"Well, why is that, Daddy?" I asked.
"I'm going to be a maintenance supervisor there and free tuition for my children comes with the job," he said proudly.
"What's the name of this school?" I asked, my heart still fluttering.
"Emerson Peabody," he replied.
"Emerson Peabody?" Jimmy twisted his mouth up as if he had bitten into a sour apple. "What kind of a name is that for a school? I ain't going to no school named Emerson Peabody," Jimmy said, shaking his head
and backing up toward the couch. "One thing I don't need is to be around a bunch of rich, spoiled kids," he added and flopped down again and folded his arms across his chest.
"Now, you just hold on here, Jimmy boy. You'll go where I tell you to go to school. This here's an opportunity, something very expensive for free, too."
"I don't care," Jimmy said defiantly, his eyes shooting sparks.
"Oh, you don't? Well, you will." Daddy's own eyes shot sparks, and I could see he was maintaining his temper. "Whether you Like it or not, you're both gonna get the best education around, and all for free," Daddy repeated.
Just then we heard the outside door opening and Momma start coming down the hallway. From the sound of her slow, ponderous footsteps, I knew she was exhausted. A sensation of cold fear seized my heart when I heard her pause and break out in one of her fits of coughing. I ran to the doorway and looked at her leaning against the wall.
"Momma?" I cried.
"I'm all right. I'm all right," Momma said, holding her hand up toward me. "I just lost my breath a moment," she explained.
"You sure you're all right, Sally Jean?" Daddy asked her, his face a face of solid worry.
"I'm all right; I'm all right. There wasn't much to do. Mrs. Anderson had a bunch of her elderly friends over is all. They didn't make no mess to speak of. So," she said, seeing the way we were standing and looking at her. "What are you all standing around here and looking like that for?"
"I got news, Sally Jean," Daddy said and smiled. Momma's eyes began to brighten.
"What sort of news?"
"A new job," he said and told her all of it. She sat down on a kitchen chair to catch her breath again, this time from the excitement.
"Oh, children," she exclaimed, "ain't this wonderful news? It's the best present we could get."
"Yes, Momma," I said, but Jimmy looked down.
"Why's Jimmy looking sour?" Momma asked.
"He doesn't want to go to Emerson Peabody," I said.
"We won't fit in there, Momma!" Jimmy cried. Suddenly I was so angry at Jimmy, I wanted to punch him or scream at him. Momma had been so happy she had looked like her old self for a moment, and here he was making her sad again. I guess he realized it because he took a deep breath and sighed. "But I guess it don't matter what school I go to."
"Don't go putting yourself down, Jimmy. You'll show them rich kids something yet."
That night I had a hard time falling asleep. I stared through the darkness until my eyes adjusted, and I could faintly see Jimmy's face, the usually proud, hard mouth and eyes grown soft now that they were hidden by the night.
"Don't worry about being with rich kids, Jimmy," I said, knowing he was awake beside me. "Just because they're rich doesn't mean they're better than us."
"I never said it did," he said. "But I know rich kids. They think it makes them better."
"Don't you think there'll be at least a few kids we can make friends with?" I asked, my fears finally exploding to the surface with his.
"Sure. All the students at Emerson Peabody are just dying to make friends with the Longchamp kids."
I knew Jimmy had to be very worried—normally, he would try to protect me from my own dark side.
Deep down I hoped Daddy wasn't reaching too hard and too far for us.