~ Too Small For A Gate ~

by

Kowanda Stroud

Near her corner where she would turn towards her parents’ house little rocks hit her feet and she thought her feet must have turned them up until she felt one ping off her ankle. She looked toward Billy Pettigrew’s grandparents home and smiled. Billy was sitting in the shade of the old porch throwing rocks at her.

“Hey, Billy, just like old times,” Janiece said walking toward the porch. “Being mean to me just comes naturally for you, doesn’t it?”

Billy chuckled and walked down the steps of the porch to meet her. He still had a slight limp from his polio.

“Not exactly like old times,” Billy said. “You would have given me a good cussing for that back in those days. The way I remember it, you never were good at throwing rocks though.” He gestured for her to follow him into shade of the porch.

“Boy this brings back memories,” Janiece said after hugging him. “So how’s the red-headed terror of Love doing after all of these years?”

“Been pretty good lately,” he said, “You know I’m City Judge here? That’s a laugh, huh? My law practice in Lawton pays the bills; the City Judge stuff is just for revenge. You know there were a few in this town that said I’d never amount to anything” He smiled in a lazy way.

“Well it does seem I’ve heard a few statements like that. Daddy would get so mad at you for throwing rocks and knocking out his street lights.” Billy laughed until she added “He was almost ready to tell your grandma on you.”

The smile left Billy’s face immediately. “I’m sure glad he didn’t do that! Why, Grandmother would have skinned me alive!”

Janiece sat on the porch railing. “Yeah I know and I guess Daddy did, too. He had a lot of respect for your grandma and I think he really liked you and decided to wait and see if you ever grew out of that ornery stage.”

“Sorry about your Dad,” Billy said sympathetically. “You know he was a client of mine?”

He said this with a straight face so Janiece knew it was true, but she was surprised. She told him, “No.”

Billy cleared his throat and spit into the flower bed. “Nick’s will is at my office and I’ll need to read it to ya’ll before you leave. But the main thing is this,” he said as he pulled a key from his pants pocket.

Janiece asked taking the key from him, “What’s this?”

“Well, it’s a key to a safety deposit box in the Union Bank in Lawton. Nick gave me strict instructions to give it to you if something happened to him before he saw you again. You knew he’d been sick, didn’t you?”

Frowning at the key Janiece answered, “No. Well maybe, but not this sick anyway. Why does he have a safety deposit box in a Lawton bank? Daddy always did his banking here. What do you know about this? This scares me but I don’t know why.”

“The box probably has the answers to your questions and there’s no need for me to tell part of it. Just go down there when you have time. I’ll call them and they’ll be expecting you. Ask for Alice.”

Billy eased back into the large white wicker chair. “My wife’s making some food and we’ll bring it down to your house later.” He looked at Janiece. “ You haven’t changed a bit. You look just like you did in high school.”

It must be his turn to tease, Janiece thought.

The porch railing was always her favorite spot to sit and she leaned back resting against the post. She brushed her hair from her eyes. “My neck is sweaty and I know my face has to be red. Let’s face it, Billy, I look a mess.” She leaned forward and pinched his cheek. “But you are a sweet liar. Thanks for this, I think,” she said looking at the key. “I’m so curious about it I don’t know if I can wait until after the service. When do you think I should go?”

His long legs stretched in front of him and he folded his hands across his stomach, “I’d go when I was ready.”

She smiled at him, “You know, I could always depend on you. I guess I told you everything that hurt and bothered me growing up. Do you remember that night I came in and caught Mama and Daddy in that awful fight?”

Billy looked toward the street self-consciously. “Sure, I remember that night.”

“Well,” she said, “I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had you to confide in. What I overheard that night changed my life and your advice helped me with it.”

“Aw, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Like I told you that night--it doesn’t matter who your biological father is. Your daddy is the one that took care of you. Heck, I was just a baby when my real dad died but I couldn’t have loved Sam any more than I did. I never did relate to those step-parent jokes.”

“Yeah, I know how much you thought of Sam. You know, I never did find out who Mama ran off with that day.” Janiece hesitated, giving Billy the opportunity to tell her if he knew. When he remained quiet she shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “I did try to help you out in return for your advice though.”

Billy looked surprised. “How? That part I don’t remember.”

She laughed at the expression on his face. “I tried to fix you up with girls. But you never wanted to go with any of the nice girls--just the fast ones and since they were always booked up, I was never very successful. So I guess I was a failure as a matchmaker for you.”

“Oh yeah right,” he grinned. “You know I met Lurline at college. Don’t say anything about this but her family is rich. They live in Louisiana.”

“I didn’t always live in Colorado,” Janiece answered. “Your wedding was big news in the Love Banner for weeks. They covered the engagement, wedding showers, wedding, and your honeymoon.”

Billy interrupted, “Not all of the honeymoon I hope!”

She blushed in spite of herself. “I was glad to read you’d renovated your grandparents place and made it your home. I love this house.” She pushed herself away from the railing. “I’ll see you later, right?”

The shade of the porch was so cool Janiece wished she could stay longer. The thought of her parents’ crowded house made her tired.

At the corner she looked back at Billy, still standing at the head of the steps. When he smiled and it seemed everything would be all right.

“See you later,” he said. “Remember, I never broke a promise to you.”

Janiece remembered through the years he’d made lots of promises. He promised he’d kick her if she didn’t get off his foot. He promised he’d walk her past Stinnett’s dog until it got used to her. He promised she wouldn’t always be ugly and someday someone would ask her on a date. He promised it didn’t matter who donated sperm for her conception, and that Nick was her daddy no matter what. He promised her parents would never get a divorce and leave her and her brother. He promised she would grow up and things wouldn’t seem so hard and confusing. Janiece realized Billy hadn’t broken any of his promises to her.