property My darlings Mother said and laughed unable to hold it in She put her stockinged feet up on the bed Leo and Cora have given us a home for a while and we must show our appreciation It sure isn’t the life Daddy wanted for us Jenny said Please dear heart don’t say that Mother whispered her eyes welling up Jenny looked toward his photo on the dresser I just miss him so much Me too Reuben said plopping down on his bed Do you know what Cora told me Jenny asked changing the subject She reached over to nudge Reuben’s shoulder She said Bring in all the eggs without breaking a one clean the chicken coop and milk the cows Do that promptly and I won’t make you scrub the outhouse Jenny sighed and shook her head Can you imagine scrubbing the outhouse That would be horrid I simply could not do it 10
Reuben grabbed another pillow Don’t you touch me with those chicken poop outhouse hands he said and pulled the pillow up to his mouth to hold back more giggles Then he flung it at Jenny I’ll get you good and smelly she said and popped the pillow up in the air then smacked it back at Reuben knocking over the kerosene lamp that sat on the box Mother grabbed it as it grazed her leg Thank goodness this wasn’t lit You two must stop this She set the lamp on the floor and lifted her scarf off the box to inspect it Jenny slid off the bed stubbing her toe on the box which she’d thought was empty She kneeled down and ran her fingers along an edge What’s inside of this she said lifting the lid off A few surprises I was saving for you Reuben kneeled next to her and watched as Jenny removed wadded up balls of newspaper Let me see let me see he said Oh look Mother My Lincoln Logs And my Spirit of St Louis 11
I thought you’d sold everything Jenny said She lifted the container of wooden logs and Reuben’s prized model plane out of the box and carefully placed them on the floor Please tell me you packed something for me Jenny said pulling out more balls of paper Mother’s eyes had closed You’ll see she said Nestled in more newspaper Jenny found a small velvet bag that held her old jacks and ball set and Tiddlywinks game Moving more paper aside her breath caught in her throat What is it Reuben asked his hand flying the Spirit of St Louis past her face The diary Daddy gave me Jenny said Reuben teared up That was a long time ago Jenny pointed at her mother whose breathing sounded like she’d slipped into a deep sleep She whispered That Mr Hilbig works Mother so hard at his grocery store Reuben nodded and held a finger up to his mouth 12
Jenny collected her treasures and placed the jacks and Tiddlywinks on the dresser next to Daddy’s photograph She cradled the diary in her hands and looked again out the window Her diary held memories of her old life A life so different than this one on the farm Reuben’s tap on her shoulder brought her back He pointed to the Lincoln Logs he’d spread on the floor Want to play he whispered Sorry Maybe later Jenny carried the diary back to her bed She curled up on her side and opened the small book to the first entry The date at the top of the page was October 8 1929 Almost two years ago she thought Her mind went back to her old bedroom in their beautiful brownstone home on a tree-lined street in New York City October 8 1929 The beginning of the end 13
