by Emery, Lynn
“Happy turkey day to you, too. Sorry about that.”
“No problem. Been there, my brother. The other thing I wanted to tell you, looks like all the publicity has turned up the heat on the politicians. Seem your lady friend and her group will get their day in court.”
“What do you mean?” Paul asked sharply.
“The Environmental Protection Agency has filed a suit saying the Big River Plant is burning hazardous waste without a permit. Seems they don’t buy it that they are recyclers turning toxic waste into a safe aggregate.”
“Wow. Talk about things getting heated. This town is already divided.” Paul frowned. He rubbed his chin deep in reflection at the possible consequences of this latest turn of events.
“Just thought you’d like to know. My pal at DEQ says it should be announced Thursday.
“Umm-hum.”
“Say man, you just about through there. You planning to ever come back to Lafayette? Anybody home?”“Yeah, I mean sure.” Paul answered after a pause. “Just a few more loose ends.”
“Guess I know what that’s about. No problem. Bye now, oh, and tell Ms. St. Julien `hello’ for me.” With another laugh, Sam hung up before Paul could say anything.
Twenty minutes later, he stood on the wide front porch feeling very conspicuous. The late afternoon sun was bright, but provided little warmth from the chill wind that blew red and brown leaves across the lawn.
“Happy Thanksgiving.” He watched her expression anxiously.
“Happy Thanksgiving.” Savannah opened the door wide and stepped back.
Without hesitating, before saying anything else, he pulled her to him.
*****
The old woman carefully lowered herself into the large overstuffed chair in front of the brick fireplace. With a low grunt of satisfaction, she arranged a large woolen shawl around her shoulders.
“Come on, gal. Bring me my coffee.” Her voice was still strong despite her physical weakness.
“Sit still, Monmon. You in such a hurry all the time,” LaShaun barked back from the old fashion kitchen. With a rattle of the cups and spoons, she came into the room balancing a large tray.
“Ah, just right.” Monmon Odette smacked her lips after sipping the hot coffee cautiously. She cradled the cup with hands knarled by arthritis. After another sip, she sat back in the chair and studied her granddaughter. “What you been up to, eh, gal?”
“What you mean, Monmon?” LaShaun stirred her coffee with languid motions.
“Heh, heh. Know you been up to somethin’ for sho when you answer me a question with a question. Therese’s chile home. Lookin’ jest like her Monmon, too. Pretty thing.” Monmon Odette eyed LaShaun. “You been to see her.” The last was a statement.
“I dropped by to welcome her back. Jumpy little thing though.” LaShaun grinned into her cup.
“Humm, big job didn’t last up there. Now she here.”
“Yes, she’s here. Strutting around like she owns the place. Just like always.” LaShaun’s grin faded into a grimace.
“St. Julien taught her well.” Monmon Odette spat into the fireplace, a grimace of contempt twisted her face. “Every time I turn, look like dem in the way of me or mine.”
“No, Monmon. She won’t stand in the way of what I want. I know just what to do about her.”
“I want Antoine to pay for what he done to Francine. Drunk herself to death greivin’ over dat man. Therese’s death didn’t change nuthin’ neither. Don’t know what conjuh she put on him, but Therese had hold even from the grave.”
“Well, I’m not like Momma. Savanna won’t take from me, and no man will ever be anything but a way to get what I want.”
“Savannah not her Monmon either, best to watch her close. And come to dat, keep your eye on that man friend you got. More than one trained animal done turned on him what thought he was the master.”
“I know what I’m doing, Monmon. He’s mine as long as I say he’s mine. And Savannah is about to start feeling sorry she set foot back in Beau Chene.”
“Mais, yeah. Here somethin’ you might wanna use.” Monmon Odette gave a low chuckle as she dug deep into a large covered basket she kept near her chair on the floor. She pressed an object into LaShaun’s hand.
“Oh yes. This will do, for a start. This will do fine. Merci, Monmon.” LaShaun fingered the object and stared into the fire.
Chapter 6
Savannah sipped the hot coffee in her mug. Smiling, she read the bold green letters bordered with holly in the corner of the first page of Beau Chene’s modest weekly paper.
“Twenty-four shopping days ‘til Christmas.” She whispered to herself. Gazing ahead, she didn’t hear her aunt come into the kitchen.
“Penny.” Tante Marie had leaned near her ear from behind.
“What?” Savannah blinked rapidly, startled from her reverie.
“For your thoughts.”
“Just thinking how this is my favorite holiday.”
“When you were little, every holiday was your favorite once it arrived. You loved to make a big fuss with decorations and such.”
“Remember the time when I was, oh eight I guess, and I insisted we had leave oats for Santa’s reindeer? Poppy talked for days trying to convince me that they had too many stops to make, so Santa would feed them well before they left the north pole.” Savannah laughed.
“Coo, but didn’t you carry on ‘bout them poor hungry reindeer. Then there was the year you just had to decorate every room with a tiny Christmas tree.”
“I tried real hard to celebrate, especially at Christmas. For Poppy.”
“So much burden on a baby, tryin’ to comfort your daddy.”
“Every Christmas of my childhood I remember watching him miss Mama. Pain was written on his face each time he heard a song she used to sing or when we hung the ornaments she made on the tree. I could never make him smile, not for very long.”
“Cher, you made your daddy so happy, don’t you think no different. But the love he missed was something you couldn’t give. The love of a woman for a man.”
“I always felt that I had failed him somehow.” Savannah felt tears pushing to spill forward. She pressed her lips together.
“Mon Dieu, non. You are his heart. His sadness was a natural grief, not your fault. Not your fault, cher.” Tante Marie wrapped her soft chubby arms around her.
“Thank you. You always say just what I need to hear.” Savannah dried her eyes. “But there is something between us that hasn’t been discussed.”
Tante Marie began searching through the cupboards, gathering ingredients to bake more cookies for the children at her church. “Now where I put that bakin’ soda? You been rummagin’ through my cabinets, I can tell. I always put it in the same place an’ it ain’t here.”
“Tante Marie; Mama’s death. I need to know, please.” Savannah placed her hand gently on her aunt’s arm to stop her from moving away.
“Oh, cher. Your daddy would have a fit if I was to—”
“I’m twenty-six years old, not a child to be sheltered from the truth anymore. My mother was taken from me so early. Poppy and I mourned her, but he at least had more of an explanation of why or how than I did. All I had was emptiness, and whispered rumors. Don’t you think I deserve more than that?”
“But that was all of thirty years ago; it ain’t no use to bring that up again. Start the trouble all over again, all it will do.” Tante Marie rubbed her hands together as she talked.
“It seems that the trouble, whatever you mean by that, has never gone away. Since we were kids, LaShaun has made it clear how she feels. But why? Tante Marie, please.” Savannah took her aunt’s hands, separated them and held them in her own as she guided her to chair.
“That gal is no good. She don’t look just like her mama for nothin’. Hateful, downright mean to get what she wants.” Tante Marie stared out of the window, her face a grim mask. It was as if she could see the two women.
“Francine, LaShaun’s mama. I hear
d he was pretty.” Savannah spoke softly, encouraging her aunt to remember out loud.
“Mais, yeah. LaShaun got them same eyes.” Folks say they got them eyes ‘cause Francine daddy was a roogaroo, a demon.” Tante Marie shook herself as though feeling a sudden chill. Her voice dropped low and became somber with the telling of a dark tale whispered through the years. “I used to hear my memere say how old Odette first husband left her. Said he swore up and down she would go out to the bayou at night an’ stay gone ‘til daybreak. Come back looking all wild, clothes half off her. Sho, they is pretty in their way, but everythin’ they touch moodee, cursed, no good.” Tante Marie voice took on a grim intensity.
“Cursed how?” Savannah leaned forward, already lost in the past with her aunt.
“Now you can’t tell it to look at her now, but Odette was fine lookin’ herself in her young days. She could get them men. But one by one they was gone. A couple just up and disappeared. Some say they buried out in them woods behind that house, with the others. Some say they saw somethin’ what scared ‘em so bad, they left town and didn’t tell nobody where they was goin’ so Odette couldn’t find ‘em.“Then all her chirren come to a bad end, one by one. That oldest boy got drunk and ran his car off the road into the bayou. Three days later, they found him still in there, drowned. The youngest boy, Jules, went down to New Orleans, got into a fight. Some man stabbed him to death. She got plenty property from them two husband she buried. She done seen her share of misery, buried ‘em all on that property, too.”
“A cemetery is near their house?” Savannah shivered despite the warmth of the kitchen.
“Family plot, yes indeed. Odette’s monmon, papa, two husbands, and three chirren. Back a ways in the woods, but there all the same.” Tante Marie accepted the cup of black coffee put in front of her.
“How did Francine die?”
“In a fire. She was always gettin’ drunk and runnin’ off with some man. Wasn’t nothin’ for her to stay gone a week. She was laid up in some old raggedy roomin’ house over the other side of Bayou Lafourche, whorehouse is what it was. Anyway, they say she fell asleep smokin’. Heard that old place went up like a match book.”
“What a horrible way to die. But what does that have to do with Mama? With me?” Savannah said.
“Odette says your daddy was the reason she died.” Tante Marie stopped. She seemed to falter in the telling of the tale for the first time since she had begun.
“Tante Marie, why would she say such a thing?”Savannah placed her hand on her aunt’s arm to prompt her to continue.
“Francine was crazy for Antoine, had been since they was little. They all grew up together, Antoine, Francine, and your maman, though Therese was younger. Trouble started when they got to be teenagers, I guess. Francine was pretty enough, but wild with a mean streak. At first Antoine found her exciting. They was sneakin’ round to the juke joints. You see, back then we wasn’t allowed to go out on dates alone at that age, just a boy and girl. Lord, how Francine used to hang onto Antoine. Anyway, Therese had always been a pretty child too, but when she turned fifteen she just seemed to blossom overnight. Beautiful, she was. Had pretty dark brown skin so clear, she looked like one of them movie stars ‘cept she didn’t have no powder on her face. Big dark eyes with long black lashes. She was kinda shy, real sensitive. A good-hearted person. Antoine started payin’ more and more attention to her and less and less to Francine. True enough he had a time pullin’ away from Francine. But it got to be clear Therese was the one for him. Francine got frantic, doin’ all kinda things. Started runnin’ with all kinds of men tryin’ to make Antoine jealous. But that didn’t do nothin’ but make him know she was too wild for his taste. Fact is he was hard in love with Therese by that time. Told me once, he had always loved her, just hadn’t realized it.”
“‘Course your maman loved him too, but she thought he was so gone over Francine that she didn’t have no chance. They was somethin’ to see. Walkin’ around in a daze, so wrapped up in each other it was like wasn’t nobody else on this earth. Antoine only laughed when folks told him ‘bout the mess was up to Francine. He used to say she was just bein’ herself, that she liked havin’ attention from all them men. But I knew better. So did Therese. She tried to talk to Francine, tell her she understood that she was hurtin’. Francine spat in her face like an alley cat ready to strike.
“It was when Antoine and Therese got engaged that things got out of hand. Francine went crazy. Late at night, she’d show up outside our house screamin’ threats. When Antoine would go out to talk to her, she would start wailin’ so it sounded like a lost soul. That went on for months. It got quiet after the wedding. ‘Cept that was worse in a way.” Tante Marie wiped her eyes with a shaky hand.
“Therese started having nightmares. She started bein’ so jumpy, she couldn’t hardly stand bein’ in the house alone. She swore Francine was watchin’ her day and night, that Francine was burnin’ candles on her. Got so bad, Antoine decided to take a temporary job in Morgan City, as much to get her away as the money. They lived there for almost a year and Therese seemed to get stronger every day. They even come back to visit a few times. One day Francine showed up at our cousin’s house. She spoke to everybody then stared hard at Therese. Your maman stared right back. Before we knew what was happenin’, Therese walked right up to Francine without battin’ an eye. Real calm, without raisin’ her voice, Therese told her that she was not scared no more, that she had a spirit workin’ for her that was stronger than anything Francine had fooled herself she could do. Francine grinned real evil like, made some kinda sign, and then walked away without lookin’ back.”
“When they moved back six months later, Therese was pregnant with you. For the first time since they got married, Therese was happy. She wasn’t nervy like before. She went through being pregnant with no problem. Folks was whisperin’ that Francine was gonna do somethin’ to her and the baby. But when you was born, normal, healthy, just as pretty as your Monmon, folks said old Odette must had lost her power. But then, Therese started to fret every time you coughed. When you had the colic so bad, she was beside herself thinkin’ you was on death’s door. She took to gettin’ up all through the night, checkin’ on you. There was times she woke Antoine up screamin’ that you wasn’t breathin’.
“Antoine and the doctor finally got her to settle down some, but she went back to bein’ on edge just the same. It was two years later that your maman started gettin’ sick. Therese started havin’ pains in her joints. Tired all the time, some days she could hardly get outta bed. She get headaches and fevers for no reason. Then she started forgettin’ things, like where stuff was in the cabinets, or the way to church. She just went down, cher. Broke my heart to see her waste away. Antoine took her to the doctor. He started treatin’ her for anemia, and then gave her nerve pills. Doctor Patin ended up givin’ her medicine for high blood pressure, too. A year later she was dead. That’s when the whispers started. Folks said Odette had worked a powerful gris gris on Therese.” Tante Marie took a deep breath, then made the sign of the cross.
“It can’t be true. I won’t believe that. It’s all old superstition,” Savannah said, her voice unsteady. She gripped her hands together.
“Superstition can affect folks in a powerful way, cher.”
“You believe it then, that they killed Mama?”
“I’m a Christian, baby. I believe in spirits, good and bad.”
*****
With the announcement that the Department of Environmental Protection would bring suit against Batton Chemical and the Big River plant, the level of tension in Beau Chene rose. People who had been friends and neighbors all their lives quit speaking to each other. Antoine became the focus of hostility from those who were in favor of the plant. There were men who confronted him about trying to take their jobs. Savannah was getting very worried about him for the first time.
“Hey what’s with the frown, baby?” Paul tugged at Savannah’s chin playfully. They sat together over lun
ch.
“Nothing. I just hope this Christmas isn’t spoiled by everything going on.” Savannah stirred the untouched bowl of corn and shrimp soup in front of her.“It’s going to be a fantastic Christmas. We’ll be together. I’m really looking forward to getting you under some of that mistletoe.” Paul’s caress changed from playful to loving. His eyes shone bright with yearning for her.
“I’m looking forward to spending the holidays with you too.” The frown was smoothed away as she returned his gaze.
Once again, a touch of his hand transformed her. No other man could arouse such a craving, could sooth away all apprehension with little effort. Savannah felt a thrill knowing that this marvelous man cared for her. And of that she no longer doubted. Each time he looked at her, it was written in his eyes.
“I know you’re preparing that report, and maybe I’ve said some mean things about that.” Savannah grasped his hand firmly.
“Savannah, you don’t have to apologize. Really, honey. Your commitment to see that your community is safe is one of the things that drew me to you.” Paul raised her hand to his lips. “I understood where you were coming from. Even when you took a few well aim licks at me.” He grinned at her.
“Hope it didn’t do too much damage. You don’t seem to be bruised still.” Savannah grinned back.
“Well, there one wound left. But it’s one that hurts so good.” His lips curved into a smile that was warm with passion.
“What wound is that?” Savannah held her breath. The grip of his hand caused a physical, aching hunger to ripple through her.
“The wound on my heart. Feel.” He raised her hand to his chest. “I don’t care if it doesn’t heal. This is one injury I’m more than willing to live with.”
Paul was filled with joy to see the sparkle in Savannah’s eyes. For too long, he had convinced himself that falling in love was the last thing he needed. Now he was astonished and delighted to find himself rushing headlong into the very thing he made efforts for so long to avoid. Savannah ignited his passion in a way that had taken a complete hold over him. He wanted to meld his life with hers, to wipe away any barrier to having her with him.
