1954-An Odd Child

Ella Rozzelle flipped the hamburger patty in the sizzling skillet, trying to avoid the spattering grease as much as possible. She shook her head. Ground beef was nothing but fat and water these days. Not like when she was a child, and the butcher ground it for you fresh. Then you could see what you were getting, and he couldn't fob off all his scraps and trimmings. Still, it was filling, and it was what she could afford. Learn to sew, her mother had said, and you need never go hungry. Well, she never had to go naked, in any case. But everyone wanted off the rack, ready to wear these days. There wasn't much money to be made in sewing and alterations.

Ella was a fat woman, but comfortably fat. She was one of those rare overweight people who was at peace with her body. As a result, she was actually quite pretty. She had olive skin and shiny brunette hair worn in a smooth pageboy.

From the livingroom she heard the honk of a squeeze-bulb horn, and a shrill, childish giggle. Again Ella shook her head, but this time in fond amusement. Little Kathleen sure did love that Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody show.

Ella was watching the little girl for twenty dollars a week. It was just supposed to be evenings at first. But her mother worked so late that it just seemed more sensible for the child to sleep over on the sofa instead of waking up in the middle of the night to go upstairs to her own bed. Then her mother had complained about all the noise the kid made while she was trying to sleep. Well, you couldn't expect a normal child to be silent all the time, so Kathleen started staying over in the mornings, too. Now she only spent a few hours in the afternoon with her mother. Unless he mother wanted to go shopping, or to a movie, which was often. It never occurred to her to take the little girl along.

Ella slid the turner under the patty and lifted it out onto a paper lined plate, then opened the bun and put it in the pan to toast. The soft white bread soaked up the grease like a sponge. While she waited for it to brown, Ella reflected that the child had some odd tastes in food. She hated vegetables, like most. But Ella had never known another child who insisted on having all her meat bloody rare.

She heard the television click off, and Kathleen came into the kitchen, sitting in one of the aluminum and vinyl chairs. She was an attractive child, but too sturdy to be termed pretty by today's standards. She had the most amazing hair, though. It fell around her shoulders in smooth sheaths, warm brown thickly streaked with shades of blond from cream to gold. On anyone any older, Ella would have been certain it was artificial. And she had blue eyes that could be deep and serious, or bright and merry. The sad thing was that they were so often the former, and so seldom the latter. "It's almost done, sweetie. Was the show good today?"

"Uh huh. Princess Winterspringsummerfall did a dance."

"Did she? Like your mama, huh?"

"No. She kept all her clothes on. They don' let you dance like Mommy does on the tee vee." she said matter of factly.

Ella felt her face flush. Sometimes it seemed that the poor little soul knew way too much about the world for someone so young. She dressed the burger the way Kathy liked it, nothing but meat and condiments, and set the plate before her. "Want some milk?"

"Sure."

That was one thing in her favor, Ella reflected as she poured a glass and handed it over. There was never any trouble getting her to drink her milk. Ella herself, as a child, had refused to drink a drop of the stuff unless it had chocolate syrup in it. When the girl set the glass down again, she had a foamy white mustache. Her little pink tongue darted out, swiping at the droplets.

Ella laughed, handing her a handkerchief. "Here, use this." As Kathy wiped her upper lip, Ella said, "I swear, you looked just like a kitten after someone pushed his nose in the dish to teach him how to drink."

Kathy had the burger halfway to her mouth, but she stopped, staring into the distance with a look of intense concentration. She did this sometimes, for no reason that was obvious to Ella. But she looked for all the world like someone trying desperately to remember the combination to a lock, or a telephone number that had just barely slipped their mind.

"What is it, baby? Did you forget something, or remember it?"

She frowned, her face serious. "I think someone else useta call me a kitten."

"Probably your mama."

She flicked her eyes, sapphire blue, at her babysitter. "Someone who loved me."

"Your mama."

Kathy grunted noncommitally, and went back to her meal. She ate rapidly, but daintily. Her only bad habit was the tendency to lick her fingers when she was done, but she'd gotten better about that.

Ella prepared her own burger, then sat down across from Kathy to consume it. The little girl washed her plate when she was done, without being asked, and left it in the drain rack to dry. Then she sat back down and began picking at a nick in the turquoise Formica of the tabletop. After a moment, not looking up, she said, "Mommy wants me ta meet her boyfriend. She never wanted me to meet one before."

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it? Your mom must really like this one."

"I 'spose. Mommy says I'll like him. She says I better like him, an' if I don', I better keep my trap shut."

"Oh. I'm sure your mom wouldn't go with someone who wasn't nice." Ella blushed again as Kathy gave her a look that was almost pitying.

Seeing that her friend was uncomfortable, Kathy said kindly, "Maybe. At least he must be nicer than the one who came aroun' here hollering an' banging on the door, an' Mommy called the coppers on him."

There was a rap on the front door and Ella brushed crumbs off her lap as she stood. "I guess that must be them." Ella went to the door and undid the chains and bolts that kept it locked tight every moment except when someone was actually entering or exiting.

"Hello, Ella. Thanks for watching Kathy for a little while." Huh. As if Maggie had given that poor mite more than a passing thought in the past year. Maggie wafted into the room on a cloud of perfume, and not the kind you bought at the local drugstore, either. Her blonde hair was piled in an elaborate style that was retouched at the beauty parlor at least twice a week these days. She was doing well for herself with this one, Ella reflected.

The man who came in behind her did look prosperous, in a solid, quiet way. Good. The child needed a more steady influence than the one provided by her flighty mother. "Where's Kathy?" She spotted her daughter hanging back in the doorway and called brightly, "There's my angel! Come see Mr. Bernard. I've been telling him all about you, and he really wants to meet you."

Kathy didn't hang back, but she didn't trot over eagerly, either. She walked over to the man and extended a hand politely. "How do you do, Mr. Bernard."

He was a thin man, and very tall. As he bent toward her, Kathy was reminded of one of those funny toy birds that you set on the rim of a glass, and it bobbed up and down, dipping it's beak in the water. "How do you do? My, what a lady!" He took her hand and shook it. "Better manners than a lot of grownups I know. Your mother didn't tell me how pretty you are."

"That's 'cause I'm not pretty."

His eyebrows lifted, and his thin mouth crooked in a smile. "You're not?"

"No. Mommy says that if we could just get my hair to curl, I might be. But I hate sleeping on those prickly old rollers."

"I like your hair. If I had a little girl, I'd want her to have hair just like yours. How would you like to go out to dinner with Mommy and me?"

"I already had dinner."

Margaret looked at Ella, annoyed. "I've told you, Ella. You don't have to feed her."

I do, as little as you bother, Ella thought. Out loud she said, "She was hungry."

"Perfectly right, " Mr. Bernard said, unperturbed. "We'll have ice cream instead. How does that sound?"

It sounded fine to Kathy. "Carvel?"

"You bet. And since it's so hard to make up your mind what the best kind is, I thing you'd better have two scoops, just to be on the safe side."

"Cherry vanilla and rocky road." she said promptly.

He laughed. "And decisive. Get your coat, it's chilly out." While Kathy went to the closet, he said quietly to Maggie. "She's something, Maggie. I'm pleased you decided to tell me about her."

Maggie relaxed visibly. "I was afraid it might put you off. Most guys run like a scalded dog when they find out I have a kid."

"Not me. I've wanted children for a long time, but I never married, never even had a serious relationship. And the courts are so reluctant to let single parents adopt."

"You couldn't find a better child, " Ella said eagerly. "She's so quiet, and neat. And smart, too. Smart as a whip. She hasn't even started school yet, and she reads almost as well as I do. I caught her with my old highschool chemistry book the other day, trying to work out formulas."

"That's nice, but I'm sure there's no need for her to worry about things like that. She won't need it, cute as she is. Someone's sure to snap her up right out of highschool and take care of her."

Ella looked skeptical. "She's pretty independent. Think she might rather be one of those career girls."

"Nonsense." Margaret dismissed the idea. "Education would be a waste."

"Now, Maggie, college can be a great advantage to a girl in society. Joining the right sorority can set up contacts that will last for life. You wouldn't object to me putting her through school, would you?"

Margaret blinked. "Why, that's kind of you, Wallace. But I couldn't let you go through such expense."

"I want to. Besides, she's going to be my girl, too." He smiled at Ella's surprised look. "Maggie and I are getting married. She didn't know it till now, though." For the first time, Ella Rozelle saw Kathy's mother shocked into speechlessness. "You will marry me, won't you, Maggie?"

"Of course I will." There was joy in her tone, but it was mixed with a brassy note of triumph. Ella could just imagine her thinking, 'Got you now! You said it in front of a witness, and it's breach of promise if you try to back out. I score either way."

"Good. After ice cream, we can shop for a ring. Kathy can help pick it out." Kathy came back, struggling to force her arms into a coat that was almost two sizes too small. "Here, let me help you with that." Wallace Bernard cinched the coat closed, forcing the buttons into the holes. "You've outgrown that old thing. We'll get you a new one." He stroked her hair gently. "Dark green would be pretty with your hair. Come on, your Mommy and I have another surprise for you."

They left, Mr. Bernard holding Kathy's hand, and Maggie trailing behind. Ella refastened the locks after them, then sat down to think. Something was troubling her. She was an intelligent woman, but sometimes it took a few minutes to define a thought, or identify a feeling clearly. Something wasn't right about that Bernard.

He seemed perfect. Very well to do, polite, respectful and respectable, generous...And he liked little Kathy. That won him a lot of points. He certainly had taken to the girl. And it didn't seem that he was making up to her to get in good with her mother. Ella snorted softly to herself. A blind man could see that all he had to do to have Maggie was tell her to drop her pants. No, he seemed to be genuinely fond of the child, right off the bat.

And that wasn't right. Most guys like that, never married, might like children, but they generally weren't comfortable with them. At last, with growing unease, Ella decided that perhaps Mr. Wallace Bernard liked little Kathy too much. Far too much. There had been an air of propriety in the way he'd escorted the child.

What to do? She didn't know that he had designs on her, except in her gut. There was no evidence. If she went to the police or child welfare, she'd be considered either a kook or a malicious troublemaker. She could be sued, or even arrested. The only option was to talk to the mother, try to make her see the danger. Maybe Maggie could be persuaded to at least postpone things. A man like that was sure to show himself for what her really was, sooner or later.

She didn't get the chance. Margaret moved herself and Kathy into an uptown apartment the next day, one that rented for more in one month than she'd paid for the old one in a half dozen. She didn't even bother to leave Ella a forwarding address. Years later, when Ella Rozelle read about what happened with Wallace Bernard, and Maggie, and Kathy, she cried.