Everything Changes

Red Dirt Girl

25367 West 82nd Street #1A

Apartment of Bedelia Rollins

6:30 pm

By the end of her outing with Olivia, Bedelia gathered up the courage to share her stories my with her firstborn, so when Amanda received an invitation at the end of the day to accompany her mother and sister to their new home, she accepted and went.

After dinner, which Amanda insisted on making, Maggie Blue became so tired from a combination of the day's activities and then the unexpected joy and surprise of having Amanda come home with her that she fell asleep at the dinner table, her head narrowly missing her empty plate of what had been a plate of chicken strips, macaroni and cheese, and peas. She fell asleep right there at the table.

Amanda got Maggie Blue ready for bed and tucked her in while Bedelia took care of the dishes.

When everything was finally said and done, Bedelia and Amanda sat on the living room couch together.

"I really like your place, mama." Amanda told her honestly. "It's nice and homey."

"Thank you." Bedelia smiled. "It's just the right size for me, Maggie Blue, and your brother; it's all much better than the trailer. Compared to that, this is a mansion."

The trailer where they'd called home for so many years of their lives was a small place in the style of a classroom portable, although about half the size and width of one with an open floor plan. It was bad, but it had still been their home.

This new place was in a building that was located in a regular, middle class neighborhood, and it included three bedrooms, one full bathroom, a front room, a dining area, a full kitchen, and even a hallway where a washer and dryer were located. Nobody in the Rollins family had ever lived in so much space before.

There were some decorations from the trailer, Amanda noticed, but a lot of the other decorations and even the furnishings were new.

"Most of these things were donated from a local assistance program I found at a church charity fair on our first day in town, and there is even going to be an event soon where lots of baby furniture and supplies will going to be donated to all the mothers that signed up, which I did," Bedelia explained, as if reading her daughter's mind. "So your brother is almost all squared away."

"You really wanted to start over, huh?"

Bedelia nodded, remembering how Olivia had told her that it was never too late for a happy ending. "Oh, yes. Forty-something  years in that godforsaken trailer park was long enough."

"Who has our trailer, then?"

"Sold it to Sissy Lane for eight hundred bucks, but you know that family, though. They breed like they're Irish."

Amanda chuckled. "So damn true. How many kids do Sissy and Billy Ray have now?"

"Five at the moment: Junior, Buddy, Lloyd, Portia, and April, but those are just Sissy's kids. You know she's got three sisters and a brother that still take up residence in the park."

No matter how hard Amanda tried to forget her old life, some parts of it were just burned into her brain, allowing her to recall the names of the other Lane siblings with ease. "Hattie, Charlene, Thelma, and Beau, right?"

Bedelia nodded. "Yep, and now that I remember, Sissy is expecting again. It's another girl, and they're planning on calling her London."

"Six kids? Wow..."

Amanda stretched out her arms, wanting to alleviate the stiffness she'd been feeling.

"It isn't like Sissy is a bad person, but it's mostly people like her that made me want to get out in the first place; I didn't want to have the stigma of 'white trailer park trash' hanging over me for the rest of my life. If Sissy and Billy Ray never get out, then I hope that Junior, Buddy, Lloyd, Portia, April, and London all do. Hopefully Sissy won't hamper them."