by Sable Hunter
“What?” Maytag looked around at just the right moment to almost shit his pants.
Splash! Bam!
A thirteen-foot gator came up out of the water, grabbed the chicken and splashed down, knocking the fishing pole into the water and hitting the side of the boat with a bang.
Maytag screamed, jumped, and nearly broke his neck getting to the other side of the boat.
Revel and T were laughing, even Rich Farley joined in. “You should’ve seen your face when that big gator jumped up, Maytag. I bet your underwear needs changing.”
Maytag didn’t respond right away; he was too busy trying to catch his breath. When he did regain his composure, he informed them it was time to call it a day. “I believe we have enough footage. Let’s take this barnacle laden tub back to the dock and head over to the camp.”
T followed his direction, but he didn’t appreciate his nice houseboat being called names. To make up for the insult, he intended to eat his weight in the boiled crawfish and the other seafood dishes at the cookout that was waiting for them. Rich Farley had bragged they were about to be treated to the best authentic cooking in South Louisiana. Neither he nor Revel mentioned that they’d been preparing Cajun and Creole dishes since they were old enough to reach the stove.
“Harper is supposed to meet us there. Are you seeing anyone these days?” Revel asked T as they maneuvered the houseboat through a section of the bayou where water lilies grew so thick, T-Rex was afraid his motor would get bogged down with roots wrapped around the rotor blades. He cut the speed down by half so he could pick and choose his path.
“Nope,” he answered in an offhand manner. “You know I don’t date.”
“I know there’s no reason you shouldn’t.” Revel stated, keeping his eye on their two passengers who were desperately trying to get a signal on their cell phones, holding them aloft and off the side of the boat. “Remember the gator!” he called. “He might not know the difference between the chicken and your arm holding the cell phone.” Revel snickered when they immediately pulled their limbs back within the parameters of the boat. Turning his attention to his friend, he finished making his point. “What would you do if Harper and I fixed you up?”
T frowned. “You know what I’d do. I’d get in this boat and hightail it deep into the Atchafalaya. People have been known to wander into those waters and never come back.”
“You know every inch of that swamp, what you don’t know is what a good guy you are.”
“I am a good guy,” T agreed, as he stood to maneuver the boat up to the dock next to the campsite. “I’m a good guy because I know my limitations. I don’t put myself into situations where I might not be in control.”
Revel didn’t get a chance to continue his mission to talk some sense into T-Rex. They’d had this conversation before, but he never ceased trying to persuade his friend to quit hiding from life.
After the houseboat was docked back into its proper place in front of his house, the men loaded up in T’s pride and joy, his white double cab dually, and headed to the filming crew’s campsite. They’d no more than stepped out of the truck when they heard an odd sound.
“What’s that noise?” Revel asked.
“Oh, that’s the woman who’s catering our meals. She’s been singing ever since she got here. And not very well I’m afraid.”
Goodbye Joe me gotta go, me oh, my oh
Gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
The voice sounded vaguely familiar to T. The next little bit of female warbling confirmed his suspicions.
My T-Rex, sweetest one, me oh, my oh
Son of a gun we’ll have big fun on the bayou
“Ye gods,” T groaned as Revel snorted. Was there time to run and hide? What was Glory Bee Hudson doing here? And why was she extolling his name in song?
Jambalaya, crawfish pie and filé gumbo
Cause tonight I’m gonna see my ma cher amio
Pick guitar fill fruit jar and be gay-o
Son of a gun we’ll have big fun on the bayou
“I take it that you know our Cajun crooner?” Revel asked with a grin.
T didn’t get a chance to answer. Glory looked up, spied T, and made a beeline for him. “T! I’m so glad to see you! I didn’t know you were going to be here. If I’d known you were coming, we could’ve rode together.” Truth be known, she’d been nervous about coming. Being the only woman in a camp full of strange men unnerved her, especially after her weird run-in with Jimmy Dubois. Going right up to him, she gave the big man a big hug.
“Glory.” He said her name, extricating himself gently from her embrace. T didn’t offer to introduce her to Revel. After his friend teased him, Glory’s attention embarrassed him for some reason.
“How’s the food coming, Miss Hudson?” Rich Farley asked.
“It’s ready,” she announced with a smile, not bothered at all by T’s reticence. She was still thrilled to have someone around she trusted.
“Glory did the cooking?” Even as he spoke the words, T knew they were a mistake. “So, our food came from the bait shop?”
Everyone stopped to look at him and Glory’s face fell.
“No, it didn’t,” she promised, turning to the people who were paying her. “A fisherman caught them. Everything is fresh and homemade.”
“Well, we’ll see,” Magtag warned. “We haven’t cut that check yet.”
T could tell he hurt her, but he didn’t get a chance to apologize. She ran to begin serving the people who were lining up to eat.
“Wow, way to go, Beaumont,” Revel chided him. “Want to tell me how you know her? I thought you said you weren’t seeing anyone.”
“I’m not seeing her,” T grumbled. “She’s taking care of Calvin’s Bait Shop these days. I’ve run into her a time or two.” Revel didn’t need to know he camped outside her door every night – and neither did Glory Bee.
“I bet you’ll run into her less now,” Revel remarked. “Shame. She’s a gorgeous woman and she seemed to really like you.”
“Yea, a little too much.” Hell, he’d been looking forward to the food, now he was just looking forward to leaving. “You know what?” He was about to take off when Revel punched him.
“Look! There’s Harper!” He elbowed T. “She brought you a surprise.”
“A surprise?” He brightened. T loved surprises.
Seeing Revel’s face light up when Harper came running over made T’s day. He knew how fate had kept them apart, and seeing them together made him happy – and as jealous as hell. “Harper, it’s good to see you.” He accepted her hug with a smile.
“Here, this is for you.” She gave him a bag. “I hope you enjoy it.” As soon as he touched his gift, he knew what it was. She’d recently been to New Orleans and Harper knew what he loved. “Pralines,” he said almost reverently. “I love pralines.”
“You do?” Glory asked, appearing out of nowhere. “I made bourbon pecan bread pudding to go with the Cajun dishes, but I have some pralines at home that I can give you. Remind me the next time you come over.” She turned to Harper and then to Revel. “Hello, I’m Glory Bee Hudson. I’m so pleased to make your acquaintance.”
“As we are you!” Harper’s eyes widened as she smiled at Glory and then at T. “And how do you know T-Rex?”
T looked at Revel for help, but there was no aid forthcoming.
“I run Calvin’s bait shop now, and T has come to my rescue several times, first from a hungry alligator, and second from a storm. T-Rex was nice enough to let me sleep with him at…”
“Glory, I think they need you over there.” T interrupted her and pointed at two men who seemed to be waiting for her to refill a serving dish.
“Be right there! Save me a place, T-Rex, I want to sit with you while we eat.”
“Somebody push me off the dock,” he mumbled, aware that his friends were enjoying his predicament.
“She spent the night with you?” Revel asked. “In your bed?”
“Only after
she wandered in there while sleepwalking.”
Harper giggled and Revel applauded. “Thank God. You’re not hopeless after all.”
“Nothing happened.” T insisted, moving down the line toward the food.
“I’ve heard that story before.” Revel continued to give him a hard time.
Over the next hour, T found himself swept along between two women and a Judas of a friend who seemed hell-bent on driving him bat-shit crazy. He had to admit the food was good though, Glory was a hell of a cook. When he got the chance, he told her so.
“The meal was delicious, Glory. All of it was just as good as that gumbo you gave me the other day.”
Glory gave him a mischievous grin. “So, it didn’t taste like it came from a bait shop?”
He grinned back. “Well, it did, didn’t it? Technically?”
“Yes,” she conceded, taking a deep breath. “I’m just glad it all worked out. If it hadn’t been for Jimmy Dubois, I’d have been up the creek without a paddle.”
T frowned. “What about Dubois?”
“Oh, he stopped by and introduced himself. I was upset that day, I felt like everything was falling apart. He caught me crying and offered to help. I didn’t have any money to pay him, but he was willing to bring me the crawfish if I would go out with him on a date.”
“What?” T bellowed, causing everyone around him to jump. Dubois wasn’t to be trusted. Hell, some said he’d given a couple of women date rape drugs. Just yesterday he’d heard a rumor that Jimmy’s brother, Pete, was running drugs through the swamp for a gang in New Orleans who was selling to one in Texas.
She waved her hand. “It’s okay. He’s harmless. I’ll go on the picnic with him. I think he’s just lonely and a lot weird.”
T felt his anger rise. “That bastard! There’s no way you’re going anywhere with him! You be careful around that guy, Glory. He’s not to be trusted.”
“Oh, compared to you, the man was scrawny. I think I can take him.” Rising, she left T to go clean up and gather her dishes.
T let out a long breath. He’d take care of Dubois and have a damn good time doing it.
Revel and Harper had gotten side-tracked during the meal. The stars of the show, Barnard Shaw and Salty Dog Renfro, had latched onto them. They wanted to pitch an idea to the producers to film a Halloween episode using Harper’s family home and the nearby, purportedly haunted swamp, as a backdrop. T could’ve left, but he hung around waiting to talk to his friends, which gave him a perfect excuse to keep an eye on Glory.
Once Revel extricated them from the overly exuberant pair, they made their way to T. “I told them they were missing out not using you in the Halloween episode. With some of the stories you could tell, you’d have them running scared through the swamp.”
T slapped his buddy on the back. “With all we’ve got going on at work my plate’s full. Besides, I’m already scheduled to speak at the Houma Festival next week.”
“What festival?” Harper asked, her eyes lighting up.
“The Rougaroux Festival, it should be a blast.”
“I want to go,” Harper informed Revel.
“We’re going,” Revel explained. “I have to set up a booth for the Corps.”
“Good! This sounds fun. Why don’t we ask Glory to go with us?” Harper asked both men.
“Go where?” Glory rejoined them, stepping close to T, and leaning on his arm just a bit. When he moved a few inches away, she almost lost her balance.
Harper saw his actions and frowned at him.
His actions didn’t seem to faze Glory. It was as if she didn’t expect him to treat her nicely. For some reason this irritated T even more.
“We’re going to a Festival in Houma next weekend.” Harper informed her. “Do you want to join us?”
“Please!” she answered with joy. T gave Harper a hard stare, she just smiled in return.
“Oh, quit worrying,” Glory told T, aware of his discomfiture. “I won’t jump you at the festival or anything.” She winked at him. “I’ll save that for when we’re alone.”
Revel roared with laughter. “I like this woman.”
“Thank you,” Glory answered, looking pleased with herself. “Well, I’ve got to go. These dishes won’t clean themselves.”
T watched her go while Revel and Harper watched T. “Remind me to invite them over for dinner,” she whispered to Revel.
“I can hear you, Harper,” T-Rex grumbled. Harper started to explain, but he wasn’t paying attention. His focus was on Glory and she was having trouble. The old beat-up truck of Calvin’s wouldn’t start. “Excuse me.” He walked off, leaving his friends who followed his every movement with interested eyes.
“Dammit!” she hit the steering wheel. “Why me?”
“Possibly because you didn’t put gas in the engine.”
Glory looked up to see T standing at her open window. “It has gas, I checked,” she sounded defeated. “You wouldn’t believe all the trouble I had pulling this off. I so wanted everything to be perfect.”
“It was perfect, Glory. Get out.” He opened the door and waited for her to climb down and move out of the way so he could get in. T tried to crank it, but the engine wouldn’t turn over.
“See?”
“Maybe you flooded it.”
He got out and went to the front, raising the hood. After poking around for a bit, he saw it. “Your carburetor is completely clogged. This thing probably hasn’t had an oil change since Truman was president.”
“Who?”
He glared at her and she laughed. “Kidding.” Shrugging, she agreed. “You’re probably right.” Looking around at Farley and Maytag, she mused. “Maybe I can get a ride from one of them.”
T clenched his fist. He felt like he was being squeezed by a big vise. “I’ll take you home. Gather your things.”
“Yay!”
Her delighted smile touched him. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Just so I’d take you home.”
“Oh, yea.” She nodded her head. “I chugged up the carb-whatever just in case you might show up.” As he got her stuff out of the back, she held her arms out to help. “Although, I will admit I would’ve tried it if I’d thought of it.”
“I bet you would have.”
“What should I do, though?” She looked at the truck. “Just leave it here?”
“Yea, I know the owners of this camp. I’ll give them a call tonight and tell them the truck is here. Tomorrow, I’ll come check it out. If I can’t get it started, I’ll tow it back to the house.”
“Oh, thank you, T.” Glory went on tiptoe to kiss his cheek…he thought. Much to his surprise, she put a small hand to his cheek and turned his head just in time to cover his mouth in a quick, sweet kiss.
As she practically skipped to his truck, she left him standing there looking floored. Every time she kissed him, T fell a little deeper under her spell.
“What have you been doing since I saw you last?” she asked as if nothing had happened.
Playing guard dog for you, he could’ve told her. Getting his bearings, he fell in behind her. “Just working. You?”
“Same. I’ve been cleaning up the place a bit. It was a mess.”
“Speaking of a mess, wipe your feet before you get into my truck.”
“Yes, sir.” He loaded her stuff, then turned to help her in, but she’d beat him to it, even leaning over the console to open his door from the inside. “Allow me.”
T-Rex got in. “You’re so strange.”
“Hey, enjoy it. I’m untainted by the normal male/female dynamic.”
“What do you mean?”
Glory shrugged. “I’m actually the first cloned human. I was raised in a lab at LSU in Baton Rouge, kept there for observation until just a few months ago. That’s why I’m so horny, I’m trying to make up for lost time.”
T stared at her like she was crazy.
“Kidding.” She laughed, then paused a second. “Except for the horny part.” When he jerked his hea
d toward her, almost backing into another car, she laughed again.
The drive from the camp to the bait shop wasn’t far as the crow flies, but the road that wound through the swamp seemed to go on forever. T-Rex wasn’t very talkative, but Glory more than made up for it. She spent part of the time telling him about a strange customer she’d served. “He had red hair and a red beard, T, and I swear this is true,” she ran the side of her hand along the center part of her hair all the way down to her chin, “he’d shaved his hair off, his eyebrow and his beard all off one side of his head, leaving the other side long.”
“I bet he was pretty kooky looking.” T chuckled, more at Glory’s expression than the scene she painted. “I wonder why he did it?”
“I asked. He said he’d lost a bet.”
“Sounds likely.”
“Maybe.”
Glory grew quiet, rubbing a seam on the edge of the armrest. “I hope you can fix Calvin’s old clinker. It’s the only transportation I have, you know.”
“Don’t worry. If I can’t fix it, I’ll get Spicer to look at it.”
“Spicer?”
“He runs a boat repair shop a few miles down the bayou. Spicer can fix anything.”
“Okay. Just let me know how much. I pay my own way, you know.” All of a sudden, Glory yelled, “Stop!”
T hit his brakes, startled. “What’s wrong?”
She jumped out of the truck and ran down into the ditch, coming back with a purse. “Look!” After cleaning her feet, she climbed back in, refastening her seat belt. “Okay, I’m good.”
T didn’t say anything, just started back up as she rummaged in the purse looking for identification.
“Ethel Watson. Oh, T, according to her I.D., she’s eighty-two. And she has four-hundred forty-two dollars in cash.” Glory glanced at him, a little worried furrow on her brow. “We have to get it back to her. She might need it.” Looking a little deeper. “Here’s her blood pressure medicine!” She certainly knew how worried she’d be if her medicine was lost.