Yankee Doodle Dixie by Lisa Patton Read Free Book Online Page B

”
    “I’m very sorry, ma’am,” the man said.
    “Well, all right then.” Kissie shut the door and hurried back into the den. She sat down on the couch and scooped me into her arms. “Daisy’s in heaven, Leelee.”
    Pulling away from her I flailed my legs, kicking and screaming, crying so hard I wailed with each sob. Pretty soon I had sucked up enough air to keep me gasping for each breath. Kissie pulled me onto her lap. Rocking me back and forth, she patted my head and pushed the hair away from my watery face. With the lapel of her uniform she wiped away my tears as I pressed into her bosom. “You’ll see her again one day, baby. She’s much happier now, anyway. She’s up there with the Lawd. Runnin’ around, barkin’, no cars to worry ’bout.” Kissie’s smile took up most of her face. “Nobody gonna tell her she cain’t.”
    “I want to go there,” I told her, when I saw how happy she looked. “I want to be in heaven with Daisy.”
    “I know, baby. But it ain’t your time.”
    “When is my time?” I asked between sobs.
    “Only the Lawd knows that.” She kept rocking and rocking until my sobs turned into whimpers.
    *   *   *
    Just thinking about Daisy and Gracie, and having to bury them both is almost enough to keep me from sinking my heart back into another dog. But the only way over one is to love another. That I know for sure. Just like the birth of your first child, it’s hard to imagine that you’ll ever love another as much as you love the first, but of course you do. And I will.
    *   *   *
    Once I’ve helped Kissie clear the table and wash the breakfast dishes I settle back down at her dining room table, determined to find us a place to live. After circling several homes in the For Rent section of The Commercial Appeal , I set up three appointments to see houses in the Germantown area—having decided to take Virgy’s advice and pick a house in a neighborhood with a good school. Growing up, Germantown used to be considered “the country.” Mary Jule and I rode horses out there and only a handful of people from Jameson School lived out there, but today it’s considered a suburb. For the most part my friends live in East Memphis or Midtown. Unfortunately though, some of the elementary schools around there leave a little to be desired. So moving out to Germantown is my only option, for the next few months anyway.
    After placing a large basket of freshly dried towels on the floor next to the table, Kissie pulls out a chair, sits down next to me and starts folding. She can tell I’m frustrated because I sigh loudly after hanging up the phone and run my fingers through my already unruly hair.
    “One thing about life is always true. Things are always changin’,” she says. “You don’t have to live there forever. Just do what you need to do right now for your little girls.”
    “I know. You’re right. You’re always right,” I say, and bury my face in my hands.
    “The Lawd will bless you for puttin’ them first.” Kissie stretches one of her fluffy yellow bath towels and expertly pinches the corners together.
    “I’m gonna start calling you Aristotle,” I tell her.
    “No, baby, I don’t want that name.”
    “How come? Aristotle was a genius.”
    “That might be but he thought women weren’t fully human,” she says matter-of-factly as she plops the perfectly creased towel on the table.
    “What!” I sit up in the chair.
    “That’s right.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “I read it somewhere. I may not have a degree but when I read somethin’ I never forget it. You know my memory is just like an elephant’s,” she says, snapping the wind out of one of the towels.
    I make a mental note to look up Aristotle and check the validity of Kissie’s claim. Then I change my mind. She always knows what she’s talking about.
    *   *   *
    Right after lunch, Kissie keeps the girls while I head out to Germantown to check out the rentals. The first house I