1993, in the City of Destin, from The Help of Destin, Emma Irby, by Athena Marler Creamer

1993, in the City of Destin


Emma stopped wear uniforms and started dressing more bizarrely. Folks weren’t using her much as before. She could be seen walking everywhere, and had a crocheted hat made of beer cans that was given to her as a gift. There was talk that she’d gone crazy. It keeps my head warm, she said with a laugh.” She’d carry her “pus” with her everywhere on one arm and usually a plastic bag of clothing or a pack of hotdogs in the other hand. The women who did employ her sometimes put her up in the Village Inn, or Destination motel for a few nights, until the proprietors called them up for extra money. And then Emma would have to hit the road, knocking on doors and asking for “rides.” One winter in 1992, when I got into my car I notice that some of the silver change in my ashtray was missing. I thought it strange, but I was not in the habit of always locking my car overnight as it sat in the driveway. My two year old, Christina, was probably not one to pick up coins yet, but I looked in her mouth, and made a mental note to watch her better.The morning after the next freezing night, I got into my 1983 Mercury Cougar and noticed a faint scent, kind of like a sickly sweet musk, like honeysuckle and human sweat. I fastened my seatbelt of the silver car and went to Winn Dixie with Christina in her car seat buckled up in the back seat. More change was missing, too. In fact, it was all gone. Suddenly it dawned on me. Some homeless person had been sleeping in my car! I decided to leave my car unlocked again, and put a warm blanket in the back seat. There couldn’t be any harm in that. My husband was working offshore and so he didn’t know what I’d done. In fact he was annoyed and alarmed when I told him and told me to lock the car from then on. I’d been praying for company and even for someone to help me with the house. Could it be Emma? I prayed. The next morning there was a faint knock at my door. It was Emma, the same Emma I remembered from before, but out of uniform. She looked very cold and was all bundled up in a baggy trench coat, burgundy knit pants, socks, tennis shoes, a long sleeve polyester blouse, and a stringy black wig wrapped in a stained scarf, covered by a brown loosely woven beret. I invited her in for a cup of hot tea. Later, she admitted she had spent those two nights in my car and I told her about the blanket. “I appreshiate it,” she quietly said, looking away. Why didn’t you knock on the door? “I didn’t want to wake ya’ll.”She asked many questions to update her knowledge about the family, my baby, and my husband, and when our tea and pumpkin bread was finished, I had enjoyed the conversation. Especially about the families she had worked for, and she seemed to know everyone. She took our cups to the kitchen and hand washed them and put them in the dishwasher. I knew she must need money, and I really didn’t have any. She asked me if I had any “wuk” she could do. I said yes, but I can’t pay you anything. “Do you got $20?” I didn’t even have that in the house. That’s ok, she said, afterwards you can just give me a ride. I agreed, and she began to sweep the kitchen. Suddenly elated, I ran to my bedroom and did a little joy dance. “I have my own maid!” It was a bit of a thrill. But then the Lord reminded me of something about my French ancestors, something about them owning slaves in Georgia. I decided right then and there that I would treat her as my friend, and never lord it over her. I’d atone for the sin of my forefathers.After dropping her off at the motel, I didn’t see her again for six months.…..
(c) 2012 Athena Marler Creamer. All Rights Reserved.