Native Son - Richard Wright [60]
“What all I got to do today, mam?”
“Just wait on call. Sunday’s a dull day. Maybe Mr. or Mrs. Dalton’ll go out.”
“Yessum.”
He finished the oatmeal.
“You want me to do anything now?”
“No. But you’re not through eating. You want some ham and eggs?”
“No’m. I got a plenty.”
“Well, it’s right here for you. Don’t be afraid to ask for it.”
“I reckon I’ll see about the fire now.”
“All right, Bigger. Just you listen for the bell about two o’clock. Till then I don’t think there’ll be anything.”
He went to the basement. The fire was blazing. The embers glowed red and the draft droned upward. It did not need any coal. Again he looked round the basement, into every nook and corner, to see if he had left any trace of what had happened last night. There was none.
He went to his room and lay on the bed. Well; here he was now. What would happen? The room was quiet. No! He heard something! He cocked his head, listening. He caught faint sounds of pots and pans rattling in the kitchen below. He got up and walked to the far end of the room; the sounds came louder. He heard the soft but firm tread of Peggy as she walked across the kitchen floor. She’s right under me, he thought. He stood still, listening. He heard Mrs. Dalton’s voice, then Peggy’s. He stooped and put his ear to the floor. Were they talking about Mary? He could not make out what they were saying. He stood up and looked round. A foot from him was the door of the clothes closet. He opened it; the voices came clearly. He went into the closet and the planks squeaked; he stopped. Had they heard him? Would they think he was snooping? Oh! He had an idea! He got his suitcase and opened it and took out an armful of clothes. If anyone came into the room it would seem that he was putting his clothes away He went into the closet and listened.
“…you mean the car stayed out all night in the driveway?”
“Yes; he said she told him to leave it there.”
“What time was that?”
“I don’t know, Mrs. Dalton. I didn’t ask him.”
“I don’t understand this at all.”
“Oh, she’s all right. I don’t think you need worry.”
“But she didn’t even leave a note, Peggy. That’s not like Mary. Even when she ran away to New York that time she at least left a note.”
“Maybe she hasn’t gone. Maybe something came up and she stayed out all night, Mrs. Dalton.”
“But why would she leave the car out?”
“I don’t know.”
“And he said a man was with her?”
“It was that Jan, I think, Mrs. Dalton.”
“Jan?”
“Yes; the one who was with her in Florida.”
“She just won’t leave those awful people alone.”
“He called here this morning, asking for her.”
“Called here?”
“Yes.”
“And what did he say?”
“He seemed sort of peeved when I told him she was gone.”
“What can that poor child be up to? She told me she was not seeing him any more.”
“Maybe she had him to call, Mrs. Dalton….”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, mam, I was kind of thinking that maybe she’s with him again, like that time she was in Florida. And maybe she had him to call to see if we knew she was gone….”
“Oh, Peggy!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, mam…. Maybe she stayed with some friends of hers?”
“But she was in her room at two o’clock this morning, Peggy. Whose house would she go to at that hour?”
“Mrs. Dalton, I noticed something when I went to her room this morning.”
“What?”
“Well, mam, it looks like her bed wasn’t slept in at all. The cover wasn’t even pulled back. Looks like somebody had just stretched out awhile and then got up….”
“Oh!”
Bigger listened intently, but there was silence. They knew that something was wrong now. He heard Mrs. Dalton’s voice again, quavering with