The Belles of Desire, Mississippi

by M. L. Bullock

  Chapter Twenty-Two—Harper

  I expected Momma’s fury when I showed her the remnants of her dress, but strangely enough, she didn’t blame me at all. She said nothing and gazed up at the ceiling. Jeopardy! Of course she would blame her. But then again, hadn’t I? Momma collected the pieces of her dress without a word and left me alone. She didn’t offer me another dress, and who could blame her?

  “Harper? Why don’t you wear the lady’s dress? The one from the treasure box in the attic upstairs. I can get it for you if you want me to,” Loxley whispered from the doorway.

  “That’s not my dress, and it wouldn’t be right to wear it.” Loxley began to cry, and I immediately took her in my arms. “There now, it’s not the end of the world. There will be other dances,” I lied to her. I never planned on going to another dance again. And if anyone ever nominated me for anything, I would flatly refuse to participate.

  “I’m sorry, Harper. I didn’t mean it.”

  “You didn’t mean what? What’s wrong?”

  “Heads up, you two. Aunt Dot is here, and she’s got something for you, Harper,” Addison’s squeaky voice sang happily.

  “What do you mean?” I asked Addie.

  She leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed. She looked proud of herself, and for the first time in a long time she didn’t have pinkeye, a runny nose or a cough. “I called Aunt Dot this morning and told her what Jeopardy did to your dress. She bought you a new dress, a pink one with a little jacket and everything.”

  “You lie!” I said with a smile.

  She crossed her heart as she always did whenever someone accused her of telling a fib. “I never lie. That would send me to the flames. Come see for yourself.”

  The three of us walked across the Great Room and into the parlor. Aunt Dot was chatting away to Momma, who wasn’t saying much. “There she is! Look what we got you!” It was kind of Aunt Dot to pretend that Momma had contributed to this gift. I knew better, but it was a pleasant fiction and I wanted to believe it.

  “Oh my goodness! Your hair! Well, we have a few hours to get you fixed up. Try on the dress first. I’m dying to see how it fits.”

  I couldn’t stop smiling as I scurried off to my room and stepped into the satin and tulle dress. I raced down the hall to look in Momma’s full-size mirror, and what I saw made me catch my breath. The gown had a sweetheart neckline, and I swear I’d seen one just like it in my magazine. With my head held high, I walked into the parlor and accepted all the compliments. Momma looked mildly pleased as she raised her head from her magazine once or twice, but my sisters were delighted.

  After an hour of doctoring my hair and helping me into my stockings and shoes, Aunt Dot clapped her hands at her handiwork. “Now, Cinderella, it’s time to head to the ball.”

  “I’ll take her, Dot,” Momma said in a dry voice as she stubbed out her cigarette butt in the ashtray. “She’s my daughter, after all.” My stomach fell, and I couldn’t hide my disappointment.

  “Oh, I see. Well, alright, but I really didn’t mind, Ann. I thought it would be fun.”

  “No, I think I’ll take her. Are you ready, Harper Belle? Where’s your jacket? The pink one that Aunt Dot so kindly bought you.”

  “It’s here, Momma.”

  “Let’s go, then. We don’t want to be late. Girls, I’ll be back soon. Clean up the kitchen. Goodbye, Dot.”

  “Bye, everyone.” Aunt Dot sniffled as she grabbed her hat, gloves and purse and made to leave us. Addison kissed my cheek, but Loxley stayed away as if she were afraid to say goodbye. I walked in a fog, trying to navigate what was happening right now. Later, I would look back and say, Aha, this is when the warning came, but at that moment I knew nothing.

  “Aunt Dot, you should take her,” Jeopardy called from the stairs. Then she headed toward the front door but didn’t get too close. She wore her wild hair loose and was dressed like a bohemian, as Momma liked to call her when she wore blue jeans and t-shirts. Tonight she wore a dress and a pair of white high heels she’d borrowed from Momma, no doubt without her permission.

  “You have a lot of nerve showing your face tonight, Jeopardy Belle. First, you destroy your sister’s dress and now you’re trying to ruin her special night? Go to your room!”

  The natural smudges under Jeopardy’s eyes darkened as they always did when she felt some sort of strong emotion. “You lie! I didn’t touch her dress. You probably did it, you mean old…”

  “Jeopardy!” Aunt Dot warned her as she scooped up Loxley, who was crying again. “Don’t speak to your Momma like that. If you didn’t do it, then I believe you, but we don’t need to argue and name-call.”

  “Aunt Dot, don’t you let her take Harper anywhere. You have to take her! Please!”

  I glanced from her to Momma, unsure what to do—Aunt Dot wasn’t sure either. She didn’t move, and the five of us stood around the Great Room.

  Until we heard the footsteps above us.

  I wondered how long we would listen to the sound of heavy footfalls crossing over us. Finally, Momma squinted her eyes at Jeopardy. “You have a boy up there, don’t you? Is that who’s stomping around upstairs, Jeopardy Belle? That Harvester boy?”

  “I ain’t got no boy up there, Momma. That’s another damn lie!”

  Momma’s hand flew to Jeopardy’s face, and she slapped her hard. Aunt Dot yelled, “Don’t hit the girl, Ann!” but it was too late. Jeopardy didn’t strike back, just screamed in anger and was gone. She raced through the parlor and then the kitchen. I could hear the screen door slapping behind her.

  Momma sagged a little as if it had taken all her energy to slap Jeopardy. “You take her, Dorothy. I’m going to rest a little while. This whole experience has been terrible, just terrible. You see how she treats me! Has any child ever been more disrespectful? She blames me for her father’s death, and I just…I don’t know…” She began to sob, but nobody moved to help her. Even Aunt Dot didn’t try to comfort her.

  Aunt Dot whispered to us, “Come on, girls. Let’s go.” In dramatic fashion, Momma began to weep as she made her way to her favorite parlor chair.

  We were in Aunt Dot’s car and headed down the road in just a few minutes. That would be the last time I ever saw Jeopardy Belle.

  I never even had a chance to say goodbye.

  Chapter Twenty-Three—Jerica

  “Thank you, Mr. Harvester, for meeting us.”

  “You’re welcome. My granddaughter says you are doing some research about Jeopardy Belle. Do you know how long it’s been since I heard anyone say her name? Are you trying to find her?”

  “Yes, we would like to find her, Mr. Harvester. I know you cared about her and wanted to help her. I found some notes that she wrote. She mentioned you a few times.” I held Jeopardy’s faded note in my hand, but he didn’t try to take it from me. He didn’t say anything at first, but then a sob suddenly escaped his lips.

  “Grandpa? Are you okay? Uh, I don’t think this is such a good idea. He’s been through a lot lately, what with my mother’s passing.”

  “I’m fine. Stop fussing over me like I’m a child, Pat.”

  She shook her head. “I’m Paige, Grandpa. Pat was my mother.”

  “You know what I mean. Stop confusing me and make us some coffee, please,” he asked her politely in a slightly irritated voice.

  She slapped her knees as she got up and said, “Fine. I’ll put some coffee on. You guys want some?”

  Jesse and I both said yes, and I reminded myself to take my time with this interview. Perhaps I should let the local historian take the lead. I was a nurse and a hobbyist carpenter but certainly no historian. I looked at Jesse as if to say, You take the lead here.

  “Jerica owns Summerleigh now. Harper left her the house and asked her to continue the search for Jeopardy.”

  Troy Harvester’s eyes were damp with tears, but that news caught his attention. “That’s a big place for one person. Do you have a family?”

  “Not anymore.”


  “Oh, I see. I don’t have much of one anymore either. Except for Paige. She’s a good girl if a little overprotective. Hand me that book there, please.” I retrieved the dusty blue vinyl book and handed it to him. He flipped open the photo album and tapped on a black and white photo. I recognized Troy’s young face beaming back from the picture. “This was my wife, Elise. We went to school together, but I never even noticed her until our senior year. She never held that against me, and she had a way of loving you completely that made you forget everything else. It was a healing kind of love. Elise had a beautiful voice and an infectious laugh I will never forget. I loved her, I truly did. We had a good life together, better than what I deserved.”

  “Your granddaughter sure seems fond of you,” I said with an encouraging smile.

  “She is a feisty young lady like her grandmother was when she was her age.” He sighed and shook his head. “You two must think I am an old fool talking about love, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Even before I heard you were coming.”

  “No, we don’t,” Jesse and I said simultaneously. Mr. Harvester leaned back in his worn cloth recliner and nodded at both of us appreciatively.

  “I will never forget that whole horrible year. 1942 was the year Jeopardy disappeared. There she was one moment, larger than life, and then gone. Her disappearance sealed the fate of this town. You see what’s left of it. Not much. The war took away many fathers and brothers, and what was left…well, we were a broken community. Desire, Mississippi, didn’t amount to much after the war. Most families moved to Mobile for work at the shipyards and others to Lucedale for other types of factory work. My father was a railroad man. He didn’t serve in the military long because he had an accident that left him with a limp, but he could still work. Now Mr. Belle, Jeopardy’s father, he was a nice enough man, but he could never hold down a job. Back in those days, they didn’t label veterans with PTSD and the like. There was no medication. Just booze and whatever mischief you could get into. I think Mr. Belle saw too much. He had those empty eyes, like a lot of men did. I could never understand why he couldn’t keep a job. Like I said, he was a nice man, but he was not one to stick to anything. When he won Summerleigh in a card game, he must have thought his luck was changing. He loved those girls of his. He died not long before Jeopardy vanished.”

  Nobody spoke for a while after that. Troy had poured out a lot of information in lightning fashion, and I was on pins and needles. I wanted to know so much, but Mr. Harvester obviously wasn’t going to be rushed.

  “Mr. Harvester…”

  “Call me Troy.”

  “Troy, the night Jeopardy disappeared, did you know that she had a fight with Mrs. Belle? She mentioned that something horrible happened to her, a Horrible Thing, she called it.” I slid the note toward him hoping he would read it. Again, he didn’t try to. Troy closed his eyes and whimpered again. I hated that I would be the one to bring him such pain. It had to be painful to remember all this.

  “Yes, the Horrible Thing.” His eyes flickered open, and he licked his lips. Paige came in and set a tray of cups, spoons and a sugar bowl on the table. She couldn’t hide her worried expression, and she didn’t stick around. “I remember the first time I knew I loved her. We were at the river, my brothers and I. My oldest brother, Anthony—everyone called him Tony—he liked to ride to the river after church on Sundays. Harry and I didn’t want to be left behind. It was a rare thing for a teenage boy to have a car in our small town, and it was nice to be noticed. Tony was a popular boy. The girls were always circling around him…that day was no exception. That particular day he tried putting the moves on one of those Taylor girls, but she wasn’t having any of it. I got tired of watching him act stupid.

  “Harry and I were in the water when Jeopardy came down the bank. I don’t think she noticed me at all. She walked into the water wearing a white dress like she was headed to a baptism. After she waded out about waist deep, she closed her eyes like she was saying a prayer and then sank down in the water until it covered her head. I don’t know that anyone else saw her, but I did. Everything stood still as I waited for her to come back up. Do you believe in magic?”

  I nodded, and Jesse did too.

  “That was some kind of magic. I will never forget the sight of her. I watched and waited, and just when I thought the worst, that she drowned herself in Dog River, she burst out of the water like some kind of siren, slinging her hair behind her. Her hands slid over her face and brushed the water away, and then she stared at me with those sad, hazel eyes and said, ‘What exactly are you staring at, Troy Harvester?’ I could hardly believe it—she knew my name! From that day to this one, I have loved her with all my heart.”

  “Oh, Troy, she loved you too,” I blurted out. “I know she did.”

  “In her way, perhaps. Jeopardy Belle was a summer storm, and I was a trusty rock that she battered against when she needed someone, which was rarely. I was so young; I didn’t know how to help her. All I knew was I loved her.”

  I sighed hearing Troy’s account of Jeopardy, and then he surprised me by adding, “I saw her that night after she left Summerleigh. I never told anyone that, but I should have. She came to my house and stayed with me. I went to sleep, and when I woke up, she was gone.”

  “What? You saw Jeopardy that night? I don’t remember reading that in the police report,” Jesse said. “Are you sure, Troy?”

  “Yes, I saw her. No one but me.”

  Paige reappeared with a pot of coffee, which she placed on the trivet in front of me. Eyeing us suspiciously, she disappeared to the kitchen again. I knew she was listening. I would too if I were her.

  “I was already asleep when she tapped on my window. My room was over the garage, but she didn’t come up the stairs. She climbed up the wisteria vine like a wild creature. My brothers had gone to the school dance, but I stayed home. I didn’t have the courage to ask Jeopardy to go, and I didn’t want to see her dancing with either of my brothers. She liked to kiss Tony on the cheek; I used to think that was because she knew it bothered me. I don’t know. Sometime that night, I heard fingers tapping on my window. It was Jeopardy, soaked to the bone. I thought I was dreaming. Imagine seeing the girl you loved with all your might tapping on your window.

  “‘What are you doing here, Jeopardy Belle?’ I asked as I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. She didn’t answer me, and I held my hand out to her to help her in. I closed the window behind her, raced to the rocking chair for my extra blanket and wrapped it around her.

  “‘Warm me up, Troy Harvester. I’m so cold,’ she said.

  “‘What are you doing here? Are you alright?’ I asked. I pushed her wet hair out of her face. I wondered if she’d had a fall or something; she had a purple bruise on the side of her face.

  “‘No, nothing is right. Nothing at all, Troy.’ She laid her head on my shoulder. I don’t know how long we sat there. Then she asked, ‘Do you have any food? I am so hungry.’

  “I told her I could make her a sandwich and asked if she liked peanut butter. She said yes, so I told her to stay there and dry off. ‘Where else am I going to go?’ she asked.

  “I raced down the stairs and into the main house to make Jeopardy a sandwich. My grandmother was in the front room listening to her radio program. She saw me but didn’t think my ransacking the kitchen was strange. My parents were already in their beds, and my brothers wouldn’t be home until much later. A few minutes later, I hurried back to my room. I was so worried she would be gone, but she hadn’t gone anywhere. During my absence, she’d helped herself to a pair of my jeans and a jersey that was far too big for her. Her wet dress was draped over the back of my desk chair. I stepped inside with the sandwich and brought it to her like her obedient servant.

  “‘Don’t forget the milk,’ I instructed her politely. She ate half the sandwich, chugged down the milk and crawled into my bed. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never had a girl in my room and certainly not one in my bed. I picked up the pl
ate and glass and put them on my desk.

  “Without being asked, I crawled back in my bed and lay on my pillow uneasily. Jeopardy curled up to me with her head on my chest. That was the happiest moment of my life. She smelled like sweat and rain, like cotton and peanut butter. God, I loved her.

  “Then she said, ‘A Horrible Thing happened to me, Troy, and it’s going to happen again. Pray with me. Pray that Daddy comes and takes me away.’

  “I said to her, ‘Your father is gone, Jeopardy. You can’t go with him; that means you’ll be dead.’”

  I had to ask, “What horrible thing was she talking about, Troy?”

  I wasn’t sure he heard me because he didn’t answer me. He said, “I don’t know why, but I suddenly had the courage to tell her how I felt. I was completely unaware of how much she needed me. I just blurted it all out without fear. I told her, ‘You know I love you, Jeopardy. I have always loved you. Don’t you kiss another boy from this moment on, you hear? You climbed up into my bedroom, and now we’re here together. You’re my girl, Jeopardy Belle. Promise me we’ll always be together.’

  “‘I promise, Troy Harvester,’ she swore as I held her close and she clung even tighter. We didn’t do anything beyond that; she didn’t need me pawing at her. When I woke up, she had changed her clothes and left my jeans and shirt behind. And I never saw her again. Never, and I waited every night.” Troy burst into tears. “She needed me, and I let her down. I knew she was in trouble, and I couldn’t help her. Now she’s gone!” He covered his eyes with one hand and sobbed as Paige came back.

  She said softly, “I’m afraid you’ll have to leave. That’s enough, please.”

  “I am so sorry, Troy. Yes, we’ll leave, Paige. Thank you.”

  We walked out of the Harvester home and drove back to the cottage in silence. Jesse and I didn’t talk much on the way, and he didn’t stick around to chat. He had to meet Renee, something to do with the fire damage.

  I politely thanked him for the ride and went inside.