The Pirate Queen

by Patricia Hickman

  Saphora stopped listening to Gwennie sniffling. She even took her eyes off Tobias.

  When John Mims offered a chance to pray, she bowed right then, without waiting, just like he said to do.

  Jamie’s family members, the Sondheims, had been buried in Oakdale Cemetery dating back to the Civil War. Saphora followed the funeral processional through the cemetery gates.

  “The reverend did a good job. It had to be hard to preach a funeral like that,” said Marcy.

  Gwennie was quiet. She had gone straight from the church to the car. If Luke had come out looking for her, he would not have found her.

  “I had no idea what Luke was digging for. Did you, Gwennie?” asked Saphora.

  “He never told me. I just thought he was this quirky guy looking for some buried treasure. All along, it was grief driving him,” said Gwennie. “He still loves her.”

  “Of course he should,” said Marcy. “But I didn’t know he was the one you were holding out for. I don’t blame you for that. He’s a peach of a man, that one.”

  “He’s not holding out for me, Marcy.” She dug through her purse. “Not that I care.”

  “I know it hurts. But it’s not the end, Gwennie,” said Saphora.

  “I really don’t care,” said Gwennie.

  “He found Mabel’s cross. It’s part of the process,” said Saphora.

  “Mabel. You don’t hear that name on a young woman anymore,” said Marcy.

  “Mabel was beautiful. I saw her picture in his living room,” said Gwennie.

  “He’s got good tastes. So what?” asked Saphora.

  “Mama, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re really pushing this thing with Luke. But you’re the only one,” said Gwennie, lowering her voice until it was thin as hopelessness.

  Saphora parked behind the family limousine. She waved at Luke, who was standing a few feet away from the Lexus. “Then that’s a mirage out there waving at us.”

  “Luke,” said Gwennie. She popped open her door.

  Saphora waited in the car for a moment. Marcy took her cue and waited as Gwennie ran to meet Luke.

  “I don’t understand romance anymore,” said Saphora. “They like each other, but no one’s supposed to admit it.”

  “He’s a nice-looking man,” said Marcy.

  “Good dancer.” She thought how different Luke was from Bender. But, yes, he could dance.

  “There’s Tobias standing next to his mother’s casket,” said Marcy. “Mel is not even looking at him. How does he expect that boy to go on all alone?”

  “We should go to Tobias. Bring him with us for lunch. Then I’m going to talk with Mel and help him get his mind straight,” said Saphora.

  After the service, Luke walked Gwennie across the cemetery. Saphora stayed back several steps. She was not about to mess things up again. She had not meant to do that in the first place.

  “That was a beautiful thing you did,” said Gwennie, “sharing Mabel’s cross with Pastor John.”

  “He knew about my little treasure hunt all along. When I found it, I went straight to his office. I was sitting across from him when he got the call about Jamie’s accident,” said Luke.

  “Who called him?” asked Gwennie.

  “Mel. He said that Tobias was falling apart. Pastor John and I left straight for Wilmington.”

  “You came here? I didn’t know,” said Gwennie.

  “I didn’t know you were here. I wish I had known.”

  “You do?”

  “Are you going back to New York?”

  “Thursday.”

  “That’s tomorrow.” They walked quietly for a few more paces. Finally he asked, “Gwennie, I have to know. Are you seeing that man I saw you with out on the driveway?”

  “Mario? He’s just a friend,” said Gwennie.

  “But you kissed him.”

  “You were home?”

  “I had come back but parked my car in the garage. I wanted to give you your space.”

  “It wasn’t that kind of kiss. Only good-bye and good luck. He was going back to New York to make up with his girlfriend. I was just a shoulder to cry on.”

  “Gwennie,” he said.

  “Yes, Luke?”

  He put his arms around her and said, “This is hello.” He kissed her right on the cemetery lawn. Then he opened the car door for her. She climbed in, looking stunned. After he closed the door, he turned and jogged up the road and got into his car.

  “He’s such an odd man,” said Gwennie, touching her lips where Luke had just kissed her.

  Saphora was standing with her door open.

  Gwennie’s phone rang. It was Luke. She answered it. Then she sat wiping her eyes. “Yes, tonight is good. Coffee is good. Sure, dinner is good. Anything you want, Luke.”

  Tobias was the last to leave Jamie’s burial plot. Saphora walked back to the funeral tent and said to him, “See if your daddy will let you ride back with us ladies.” She did not want him to wait too long and see the casket being lowered.

  “He doesn’t care,” said Tobias. “I’ll ride with you.” He turned and waved good-bye to Mel, who nodded and gave him a manly thumbs-up.

  Saphora caught Dora by the arm before she headed for the limousine. “Dora, we’re kidnapping Tobias. But we’ll bring him right back.”

  “Whatever you’d like,” said Dora, distracted by her own children. She told Tom to herd Little Paul back to the road. He was loping across the cemetery like a calf.

  Saphora kept holding on to Tobias’s shoulders. He walked so stiffly that Saphora thought it might have been due to his new dress pants. “You can change as soon as we get you home.” She helped him into the backseat, where Gwennie pulled out his seat belt.

  “If I bought lunch, where would you like to eat, Tobias?” asked Marcy.

  He shrugged.

  “He might like the bistro I saw when we left the church,” said Gwennie, but it was a ploy.

  “Not that. Girl food,” said Tobias.

  “How about a buffet? I know I saw one someplace,” said Marcy.

  “I’d go for that,” said Tobias. “Can we go to the Golden Corral?”

  “Done!” said Marcy. “You’ll have to show me.”

  “You’ll turn up there by the Krispy Kreme.”

  “Tobias, here’s something I’ve been meaning to give you,” said Gwennie. She pulled out the satin throw pillow Bender had given her for her high school graduation.

  “This is your favorite, isn’t it?” asked Tobias.

  “That’s your ‘Love is forever’ pillow,” said Marcy. “Tobias, you really rate now.”

  “It’s kept me through many a long night, Tobias. You’re the bravest boy I’ve ever met. But also the most loved boy I’ve ever met. Everyone who meets you loves you, especially me,” said Gwennie.

  “Thank you, Gwennie,” said Tobias, cradling the pillow against his chest.

  Saphora drove past several streets before Marcy yelled, “I see it!”

  Once inside, they got trays and teas. Tobias went straight for the steak and the macaroni bar.

  Saphora selected a table near a window. She could see cars passing. Gwennie sat on one side of her and Marcy on the other. “It feels odd when you lose someone. I count the minutes in the day until I have to say good-bye. Every minute passes so fast, but I feel like I’m trying to slow them down.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Marcy.

  “Time’s sacred, isn’t it?”

  “But the cars just keep passing, people keep living.”

  “Luke and I are going to date,” said Gwennie.

  “I could see it coming,” said Marcy.

  “I’m so glad for you, darling,” said Saphora. She was glad, for she was retiring her matchmaker hat for good.

  Saphora was still looking out the window. Tobias came back with macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes mounded around his steak.

  “That’s a lot of carbs, young man,” said Gwennie.

  “Let him go,”
said Saphora. “Tobias, eat anything you want today.”

  “I can’t eat anything I want,” he said.

  “I forgot. You know what to eat, so eat as much as you want of it, minding your diet,” said Saphora. “And speaking of being mindful, I should tell your daddy where we’ve stolen you away to.” She tried to call but he was not answering. She did notice there was a message from Turner. She relayed the message to Gwennie. “Your brother’s at Duke with Daddy.”

  Marcy said, “Tell me about your batting average.”

  “Not good lately, but it’s improving,” said Gwennie.

  “I don’t mean you, Gwennie. I mean you, Tobias,” said Marcy.

  “I’m giving up baseball,” said Tobias.

  “You’re not,” said Saphora.

  “It’s my fault. She never would have died if I hadn’t asked for Sam Hammersley’s autograph.”

  “Then it’s my fault for setting it up,” said Saphora. “Tobias, don’t you think that’s keeping me awake too?”

  “You’re not sleeping either?” he asked.

  “Not more than an hour or two.”

  “I lie there seeing it all over again. Then I just get up and look at her picture,” he said.

  “Baby, I’m so sorry,” said Saphora, soothing him in a way she was unable to soothe herself.

  “Daddy wants me to go live with Dora,” he said.

  “What did you tell him?” asked Saphora.

  “I said I wouldn’t,” he said.

  “Good for you,” said Gwennie.

  “Stand your ground, Tobias,” said Marcy.

  Saphora appreciated all the bravado but wondered how a little boy might stand up under the weight of such a decision. “Maybe just give your father some time to get his bearings. He’s still in shock,” she suggested.

  “He means it,” said Tobias. His lip quivered slightly. “Forever. Daddy doesn’t want to deal with my problems. But who would?”

  “Don’t let it ruin your lunch,” said Saphora, feeling her own dam about to break forth. “I’ll talk to him. He’ll come around.”

  They talked about other things the rest of lunch.

  Gwennie helped Tobias back into the car. She shut the door and then said to Saphora, still standing in the parking lot fishing for keys, “What if Mel won’t drop this stupid idea? Maybe we’re not helping Tobias by telling him it will all turn out.”

  “Gwennie, you’re as negative as an old woman. Tobias needs hope, so that’s what we’ll give him.” She got into the car. Tobias closed his eyes and put his head on Gwennie’s satin pillow. He slept for the ten-minute drive back to his house.

  “Here comes your cousin. Let’s get moving.” Dora herded all four of her children from the house to the van. “Get your things out of the house. We’ve got to go,” she said, seemingly in a hurry to get them packed up.

  Tobias stood in the doorway watching his cousins load up their belongings.

  Dora thanked Saphora. “I know you all have to get on the road, what with your husband in the hospital. But you’ve been a world of help.”

  “Sure. Where is Mel?” asked Saphora.

  “He took off for some rest,” said Dora.

  “To Oriental?” asked Gwennie.

  “A friend invited him onto their yacht.”

  Tobias walked away from them in a huff. He stood beside Gwennie.

  “Then why the hurry to leave?” asked Saphora.

  She said to Saphora in a whisper, “This is going to be hard, so you may want to take your friends on out of here.”

  “Do you mean hard on Tobias?” asked Saphora coolly.

  Tobias came walking toward them. “What’s going on? Why did my dad leave me here?”

  Dora answered, “Tobias, you’re going to spend a few days with your little cousins. And I packed some of your things from your room. Your daddy showed me.”

  “I have school,” said Tobias. “It starts in two days.”

  “His school is very rigid,” said Saphora. She was in disbelief.

  “I told Mel I wouldn’t be no good at this. All right, I’ll spill it. Tobias, you’re going to live with us for a bit till your daddy gets his head on straight.”

  “Uncle Mel’s paying Mama for it,” said Mary.

  “Shut up, Mary, and get your fanny back out to the car!” said Dora.

  “Under the table, whatever that means,” said Mary. “And the social services will pay her too.” She made a face at her mother.

  “I’m not going with you, Aunt Dora,” said Tobias. “I’ll call Daddy. I told him I wouldn’t go with you.”

  “The last thing I need is you flapping your gums,” said Dora. “I don’t spoil kids like Jamie. That’s one thing we’ll get straight.”

  “Dora, Mel will be home later. We’ll just stay with Tobias until he gets back,” said Saphora.

  “Look, lady, I’m an attorney. You don’t just take off with a man’s child without proper legal work,” said Gwennie, even though she knew Mel’s intent. She must have been playing ignorant to buy time.

  “He signed on the dotted line,” said Dora. She held out a document. “It’s been authorized. I signed it and he signed it in front of his attorney.” Dora was now on the defensive.

  “Let me see it,” said Gwennie.

  Dora handed it to her.

  Gwennie read it carefully. She told Saphora, “It’s a letter stating that he gives Dora temporary custody throughout his time of bereavement,” said Gwennie. “It is signed by both of them on a letterhead from an attorney’s office.”

  “I didn’t sign it,” said Tobias.

  Gwennie was engrossed in the document. “Robert Melvin Linker.”

  “Temporary custody,” said Saphora. “That’s not as bad as we thought.” She could only make a promise at this point. “Tobias, I’ll find your daddy. Give him a few days.”

  “You keep saying that, Mrs. Warren, like he’s a good man. He was leaving Mom and me. He’s not going to change his mind,” said Tobias.

  “If you ladies don’t mind, this is a family affair,” said Dora. “I’d like to ask you all to vacate the premises. I’m on the verge of a breakdown anyway, what with losing my sister.”

  Saphora then remembered what Jamie had said about Dora, that she had never known the meaning of love. “We’ll go. But, Tobias, you contact me as soon as you get back to your aunt’s place.”

  Tobias turned and ran up the hallway. He was calling for Fang.

  Dora waited for him to go into his bedroom and slam the door. “That dog disappeared this morning. I let it out to do its business, and it never came back.”

  “Smart dog,” said Gwennie.

  20

  Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic selves. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen.

  SARAH BAN BREATHNACH, Simple Abundance

  Marcy stoked up the coffee right at bedtime. “Gwennie looked so pretty tonight. Luke too,” she said.

  “She’s doing the right thing. Luke’s the best thing that’s come her way in a long time,” said Saphora.

  “Want to watch a movie?”

  “Maybe I’ll just go to bed.”

  “That Dora, she’s a piece of work, isn’t she?”

  “As I was pulling out of the drive, the curtains opened upstairs. Tobias stared at me as if I was abandoning him,” said Saphora.

  “He’s a smart boy. He’ll rise above Dora and her gypsy life. Don’t you take that on.”

  “Tobias didn’t just come out of a bad home into a worse one. Jamie was giving him a future. The only future Dora thinks about is the next boyfriend she’ll snag,” said Saphora.

  “You got that right.”

  “I hated to agree with Tobias. I’m supposed to give him grownup answers, but everything he said about Mel was right.”

  Saphora excused herself. She went upstairs and dressed in her pajamas. She turned and saw herself in the mirror. The pajamas had faded and frayed at the hem. She was thicker around the midd
le, having gained some pounds over the summer. She did not care about the pounds or the frayed pajamas. But the thought of crawling into her empty bed made her want to eat. She went outside to brood on the deck.

  Johnson squeezed through the gate and ran down the length of the yard in a midnight chase. She caught the mouse at the river’s edge. She must have killed it right away, for she crept into the bushes and disappeared. The moon was flattened, as if pressed between the glass of fog and universe, hazy at the edges. The only light was the den light from below where Marcy sat up watching a movie.

  Luke would not be digging in the backyard again. It made sense now why he had been so driven to dig up every square inch of lawn. But when she first found him digging like a maniac, she thought he was a little crazy. Crazy and in love might be close kin, though, now that she thought about it. But she felt so much better about Luke being with Gwennie. If she fell in love with him, it would be like falling in love with her best friend. Gwennie needed Luke’s friendship maybe even more than she needed to fall in love.

  Saphora herself needed friends, but the kind who call and check on you when your husband is dying. She knew that tonight Jamie would call and check on her if she could call from heaven. John Mims called her to make sure she was all right. Marcy knew exactly when she needed her. There was only one Marcy in the world though.

  She could hear a song beating through the air, soft as moths circulating, and then realized she had left her telephone on the nightstand. She went inside and answered the phone. It was Turner.

  “Mama, you’ve got to come to the hospital right now. Bring Gwennie,” he said.

  Her heart seemed to leave her and fly away to where Jamie had gone. “Turner, tell me what’s wrong.”

  “Not wrong, Mama. Dad’s come awake.”

  Saphora ran downstairs but did not remember dressing all over again. But there she was back in jeans and a cotton blouse. “Marcy, Marcy, get up. Get up!” Marcy had fallen asleep on the sofa.