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5: “Chicken Heads and Walnut Shells”
“Kids, time to go to Grandma Nettie’s. I’m sure she’ll have some Christmas surprises for you,” said Ali’s mother. Ali loved Grandma Nettie very much; she was so different from Grandma Agnes. She didn’t ignore you. She talked to you. She had a few bony, dried-up heads of dead chickens in her backyard which was a little scary, but she also had hutches with little rabbits for Ali to pet. Grandma Nettie usually had a jigsaw puzzle with many tiny pieces scattered on her card table in the living room and the smell of hot coffee and freshly baked bread always filled her little house on Ranch Street.
When Caroline drove up the long driveway to Grandma Nettie’s little house, Grandma Nettie was pushing open the screen door to her cluttered, dusty, wooden porch where she would sometimes sit in her rocking chair at the end of a long day. She was wearing a brightly printed housedress without any rips. Most of her housedresses had little rips, especially under the arms, because of the work she did with her chickens and rabbits in the backyard. Her gray hair was swept up in a bun the way she always wore it, with just a little wisp of untamed hair falling on her neck. “Welcome youngsters”, she said as she hugged each one with her big, strong arms as they stepped out of the car.
“Come on in, Caroline----coffee’s on and presents are waiting to be opened”.
Reynolds whispered in Ali’s ear, “Bet you’ll get a dead chicken head for your Christmas present.”
“Bet you’ll get two”, retorted Ali. They took off running for the back yard to see the rabbits, and whatever else they could find in Grandma Nettie’s untamed jungle of walnut trees, rabbit hutches, and chicken pens . It was smelly back there, but fun. Ali went to the rabbit hutch right away, carefully opening the little wire door to pet Old Henrietta, her favorite rabbit. She could hear her mother and Grandma talking because the kitchen window was open. Sometimes it was interesting to listen to grown-ups (and sometimes, like when they were telling you to go to bed, not so interesting).
Grandma Nettie took Caroline’s arm and asked with a warm smile, “Have you heard from your errant husband lately”? They sat down at the kitchen table and had a cup of coffee.
“Sure did. He called early this morning to wish us all a Merry Christmas on the telephone. Couldn’t talk too long because of his concern about long-distance charges, but it was nice to hear from him, especially being Christmas and all. I miss him so much,” said Caroline with a sigh.
“That boy of mine; he can’t think of anything except singing right now. He’ll get his fill of the big city and show business and come back where he belongs one day.”
“I suppose,” said Caroline, not sure of what the future would be like.
“So are you still pounding that comptometer at the Chevrolet plant?” inquired Nellie as she gave Caroline a cup of coffee.
“Yep, still working in the office to keep a roof over our heads. I pick up the kids every week end. They have so much energy. It’s hard for one person to take care of everything. I hate boarding the kids out, but I’m so tired in the evening when I get home from work------it’s the best I can do right now,” responded Caroline with a guilty shrug.
“Honey, I know you do your best. I’m not judging you. Wish I could look after the kids for you, but I’m just too darn old and creaky. It’s all I can do to sell the eggs and walnuts I’ve got here on this little ranch of mine. Sure beats living in Naperville during those long winters when I was a kid.” Grandma Nettie was thinking about her own childhood, so many years ago.
“Although I do miss Mamma and Papa and all the others, I sure don’t miss all that snow! A fine howdy do, you and I missing everyone and moping around on Christmas Day,” Nellie said as she grabbed Caroline and hugged her once again.
“Where are those children?”----get in here kids and open your presents!” said Grandma Nettie with her booming voice out the kitchen window.
Ali and Reynolds came running from the backyard where Reynolds was searching for a few dried-up chicken heads which could sometimes be found near the old tree stump where their Grandma cut off the head of a chicken from time to time for dinner; most of Grandma’s chickens were for laying eggs and selling to locals. The chicken heads were mixed in with the walnuts that fell from the trees. The kids would stomp around and make crunchy sounds. Reynolds was trying to find a chicken head to toss at Ali and make her scream.
“Ali was listening to you talk from the window,” reported Reynolds right away when he came in the house.
“Don’t be a tattletale young man,” responded his mother. “Wash your hands, both of you. Time for a couple more Christmas presents.”
Ali looked up at her mother.
“What is it, Ali?”
“Are Reynolds and I like horses?”
“What on earth are you talking about, Ali?”
“On television, the cowboys board their horses in the stables.”
“She must have heard our conversation a little while ago when you said you hated boarding the kids out,” said Grandma Nettie with a little laugh.
“No, Ali. You are not like horses! Now go wash up, OK?” said Ali’s mother.
The kids rushed to the kitchen sink to wash up. Turning to Nellie, Caroline said, “that child, I think she watches way too many westerns on television!”
Despite Reynolds’ usual antics in the backyard, it was a magical Christmas evening-----a new carom board for Reynolds and a cowgirl hat for Ali. Grandma Nettie knew what Ali liked, unlike Ali’s Grandma Agnes who kept giving her dolls and handmade handkerchiefs; Grandma Nettie knew that Ali was a wild west girl who liked to climb trees, look for crawdads in the river and, of course, shoot at bad men. After dinner, the television was turned on, and everyone watched an old movie about a mean old man named Scrooge who did not like Christmas.
“How could anyone not like Christmas?” Ali asked Grandma Nettie as she yawned. Her Grandma just reached out and pulled her up on her lap and Ali drifted off to sleep.