beige skin with naturally ruby cheeks. Her eyes, almost pitch black, looked eerily out of place on her pale skin, and their lids, just like Bijou’s, were heavy, adorned with long, envy-worthy dark lashes.
Bijou and Mark remained quiet as they practically sat on top of each other, holding hands underneath the table that was now covered with boiled chicken bones and a pot of pork fat back.
“You know, ya Uncle Pete never comes by here hardly anymore. He’s been sick a lot lately and needs to take this medicine I have for him. I tried visitin’ him, but he was sound asleep. Next time, I’ll be lettin’ myself in. Anyhow, I’m glad he called me and told me about your problem, Bijou.” The woman smiled at Bijou, seeming to sense her trepidation. “You ain’t gotta be afraid of me, baby.” She laughed heartedly. “Everyone knows what I do, but I don’t hurt folk, I don’t believe in that.” She winked at her great niece, causing an uneasy smile to bud across Bijou’s face. “You sure are pretty, Bijou.”
“Thank you,” Bijou said quietly.
“You and Rhine, I tell ya, when you two were born, people would not quiet down about how gorgeous you both were and then you only got prettier as each year passed. I ain’t got much good to say about my nephew, no offense.” Her eyebrow rose as she sighed.
“None taken, Aunt Clarabelle.” Bijou faintly smiled.
“OK, now,” she pulled out a chair across from them and plopped down into it with a chilled glass of iced cold Pepsi. “Can I speak candid wit’ you, in front of your man-friend here? Things I’m going to say might be a little embarassin’, so if you need him to leave, just say the word and then I can get started.”
Mark looked at Bijou and gripped her hand tighter. “If you want some privacy, Bijou, it’s no problem.”
“No.” Bijou looked up at him. “I’ve not been as open with you as I’d like to have been. I want everything out on the table – this involves you now, too. Aunt Clarabelle, please, go right ahead.”
“Alright.”
She took a long swig from her glass and placed it back on the table, her meaty hand clutching it as the trails of condensation ran down it. “Your mother did as many women have. She fell for a pretty face, my nephew, and boy was he pretty…so much so, he used it to his advantage to do wrong by folk. Now…” She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her large breasts. “Your mother was in a shameful way. She got pregnant wit’ you before she was married to your father. Despite his faults, my nephew still wanted to do the right thing and marry her. So, she had a quick weddin’ to hide the pregnancy but those of us that knew our math,” she chuckled, “put it all together. You wuddn’t no preemie…eight lbs. nearly.”
Bijou sat there in shock. Her mouth literally dropped open. “I…didn’t know.”
“Well, sorry to break it to you like this, but that’s what happened. That wedding was quick, fast and in a hurry.” She smoothed out her skirt. “So, when Rhine was born, and the way she behaved, your mother thought that it was a curse because she had sinned. I guess she just supposed the consequences came a bit later, wit’ her second child.”
“She saw Rhine as a curse?”
“I suppose you could say that, but I believe she loved Rhine very much. She knew, soon after she was born, somethin’ wasn’t right. Rhine would cry all day and night, screaming at the top of her lungs, and she didn’t respond to pain. You could tap her hand; she could fall hard, and not seem to notice. No one knew what was going on with her and your mother wouldn’t talk about it anymore after a while.”
Clarabelle took a deep breath and looked sharply at Mark.
“Ain’t no sense in us pussy footin’ around this. You and your friend here are in love. Your sister is very angry about this, Bijou.”
Bijou lowered her head and looked into her lap.
Mark looked at both women, confusion all over his
Stacey D'Erasmo
Lola Jaye
Lisa Scottoline
Annie Reed
J. Rudolph
Nina Darnton
Joseph Badal
Sally Gunning
Daniel H. Wilson
Stephen Lawhead