Rose Arrives

Richard Bothel provides fictional snapshots of the isolated populations living in the river bottoms and backwoods of Texas.
"Waaah.” Rosa was still more than 50 yards away from Ada’s home, when she heard the cry. It wasn’t the sound of a newborn. Rosa increased the speed of her stride going directly in the front door. She could hear the noise coming from the bedroom.

“Please, please.” Ada was pleading to her young child Adam who was screaming at the top of his lungs. His hands were flailing wildly, but he was unable to escape from the tall sides of his wooden cradle.

“Ada, I’m here.” Rosa’s English was hard to understand, but her empathy came right through to Ada.

“Thank God.” Ada spoke sitting on the bed with her legs spread wide. Her head was resting in her arms resting between her legs. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Her stringy blond hair fell down toward her breast wet with perspiration. Rosa walked over to Adam and picked him up out of the cradle. She sat on the bed holding Adam with one arm and resting the other arm on the sobbing Ada.

“Lady, you lay back You be mamma soon.” A quieting smile came on Rosa’s wrinkled face. She had acted as a quasi midwife many times in her life and new exactly what to do. The fact she had been there for Ada’s first birth made helped to quiet the situation right away.

“I’m so glad you are here.” Ada grabbed the back of Rosa’s dress helping her to lie back in the bed.

“You rest. I put your son back in the cradle. He wanted attention for a little while. Now, he is good. I go get some water on stove.”

Rosa was right. She laid Adam back into his bed. He was asleep before she left the room for the water. Ada’s body was tense, but she tried to relax as she lay back on her pillow. She stared at the rafters in the cabin in a daze trying to clear her mind of Jonah’s thoughtlessness. She had a feeling that Jonah probably did get Rosa.  Rosa said nothing about him, but it was too much of a coincidence that she came by at just the right time for the birth.