Pawns Read online

  “How well I remember, even though it was almost thirty years ago! Even the price of a set of salt-and-pepper shakers was more than we could manage the first few weeks. If it hadn’t been for garage sales and thrift shops, I don’t know how we’d have managed.” Mamie didn’t make it sound as if it had been a hardship, though. She and her husband had been very happy in spite of being poor in their early years; she had told Teddi many stories about it.

  If it had been me seeking refuge with a mother-in-law I didn’t know, who didn’t realize I even existed, I certainly would have contacted her before I came here, to be sure I was welcome.

  Teddi bit her lip. Was she being petty simply because her own security was threatened? Mamie didn’t really owe her anything, the way she did Dora.

  Dora’s words cut through her musings. “If Ricky had worked another month, we’d have had insurance to pay for this baby. I did go to the doctor in San Diego. As it is, I’ll probably have to have it at home to be able to afford it.”

  That made Teddi straighten her spine. Have the baby here, in her room?

  “Oh, my. Well, that is a complication,” Mamie admitted. “It would probably be a good idea to apply for DSHS for the both of you, while there’s still time to get the paperwork done.”

  Dora’s words were soft, so that Teddi could barely hear them. “Ricky never wanted us to take charity. He couldn’t bear the idea of being on welfare, not just because he was proud, but because of how difficult all that paperwork is. And you have to keep verifying everything, proving you’re eligible and all that.”

  “But you could easily do that,” Mamie protested. “After all, your husband just died and you’re all alone. Surely they’d help you.”

  “It’s hard to ask strangers for help,” Dora murmured.

  But she didn’t hesitate to come here, to Mamie, and Mamie is a stranger.

  But legally Dora’s mother-in-law, Teddi amended, trying to be fair.

  Mamie spoke with unaccustomed firmness. “It would be foolish not to get proper medical care because of squeamishness over accepting charity. You can prove you were married to my son, can’t you?”

  Dora moistened her lips. “Oh, yes. I have our marriage certificate. I’ll get it and show it to you.”

  She brushed past Teddi in the doorway to get her purse and handed a folded paper to Mamie. Teddi caught only a glimpse of the document as Mamie looked at it, then handed it back. “Fine,” Mamie said. “We’ll take this and any other papers you have when we go to the social services office. I don’t know if there’s ordinarily a waiting period to get help when coming from another state, but surely the fact that you’re my daughter-in-law will make a difference when you had nowhere else to go.”

  Dora put the certificate away, looking dubious. “My husband said . . . I’m not sure he’d want me to go on welfare.”

  “Let’s talk to someone who knows more about such things than we do,” Mamie told her. She glanced at Teddi. “Was there something special you wanted, dear?”

  “I’ll take one more load up with me,” Teddi said, “and then I think I’ll go to bed.”

  “Good idea. I guess we’re all tired,” Mamie said. “It’s been an emotional day, and that can wear anyone out.”

  “It’s certainly worn me out,” Dora affirmed. “I think I’ll wait until tomorrow to unpack my things.”

  Teddi followed Dora into the downstairs bedroom, feeling very awkward. It was as if she were already intruding on the other girl’s territory.

  She scooped a book off the night table and some odds and ends off the top of the dresser. Then she reached up to take down the small picture of a woodsy scene, one that her mother had painted many years earlier, before Teddi was born. It was the only picture she had taken with her from the house when she left it.

  “Oh,” Dora said disappointedly, “are you going to take that? I really like it, and it’ll leave a mark if you take it down.”

  “No, it won’t,” Teddi said. “It hasn’t been up there long enough to have left a spot on the wallpaper.”

  “But it’s so uplifting, don’t you think, to be able to see it from the bed that way? I enjoyed it before I fell asleep.”

  Teddi hesitated, then drew back her hand. Under the circumstances, how could she begrudge the girl such a small thing?

  She gathered up a few more articles and, without a further word, left the room. She didn’t trust herself to say so much as “good night.”

  Mamie, who was in the hallway when she came out, ruffled her hair in a tender gesture. “Sleep well, Teddi. We’ll have lots to do tomorrow, hitting those garage sales. Good night, Dora.”

  In the attic bedroom, so alien, so barren, Teddi dumped everything on the floor for lack of a better place, and turned to the open window. In spite of her scrubbing efforts, the place retained a slightly musty smell.

  There was a light in the room directly opposite hers, in the old house. The blue carpeting gave it a luxurious air. Teddi wondered which members of the family were going to sleep there.

  And then she saw him, the boy, Jason. He was hauling bedding past the window, until he suddenly noticed her.

  He stopped. Teddi was self-conscious, as if she’d been deliberately caught peeking, her hands still on the raised frame of the window.

  Jason tossed his bedding off to the side and threw open his own window.

  “Hi,” he called.

  “Hi,” Teddi responded.

  “Are you the girl who used to live here?”

  “Yes.”

  “The real estate lady told us you’d moved next door. I’m Jason Temple.”

  “Teddi Stuart.”

  “Glad to meet you. Maybe you can give us some basic information in the next few days. Like, where’s the library?”

  Teddi felt some of the tension go out of her as she laughed. “The library is pretty basic. It’s two blocks down that way, then turn right for—”

  “Why don’t you show me?” Jason suggested. “Maybe tomorrow afternoon?”

  “If I’m not busy with Mamie going to garage sales,” Teddi accepted, with a slight fluttering of her pulse. “We have to look for some things tomorrow.”

  “Any chance you’d like company?” Jason asked. “We have to look for a few things, too. Like some lamps. We had mostly overhead fixtures in the old place, and we need lamps.”

  “Sure. I’ll ask Mamie and let you know.”

  “Great. See you tomorrow, then.”

  “Right.” There were no shades up here, so Teddi turned off her own light before she got undressed. There was plenty of illumination from the streetlight out front.

  For a few moments she had forgotten what Dora’s sudden appearance might mean to her own future. For a few moments she’d had something to look forward to, showing a new guy in town where the library was and searching out the garage and yard sales.

  It was only when she slid into the unfamiliar bed that she recalled how her life had changed yet again. She wasn’t sure the change was going to be for the better.

  Chapter 4

  Teddi woke feeling disoriented. For a few seconds she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, fighting panic, and then she remembered.

  Dora had come, and Teddi had been banished to the attic.

  She knew what Mamie would say if she were to voice that idea. “Oh, Teddi, don’t be silly! You haven’t been banished at all! It’s just that Dora’s pregnant and needs to be near the bathroom. You hardly ever get up at night.”

  Teddi lay there, reluctant to move. Then she heard shouted voices from next door. “Jason, hurry up!” A male voice responded, and car doors slammed.

  There were neighbors in the house that had once been her home. The Temples. And Jason Temple had asked if he could go with her to the yard sales.

  That brought her out of bed, and she quickly dressed in jeans and her best-looking T-shirt, a pale green one with a flower garden motif. She’d have liked one with a funny saying on it, but she didn’t have one.

&
nbsp; Mamie was in the kitchen, making waffles. Waffles were usually reserved for leisurely Saturday mornings. Of course today they were in honor of Dora.

  “Morning, Teddi! Should we have strawberry jam as well as syrup?”

  “Why not?” Teddi agreed, and went to get it.

  “I see a new family is moving in next door,” Mamie told her, pouring more batter into the waffle maker. “They have children.”

  “Yes. I met the son last night, talked to him when we both opened our windows. His name’s Jason Temple. He asked if we’d take him around to the yard sales to see if he could find some lamps.”

  Mamie grinned at her. “Attractive, is he?”

  “I guess so,” Teddi said, feeling self-conscious. “Are we all going, you and Dora and me?”

  “That might be the best way,” Mamie said.

  But when she and Teddi had eaten, and there was no sound from Dora’s bedroom, Mamie changed her mind. “Here,” she said, handing some bills to Teddi, “you and Jason go. See if you can find a baby crib and a dresser. Pay for them, and I’ll go back later with the car to pick them up. Dora’s still asleep, and I don’t feel I can leave her here with no one in the house. If you see any baby clothes, blankets, that kind of thing, get those, too, if they’re in good condition. I’ll get some new things next time I get to town.”

  It felt strange to be walking up to ring the bell at the house where she’d lived for so long, but she didn’t have to. Jason came out before she got there.

  “Dad says I can take the car, so we don’t have to try to carry stuff home. What do we do, just drive around looking for SALE signs?”

  “No, I’ve got a list of places from the paper,” Teddi said. “There’ll probably be other ones, too, so we’ll watch for them. I thought we’d start with this one; it’s only two blocks away.”

  It turned out to be a fun morning. Jason was good company, and he made her laugh when he held up one of the ugliest lamps she’d ever seen, asking her opinion, and when he talked about his family.

  She would like the Temples, Teddi thought. The little sisters were Annie, who was ten, and Heidi, who was seven. Annie was the quiet, serious one, and Heidi never stopped talking.

  “Never,” Jason said solemnly. “Even in her sleep. When I want to read, I have to hide in my room to get away from her.”

  “I always wanted a sister,” Teddi told him, scanning tables of odds and ends.

  “I’ll give you one of mine. Especially if you take Heidi. Oh, hey, look at this! I’ll bet Annie would love it.” He held up a small straw hat decorated with bobbing cherries. He read the price tag. “Fifty cents.” The lady on the other side of the table was watching him, and he grinned at her. “Make it a quarter and I’ll take it.”

  “Sold,” the lady said, and he perched it on his head so that he still had his hands free.

  “Very becoming,” Teddi told him, laughing again. “That was a bargain.”

  “Half the fun of these things is that almost everybody is willing to negotiate. I don’t see any decent lamps, but there’s a dresser. You want to look at it?”

  On close inspection, the dresser was in bad shape. But as they made their way around to the sales listed in the paper, they saw a number of others. Teddi settled for the cheapest one that looked okay, and Jason wrestled it into the car.

  Nearly every sale had baby clothes, but most of them had stains or were worn out. There were no cribs, though they did find a bassinet that was in pretty good condition.

  “Five dollars,” Teddi mused. “If I buy it, will I have enough left when I come to a good crib?”

  “Offer her two,” Jason advised, and to Teddi’s delight, the lady took the money. The bassinet, too, went into the car.

  It was late morning when they came across a pair of tall, elegant table lamps. The sticker said, PAIR $15. Jason got them for ten. “Now all we need is a baby crib, right?”

  “Right. But the bassinet may work for a little while, if we can’t find the bed.”

  “This is for a little tiny baby, right?” Jason asked, stowing the lamps without their shades in the backseat.

  “He isn’t even born yet. But I guess he’s due soon.”

  “Whose baby is it?”

  Jason paused to open the door for her, then went around the car to his own side.

  “Dora’s. She was Ricky’s wife, Mamie’s younger son. He was killed in an airplane crash two weeks ago.”

  Jason sobered. “Wow. That’s a bummer. She going to live with you?”

  “She showed up yesterday, so it looks like it. Mamie didn’t even know Ricky had gotten married.”

  “He never even told her he got married? Boy, my mom would kill me if I did anything like that.” Then he flushed. “Sorry, that was a stupid remark, wasn’t it? Where do we go next?”

  At the last planned stop before they went home for lunch, they finally located a crib.

  Teddi stared at it in disappointment. “It’s pretty ugly, isn’t it? Dora was hoping to have a new one, but she can’t afford it right now.”

  Jason shook the small bed. “It’s sturdy, though. A kid could jump up and down in it and it wouldn’t fall apart. You know, a coat of paint would probably make it look fine.”

  “You think so?” A smiling lady in a pink smock approached them. “You want the crib? It’s a steal at that price. New ones cost three times that much.”

  “Yeah,” Jason conceded, “but they don’t look like they’ve been beaten to death.”

  The lady’s smile wavered. “Three of my kids have used it,” she admitted, “but it’s still useful. Is it for yourselves?”

  Teddi’s face flamed, but she couldn’t think of anything to say except, “No.”

  Jason, however, was not stumped. “With a coat of paint it might not be bad. Tell you what, you knock twenty-five dollars off that price, and we’ll take it and paint it, okay?”

  To Teddi’s surprise—and relief—they made the deal. The crib had to be dismantled to get it into the car, where it filled up all the space there was left.

  “You’re amazing,” Teddi admitted, sliding into the passenger seat. “I’d never have had the nerve to talk everybody down on the prices like that. You saved me quite a bit.”

  “They expect you to haggle. They set their prices in the first place to allow for it. You know, this was fun,” Jason said as they headed for home. “Would you have time this afternoon to show me where the library is?”

  “Sure, if Mamie doesn’t have something else planned for me to do,” Teddi said, and hoped Mamie wouldn’t.

  Jason brought in the dresser, then carried in the crib parts while Teddi managed the bassinet, setting them on Mamie’s back porch. Mamie came out to inspect them and was introduced to Jason.

  “I’ll set it up again, and then we can paint it,” he explained. “We could probably paint that basket thing, too. It’ll look fine when that’s done.”

  Dora, however, who obviously had not been up very long, stared dubiously at their purchases. “That crib’s pretty old,” she commented.

  “Old, but sturdy,” Jason asserted. “On the way back from the library we’ll stop and get some paint, okay? Now I have to show Mom her new lamps. And give Annie her hat.”

  Teddi had a sudden thought. “You bought something for Annie, but not for Heidi. Won’t she feel slighted?”

  Jason stopped on the bottom step. “You’re right. She probably will. Hmmm.”

  “Heidi’s the little one?” Mamie asked. “Wait a minute, maybe I’ve got something.”

  She vanished inside and came back a few minutes later holding a ceramic cow. “My friends know I collect cows and things with cow motifs. They bring me new ones when they go on vacations. I have two just alike of these. Would she appreciate a cow bank?”

  Hopeful, Jason took the cow and headed for home across the backyard. The others went inside for lunch. Mamie smiled brightly at the two girls. “I hope tuna fish sandwiches are okay for this afternoon?”

 
“Sure,” Teddi said, but Dora smiled apologetically. “I’m afraid not any kind of fish agrees with me right now.”

  “Oh. Well, we’ll find something else,” Mamie said immediately. “I remember being sensitive to various things when I was pregnant, too. Especially bacon; couldn’t stand the smell of it. I was lucky; all sensitivities were gone after the first few months.”

  They settled on chicken noodle soup, eaten mostly in silence. Mamie tried to keep conversation going by asking questions, most of which Dora answered in monosyllables.

  At the end of the meal, Dora pushed back her chair awkwardly and stood up. “I don’t suppose you have a heating pad or a hot water bottle, do you? I woke up with a backache, and it just won’t go away.”

  “I’ll get my heating pad,” Mamie offered at once.

  Teddi had arranged to meet Jason in an hour for their excursion to the library. She thought she had time to read the rest of her borrowed book before then, so she went to get it.

  She’d left it on the coffee table in the living room, but it wasn’t there.

  “What are you looking for, dear?” Mamie asked as she handed over the heating pad to Dora, who was stretched out on the couch.

  “My book. The one with the picture of a blond girl on the cover, with a dog.”

  “Oh, is this it?” Dora asked, and there the book was, in her hands. “I picked it up just before lunch and started reading it. It’s quite good. You don’t mind if I finish it before you take it back, do you? I won’t take very long. I’m a fast reader.”

  Nonplussed, Teddi swallowed and stared at her. She saw that Mamie was somewhat startled, too, but she left the decision up to Teddi.

  Would she seem a total creep if she insisted on having the book back?

  Teddi wanted to say that she had to return it to the library day after tomorrow, and she’d really like to finish it today, but somehow her tongue refused to form the words.

  In fact, she couldn’t say any words. She murmured something unintelligible and turned away, leaving the room.

  She told Jason about it as they left a short time later. He regarded her with level dark eyes.