The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank Read Free Book Online Page B

as though George had made the statement as a religious conviction. Witha dour, and I mean dour, expression, she reached in the pantry closet, handed them two rolls of paper towels and two bottles of a spray cleaner.
    “Ain’t got no baby ’cause He ain’t come yet. So, iffin y’all think this ’eah job is too hard, or that it ain’t worth the trouble, just let me know.”
    They skulked away in a combination of anger and unfamiliar mortification, saying something about assigning the cleaning job to Andrew to help him lose some baby fat.
    “He could use the exercise,” Cleland said with a snort.
    “I gots plans for Andrew!” Pearl said.
    George, unaccustomed to being bossed around, especially by a woman, opened his ugly mouth. “We’ll send him skirt side when he gets home. He’s gone shopping at the mall with his granny and his mommy. ”
    George’s high-pitched nasal tone implied that Andrew was a sissy. I didn’t like it one bit.
    “He’s just a little boy,” I said, empowered by Pearl’s presence to register my discontent.
    Pearl arched her eyebrow in disapproval. They saw it.
    “He’s probably going to shake them down for some candy. Or a last-minute toy.”
    Holy cow! Cleland had made a halfhearted attempt to render an awkward moment less tense.
    “Probably,” George conceded.
    Pearl looked George up and down with what we used to call the hairy eyeball and I could sense George’s discomfort.
    “That’s how you speak of your only nephew on Christmas Eve? Or on any eve for that matter? That’s not nice.”
    “Oh, I was just kidding,” George said. “Can’t you take a joke?”
    “Hmmph. You call that a joke? Whatever you say. Anyway, they went shopping for me for y’all’s supper, too. When they come back, send that child in ’eah to me, and his cousin Teddie, too! And Camille!”
    In the span of one morning, the arrival of Pearl had put sarcasm and laziness on a short leash. Verbally spanked and without any further objection, the men went to set up the manger in the front yard.
    Pearl took out a large mixing bowl. She snapped her fingers and it was filled with fruitcake batter. What? I couldn’t believe it! I took off my glasses, rubbed my eyes once again, and stared hard at the batter in the bowl. It was there, all right. There was simply no explaining it.
    “What you think? I ain’t got all day to be chopping nuts and messing with all this sticky fruit,” she said. “We gots bigger heads to knock!”
    My eyes were about to grow wider.
    She took out a smaller mixing bowl and snapped herfingers again. In an instant it was filled with the mixture for sands.
    “This is just…you are amazing,” I said, with a definite gasp.
    “Fuh true!” She winked at me. “We ain’t got one minute to waste. Remember how long this used to take us? Lawsa! We woulda been chopping nuts for two months!”
    She pointed to a third bowl and it was quickly filled with all the ingredients for rum balls. She covered them all with dish towels, tied the towels around the rim of the bowls with string, and placed them in the refrigerator.
    This time I put my hand to my chest to be sure my heart was still functioning. Surprisingly, it was. Why had I expected anything less? I was actually becoming accustomed to Pearl’s paranormal display and, I’d admit, I was thoroughly amused. Although still extremely curious. It was just like watching a magician pull rabbits from a hat or make people disappear—it didn’t seem possible! Face it, Theodora, I told myself, everything normal had been left at the door when Pearl walked in!
    “May I ask how, just how, you did that?”
    Pearl looked up to the ceiling, folded her hands, and smiled in total innocence. “With a little help from my angelic friends.”
    “Hmm. It’s reassuring to know there are angelic friends to be had.” Pearl squinted at me like she was using X-ray vision to see if I had pagan blood flowing in my veins to even question such a thing. I