Clover by Dori Sanders Read Free Book Online

lonely and sad I felt sorry for her. I knew she was crying inside. My aunt must have known it, too. She excused herself and left the room for a while.
    When Merlee moved to Round Hill from Greenville, South Carolina, everybody said she was without a doubt the prettiest black woman they had ever seen. Merlee thought so, too. And she didn’t try to hide it.
    I know she was the best piano player I ever heard. I also knew she almost drove my poor daddy crazy. He couldn’t keep his mind on nothing.
    They were really tight for a while. Nobody had to tell me about it. I knew it for a fact. Her car was parked at our house so much, Aunt Everleen warned her she’d better slack off some, people would start to talk.
    And then some talk started. Talk got out that Miss Kenyon said she was in love with Gaten Hill, all right and enough, but she wasn’t about to take on a ready-made family. She also said she sure didn’t spend the best years of her life getting a master’s degree in music to take care of someone else’s child. Besides, little girls get on her nerves, she added.
    As soon as I heard what she had said I made up my mind that I was not about to show her the killdeer’s nest I’d seen. I had found a good hiding place in a tree near the edge of a field and watched the little chirping bird build the nest right on the ground. It seemed the little killdeer found the smoothest little round rocks and gravel. It rolled them into a pile with its bill, then settled down on top of the little rounded-out nest like a setting hen.
    I was supposed to have started taking music lessons from Miss Kenyon every Saturday morning. I had planned to take her to see the killdeer’s nest when we finished the lesson. But I didn’t even start taking the old piano lessons. I didn’t care what Gaten would have said. I didn’t show her my bird nest, either. That was for sure.
    Well, when Gaten heard what his girlfriend said about me, he stopped courting her altogether.
    I kind of thought Gaten might have said something about the music lessons. But he didn’t. He didn’t say anything about Miss Kenyon, either.
    Once when I was waiting in his office for him to finish working, I said, “Gaten, we didn’t really need Miss Kenyon, did we? We can get along real good without anyone, can’t we?”
    Gaten leaned back in his chair and smiled at me, “Real good, Clover,” he said, “real good.” When my daddy smiled, he was the best-looking man in the whole world.
    I don’t know if it was what Merlee Kenyon said about not liking little girls, or what she said about my mama, that hurt Gaten so much. “I really don’t want to wear a dead woman’s shoes,” she’d said, adding that even the woman’s backwoods furniture made her almost throw up. She also said she could hardly keep from throwing out all the tacky little whatnots my mother left in the house.
    According to Miss Katie, “A woman should never, evertalk about a man’s dead wife. They may not have gotten along worth a hoot when married. But if and when a woman dies, she suddenly becomes a saint in her husband’s eyes.”
    Downstairs the dining room filled up with women again.
    â€œGaten’s new lady seems to like his little Clover a lot,” someone said to Miss Kenyon.
    The truth is, Miss Sara Kate was singing a different tune from the first time I met her. I overheard her say to my daddy, “Clover is indeed a beautiful little girl, Gaten, you must love her dearly.”
    â€œYes,” Gaten smiled, “she is quite beautiful, and yes, I do love that little girl.” He laughed. “She is also difficult sometimes, and as you well know, one can never tell what’s going to come out of her mouth.”
    Sara Kate had laughed, a rich husky laugh that seemed strange coming from someone with a childish voice. “Tell me about it,” she said.
    I couldn’t