Scattered Leaves (Early Spring 2)

"Yes," I said, and she smiled.

"Okay, then. We'll be like sisters. Between us there will be no secrets, no lies. That's our motto. Whenever I look at you and you look at me, no matter where we are, we think, no secrets, no lies. Deal?" she asked, holding out her hand. I looked at it and then slowly put my hand into hers. She held on to it and whispered. "No secrets, no lies. Say it."

"No secrets, no lies,'" I repeated.

"Sisters protect each other first and worry about everything else second. No matter what, you never tell on me and I never tell on you. We die first. Say it. We die first."

"We die first." "Good."

We walked on in silence, she with a big grin on her face and me worrying about all that I had sworn to do and not to do. Suddenly, we heard her granddad's car horn and saw him pull to the side of the road. He didn't look happy.

"Why did you take that girl on the highway. Alanis? I told you I'd come for you at the mall!" he shouted as we crossed the street to the car.

I thought she had said she'd told him we were walking. Why was he so surprised?

"Stop treating her like a baby, Granddad. And me, too. I think I know how to walk along the side of a highway. Besides, she wanted to see what ifs like here. She got to know her way around. I won't always be hanging around with her. She's only in the third grade."

"One thing you'll never run low on is smart answers. Get in." he ordered.

Alanis flashed a smile at me and opened the rear door. We both got into the rear seat this time.

"Home, please. Mr. Marshall," Alanis told him. He glared at us. "Put on them seat belts!"

We did, and he pulled away from the curb, drove to a place where he could turn around, and did so.

"Mama still home?" Alanis asked him.

"Yeah, she's home. Matter of fact, she just got herself up. I told her to get herself over to the farmhouse and finish cleaning before she thinks of doing anything else today. I told her you'd be on our house as soon as I brought you back. The kitchen needs tending to." he added.

"That chauffeur come back?" she asked him. I perked up. Had Felix returned? Had Grandmother Emma sent him back to take me home after all? Maybe he had told her how run-dawn everything was and she didn't want me living here.

"No, but he'll be back. That's for sure." Lester Marshall said.

"Well. I know you're doing the best you can, Granddad. They can't blame you."

He looked back at her and shook his head.

"Don't sweet-talk me. Alanis. You do your chores and you don't get yourself in no trouble at school this year. I don't want to hear about no cigarettes or you bad-mouthing your teachers or nothing."

"Yes. Granddad."

He grunted. I was sure he would be very angry if he knew what she had just bought. How could she lie to him so easily

and quickly? I think she saw the shock in my face. She reached across the seat to squeeze my hand so I would look at her.

"We die first," she whispered.

I bit dawn on my lower lip, looked at her granddad and nodded.

She smiled and looked out the window. When we arrived at the farm, her granddad reminded her about cleaning up the kitchen. She told me she would see me later.

"You know where and when." she added and hurried to her house. Mr. Marshall went to the porch, where he was repairing floorboards, and I went in to look for Great-aunt Frances. I had no trouble finding her. It was her soap opera hour, and she was sprawled on the sofa just as she had been yesterday, her eyes and ears fixed so hard on the television set that she didn't hear me enter or realize I was standing in the doorway. I heard the vacuum cleaner going upstairs and went up to put my school supplies in the bag Great-aunt Frances had given me.

When I entered my bedroom, the first thing I noticed was that all the letters had been taken out of the paper bag and two of them had been taken out of their envelopes. I put the school supplies down and looked at the letters. Would Great-aunt Frances have come into my bedroom and started reading these even before I had? Looking around the room. I noticed that it was cleaner, the furniture dusted and the cobwebs gone. Itwas Mae Betty, I thought. She snooped.

I heard a door close down the hallway and looked toward the room reserved for Grandmother Emma. Mae Betty emerged, carrying a fistful of dust rags and a can of same polish. She looked back toward me.

"Make sure you don't leave things lying about your room, and don't leave no wet towels on the bathroom floor," she warned. "I'm not coming up here more than once a week."