Sugar Doll's Hurricane Blues

by Lauber, Kalua

  “Psalm twenty-seven is for you Kevin. I believe that God wrote a scripture for everyone and this one is yours. The rest of ya’ll listen.”

  “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear, The Lord is the strength of my life; and of whom shall I be afraid?” But then Kevin down here in verse 10 it says, “When my mother and my father forsake me then the Lord will take care of me.” You are never alone my boy. You either Bertrand and you either Sugar Doll.” Sugar Doll looked into Kevin’s face and saw a strength there, a glow that she couldn’t understand. He had received the good word from Big Ma. She felt happy that he was there in this cool house on this hot summer’s day.

  “Let’s go play on the levee.” Bertrand said after Big Ma went to put the bible away.

  “I want to wait for the chicken” said Kevin.

  “Boy, she ain’t cooking that now, not till the sun starts going down no how. I heard Mr. and Mrs. Truman got a new refrigerator. You know what that means.” Sugar Doll looked puzzled.

  “What does it mean Bertrand?” Kevin answered for him, “We go and ask them for the box it came in and then we tear it up and use it to slide down the side of the levee with, it’s a lot of fun, c’mon, let’s go.”

  “I got to wash the dishes first.” Sugar Doll hesitated. It was her only chore so she really didn’t feel good just leaving it.

  “Man, shoot, come on let’s help her so we can all go together. You wash Sugar Doll and I’ll dry and Kevin man you put the dishes away where I tell you. Cool man?” Bertrand stood up and put on Big Ma’s apron. Sugar Doll and Kevin both laughed.

  “Man I look good. I’m so handsome, I’m like Muhammad Ali. Ya’ll can’t tell me nothing.” Bertrand strutted over to the sink and performed a James Brown slide that was very agile for his girth. Sugar Doll and Kevin burst into laughter. They cleaned the entire kitchen. Big Ma never emerged from the bedroom. Daddy was in there sick. That was Sugar Doll’s grandfather. He was very old. Big Ma would go in to check on him and to pray with him. The children left quietly.

  Mrs. Truman was sweeping her steps when the children arrived. “Hey ya’ll, how ya’ll doing?”

  “We is alright.” Bertrand was always the spokesman of the group. “Hey, Mrs. Truman, we was wondering if you still have that refrigerator box.” Bertrand asked smoothly.

  “I sho do, I knew that ya’ll would probably want it so I saved it for ya’ll.”

  “That’s mighty nice of you ma’am. We sho appreciate it.” Bertrand said.

  “It’s hot out here ya’ll want a soft drink before ya’ll go out in the sun to play?” Kevin smiled a big toothy grin.

  “Yeah ma’am that would be great.” Sugar Doll nodded.

  “Well precious, you are just as pretty as a picture.”

  “Thank you ma’am” Sugar Doll bowed her head at the mention of her real name.

  “Oooooh Sugar Doll, she called you your real name. I know you is mad.”

  “No I’m not shut up!”

  “I’m going to go and get ya’ll them drinks, ya’ll wait right here.” Mrs. Truman went inside of the house. Bertrand climbed the porch and sat in a big garden chair in the shade.

  “This is turning out to be a great day.” He smiled satisfactorily to himself.

  “It’s easy to please you Bertrand.” Sugar Doll said.

  “Yup.” He replied simply.

  Mrs. Truman returned with the drinks. They were ice cold coca colas in the five cents returnable green bottles. Her husband owned a store so she probably had cases of them in that nice house. “I’m going to finish my housecleaning but when ya’ll finish put the bottles in that empty carton in the corner. The refrigerator box is on side of the house. My husband already broke it down for ya’ll so you can just go and play.

  “Will you please adopt me Mrs. Truman?” Bertrand asked half serious.

  “Thank you son, I wish that I could but your momma and daddy wouldn’t like that and I do so love your father’s church.” Mrs. Truman turned around and continued sweeping her porch while the children drank their cokes slowly, savoring the cold richness and sparkly bubbles of it.

  After they finished the last of the drinks the children did as they had been asked and set the bottles neatly in the carton. They went to the side of the house and there were four evenly torn sides of the box. Each child took a side and began the long walk to the levee. It was about two miles away from Mrs. Truman’s house but the walk was going to be worth it, Bertrand had promised Sugar Doll. The entire neighborhood was family. Old relatives sat on their porches and waved as the children walked by in a somewhat marching fashion.

  “Hey Uncle Pete, we going to ride the levee man.” Bertrand yelled to his elderly great uncle as he passed. The man sat there shirtless his gray chest hair glowing in the sun.

  “Ya’ll be careful of tree stumps and have a clear path in front of you. You can slide down pretty fast and bust your head wide open.”

  “All right Uncle Pete, we’ll be careful.”

  “Bertrand, why’d you tell him where we was going? Kevin asked.

  “He’s babysitting me man. If my momma call and I’m not home she’s going to fuss at him. He’s just an old dude with nowhere else to go. I feel sorry for him. He’s nice. That’s why, you mind man?” Bertrand asked genuinely irritated at Kevin.

  “Naw man, I see.” Kevin shrugged.

  They approached the levee which seemed like a mountain to them. “I’m scared” said Sugar Doll.

  “Don’t be scared” said Bertrand. “You can ride down the first time with me. You can hold onto my back and I’m so fat if we tumble you will be alright. It will be just like landing on a pillow cousin.”

  Sugar Doll laughed, “You ain’t that fat.”

  “The hell I ain’t.” Bertrand laughed. “I’m going to grow up and be a wrestler and I’m going to turn this fat into muscle.” Bertrand flexed his fat arms.

  “I thought that you were going to be a piano player?” Kevin asked. “Man you’ve got to have something to fall back on and I’m always going to be big, so there you go, and I don’t have to go to school or nothing to whip somebody’s ass.” Bertrand started up the levee.

  “Ooooooh you said a bad word right after church Bertrand, you going to hell.” Sugar Doll said.

  Bertrand looked around sheepishly and then up to heaven, “I’m sorry God” and then he looked at Sugar Doll, “I’m sorry I cussed in front of you cousin.”

  “It’s all right.” Sugar Doll got on the large piece of refrigerator cardboard turned sled and held onto Bertrand’s waist. Kevin pushed them from behind and off they went laughing hysterically. They slid down well past the bottom of the levee. They fell into fits of laughter. Kevin yelled, “C’mon shoot, my turn ya’ll.” Bertrand and Sugar Doll climbed the mountainous levee once again their legs aching from the long walk and pushed Kevin from behind. He laughed and seemed to go more quickly than they had.

  “See Sugar Doll, its safe and it goes faster when you are on it by yourself. I’m going to go by myself this time, watch what I do.” Bertrand got on the cardboard and after Sugar Doll gave him a push he went rapidly sideways down the levee at a high rate of speed. He was grinning and laughing. Kevin had made his way back up the hill. Bertrand remained down at the bottom of the levee.

  “Hey man, you push Sugar Doll on her board toward me and I’ll catch her.” Sugar Doll felt scared but she climbed on and closed her eyes. She felt the hand at her back and the quick breeze that whizzed by her and before she knew it she was sliding into Bertrand.

  “Next time keep your eyes open girl.” Bertrand admonished. “Life ain’t worth seeing from behind your eyelids.”

  The children played there for hours all of them getting as dark as Hershey bars. They had a lot of fun on that day and many more days of that summer.

  Chapter Four

  Lower Plaquemines Parish where the former slaves remained friendly with the former masters. The small town boasted an unusually close nit community. Even
though whites and blacks did not fraternize they helped each other out during hurricane season. Men who worked on boats together understood that sometimes a man just needed a little help to save his livelihood and his family. The whites had their stores and the blacks had theirs. Free enterprise was booming in the community. A simple fisherman could make a living and keep his trailer parked on his own land. Sugar Doll never went to “the city” to visit her mother and after awhile she stopped looking for visits with the woman.

  She sang in the choir of Mount Bethel Baptist Church and was happy for the joyous music she shared with her family and friends. There were really no race problems in the community because of the strong family units there. The blacks entertained themselves and had many family parties and barbeques. The whites had their exclusive albeit boring country club. The only enemy of all people on this tiny peninsula town was the hurricane. Sugar Doll hadn’t been born when Betsey had come and devastated everything. Camille was also a horrifying hurricane but the community was resilient and returned to defiantly rebuild.

  She attended a segregated second grade when the whites finally decided to follow the rest of the nation. It was a sad day for the black children because their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and great aunts had been the cafeteria workers at their school. Instead of fish sticks they were served fried catfish covered in delicious cornmeal. Instead of bland soup they served spicy gumbo and instead of white rice they served jambalaya. All of those ladies retired and then the students were forced to eat what the state provided. Some things were better left alone.

  Sugar Doll was so beautiful that all of the boys dreamed of her. Her creamy honey-colored skin and auburn hair belied her heritage. She looked like a mixture of both her mother and father. She was considered a mulatto although both of her parents were black. Mixed raced people were looked down upon in her community but she was shielded from this by the affable but dangerous Bertrand. Bertrand could make you laugh and kick your ass all at the same time and he usually had people apologizing for making him kick their ass. She was not allowed to “court” by her grandmother and she was in church practically every day.

  She found her freedom in her singing and as she grew up she realized that she wanted to sing. She did not want to sing gospel music however, she wanted to sing groovy music like Chaka Khan or Patti Labelle. She would sneak off to the music room with Bertrand and they would have jam sessions. He was right; his piano playing had become expert. He was still plump at 15 but handsome and talented and charming.

  “Big Ma! Come quick! Kevin’s getting in the police car!” One night Bertrand ran through the sweltering heat to find Big Ma sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

  “What for?” Big Ma stood up alarmed.

  “They said he stole some jewelry from Miss Becky down the street.” He exclaimed.

  Big Ma stood wearily and went to the screen door. She saw the police cruiser across the road. The officer was talking to one of the neighbors.

  “Go get my slippers under the bed.” Big Ma said over her shoulders.

  Big Ma, Bertrand and Sugar Doll walked across the road to where the cop car sat idling. Kevin was in the back seat crying.

  “Good evening your officer. May I ask what the problem is with this here boy?” Big Ma asked.

  “The problem is ma’am that he got caught.” The officer said.

  “Caught doing what?” Big Ma asked.

  “Are you his mother?” The officer asked.

  “No sir but I take care of him from time to time. His mother died a few months ago.” Big Ma lied.

  “Well I’m sorry to hear that but the victim, Miss Becky, has decided to press charges on him sure enough. I was just taking statements.”

  “What’s going to happen to him?” Big Ma asked alarmed.

  “He’ll go to a juvenile detention center and from there if nobody claims him he’ll probably be placed in a foster home.”

  “Could I claim him?” Big Ma asked.

  “That would be something you would have to take up with the social workers. “He’ll be arraigned tomorrow over in Point A La Hache. You could come and try to get a bid in then. I’ve got all I need now. I’m taking him now but I wish you luck ma’am.”

  “Thank you, your officer.” Big Ma turned then toward the car and put her hand on the window.

  “We gonna try to get you Kevin, you hear? Take heart and do not be afraid.” Big Ma said.

  Kevin looked out at Big Ma his round eyes full of tears. The car pulled off then.

  Big Ma did try to help Kevin but she wasn’t certified as a foster parent and Kevin had committed a felony by breaking and entry so they put him in a group home. He ran away several times but they would always catch him. He kept in touch with Bertrand from time to time but he never came to the Parish again during their childhood. Big Ma prayed for Kevin and worried about him like he was her own lost son and in a way he was. After that first summer Kevin would come over to the house less bashfully and he was always a willing audience to Big Ma’s sermons. She didn’t understand why he had turned bad as he had been so respectful and polite to her. She chalked it up to grief at losing something he never had, his mother’s love.

  “We are going to have a selection from the beautiful Precious Bouvier. She is a wonderful singer in the Lord and we here at Mount Bethel Baptist are proud of her. Sugar Doll what will you be singing today baby?” Reverend Howard looked up to the choir stand, “Well done,” Sugar Doll said as she rose to the microphone. “Praise you Jesus, thank you everlasting Savior, be open to the Holy Spirit congregation. Sugar rose and began soulfully and slowly singing her favorite gospel song, “I had a dream the other night, I dreamed that everything was right, he called me by my name, he said “Servant, well done, well done…” The congregation stood on its feet raising their hands and thanking the Lord. The presence that was in the church was strong and the people felt it. Sugar Doll was only eighteen years old but she had grown into womanhood at an amazing pace. She walked down the steps and leaned on the organ which Bertrand was playing. He sneaked in a jazz rift that the congregation didn’t seem to notice.

  After church Sugar Doll and Bertrand and his girlfriend Tonya began to walk the one mile home.

  “I knew I should have brought a change of clothes. I hate to sweat out my new suit.” Bertrand sighed at the inevitable probability that he would be fully sweaty by the time he got home.

  “It’s not that far baby,” his girlfriend Tonya intoned. She and Bertrand had been an item for the past two years. Everyone bet that they would get married.

  “Thanks baby, but that doesn’t make me feel any cooler.” Bertrand joked. “I can make you feel hotter anytime you want.” Tonya rubbed his shoulders.

  “Ya’ll need to stop just coming from church and talking dirty.” Sugar Doll responded.

  “I’m sorry you still a virgin girl, it will happen for you girl.” Tonya grinned.

  “It better hell not! Not on my watch cousin.” Bertrand touched her shoulder. He adored his cousin and protected her at all costs.

  “Don’t worry Bertrand, I don’t even have a boyfriend.” Sugar Doll sighed.

  “If Big Ma wasn’t so religious I would swear she put a hex of me or something.”

  Bertrand laughed at this.

  “I’ll tell you what the hex is, it’s your cousin Bertrand promising to put a can of whip ass on anyone trying to get to you for just one thing.” Bertrand wiped the sweat from his brow.

  “Why don’t you feel that way about me?” Tonya asked.

  “Cause you ain’t my cousin. But I love you baby and I’m gonna marry you, ain’t that enough?” Bertrand kissed her on the cheek.

  “That’s more than enough baby.

  “Sugar Doll, why don’t we go into the city and make some money with your voice and my piano? Those jam sessions we’ve been having are great. Bertrand looked at her seriously.

  “Bertrand, you are dreaming. You know that Big Ma is not gonna let me go into New Orleans
, no way, no how.” Sugar Doll’s step quickened. She wanted to go to New Orleans very badly.

  “Tell her that you are going to visit your momma.” Bertrand suggested.

  “Now you know you are tripping. I would be asking for an ass whipping for sure.” She scoffed.

  “Ooooooh, you said ass, right after church. You is going to hell.” Tonya teased her overly religious friend.

  “I couldn’t do that if I tried. I been baptized twice, once as a Catholic and then as a Baptist. I’m fully covered in that department.” Sugar Doll laughed at her joke.

  “What religion is your momma?” Tonya asked.

  “Now SHE is going to hell.” Everyone laughed at Sugar Doll’s joke.

  “Why can’t you go and see her? Tonya asked.

  “She don’t want to see me. She just wants that white man and he doesn’t want me anywhere in the picture, you dig?” Bertrand could sense the anger behind the statement. He tried to diffuse the oncoming heated argument.

  “Hey ya’ll why don’t we go to Mr. Edward’s store and get a snow cone.”

  The thought of cold flavored ice sped up their walking. They walked down the lane toward the store and the conversation was over for now. Bertrand had other plans for his own career whether Sugar Doll came along or not.

  Chapter Five

  “C’mon now! Ya’ll put your hands together! Who says the blues is dead?” Bertrand was a handsome, imposing young man now. He smiled at the crowded nightclub. The bar was open to the street so that people passing by on Bourbon leaned into the windows to join in the jamming. “Ladies and gentlemen, Remy Gaudeaux!” A handsome young man with flashing blue eyes straddled the stage. He is magnificent in his performance. The club went wild with excitement and dancing. “Boy, you’ve got charisma!” came a shout from the audience.