by Emery, Lynn
“Son, all you seem to think about is eating and playing computer games.” Charles looked at Brian with affection.
“Don’t forget girls,” Gabriel put in, and laughed when Brian blushed.
“C’mon, I’m a teenager. Food and fun are my life.” Brian shrugged. He looked at Charles with an eager expression. “Hey, I’ll go crank up the Yukon. You look kinda tired, Granddaddy. You oughta let me drive.” “Maybe the last couple of miles.” Charles patted him on the back.
“That’ll work. See you later, Uncle Gabe.” Brian trotted off toward the vehicle.
“Bye, brat. Mama would have a fit if she knew.” Gabriel looked at his father and crossed his arms.
“I protect Rachel from a lot of worry. She’s a sweet woman, but she’s a bit high-strung.” Charles winked at Gabriel and chuckled.
“Well, don’t try to pull me into your web of little white lies. When she catches up with you.” Gabriel gave a low whistle.
“She’ll have to catch me first,” Charles joked. “I can still duck and weave even with a bad heart.”
Gabriel put an arm around his father’s shoulders as they walked to the Yukon. “Listen, Dad, you’re one of a kind. Take care of yourself, okay?”
Charles stopped and faced him. “Nobody lives forever, Gabriel. At my age you think about the past a lot and see the future in your children. That’s why we worry about you kids. You understand?”
“Yes, I do.” Gabriel gazed into his father’s eyes. “You’ve done good. Not just for your family, but for this community.”
“Thanks, son.” His father gave him a brief strong hug, then stepped back, eyes twinkling. “Prove how good I’ve done and make your mother happy. Get a wife.”
“Dad,” Gabriel said, with a groan.
“You’ve been a loner for too many years. A good woman can heal a lot of scars, Gabriel,” Charles went on in spite of Gabriel’s objection. He held up a palm when Gabriel started to speak. “That’s all I’m going to say on the subject.”
“Good.” They started walking again.
“I can’t speak for Rachel though. She won’t give up until you’ve met every eligible woman in your age group within fifty miles.” Charles laughed hard when Gabriel covered his face with both hands.
Brian slid from behind the wheel when Charles opened the driver’s door of the Yukon. He still held the cell phone in his hand. “Grandma called. She wants Uncle Gabriel to come for dinner.”
“She’s going to bring up that Natalie girl, count on it. Wouldn’t be surprised if Natalie isn’t sitting at the dinner table when we walk in,” Charles mumbled.
“You know something about this last-minute call.” Gabriel squinted at him.
“Just kidding. Rachel wouldn’t go that far. At least I don’t think so,” Charles added with a mischievous grin. “Oh, stop giving me the evil eye. See you at six.”
“Fine, but there better not be any surprises when I get there,” Gabriel said, and pointed a forefinger at his father. Charles only laughed again and waved goodbye.
Gabriel watched the Yukon go down his long driveway to the road in a cloud of dust. After taking the glasses into his kitchen, Gabriel went to his workshop.
His grandfather had built the large weathered bam fifty years before. With a lot of time, sweat, and hard work, Gabriel had transformed it. He’d made the second story into a storage area. The double doors stayed open in pleasant weather, but he’d installed air-conditioning because of the brutal south Louisiana summers. Gabriel enjoyed walking into the shop each time. He loved the smell of cut wood. As he crossed the hardwood floor he touched a chair here, a bench there. He rubbed the rough surfaces of unfinished wood from a mill. Picking up a sheet of sandpaper, he turned on the miniature sound system on a table against one wall. The sounds of jazz fusion filled the room. Gabriel picked up a box he’d made and fingered its carved surface. Holding something he’d created was a precious gift. Peaceful and uncomplicated, he thought as he started to rub the box with sandpaper. Two precious commodities that he’d crossed over a lot of troubled water to finally find. Not easy to give up even if it meant being lonely sometimes.
Chapter 6
Darlene watched her oldest son pack up the last of his clothing. She stood in the doorway of his bedroom with her arms folded. “Brandon, this woman is twenty-four and has three kids already. You’ve lost your mind.”
“At least she’s single,” he muttered, and stuffed a T-shirt with a photo of some rap group on it.
“What did you say? I know you didn’t just—” Darlene took a step toward him.
“Forget it, awright? Look, I’m grown, and I know what I’m doing.” Brandon stuffed a smaller bag with his collection of game cartridges.
“Nineteen means you’re legally an adult. It sure doesn’t mean you know everything,” Darlene insisted. Malik stuck his head in the door. “Need help, bro?” “You’ve got a major science paper due,” Darlene snapped at him.
“Nah, little dude. I’m good,” Brandon said. He swept the top of his dresser clean with one hand, the items dropping into a large trash bag.
“Okay, I’m already gone.” Malik backed down the hallway with both palms up at his mother’s livid expression. “Damn.”
“Listen to that. Your little brother is cursing.” Darlene pointed in the direction Malik had disappeared. “You’re supposed to set an example for him.”
“Be real, Mama.” Brandon threw the large bag over his shoulder. He picked up the other two with one hand. “I’ll get the rest of my stuff later.”
Darlene opened her mouth to say more, and then closed it. She could still see the little boy. Maybe that was her problem, she mused. Malik popped out of his room to give Brandon a quick slap on the back.
“Call me, bro.” Malik darted a glance at his mother then stepped into his room again.
“Brandon, wait,” Darlene called out as she followed him through the kitchen.
He turned with a stony, defiant face. “Mama, I’m not changing my mind.”
“I know.” Darlene let her arms fall to her sides. “I just don’t want you to waste any time. The years go by so fast, and before you know it’s twenty years later. Make the right choices, baby.”
“I keep telling you LaTrice and me got plans. You wanna be in my life, you gotta accept her.” Brian lifted his chin as he stared at Darlene.
“Fine. It’s your life, and you have to make your own mistakes. I can’t live for you.” Darlene felt a knot of anger and frustration in her stomach. Brandon had his father’s obstinate streak.
“Now you got it. I gotta make my own decisions. I’m an adult, and you need to recognize it,” Brandon said.
Darlene could hear that woman’s voice in his words. “Oh, so you run from your mama’s house to have her take care of you? You don’t have a job. She’s a cashier at Walmart.”
“LaTrice just got promoted to section manager,” Brandon replied heatedly.
“That’s a fancy title for somebody who stocks shelves, Brandon,” Darlene yelled. “Look, I’m sorry. But—”
“I’m through talking to you,” he shouted back.
Erikka came through the back door into the kitchen. She walked between them. “Y’all calm down.”
Darlene and Brandon both took a step away from each other like two boxers separated by the referee. Darlene didn’t know who she wanted to strangle first, LaTrice or Brandon. She decided on Brandon first.
“I’m out.” Brandon did not look at Darlene as he started to leave.
“You sure?” Erikka put a hand on his arm.
“Been sure. See y’all later.” He pushed through the storm door. Seconds later came the rattling rumble of his ’92 Cavalier as he started it up. The car made what sounded like coughing sounds.
“Hear that? The damn thing won’t last another month. Let’s see LaTrice spend three hundred dollars fixing it like I did.” Darlene sniffed. She angrily snatched a paper towel from the nearby dispenser and wiped away tears.
“So? He’s still about a minute from the days of having baby powder on his behind. Twenty is still a kid,” Darlene argued and sniffed again.
“You didn’t feel that way when you were twenty,”
Erikka countered. She put two scoops of dark roast coffee into a filter.
“Which is why I’m trying to save him the trouble.” Darlene tossed the soggy paper towel into the trash can and sat down hard at the table. “I made dinosaur-sized mistakes.” “But they were yours to make. Hmm, let me guess what Grandmaman Lillie said to you back then. That you were too young and didn’t have a lick of sense.” Erikka turned on the coffeepot.
“No. She said I was as dumb as the day the doctor pulled me out and slapped me on the ass,” Darlene replied. She rubbed her forehead. “I didn’t listen to her any more than Brandon listens to me.”
“It’s the circle of life,” Erikka quipped.
Malik came in. “I’m going over to Shedrick’s. His mama said I could have dinner with them.”
“I want to see that paper.” Darlene held out a hand. “Aw, man. Why do I have to pay for Brandon messing with some old lady?” Malik wore a harassed frown.
“This is about you. So don’t even try to play me. The paper, or you go nowhere.” Darlene glared at him.
“Aw, man,” Malik repeated under his breath. His expensive sport shoes clumped heavily back down the hall toward his room.
“Lord, why didn’t you send me girls?” Darlene looked up at the ceiling.
“Girls who get pregnant and bring the baby home to you? Honey, this older woman thang might be a blessing in disguise,” Erikka said with a laugh. She stopped when Darlene gave her a cutting look. “At least she has a job.” “And three mouths to feed already. It will take her about one week to realize she’s just taken on another child,” Darlene said.
“Brandon might surprise you.” Erikka patted her arm and stood when the phone rang. “I’ll get it. Oh.”
Darlene glanced at her expression of surprise. Erikka stared at the caller ID. “What’s up?”
“Business call for me.”
Erikka left the room with the handset. Darlene got up and went to read the display. She sucked in a quick breath when she read the name. “Have mercy.”
“Here. Ten pages on genome research. You ought to trust me.” Malik handed pages printed from his computer to Darlene.
“Great. Be home by nine. Shedrick’s mother knows cause I talked to her.” Darlene put the report on the kitchen counter without looking at it. She tiptoed to the door Erikka had gone through.
“All that drama and you’re not gonna read it? Man.” Malik shook his head and left, muttering to himself.
Darlene heard the soft patter of Erikka’s sandals on the hardwood floors. She dashed to the table and sat down just in time. “Got another accounting contract job?”
“Maybe. Gabriel Cormier has a furniture business. We made an appointment to talk.” Erikka put the phone down but stood with her hand on it.
“Oh.” Darlene pressed her lips together.
“What’s with the mysterious attitude? He seems nice enough.” Erikka glanced at her as she refilled her coffee mug.
“I don’t like to gossip. Lord knows enough of it goes around this town. Wagging tongues don’t care who gets hurt.” Darlene tore a paper napkin into strips.
“Sounds like the voice of experience.” Erikka sat in the chair across from her.
Troubled or not, Erikka had picked up the vibes between Darlene and Kelvin Washington that day on the street. Darlene put on a smile to deflect the probing look in Erikka’s eyes.“Gossip is a contact sport in small towns like this. Everybody becomes the topic of discussion sooner or later.”
“I can imagine. Not enough to do around here.” Erikka took a sip of coffee and sighed.
“Plenty of ways to get in trouble,” Darlene countered, not thinking of Gabriel.
“If this guy is a suspected serial killer you might want to mention it before I go over there,” Erikka wisecracked.
“Well, not exactly. He’s just—”
“Not exactly? You mean he killed somebody? Girl, you best start talking to me.” Erikka’s eyes widened with shock.
“No, no. It was an accident. Well, that was the official verdict. There wasn’t enough evidence that he did it on purpose and then—they were all wild kids back in the day.” Darlene lifted a shoulder.
‘Take it from the top, please.” Erikka folded her arms and waited.
“Gabriel’s family is real powerful around here, especially his daddy. The business building at the community college in Lafayette is called the Cormier Center.” Darlene eyed Erikka closely.
“I got ya. Folks are careful not to talk about the Cormiers. This is just you and me.” Erikka leaned forward as though to hear the story better.
“Gabriel had his own little posse back in the day, mostly well-to-do brats. You know the type. Their parents socialized together and made sure the kids had the right friends,” Darlene said with scorn.
“Do I know? I attended a private school with those kinds of brats,” Erikka retorted.
“Anyway, Gabriel got kicked out of two private Catholic high schools. He majored in drinking and fighting in college. Funny, but some of his old running buddies are upstanding citizens now.” Darlene shook her head.
“Anyway, there was one poor kid they let hang with them. Ricky was from a big family, but his mama worked hard to take care of them. Ricky played on the football team with Gabriel and the others. He wanted to be in with them. Gabriel had a Corvette convertible and he’d let Ricky drive it. They’d party in Houston, New Orleans, and Atlanta. Guess Ricky was just caught up in the high life. They all got into minor trouble. You know, shooting at road signs, sneaking beer before they were twenty-one, bored teenager stuff.”
“There’s a name for kids like that in New Orleans— delinquents,” Erikka put in.
“Obnoxious, too. Pushed the limit a few times. But their daddies managed to smooth things over. One night they all got to drinking and took off in a couple of cars. They ended up at this juke joint way out in the country. Gabriel and Ricky got into a fight about something. Then a big brawl broke out, and Ricky ended up dead.”
“Damn.” Erikka stared at her.
“Yeah. He took several blows to the head and never recovered. Died two weeks later in the hospital. But the machines had been keeping him alive anyway. Nobody could say who struck the fatal blows, but Gabriel was the main suspect. The townspeople split. It was something else. I’m telling you they had to hustle those guys out of town.” Darlene shook her head.
“I’m sure Ricky’s family was upset,” Erikka said.
“Oh yeah. He had two older brothers into thug life. They tried to get their hands on Gabriel and his friends. Things were tense around here. I made Brandon play inside all that summer.”
“So, Gabriel’s dad hired an expensive lawyer and got him off,” Erikka said.
“That’s about it. Like I said, nobody could say he was the one that hit Ricky that last time before he went down and never got up. From the story that came out, dudes were throwing punches, chairs, you name it.
“He looks so laid-back, so… I don’t know, nice.” Erikka gazed into her coffee mug as though she could see his face.
“Those good looks can fool you every time.” Darlene picked up her coffee cup and drank.
Erikka looked at Darlene. “Bottom line, even if he did kill Ricky, it was an accident. But there is just as good a possibility he didn’t.”
‘True,” Darlene admitted.
“So, I won’t have to worry about being alone with a Hannibal Lector understudy.” Erikka wore a relieved expression.
“People around here had their own verdict. Besides, they resented the way Gabriel got away with so much as a kid. His father made a few enemies, not to mention the rest of his fam
ily over the years.”
“They preferred to believe the worst,” Erikka said.
“For sure. There were all kinds of rumors about his motive. Some said Gabriel started the brawl as a cover. They said he had planned to kill Ricky to shut him up about some dark secret. The story was the boys didn’t get all their spending money from their daddies.” Darlene picked up both mugs and took them to the kitchen sink.
“Drug dealing,” Erikka murmured.
“Or running a prostitution ring pimping society girls, some of them white.” Darlene rinsed the cups clean and dried them. “Most of that talk was complete nonsense.”
“I won’t call Loreauville boring again.” Erikka let out a low whistle.
“The grand jury said there wasn’t enough evidence to indict him. Gabriel left town for close to ten years. He keeps to himself now. I haven’t even gotten to some of the stuff Gabriel’s brother Vince has done.”
“Not that you would spread gossip,” Erikka said, with a lift of one eyebrow.
“Hey, you asked. Besides, you do need to know the whole story since you may be working for the man.” Darlene hung the cups on a wooden display rack with four matching mugs.
“Sounds like nobody knows the whole story, except maybe Gabriel and his now-very-respectable former frat brothers.” Erikka propped her chin on one palm and looked out of the kitchen window. “A real small southern town mystery.”
“That was way back in 1989. In the trial it came out that there were some real hoodlums in the club that night. Five guys and three girls were taken to the hospital.”
“But folks still haven’t forgiven Gabriel.” Erikka looked at Darlene.
“Small-town judgments can be harsh.”
Darlene knew that only too well. She thought of Kelvin. The old loneliness gnawed at her. Those long nights had finally become too much, for both of them. Now look where it had taken her. His son would leave for college in the fall. No more kids at home. No more reason to stay with his wife. Three short months away.
“All of a sudden you sound sympathetic toward Gabriel. The other day, when he showed up, I didn’t get that impression,” Erikka said, interrupting her thoughts.