The acrid air was getting to her, the rain was getting to her, the greasy layers on the stove and Frigidaire were getting to her. The memories were closing in, trying to overtake her. She didn’t want Susan and William to see her upset. She fled out the back door.
Zach, who was just entering the kitchen, followed her. “You need some help back here?” he asked.
“Oh, shit. Shit!” she said, clenching her fists at her sides. She spun around to face him. “I just don’t know. It’s like he’s still here. I can almost hear him yelling at me.” She looked toward the door to the kitchen to be sure Susan and William weren’t within earshot.
“I know, baby, I know. All that’s done, okay? You gotta get your head around this—it’s over,” he said, his hand holding open the back door. “We’re just here to pick up some papers, that’s all. So, take a deep breath and then you and Susan can look around for whatever you’re looking for. I’m gonna take William out to the pole barn and see if we can see us a snake! Ha ha.”
“No, oh, no, Zach!” Panic seized her. She grabbed his forearm. “You can’t take William out there. Ah, uh, there are snakes out there—bad, huge rattlesnakes. Please don’t go out there, please,” she pleaded.
In the hot months of summer, the wind almost never blows and the haze hangs in the air smothering every breath. The attic fan rattled and banged as it labored to keep air moving through the house. But, for all its efforts, it cooled nothing. Momma and Grammy Mayetta were sweating over the stove doing their canning. The kitchen was steamy with hot jars and hotter vegetables as they worked. From time to time they would wipe the sweat from their foreheads with a dish towel. Luella was supposed to keep her little brother out of the kitchen, but he kept running in there, and she kept having to pull him back out onto the porch.
“Now,” she scolded him, “you stay out here with me. Momma is canning and we’re supposed to stay out of the way.”
She heard Grammy Mayetta raise her voice, “Lovie!” she shouted and little Luella knew just from the tone of her voice that something was wrong. She ran inside to see what happened, Martin at her heels. Momma was bent over holding her belly, pain covered her face. Luella stopped in the doorway holding Martin by the hand. Grammy Mayetta scolded her mother, “You workin’ yourself sick, Lovie,” she said as she led her to a kitchen chair. Tears filled Momma’s eyes as Grammy ran to the phone and called Miss Pearl.
Luella couldn’t hear what she said. She moved closer to her mother and busied herself rubbing Momma’s elbow up and down and saying “It’s okay, Momma, it’s okay.” Before she knew it, Momma got up and tried to get to the bedroom, her skirt dripping blood. The sight of it terrified Luella. Tears filled her eyes. Just then Daddy rushed in and picked Momma up in his arms. She heard Grammy Mayetta say, “Pearl is on her way. There’s no time for the doctor.” Luella knew something really bad happened and Momma was hurt bad. She followed Daddy into the bedroom, but he pushed her out roughly and banged the door shut. Martin began to wail. Luella grabbed him around his shoulders. That night Luella had to put herself to bed. Grammy said Momma was spending the night in the hospital because she “had the flu” was all, and needed to rest for a couple of days.
Zach stopped. He put his hands on Lu’s shoulders. “Hey, hey, calm down, now,” he said, “What’s this all about, huh? You really scared of snakes, Lu?”
“Yes, oh, you don’t know.” She swallowed hard and caught her breath. “Oh, my God! I’d forgotten all about it. I was just a child. Just a little girl.” The words hurried out. She couldn’t say them fast enough. “Something happened to my mother, and she hurt herself. Grammy was all upset, and she said something about there was no time for the doctor. She said she was calling Miss Pearl.” Lu released her grip on Zach’s arm and stepped to the edge of the porch. “I remember Daddy picked Momma up and carried her into the bedroom. Martin was a baby. He was crying, but Daddy pushed the bedroom door closed. I tried to go in, and he yelled at me. ‘Git your brother and git on outside. Now, girl!’”
She turned back toward Zach to explain. “You know, like I’d done something wrong. I was so mad at Daddy. He wouldn’t let me in the bedroom with Momma! Martin, he was like three or something, so I must have been six, I guess. I grabbed his hand and we ran out to Great-granddaddy Eli’s old log cabin. We weren’t ever supposed to go out there.” Lu gasped. “It’s way out in the back field where they used to grow sugar cane. I was so mad at Daddy. I wanted me and Martin to hide so he’d have to come look for us. And we went in there,” she explained. “It was just one room really. And we were there a long time. It was getting dark. I was playing house with Martin. Just playing house!” Tears boiled in her eyes. She put her palms on Zach’s chest. “Oh, my God. I heard a noise and turned around and right behind Martin, there was this huge rattlesnake! I grabbed him, but the snake was between us and the door. His rattle was so loud! And, oh, God. I got so scared, he was between us and the door, and I got so scared! I held onto Martin as tight as I could, and I froze! I just froze and couldn’t move. I couldn’t even yell for help!”
Zach took her in his arms. “Oh, baby, damn, I’m sorry,” he said rocking her gently, rubbing her back. “What did you do?”
“Jerome, Miss Pearl’s son, it was Jerome who saved us. He was, he, uh, all of a sudden he was in the doorway of the cabin. He never spoke, he just drew this big old fishing knife out of his belt and threw it at the snake and, uh, it, it nailed that snake’s head to the floor!” Lu was breathing hard. “Then, I ran and ran until he snatched me and Martin up and ran across the field with us, both of us, and brought us back to the house. I think he saved our lives. I do!” She buried her forehead in his chest. She was calmer now, the long-buried fear having been unearthed.
“I think Jerome saved you and Martin that day, too,” Zach said. He stood back slightly looking at her face. “Did you get in trouble?”
“No, no we didn’t,” she said. “I don’t think Jerome ever told Daddy where he found us. But I think that’s why I’ve always been so terrified of snakes.”
“Oh, baby, I’m sorry we always teased you about being scared of snakes. I wouldn’t of done it if I’d known,” he apologized, again pulling her close and rocking her gently in his embrace.
Lu’s nose was running. Zach reached for his handkerchief, but before he could hand it to her, she wiped it against her sleeve and pushed the hot tears from her cheeks with her fingertips. “I’d forgotten all about it,” she sniffed. “Until just now, but I’ve sort of had nightmares about it for years. How stupid.”
“No, not stupid. Never stupid. Listen here now,” he said, his hands stroking her shoulders. “Some of them memories you’re seeing now, you need to look at,” he said. “You know, like we talked about the other night. You’re going to need to settle all these things in your mind. But, nothin’ bad’s going to happen to you here today. okay?”
She sniffed again and nodded.
“I’m gonna take care of you, baby,” he said. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, their foreheads together. “You do what you need to here, but don’t go pushin’ yourself. We still got a couple of days. Meantime, me and William will load up the boxes Martin left. We’ll be right out front.”
“Yeah, okay. Just don’t go too far,” she said into his shirt front.
“I won’t,” he assured her.
When Lu came back into the kitchen, Susan met her. “Mom, are you all right?” she asked.
Embarrassed by the tear streaks on her face, she was briefly suspicious that Susan overheard her conversation with Zach, but mumbled, “I’m fine.”
“I’m here to work. What do you want me to do?” Susan asked.
“Well, let’s see,” Lu, relieved, sighed audibly as she regained her composure. “Go get a couple of those boxes. We need to look for all kinds of papers to box up. You start with the sideboard.” Then she quickly added, “I’ve already looked in my father’s room. I’m looking for bills, maybe a bank book, Social Security papers, tax returns, anything like that. I’m not going to sit in this musty old house and go through it, though. I’ll sort it out once I get back home.”
Slowly, she and Susan worked their way through the drawers, shelves, and cupboards of the house, while Zach and William boxed up the things Martin had set aside and began loading the back of the SUV.
“Look, Mom,” Susan said. “In the bottom of this old chest there are some really old books and papers. Can we take them too? They might be interesting.”
Lu barely glanced at her. “Oh, Susan, you’re such a pack rat. Go ahead and box them up, but keep them separate from everything else. I’m going to have to weed my way through all this and I don’t want to waste time going through things that aren’t important.” She saw Susan drop her shoulders. She knew she hurt her feelings, but she would talk to her and straighten it all out when they got home. She headed back into the kitchen as Susan silently grabbed a small box and stacked the papers and books into it, marking it with a Sharpie, ‘Stovall Family old books and papers, please do not destroy.’
Rummaging through the rooms and making a list of the furniture while Zach and William did the same with the farm equipment in the outbuildings took until late afternoon. Lu didn’t even stop for lunch, so no one else did either. The rain finally ended, but the humidity was on the rise. Zach and William loaded the last of the boxes.
“You sure you got everything you want from here?” Zach asked Lu as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I’m sure,” she said, defiantly picturing the envelope she left in her father’s dresser drawer.
“Then let’s get back to the hotel, take a shower, and get some dinner. I’m starving,” he said.
“You’re not alone,” William chimed in.
“Tomorrow morning, we’ll make our first stop UPS so we can get Martin’s stuff shipped out,” he suggested as he turned the key in the ignition. “Did you find anything that looked like a title to your daddy’s truck or the tractor? If Martin wants to come back down here and get the truck like he said, he’s gonna need the title.”
“Oh, no,” Lu sighed, leaning her head against the passenger window. “That never occurred to me.”
“I did, Mom,” Susan said. “I found a whole envelope of papers in the sideboard, and I think they were important, but I’m not sure now which box they’re in.”
“Susan,” Lu snapped, “I can’t believe it. You interrupted me every time you thought you saw an antique, and you didn’t tell me about important papers?”
“Hey, now,” Zach interrupted. “We’re all tired and hungry. Let’s not fuss at each other, okay?”
Lu reached in the back seat and lightly touched Susan’s knee, “I’m sorry,” she said. “You didn’t deserve that. I’m just hot and tired.”
“And starving,” William said.
“Yeah, son, we got that,” echoed Zach.
Susan placed her palm over her mother’s hand. “I know,” she said.
At dinner that evening, Zach pushed his plate aside and turned to Lu. He had a mischievous look in his eye. “What do you think of this? Since we are pretty much done here, I think tomorrow morning we should pack up and head out for Palm Coast, or up to St. Augustine,” he announced. “It’s right up the road. We can have a couple of days’ vacation out of all this before heading home. Want to go?”
“With all I still have to do?” Lu protested. “I still have to find a realtor, and— Oh, no! I never gave Miss Pearl a check to pay for the church reception.”
“You can call Miss Pearl and explain that we need to get back,” he said. “You can put a check in the mail to her and she’ll probably get it in a day or two. As far as a realtor, haven’t you ever heard of the Internet? C’mon, Lu, you can do that from home. Let’s just go ahead and go. It’ll do us all good.”
“I’m all for that!” Susan and William said practically in unison, then laughed loudly at their joint response.