by catt dahman
Amadee vanished from view, but Marie, Theo, and Toby leaned down with a rope and hauled Frank up to the deck, reaching down and yanking him the last few feet by pulling the waist of Frank’s pants. Where his feet had just been, a shark opened a maw of serrated, rows of teeth and snapped at the air. Maria screamed when she saw the creature lunge.
Frank sprawled on the wood, and Marie slammed to her knees beside him, yanking off her over shirt to wrap Frank’s left hand in the fabric. Bemused, he saw that he was missing three fingers on his hand, as well as part of the side of his hand. Bones and tissue were gone, and he hadn’t felt anything but a slight tug at the second it happened. Amusement turned to shock and horror slowly as he realized this was his hand that was shredded and ruined.
Blood soaked Maria’s shirt. Frank dimly knew that was his blood. His brain seemed to be working slowly.
“I lost my fingers,” he said. His hand ached, now. No, it hurt as if someone were shoving hot needles into the nerves of his hand.
“It was one of those fish. You’re lucky we were able to get to you before he did any more than take a small bite. Do you hurt terribly?” Maria asked, her face white with worry, “Poor, Daddy, you’ll be okay.”
Frank struggled to think beyond a dull ache, “Emeline? Is she…did she…?”
“She’s fine, Daddy,” said Marie, her face set in lines of worry.
“Remy?”
Marie didn’t answer but involuntarily glanced over her shoulder, “I don’t know what all happened. When you can, let’s go find out.” She helped him to his feet. Abagail hovered close to clean and bandage Frank’s hand, but he waved her away with a thank-you and a slight smile for now. His son was most important.
“Remy? Amadee, you got Remy, right?”
Amadee didn’t meet his gaze, turning away.
Theo and Toby held onto Frank so he didn’t leap into the water because all that was left was blood and random bits of floating flesh. Frank called for Remy.
Amadee took the helm back and drove away from the area, even as Frank tried to look over the side; Toby and Theo told him he didn’t need to look. “Mister Frank, he is gone now. My brother from another mother, he and I were close,” Toby said as he wiped away tears. “It isn’t fair, Mister Frank. Remy was like my own brother,” he said as he cried openly, unable to keep the silly grin he had on his face born of shock. Toby sobbed, unable to understand how Remy could be gone and a fish was to blame. It defied reason.
Frank hugged Toby, “Remy loved you as a brother, too. He sure did, Toby.”
Toby nodded, wiping his face again.
“Was it fast? Tell me it was fast and that he didn’t suffer, right? He didn’t?” Frank asked. “Are you sure he’s gone?”
“He’s gone. He didn’t suffer much, Mister Frank. We didn’t hear all the screams. Remy…one of the fish went after him, and Nita was so brave, Mister Frank. Nita grabbed an axe and jumped in to save him, but the weight of the axe pulled her down, and maybe she didn’t let go. We didn’t see her come back up; the sharks attacked. There was blood,” Theo said.
Amadee didn’t say it, but he was fully furious over losing one of his best axes. What had the silly girl been thinking?
“Maybe she made it. We can’t leave her,” Marie protested.
“Honey, she didn’t make it. Please don’t make me say how I know out loud and see it again any more than I already have,” Theo asked.
Frank stared dully, tears leaking and rolling down his cheeks, “My Remy….”
Maria nodded, “I know. And Nita,” She held her father, sobbing loudly, “I couldn’t tell anyone because it’s not even legal, but they loved each other, Daddy, and they went together,” she cried harder.
“It’s okay. It’s all fine,” Frank said. It wasn’t, but he was supposed to sooth his daughter. “We’ll get through this.”
Emeline faced Frank, her perfectly coiffed hair now a matted mop on her head and her fancy clothing soaked, “Now you know how I felt when you came and told me one of those damned fish killed my son.”
Maria spun and with an open hand, slapped Emeline across the face, “How dare you say anything right now.”
Emeline looked as if she might slap Marie back. Marie faintly hoped she would; they’d all see how a high society girl, who grew up with brothers, could fight. It was all Marie could do to stop from slapping Emeline again, anyway.
Abagail gathered Frank into her arms and softly explained they needed to go clean his hand and stitch what she could and apply a soft bandage. Frank allowed her to lead him, to be strong, and to take care of everything for a little while. He left Emeline standing alone with a handprint across her face.
“I know a little about Mama’s teas, so how about I brew you a cup and you relax a little?” Toby took Marie’s arm.
Leonie followed, “Emeline? Trish?” She noted that neither gave Frank condolences nor thanked him for saving her life. Entitled, they were cold, bitter women.
“Just show us somewhere we can get clean and have some dry clothes. Is there anything we can wear? And a place to lie down. I’ve had a terrible day,” Emeline said, “have Abagail bring us tea.”
Leonie cocked her head, “I’ll share my clothing even if it ain’t fancy like you’re used to, and I have room for you both to dry off and lie down, but I will be damned if any of us are gonna wait on you and treat you like the queen come to visit us. Get tea with the rest of us. Abagail is busy anyway.”
“I don’t like your attitude.”
Leonie snorted, “I don’t like yours. Be glad you’re allowed on our boat, but while Marie is a lady and only slapped you, you mouth off to me and I’ll whup your ass something awful. I promise no one gives an ass whupping like a swamp girl.”
Chapter 10: No Rest for the Wicked
Marie sat down beside Candy Lynn; the baby, Eloi; and Lougenia. While Abagail tended Frank, Marie cleaned wounds, applied ointment, and redressed everyone’s injuries. Eloi’s arm was black, and the area around the snakebite was greenish and full of infection that wouldn’t drain. Abagail said that soon, she would sedate him some with alcohol, open the wound to drain it, clean it, and after that, if his arm weren’t better, she would have to remove it because the red streaks were beginning.
Maria shuddered.
Lougenia wasn’t any better off. She had already lost half her leg, but the rest of her body might be in trouble as the girl’s fever raged. Maybe it was normal infection, but it could also be that sewage and other vile things in the water were causing a terrible infection her body couldn’t fight.
Abagail could do nothing about the bone jutting out or without enough flesh to cover it and stitch back in place, so the injury stayed open and bled. It couldn’t even begin to heal. Lougenia raved with the pain.
Candy Lynn was still pale.
“We lost my brother, Remy. He saved me, and he saved Trish. The sharks.”
Candy Lynn hugged Marie and lay back, “I know Landry said awful things, but he was drunk and upset. He didn’t know the facts. I think he would have loved me again and loved the baby.”
Marie thought the young man would never have loved either again. He wasn’t capable of that much, but she didn’t tell Candy Lynn that; the man was dead and gone, taken by the sharks, “Maybe, I don’t know, Candy.”
“But he’s gone now, like Remy. All et up and gone. I can’t believe it and didn’t see it, but I see it in my mind,” She tapped her temple. “I can’t sleep for seeing the shark eat him. I can’t sit here and think on it either.”
“I know. I feel the same way.”
“And my little brothers and sisters…all gone with the snakes or the fish. Eloi, he ain’t gonna be okay, Marie. We know that, and neither is Lougenia. Poor things. I’ve been stuck here in all this here misery, watching them in pain and can’t take no more,” she said it as caynt.
“You can. Do you want us to move you?”
“Naw. If I’m living, then I’m here for them.”
; “Don’t, don’t give up, okay? Please? I don’t think I can stand to lose you, too.”
Candy Lynn cocked her head and looked surprised, her face a bit pink, “Marie, do ya mean that? You care?”
Marie fell across Candy Lynn and cried hard, unable to stop. She cried until there was nothing left in her and she was an empty vessel. Candy Lynn stroked her hair kindly until Marie was quiet again.
“Marie?”
“Everyone was mean to you, but Nita and Remy and Beau weren’t. I wasn’t, and we were scared of Emeline and Trish. They did cruel things to us. Jokes and pranks, they said, but it was awful. Salt in my bed, pinching me, cutting up my clothing, but if I told, it was worse and bad for Daddy. That’s no excuse, but Nita and I always thought of you as family, and we always liked you so much,” Marie cried again.
“Shhh, you’re a good person, Marie. Seems bad things keep happening to both good and bad with this here storm. You be strong, okay? If anything happened to me, why you’d have to take Julia Rose and raise her.”
“I…oh no, Candy Lynn….”
“I didn’t say anything would happen, but if it did, I need you.”
Marie noticed some color filled Candy Lynn’s cheeks and lips, “You haven’t eaten a thing; would you eat now? Please? For me?”
“I want a big bowl of stew and some of Mama Leonie’s cornbread and a pot of hot tea with mint and sugar.”
Marie almost bounded from the room, thrilled.
“Pauve ti bete. But she know lache pas la potate; yes, dat is my girl,” Amadee said when he realized Candy Lynn was going to eat. He thought the girl was pitiful in her present state and was sympathetic, but she wouldn’t let go of her uppity ideas and share in the family tradition.
“Whether she wants it or not, we have to move her, so she’s around activity and not in a sick bed. Or we move the others,” Marie said.
After Candy Lynn ate her food, she took on more color and looked far more alert and relaxed. With Beau and Toby helping her and Marie carrying Julia Rose (who was fat and sassy from the mama’s rich milk and excellent care), they got Candy Lynn to the back room where people would come and go, and she could talk and show off her pretty baby. Maria stayed by her side.
Leonie, with Tammany and Ghislaine, prepared pots and bowls of food and shared them. Leonie made the usual stew and then a dish of pork (long pig to be honest) served over dirty rice with a sauce piquant, as well as gravy and eggplant served over spaghetti squash. In a day or two, they would be without meat again.
Leonie dreaded that, but she also ate every bite of her stew, hungry and desperate for the protein. When Candy Lynn muttered softly that she felt Landry was still with them, Leonie almost choked on her stew; luckily she was eating a potato and not a bite of Landry at the time.
Beau and Jules took the death of Remy and Nita hard, but right after they ate dinner, boats appeared, and Beau had to deal with the newcomers. Mike was haggard and exhausted, unable to be an effective leader, and Beau had taken over keeping everyone safe and organized at the house when Mike couldn’t. On the houseboat, Frank was injured and of poor spirit, and that left Amadee and Buford to run things, and Beau knew he couldn’t allow that to slide unopposed.
One boat was a sturdy small boat with an enclosed area, and the other was a small trawling boat. Four men and two women were the crew for the two boats and wore some kind of suits that would protect them from the dirty water; they also wore gloves, masks, and boots.
“Are you the rescue team?
“Somewhat,” the man, Larry, said, shaking Beau’s hand, “See there isn’t much rescue going on here. I’m sorry, but about everyone in these parts evacuated, or they are dead, and the bodies will have to be recovered. East is underwater. South is under water. West is underwater. North, you don wanna go to Prairieville and South Baton Rouge.”
“That far? What’s going on?”
“All the levees failed with the water we got, and the lakes swelled, the river swelled; it’s all gone, son. It’s all under water now, and the city will have to be razed to rebuild.”
“All?”
“It’s all gone. I guess you folks didn’t know.”
Beau shook his head, “We’ve had no news at all.”
“There are some places you can see roof tops, but the French Quarter, Superdome, Highway 10, and Highway 90 are washed away and under at least thirty feet of water.”
“Thirty feet? Dat ain’t possible,” Amadee said.
“I saw it myself. Highway 610 is gone, taken by Pontchartrain and the river; everything in between is underwater. Metairie is gone. Bayou Piquant reclaimed Kenner. Down at the Business District, you can see the top of the Superdome and the big, tall buildings, but the glass is blown out, and the buildings look like a bomb hit them. People are living there above the water: hungry, thirsty, injured, maybe. Those buildings will all likely be torn down after this.”
“Where is FEMA, and where are the helicopters and rescuers?” Beau asked.
“Around the edges, moving forwards to the center as the water goes down. They got boats, but there are a lot of people who are sick, hungry, and thirsty. Some place in Metairie exploded and burned if you can imagine flames and fire in a hurricane, and I don’t know what they were cooking up in there, but it poisoned the water something serious. All them that even have two-three-four feet of water and were okay after the winds have problems now.”
“That’s horrible, but well, what about us?” Beau asked, “We can’t be all that’s left.”
Larry went on, “That place in Metairie that burned released some toxin in the water, and it made everyone sick. Can’t go in even with suits because the water, even a drop or sniffing it, will burn and sizzle your skin and shrivel your lungs to embers. That’s where most of the rescuers are. Most think this part is still too dangerous to come into.”
“So rescuers are with them? Damnit. What about us?” Beau asked again, still not getting the information he needed.
“That’s why we came out here: to help, but they feel you should have evacuated, and there’s nothing but swamp people left here. No offense.”
Amadee snorted and muttered curses in French, “Dis always de way. Forgets de colored and the coon-ass.”
“We have people dying here,” Beau lowered his voice.
“You don’t say. That’s bad, but hell, we have a medic and a nurse. Mona, Curry, these people need medical attention.”
A slender man in his forties and a short, heavy-set woman jumped out of the boat and were directed to the houseboat.
“God, it stinks here,” Mona said.
Abagail showed them where the patients were, “I guess we hardly smell it now since we been here so long.” She felt a little hurt and envious that these people would go home later to clean beds, showers, fresh food, and comfortable surroundings. Everything she owned was under water and ruined. She said, “I did the best I could with what we had.”
“What happened?”
“Cotton mouth. Killed the other children. Looked like a nest of them were stirred up by the storms, and they were ill tempered,” Abagail said.
“A snake did this? It’s…he needs medicine, and this arm needs to be drained.”
“I know that, but we don’t have those tools and medicines right here with us. I was about to do that,” she said. Abagail felt a little defensive.
“With nothing but what you have? You’re a brave lady.”
Mona administered shots to numb his arm and gave him a pill to make him sleepy and antibiotics for the infection. She had Beau, Larry, and Abagail hold the child while another woman from the boats assisted her as she used a scalpel to press deep into the child’s arm after it was numb. Vicious, foul infection poured from the cut, and Mona wiped it away, seeing that tissue had turned to mush and the infection was deepening into his arm, “He needs antivenin.”
“My God, it’s like it’ll never stop draining.” She pressed, causing Eloi pain, and while he tried to writhe, he was held sti
ll, and Mona pressed the infection out, working until the wound was clear. She apologized many times for the pain she caused. She cleaned it out, shaking her head at the tissue loss. He had lost a third of his arm mass at the bite site. She applied cream and bandaged the child but noted that it looked as if the infection had gone into his blood stream now.
How the child had withstood this so far, she didn’t know.
“He okay now? That’s what I was gonna do and remove the arm if it didn’t work. Best I could anyway,” Abagail said.
Mona shook her head, “It’s not hopeful. You did an excellent job, to be truthful. In fact, you did amazing work, but I think he was in trouble from minute one. We’ll see if he responds to the pills, and if he doesn’t, it’s a matter of time.”
“He’s very sick.”
“He’s not doing well at all. His breathing is faint, and his heartbeat is thready.”
Curry cared for Lougenia. He went out to speak with Amadee, “Mr. Audette, there’s nothing I can do. I could use a power tool and crudely remove her leg higher up, and I have something to knock her out, but even with the IV pack I have, I don’t think it would be enough.”
“Dat’s a shame.”
“I don’t have many packs, and she’s lost a lot of blood. Moving her with this leg open and bleeding, well, she would die for sure. I’m surprised she survived this long. But, sir, she needs to have the bleeding stopped and that wound closed.”
“Dat fish done got her.”
“A shark. Unreal. A ‘gator, I could imagine, but a shark? She’s just not doing well, sir. I’m being honest.”
Amadee frowned and said, “She won’t be walkin’ or able to do a damned thing. In de swamps, we walk; we work; we can’t be crippled up and needy. How she gone get a husband or do chores or do anything ‘sides lay a’ bed?”
“But, she’s a child. I mean we may can save her, Mr. Audette.”
“You don’t have de little bit of idea of how hard de life is out in de swamps. You don’t know how we struggle to survive as it is,” he said it as sue-vive.
“I guess not.”