Dorothea Benton Frank - Lowcountry Tales 05 - Pawley's Island

by Pawley's Island (lit). lit

  We all laughed and hugged, and the conspiracy of three was official, the musketeer bond of legend was reborn and we realized how much we cared about each other. Victory was possible and more likely so because there was shared conviction, tenacity and enthusiasm. I hoped.

  “So, who’s watching the store today?” I said. “Can’t close for two hours on a Saturday! Gosh! I didn’t even think about it...”

  “Not to worry!” Abigail said. “Miss Olivia and Byron. They should be here any minute.”

  Within the hour, they arrived and I was just about to receive some advice from Miss Olivia when Abigail launched into a discussion with Byron about getting some help with her house.

  “What y’all think, Missis Abigail? Juss cause I be black dat I know all de housekeepers in de whole entire state ob Sout Ca-lina?” Byron did a little soft-shoe and began to sing “Ol’ Man River” in his deepest baritone.

  “I’ll pay you a finder’s fee,” she said.

  “I’d prefer a percentage of the first year’s salary,” Bryon said without batting an eye.

  “Fine. Whatever.”

  “Done,” he said. They shook hands, leaving the details for later. “Give me a week.”

  I looked at Abigail and we just shook our heads, smiling. Byron was such a character.

  “Come with me, dear,” Miss Olivia said, taking my arm.

  We walked over to the framing area. I didn’t know how much she knew about my story, so I was on guard. She plopped her handbag on the table, perched herself on a stool and straightened herself as tall as she could.

  “Now tell me,” she said. “You’re having lunch with your, your...”

  “Nat,” I said.

  “Yes. With Nat?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And what do you expect to come of it?” Although her blue eyes were faded with age, her ability to zone in on something was not.

  “He has some mail from the children he promised to bring.”

  “Ah ha! Okay! And what does he want from you that Abigail cannot settle with his attorney?”

  “Nothing.” She had me.

  “So then, he wants to see you face-to-face.”

  “I guess so.”

  “I see. And you want to see him?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I guess I do.”

  She sighed and put her hand across her chest. “Lord, child, just don’t go to meet him expecting much.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean just that. If you don’t have big expectations, you can’t be disappointed. So expect him to forget to bring the mail, expect him to be less appealing than you thought he would be and expect him to act ugly.”

  “You’re right, of course.”

  “And Rebecca dear,” she said and held up a finger in warning, “don’t incite his temper because you don’t want to be embarrassed in public. There’s just nothing worse.”

  “You’re right. Thank you, Miss Olivia. My own mother could never have given me such thoughtful advice.”

  I turned to see that Huey and Abigail were gone and Byron was tapping his wristwatch.

  “You’d better hustle your bustle, Miss Rebecca, or you’re gonna be late.”

  “Gosh! You’re right!”

  When I got to the porch of Louis’s restaurant, Nat was already at his table. Ordinarily, I loved outdoor meals, but I had a lump in my throat the size of a walnut. I didn’t know how I could eat at all.

  Huey and Abigail were behind my seat, reading their menus, pretending not to notice me noticing them.

  “Hi,” I said.

  Nat looked up to see me. He didn’t stand to say hello. He looked irritated and we hadn’t even said two words to each other yet.

  “Hello, Becca,” he said and managed to squeeze out a halfhearted smile. “Have you lost weight?”

  “A little,” I said.

  “Sit down,” he said. “This place looks like it’s probably pretty good.”

  I sat, not waiting for him to have the manners to hold my chair. “It’s Louis’s. Remember him from Charleston?”

  “Oh, yeah,” he said, as his dim bulb went on. “That was a great restaurant!”

  “Yeah. This is my favorite place.”

  “Come here with your boyfriend?”

  “That is such a stupid thing for you to say, Nat.”

  He laughed his heh heh heh laugh and it made my skin crawl. I glanced over the menu. Things were not off to a good beginning.

  The waiter appeared to take our orders.

  “I’ll have the Vidalia Vichyssoise and the Tuna Nicoise,” I said.

  “Whaddya fuckin’ French now?”

  He muttered this loud enough for the waiter to hear and then looked at him to see if he thought he was funny. The waiter did not think Nat was funny. My face got hot.

  “I’ll have the She-Crab Soup and the BBQ sandwich, but bring me a beer too, okay, pal? Whatever you got on tap is fine.”

  “Sure thing, pal,” the waiter said and looked back to me, rolling his eyes. “And a beverage for you, ma’am?”

  “Iced tea, please, sweet.”

  I was mortified.

  The waiter brought our drinks and put a breadbasket in between us. Nat dove in, taking a biscuit and slathering it with butter, shoved it in his mouth and continued talking, spitting crumbs at me. I wiped my face and pretended to listen, but for some reason I only heard every few words that he said. I was fixated on his table manners and his lack of polish in general. Did he really think the waiter would like him using the F word? So far, he was acting like a coarse, ill-bred creep who didn’t have a care in the world about anyone but himself.

  Our soup arrived and I watched in amazement as he slurped and smacked the first few bites. Did he always eat like a pig? No! Well, maybe he did.

  “This is not half bad,” he said. “So what do you think?”

  “About what?”

  “Aren’t you listening, Becca?”

  “Sorry, I was a little distracted, that’s all. Tell me again what you said?”

  “Jesus!” he hissed. “I said, some of the questions you want me to answer are messing with my reputation. Is that plain enough English for you?”

  I pushed my soup away and looked at him evenly. “They’re just questions, Nat.”

  “So! You and your lawyer wanna play hardball, huh? Is that it?”

  He was hissing, and I could feel Huey’s radar on the back of my head.

  “No, that’s not it. Here’s what I want, Nat. I want fairness...”

  Nat slammed his napkin on the table and leaned forward to me across the table and said, “Look, Becca. I could have you put in jail for the things you did to the children. And I might just still do it. You’ll never know when, but one day you’ll go back that slick little condo your friend loaned you and there will be a knock on your door. It will be a nice policeman ready to take you into custody for child abuse and...”

  “You wouldn’t do that to me and you know it,” I said.

  “Like hell I wouldn’t!”

  “Lower your voice, Nat. Please.” How did he know where I lived? He was having me followed. Oh, fine. I was very nervous then.

  “You take all these questions off the papers and I’ll consider your freedom.”

  “Nat!” I whispered as loudly as I could. “Please! Lower your voice.”

  “Get rid of the questions, Becca, and we’ll talk about fairness.”

  The waiter removed our soup and put the entrees in front of us. Normally I think he would have asked if there was anything else he could get for us, but apparently he knew we were arguing and wanted to get away. I couldn’t eat a bite.

  All I knew is that the man opposite me was not the man I had loved. His whole face had changed. His jaw was tighter, his eyes were filled with hate and even his body language was different. He seemed more like an animal waiting to lunge for my throat—some horrible beast that killed without feelings for the victim.

  “Did you bring the mail
?”

  “Don’t change the subject, Becca. You always used to do that to try and run the show. It always annoyed me and it still does.”

  “Well, did you?”

  “Will you dump the questions?”

  “Nat, so far you have threatened me with jail and baited me with the mail from the children. I don’t know which questions you want removed or why. All I want is a fair...”

  “You stupid bitch! You want to ruin my name and my family’s name? There is no way in hell you’re going to get away with it, Becca.”

  “I’m not trying to get away with anything, Nat. I just want the truth to be known, that’s all. In all fairness . . .” I stopped there because I knew I was wasting words.

  Nat looked at me, leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He was about to change his tactics, because the bullying wasn’t as effective as he had hoped it would be.

  “You don’t ever lecture me about what’s fair, okay? I already told you that I’ll be fair with you. After all, you’re entitled to something. I realize that.”

  “Something? Something?” I was on the verge of hyperventilating. I’ll admit that. But now, on top of that, I was getting mad. Or going mad. I realized everyone around us could hear me and I didn’t care. “How about you dressed up in your Clemson football jersey?”

  I hadn’t said it was all he was wearing, who he was with or what he was doing. But he knew exactly what kinky behavior my words implied.

  Nat reached across the table and pushed my face, knocking me from my chair. The entire gathering of patrons on the porch of Louis’s gasped, as though time was suspended for a brief moment, and seconds later there was insanity all around me. People were saying, Is she okay? I saw him push her! Let’s get the check! Is she hurt? Someone call Louis!

  A waiter helped me to my feet and led me over to the bar.

  Huey jumped up and said, “See here! You, you brute!” Huey raised his fists, ready to take Nat on. “If you want to fight, fight with me!”

  “Hold on, man!” Nat said, putting his hands in front of himself to keep Huey back. Huey was angry. He was determined to avenge my honor and actually had Nat cornered by the railing when Louis himself appeared.

  “Do we have a problem here?” Louis said, with all the calm of a practiced rescue worker.

  “Call the police!” someone said.

  Louis looked at me for approval and I shook my head. “No police, thank you. Just get him out of here.”

  “Let’s go, mister,” Louis said, and took Nat by the elbow. Huey was still scowling and right behind Louis. Abigail was by my side. There was no way for them to avoid passing by me unless I ran inside, and I wasn’t about to budge—not from bravery but from the shock of it all, I was rooted to the floor of the porch.

  “You’ll regret this, Becca,” he said.

  “I doubt it, Nat.”

  Abigail said, “No, Mr. Simms, she won’t. But you will.”

  Nat shot Abigail a look and Abigail didn’t flinch.

  “I’ll be right back,” Huey said and followed them down the ramp.

  As Nat left, I went to the ladies’ room with Abigail to wash my face.

  “Good grief!” Abigail said. “That was insane! Thank God we were here!”

  “Nat seems to have a little thing about pushing my face.” I inspected myself in the mirror. “I’m okay.”

  “Oh, no. You go right to the dentist for x-rays. You may have a cracked jaw, a chipped tooth...who knows? We document this, Rebecca. We document everything. I’m going to ask for a restraining order first thing Monday.”

  “Whatever. Let’s get out of here,” I said. “I left my handbag at the table.”

  When I returned, every eye was on me.

  “Divorce!” I said, as gaily as I could. “He’s a jerk!”

  Everyone applauded and laughed a little and finally returned to their meals, giving me back what was left of my dignity.

  The bill was on the table.

  “He stuck me with the bill!” I said. “Perfect!”

  “Oh, no he didn’t!” Abigail said. “This goes straight to Harry Albright with a letter!”

  “Nope!” Louis said, coming up behind us and snatching it from Abigail’s hand. “This is on the house! Darlin’? I don’t know you,” he said to me, “but anytime you want to talk or have a quiet moment, you come on back here and see me. Now, how about some dessert?”

  Huey said, “Thank God you’re all right! Did y’all see the chocolate pecan pie?”

  “Oh, Huey,” Abigail said.

  “What?”

  She looked at me and then at him. “I adore you! That’s all.”

  Twelve

  ABIGAIL SAYS, TRUTH BE TOLD

  s

  I took myself down to Charleston for a number of reasons. One, my golf wardrobe was significantly more up-to-date than my street clothes. Two, I had a ton of papers to pick up from Harry Albright’s office, which I could have had shipped or had sent by messenger to Pawleys but didn’t because I wanted them in my hot little hands ASAP. And three, I had more business at the courthouse.

  Mr. Albright had not been pleased to learn about Nat’s outburst at Louis’s or that I was filing an order of protection, because that meant we would have to have a hearing. Or that it would be served to Nat at work, Saturday afternoon, his busiest day.

  “See here now,” he said, “do you really think Nat Simms is the kind of man who would hurt someone?”

  “For a man who’s been practicing law as long as you have, you don’t know much about spousal abuse, do you Mr. Albright? You should see my client. Thankfully, her jaw wasn’t broken, but she’s very bruised. I have pictures and witness statements that I intend to use as evidence if we go to court. I still think the smart thing to do would be to tell your client that he may as well open his wallet and divide by two. There’s nothing really spectacular about this divorce. You and I see this kind of thing every day. Just tell Mr. Simms to move out, return custody to my client and give her a fair settlement.”

  “We may come to some settlement, Ms. Thurmond, but your client is an abusive and negligent mother. No family court judge will ever allow her to do psychological damage to those children again. Or put them in harm’s way. No, no. It’s clearly in the best interest of the children that custody and possession of the home stands as it is.”

  “Your case is as thin and as shot full of holes as a piece of Swiss cheese, and you know it. But you want to rack up hours? Be my guest. I’m in no hurry. And the law, Mr. Albright, the law is on our side. By the way, we’re having the house appraised this week. Thought you might want to inform your client.”

  I was never so glad of anything more than the fact that I had kept up to date with my CLE hours. Otherwise, they’d never let me in the courtroom. I still hoped it wouldn’t come to a trial but if it did, I’d be ready.

  It turned out that Harry Albright’s office was not actually a sewer, but it certainly was quiet. After all, let’s be honest here, Harry’s client pool was probably composed of Roman clergy and guys like Nat. Sure enough, his mother was at the reception desk working on a book of Find the Hidden Word puzzles. Immediately, my dislike of Harry Albright was transferred to her. It gave me pause to halt this intense intellectual pursuit, knowing that she may have harbored some secret desire for the international crown of Find the Hidden Word junkies, but I had a job to do.

  “Ahem,” I said.

  She looked up with all the deliberateness of someone who had been watching me in her peripheral vision from the second I had opened the office door. How dare I have

  the audacity to interrupt her? Ooh, bad vibes abounded.

  “And, you’re...?” she said.

  I felt like saying, Listen, you old witch, you’re only supposed to work on October 31. But my inner pro whipped out my new business card and said, “I’m here to pick up the subpoenaed documents in the Simms case.”

  She gave me a long look, read my business card, rose from her a
ncient chair, embossed with the crest of a fifth-rate undergraduate school, and picked up a cardboard box, holding it out toward me. “Running your own errands, are we?” She snickered.

  This old goat actually snickered at me.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking the box from her. “And you’re working for your son. At least his client got a job from his daddy. Have a nice day.”

  I didn’t close the door behind me. Let the old bitch do it herself, I thought and smiled as wide as the Cooper River.

  I threw the box in my trunk and zoomed off to the courthouse on Broad Street. I parked and was racing up the steps when I saw him. Julian Prescott was coming down the steps with someone. But I couldn’t see his friend’s face. My vision tightened on Julian’s eyes like a hawk. He was beautiful. It was almost as though he could feel me there because he took a deep breath long before his face found mine.

  “Abigail? Can it be you?”

  “Yes. It’s me. How are you, Julian?”

  He hugged me, I smelled him and, oh, God, he smelled like heaven on this earth. I mean, what was this smell thing anyway? Why did it excite me that the son of a bitch who dumped me smelled good? Well, I’ll have none of this again, I thought. I was fine by myself and if I felt the need for a man it surely wouldn’t be Julian Prescott.

  “Well, I’m fine! I am absolutely delighted to see you.”

  “You are?”

  Every bit of shame and humiliation came rushing back.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Judge.”

  “Okay, yes, of course!”

  Judge? Well, that was some fast-breaking news to me. “Judge?” I said, finding my voice.

  “Yeah,” he said, “after Lila left me for another lawyer . . .”

  “She left you? You’re divorced?”

  Julian looked across the street trying to think of what he wanted to say. “Yes. I’m divorced. How do you like that? I mean, I could understand leaving me, but for another lawyer?”

  I smiled at that. He was the same Julian, witty, handsome... single.

  “You’re right. Who would be crazy enough to choose two lawyers in one lifetime? Go find a basketball player or some other, uh, what are you looking at?”

  “I’m just looking at you, Abigail. How’s John?”