastsider’?” I ask.

Jessie pauses for the first time since she walked in. Her eyes narrow as she looks me up and down for a long moment. Just as I’m starting to get rather fidgety under her stare, she starts talking again.

“Are you not from here?”

“No, I’m not,” I reply. “I just moved here from Maryland.”

“Oh my goodness, girl! I didn’t realize you were a newbie!” She laughs and shakes her head. “You live on the east side of Cascade Falls. Everyone who lives east of Main Street is an Eastsider. The Westsiders are kept on the other side of Main.”

“Kept?”

“Yes, kept.” She makes the clicking sound with her tongue again. “My goodness, I’ve got a lot to tell you. Can’t have you roaming the streets all willy-nilly. Sit down, girl.”

She grabs my hand and pulls me to the couch.

“There are some things you should know about Cascade Falls, Ohio,” she says rather ominously. “For starters, you settled yourself on the east side, which is a blessing. Here, we take care of each other. The Westsiders are greedy bastards who only look out for themselves. When you go to do your shopping, you stick to the Eastside Shopping Plaza. That’s where you find your Kroger and your Target stores for everything you need. There’s a nice little salon there, too, and I’ll tell Sally about you so she’ll give you a discount on your hair and nails.”

“Oh, thank you. That would be nice.”