The Saints of Swallow Hill(43)

“I ain’t fifteen. I’m . . . sixteen. So what?”

Crow sauntered up. “It don’t mean you don’t have to do the work, that’s what.”

Rae Lynn stepped back. His fingers tapped on the “leather snake” looped from his belt. Ballard put himself in front of her.

He said, “He’s my worker.”

Peewee said, “We got rules, Ballard, as you well know, so this is his last chance. Crow, I need to speak to you.”

Ballard said, “He’ll make count,” while Crow glowered at her with his midnight eyes.

He followed after Peewee, and Rae Lynn exhaled as she watched them go. She turned to thank Ballard and saw how he kept his hand on his gut, as if in pain. It reminded her of Warren, the way he held himself.

He leaned toward her and said, “Don’t keep letting me down, kid. You’re here now, and you got to do the work or it’s gonna be outta my hands, sixteen years old or whatever.”

Both his eyes were bloodshot, glassy looking.

She said, “Yes, sir. Thank you.”

He walked away, hunched over, while the colored workers from both crews stared at her, and while most appeared detached, a few looked angry. There was a low-level muttering from them she couldn’t help but hear.

“He gone mess it up for all a us.”

“Watch. Somebody’s gone have to do his dirty work.”

“How about Bones, what they done to him for less.”

“Ain’t fair.”

“Naw, it ain’t.”

“Shoot, Big Dubya, he got whipped and the box.”

Del Reese had stayed too, and stood nearby, hands shoved into his pockets, his expression so bland she couldn’t decipher it. Exhausted, her head pounding, she headed toward her shack. When she got there she made her way around to the outhouse to relieve herself. During the day, she had a fear of being caught, and her personal needs had surfaced as yet another problem she hadn’t thought about. She didn’t want to chance squatting in the woods. This meant she didn’t drink as much, and had to be part of the reason she felt so worn-out. After she was done, she went around front, intending to wash off the dust and grime of the day, eat, and go to bed, but there stood Cornelia at the fence, holding something covered with a delicate tea towel.

The other woman kept her eyes on the ground and spoke quietly. “I didn’t get to thank you proper for what you done. I was rude too. You shouldn’t a stepped in on my behalf, though, and you surely shouldn’t have paid for that cloth. I aim to pay you back, but ’til then, I brung you this.”

She held out what she had, and Rae Lynn took what she offered. It was still warm and smelled like vanilla.

Cornelia said, “It ain’t much. Jes’ water pie.”

Rae Lynn said, “Why, thank you. Ain’t had me one a these in a while.”

“I wished it could’ve been some kind a fruit one, but what I dried and put up last year got et up by critters. Don’t nothing last for long round here it seems.”

She finally met Rae Lynn’s gaze and put her hand to her mouth. “What on earth you done to your eye?”

Rae Lynn said, “It ain’t nothing. Piece a bark fell in it.”

Cornelia said, “I reckon you ain’t got you no rose water.”

“No.”

“Use tea, then. Soak some tea leaves in a cloth, put it over your eye, keep it there a few minutes.”

“All right.”

Rae Lynn brought the pie to her nose to sniff at it while Cornelia stared at her like she was deciding something before letting her eyes move to some distant spot beyond Rae Lynn’s shoulder.

Rae Lynn said, “You didn’t need to do this. You don’t owe me nothing.”

Cornelia said, “Sure I do. Like I said, I don’t like being indebted to nobody.”

She crossed her arms and rolled a rock around with the tip of her worn-out shoe. Rae Lynn thought she might say something about Otis, but after a few more seconds of silence, she turned to leave.

“Well. You enjoy the pie, Mr. Cobb.”

Rae Lynn said, “I’m sure I will.”

Cornelia nervously brushed back a lock of hair before hurrying away, holding herself tight like she didn’t want anything or anyone touching her. Rae Lynn watched her go, wished she could say, Straighten up, look the world in the eye.

Her stomach rumbled, and as she turned to go inside, she spotted Del Reese on his porch. He leaned against the rail, staring after Cornelia. She could draw the eye of any man even if her manner was timid, so it didn’t surprise her that Cornelia had caught the attention of her neighbor.

He tossed a comment her way, “Wonder why she wants to stay with someone mean as Otis. She sure is a real looker, ain’t she?”

Rae Lynn made like she didn’t hear him, went inside, and shut her door.





Chapter 13


Del


It was something about Ray Cobb. He couldn’t figure it exactly, despite knowing he wasn’t as old as he claimed. So, he was trying to pass as grown-up, but lots a boys did that, wanting to be men early. One of Del’s careful observations had to do with his hands. Sure, they were reddened across the knuckles, a few scrapes and dirt under the nails, common for the kind a work they did. And, there was that missing section of his finger. Still, none of that made up for the fact they looked small. When he was Cobb’s age, about to become a man, his own hands had not only been loaded with calluses, they’d been made thick and strong from working alongside Pap for years.