Recently I sat waiting in a doctor’s office for my name to be called.
You know how it is, you wait in the outer office until you’re called to a room in the back, where you usually have to wait longer than you did in the actual waiting room. I realized I had forgotten to bring a book to read, so I just sat there looking all around at the pictures on the wall and anything else that caught my eye. When someone stepped away from the reception window, I noticed some faint-looking writing on the frame around the sliding glass. It looked as if some child had drawn squiggly lines and doodles there. I could tell someone had tried to get the writing off but it still showed up if you really looked at it hard enough.
Seeing that handwriting reminded me of the time I did the very same back when I was a child. I was home all day with Mama because my two older brothers were in school and Daddy was at work. I remember feeling really left out because I didn’t get to go to school like my big brothers. When they came home from school every day, I would ask them about what they had learned in school.
One day when they got in from school and I asked them about school, Richard showed me how to do something that I thought was really cool. Looking back now, I’m sure the teacher didn’t teach this in class, but at that time all that mattered to me was Richard had learned this at school and he taught it to me. He took out a piece of paper and then he wrote “b-o-y” on it. Then he drew a curved line around the bottom of the “b” and connected it to the bottom of the “y.” Then he drew another line and connected the top of the “b” to the top of the “y.” He went back and drew another line to make a sailor cap and then drew in eyes and a mouth.
He gave me the piece of paper after that and let me practice drawing for myself. After I got the hang of how to do it, I filled up the rest of that paper on the front and back with lots of different “b-o-y” faces. I was so thrilled to be doing something that Richard had learned at school, because I thought it made me just as smart as my big brother.
The next day when both of my brothers were at school and Mama was busy in the kitchen, I took out a piece of paper and started drawing “b-o-y faces. I drew some with smiley faces, some with sad faces, some with hair and some without hair and on and on until I had filled up the whole paper — front and back. I still wanted to keep drawing, but when I looked all around, I couldn’t find any more paper. What was I gonna do? I just wasn’t ready to quit drawing yet. I looked all around the living room where I was at, just trying to find something on which I could continue my creative art.
Then I spotted the perfect place. Right there behind the living room door. The wall was all nice and white and the door always stayed back against the wall, so all I had to do was just close it and then go right back to drawing all those beautiful “b-o-y faces.” I drew faces as high up as I could reach and then a couple rows underneath. About that time Mama called from the kitchen and asked what I was doing. I pushed the living door back against the wall and said: “I’m just practicing my writing.” I did practice writing “b-o-y” several times – right? I then put away my black pen I’d been using and went into the kitchen to see if I could help Mama.
After my brothers got home from school and I questioned them all about what they’d learned, we went outside and I forgot all about my art work behind the door. As the old saying goes: “Your sins will find you out,” and of course that’s exactly what happened to me a few days later when Mama was sweeping the floor and pushed that door closed. She took one look and called for Richard to come into the living room. Mike and myself went along, too, so we could see what was going on. We could tell by the tone of Mama’s voice that she was upset about something and we didn’t want to miss the action.
When Mama pointed to that writing on the wall and started chewing Richard out for doing it, I wished I had stayed outside instead of coming in the house. When Mama finally gave Richard a chance to speak, he said: “But Mama, I didn’t do it.”
Mama replied: “You’re the one that showed me you could make a face using ‘b-o-y.”
Richard told her again that he didn’t do it. Then he spotted me over across the room — trying to sneak out the door. He said: “I taught Azalea how to do it, too.” As all heads turned to look at me, I knew I was in for it now. When Mama asked me if I did it, I told her, “I used up all my clean paper so I didn’t have anything else to write on.”
That excuse sounded a little lame, even to me!
Mama got me a bucket and a sponge and told me to clean it up. Of course, I couldn’t get it all off so it ended up looking about like that writing I saw in the doctor’s waiting room.
I also knew that I was going to have to answer to Daddy when he got home from work. Using that sponge on that wall was nothing compared to waiting to get “what else was coming to me” in the form of punishment for my sins. I don’t know about you, but I always would rather go ahead and get mine over with.
I don’t remember if we ever re-painted that living room wall before we sold the house and moved back to Richmond County. If not, I’m sure those people that bought the house received quite a surprise when they pushed that door back and saw all that beautiful artwork on the wall!
Azalea Bolton is a resident of Richmond County, member of the Story Spinners of Laurinburg, and member of the Historical Society of Richmond and Anson counties.