“What about school?”
Precious frowned. “What about it?”
“I’m going to school here in Mount Vernon.”
“And?” Precious asked facetiously.
“I wanted to finish high school here.”
Justine was hard-pressed to keep the panic out of her voice. She had only two classes, the first beginning at ten in the morning and the second ending at noon. The walk from the high school to the house took less than twenty minutes, which meant she had the rest of the day to herself. After she changed clothes, her chores included making the bed in the master bedroom, then picking up and putting away the clothes. Precious seemed impervious that they belonged on hangers in the walk-in closet. Then she cleaned up the connecting bathroom before going downstairs to dust and run the carpet sweeper over the rugs.
When her grandmother told Justine that she’d gotten approval for her to come and live with her in the big house, she had cautioned her about taking anything, and that included money and jewelry, and whatever she’d overheard was not to be repeated. That’s why Mrs. Boone and her mother accusing her of stealing was so far-fetched that Justine had thought they were playing a trick on her, while unaware the two women would trick her into doing something so underhanded and evil that it defied reality.
“There’s no way you’re going to live here once you start showing.”
“If I’m pregnant now, then I probably won’t have the baby until next year, sometime around late June. So I doubt if I will be showing that much in January.”
Precious’s features contorted into a scowl. “You will leave here as soon as the test verifies that you are pregnant. I will make certain all of your school records will be transferred to your new school. And if you’re expected to graduate at the end of January, then no one will be the wiser, because the kids at your new school won’t know who you are.” She paused, glaring at Justine. “I didn’t come this far with this plan for you to try and throw a monkey wrench in it.”
“Don’t you mean you and your conniving mother?”
“You snippy little bitch! If you weren’t carrying my husband’s child, I would beat the skin off your back!”
At that moment, Justine felt empowered. She had something Precious Boone wanted more than anything else in the world. “Oh, now you think you’re the wife of the slaveowner who can beat your slave because they are your property. I am not a slave, and you do not own me. I’ve allowed myself to be manipulated by two scheming bitches who are going to hell for taking advantage of me. But it ends right here and right now. If I am pregnant, then I’m going to have this baby, because I believe abortion is a sin. I will give you your husband’s child, and the instant I push it out of my body, I will curse the day it’s born, because it was conceived as a part of an evil scheme. It’s nothing but the devil’s spawn.”
“Keep running off at the mouth and—”
“And what, Mrs. Boone? Justine asked, cutting her off. “You and your mother will renege on all your promises? I don’t think so, Mrs. Boone, because right now I have what you want most. And that’s your husband’s child. So be careful how you speak to me. Are you aware that I have the power to bring this baby to term or do something that could harm it before it’s born? Then you would be left with a baby who will be no good to anyone.”
Precious’s eyes appeared ready to pop out of her head. “What are you talking about?”
A sinister smile lifted the corners of Justine’s mouth. “I could begin taking illegal drugs and cause a miscarriage, birth defects, or even a stillbirth.”
Precious closed her eyes. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered.
“Don’t tell me what I would or wouldn’t do,” Justine countered.
Precious opened her eyes. “You scheming little bitch.”
Justine smiled. “It takes one to know one.”
The seconds ticked by for a full minute before Precious asked, “What do you want?”
“I want to live here until I graduate. After that, I’m willing to move out. By that time, I’ll probably be three months along. There’s no doubt I’ll put on some weight, but wearing larger clothes will do the trick to conceal the changes in my body.”
“I have to think about it.”
Justine shook her head. “No, Mrs. Boone. You don’t have time to think about it. I need to knownowif I can live here until I graduate high school.”
Precious knew when she’d been bested. And by a scheming little bitch who had her spewing curses she never would’ve said under another set of circumstances. However, a part of her had to admire Justine Russell, not only for her intelligence, but also for her resilience and grit. The initial fear she’d exhibited when accused of stealing the ruby bracelet had been replaced with a resolve to accept her fate, and while accepting it, she had acquired a sense of tenaciousness that would serve her well in the future. The child she carried would no doubt carry the best qualities of its father and mother.
“Okay,” Precious said in a quiet voice. “You can stay. But, whenever you’re not in school, I want you to confine yourself to the downstairs kitchen.”
“That’s not a problem,” Justine said. “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to go to my room, because I have to study for a history exam.”
Precious nodded. “Go.”
She watched Justine leave, and at that moment, she wanted to curse and throw things to release some of her rage and frustration. The scheme she and her mother had concocted had come close to backfiring, because neither of them had expected their pawn would issue her own demands. Precious knew their cook’s granddaughter preferred living in a big house in a suburb rather than in a cramped tenement apartment in a less-than-desirable Bronx neighborhood with rising crime rates, since White residents had begun moving out. It had become the same in many New York City neighborhoods once signs were posted that landlords were willing to rent to Colored people. Once they moved in, services from the city were declined, as if Black folks didn’t deserve what had been offered to White folks.
