Wild Swans

by Patricia Snodgrass

  “—They’re all friends of mine from way back. Nobody will believe you, and I doubt Delores will either,” Winthrop said, waving her aside. His voice eked out confidence but the sweat pouring down his neck spoke volumes.

  “They don’t know the entire story. They don’t know about how you tried to make my mother get an abortion, do they? It’s a sin to try and abort a child, and a crime in the state of Louisiana, didn’t you know that? Daddy Dearest?”

  “Stop calling me that.”

  “Then stop whimpering like a little girl, you fat fuck.”

  “Your mother told you all of this...told you all these lies...”

  “She didn’t tell me anything. I found out the bulk of it on my own. And I think it’s high time you pay for what you did, to take some personal responsibility for the woman whose life you destroyed and for the child you never acknowledged.”

  “I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Winthrop said. A vein in his temple had taken to pulsing bluish purple and angry. He wiped his face again. “I’ll make you an offer. And after you take it I never want to see your ugly little face again, hear me?”

  “What kind of offer?”

  “I’ll give you five hundred dollars to go away. Just go away and never come back.”

  Althea laughed. “Five hundred? For all the misery you caused? That’s not enough. Not near enough. Make it five...thousand.”

  “Five Thousand? Are you out of your mind?”

  “Four grand then. Four or my aunt Cally and I will have a lovely chat with Delores and then to the press and expose you for the rat bastard you are. And not just any press, either, honey. I’ll go to the Times Picayune and sing like the little songbird that I am. I’ll tell them about the hooker I found in your office when I came here just now. I’ll be the innocent little sweet waif who just wanted to get to know her father only to find out what a cad he really is. Oh how your constituents will love you, finally putting some truth to all those ugly rumors about your womanizing and gambling and cheating and ambition. Do you think that’ll work for ya, Lieutenant governor?”

  “Alright, alright.” Winthrop said. “You win! You win. But how do I know you won’t go to Delores afterwards, huh? How can I trust you?”

  “All I want is what’s owed my mother.” Althea sneered. “Consider it payment for services rendered. Surely you spend less than four grand a month for your lady friends. A onetime lump payment to my mother would be chump change to someone like you.”

  “You don’t think too highly of your momma do you?”

  “I think my momma suffered enough because you couldn’t keep your bibitte in your pants. If I had my way I’d hack it off. So be thankful four grand is all I’m asking for.”

  “You still haven’t answered my question. How do I know you won’t come back asking for more? Or going to the press anyway?”

  “How do you know none of your prostitutes won’t go to the press? Oh don’t worry, honey. I’ve got an honest face. After all...I’ve got your eyes...”

  Winthrop snarled. “Four grand is all you’re getting. And there better not be any more little bastards popping up asking for cash because they ain’t getting it, I guarantee.”

  “That all depends on whether or not you can keep your dick in your pants, Daddy.”

  “God damn you,” he snarled as he pulled out his checkbook. “God damn you.”

  “No check,” Althea said, slamming her hand down on his open checkbook. “You’re not going to renege on this deal. I’m poor but I’m not stupid...Daddy...I know you can cancel that check as soon as I step foot out of the door.”

  “All right. All right,” he shouted. “I’ve got some cash in the safe. I’ll give it to you, and when I do I want you to go away and never come back, got it?”

  “Got it.”

  Winthrop rose slowly, walked over to the secretary’s desk. He shoved it aside, revealing a wall safe hidden in the recesses between a false piece of paneling. He knelt before it, his ugly brown tweed jacket draping across his back as he unlocked the safe. For a moment, Althea thought about Peter Rabbit and the Beatrix Potter watercolors of small animals wearing clothing. She stifled a giggle.

  Grumbling, Winthrop rose from the safe, kicked the door shut with his knee and then returned to his seat. Wheezing, he forced open a half stuffed desk drawer and pulled out a manila envelope. Althea watched him with detached interest as he set down the envelope and picked up the stack of cash he had earlier placed on the table. He quickly counted out the money, then looking up at her from over his horn-rimmed glasses, asked, “Do you want to count it again?”

  “No,” Althea replied, trying to sound nonchalant as she watched him. “Just put it in the envelope and I’ll be on my way.”

  “How can I guarantee you won’t go squealing to the press huh?” he asked for the third time.

  “How do I know you won’t try to have me killed before I’m past the parish line?”

  Winthrop sat back, bouncing backwards in his chair slightly, shocked. “You don’t think very highly of me at all do you?”

  “Why should I when you raped my mother and made me a bastard?”

  There was a long pause. “You know what you’re doing is extortion. I could call the cops and have you run in.”

  “You can but you won’t. You don’t want my face in the news, all that scandal getting in the way of your political ambitions. Especially when you are such a devoted family man and all. I heard you traded your last wife in for a pair of 44-D’s.”

  Winthrop turned a blistering shade of red. He stared at Althea for a long time, his fingers rippling through the stack of cash. “You look like Tony. The boy at the counter. I assume you met him?”

  “Briefly.”

  “You didn’t say anything to him about...this...”

  “No, just that you and I had some business to conduct. Apparently he thought like all your cronies outside, that I was a stripper or a whore or something.”

  “And nothing else was mentioned?”

  “Nothing. I swear it. Upon my word.”

  “Missy, I don’t know how good your word is.”

  “Daddy, that just depends on how good your word is.”

  Fuming, Winthrop stuffed the money into the envelope, sealed it and threw it at her face, Althea caught it with surprising dexterity.

  “Now you got what you came for. Get out and if I hear another word out of you again, I’ll kill you for sure. I swear to God I will.”

  “I promise you I’ll never darken your doorstep again...Daddy.” She tucked the envelope under one arm, and unlatched the door, opening it a crack. “And by the way, I let certain people know I was coming here. My priest for one; my Army recruiter for another. I’m scheduled for boot in a couple of days. If I don’t turn up by six o’clock in the morning for boot camp you’ll be sorry. More sorry than you can even imagine. And that’s a promise.”

  “Get out,” Winthrop whispered.

  “God, I hope you have a heart attack and die you sweaty pig,” she said, pushing the door open. She stepped through the door, her heart pounding as she crossed the threshold. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Winthrop,” she said, offering him a jaunty salute as she exited the door.

  Althea marched out of the store, ignoring Tony’s inquiring stare as she passed him by. She stopped briefly at the door, blew him a kiss, and then stepped outside, slamming the door hard enough to rattle the glass window. The men, she noticed, were gone, as were their pickups. Cally stood at the entrance with the tire iron still in her hand and a puzzled look on her face.

  “Are you okay?” she asked as Althea reached over with her free hand and grabbed her aunt by the upper arm.

  “Get in the truck and drive. Do the speed limit and don’t look suspicious. Just get us out of here nice and quiet like,” Althea added as she guided Cally up to the truck.

  “My God, Althie what did you do?” she whispered as she opened the driver’s side door and got in. Althea was already inside with the en
velope lying on her lap. Cally gazed down at it, her eyes wide. “You didn’t bump him off did you? Oh my God girl, what did you do?”

  “I’ll tell you later. Now please, start the truck and get us out of here.”

  “Okay,” Cally agreed, as she started the vehicle and drove out of the dismal little town.

  Althea and Cally said nothing as they passed the battered city limits sign. Althea kept a close watch on the side view mirror making sure no sheriff’s department or redneck vehicles were following. She thought at one point she caught a glimpse of a man on a motorcycle, but whoever it was wasn’t making any attempt to catch up with them.

  Althea saw her aunt glance at the envelope in her lap several times, but kept her focus mainly on the road, her face pale against the dying afternoon light.

  Sunlight filtered through the trees as shadows lengthened and grew deeper the further they went. By dusk they made it to the Parish line and Althea, still watching behind them, saw a zig zag green-gold crack open just above the horizon. It closed as swiftly as it opened. The pendant grew warm and she extracted it from her blouse. It had turned a deep green gold color, the center pulsing inside like a tiny heart. Cally took hers out too. “He really is our guardian angel, ain’t he?” She asked.

  “Oui, Tante,” Althea replied.

  “What do you suppose—”

  “It’s best not to know,” Althea said, sounding very much like her mother. “But whatever happened back there, I have no doubt it was meant to keep us safe.”

  ****

  After driving for over an hour, Althea sighed and said, “Pull over here for a minute Tante.”

  “Why, is something wrong?”

  “Just pull over, for a second.”

  Biting her lower lip, Cally pulled over and parked on the soft grass lining the road.

  “Leave the engine running, and don’t get so far off the road we get stuck.”

  “What’s all this about?” Cally asked. Her eyes moved once more to the envelope. “What have you done?”

  Althea smiled grimly in the dying light. She opened the envelope and showed her aunt the money. Cally’s jaw dropped, when Althea told her about what happened in the office with Winthrop.

  “You got that much off that old buzzard, and he let us go?” Cally asked astonished. “But Althie, there’s no telling how he’ll retaliate. He’ll get revenge. You put yourself and your mom in serious danger.”

  “I’m sure Lindt took care of it. If you know what I mean,” she said, jerking her head toward the rear window.

  “What are you going to do with all that money? You can go anywhere you want with that much cash on hand.”

  “No, it’s what you and Mom are going to do with it. I’m going into the army, remember? And Mom has all those bills for my trousseau to pay off, plus there should be enough to get you two off the bayou and live somewhere else. You’ll be able to start your lives over again, maybe even in another state. Maybe new loves. God knows the both of you deserve to be loved.”

  Cally nodded, swallowed, and wiped the tears away with the back of her hands. She put the battered old work truck into gear and drove toward home. “You’re a brave young woman, that’s all I can say.” Cally choked. “And I guess you’ll have to be, now that you’re going off into the army.”

  “I’ll be a nurse working in a hospital, Tante. I’ll never see the war.”

  “I should hope not. It’s bad enough knowing you’ll be seeing the aftermath.”

  “I can’t stay hidden on Eldred’s Bend forever.”

  “I know,” Cally replied.

  “And there are tons of handsome young doctors,” Althea said. “Young, unmarried doctors.”

  “So that’s what Lindt was ‘showing’ you, Cally laughed. “What a wedding present!”

  Another strange flash of light caught their attention. Althea turned around so she could see out of the back window. “I wonder what he’s done now,” Althea said.

  Cally frowned. “I’m afraid to ask.”

  “An angel with a sword of flame,” Althea said softly, “can do pretty much whatever he wants.”

  “If that’s the case I don’t know whether to be scared, or awed.”

  “He’ll never hurt us, you know that,” Althea said.

  “I know,” Cally said, glancing at the rearview mirror. “But to be on the safe side, I don’t think we should be seen around here again.”

  “I know that’s right.”

  They rode in silence for about an hour. The greenish-gold ribbon of light faded as it rose higher into the sky. The dull red on the horizon finally faded away in the distance. The warm glow from Althea’s pendent cooled and she knew then that they were safe at last. She heard Cally sigh in relief beside her. The rhythm of the road and the warm evening lulled her into a light doze. Althea woke when she felt the truck slowing down and preparing to change gears. She woke fully to see that they had come to a crossroads. Cally stopped the truck, her jaw set with determination. She shifted gears and took a left.

  “Tante, you’re going the wrong way,” Althea said.

  “No I’m not,” Cally said. “There’s something I’ve got to do, something that I’ve needed to do for a long time now, but I put it off for the sake of your mother. And I admit I was afraid.” She smiled at her niece. “But I’m going to do it now, because life is too short to be scared all the time. You taught me that, niece-mine. And I’m glad.”

  “What?” Althea asked.

  “You’ll see,” she said as she pressed the accelerator.

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was late in the evening when Cally pulled up to a small white house with green shutters and a fussy front yard. She parked against the curb and looked at it for some time, with longing and fear etched on her face.

  “Where are we?” Althea asked.

  “Home,” Cally said. Her lower lip trembled. “Or rather my home. This is where your momma and I grew up.” She uttered a shuddering sigh and said, “They had a set of twins after me and Ruby left. A boy and another girl. I don’t know their names. Momma never told me that. All she said was that they came as a surprise.” She paused, and pulled the necklace off and held it in her hand. She gazed into the stone. “I need to see my momma. She’s dying of cancer. This could be the last chance I get.”

  “Then go see her,” Althea said. “What’s the worst thing that could happen?”

  “Daddy is the worst thing that could happen. He may not let me see her.”

  “We don’t seem to have much luck with fathers, do we Tante?”

  Cally laughed and stuffed the necklace back into her blouse. “Your grandfather is a good man, Althea. When I was a kid I worshiped the ground he walked on. And in some ways I still do. I’m not as afraid of him being mad as I am of him being disappointed.” She paused. “Does that make sense?”

  “Yes,” Althea agreed. “That’s why it was so hard for me to fight against that wedding. I didn’t want to disappoint Mom, but at the same time I didn’t want to disappoint myself either.” Althea frowned. “It’s really hard when you love someone so much you don’t want to disappoint them, but at the same time feel that you have to follow your own path.”

  “I know. And I let that fear make me a doormat,” Cally said. “First to Daddy and then to Ruby. I didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt her. I felt responsible somehow.”

  “Do you want me to come with you?” Althea asked, nodding toward the porch.

  Cally patted Althea’s hand. “No. No, I’ll go.” She grasped the pendant and said, “I have all the moral support I need right here. You wait out here. I won’t be a minute.”

  “I’d like to see them.”

  “One step at a time,” Cally replied.

  “If you need me...”

  “I know.” Cally said, patting Althea’s hand.

  Althea gave her aunt an encouraging smile. Cally opened the door, stepped outside and walked up to the steps. The porch light, Althea noted, was on, which was o
dd, because people didn’t leave their porch lights on unless they were expecting someone. Could it be, Althea wondered when she watched her aunt walk up to the porch and knock on the door, that her parents had left the porch light on every night for eighteen years, hoping, waiting, for their daughters to return?

  The door opened, golden light sliced through the gloom. She could hear Cally saying something, and the door opened wider. Althea felt her heart race as an elderly man wearing pajamas and a bathrobe stepped out onto the porch.

  Is that him? Althea wondered. Is that my grandpere?

  The old man grabbed Cally and for a terrifying instant, Althea thought he had attacked her. But no, she realized, they were holding each other, and they were both crying. Cally uttered deep sobs while the old man uttered a high thin keen. Seconds later, he ushered her aunt into the house and closed the door.

  Silence and the deep sense of separation made Althea feel suddenly lost and frightened. What am I doing out here by myself with four grand in my lap? She wondered. I could be robbed, or worse.

  But no, she sent her thoughts out towards Lindt. You’re here with me. Somehow I think you’ll always be with me. As my angel with the flaming sword.

  The door opened again. Cally stepped out with the man she saw on the porch. They approached the passenger’s side door and the old man looked inside, squinted, and frowned.

  “This is la fille?”

  “Yes, Daddy, this is Althea, your granddaughter.”

  “Well, come on out of there, ma fille, and let’s have a look at you.”

  Althea clutched the envelope to her chest and stepped out of the cab.

  Her grandfather gave her an appraising look. “Looks like you could use a bowl of gumbo,” he said not unkindly, and escorted them back into the house.

  The house was cool, slightly damp feeling, small and tidy. He motioned them into the kitchen where he spooned up bowls of gumbo and rice. He mumbled something about “helping Momma,” and left.