The driver didn't answer. He looked past us for a moment to see. I think, if there was an adult accompanying us.
"We would like to go now," Ian said. "Please." "It will be twenty-four bucks," the driver said.
Ian smiled. "Fine," He showed him he had money and the driver suddenly came to life, moving quickly to get into his cab.
Ian opened the door for me and we got in. It was the first time I was ever in a taxicab, but I tried not to act like it was. I sat back and looked out the window, swallowing down all my fear. The driver glanced at us in his rearview mirror and then started his cab and drove away.
"Why are you going to Philly?" he asked. "We're visiting relatives," Ian said. And then, although it was clearly a lie, he added, "We've been there at least a dozen times."
"No kidding. Where in Philadelphia?" Without blinking an eye. Ian rattled off an address. The driver was very quiet after that. When we arrived at the bus station. Ian gave him twenty-five dollars.
"Keep the change," he told him as if it was something he often said and did.
The driver nodded and watched us go into the station. Ian bought our tickets and we sat on a bench near an elderly black lady who had a large bag stuffed with clothing. She looked at us and smiled. I saw she was missing teeth, but she had a very warm, sweet smile that made me feel better.
"Ain't you a doll," she told me. "How old are you, honey?"
I looked at Ian to see if I should answer. His eyes told me it was all right.
"Seven," I said.
"And you're a big girl, going on a bus with your brother, is it?"
"Yes. Ian is my brother."
"I wasn't much older when I first went on a bus with my granny Pauline. Matter of fact. I think I was seven. too. Yes. I was. We went from Memphis. Tennessee, to New Orleans and we had to make a few changes in those days. Took us two days to get there. We slept in a station one night. She had a lap as soft as a downy pillow. My granny Pauline..." She stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked out the window. I thought her eyes filled with tears. Ian poked me gently. "When we get to the hospital, you let me do all the talking, Jordan. Even if someone asks you a question, you wait for me to answer, okay?"
I nodded. 'Grandmother Emma is going to be very angry at us."
"She'll get over it," he said. "We have a right to see our mother." He studied a bus schedule and then told me we would return on a bus that left
Philadelphia at six forty-five.
"Where will we have our lunch?" I asked. "Don't worry about lunch. Hospitals have cafeterias for visitors and staff."'
"Can we go see Daddy, too?"
"Not today, but we will if we want," he said with determination. "Will Mama wake up and talk to us when we get there, Ian?"
"Maybe. Maybe she's already awake and talking and Grandmother Emma didn't tell us," he said.
"Why not?" I asked, wide-eyed.
He shook his head. "Why does she do anything?" he replied, which made no sense to me. "We'll set. Just relax," he told me.
"Aren't you afraid, Ian?" I asked him. He turned slowly. "We sat in the woods just a few yards from a black bear, didn't we?"'
"Yes."
"Well, there's no one out there as big or as strong as a black bear."
That made me feel better, but my heart was still thumping when the bus we were to take pulled up in front of the station. Ian rose and nodded for me to do the same. We started out and I looked back at the elderly black lady. She was still sitting with her hands on her bag of clothes.
She smiled at me and said, "Have a nice trip, honey."
Ian tugged my hand and we went out, but I could see her through the window, even when we got on the bus. She was still sitting there.
"Where is she going, Ian?" I asked him. "Why didn't she get on the bus, too?"