Accommodations

Brady was coming down the stairs as Hope entered the living room. She walked slowly, hoping to avoid as much interaction as possible. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, though, as if waiting on her, so she was inclined to speak. “Thank you, kindly, Mr. Howard.”
“I am inclined to hope you stay on as schoolteacher, Miss Tucker, because if you ever decide to move back home, I am sure as hell not gonna be the one to load you up.” He gave a shake of his head and then headed out the door, leaving Hope staring after him with her mouth agape, not sure how to respond.
Of course, she couldn’t blame him for being annoyed with her. It had sounded like a lot of work. Her mother had loaded those trunks for her, and she didn’t even think her daddy had moved them down the stairs by himself, not that he couldn’t, but her mother had invited a few friends over to help since her father was getting on in years, and Cordia hadn’t wanted to risk any sort of injury. Even the porters at the train station had struggled, and there’d been two of them. She headed up the stairs, thinking about how silly it was to even consider going home at this point. She was living out her dream, and though there’d been some obstacles, she was determined to see things through.
At the top of the stairs, she saw a thin form in a white nightgown waiting for her. “Good afternoon,” she said in a cautious voice, not sure what to think of the woman standing before her. She was fairly certain this was Mr. Howard’s mother because she thought Lola’s grandmother still lived in Kentucky or wherever it was they’d originally come from. It was hard to say just by looking though; the woman’s face was so wrinkled and hidden behind her spectacles and grimace. Hope couldn’t tell if she looked like Nita Howard or not.
“You the new schoolteacher?” The voice trembled, and Hope couldn’t tell if there was disdain in it or just curiosity.
“Yes, ma’am,” she said with a friendly smile. “I’m Hope Tucker. Pleased to meet you.” She offered her hand, and the woman looked at it like she thought it might be dirty or hold a weapon.
Without taking her hand, the woman looked her up and down. “We need a schoolteacher. All them kids out there is a bunch of hoodlums.” She turned and headed back down the hallway in a shuffle step, and Hope put her hand down. At the end of the hall, she stopped and turned back. “I sure hope you ain’t loud.”
“No, ma’am,” Hope assured her, still standing in the same spot at the top of the stairs.
“Good. I need my rest. I’m sixty-seven years old.” She opened the door and went inside, closing it behind her, and Hope thought she looked a lot older than that but would’ve never said a word. With a deep breath, she walked as carefully as she could across the hallway floor to the third door on the right, which just happened to be directly across the hall from the old woman’s room.
She thought the house looked deceptively small from the outside; she never would’ve guessed there’d be so many rooms up here, but when she opened the door, she got an idea why that might be. The room she stood in couldn’t have been larger than ten by eight. It held her two trunks—and her bag, which Brady must’ve brought up on a separate, more discrete trip—a small bed that she thought she’d just barely fit on, a dresser with a mirror, and the smallest armoire she’d ever seen. Next to the bed was a small night stand, and when Hope opened the cabinet, she was not at all surprised to see it housed a chamber pot. She hadn’t noticed an outhouse but was fairly certain if she’d looked hard enough out the back door, she would’ve found one.
Taking a good look around, Hope suddenly felt overwhelmed. She sat on the bed and held her head in her hands for a few moments. What she really needed was a long soak in a tub of hot water, but she didn’t know if that was even a possibility and didn’t want to inconvenience her hosts to ask, at least not presently. She lay back on the bed, noticing that at least the quilt was soft, and tried not to let the faded beige wallpaper bother her. This room was a far cry from what she was used to, and she thought for a few moments about the beautiful, ornate, pink and white wallpaper with the tiny flowers and the beautiful pink bedspread she’d left behind. She imagined all of her things in her room, as she’d left them, other than the items she’d brought along, which were not all of her personal items as Brady had assumed. Would her mother leave them just so, and for how long?
Thinking of her mother made her homesick, and a single tear slid down Hope’s cheek. She couldn’t dwell too much on her folks or else she’d be on the next train back to Missouri, even if that meant leaving all that she’d brought behind since Brady had already warned her he’d be unlikely to take it back down the stairs for her. She did think she should probably send a telegram to her parents and let them know she’s arrived. She knew there was a machine in town because she’d sent one to Mrs. Howard before, and they had corresponded a bit that way while Hope was planning her trip. It was still a mystery why Mrs. Howard sounded so educated in writing but when she spoke, she sounded more like what Hope would’ve expected from these parts. Did her doctor son always help her? Perhaps she had grown accustomed to speaking like those she lived with and didn’t give it another thought in her own home.
There was a small clock on the wall, and Hope could see that it was a quarter past three. She wondered if she could walk to the post office and send the message before it closed. They had passed the building on the way in, and it was only a half a mile down the road from what she could tell. Surely, that would be plenty of time.
Hope stood, wiping her cheek on the back of her hand, and went over to the mirror. Her hair was still mostly pinned in place, and her dress, which was a clean one she’d put on that morning on the train, looked presentable. She decided she may as well walk into town and start getting used to her new home. Her parents would want to know she was safe and that she had arrived at the Howards’ without incident.
Digging into her bag, she found her purse and dug out enough money to send the telegram. She had brought a decent amount of funds with her and didn’t want to carry it all through town when she hadn’t any idea what sort of people she might run into at this juncture. Her father had recommended she open a bank account as soon as she had the chance, and that’s what she intended to do, but for now, she’d only carry what she needed and trust the rest would be safe here.
Quietly, Hope opened the door, thinking she shouldn’t disturb her neighbor. The sound of snoring alerted her that the elderly woman was asleep, and the last thing she wanted to do was wake her with the noise of her traveling boots on the wooden floor or stairs. Thoughts of having to walk that gently for the next year or so made Hope cringe, but she supposed there were worst ways to live.
Once she reached the first floor, she heard Mrs. Howard in the kitchen and was surprised when she heard Brady’s voice responding to his mother’s, though they were too far away for her to understand what they were saying.
Hope walked in loudly enough for them to hear her coming and change their conversation if necessary. “Pardon the interruption,” she said from the doorway, “but I was just thinking I’d walk into town and send my folks a telegram to let them know I made it here safely.”
“I’m sure they’d appreciate that,” Mrs. Howard replied. “Brady’s headed that way. He can give you a ride.”
Brady’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “Ma, I’m going to the feed store.”
“Which is near the post office.”
“It’s fine. I can walk.”
“No, I’ll give you a ride,” Brady said reluctantly, his eyes now narrowed.
“I really don’t want to be any trouble.” Hope wasn’t any more excited about getting into the wagon with Brady than he seemed to be about being her escort again.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nita insisted. “It’s just a few blocks. It certainly won’t hurt you none.” She gave her son a look that meant business.
“I said I’d take her.” Brady headed right toward Hope without even saying goodbye to his mother, and she had to dodge out of his way to avoid a collision.
“Thank you,” Hope said to Mrs. Howard who only nodded, her arms crossed. She hurried after Brady, but with his long legs, he was halfway across the yard before Hope even reached the porch. She paused for a while, looking after him, thinking to herself, if this was what McKinney, Texas, was going to be like, she was in for a long school year.