C8 SECRET WOUNDS - BOOK 1

‘This is the third time I have observed Peter coming to the pub and lingering as if he waiting for something,’ Sean said to Richard. They were taking a break from painting a wardrobe for Fautina to place in her room. Sean watched as Richard broke a few pieces of bread and threw them on the ground. In less than a minute, the pigeons perched nearby descended hungrily, swallowing as if their lives depended on this nourishment.

‘Not something, buddy; someone I think,’ Richard answered. ‘I have been watching him closely and I have come to the conclusion that he is trying to get Fautina’s attention.’

Sean shook his head solemnly. ‘Poor boy. He has his work cut out for him. Of all the ladies in the community he had to go for the tigress.’ At Richard’s silence, Sean realized his mistake. “Sorry man. Sometimes I forget the two of you are related. There is no resemblance whatsoever and your personalities are way off.’

‘Yeah, yeah, but at the end of the day she is still my sister. She might be a bit rough around the edges, but underneath she is not bad.’

Sean took Richard’s assessment of his sister with a grain of salt. He had seen Fautina in action, mingling with the crowd in or out of the pub, and she could be a terror to the wrong set of people. He would not get into an argument with Richard. If that is what he saw then the man must be blind. Instead, he replied, ‘So is she taking the bait or has she been playing hard to get? You know she doesn’t have many more years left if she wants to settle down and have a kid.’ Brushing a piece of bread from his shirt he continued. ‘She should grab whatever opportunity that comes and Peter here well….’ He trailed off.

‘He is a bit young isn’t he?’ Richard said.

‘Well yeah, but if she likes them young, that is her decision.’

‘He is a bit weird, that Peter. I am not sure if Fautina should get involved with him.’

‘What do you mean by weird?’ Sean asked between mouthfuls of cream of wheat.

‘He seems to be always on edge as if waiting for something to happen. Plus when he addresses me, his eyes are all over the place instead of on me. I mean he should be looking at me directly in my face. What is he hiding that he does not want me to see?’

‘Do you want to know what I think?’ Sean asked. ‘I think the lad is intimidated by you. He is terrified of how you will react when you find out about his intentions. I saw the way he stammered when you walked towards him at the pub a few nights ago. Try and give him a break, he is young and a bit cocky but not that confident.’

Sean smiled as he saw the lines around Richard’s upper lip crease. At least he had managed to relax him. ‘You worry too much. Fautina is a grown woman and can more than manage whatever comes her way. If she is interested, the decision is hers to make, not mine or yours. Remember that.’

‘And you don’t worry?’ Richard switched the conversation away from himself. ‘I heard Tomas visited this weekend. I found it odd that he did not make his customary stop at the shop or come and say hello to Fautina and I. He must have been in quite a hurry to leave. That, or he was distracted with something else on his mind. I am coming to believe it is the latter. What is going on with you two?’

Sean stared morosely at his friend for a long moment then thought what the hell. Maybe he should tell him the whole sordid story. But what would he accomplish by having Richard involved in his mess? He knew that once he said it that Richard would make it his business. Nah, he could not do this to him so he plastered a smile on his face and said, ‘We got into a fight. No blows were dealt,’ he chuckled. ‘It was a misunderstanding. He will be back after he cools off.’

‘Well, well this must be a first.’ Slapping Sean on the shoulder, Richard said, ‘Come on lazy bones. Let us try and complete this before nightfall.’

***

‘Not again!’Abigale shouted in frustration as the pipe spurted water from both sides of the bamboo and drenched the front of her bodice. Placing the half pail of water on the floor, she crossly made her way outside in search of Sean. She found him at the back of the house playing with Josh. At her approach, Sean looked up and said ‘What is it Abby?’

Inhaling deeply with hands on her hips she angrily gestured towards the house. ‘When are you going to fix the pipe, I can barely use it without water exploding in my face; and what about the hinge on the front door. It is barely standing on its own.’

Sean turned towards Josh and whispered. ‘Go on into the house buddy. We will continue this game some other time.’ When Josh was out of earshot Sean responded, ‘Now Abigale, why don't you tell me what this is really about? Surely this angry outburst cannot be about a burst pipe.’

‘Yes it is! she shouted. ‘It is time you take some responsibilities around here!’

‘Wait a minute, damn you!’ Sean retorted, shooting a glare her way. ‘Don't you dare speak to me about my responsibilities. I am a good father and provider and you know it! I told you that I will work on the repairs this weekend. I barely have time for myself when I return from the field. You are making a big deal out of nothing. Why don't you use a bucket for now,’ Sean stated; bending down to retrieve Josh's toy. All the fight had gone out of him. ‘I will work on the hinges tomorrow. How does that sound? Abby?’ When he looked up she had disappeared.

Sean dropped his body onto the cold, hard ground and shook his head. Pressing his hand onto the dirt mound he yielded nothing. The ground was tough and dry, thirsty for rain. He could not help but make a comparison to it and Abigale. She was on his case all the time; railing at him for every single thing. For goodness sake he was a grown man. When he was ready to do the damn repairs he would do them. Not one day sooner. Everything had to be done the minute she said. She had been giving him the cold shoulder for the past week and he was getting really tired of it. Somehow he would have to make amends, as always. He was always the one who took the first step to reconciliation whenever there was a dispute between them, regardless of who was in the wrong. One thing the years had taught him was that forgiveness did not come easy for Abigale.

***

The days flew by. School was almost out and things looked pretty normal to Suzie. She did notice however, that Pa was in a subdued mood since Uncle Tomas’s last visit. She had mentioned it to Ma who brushed her off and said, “They are brothers, Suz. They won’t stay mad at each other forever. Give them time. Whatever it is they will work it out.”

Suzie did not know what transpired on that day after the brothers' talk after breakfast, but it looked like something serious went down.

She recalled Uncle Tomas returning to the house an hour after speaking to Pa with smiles and more stories to tell them. He spent the whole afternoon and left at dusk. However, Pa returned late that night after Uncle Tomas was gone, saying very little. Whatever it was, she hoped that things between Pa and uncle Tomas would be resolved soon.

Folding back the top page of the novel she was reading, she placed the book aside. She really should be studying for her arithmetic exam. Getting up from the living room, she went in search of her school bag.

The house was quiet today. Ma had decided to help Pa out in the field and Josh had tagged along.

He had been like a tick on a cow, nagging after Pa this week about visiting the farm to search for worms and lizards. It looked like Pa had had enough of all that chatter because he woke Josh up early that morning and broke the news. Suzie recalled he was so excited that he had forgone breakfast. Ma decided to make the trip with them also.

Her excuse was that Josh would distract Pa from his work and end up finding himself in some quandary. But Suzie knew she was happy to be out with both Pa and Josh, even if she did not say so. Suzie was also content to have the house all to herself. At least Ma was not there breathing down her neck, checking and double checking on her.

With no television and a small transistor radio which only Pa could operate, there was barely anything to do for fun. Maybe that was the reason reading was her medium. One could get lost when reading. She would usually find herself immersed into the author’s world, seeing and experiencing whatever feelings were portrayed, or being transported by the character. Her Ma was the one who had introduced her to stories, and at age five when she had received her first bedtime book, she was a goner.

Locating her bag, Suzie removed the arithmetic textbook, along with some scrap paper and pencil to do some practice questions. After about an hour, she felt a headache coming on. Massaging her temple, she placed the textbook aside. Mathematics had never been one of her strong points. She needed some help. She could ask Pa to assist her, he was good with numbers, but he was not a patient teacher.

Suzie would prefer someone who could break down the sums to her step by step, so she could fully understand. Jerald was her next option. He was Mr. Richie’s only son, and Suzie heard that he was a Maths genius. She would need to ask Pa’s permission first, though. Her father would not approve of her going to spend time at Jerald's unchaperoned.

This was how it was and always would be in Larouse. Fathers were protective of their daughters and she could not blame them. There was this one case where a young girl had been molested by an older man, a neighbor. Suzie would wait on Pa’s response. Her mind made up, she proceeded outside to gather the ground provisions Ma had left for her to prepare the noon day meal.

It was only ten o’clock, but the sun was shining brightly. Maybe it was later than that, Suzie mused. Ma would not be happy if they returned from the field hungry and there was no food to eat. Quickly, Suzie took what she needed and went back inside the house.

After peeling and washing the ground provisions, Suzie pulled out the small basin with salted pigtail which had been soaking in water from morning. Rinsing it out twice, as she had seen Ma done on several occasions, she sliced them in reasonable pieces and placed them in the pan. Suzie laboured slowly with the chopping knife. The overpowering smell of the green seasonings accosted her nostrils, causing her eyes to run like a dripping pipe. She quickly completed the dish by adding two and a half cups of water. Placing the pan on the coal pot, she left it to simmer and went back to her novel.

So lost was she in the novel that at first she did not hear Ma’s voice.

‘What is that burning smell?’

‘What?’ Suzie answered. ‘What smell?’

‘Manjé-a Suzie. Manjé ka bwilé,’ her Ma yelled.

‘Oh no, no,’ Suzie screeched. Dropping the novel, she rushed to the kitchen. Grabbing the closest towel, she lifted the hot pan from the coal pot and placed it on the flat piece of iron used to protect the counter top.

‘Ouch!’ She screamed, burning one of her fingers. Popping it into her mouth, she turned and faced her mother who was standing directly behind her. ‘I am sorry Ma. I must have lost track of time. I watched it earlier, but it still had a good bit of sauce.’

Suzie watched as Ma brushed past her and uncovered the pan. She gasped.

‘What is that?’ She asked pointing inside of the pot.

Not sure what her mother was referring to, Suzie approached and looked into the pan. Sitting on the meal was the remnants of a cockroach.

Shocked, Suzie stammered. ‘I...I don’t know how they got there. I washed the provisions and meat several times…’ Her sentence was cut short by a sharp slap on her face.

Dragging her outside by the hair Ma continued raining blows at Suzie whilst shouting profanities at her. With tears running down her face, Suzie choked out, ‘I do not know how they got there Ma. I don’t know what happened.’

‘You don’t know what happened? Well I do.’ Ma continued. ‘Ou pa mélé? Mwen kay moutwé. This stops here, today, at this very minute. This is deliberate,’ she raged, marching inside the house.

A few seconds later, her mother came back outside, holding the novel that Suzie had been reading. ‘This is what happened, Suzie. When you are in a book, you forget everything that is going on around you. The house could have burnt down and you would not notice.’ She threw the novel down the meadow.

Suzie’s eyes followed the arc of the novel as it disappeared into the bushes. Slowly, she crumbled against the side of one of the drums and cried.

‘What is all that racket?’ Pa asked. He and Josh had emerged from the valley, dripping sweat, their shirts stuck to their skins. They looked tired and hungry. Looking at the duo before her, Suzie bent her head and cried harder.

‘Why are you crying? Where is your Ma?’ ‘Abigale, what happened?’ Suzie heard Pa asked as he entered the cabin.

***

Later that night, Suzie waited until all were in bed and with kerosene lamp in hand, she made her way to the meadow in search of the novel. She did not care what she had to battle in the bushes tonight, she would not return to the house without it.