Breath of Scandal (15 page)

She only charges fifty                    irritation plain,   "My Wouldn't you know it " she said, her

old lady kept every igging cent. Anyway, I'd be glad to speak to Georgie about you. She's kinda particular and ybody who ain't referred, you know?

doesn't Re to take an'                                        other Ive 'cause she doesn't want her

And she's real secret* businesses to suffer."

"What other businesses?"

Patrice lowered her voice. "Besides abortions, she has another sideline, although she's supposed to be a seamstress. If you don't have much money and don't want anybody to find out, Georgie's the one to do it. " She took another draug of her cigarette. "Look, I know this is a lot to take in.

can tell me to fuck off and I'll fuck off. It ain't no skin off my nose either way, see?"

'61 appreciate your offer, Patrice, but I've got to think about it. I'm not even sure that I'm . . . that it'll be necessary."

Patrice glapced down at Jade's midsection and shrugged. "Sure. I understand, kiddo. The first time 'bout shivered my gizzard, too. But my old lady said no way in hell was she gonna have a squalling brat around the house. Besides, Neal Patchett is such a prick, who in her right mind would want to have his bastard?"

Jade's stomach rebelled at the thought. "I'll let you know what I decide, Patrice. Thanks. " She rushed toward the nearest restroom. A few minutes later she left the stall. Weakly bending over the sink, she thrust her hands into cold water and splashed it on her face.

"It's not a baby," she whispered to her pale reflection in the mirror. "It's not anything. It's slime."

After that, each time Jade met Patrice in the hallway, Patrice raised one eyebrow in silent inquiry. Jade pretended not to notice, although Patrice had prompted her to admit that there had been another severe consequence of the rape. She was pregnant.

She still refused to think of the fetus in terms of an individual, a baby. She'd wanted to postpone making a decision about it until after receiving her diploma, which was only a few weeks away. But the life inside her was developing.

She was very careful about the way she dressed. Nevertheless, if Patrice had guessed, it was only a matter of time before others would. Her worst fear was that someone would

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share his suspicions with Gary. He must never know. Pregnancy was irrefutable proof that she had been with someone other than him. Could she get through graduation without his finding out? Dare she try?

Despite everything, she had been named salutatorian of her class. Gary was valedictorian. She was so proud of him, although she didn't dare congratulate him personally. He was dating another girl, and when Jade happened to meet him in the hall, he always looked the other way.

The honor of being second in her class was a consolation prize in which she took pride. Years of study and hard work had gone into the achievement. With very little parental support, she had earned the honor. Damned if she was going to let Neat and his friends rob her of that, too.

When she stood at the microphone and addressed the audience at the commencement exercise, she wanted to look her attackers in the eye. They wouldnt see her cowed. They had raped her body and her reputation, but she was going to go out with her dignity intact.

But what if people snickered behind their engraved programs over the pregnancy she had tried unsuccessfully to conceal?

During prom week, while her classmates made big plans for that important weekend, Jade agonized over her problem. During a class change, one of the women counselors approached her.

"Who are you going to the prom with, Jade?" :'I'm not going, Mrs. Trenton."

,:Not going? No one's asked you?"

That's fight." Neal had, but Jade had hung up on him without even honoring his tongue-in-cheek invitation with a reply. He'd even had the gall to suggest that they double date with Hutch and Donna Dee.

Mrs. Trenton looked her over carefully. "I'd like you to come by my office and see me one day this week, Jade. I believe we need to talk."

She knows.

As Jade moved down the school corridor, she realized that the choice to act now or to wait had been taken away

from her. For that she was almost relieved. She wouldn't have to dwell on the dilemma any longer, or weigh her options. She merely had to act, go through the motions, and get it Over with as soon as possible. When classes were dismissed for the day, she sought Out Patrice Watley.

Jade had rarely gone into that Part Of tOWTI-aDd certainly never alone, TO get there she had to cross the railroad tracks and drive past the deserted depot and the cotton gin, which was no longer in operation. Only then was she officially in nigger town. 1,

Several years earlier, Velta had hired a black woman to do their ironing. Whenever they went to the lady's house, Velta would order Jade to stay in the car and not to speak to anyone. After a few months, Velta had decided that having the ironing done was too expensive. "Besides, " Jade overheard her telling a friend,

into that part of town. You nev "it scares me to death to go to do. "                       er know what they're going A child, Jade hadn't understood what Velta feared would

happen to them when they 'ventured across the tracks. No one had ever approached the car,

hibited the                        spoken to them, or exmerest interest or suggestion of threat. In fact, the ironing lady had always sent out several

teacakes wrapped in a paper napkin for Jade. Flaky, buttery, golden, sugar-sprinkled disks-they had looked and smelled mouthwatering, She'd never had an opportunity to find out how they tasted, though. Velta had refused to let her eat them and threw them away the instant they returned home.

Jade parked her mother,s car beneath a crepe myrtle tree a block away from the address Patrice had scribbled down for her. As she had Pressed the slip of paper into Jade's hand, she whispered, "I'll call Georgie and tell her to be expecting you. Take cash.',

The cash, which was most of what she had saved from working in Pete jones,s store, was inside the pocketbook she tucked beneath her arrn as she

, went down the cracked and buckled sidewalk. Some of Velta's Prejudicial Paranoia

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had rubbed off on her, she was ashamed to realize. She kept her eyes lowered, looking neither right nor left as she passed the row of small houses that were packed wall-to-wall against each other on their narrow lots.

Georgie's house looked exactly like all the others. In spite of the cold fear in her gut and the serrated blade of her conscience that was sawing against her heart, Jade was curious about what went on there. The house was only two rooms wide, but deep, so that the back porch was almost even with the alley behind the house. It had been painted at one time, though now that white paint was a distant memory. The green tarpaper roof was patched and peeling. The metal chimney had rusted and left a brown stain bleeding down the exterior wall.

"Don't let appearances fool you," Patrice had told her. Old Georgie's one rich nigger. She could blackmail half the population in the county if she saw fit."

From the outside, it appeared that no one was home. Heavy shades had been pulled over all the windows. Mustering her courage, Jade went up the front sidewalk, stepped onto the porch, and knocked on the frame of the screen door.

She felt dozens of eyes boring into her back from hiding places, but she reasoned that that was only her imagination. She didn't dare turn around either to nullify or to confirm her fears.

It suddenly struck her that there was no one else on the street-no cars passing by, no children playing in front yards, no young mothers pushing baby strollers along the sidewalks. Georgie's neighbors were as wary of white intruders as whites were of venturing into this neighborhood. That regrettable racial schism was one of the things that she and Gary had hoped to correct.

The front door was slowly pulled open, and Jade got her first took at Georgie through the screen. She was much younger than Jade had expected, or perhaps she only looked young because of her smooth, unlined face. Her full lips were enhanced with bright red lipstick. Her eyes were im-

placable disks of ebony. She was tall and so slender that her limbs looked almost spidery. Her hair had been cut close to form a tight cap around her head. She was dressed in a lilac cotton shirtwaist. Jade was relieved to see that she was immaculately clean.

She swallowed dryly. "My name is Jade. I believe Patrice called for me."

Georgie pushed open the screen door and Jade stepped inside. The house didn't smell unpleasant, as she had feared it might. She wondered what Georgie put in all the Mason jars. There were crates of them stacked in the hall.

Tbe w0mall raised her hand and indicated that Jade should precede her. Moving toward the back of the house, Jade followed the hallway that divided the house into halves and formed a straight line from the front door to the back.

In the silence, a ticking wall clock sounded inordinately loud- From the kitchen came the high, thin, feeble whistle of a simmering teakettle.

Georgie indicated a room on their left. The only thing in it besides a table draped with a white rubber sheet was an old-fashioned, free-standing enamel medicine cabinet, jade hesitated on the threshold. '

"Why did you come to me?-

She jumped at Georgie's whispery voice, even though she was much less frightened of the woman than she was Of the table with the white rubber sheet and the medicine cabinet, which contained stainless steel implements capable Of maiming or killing.

"I have something that needs taken care of," Jade answered huskily'

'eOr ie held out her hand. At first Jade was puzzled by u

re the gestgWhen she realized what it signified, she fumbled in

"" 'a"  bag for her wallet, took out five ten-dollar bills, and stacked them Onto Georgie's pink palm. She was profesSional enough to get her money up front, but lady enough not to bluntly ask for it. It disappeared into the skirt pocket of her dress; she didn't thank Jade for it.

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"Please remove your underpants and lie down on the table.

Jade's teeth began to chatter. Now that the time had come, she was overwhelmed with dread and fear. She clumsily laid her purse on the end of the table and reached beneath her skirt for her panties, which she pulled down and stepped out of. Stooping over to pick them up, she asked, "Shouldn't I undress completely?"

"Not until I've examined you. I might not do it." "Why not?" Almost as much as Jade feared the abortion, she feared being turned down as a candidate. "You've got to do it. You've already taken my money."

"Lie down. Please," the woman said, not unkindly. Jade lay down. Georgie raised her skirt, folding it back over her chest, exposing her from the waist down. Jade turned her head and stared at the blank wall.

"Some girls come to me too late," Georgie explained. She laid her hands on Jade's lower belly and began massaging it. "I can't help them if they wait too long."

"It's not too late for me. I asked Patrice. "

"We'll see." Georgie continued kneading Jade's abdomen. Her eyes were closed. She let only her pressing hands guide her across the space between Jade's pelvic bones, working as high as her navel and as low as her pubic triangle. At last, satisfied, she gave Jade a hand up and lowered her skirt back into place.

Jade sat on the edge of the table, her legs awkwardly dangling over the side. The rubber sheet felt cold, clinical, and foreign beneath her bare bottom. She tried not to think about it. "Will you do it?"

"Is this the Patchett boy's child?"

"It's not a child," Jade protested. "It's a ... a nothing." "Did Neal Patchett put it there?"

"I can't be sure. There were three of them. Neal was one. The other two were his friends." Her eyes connected with Georgie's. "They raped me."

The woman held her stare for a long time. Then, quietly, she said, "I thought he only raped black girls. Get undressed. I'll help you."

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Jade made slow progress down the sidewalk, taking small, careful steps. Her hands were cold and clammy, and she felt feverish. She alternately shivered and perspired. Georgie had urged her not to leave so soon, but she had insisted. Dusk was descending. She would have to think up a reasonable explanation for being late when she picked up Velta at the factory, but she didn't trouble herself with that now.

With trembling hands she unlocked the car door. For a long while, she sat there

the fuchsia blossoms on't staring through the windshield at he crepe myrtle, thinking. Eventually, when she felt a little better, she started the car and pulled out into the street, then drove fast until Geor ie's house was far behind her.                                 9 She had to see Gary.

She told herself that the worst he could do was reject her, and he had already done that. But if she told him everything about that night, filled in the facts he didn't know, he might take her back.

The thought of his arm' going around her with love and Protection caused her to press heavily on the accelerator. Why, she asked herself, had she waited this long to tell him the truth? Gary knew her better than anyone in the world. If she poured out her heart,

had been victimized. She wo  surelY he would see that she uld explain that her reticence had been an attempt to Protect him from public scom. Since he was being scorned anyway, her silence was no longer effective or necessary.

Why let Neal, Hutch, and Lamar have that much control Over their lives? Gary and she were strong, Young, and intelligent         afe and secure in each other's love, Y could Together, &

the     Put this episode behind them, leave Palmetto forever, and build a future.

The thought of physical lovemaking was daunting, But Gary was tender. He would be patient until all her fears and reluctance were abolished.

She nursed no illusions that life from now on would be

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easy. She would be asking a lot of Gary. He would have to be willing to accept the unacceptable. Which he would, if he loved her enough-and she had to believe that he did. He was dating someone else, but each time she had seen him, before he had a chance to slip on his mask of indifference, Jade had read in his brown eyes a painful yearning that matched her own. Focusing on that gave her courage as she sped through the twilight.

Lit from the inside, the windows of the Parker house made it look like a snaggle-toothed jack-o-lantern. Jade saw Mrs. Parker peer through the kitchen window when she heard the car pull up and stop. Since it was a warm, balmy evening, Gary's younger brothers and sisters were still outside, playing in the yard. Otis was driving a tractor toward the house from across a field.

Jade alighted, surprised to discover that her knees were weak. It was silly to get this nervous over seeing Gary. He had been as hurt as she by their breakup. She clung to the hope that he would be as eager to reconcile.

Mrs. Parker waved at her from behind the screened kitchen window. "Jade, where've you been keeping yourself9 I haven't seen you in ages!"

"I know," she said, smiling for the first time in months and hugging Gary's little sisters. At least his family was willing to take her back. "I've missed all of you so much."

"Guess what, Jade? Joey finally learned to pee in the potty . "

"How wonderful!"

"But he still has to wear diapers sometimes." "I know how to skate now, Jade."

Jade reacted to each piece of good news, making much ado over the trivialities that were so important to them. "Where's your big brother?" His car was there, so she knew he was around somewhere.

"He's in the barn."

"Mama told him to slop the hog before supper." "Well, I'd like to go see him now. " Jade gently moved the children aside.

"Are you staying for supper?"

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"I don't know. We,11 see.-

"Mama," one of the boys shouted toward the house, can Jade stay for supper?"

Jade waved at Otis as she crossed the yard, being careful of where she stepped. Otis removed his hat and waved it high over his head in greeting. She was encouraged by the warm reception Gary's family had given her. Either they hadn't heard the rumors about her or had refused to believe them.

-Gary? Gary?" She stepped through the wide doors, her eyes trying to adjust to the darkness as they scanned the cavernous barn. The scent of bay was strong. "Gary, say something," she said, laughing nervously. -Where are you? What are YOU doing in here in the dark?"

He wasn't doing anything-except swinging at the end of the rope by which he had hanged himself from the rafters.

CHAPTER Eight

Atlanta, 1981

Dillon Burke, lying on the hotel bed wearing only his tuxedo trousers, idly Plucked at his chest hair while gazing at the bathroom door, waiting for his bride to emerge. He was feeling more than a little drunk, although he bad had only one glass of the champagne    that had flowed so freely during the wedding reception that Debra's parents had held. The Newberrys were drinking Baptists. Because they contributed so generously to their church,    the minister had looked the other way when the magnums were uncorked.

Dillon, however, was drunk on love and happiness. He smiled, recalling how Debra had sloshed champagne on his

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hand when they hooked arms and toasted each other. Unmindful of their audience, she had flirtatiously licked it off.

His grandma had always advised him to find himself a Baptist girl. "They're righteous girls for the most part," she had said, "but they're not burdened by guilt like the Catholic girls are."

In Debra's case, Granny Burke had been fight. Debra's moral fiber was as durable as belted steel, but she was an extremely sensual creature. From her large, noisy family, she had learned to express affection openly, without shame or timidity -

Dillon was impatient for some of that unreserved, unselfish love now. Thinking about it had aroused him. The rented trousers had become uncomfortably tight. He left the bed and moved across the plush carpeting to the window, which afforded a panoramic view of downtown Atlanta. It was dusk; lights all over the city were twinkling on. He drew a contented breath that expanded his broad chest. God, life really could be grand. His was. He had had a rocky beginning, but good fortune was finally catching up with him.

Hearing the bathroom door open, he tunied around and saw Debra standing in a pool of golden light. Her blond hair formed a translucent halo around her head. As she moved toward him, her breasts swayed with fluid enticement against the front of her ivory silk nightgown. With each step she took, the sexy fabric briefly molded to and delineated the delta between her thighs.

He drew her against him and kissed her with unchivalrous fervor, pressing his tongue between her parted lips-and tasted mouthwash.

"What?" Debra asked softly when she felt his smile against her lips.

"Did you gargle?"

"As a matter Of fact, I did. After I brushed my teeth, which I did as soon as I got out of the bathtub."

"You bathed?" he asked, nuzzling her warm, fragrant neck.

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"I think it's customary for brides to bathe before presenting themselves to their husbands.

"Do you want me to shower?"

"No." She sighed, tilting her head to one side so he would have better access to her throat. "I don't want you to do anything except what you're doing."

He chuckled. "Bet you do."

He lowered his hands to her breasts and slid his knuckles back and forth across the tips until they were distended. "See? I was right." Wrapping his arms          around her, he pulled her against him and kissed her passionately. When he finally raided his head, he said, "I love you, Debra."

He had loved her almost from the moment he first saw her. They had met the first day of the fall semester at Georgia Tech. As seniors, they were enrolled in an advanced English course. Dillon was taking it as an elective. For Debra, a language major, the course on the origin of English was required.

After the first few words out of the effeminate professor's mouth, Dillon figured he would have to go through the hassle of getting a schedule change. He didn't think  he could stomach three hours of the professor's nasal intonations each week for an entire semester.