by Gerald Lopez
“Spoken like a man in love,” Mrs. Carson said. “That was nice of you to let Nellie hold his nuptials at the court.”
“So I’ve heard,” I said. My comment made Alex chuckle.
“The court has always had a healing effect on people,” Mrs. Carson said. “The general was good with those in need—especially men needing a father figure of sorts.”
“I can see that,” I said. “Nellie had a bastard of a father and you and the general were there for Nellie when he had no one.”
“Precisely,” Mrs. Carson said.
“Do Rory and Forrest have a story too?” Alex said.
“We all have stories, Alex,” Mrs. Carson said. “Forrest helped his grandfather raise Rory. The boys lost their parents in a car accident when they were young. When he was old enough to get a job, Forrest did so. The poor man never had much time for social things and unfortunately he wasn’t very good at picking men, unlike you or me, Layton.”
I smiled. “My first pick wasn’t quite right, but I nailed it on the second try.”
“Well I wouldn’t quite have phrased it that way,” Mrs. Carson said. “I think appropriate thought it may be, I wouldn’t have used the word ‘nailed’.” We all laughed.
“Maybe I really should have phrased that another way,” I said. “God, though it felt good to laugh just then.”
“We needed it,” Alex said. “Those journal entries aren’t going to get any happier.”
WHEN WE got back to the main house everyone was in the dining room eating Chinese food.
“Nice table,” I said, having noticed the folding table set up in the middle of the room. There were boxes of takeout on it as well as two bottles of soda, plastic cups, paper plates, and a bucket of ice.
“I did the best I could on such short notice,” Rory said.
“It wasn’t a complaint,” I said. “It does the job. Not quite the antique that was here before, though.”
“We’ll get another one later,” Alex said. “A bigger one.”
“Anyone have any new theories about anything,” Mrs. Carson said.
“Where’s Lucky?” Rory said.
“I didn’t think he could offer additional insight into the proceedings so we left him at the guesthouse,” Mrs. Carson said.
“Looks like I was right about a woman being involved in what happened here back in Great-grandpa and Grandma’s day,” Elise said. “And the more I think about things, the more I agree with something Layton said.”
“Which was?” I said.
“Delilah must’ve been pregnant by Great-grandpa,” Elise said. “That would really give her a place at Carson Court.”
“Only if your great-grandpa acknowledged the child was his,” Shannon said. “Maybe that’s where Josiah came into the picture. Delilah may have used him to sweet talk Mr. Carson.”
“But, the girl—Javina wrote that Mr. Carson never slept with any women except for Veronica,” Frankie said, then ate some of his egg roll.
Alex, Mrs. Carson, and I grabbed our food and poured ourselves sodas to drink.
“Yeah, Frankie’s right,” Nellie said. “And if we’re going to believe the other things the little girl said, then we need to believe that too.”
“Well, Mr. Carson didn’t have to actually do the deed,” Miss Maribelle said. “They did have turkey basters back then.”
“Miss Maribelle, I’m shocked,” Nellie said.
“I’m not,” Mrs. Carson said. “Miss Maribelle is knowledgeable on numerous subjects. Especially if it’s been discussed on one of her talk shows.”
Everyone laughed, then Shannon spoke. “Is there any possibility that it could’ve been one of the establishment girls that got pregnant rather than Delilah herself? Then it could simply be a matter of blackmailing Mr. Carson. Or for that matter, could Marcus have gotten someone pregnant?”
“How do detectives go about solving such things?” Nathan said.
I finished chewing on a piece of honey chicken, then replied to Shannon first. “Anything’s possible, Shannon.” I turned to Nathan. “Detectives look at what they know and determine what is the most probable and likely outcome.” I addressed the room. “We know that Hubert Jardine raised a child that we’re fairly sure wasn’t his own. He also came back to Carson Court with that child, who was the grandmother of Miss Maribelle. Miss Maribelle in turn has known Mrs. Carson since they were children. There are strong ties to Carson Court—familial ties.”
“Wait a minute,” Elise said. “I hadn’t thought that all the way through before. You’re saying you think that Grandma and Miss Maribelle are related in some way.”
“I am,” I said. “A shared ancestor in Mr. Carson or Marcus.”
“I’m not surprised,” Mrs. Carson said, then smiled. “Maribelle has always walked around like she owned this place.”
Miss Maribelle walked over to Mrs. Carson and jokingly slapped her arm.
“That would explain why Miss Maribelle had her sweet sixteen party and even her wedding here,” Elise said.
“You had all that… at the court,” Shannon said. “You should’ve know you were related.”
“Girl, we didn’t think on that stuff back then,” Miss Maribelle said.
“Does Miss Maribelle have any rights to the estate?” Alex said.
“Oh, hell no,” Miss Maribelle said. “You and your man traded for this place, it’s yours. Don’t talk about moving me into this drafty, dark home. I’m nice and comfortable in my cottage.”
We laughed, then I spoke. “Why don’t you go by ‘Mrs.’ if you are or were married?”
“Was married,” Miss Maribelle said. “I’m widowed. When I was a little girl everyone in town called me Miss Maribelle cause I acted like such a lil snooty snoot. They didn’t see a need to call me Mrs. when I was still acting like a snooty woman on my handsome officer’s arm.”
“She called herself a snoot,” Mrs. Carson said. “You heard her. I had nothing to do with it.” She giggled as did Miss Maribelle. That made the rest of us laugh. “Everybody hurry up and eat so we can get back to business.”
“Can those journals possibly get any sadder?” Jimmy said.
“Considering the girl was killed by her older brother, they can get a whole lot sadder,” I said.
We finished eating and returned to the living room. Mrs. Carson was in an armchair to the left, Elise was in an armchair next to her, and Shannon sat on the floor between them cross-legged. Nathan and Nellie sat on the sofa, Miss Maribelle was in the armchair next to them, and Frankie was in an armchair on the other side, which he’d offered to Shannon but she had refused. Alex and Jimmy sat in chairs they’d brought in from the dining room. Rory sat cross-legged on the floor like Shannon, and I stood and paced while reading. Alex suddenly spoke, reading from the journal he held.
Mrs. Veronica is in poor shape. I think she’s goin crazy. One day I got scared real bad when I herd her yellin at the babies, so I told Momma about it. I asked her if there were demons inside Mrs. Veronica and Momma said no. She said Mrs. Carson was sick because of evil people not demons. She said tante Delilah was behind it and was using poison from the island. I asked Momma if I should warn Mrs. Veronica cause she’d been so nice to me. But Momma was worried that if tante found out she’d kill Mrs. Veronica outrite or even me for trying to warn Mrs. Veronica.
Alex carefully skipped through pages of the journal then began reading again.
I was so scared today, that I ran strate to Momma when tante left. Tante Delilah actually came to the court today and spoke with Mrs. Veronica telling her that God had cursed Carson Court because Mr. Carson had bed with Josiah. She said that God would curse any children born to Mr. Carson from Mrs. Veronica. Mrs. Veronica was real mad and started yellin at tante, which brought Mr. Carson, Mr. Marcus, Mr. Jardine, and Mr. Benedict to the livin room. Josiah and Moses were already there, and I hid in a corner. The babies started cryin again, even though the nurse was with them and Mrs. Veronica went crazy. She started yelling about h
ow she hated tante Delilah’s people who came and cooked the pigs at the party the night before. That they were vulgr and had no idea how to do things the right way. Mr. Carson tried to calm her but she slapped him hard across the face and she started screamin and pullin her own hair. It was the poison and the babies cryin that was killin her. I know it but she didn’t reely understand cause of the poison. She just screamed something terrible and tried to slap Mr. Carson over and over while blamin him for what was happenin. But the babies wouldn’t be quieted and that’s when Mrs. Veronica said it. She was crazy when she said it the blood was coming outta her ears when she said it. When she said she wished it was the babies that had been cooked instead of the pigs so Mr. Carson could feel her pain.
“Oh, Grandma,” Mrs. Carson said. “What did you set into motion?”
“She didn’t have a clue,” Miss Maribelle said. “Her mind was at least half-gone from the poison, we all know that.”
“Then the rumors were true,” Mrs. Carson said. “She was responsible for their deaths.”
“No,” Nathan said. “She was manipulated, controlled, and poisoned. They were the ones responsible not her! A jealous bitch named Delilah was responsible.”
“My brother was right to be scared for me,” Mrs. Carson said. “With evil like that in the world, who’s to say I wouldn’t have been manipulated and poisoned by the people who knew his story and kept it quiet—not you, Nathan. The ones he was afraid of.”
“I’ll say it,” Miss Maribelle said. “You wouldn’t have gone down so easily, Isabel Carson.”
“How do you know?” Mrs. Carson said.
“Because you’ve always had me as a friend and I’ve kept an eye on you, just like you did for me.”
“I know I would’ve been scared of Miss Maribelle, the drill sergeant,” I said, then grinned.
Mrs. Carson couldn’t help but crack a smile. “OK, OK, you’re both right. But I still feel sorry for Grandma.”
We all went back to reading the journals when something in mine stopped me in my tracks.
“Shit!” I said. “I’ve been such an idiot!”
“What?” Alex said. “What is it, Layton?”
“I should’ve paid more attention to what I told Shannon,” I said.
“Which was?’ Shannon said.
“That anything’s possible,” I said.
Chapter 50
Cruelty Beyond Words
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND,” Rory said.
“You will when you hear this,” I said, then read from the journal I held.
Moses beleved Mrs. Veronica when she said she wood love any one who could free her from her pain. And tante told Moses that Mrs. Veronica would love him and bed him if he freed her from the birden of the babies. And he beleved her! Oh God in Heaven he beleved tante and Josiah when they told him the babies wouldn’t be hurt no matter what because they were inicent and God would protect them. He killed them! Moses cooked them like how Mrs. Veronica told us they were sposed to cook pigs. He cooked them and and. I can’t barly write now. I’m sick thinkin about the things I saw last nite. The screemin, oh God I ain’t never gonna forget Mrs. Veronica’s screems when she walked into the dinin room and saw the twins dead on the table rapped in banana leaves. Mr. Carson caught her when she fanted but then he got sick too and Mr. Jardine had to tend him and Mr. Marcus with Mr. Benedict’s help. But the others woke Mrs. Veronica when they came.
The room had grown quiet as I neared the section of writing that had caught my eye. Before going on, I turned to Mrs. Carson and was surprised that I had a lump in my throat when I spoke. “Ma’am, this next part’s gonna be rough,” I said.
“Continue, soldier,” Mrs. Carson said.
“Yes, Ma’am,” I said, then read from the journal again.
The sherif and some men had come with Tante Delilah. Tante and Josiah said that Mrs. Veronica was behind what happened with the babies and should be punished. I knew tante was up to somethin the night before when I saw her gettin papers and pictures to show the sherif when he went to visit her. She’d used her power and the secrets she new about the town to get these men to help her.
“Oh God!” Shannon said. “I think I know what’s coming.”
Mrs. Carson reached down and held Shannon’s hand.
The men were brutal and crul. They put chains and shakles on Moses then took him upstairs where they’d leave him to die. They was mercy filled with him. Mr. Carson and Mr. Marcus tried to fight but they was too many of em and the sherif told Mr. Jardine and Mr. Benedict they’d shoot Mr. Carson and Mr. Marcus if they tried anytin to help. They tied the four men of the house to chairs and turned the chairs so they could see what was comin. I didn’t know men could cry like they did that nite. But I saw why they cried and I cried too. When they did what they did I cried and screemed with her while I seen it.
The tension in the living room was thick. I looked at Mrs. Carson trying to brace herself for what was next in the journal entry. She nodded to me and I continued. Elise had tears in her eyes and was holding Shannon’s other hand nervously. I read on.
Tante Delilah told the men Mrs. Veronica promised her favors to Moses if he killed the babies. It wasn’t true, but it didn’t matter cause tante told them Mrs. Veronica did promise. Tante said Moses was in no place to get those favors so his brother Josiah would take his place. Oh dear Jesus in Heaven, my own brother tore at Mrs. Veronica’s clothes. She clawed at him and punched him, but nothing could stop him. The devil was in his eyes that nite and the more Mrs. Veronica strugled and screemed and cried the ruffer Josiah got. And it didn’t end there. Tante told the sherif and his men that Moses was as strong and big as two or three men. I tried to stop them, get between them and Mrs. Veronica’s body but Tante grabbed me and made me look while those men took turns doing what they done to Mrs. Veronica. Things people usaly did in bed. The other men had to wear sometin over their man parts. Only Josiah didn’t have to. I had slapped tante across the face when she tried to make me look at what Josiah was doing again to Mrs. Veronica. Tante said to look and see that a Morelle would be living at Carson Court one way or another. Mrs. Veronica had stopped struglin and her eyes looked empty. I hoped she’d gone back to bein crazy so she wouldn’t know what was hapnin.
I had to stop there and take a deep breath. There were tears in everyone’s eyes, including my own. After a few minutes I returned to the journal, skipped through some entries, then read from it again.
Momma dressed me all in black cause she said there would be no moreners for me once Josiah and tante had done away with me. I asked Momma why we couldn’t just run away. She said Tante Delilah was filled up with devils inside and would never let me liv cause I slapped her defendin that white woman. She meant Mrs. Veronica when she said white woman. Wherever I went, tante’s people would find me and it would be all the wors. Momma had to beg and pleed with tante to let me stay a virgin so I could go to Heaven pure. Tante didn’t even want to do that but Momma asked in grandma’s name and tante finally agreed. You thank Jesus for that Momma said. Then she told me that what they did to Mrs. Veronica at Carson Court they woulda done to me and she couldn’t have stopped em. And she reminded me that they locked Moses up in that place and put the men from the court on a boat heded far from here. Momma said what was true. She said there was no way she could protec me on her own, so it was best not to fight it too much. Josiah would kill me, so’s to make sure no other man would try to take my favors gainst my will. She said she had to live so’s to try and save Josiah’s un Godly sol. But she didn’t think her sister could ever be saved cause she’d gone crazy and been taken over by devils the nite Mr. Carson went to see her. To see tante for sometin I didn’t know bout. The thing Josiah had talked about, but I never understood. Josiah knew tante’s plan would never work and now we were all suferin for it. I hugged momma and she hugged me. She cried a lil then she asked me to pray with her. We sang church songs together before I left her. She cried for me. So it wasn’t true. I did have a
morener. The walk back to the court seemed longer than ever. I felt sorry for Moses. He didn’t understand anything that he did. I’m going to hide this journal with the others and take my new one to write in while I wait in the main house for Josiah. One day if Jesus wills it someone will read em and learn the truth.
A tear fell from my eye and landed on the page. I closed the journal on that final entry and wiped my eyes with my hand. Nobody spoke for a few minutes.
“Oh, Grandma, how did you manage to survive it all?” Mrs. Carson said, then cried. I walked to her side and put my arms around her. “And that poor child, Javina. The poor child.”
We were all processing what we’d just learned when Rory wiped his face, then spoke. “It took us a while, Javina, but you have mourners. We shed tears for you as we listened to your testimony.”
“Amen,” I said.
“Amen,” Frankie said. The others responded the same way.
“What did they do with my grandmother until my grandfather and uncle came back?” Mrs. Carson said.
“They kept her close by until Delilah could be sure Veronica was carrying Josiah’s child,” I said. She couldn’t have been held at the court. And I doubt it would’ve been the Morelle house.”
“That only leaves the whorehouse,” Frankie said.
“Yeah, I said. “And I have an appointment there tonight.”
Chapter 51
Applying Reason
WE’D MOVED back into the dining room for drinks and to finish our food, but were fairly silent. Then Nellie spoke. “What took so long for Mr. Carson and Marcus to come back to the court?”
“My darling, didn’t you hear when Layton read the part about the police getting involved in the things that went down?” Nathan said.
“Well, then how did they know it was safe to come back?” Nellie said.
I took a sip of my soda, then spoke. “That is actually a very good question. They probably didn’t know what happened to Veronica except that Delilah wanted her alive.”