by Emery, Lynn
*****
“Girl, what are we going to do? That devil woman is bad news. Now my Auntie Mae has got some really good potions.” Charice ignored the large half eaten po-boy lay ignored on her plate for once as they had lunch one Saturday.
Since the end of the trial several weeks ago there had been a few more acts of vandalism directed against members of the committee. But even more unsettling, Savannah had begun to be a particular target. Her tires slashed, a dead black cat left hanging on her bedroom window, and more gris gris.
“That’s a joke, right? Besides, we don’t know it’s LaShaun. Plenty of people are mad at us for helping put the future of Big River on the line.” Savannah nervously stirred her salad.
“This has got that witch’s name written all over it. And no, this is no joke. You gotta fight fire with fire.”
“You’re starting to talk like Nenaine and Tante Marie. Hoodoo, voodoo, and hocus pocus?” Savannah stabbed her fork in the air for emphasis.
“Oh yeah, well there must be something to this stuff.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at you.”
“At me? There’s nothing the matter with how I look.”
“So sorry, but as your loving friend I have to say you look like death on a soda cracker. You’ve lost weight, you’re jumpy as hell, and you have that `I got the low-down-my-baby-done-left-me-blues’ daze on your face. Girl, you ain’t been taking care of yourself!” Charice shook her arm.
“Thank you for that little pep talk.”
“You claim it’s not because of Paul, but who do you think you’re fooling? I bet Morticia put the hex on that, too.”
“Will you get up off that kind of talk? Paul and I were never solid, especially when it came to his working for Trosclair. I’m telling you, it wouldn’t have lasted anyway.”
“Y’all looked pretty solid to me for awhile there. But I have to agree, being on opposite sides of that fight didn’t make for smooth sailing in the tunnel of love. So maybe it was inevitable.” Charice shrugged.
“Well, at least you’ve finally agreed with me on that.”
“Yeah, especially seeing as how you were always provoking him on the subject.”
“Say what?” Savannah sat up straight in her chair for the first time in weeks.
“Lord knows, maybe I could have helped had I gotten to you two wonderful kids in time. And now, seems like I’m going to have save you from the voodoo queen.”
“Why you—“
“Now, now. No need to say how thankful you are. Hey, I’m here for you.”
“Gratitude wasn’t what I was about to express, you can believe that. And you save me? You still jump three feet when I come up behind you and yell `Boo!’ the same time every year on Halloween night. Damn, won’t you ever catch on? It’s me, fool!” Savannah gave her a swat with her large napkin laughing.
“Shoot, you keep catching me off guard.” Charice howled with glee. For the next several minutes, they fought to regain control. After reliving more silly memories they were able to speak without spluttering incoherently mid sentence.
“Thanks for that, girlfriend. You could always say the right thing, no matter how foolish—” Savannah made a face.
“Wait now. You started out okay.”
“You know what I’m saying.” Savannah put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. They didn’t need to say anymore.
“Serious though, you and Paul are finished?” Charice stared straight into her eyes as if the read the truth there rather than in her words.
“I’m afraid so. We said some things that I don’t think we can take back.”
Charice took a deep breath. “With everything else you’ve got to deal with now, I hate to bring it up but…”
“Well?” Savannah prodded her after a few seconds of silence.
“LaShaun. That woman has got to be dealt with head on.”
“I think that would play right into her hands, Charice. This psyche she is trying to put on me won’t work if I ignore it.” Savannah began twisting her hair.
“You are still having serious questions about what happened between your mama and her mama. You telling me that deep inside you don’t believe something evil went down?”
“People can commit evil without voodoo being the cause. Tante Marie told me some of what happened, but Poppy could tell the whole story. I’m sure of it.”
“Yeah, but do you really want to know?”
“What are you talking about? I’ve wanted to know more all my life.”
“You say that but remember that old curse; be careful asking for what you want, you just might get it.”
“I need to know the truth, all of it. No matter how bad it is, it’s worse not knowing.”
The next day Savannah rose early to attend mass with Antoine and Tante Marie. The church was filled with friends and neighbors. She was delighted with the changes the new young priest had made in the service since he’d come six years ago. The choir was filled with young people whose voices were robust and rich. Drums, a guitar, and an electric piano had been added to the old organ as accompaniment. Along with traditional hymns, the church was filled with the sounds of hand-clapping, foot tapping gospel songs.
“Hey, Miss Savannah. Hey, Mr. Antoine.” Crystal and Nikki chimed sweetly in unison. Crystal wore a pink jumper, Nikki a pale blue one. Each wore a crisp white blouse underneath with lace around the collars and the cuffs of the sleeves.
“Hey, sugar dumplings. Don’t y’all look pretty this mornin’.” Antoine bent down to speak to them.
“Hello, you cute things. You sure do.” Savannah smiled at them.
“Thank you.” The girls stood holding hands.
“Don’t let ‘em fool you, they haven’t been the little angels they’re pretending to be now.” Charice shook her head in affectionate exasperation.
“I like high spirited girls, they the sweetest kind.” Antoine tickled them both and was rewarded with the bright tinkle of little girl laughter.
“Good morning, everyone. My, what charming kids.” LaShaun appeared suddenly from the crowd. The old woman holding onto her arm glowered at Antoine but said nothing.
“Good morning, LaShaun. How are you, Monmon Odette?” Antoine faced them.
“You ain’t been in dis church too regular, Antoine. I know ‘cause I be here most Sundays even wid all my ailments.” Monmon Odette’s voice was surprisingly strong, her heavy Creole accent an indication that she felt more comfortable speaking the patois. Her frail body seemed shrunken from old age and arthritis yet her eyes were bright and alert to her surroundings.
“No. Been comin’ more since my daughter come home. How’s your health?” Antoine spoke in a respectful tone.
“Well as can be expected at my age. You lookin’ spry youself. Now this girl of yours, she kinda pale like she ain’t too well. What’s wrong wid you, child?”
“I’m just fine, ma’am.” Savannah returned her stare boldly.
“Look like your maman. She was a good lookin’ child, too. A little nervy though. You get to feelin’ too poorly, you come see Monmon Odette. She’s got some old herbs that will fix you right up.” The old woman cackled as she patted Savannah’s hand.
“Yes, come by to visit,” LaShaun grinned. “I don’t think you’ve ever been to our house.”
“Mornin’ Monmon Odette, LaShaun.” Tante Marie joined them along with Nenaine Shirleen. Nenaine Shirleen said nothing, but her sour expression spoke volumes.
“Marie, how you doin’?” Monmon Odette squinted at the two older women, her expression losing its humor.
“We all doin’ good. In fact, we doin’ even better since old Trosclair been put in his place.” Tante Marie drew up her shoulders with pride.
“Better be careful who you cross. Mr. Claude, he don’t like nobody messin’ up his business. Then too, plenty folks got somethin’ to lose if that plant got to shut down.” Monmon Odette cocked her head to one side.
“I ‘spect you
right.” Tante Marie raised an eyebrow at her. “Got to be real careful ‘bout who you cross.”
“Yeah well. Best we get on home, girl.” Monmon Odette nodded curtly to them before turning to leave. LaShaun sneered unpleasantly at them all. They slowly made their way to a large dark blue Cadillac Seville. They heard the beep of the car alarm being shut off. With much care, LaShaun got her grandmother settled in the front seat.
“Will you look at their car? That thing is loaded.” Charice’s eyes were wide with admiration.
“They get a new one every two years or so. Monmon Odette got money. How she got it, well I’d rather not say in front the church.” Nenaine Shirleen grunted in disapproval.
“You ought not to repeat old nasty gossip. Monmon Odette ain’t nothin’ but an old woman got left well off by her husband—“ Antoine spoke sharply.
“More than one.” Nenaine Shirleen was undaunted by his scolding.
“And you should feel sorry for her. She never did get over Francine dyin’ like that. Losin’ somebody you love sudden is hard.” Antoine left them, his shoulders hunched as if he walked against a strong wind.
“Why is Mr. Antoine being so generous about that old—. Crystal, Nikki, y’all go say bye to Father Trahan.” Charice stopped short seeing her two young ones were all ears.
“He’s a good-hearted man,” Nenaine Shirleen said after the children had left.
“Antoine been feelin’ bad ‘bout them Rousselle women for years. He kinda feels like a lot of what happened was his fault. Odette losing a daughter, LaShaun her mother.” Tante Marie watched the figure of her brother moving away down the sidewalk towards town.
“Maybe I should go after him.” Savannah had been watching him, too.
“No, he gone walk off his sadness. He needs to be alone for awhile. Let’s go.”
*****
Later that afternoon, the house was quiet. Tante Marie nodded off sitting on the porch. The April weather was cool, the sunshine added just the right amount of warmth, and the humidity was low. Birds chirped happily as they flittered from branch to branch.
Savannah had wandered restlessly upon leaving Charice and the girls. They had taken them for a ride in the country, ending up at Old River. After buying crème sodas and sandwiches at a little cafe, they sat on the boat landing watching covered pontoons take tourists on a tour of the bayous. But Savannah’s light-hearted mood had gradually dissipated once out of their company. After riding around for another hour, she went home. Walking into her bedroom, she picked up the large picture of she and her mother.Therese certainly was beautiful as everyone said. Thick dark brown hair cascaded to her shoulders. Her eyes were a light brown, full lips curved into a wide smile. Wearing a white sundress with lavender flowers, her shapely brown legs could be seen even beneath the demure hemline. Savannah, only a year old, was propped on her mother’s hip waving at the camera. Without even thinking about it, Savannah went outside on the back porch to climb the ladder to the small room they used for storage. She did not know how long she had been sitting on the low stool, pictures and mementos from her mother’s early life strewn around her, when she realized her father was there.
“Your maman was always shy ‘bout gettin’ her picture taken. Reason we got that many is ‘cause of me worryin’ her so. ‘Specially after you was born. She used say you couldn’t move an inch without me grabbing my camera to snap a picture.” Antoine pulled up an old cane bottom chair and sat next to her.
“I’m glad you did. Looking at these always seemed to help me feel close to her.” Savannah allowed her father to take an old black and white picture of Therese as a young girl from her hands.
“Lord, but she was something to see. Not vain either. That made her even prettier.”
“Poppy, tell me the story. I mean the whole story.”
Antoine’s chest rose and fell as he breathed deeply, his eyes never leaving the photograph. He knew exactly what story she meant. In a low level voice he began to speak.
Chapter 11
“We was kids together, ‘course you know that.” Antoine sat back in the chair. Still he held the picture of Therese in front of him almost as if he was speaking to her, too.
“Tante Marie did tell me a little.” Savannah drew her knees up wrapping her arms around them.
“Your Monmon was ‘bout four years younger than me. Four years means different things at different times. When I was twelve and she was eight, we let her come around some with the other little kids. Of course, we thought we was grown. Me, George, Willie, Lulu, Eva, Francine, Clancy, oh a whole gang of us within one or two years the same age hung around together. We sneaked our first smoke together, went swimmin’ down to the river when we wasn’t supposed to together. Tell you the truth, I didn’t much notice of your maman back then. Like I said, to me she was a just a baby. We had some good times, especially in the summer. There was always something to get into, something excitin’ goin’ on. Don’t know why, but all I remember of those days growin’ up was sunshine, wildflowers everywhere, the river nice and cool when you stuck your feet in. Happy memories, ya know?” Smiling fondly, Antoine looked at Savannah.
Savannah nodded. She too smiled seeing the image of a group of children roaming the countryside seeking adventure. Savannah felt strangely as though she were one of them. Antoine picked up other pictures from the shoe boxes at their feet.
Antoine sighed shaking his head. The smile began to disappear. “We got older. Francine and me got to be sweet on each other. I guess as young as twelve or thirteen. I know what folks been sayin’ ‘bout her, but they forget how she was smart as a whip. And quick, man couldn’t nobody say nothin’ that she didn’t have a answer for. She was full of spice and kept us laughin’. Most of the adults said she was too full of sass, that her Miz Odette let her run wild. Fact is, they wasn’t too crazy ‘bout us playin’ with her. See folks was sayin’ things ‘bout Monmon Odette ever since she was a teenager. Some say her maman, Estelle, was a voodoo woman. That they family been into voodoo since way back when Odette’s great great-grandpapa came from Haiti to New Orleans some fifty years before the Civil War. We didn’t care ‘bout that. Truth is, it just made us want to be around her that much more. What they didn’t see was how she hurt over the things they said about her and her people. She didn’t act no different from the other kids, so our mostly our folks didn’t make no fuss. My maman did get real upset when she heard talk about me and Francine. Seems she thought maybe Monmon Odette put some kinda spell on me to like Francine. But Papa laughed and told her not to worry ‘bout all that hoodoo talk. Said it was plain old woman foolishness.”
Like I said, we got older. When we was ‘bout sixteen, me and Francine was dating full out. Goin’ to the old Dixie Drive-In, dances the church used to sponsor, even sneaking to a juke joint over in Breaux Bridge that wasn’t particular ‘bout how old we was. I ain’t proud of some of the things I did, Savannah. But like most young folks, we thought none of them `old’ people knew anything. Crazy how each new crop of kids think they done invented everything. Or if they didn’t invent it, it was somehow all theirs. We drank, stayed out later than we should sometimes. Francine was always more bold than most of us. She used to say we needed to whoop it up, to breathe some life into this old dead country town. Yep, we was tearin’ it up back then.“Antoine paused staring at the wall as if seeing the past reflected there like an old movie.
“I remember the exact day I stopped thinking of Therese like she was a baby. It was that summer I turned nineteen. My maman made my Papa lay down the law. ‘Course he did with a sorta wink, you know between us men. But Maman was determined to get me back on the right track. She made me spend a lot more time at the church helpin’ old Father Vavasseur by workin’ around the rectory. Somehow I convinced Francine to come to a church dance one Friday night. She decided it would be good for a laugh. Maman was not too pleased when I showed up with her, but she didn’t say nothin’ to me. We’d been there for a while when Francine spotted Therese sit
tin’ all alone. We went over to sit with her, keep her company. The next song that played, Francine told me to dance with Therese. You see to her it was a joke, makin’ me dance with a scrawny little kid. She hooted and made faces about Therese’s dress, the way she danced, everything. But I didn’t notice none of that. What I saw was something different.
Therese was wearing a simple cotton dress that had a big bow at the waist. Her hair was tied back with a large white ribbon. I remember lookin’ down into them beautiful eyes. They was like the color of cedar wood with long black lashes. And when she put her little hand in mine, her skin was silky smooth and smellin’ of gardenia scented perfume.”
“From that night on I found every excuse to be where I thought Therese would be. I was seein’ very little of Francine after a while. Lyin’ became the easy way out. I fooled myself into thinkin’ I was bein’ kind. Naturally with everybody talkin’, it wasn’t long ‘fore she knowed. Even when she finally made me tell her the truth, she turned all her anger against Therese. Francine said some nasty things ‘bout Therese, then I said some pretty hateful things about Francine. We parted with a lot of bitterness between us.
Two years later, Therese and I got married. Lord, not even Francine could spoil those first few years we was together. I don’t think we ever stopped honeymoonin’. Therese got more beautiful every day. I’m shamed to say I didn’t give Francine much thought. Oh, I heard the gossip ‘bout how she was with lots of different men, drinkin’, even dope. But Therese was my whole world. Then when we found out she was pregnant. It was wonderful to see the happiness in her face. That miscarriage almost killed her in more ways than one.”