Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews, January 18, 2024
“Velma, I really appreciate you inviting me to come work in your garden too because that way I can be out here every day. Plants don't get on my nerves and I feel better around people, too, when I garden.”
Eight-year-old Edwina Ludlow had been working five days outside among all the plants in the Ludlow and Trent gardens, and everything around this passionate and healing little girl had calmed down … her vast energy was being used, she had the space she needed, and all her gifts for color and composition had a chance to flower out
Meanwhile, eight-year-old Gracie Trent, eleven-year-old Velma's baby sister, quietly came out and started watering the plants Edwina was going to be working with in the Trent garden – with bottled water.
Mr. Thomas Stepforth Sr., Gracie's grandfather, stopped short when he saw this, and realized this was his next opportunity to understand what Gracie's biggest brother 21-year-old Melvin called “the Gracie Experience.”
Gracie did not disappoint.
“So, I'm best friends with Edwina and her sister Amanda, and Amanda and Velma and I have all been praying for Edwina because friends don't let friends break bad. All you need to know about her in foster care is that they let her watch Breaking Bad and get a crush on Walter White up in there.”
“How do you even know about that?”
“Melvin and Vanna keep up with all the shows and forget I can hear and just because I go to bed doesn't mean I sleep. They checked out Breaking Bad and decided it was not right for them, but what was Edwina supposed to do? When you're eight, and you are stuck with dumb people who don't care about you, you are stuck, and you look for help where you can.”
“You and Edwina must be really good friends,” Mr. Stepforth said.
“I'm her and Amanda's brown bestie and I take that seriously,” Gracie said as she popped the next bottle open. “Everybody doesn't get to have a brown bestie with great brown grandparents to adopt people to, and then when you think about how their other white grandparents just gave up on them like that. I get why Edwina used to be mad all the time.”
“So, where does the bottled water for the plants come in?”
“Well, Melvin and Vanna were checking out The Exorcism one night, and one of the things people in there were using was holy water. Now, at the Good Neighbors Fellowship we have been hearing about how God considers all Christians as priests, and so when you or Grandma or Mom or Dad say thanks for the food, basically, you make all the water on the table holy.”
“Oh … because holy water is blessed by a priest,” Mr. Stepforth said as the world began to spin a little on him.”
“Right, so, I've been taking a bottle and just putting it up on the table so it can get blessed, just in case Edwina wasn't getting better – now she has been, but you know, you gotta be prepared.”
“Just how many bottles do you have, Gracie?”
“Oh, I probably have 40 of the little ones and about 15 of the big ones. I figure that's enough to do a new baptism if we need to, but the real plan, because of these hot days, was to be giving her big bottles to drink while pouring a little one over her head... just trying to get the blessedness in her and the anger out.”
“So then, how are we here?”
“Edwina has really been getting better lately, but just in case, I want the plants Edwina is around to be blessed and ready, because Eddie is kind of a lot. Have you seen what that girl does breaking bad on a weed? Her [nine-year-old] brother George is walking around saying the weeds must die so that we may live, but there are only so many weeds out here, and at the rate Edwina is going, they are going to be dead really soon, but we want everything and everyone that should live to live, so I'm just going to make sure. Friends don't let friends break bad, but friends do help friends doing better.”