~ Icey May ~

by

Kowanda Stroud

Love, Oklahoma, August 1954

It’s getting hot already. Janiece lay quietly on the rough ground. The dead filled the air with their chatter; on the other hand, it could only be the wind moving the weeds and the stiff branches of the cedar trees.

Dressed in old faded jeans, sweat rolled under her shirt of red and white checked cotton. The shirt was tight across her budding breasts, but Janiece was too young to pay any attention to her changing body as it matured. Her feet were protected from the Oklahoma stickers with Roman sandals and she was anxious to get them off and go barefoot in the warm sand. Because the dirt in the cemetery was hard, and there were sticker burrs, it was impossible to go barefoot here. There wasn’t any grass on this grave where she was lying, and the red dirt clods poked her back making it uncomfortable to lie there any longer.

Janiece wiped at her face. It wasn’t sweat running down her dirty cheeks. Once again her parents were fighting, this time their argument was about her sister’s getting married. The cemetery was peaceful and she could get away from their fighting for a while.

Studying the clouds, Janiece tried to make forms from their shapes. So far this morning she’d spotted a giraffe, an Indian’s head, and two ducks.

But she was tiring of this game and when she heard a voice echo through the old cemetery, it startled her. Quickly she ducked into the weeds to hide from the intruder and, cautiously, she peeked around the gray tombstone adorned by an angel holding a little lamb. She held her breath afraid the person singing would hear her breathing. It sounded awfully loud to her ears because Janiece was scared. When she dared to look she was amazed at the sight she was seeing.

Coming through the old gate was an angel with red hair. Janiece didn’t know angels could have red hair since all the angels she’d ever seen in her Sunday School Quarterly and her mama’s Bible had golden curls, just like Judy’s.

She has to be an angel, Janiece thought, no one comes to the cemetery unless they have to, except me.

Shafts of light from the morning sun bounced off the angel’s long red tresses blowing slightly from the wind. The angel was wearing shorts, which was more alarming to Janiece than her red hair.

No decent Baptist girl is allowed to wear shorts. Janiece thought. Either she is a Catholic angel or she is a devil and not an angel at all.

Janice knew one thing was certain--she wasn’t a Baptist. She remembered once Brother Grishman shamed two girls at Sunday preaching after he’d seen them playing in their front yard wearing shorts. The girls were terribly embarrassed and Janiece was glad it wasn’t her. Of course, her mother would never let her wear shorts anywhere, even their own front yard.

The redhead was tall, with a straight back, and much older than Janiece. She was too far away for Janiece to see the color of her eyes.

With my luck her eyes will be blue. Everyone has blue eyes but me

The angel’s arms and legs looked blotchy but maybe the weeds dancing in the light August wind could cause shadows on her body.

Janiece listened carefully trying to make out the words to the song the angel was singing. It sounded familiar in an odd sort of way. She thought she’d heard Donna and her friend sing that same song while they were drying dishes once.

As the angel drew nearer Janiece could hear the words clearly now because the angel had a strong voice.

A smile spread across Janiece’s face when she realized this wasn’t an angel or a devil but just an ordinary girl like herself. Maybe not just like her but just a girl, anyway. She felt a little guilty spying on the redhead but it served her right. No one should come into a cemetery singing On Moonlight Bay at the top of her lungs.

The red haired girl stopped just a few steps away from where Janiece was hiding in the weeds. She looked back toward the gate and started to the weeds above Janiece’s head.

In one terrible instant Janiece knew the girl was going to drop her shorts and pee. She jumped up and screamed at her.

"Hey watch what you’re doin’!" Janiece shouted. " Haven’t you got any respect for the dead? Comin’ in here singin’ heathen songs at the top of your lungs and fixin’ to pee on my head?"

The red-haired girl stifled a scream and jumped away from Janiece. She wasn’t expecting a girl to jump out of the weeds and shout at her.

"Who the devil are you?" The redhead screamed in reply then added with her eyes squinted together, "Or are you the devil?"

Janiece laughed loudly. "No, I’m not the devil and you sure aren’t any angel either!"

"Well, I’m Icey May Watkins," the redhead said and looked hard at Janiece. "Who are you and why are you hiding in the cemetery?"

Janiece dropped to her knees and sat on her rear end in front of the gray tombstone, then leaned back against it and straightened her legs in front of her.

"I’m here visitin’ with my friend," Janiece added in a defensive voice, " if that’s all right with you." She squinted her eyes when she looked at Icey May’s red hair. "You mean you really don’t know who I am? I thought everybody in Love knew my daddy."

After making sure no one else was around, Icey May walked to the tall weeds, lowered her shorts and underpants and peed. She didn’t care who the kid was she had to go. She nearly peed in her pants when the kid had stood up and scared her. After staring at the young girl a few moments she decided Janiece looked familiar after all.

"Oh yeah. You’re the light man’s kid, aren’t you? You have a funny name, kinda foreign sounding. It’s Janiece isn’t it?" She stood and pulled up her shorts.

Janiece stood too so she could see the color of Icey May’s eyes. When she got a good look, she sighed disgustedly.

"Yeah, I figgered you’d have blue eyes, too." She shook her head sadly. " But I wouldn’t be talkin’ about anybody havin’ a weird name if I were you. Whoever heard of a name like Icey May?" Her mouth turned down into a sneer when she said the other girl’s name as if just saying it caused a bad taste in her mouth.

Instead of being insulted by Janiece’s smart mouth, Icey May laughed. "Yeah you’re that spoiled kid but you usually have your little brother with you. I know you." She looked around suspiciously. " Where’s your brother now?" Before Janiece had time to answer she said, " He’s a little creep and I’ll bet he’s afraid of the cemetery."

Janiece shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Pardon me!" Janiece said loudly squaring her shoulders. " I know you don’t mean to be rude or nothin’ like that but nobody calls my rotten little brother a creep but me. You got that?"

Janiece tried her best to sound tough because Icey May was older and bigger but she couldn’t let Icey May get by with that kind of talk. Then Janiece giggled and when she did her body shook.

"Now maybe one of these days when you know me better you can call him a creep but right now just don’t do it. Okay? Then you and me will get along fine!" Her giggles sounded out of place in the quiet cemetery.

The two girls looked at each other for a few seconds.

Icey May grinned slyly. "Do you think you can whip me? Cause I don’t think you’re that dumb. I’m almost grown and you’re just a kid."

Janiece smiled easily at Icey May.

"Naw, I know I ain’t tough as you. It’s just, well, my little brother’s mean but it’s up to me to look out for him. Don’cha watch out for your brothers?"

Janiece sat on the hard red dirt indicating by her demeanor that Icey May should to do the same. She put her hand in the pocket of her jeans and pulled out a squashed peanut candy bar. Quickly she snapped it in half and offered one half to Icey May.

"Hey thanks!" Icey May said taking the candy and she sat next to Janiece. The hard ground scratched her legs. "Yeah, I got me two brothers. But they’re older. I cook for them sometimes, when I have to, but I don’t have to take them places. They’re too big for that."

Janiece looked up as a cloud passed over the sun and cast an eerie glow over the cemetery. It afforded them some relief from the hot sun while they ate their candy.

She shifted to a more comfortable position and looked at Icey May. "What do you mean you’re almost grown? Don’t you know if you are grown or not?"

Icey May’s head was tilted back and her blue eyes were closed and a faint smile played on her freckled face when she answered.

"No, I’m not grown yet. My Daddy says he’ll tell me when I’m all grown up. He says it will be soon though. I’m fourteen."

She sighed remembering something sad. "My brother Clay says he’s leavin’ this town soon as he gets old enough to join the Army." Then she smiled. "Now my other brother, Ray, he says he’s a-join’ the Navy." She shook her head. " Funny thing is, he don’t even know how to swim. I try not to be sad about them leavin’ ‘cause they aren’t old enough to go yet. The thing they do best is fight with Daddy."

Janiece laughed. "Hey your names all rhyme--Clay, Ray and Icey May."

Icey May replied in a threatening tone, "Yeah? So what?"

Janiece stopped her laughing and looked at her candy bar. "Uh, nothin’ I just thought it was, you know, kinda funny." She added quickly, "But not real funny."

When Icey May lowered her head, her red hair fell in her face and she pushed it back with her free hand and looked at Janiece. "Now me, when I get old enough I’m goin’ to Broadway in New York City."

After a moment Janiece asked, "Where’s New York City?"

The older girl shook her head surprised at Janiece’s ignorance. "Why New York City is in the state of New York. What grade are you in anyway?"

"I’ll be in the fifth grade when school starts," Janiece answered just a little defensively. "I’m not dumb! I know New York City is in the state of New York. I just meant why would you want to go to New York City? Do you have kinfolks there? My kinfolks live in Arkansas."

Icey May chewed the hard peanuts of her candy bar. A wistful look came over her face and she looked angelic once again.

"I think I might be a singer or maybe a dress designer when I grow up," she answered confidently.

"I didn’t know people designed dresses, but I know you sure can sing pretty. I’d go for the singer if I were you," Janiece told her.

"Sure people design dresses, silly," Icey May answered. "How you think they come up with all the different styles?" She smiled. "But thanks for the compliment about my singing."

Icey May tucked her hair behind her ears making her face a little cooler. "What are you going to be when you grow up?"

The question caught Janiece unaware. "Well, I don’t reckon I know," she answered. "Probably just a mama. I kinda like kids. If they aren’t mean like Nickie that is. I don’t know, maybe a teacher like Mrs. Anderson. She’s so nice."

Icey May laughed. "She sure is nice. Everyone likes Mrs. Anderson. One time, when I was in her class, she took me to the store and bought me a brand new pair of shoes. I was so proud of those shoes. It made Daddy mad but not mad enough to make me give them back." Her hair swished when she moved her head and lifted her chin. "Mama says there isn’t a finer woman in the world than Mrs. Anderson."

Janiece nodded. "Yeah, she’s nice all right and my mama says the same thing as your mama. Mrs. Anderson was my teacher two different years and she’s my Sunday school teacher, too. Who’s your Sunday school teacher?"

Icey May made a gruff sound. "We don’t go to church. There ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of hypocrites and snobs in church. That’s what Daddy says anyway and he ought to know."

Janiece wondered why Icey May’s daddy would know such a thing and she started to take offense but decided they’d fussed enough for one day. For some reason that sounded like an insult though.

When they heard some black birds fussing in another part of the cemetery they watched them and exchanged a smile.

"What you doin’ out here all alone singing?" Janiece asked.

Icey May brushed a red ant off her freckled leg. "Sometimes I just feel like I got to get out of that house! My brothers and Daddy fuss all the time." She looked at Janiece and frowned; "Mama works at the laundry at Ft. Sill during the day and nurses at night so she isn’t there to make them stop. It just gets on my nerves after a while." She snorted and added, "Besides, they make fun of me when I sing." She looked around the cemetery. "Who’s your friend out here?"

Janiece leaned forward from the tombstone where her back had been resting. "Meet my friend Judy." She said pointing to the tombstone.

Fear widened the older girl’s blue eyes for a moment and her body stiffened.

Trying to sound brave she asked Janiece, "You ain’t afraid out here in the cemetery? All alone by yourself, a little kid like you?" she asked while she tried to read the inscription on the tombstone.

Janiece chuckled. "I used to be afraid until I saw Judy and I wasn’t afraid after that." She shrugged her shoulders casually.

Icey May stood abruptly. "You mean after she was dead she came to visit you? Like she was a ghost?" She looked around the cemetery trying to see any ghosts.

Janiece sighed because she had become accustomed to this reaction when she told anyone about Judy’s visits.

She nodded her head. "Yeah. She sure did and after that I wasn’t afraid anymore. ‘Cause she looked just like she did when she was alive and not like that little girl in that white coffin."