QUEENOLA BELL --CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 7

Well, I’m laying here in the bed not wanting to get up for church. I start thinking about the last three weeks; I’ve been here on Aunt Sybil’s farm. The first week was rough all the stuff I went through. The next two weeks all I did was work in the chicken houses other than riding horses with David and Jo. Jo is real nice. I like her; she treats me like I’m here little sister even though I’m a year older than she is.

Mama called me every other day to let me know how daddy was. Daddy is not doing well. Mama said he could barely get around now, that’s the reason I’m going home this evening to help mama with daddy.

I really had a good time here except for the dating thing. When I get home I’ll get some books somehow, so that I can read and learn more about dating. I’m not to worried about it really, because I don’t plan to date anymore, but if I ever decide to date again I’ll have new clothes with the money I made. Now I’ll have good clothes to wear back to school this year, so that everyone won’t make fun of me all the time. If I could change my name it would be even better.

I got out of bed and got ready for church. I sat through church service with ease. I kind of began to like it, the way everyone clapped their hands and stomped there feet to the beat of the music. The way they hug you and invite you back and say they love you even though they don’t know anything about you, it makes me feel loved, and I would love to go back but I’m going home and I don’t know if mama can bring me. Maybe Ken will teach me how to drive and I can drive myself to church.

David sat by me through church with his arm around me. Every time I looked up he was smiling down at me. I guess he’s going to miss me when I go home. I’ll miss him because he’s easy to talk to and he’s real sweet. He just tried to do everything for me. That sort of got on my nerves, but I knew he was just trying to look after me. When we got back to Aunt Sybils Jo was standing in the yard waiting on me, she said she didn’t have a way to church this morning and that she tried to get down here before we left to go with us but she just couldn’t make it. We spent the rest of the day together riding horses, walking through the dry cow pasture, playing with the calves, (that is when the mama cow would let us get close enough). Well when Aunt Sybil got back from the chicken houses I had already got my stuff together to go home. I really wanted to see daddy I’ve missed him and mama.

When I got home I go running in the living room excited to see mama and daddy. When I get in the first thing I see is a hospital bed in the living room with daddy on it. It scares me to death. Daddy is laying there with a tube in this nose and a needle in his arm. Mama saw me come in and she comes running to me, she said Queenie he’s okay the doctor said he had to have oxygen and the needle is for the I.V. he has to have it every four hours, the nurse comes in to do that. I am almost in tears and mama says Queenie don’t let your daddy see you upset. He is a very sick man, and he doesn’t need to get upset or he’ll get worse. I walk through the living room and tried not to look at daddy when I walked by the bed. I went to my bedroom and cried my eyes out. Thank God daddy was asleep because I know they could hear me all over the house. I guess I stayed in my room for two hours crying then I sat up on the bed and told myself Queenie your going to have to straighten yourself up now because mama needs your help, she’ll have to have help with daddy so get on up, wash your face and go help mama.

After I give myself a good talking to I straightened up and went to the kitchen. I know seeing my daddy would be the hardest thing I ever had to do, but I bet my tongue, held by breath and anything else I had to do to keep my heart from falling down to my feet. I went on in the living room with daddy.

Daddy’s awake now he looks up at me and says did you have a good time at your Aunt Sybil’s? I didn’t say a word I just bent over daddy and hugged him, he put his one free arm around me because the other arm had the I.V. in it, but he said Queenie, you help take care of your mama. I said daddy don’t worry I’ll take care of mama, and I told him I loved him big as the sky. Daddy said, I love you to hun. Then he went to sleep.

Well, I had a little money left from work. I went to the kitchen to see if we had food. I found a ten-pound bag of potatoes, flour, onions and some dry beans. That’s all. I knew we would have to buy some groceries but I didn’t have a way to town, so I peeled some potatoes, cut some onions, put on a hoecake, because I couldn’t do biscuits, and put some pinto beans in a pot to boil. I fried the potatoes and onions together and boiled the beans for about four hours. Supper was not to bad if fact it’s real good when it’s all you’ve got and you’re hungry.

Mama and daddy ate supper then we had to put daddy on the toilet (him weighing 390 pounds) it was not easy, but we managed. Daddy’s doctor told mama if daddy gets any worse we would have to help him use a bedpan. We’ve never done that so the nurse will have to teach us how to do it.

Well Friday evening when mama got off work I gave her the money I had left to help with groceries. Mama went to the grocery store while I stayed with daddy. Daddy sleeps a lot now so I had Ken go by the library earlier to pick me up some books to read. I’m a fast reader and I’ve read two books already about women and men doing things together. (You know what I mean, they had sex). We’ll I’m becoming more educated every day, reading these books. I know when school starts back I probably won’t get to go because, I’ll have to quit and help mama with daddy. While I was sitting there with daddy someone knocks on the door, I figured it was the nurse so I yelled come on it. I almost fell out of my chair when David walks through the door. He runs over to me and hugs me so hard I thought my bones would break. I say David what are you doing her, he said I just had to see you Queen it’s been almost a week, I wanted to call you every day but mama said the phone ringing might bother your daddy. I said no it won’t because it’s been disconnected we couldn’t pay the bill this month. David says what if something happens to your daddy. I said well the neighbors have been real nice, they told us if anything happens just to run outside and yell and they’d know to call the ambulance, or if two of us are here one of us can come and use their phone.

Daddy wakes up coughing and gagging, I run over and say daddy are you alright but he didn’t answer so I waited until he finished having his spell. Daddy says Queenie I have to use the bathroom, but I just can’t get up. I almost freak because I didn’t know how to use the bedpan. I pick up the bedpan and go over to daddy. I say daddy I don’t know how to do it yet but I’ll try. I said daddy what do you have to do, number 1 or number 2? He looks up at me and says Queenie I don’t want my daughter to do this. I said daddy, you are my number 1 hero and if it takes wiping your behind then that’s what I’ll do. I love you.

David walks over to the bed, takes the bad pan out of my hand and says Queenie help me roll him over just enough to slide the pan up under him. We rolled daddy over with hard work because he’s so big but we put the pan under him and roll him back over the pan. Daddy used the pan then we rolled him over enough to pull it out from under him. David told me to go get a pan of warm water, a wash rag, and soap. The bedpans smelled awful bad so I took it to the bathroom and sit it on the floor. I got the water and took it to David. David soaps up the rag and to my amazement the washes daddy’s behind and front. When he was finished I took the pan and emptied it, and then I emptied the bedpan and washed it with Lysol. I went back to daddy’s bed and David was helping him get organized, he fluffed his pillows, then he tucked him in and while he was doing all this he was talking to daddy like he’s a little boy. I couldn’t believe it.

After daddy is settled David and me walked out and set in the porch swing. I asked David how he knew so much about sick people, and how he knew how to use the bedpan. David said, I used to work at the hospital as a volunteer. I want to be a doctor. In fact I was supposed to start college this year but we didn’t have quite enough money. I said David, you never told me this. He said, well I had gotten discouraged but I think I’m beginning to turn it around now.

After that day David and me got real close he told me that I could go to night school and finish. He helped me get all the information I needed for it. David comes over and helps us with daddy almost every day. Aunt Sybil comes a lot too, she bought David a car for his birthday (which I didn’t even know about until it was over) it’s a used car but it’s nice. I don’t know the name of it and it’s not as big as Aunt Sybil’s but it is just as nice. David lets me drive it sometimes he says he’s going to take me for my driver’s license soon, then I can drive the dragon wagon around for mama.

Daddy is getting worse by the day he’s not been able to get up since that day he first used the bedpan. Mama says he’s giving up on life. In a way I can understand because if I ever get down to where I can’t do for myself I’ll probably give up too. Daddy probably weighs close to 450 now and we can barely do anything with him so the welfare people send out big male nurses to help. When daddy has to go to the hospital the ambulance people have to take everything out of the ambulance to get daddy in there. David came over on day with some of his friends and they widened the front door so that the paramedics could get daddy in and out easier.

Well it’s almost wintertime now, and daddy’s in the hospital the doctor says he may not come home anymore. I set at the hospital a lot; David sits with me some of the time. When I’m at home by myself I cry a whole lot, I didn’t know I had so many tears. I pray for God to give me the strength to keep going. I know there is a God because David takes me to church every Sunday and he even bought me a bible. I read it every day and it helps.

Alex came home earlier this week, he looks so different and he’s so much bigger. If he weren’t my brother I’d ask him for a date because he’s so cut. Every time Alex would call (before the phone got cut off) mama would tell him that daddy is all right. She said she didn’t want to worry him but when daddy got so bad this time she told him the truth and he came home. Ken is never around he’s the kind that stays away from sick people even his daddy. I can not understand this but mama says everybody handles sickness in their own way.