by D. A. Bale
Cocktails, that is.
A pause then Janine’s soft voice resonated from under the makeshift awning as she read Lieutenant Bonafeld’s script. “Responsibility for the confiscated cargo plagued not only my waking hours but also the torturous long nights, sleep impossible under the weight of such circumstances. How the French vessel managed to bypass the blockade and enter the Rigolets unseen by those stationed at Fort Pike has the captain convinced there are southern sympathizers among our ranks.”
“Not back that far,” I interrupted. “Skip to the part describing the cargo.”
“Um…alright. Here it is. The elegant fleur-de-lis imprint has captivated all throughout the officer ranks. Among even the southern belles attending the balls General Butler allows during our occupation, my enchantment has known no equal as I gaze upon the sheen of such magnificent beauty.”
I laughed. “Sounds like our lieutenant is seriously falling in love with an inanimate object.”
“I’ll bet my brother has done worse.”
“Did you have to bring up George?” I fussed. “Go to the part that sounded like a bad poem.”
“I wouldn’t call it bad.”
“Would you call it good then?”
“Only if it were set to music,” Janine tittered, turning pages. “Okay, here we go. The springs grow the mighty oaks, whose canopy shields the souls. Among the housed inhabitants, brings life to whomever takes hold.”
We pondered that for a half second. “Yeah, I don’t think you could save this one…even if you set it to music.”
Janine sighed. “But wouldn’t you like to have a man describe his feelings for you like this? Script so expressive. Illustrative.”
I opened my eyes and sat up to get a better look at Janine. “Would you?”
“Certainly. Men don’t write like this nowadays, much less speak to a woman in such a way. It’s a lost art.”
“Would you like if Lucas Monette spoke that way about you?”
“The gentleman from last night?”
“Uh-huh. That handsome hunk with the strong arms he had wrapped around you last night.”
Crimson crept from the top of Janine’s one-piece to bloom across her cheeks like a sunburn left behind after a hot flash. “Last night’s still a bit of a blur. Please tell me I didn’t do something embarrassing.”
“Like being rescued from taking a swan dive off the second floor at the hands of a gorgeous hunk of man flesh? Nah, nothing like that.”
“Oh my goodness,” Janine cried, her eyes widening to the size of dessert plates and pressing her fingers to her lips. “Did I really almost do that?”
“I didn’t want the railing to collapse with you leaning against it is all. Lucas caught you when I tugged a little too hard and you stumbled.”
“Uh…okay. Well, thanks for saving me.”
“Though you seemed to enjoy his company an awful lot,” I continued, prodding at her discomfort like the gynecologist during my annual visit.
“My mother’s gonna kill me.”
My turn to sigh as a speedboat stirred a few waves when it throttled by off our bow. “Listen, Janine. You’re a grown woman. Gonna be twenty-seven in a few days. It’s time to stop worrying so much what your mother will do and say and start living your own life.”
“But I…”
“Look, finish your dissertation. Secure that doctorate and put it in a nice frame to hang on your wall. Then get out from under your mother’s thumb.”
Her face fell as she rested the journal in her lap. “But how?”
“Get your own place for starters. There are several available apartments in my building alone.”
I didn’t take offense at her wrinkled nose of disgust. I’d already had several years of freedom under my belt – even if not financially. My place may not be up to her standards but was still a far cry from trashy, especially after my mother paid for extensive renovations.
Still, as a De’Laruse, Janine was accustomed to something more in tune with the Palace of Versailles rather than Chateau Vicki. Better to take baby steps with my bestie.
“If I try to move out, my mother will lead the charge to cut me off at the pass. Then how could I afford my own place? I’m not as strong as you, Vicki.”
“Get a job using any one of your degrees,” I encouraged. “With a name like De’Laruse, most companies would be happy to snap up your homegrown skills.”
“Yeah, if my parents don’t threaten them first.”
“Threaten?”
Tears sprang to Janine’s eyes and she swiped them away only to replace them with a few more. “Don’t be mad at me, but I did try to find a job a few years ago, right before I entered the doctoral program.”
“Why would I be mad at you for trying to get a job?” I inquired. “I think that’s great.”
“What wasn’t great was how my parents blew up when one of Daddy’s business associates called him when my resume crept through said associate’s human resources department.”
Understanding shattered through my brain as I remembered how the sperm donor had undermined my attempts to break free from the family entrapments. With all the power and influence our fathers possessed, getting a job without their approval was about as difficult as a Texas politician getting elected while running on a platform full of tax increases.
Janine sniffled. “When you made the leap from your family household, I was inspired to do the same. But in my case, I just didn’t have the fortitude to buck my mom and dad like you did.”
“You forget that I had Zeke supporting me at the time though. He kept encouraging me until I found the job at the bar.” ‘Course I didn’t explain that Grady pretty much gave me the job on Zeke’s word – and that I’d had a steep learning curve since I’d never tended bar before. “Why did you never tell me about this? I’d have been front and center in your cheering section.”
Unshed tears clung to her lashes. “You had so much going on at the time…moving in with Zeke, a new job, then the horrible break-up you guys went through. I didn’t want to burden you.”
My skin stung where it’d stuck to the lounger when I got up to kneel before my friend. “Hear me out, Janine. We’re best buds. Besties. You’ve seen me at my best and seen me at my worst. Clothed and naked as the day I was born. Sober and drop-dead drunk. You know all my secrets.” Or most of them anyway. Just not about my recent dreams. Or the offer from Grady. “Regardless, when you hurt, I hurt. If you bleed, I bleed. One thing you will never ever be to me is a burden.”
Hmm. That speech sounded pretty good. Inspired even. Maybe my mother’s hope and prayers I’d finally grow up weren’t a complete waste.
A smile poked from the edges of Janine’s tear-stained cheeks before she threw her arms around me. “I thank God every day for you, Vicki. If not for you, I’d be a timid mouse, afraid to set foot out of the house. I can always count on you to say just what I need to hear.”
“Shh. Don’t let that information get out or my mom might raise her expectations of me.”
Janine released me after sopping my stringy bikini top and using my ponytail to dab her eyes. “So what should I do about all of that now?”
The beginning tendrils of a plan took shape in my wiser-but-still-wicked gray matter. I dove into it head first with no intention of coming up for air until the deed was accomplished. If everything went according to plan, Addie would gladly take care of the pesky details where her granddaughter were concerned.
“Finish that dissertation ASAP,” I commanded. “And in the meantime, open that book again and continue reading.
“We’ve got a treasure to find.”
Chapter Ten
Before I continued any great revelation of inspired plans, an engine growled nearby. As the driver gunned it down to neutral and slid a little too close for my comfort, waves sloshed the pontoon like a water park wave pool. Janine squealed in horror when the journal flew from her hands, bounced off the tarp and landed on the warm leather seat where I’d b
een sunning mere moments before.
I dashed and scrambled to rescue the rare piece of vast historical significance before it crumbled to bits in the breeze – or went over the side as fish fodder. Once the tome rested safely in Janine’s hands again, I swung my adrenaline rush over the port bow.
“What the hell is your problem, dude?” I yelled.
“Ahoy to you two lovely ladies again,” a male voice called.
The voice. I knew that gravely and sexy voice – at least vaguely. The glare cast across the water’s surface by the lowering sun had me squinting to see if I was right.
“Oh no,” Janine whispered.
Confirmed. “Well, look what the catfish dragged in.”
The flash of his smile landed on me and touched me in all the right places. But this guy was for Janine. Promise and cross my heart – and no, not my fingers, though I hadn’t shared the napkin phone number with her yet.
Don’t judge. Besides, we’d been dealing with more important things today.
“I thought I recognized you when I cruised by a few moments ago,” he called.
Cruised by? More like zoomed by so fast the sleek speedboat hardly touched the water yet generated nausea inducing waves. A top-of-the-line speedboat, tricked out with all manner of expensive gear, something only the wealthy – or a government agency with deep, taxpayer funded pockets – could afford.
“You must have extremely good vision then, Mr. FBI Guy.”
His grin widened and the dimple from the night before popped out. “I told you last night that I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Miss Bohanan.”
Sunlight glistened across tanned pecs and fanned over six-pack abs so toned I almost raised the lake’s levels with drool. Hmm. Apparently Radioman had had reason to be paranoid if my reaction to Lucas was any indication.
“And as I told you last night, you’re full of spit and shit if you think I can’t recognize law enforcement when I see it. Bartender, remember?” I said, tapping a finger against my chest. “Paid to observe.”
His gaze trailed after my finger and lingered on what my teeny bikini didn’t leave to the imagination. It took a full five seconds before he blinked and turned attention to Janine.
“I hope last night’s events didn’t leave you with a bad taste for New Orleans’ nightlife, Miss De’Laruse.”
Miss Bohanan and Miss De’Laruse – this guy might not be the true southern gentleman he played, but someone had trained him well. But then the question remained. If he wasn’t law enforcement, why the need for gentlemanly instruction?
“A slow start, perhaps,” Janine admitted. “But none the worse for wear.”
“Glad to hear,” Lucas said. “I contacted the proper authorities and informed them of what happened with your drinks, so they’ll be keepin’ an eye on the place. That particular establishment will incur harsher punishment if somethin’ like that is ever reported again.
“And you know this how?” I questioned.
“Just because I’m not in law enforcement, doesn’t mean I don’t know a few who are.”
“Wow, you must get around then since you’ve got an answer for everything.”
Lucas shrugged. “I try.” Attention zeroed in again on Janine as she strolled across the deck from beneath the awning. “What do you have there?”
“Oh this?” Janine’s voice rang up an octave as she clutched the book to her properly covered bosom. “Well…I, uh…”
Leave it to me to come to the rescue. “It’s nothing, really. A family thing.”
Janine found her voice. “Yes, just a little black book.”
While inside I cringed at her words, on the outside I kept my face neutral. If only the girl knew what the title of little black book implied, her delicate and undefiled gray matter would explode. If Lucas hadn’t been so intent upon the cracked tome, I imagine he’d explode too – with laughter.
But the moment dissipated as Lucas’ tensed expression relaxed. “The sun’s gonna be settin’ within the hour, so I’d better be headin’ back to the marina. Would you ladies care to join me for dinner?”
Before I could stop her, Janine blurted out. “We’d better get back too. We’re having dinner with my family at the North Shore Club at six.”
I sighed. Subtlety would never be Janine’s forte.
Eyes narrowed, and I doubt if it was from the sunlight glare. “Perhaps we’ll meet again soon then.”
***
With the cooler weather fall brings, there’s only one drawback – shorter days. By the time Janine and I parked the pontoon at the marina, the sun had descended to a faint glow along the horizon, which sent mosquitoes dive-bombing us like Kamikaze pilots during World War II. I’m sure the club tried everything they could to get rid of the pesky critters, but when you’re on a large inland body of water, there’s only so much spraying they could do before the air became a toxic third-world health hazard.
Better to take our chances with the biting beasts. We grabbed our bags and raced along the walkways, ignoring the wolf whistles and general kerfuffle our scantily clad bodies created.
Or maybe that was my scantily clad body. After all, bikinis weren’t made for a full-out sprint of the hundred-yard dash.
The clan was already seated by the time we showered and made it upstairs to the formal dining room. Mirrored crystal wall sconces and a massive chandelier centered over the dance floor made it feel like I’d set foot once again in the Vernet mansion. You remember Bobby’s parents, don’t you?
Okay, like me you’d probably rather forget them too.
“You’re late.” Addie offered up a furrowed brow for a more dramatic effect before addressing the staff member assigned to our table. “You may have the staff serve the first course, Marcel.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Marcel said, bowing stiffly as if we were royalty.
Before rushing off to do Addie’s bidding, he assisted Janine into her chair. George took that as his cue to leap up and do the same for me, though I was pretty sure it was so he could get a better view down the front of my dress. If he wasn’t careful, I’d give him another shiner to match the one from last night – er, early this morning.
“What a gentleman,” Charlotte gushed. “Georgie, you do your mother proud.”
I kept my snort to myself. Mostly. “I see you’ve recovered from your night, Georgie.”
Charlotte’s expression soured. Mom’s coming reprimand was stifled by the arrival of the crawfish bisque and hot French bread.
“Yes. Stomach ailments pass rather quickly with such excellent care,” George commented before taking a loud slurp of creamy soup.
“You mean hangovers,” Janine mumbled.
I wanted to kiss my bestie for having the courage to jump into the fray. Good thing her mother didn’t hear her. However George did, evidenced by his obvious scowl – and that was all that mattered.
“Grandma-ma, how long has Sibby been working for you?” he asked.
“Almost a year now, come to think of it. Why do you ask, dawlin’?”
“That black root tea she brought upstairs worked wonders. Vile tasting stuff, but it settled my stomach rather nicely. Got rid of my headache too and allowed me to rest so I could join you all for this lovely dinner.”
Addie waved off the compliment on Sibby’s ministrations. “Probably a concoction she picked up from Maisie. Cousins, you know, somewhere in the family tree. Fourth or fifth, twice removed or some such. That’s the only reason I hired her on.”
George sucked in a breath.
“So glad to know that, Mother,” Charlotte said. “I was worried you’d gone and brought her in off the street or something. You never know what you’ll get from some of those services.”
“I still have my faculties, Charlotte,” Addie replied. “She’s proven quite capable.”
“They usually do for the first few months, but we should probably inventory your things while I’m here to ensure she hasn’t developed pilfering fingers.”
”It isn’t like she’s run off with my jewelry. My antique broach collection will still be yours when I cross the veil…or would you rather take it with you when you leave this time, just to be sure?”
“Mother, what a horrid thing to suggest.”
While the discussion of family heirlooms and the women who covet them continued, George’s complexion took on all shades of white, pink, and red as realization splotched across his face. If I had to guess the reason for the kaleidoscope of color, I’d say it was his first time having sex with a black woman. Even though Sibby didn’t display the characteristic dark-skinned traits, if she was in any way related to Maisie, that meant a blood cocktail of some mix traveled in her veins.
Personally, I didn’t see any problem with sex between the races. All humanity possessed two eyes, one nose, and big mouths – well, that last part might be just me. It’s more varying levels of melanin in my book. As long as he was male, handsome, and within five or so years of age – preferably in that order – I was happy to be all over that.
Though it’d give my poor mother apoplexy if I brought a man of the high-level melanin persuasion around to meet the parents. It’s more a generational thing with her though and not a prejudice against black people in general. Now the sperm donor? I could care less what he thought. Maybe I could try an experiment with Randy-the-new-guy sometime to see if I could give dear old Dad a heart attack? Sure take him out of my misery.
Shrimp cakes with remoulade sauce arrived before I’d even finished half the bowl of bisque. With George being the only male at the table – and a fast eater, regardless of his indigestion over sex with Sibby – Marcel most likely paced the meal service according to his rabid inhalations.
“Marcel,” Addie called, the proprietor whisking around the table to bow at her side. “What time can we expect you and your staff to be at Heaven’s Gate to start Saturday’s setup?”
“If it pleases you, ma’am, I’d like to begin decorating Friday afternoon.”
“Just not before one,” Addie commanded. “I’d like to ensure lunch is finished before my home becomes a whirling hurricane.”