father.”
“I’m shore glad I ain’t. I’d say she’s ’bout the age you was when you got busted. Hey, pretty girl, pour me some coffee.”
With her back to him, Odette continued stirring the chopped potatoes frying in the big iron skillet. “Shit! I forget she can’t
hear. Don’t she hear anything a-tall? Hell, it don’t make no difference. I think I like it. I won’t get no back talk.” He
laughed as if he had said something terribly funny.
One brief glance at Dory’s tight-lipped mouth told Odette that she was angry at the man at the table. Had he said something
about
her?
Some sixth sense told her that he was watching her and that his thoughts were less than honorable. Odette felt heat rush
into her face and at the same time a cold chill traveled down her spine. She swallowed in an effort to ease the soreness in
her throat.
This man was of the same breed that sometimes had come to visit her mother before she had become so sick she could no longer
“entertain” them. On these occasions her mother would tell her to go to a small room off the kitchen and would lock the door.
Lying on a pallet, she would wait until her mother came for her.
Odette watched Dory for her reaction to the man. She was unlike any woman Odette had ever known. Dory romped and played like
a child with her and Jeanmarie, yet she was a grown woman, a mother. Odette had been delighted to know that Dory could make
clay pots, and Dory had promised to show her how to form them and bake them in the outside oven Mr. Callahan had built for
Dory’s mother. Although Odette missed the security of being with Ben, she had truly enjoyed being here with Dory and Jeanmarie.
Odette made a wide circle around the man in the chair when she carried the bowl of potatoes to the table. On the way back
to the stove she uttered a cry of alarm and moved quickly to evade the hand that snaked out to grab her skirt.
“I’m warning you, Milo,” Dory said angrily, placing herself between Odette and her brother. “Keep your hands off her, or I’ll
brain you with a stick of stove wood.”
“Ohhh… I’m scared.” Milo held up his hands as if to protect himself.
“You came down because of her, didn’t you?”
“I sure didn’t come to get an eyeful of you,
sister.
Louis said she was a dummy. Sid said she was pretty as a buttercup. I ain’t ever had me no dummy and it’s been a month or
more since I had me a woman that ain’t been broke into.” He laughed loud and long at the look of disgust on Dory’s face.
“You’re sorry through and through. You make me want to puke.”
“Sorry? What’s sorry about doin’ what comes natural? I have myself a hell of a time. Sid’s got his eye on you. Know that?”
“You and Sid Hanes are chips off the same rotten block.”
“How long’s it been since you had a man? Not since that puny Malone kid got hisself killed, huh?”
“Shut up!” Dory slammed a plate of fried meat on the table. “Eat and get out.”
“I ain’t going nowhere… except up to my bed.” He reached out and pinched her on the thigh.
She aimed at the side of his face with the back of her hand. He dodged the blow and laughed.
“If I told James that you pinch and slap me, he’d tear your blasted head off.”
“Go right ahead and tell him if you want to see him laid out on a slab. I might take him for a deer when I’m hunting. Better
yet, I might lose control of a plank and knock him into the saw blade.”
“Mistake him for a deer like you did Mick Malone?”
“Mick Malone? Let’s see. Wasn’t he the little bastard’s pa? I might of took him for a red-headed woodpecker, but not a deer.”
With her back to Milo, Odette touched Dory’s arm and mouthed, “Upstairs.”
Dory shook her head. “Stay with me,” she replied, making her mouth work slowly.
Odette nodded her understanding.
“What’er you saying to her?” Milo demanded.
“I’m telling her that you’re a mule’s ass
“I’m shore glad I ain’t. I’d say she’s ’bout the age you was when you got busted. Hey, pretty girl, pour me some coffee.”
With her back to him, Odette continued stirring the chopped potatoes frying in the big iron skillet. “Shit! I forget she can’t
hear. Don’t she hear anything a-tall? Hell, it don’t make no difference. I think I like it. I won’t get no back talk.” He
laughed as if he had said something terribly funny.
One brief glance at Dory’s tight-lipped mouth told Odette that she was angry at the man at the table. Had he said something
about
her?
Some sixth sense told her that he was watching her and that his thoughts were less than honorable. Odette felt heat rush
into her face and at the same time a cold chill traveled down her spine. She swallowed in an effort to ease the soreness in
her throat.
This man was of the same breed that sometimes had come to visit her mother before she had become so sick she could no longer
“entertain” them. On these occasions her mother would tell her to go to a small room off the kitchen and would lock the door.
Lying on a pallet, she would wait until her mother came for her.
Odette watched Dory for her reaction to the man. She was unlike any woman Odette had ever known. Dory romped and played like
a child with her and Jeanmarie, yet she was a grown woman, a mother. Odette had been delighted to know that Dory could make
clay pots, and Dory had promised to show her how to form them and bake them in the outside oven Mr. Callahan had built for
Dory’s mother. Although Odette missed the security of being with Ben, she had truly enjoyed being here with Dory and Jeanmarie.
Odette made a wide circle around the man in the chair when she carried the bowl of potatoes to the table. On the way back
to the stove she uttered a cry of alarm and moved quickly to evade the hand that snaked out to grab her skirt.
“I’m warning you, Milo,” Dory said angrily, placing herself between Odette and her brother. “Keep your hands off her, or I’ll
brain you with a stick of stove wood.”
“Ohhh… I’m scared.” Milo held up his hands as if to protect himself.
“You came down because of her, didn’t you?”
“I sure didn’t come to get an eyeful of you,
sister.
Louis said she was a dummy. Sid said she was pretty as a buttercup. I ain’t ever had me no dummy and it’s been a month or
more since I had me a woman that ain’t been broke into.” He laughed loud and long at the look of disgust on Dory’s face.
“You’re sorry through and through. You make me want to puke.”
“Sorry? What’s sorry about doin’ what comes natural? I have myself a hell of a time. Sid’s got his eye on you. Know that?”
“You and Sid Hanes are chips off the same rotten block.”
“How long’s it been since you had a man? Not since that puny Malone kid got hisself killed, huh?”
“Shut up!” Dory slammed a plate of fried meat on the table. “Eat and get out.”
“I ain’t going nowhere… except up to my bed.” He reached out and pinched her on the thigh.
She aimed at the side of his face with the back of her hand. He dodged the blow and laughed.
“If I told James that you pinch and slap me, he’d tear your blasted head off.”
“Go right ahead and tell him if you want to see him laid out on a slab. I might take him for a deer when I’m hunting. Better
yet, I might lose control of a plank and knock him into the saw blade.”
“Mistake him for a deer like you did Mick Malone?”
“Mick Malone? Let’s see. Wasn’t he the little bastard’s pa? I might of took him for a red-headed woodpecker, but not a deer.”
With her back to Milo, Odette touched Dory’s arm and mouthed, “Upstairs.”
Dory shook her head. “Stay with me,” she replied, making her mouth work slowly.
Odette nodded her understanding.
“What’er you saying to her?” Milo demanded.
“I’m telling her that you’re a mule’s ass
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