House of Rougeaux(39)

“That sounds like a very beneficial kind of arrangement,” he said, smiling again.

“Yes,” said Martine, “especially since this morning I lost my job.”

“Is that so?” he leaned forward and rested his broad chin on his clasped hands.

“And Lucille, my friend, said I was always so nice to her…” surely she was taking up the Reverend’s time now, but she couldn’t seem to help it. “It’s not true though, not true at all. My parents don’t approve of dancing, of girls going into clubs, and they didn’t want us to stay friends. And I don’t suppose they’ll let me work for her.”

“So there’s the rub,” said the Reverend.

“But I really think I could. Help them. They say her little brother Tony is doing bad in school. I was good at school, I could help him too, not just keep the house.” She saw Tony in the street sometimes, running around with the other boys. He was ten and always outgrowing his britches. Last summer she’d seen Mrs. Travis, walking slowly with a cane and carrying groceries. Martine hadn’t seen her since then, maybe she was too ill to go shopping now, and she thought with another pang that she hadn’t offered any help to Mrs. Travis with that heavy bag. She’d turned her back on her because she hadn’t wanted to risk seeing Lucille, and Mrs. Travis had always been kind to her. Martine bit her thumbnail.

“But your parents may object,” said the Reverend.

“I suppose they want to protect me,” said Martine, though this had not before occurred to her.

Reverend Este nodded sympathetically. “I say,” he said, “does your friend Lucille ever come to church?”

“No sir,” she said, “they used to. I mean her family, the Travises, before her papa died.”

“Well,” he said, “I hope she might come again one day. All God’s creation is welcome here.”

“Yes sir.” Martine stood. “Thank you.” She turned to go.

“Oh Miss Rougeaux,” he said, “you say you are good at school? Good with children? We have a new tutoring program starting up in the fall. Might you have time in your week to volunteer? We certainly could use someone like you.”

Heading back outside and down the stairs, lost in the events of the day, Martine nearly ran smack into Leo LeForte. He was a friend of her brother Albert-Ross, but it had been quite a long time since she’d seen him.

“Oh, hey,” he said, “I thought I might see a Rougeaux today.”

“Have you been away?” she asked. She thought she’d heard from Albert-Ross that Leo was working with the railroad now.

“Yeah, but I’m here for a few days. Ma’s already got me working.” He held up a shopping bag, full of something to deliver to the church. “I’ve been staying in Toronto, with my brother’s family.” He rubbed at the back of his head and smiled, showing the points of his canine teeth. “I guess it’s funny being back.” He pushed the brim of his cap up to his hairline.

“Why is that?” Martine brought a hand up to pat her hair, suddenly thinking she must look a fright from running around all day in her maid’s uniform, probably smelled like cigarettes from the Club too.

“Well, you know, everything is the same, so much the same it’s strange somehow.”

Martine had never been outside the city, but after everything today she knew something about strange.

“Maybe it’s you that’s changed,” she said, and he laughed.

“Maybe we all changed.”

“Did you like Toronto a lot?” Martine asked. Leo’s big smile was contagious and she was smiling like a fool.

“I like it fine. Did you ever go there?”

She shook her head. For a moment neither knew what to say. The sun was low in the sky now and their shadows stretched out long and blue over the pavement.

Leo looked regretfully at his shopping bag. “I better take this in,” he said. “Hey, where are you headed?”

“To my sister’s.”

“Are you in a hurry? Could I walk with you?”



* * *



That evening after supper Elodie came to help Martine talk with Momma before Papa arrived home. They sent the children to play outside and sat in the kitchen. Momma received the news about Mr. Braddock in silence and then stood with her hands clasped to look out the window, facing this new adversity with her customary grave composure.

“First we are going to praise God that he didn’t harm you,” she said, sitting down again at the table. “A woman’s got to always be on her guard.” She rubbed her eyes with one hand and then looked at Martine with tired eyes. “Especially you young ones. Maybe it shouldn’t be so, but by God it is.” She took Martine’s hand, something she rarely did. Martine felt her strength and it fortified her. “You did right today. You did everything right. I’m proud of you, and your family will stand by you. There are risks we just won’t take.”

“Thank you, Momma,” said Martine, reaching over to hug her.

Momma patted her on the back with one hand and laid out the next steps. Martine would have to send word to Mrs. Braddock through Caroline, with some excuse; she would have to forfeit her pay for that week, and they would just have to hope that Mrs. Braddock wouldn’t say anything against her among the ladies in her community. Reputation was everything. In any case, Martine would have to find another job, a position with another white family, if that was still possible.