Rainbow Gap

by Lee Lynch

  With that, her mother drove out. Jaudon didn’t know what to say when Jimmy Neal returned.

  “Is everything all right, Jaudo? You look spooked.”

  “Momma was real strange.”

  She was grateful he didn’t ridicule Momma. “What did she say?”

  She told him.

  “How old is your mother?”

  “Momma married late and had Bat and me in her middle and late thirties. She’s closing in on sixty.”

  Jimmy Neal reached down to scratch his ankle. “Darned skeeters are picking on me today.” He aahed in relief. “I think your mother might want to be checked out by a doctor. Does she have one?”

  “She’s always said she doesn’t have time for doctors. Claims they don’t know a lick more than anyone with sense.”

  “And I thought I had problems.” Jimmy Neal shook his head. “Was it a stroke?”

  “Momma doesn’t put up with trifles like strokes.”

  “Has she fallen and hit her head?”

  “Not that I know of.” She was horrified at the thought. “Momma might not be a pleasant person, but she’s a towering old oak, she’s always there.”

  “Strong winds take down trees, Jaudon. Rocks fall.”

  “I guess strokes are tropical storms inside us.”

  “That’s one way to put it.”

  “And rocks fall apart into pebbles and sand.” It disturbed her to think of Momma in pieces on the ground, although in anger and hurt, she’d wished her worse often enough.

  Jimmy Neal looked solemn and sympathetic.

  “I’ll ask Berry about Momma, talk to Pops and suggest seeing a doctor. But what about Rigo? Will he be okay?”

  “He’s lucky in a way. He has acute hepatitis B. His doctor told him eat well, drink loads of fluids, and no alcohol or drugs. I checked one of my textbooks. Some people heal on their own in a few months. He has to report new symptoms and have blood tests to see if his liver is doing okay. The doc gave him a box of condoms and a good talking to so he doesn’t infect any girlfriends. Rigo teases me about being his best girlfriend.”

  “At least this spurred you to get healthy and slim down.”

  He started one of his loud sighs, stopped himself, and made the sign for zipping his lips. “You wait and see. I’m going to change.”

  Chapter Thirty-nine

  “Darn that Rigo,” said Berry. “Boys are so careless. You have no idea how many women come in with one infection or another that their men brought home.”

  “Married guys?” Jaudon asked.

  “Married men go with guys too. It’s a real eye-opener for the wives. Jimmy Neal’s practical to be careful. He has to insist on condoms. They both do. Jimmy Neal doesn’t need to worry about working as a nurse, though. We have a nurse who has the same virus and she can do everything the rest of us do. We’re trained in universal precautions.”

  They were on their way to Cullie and Allison’s place. She wore her best Hawaiian shirt. She took her eyes from the road to look at Berry in her pretty shorts and a cotton embroidered blouse with tiny sleeves, her dark hair short and gleaming. She’d even applied light pink lipstick. “I wanted to tell you about Momma too.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t get riled up, Berry. It might be nothing.” She was riled up herself and didn’t want to ruin the evening with friends by making Berry upset too. She had to let her know, though, or alarm her for certain.

  After she heard Jaudon out on the subject of Momma’s changed behavior, Berry’s response came slowly. “Have you talked to your father?”

  “I wanted to see what you thought first.” She grinned. “Isn’t that why I married a nurse?”

  Berry smiled but was silent. Jaudon peeked at her again and saw the patient look of exasperation.

  “You’re going to tell me to hustle her to a doctor.”

  “I’m trying to think what breed of doctor, Jaudon. Give me a minute. Why don’t you bring her to our office? We can refer from there.”

  “You sound so professional, Georgia gal.” She suspected she wasn’t as smart as Berry, though Berry told her more than once they were both smart at different things.

  “Professional the way you sound about the Beverage Bays.”

  Jaudon reached for Berry’s hand and brought it to her lips. “Are you sure we can’t turn around and go home?”

  “Why,” Berry said, giving Jaudon’s hand several light kisses too. “Did you have other plans for us at home?”

  Jaudon had embarrassed herself and answered with a shrug and a grin.

  Berry’s nerves were jangling. She giggled in excitement like she used to as a grade-schooler. “I think this is our first grown-up dinner party, Jaudon.”

  “I’d never think to organize a dinner party. People show up at our place, invited or not.”

  “Which is Rigo, most of the time,”

  “And Cullie. Don’t forget Lari. I don’t guess we’ll see so much of her anymore.”

  “This is confidential, Jaudon, and don’t you dare blab it to Rigo. Lari’s aunt’s started to see Dr. Gara. A lot of the women’s doctors around here don’t take Medicare so she’s been traveling up to Four Lakes. Apparently, Lari recommended us to her.”

  “There’s a surprise. Do you hear news of Lari?”

  “You’re still interested?”

  Jaudon laughed at the raised eyebrow. “Not that way, Berry.”

  “Her aunt says the medications are a miracle. She flew up to Minnesota to take Lari to her parents. Lari’s supposed to be like a new person.”

  “I’m darned glad she’s being a new person up there and not here.” She paused. “You know I will regret that minute, those seconds, for the rest of my life. It’s the one time I was almost glad to see Momma arrive at the store—seeing her stopped me in my tracks. It was this lightning surge through me, Berry, it wasn’t from love. I’m not trying to sidestep the blame, because I did it—no one else.”

  “She put herself in your path.”

  “She was nothing but an object, a magnet.”

  “You didn’t go looking for her.”

  “I didn’t resist her. It happened so fast I had no idea there was a force I should resist.” Jaudon was thoughtful. “I guess I might be a little bit off to have such an urge take me over, a man’s weakness.”

  “No.” Berry’s voice was firm. “It’s those all-powerful hormones. We’re going to make love more. A lot more. I’ll satisfy your appetite, Jaudon, wait and see.”

  She glanced at Berry’s face, saw the slight elfin smile, and had to take a deep breath to calm herself. What a beautiful woman Berry was. In their first years as lovers Berry was shy and playful. Lately, Jaudon saw a new smoldering in Berry’s smile.

  What, worried Berry, did she know of seduction? She determined to heighten her allure for Jaudon. She’d ask Rigo how. He knew about such mysteries.

  “I’m sorry to be the one to break the news, Jaudon,” she said. “Her aunt told me Lari’s coming down to finish school at the beginning of next term. She missed too many classes to graduate and can’t transfer the credits she does have.”

  Jaudon wrinkled her nose. “Trouble finds us, Berry. Did that ever occur to you too?” She pulled on the lobe of her ear to stop it ringing, not that pulling or pinching or anything else ever worked.

  “Gran says it’s life. The older we get, the more troubles we’ll see. She advised me against the word trouble and told me to say challenges, or blessings, since they test our mettle and bring out the best in us.”

  “I need to think about that one.”

  “If you greet trouble with a smile, it takes the sting out, according to Gran. She wants to turn around the way I think about Ma and Pa. She thinks I should smile every time they come into my mind and sooner or later I’ll stop being sad.”

  “Berry.” Jaudon gripped her hand. “That’s genius. Why didn’t I ever think of that? It’ll turn into a habit.”

  “I’ll link the memories with my
smile and my spirits will lift.”

  “It’ll lift my spirits, knowing you’re happier.” She squeezed Berry’s thigh.

  Was that true? Berry thought she was a mirror image of the whole state of Florida, all that wild, angry evil churning inside her like the teeming live things run riot beneath playgrounds and churches and careful lawns. Florida was a bridge of twigs over one big sinkhole, yet the bridge held, so far it held. She began to believe her parents left for some reason other than herself, but wasn’t convinced. Had she been a savage infant? Did they think she’d be a handful or too expensive to raise? Did they fear tantrums, malevolence, truancy—what? What was inside her that might erupt again?

  Jaudon said, “I hate to hear Lari’s coming back. I dasn’t be nice to her. She might take it the wrong way.”

  Berry thought her eyes must be turning greener than springtime. She stroked Jaudon’s knee to keep from saying anything when what she wanted was to load Bat’s shotgun against Lari. She pictured Lari on a gurney, torn, bloody, dead and gone, shook her head and forced a new picture: Lari in Wisconsin, wearing bright clothing, holding hands with her true mate as they walked along a lakeshore. With that image in mind, Berry was able to say, “You leave that piece of trouble to me, Jaudon.”

  “I’ll be glad to. Allison, though, she better not break Cullie’s soft heart.”

  “Allison told me you were worried about that. You can’t say Cullie didn’t know who she was falling for.”

  “She’s too loopy about Allison to see straight.”

  “At least Allison is with her. And has this,” said Berry, looking around the gated town house development called Orangewood Grove. “Cullie’s come up in the world.”

  Jaudon punched in the code to open the gate and parked in a visitor space.

  “Busman’s holiday,” she said. “Look at that swimming pool. I can’t believe we have friends in this ritzy neighborhood.”

  *

  They were admiring the lighted walkways, the underwater glow of the pool, and the manicured landscaping when Cullie came to the door, Kirby under one arm.

  “Howdy, howdy, howdy,” said Cullie.

  “Do you clean the pool?” Jaudon asked by way of a greeting.

  Cullie half laughed, half groaned as Berry hugged her. “Do you know how many people ask me that when they see the company sign on my truck outside? As a matter of fact, it’s how I found this place. They knocked a chunk off our rent because they needed a pool person.”

  Berry said, “This is one of those awful new condominiums that are gobbling up land.”

  Cullie cackled and rubbed Kirby’s paws together. “Aren’t we evil? We’re serving displaced wildlife for dinner with pie made of toxic withered pecans from abandoned orchards for dessert.”

  “I can’t wait,” Berry countered.

  Cullie led them inside and set Kirby down. The dog sniffed their ankles and trotted off.

  The furniture was scant, some of it the cast-offs Cullie had accumulated in her cabin, covered with Allison’s Indian throws and crocheted afghans.

  “You did a nice job decorating, Cullie.”

  Cullie snorted. “If you have a yen for Early 4th Century Modern.”

  “Jiminy, Cull. This place is classy—the whole house is air conditioned?”

  Cullie stopped and joshed her. “This house is the Taj Mahal by my standards. It’s also a nice address for my ambitious Allison. The developer can’t sell more than half the units, so he’s renting them.”

  “But it’s so nice. Why aren’t they selling?”

  “They’re overpriced, Berry. He’s going to wait out the market. He plans to lure buyers who want investment properties. Meanwhile, we’re living lives of luxury.”

  “What will happen to you and Allison when this one sells?”

  “Oh, Allison will already be mayor and I’ll be a cop. We’ll buy one of those houses in the historic district.”

  “A cop?” Jaudon asked, stopping short. “Cullie Culpepper, a cop?” She put her hands on her hips. “Did I misread you? I don’t see it, Cull. What’s got into you?”

  Cullie swiveled toward them, beaming, both hands pumping in the shape of pistols. “I wanted to be a cop since I was a babe in arms.” She guided them through the kitchen, the lanai, the bedroom turned into offices. “At the civil rights demonstrations, even a child could see there were better ways to treat people.”

  Berry said, “And here I thought you were a peace-lover.”

  “Good grief, child. Cops keep the peace. They used to be called peace officers, remember? With Allison on the city council, she’s twisting arms to make Four Lakes one of the first in the state to let women be real cops, not sworn clerks. Four Lakes is forward thinking in some ways—they’ve hired black deputies since the 1950s.” Cullie stood taller and straighter. “I’m shooting for top cop someday.”

  Jaudon had her hands stuffed in her pockets, trying not to be intimidated by so much ambition. “The two of you are going to run this town soon.”

  Berry said, “That was good horse sense on Allison’s part, starting out as a councilor.”

  “I told her to start small because taking the mayoral job away from Crum will take time.”

  They were in a hallway. Political signs covered the walls: Allison’s election campaign, Shirley Chisholm’s presidential campaign, a Sisters Unite poster, and flyers for gay pride and lesbian events around the country. “I don’t believe any politician should be in office more than two terms.”

  “Our ex-President Nixon, to be specific,” called Allison.

  Cullie led them into Allison’s studio. Allison sat at a drafting table, spraying a sheet of paper. They peered at the piece—it was a colored-pencil drawing of a doe and her fawn. Allison had drawn them in fantastical colors, with large beseeching eyes, and the forest around them was colored so like the animals’ fur, they were almost absorbed by their background.

  Jaudon was unsettled.

  Berry gave a murmur of distress. “They look so lost.”

  “That’s the idea,” Allison said, rising. “They’re losing their forests. Some have never seen a human before or a hunter. Who knows what colors animals see—why not these?”

  Cullie put an arm around Allison’s shoulders. “My deep and darling thinker. It spills into everything she does.”

  Allison started down the stairs. “Dinner should be ready, if you put the dumplings in, Cullie.”

  “I sure did.”

  “Smells great,” Berry and Jaudon said together.

  Kirby was seated in a pink bed at the far end of the kitchen.

  “Please bring them drinks, Cullie.”

  “I reckon I can do that for you, my little jujube.” Cullie nuzzled Allison’s neck.

  Jaudon rolled her eyes every time Cullie used jujube as an endearment. She hadn’t learned to lip-read many words, but that was one of them.

  Allison looked at Cullie, her face stern, eyes narrowed.

  Cullie said, “Mea culpa, I used my again. I know I don’t own you. No kidding, I know.”

  Jaudon looked to Berry for an explanation. Berry smiled her I’ll-tell-you-later smile.

  Cullie, pink in the face, offered them wine, but they both asked for sweet tea. “Allison’s the tippler in this family. I join her to bring out the wild sex kitten in her.”

  Allison lifted her head and laughed. Jaudon thought she heard a quiet titter out of Berry.

  While their hosts were in the kitchen, Berry looked at more drawings, these over the dining room buffet. How did they live with such eerie pictures all around them? They were dark in mood, but filled with exacting detail and pleasant colors. They were both fascinating and disturbing. What did they say about Allison?

  “You’re very good, Allison.”

  “Thank you, Berry. I’m torn between art and politics—too many passions. Life’s too short.” Allison hurried to the kitchen.

  She turned to Jaudon and asked, “Should we be living in a modern home with new furnitur
e?”

  “Heck, no,” said Jaudon. “We’re genuine Old Florida people. We’d hate it. Leastways, I would.”

  Berry nodded. “It’s so closed off from everything. A gate. Refrigerated air. I’d hate living like a caged animal.”

  “We might sweat, but it’s good Southern sweat. How does Cullie stand it here?”

  Cullie, with great slow care, carried a full-to-the-tip glass pitcher of sweet tea and returned to the kitchen. The table was set with matching plates and silverware with wooden handles. Berry admired both.

  Allison held up a dish. “These are stoneware. I bought them from a woman potter in California.”

  “Kirby, the dancing girls don’t come on until after dinner.” Kirby danced with her front paws up as Cullie brought in a large covered ceramic pot. She had to sidestep the dog all the way to the table.

  Allison lifted the cover and sniffed. “Perfect every time. We cooked it since dawn in one of those new Crock-Pots. You prepare the food and let it simmer all day.”

  “Or night,” said Cullie. “I fix oatmeal for the week in the slow cooker.”

  Allison filled Jaudon’s plate.

  Her mouth watered. “Is that white beans and rice? I love white beans and rice. And dumplings. Did you give it Cajun spicing?”

  Cullie said, “Jaudo, think who you’re talking to. It’s my Big Ma Ma’s personal recipe and she’s as Cajun as they come. I left out the sausage for Berry’s sake.”

  “Thank you. I was worried when I saw that pot.”

  Cullie spooned dinner onto Berry’s plate. “We didn’t think you’d appreciate gator stew.”

  “That’s a load off my mind.” Berry pretended to swipe her forehead with the back of her hand.

  Allison said, “Don’t you dare bring alligator meat into this house. It’s bad enough you order it in restaurants.”

  Jaudon made a chortling sound and poked Cullie’s shoulder with a fist. “You and me ought to go to Mudfoot’s Fish Fry sometime, Cullie. He makes real fine gator bites.”

  “My whole family used to go down there about once a year. It was a real special occasion.”