by Nat Burns
Righteous leaned back and fanned his face with one hand. “It’s like tribal or something. They get by ’cause they help each other. They have their own Gypsy laws that have nothing to do with Redstar and they make things to trade with each other for money. I guess you figured out Sophie doctors them and they pay her in food and other stuff. They’ve lived this way, well, forever.”
“Out here?” Delora’s eyes were wide.
Sophie jumped in. “It’s just a way of life using old customs. It’s not so different from what you have in Redstar, it’s just not so nine-to-five. The kids, most of them, go to the public schools.”
“They party harder, too,” Righteous added with a loud laugh.
Sophie bristled. “Just what do you know about it, smartass? You’re not even one of us.”
“Everyone knows, Miss Sophie,” he answered wryly.
Delora laughed. “I didn’t know. I’ve just heard about the healers, off and on most of my life. My foster mother doesn’t approve. Says y’all are ‘Godless heathens.’”
Sophie grunted. “As far as I’m concerned, living with the bayou puts you a whole lot closer to God than most churches do.”
Sophie pulled the car to a halt in front of a small house made mostly of tarred paper and wood scraps. Smoke emanated from the crumbling brick chimney even though it was in the high nineties outside. A large mixed-breed dog circled the car barking with hoarse bursts of sound.
“Will he bite?” asked Righteous as he eyed the dog nervously.
Sophie looked at Delora and they broke into spontaneous laughter.
“What?” Righteous turned to look at them. “I don’t like big dogs.”
“I do,” said Delora as she edged open the door. The dog was there immediately, inserting his nose into the crack and trying to wriggle his way in. Obviously, this dog had never met anyone who wasn’t a friend.
“Hi there, big boy,” Delora said, opening the door and scrubbing behind the dog’s ears. He tried to jump in her lap as big dogs so often do, and Sophie’s voice rang out like a gunshot.
“Joe! Sit.”
The dog reacted with military precision. He fell away from Delora like rain off a roof, then whined as if in apology. Delora turned and saw Sophie had come around her side of the car, her backpack trailing from one hand.
Delora pondered this new side of Sophie, having never seen her raise her voice. It was a little frightening but also garnered respect. Slowly she swung her legs out of the car until her feet were on the ground. She turned and looked at Righteous who shrugged and opened his own door. Cautiously, Delora extended one hand and rubbed the dog’s ear. He did not rise, but his tail swept the ground gleefully. His tongue lolled and he appeared to be smiling. Delora rose and moved past him, and the dog eyed Sophie expectantly. She nodded and, rising calmly, he followed them toward the front porch.
An elderly woman wearing a tattered dress and a grimy white apron answered the door.
“Hello, púridaia. I’m here to see tikni. Arisel called me.”
The woman eyed Righteous and Delora with mistrust.
“They Geyro, Geyri are with me and mean no harm to ken. No mumpli, narkri.”
Still eyeing the strangers with cautionary eyes, the woman opened the door wider. Sophie entered first with Delora behind and Righteous last.
“Don’t say anything or look at anything too closely,” Sophie whispered to them as they passed through. “Please be careful.”
Frightened into silence, Delora and Righteous clustered close. They tried not to stare too obviously at the heavily furnished home. Though highly cluttered with belongings, the home was elegant due to the wealth of colorful hangings that draped the walls of the large, one-room home. Beds, situated around three of the walls, were partially recessed and draped with heavy tapestries. A kitchen of sorts had been built as an outcropping on one wall and a large wood cookstove emitted an uncomfortable heat into the room. The smell of spices and an odd smell, reminding Delora of how dry and scentless a cat smells, filled the home.
Two dark-haired children sat on cushions in the center of the floor, surrounded by wooden toys. They looked up expectantly when the trio entered. One child, the smaller of the two, looking to be about three years old, immediately draped one arm across half her face. Her body ducked forward from the waist as she tried to disappear from sight.
Sophie spoke softly to the older child, Lally, who might have been six, her voice a singsong of harsh gutturals and trilling lilts. Lally spoke to the younger and, taking her free hand, led her toward the door. The elderly woman spoke then.
“Drabéngro, purochikni?”
“Dood better. I must see, dik dik, to help the healing. We go to the front for light only, no dur.”
“Kushti,” the old woman agreed, nodding. She accompanied them onto the front porch. The small child hesitated coming through the door, and the grandmother and sister urged her onward with soft admonishments.
Delora’s eyes were wide as she watched Sophie turn the ravaged child into full sunlight. The child was pretty, with rust-colored skin and hair shining like coal in the afternoon light. She peered shyly at Delora and Righteous with her one good eye. The other, mostly hidden by her arm, was half-buried beneath skin that had melted along one cheek. The burn slashed across her face and onto her neck, and Delora wondered what could have caused such a thing.
“It was a bonfire,” Sophie explained as if reading Delora’s thoughts. She said it in a singsong voice as she playfully pulled the child’s arm from the burned area so she could see. Delora realized that the child didn’t understand English as Sophie started singing to her in that language of their people. Romany, was it? They were playing a game in which Sophie would sing a phrase and pull down the child’s protective arm. The child would respond with her own lilting phrase and, laughing, cover her face again, peering out at Sophie with her one good eye. Joe, wanting to be involved in the fun, came lumbering onto the porch, almost knocking Delora over. He raced around Sophie and Imny until Lally grabbed his collar and, slapping his haunches, made him sit still.
Reaching into her pack, Sophie brought out a plastic water bottle with no label, but marked with a large black X, and shook it to mix the contents.
“Lon meski,” she explained to Imny, making sure the grandmother heard. “Drab, drab, no goodlo, no peeve, wafti peeve, jin Imny? Jin púridaia? Jin borri pen?”
Sophie eyed the grandmother and sister archly until they nodded with solemn grace. “This is not for drinking. It’s medicine,” she reiterated in English. Soaking a sterile gauze square with the mixture, she laid it on part of Imny’s wound. The small girl stood very still as Sophie added two more gauze squares to cover the burned area and then pressed the girl’s hand up to them to hold them in place. “Desh, desh. Hold it twenty minutes. Jin?”
“Jin,” Imny replied. With one more bashful look at Delora and Righteous, Imny scurried inside.
Sophie bent and lifted Lally into her arms. They danced around the porch as Sophie hummed, Lally breaking into helpless laughter. The grandmother looked on with a stoic face. Sophie put Lally down finally and spoke at length to the child, who smiled shyly at Delora and Righteous as she slipped wraith-like through the door and inside.
Delora and Righteous moved down the steps, understanding that the visit was almost over. Delora motioned Joe to her and began scratching him along his back. He chuffed with pleasure.
Digging into her pack, Sophie produced a small squat plastic container. She handed the grandmother the container and the bottle and instructed her in how to apply the salve and made sure she knew how often to apply the salt-tea. She also gave her a stack of sterile gauze squares and promised to come back in a week.
Eyes darting to the strangers, the grandmother spoke low to Sophie, then moved inside. Sophie smiled at Delora and waited, making sure her pack was closed. Moments later the old woman reappeared and handed Sophie a handkerchief tied in a knot. Sophie bowed low and pressed the back of the woman�
�s hand to her cheek. The grandmother smiled slightly and disappeared inside.
In the car the trio were silent for some time, almost until they reached the turn for the Skope place. “Well,” Sophie said. “Everybody okay?”
“That poor kid,” Righteous said softly. “Will it ever get any better?”
“Oh, sure, as she grows. The medicines I gave her will help keep any infection down and will slough off the top layers of disfigured skin. She’ll always have some redness, but it’ll be okay.”
Her eyes went to Delora. “Lora, you okay?” She was anxious to see her reaction to Imny Weirtis’s burns. The sight had rocked Sophie the first time, and she’d waited for this day to bring Delora along. It was a way of reminding Delora that there were others worse off.
“How did it happen?”
“Imny fell during the dancing at the Beltane bonfire. That’s this past May. She landed right on a burning log.”
“How awful. It must have hurt her so badly.”
Sophie sighed. “Yes, it did. She was in pain for a while and so young she couldn’t understand why we had to hurt her further to examine her. Grandam came with me the first time because she and the grandmother there knew one another. It made things easier but was still tough. They live by the old ways and would have let the child die.”
“No!” Delora exclaimed, one hand covering her mouth.
“She’s right, Delora. These old families leave everything to fate, not believing in modern medicine. Imny never went to a hospital, did she, Sophie?”
“Nope. Just me and Grandam.”
“I’m glad she lived,” Delora exclaimed tentatively.
Sophie parked the car outside a weather-worn Victorian home, and watched Delora closely. “Really? Even though her life will be harder? Her family will have a hard time arranging a mate for her. Many of the clan will think her disfigurement will pass on to the children. They won’t know any better.”
Delora dropped her head and nodded. “Even so.”
Righteous opened the back door of the car and stretched in the hot midday sun.
“Howdy, Mrs. Skope,” he called to a dark-haired woman who sat on the front porch, fanning herself with a magazine.
“Who’s that with Miss Sophie?” the woman called, coming to her feet.
“It’s me, Righteous Michie,” he said, moving closer.
“Lawd, will you look,” she exclaimed coming slowly down the porch steps and drawing the lanky man close. “As I live and breathe.”
She turned to Delora. “I changed this boy’s diapers,” she crowed.
Sophie came around the side of the car. “I wouldn’t admit that, Shirley. It must have been an alarming experience.”
Shirley pulled a face and laughed until she was hunched over gasping for air. Sophie watched Delora watching Shirley and felt amusement tickle her. Delora obviously didn’t know quite what to make of the bayou people. Shirley wore traditional dress mostly, with the scarf over her dark hair and the vibrantly colored long skirt. Unfortunately, she also defied custom and wore a blue Dallas Cowboys T-shirt. And flip-flops on her bare feet. She was a large woman too, with a good-sized double chin and a wide girth that she carried gracefully.
“Shirley, this is my friend Delora. She’s riding with me today. I hope you don’t mind.”
Shirley grinned. “Shoot no, happy for the company. Got lots of iced tea. Or fresh sweet lemonade if you’d druther. Come on in here and set a spell.”
“I can’t stay long, Mrs. Skope. You know I’m working over in Goshen now.”
“Yes, I heard, Righteous, and I can’t say I appreciate you working in such a place. Why don’t you come on back here? Redstar’s gotta have something for you. The women here are better too.” She looked at Delora, her matchmaker’s mind obviously whirling. “You just need to find a good woman to settle with.”
Sophie jumped to Righteous’s rescue. “Now, Shirley, leave the boy be. Where’s Firis? Is she feeling okay?”
They had entered into a spacious, well-used kitchen. Plants decorated the windows and cooking supplies littered the countertops. A bowl of lemons rested next to a cutting board covered with cut and squeezed lemon halves. The cold pitcher of lemonade drew Righteous.
“Looks good, Mrs. Skope.”
“You help yourself, boy.” She scurried to a cabinet and pulled down three glasses. She handed one to Righteous and waited while he poured.
Sophie meandered through the house until she reached a bedroom door that looked as though it belonged to a teen. She knocked and a weak voice called out for her to enter. Inside she found Firis Skope, a somewhat pudgy seventeen-year-old, lying supine with a pillow over her face.
“Hey, Firis, it’s me,” Sophie said loudly as she entered the room. “Feeling pretty bad, huh?”
Firis turned her head and gestured weakly. “Laws, so sick, Miss Sophie. Feel like I could just lay over and die.”
Sophie clucked sympathetically. “Now what good would that do? I promise it’ll pass.”
She moved to sit on the bed next to the moaning teen. Her probing questions were gentle and kind as one hand pressed coolness into the girl’s forehead.
Delora looked after Sophie and felt torn between following her or engaging in the entertaining gossip Shirley was sharing with Righteous. They were like two magpies raucously discussing people Delora didn’t know. Delora felt as though she was really missing out on an exciting facet of worldly existence.
Moving gingerly, she sank into the chair Shirley absently pulled out for her. Someone named Lorent Mays had passed on a scorching case of herpes to a gal named Alice Shores and she wasn’t the first. Seems Alice found out, after the fact, that dear Lorent had quite a reputation in southern Alabama. Shirley found out all this firsthand, as Alice was a member of the Fun & Fit club in Redstar. Seems Alice was having a good bit of pain every time she went to urinate and she shared this information with the cluster of women in her workout group, hoping for a remedy that worked. Only then did she discover what had been passed to her. She asked for their prayers in one breath and cursed Lorent’s heritage in the next. She would certainly never see that snake again.
“But you know she will,” declared Shirley, confiding in her audience. “He’s charmed her and will again. Some men just do that.”
Righteous bit his lip, aghast at the news. “I hear about this sort of thing all the time at the Thirsty Rogue.” He shuddered. “Even though people are warned. I just don’t understand it.”
Delora watched in amazement as the talk moved on to the best recipe for icebox pickles. Righteous shared one from his grandmother and Shirley declared that more lime soak than a little made for a much better pickle.
“I agree,” Sophie said as she entered the room and slid into the fourth chair at the table. She helped herself to a glass of iced tea. “Clary always puts two to one even though most recipes call for one to one. Makes a big difference in how crisp the cukes come out.”
Her eyes found Delora, gauging her comfort level. Delora glanced back at her, eyes complacent.
Shirley leaned forward. “So, it is, isn’t it?”
Sophie nodded. “Looks like January or February. Will she stay with school?”
“Hmmm.” Shirley shook her head in the negative. “Probably not. Never been good there.”
The four fell silent.
“There’s the GED. Make sure she does that. The schools all have a program now. I can help her find out about it if she needs me to. Okay?”
Shirley leaned forward to pat Sophie’s hand. “We sure do thank you, Miss Sophie. I’ll keep after her and let her know you’ll help.”
“I’ll check back in about a month. Let me know if there’s any bleeding or pain.”
She lifted her pack to her knees and rummaged through it. “Here’s tea for the sickness. May want to make some now. She’s having a lot of that and can have the tea whenever she complains. Here’s vitamins too, one every night at bedtime. Make sure she drinks juice, orange is
best, and try to make her eat good food, like green stuff. These first few months are the most important even though she’s not showing yet. The baby’s in there, coming together, and it needs the best it can get, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Shirley said with a very serious air. She lifted the plastic bag of tea and rose to put the kettle on. She stood by the range reading the directions Sophie had written on the outside of the packet. “She’ll be glad to have this, I know.”
Delora studied the box of over-the-counter vitamins and wondered how Sophie could afford to supply the people of the bayou when most paid in barter. The fact that the Cofe family had made it work for so long filled Delora with an odd sense of pride. It was no wonder all the bayou families respected the healers as they did. It was magic, pure and simple.
Righteous was telling a story about his grandmother’s herb garden and the teas made from it. Delora watched Sophie’s interest and envied her intelligence. There appeared to be a whole universe of knowledge that Delora knew nothing about. This herb knowledge...the knowing what a growing baby needed the first few months after conception…the knowing of what to apply to poor Imny’s burned skin. Delora’s hand crept low and pressed against her abdomen. Without her realizing it, the injury to her own burns had convalesced after Sophie’s ministration. Delora felt whole for the first time in a long time.
Firis appeared in the hallway. Her face was flushed and she was unsteady. Without thinking, Delora leapt up to take the girl’s arm and guide her to the chair. Firis looked at Delora in surprise but smiled and let herself be led to the table.
“Firis, this is my friend, Delora November.” After her initial surprise, Sophie felt a sense of completeness fill her.
“Hi, Firis,” Delora said. “I hear congratulations are due. Are you excited?”
Firis settled into Delora’s abandoned chair and rested her face in both hands. “Not yet, Miss Delora, just sick so far. Feels like my stomach wants to come out my mouth.”
Shirley filled the cup she’d prepared with water from the kettle. “You’ll have some of this tea Miss Sophie brought, sweet girl, and I bet it’ll make you right in no time.”