Inadvertence

Yejide Johnson, having left her part-time job restocking shelves at Food City just a few blocks from home, had accompanied her mother to work. At six months along, she was not light on her feet, but Ayana had set her the task of spraying and wiping down the equipment in the display room. “Spray it on the cloth,” she told Ji-Ji, “not in the air. You don’t want to be breathing that.” This assignment kept her daughter out of Ayana’s afro while she caught up with some paperwork, including the forms confirming the grandmother-to-be's long-awaited transition to full-time status— with a raise. At 5 pm, they’d both pick up Folu at the high school where he’d be waiting after his piano lesson and band practice, then cruise through the city and slightly beyond to their relatively new apartment complex in the middle of nowhere. The place was a bargain, and spacious enough, unlike what was available downtown near S&C.

Earbuds in place, Ji-Ji was enjoying her eclectic playlist and wiping down the latest wheelchair model when Orville and Ben walked in, accompanied by Edwina. Orville had just picked up Ben from a final doctor’s appointment okaying his return to work; Edwina had that very afternoon demanded an dinner-date with Orville during which she hoped they could somehow talk in a way they could not at home, and had arrived early in her own car. She hadn’t expected to see Ben, and wasn’t happy about it.

“Back to work so soon, Mr. Stillman? How exciting! I hope you’ll permit my husband to leave on time today. We’re having dinner at that new restaurant; you probably know the one.”

Orville was dismayed by Edwina’s evident ill-will, but he wasn’t about to say anything now. He was hoping for a resolution to their stalemate just as Edwina was, he assumed. Ben chuckled mildly. “I’m VERY excited, Mrs. Campion. Though, contrary to popular belief, I am not eager to try every new restaurant this town spawns.”

Edwina was startled by Ben’s use of the word “spawn.” One of her last papers in college had been about the species of fresh/salt water fish known as the American Shad, which migrates upstream from coastal waters and re-spawns multiple times. Legend— or something— had it that this species swam up the Schuykill River and provided food for George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge in 1778, though Edwina had not discussed such nonsense in her paper, which focused on biological facts and figures about “alosa sapidissima,” and had involved some deft dissection and adequate sketching.

Ben gave Yejide a brief glance, and proceeded to the office, interrupting Ayana with, “I suppose Mr. Campion told you you’ve got the OK from me for full-time work. We’re looking forward to accomplishing a lot, Mrs. Johnson. I hope you agree. And thank you so much for your help when I was struck down by the hand of fate!”

“I’ll be praying it doesn’t happen again, Mr. Stillman,” said Ayana, staring at Ben just a bit longer than she intended to. His face seemed longer, his frown line deeper; but the change gave him some dignity, she thought. “And thank YOU for the promotion. Please call me Ayana, will you?”

“As you wish, Ayana. But I do want to make it clear that there will be only one of you working here. I presume that’s your daughter out there?”

“One of who, Mr. Stillman? Yes, that’s my daughter Yeshide. I asked her to stay busy while waiting for me to finish up here.”

Orville, who knew a cordial relationship between these two was crucial to his own everyday comfort, could not believe what Ben had just said. Was it possible his friend and business partner of many years was a racist? Or had he meant something else? The percentage of African-Americans in their city was very low, barely six percent, which made them rare, but usually respected. Was that respect based on the percentage staying low? He’d not given it much thought until now. “Oh, Ben,” Orville lamented silently and desperately, “with everything you know about American history, I cannot BELIEVE you are harboring these feelings! Cure yourself of them, or I’ll— I don’t know what I’ll do!”

Meanwhile, Edwina had lingered in the display room and was now engaged in a lively discussion with Ji-Ji about her pregnancy, how she felt, what was the latest either of them had heard or read about pre-natal health and newborn care, and offering to babysit with great enthusiasm.

— Macoff