Sullivans Island-Lowcountry 1 (45 page)

coffeepot on.”

Mr. Struthers looked so awful standing there in the kitchen.

My throat grew lumps. Momma always said he was so hand-

some but it seemed like all he ever did was tell bad news and

deal with people’s troubles and every bit of it showed on his

face. Being mayor wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

“Should I wake up Timmy and Henry?” I asked. This was

about Daddy. He must never have come home last night. I knew

then that Daddy was dead.

“No call for that yet. Let them sleep a little.” He smiled at me.

Livvie came back in and took the orange juice from the

refrigerator.The next thing I knew Aunt Carol and Uncle Louis

were coming through the door.They said nothing to Maggie or

Livvie or me, which was strange. Usually Uncle Louis at least

would greet Livvie and all of us.The room was filled with adults

whose anxious, labored breathing was contagious. Maggie and I

exchanged knowing looks of anxiety, the fatal kind we learned

about when Tipa died.

I began taking cups out of the cabinet. I found the creamer

and filled it with milk. Maggie opened the plastic bag of bread

and started making toast.

“Is MC up yet?” Uncle Louis asked.

“Be down in a minute,” Mr. Struthers said.

Momma appeared in the doorway, a specter in a zip-front

terry cloth robe and wild faded auburn hair. She took one look

at Mr. Struthers’ s expression and began screaming.

“No!”
She collapsed against the doorjamb and Uncle Louis

grabbed her and put her in a chair.
“Oh, God! Please, no!”

“I’ll go call the doctor,” Aunt Carol said, and disappeared.

Livvie stepped across the room between Maggie and me

and looped an arm around each of us.We all turned to face the

table. Mr. Struthers sat down next to Momma and took her

hand.

“MC, this is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Please, just

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listen.There’s been a terrible accident. I’m so sorry. Hank’s dead.

His car must’ve gone out of control coming down the last span of

the bridge and he went into the marsh. Could’ve been a heart

attack or maybe it was the fog. Could’ve been the brakes or some-

thing.We don’t know.There’s most likely going to be an investi-

gation to find out what happened. I’ll try to handle most of that

for you. But for now, you need to make some arrangements for

him.The autopsy will begin as soon as possible today. I’ll call the

coroner’s office to double-check, but I’m reasonably sure they’ll

release his body by tomorrow. I’m so sorry, MC, you know I am.”

“Oh, dear God,” Momma mumbled. She put her head

down on the table and wept.“I can’t take it. I can’t.”

Uncle Louis began to sob and Aunt Carol put her arms

around him. He had really loved my daddy. Even Livvie cried.

“Oh, Lawd! Oh, Lawd!”
She searched her pockets for tissues.

Maggie turned back to the toast she was making and her tears

fell on the bread as she tried in vain to butter it, the knife tear-

ing the bread instead. I put my arm around her. I couldn’t make

sense of it, the tragedy of it.

Daddy’s dead,
I said to myself, and I felt light-headed and

dizzy. At least Timmy wouldn’t get beaten anymore. But poor

Henry would be heartbroken. Henry was Daddy’s favorite.Well,

at least he was nice to somebody.

Uncle Louis blew his nose, sat down on the other side of

Momma and rubbed the top of her back.

“Now, MC, I don’t want you to worry. Carol and I will be

right here for you every step of the way. Oh, God, I’m so sorry.

He was like a brother to me.” He choked up again and then col-

lected himself, clearing his throat.“Listen, we’ll figure out what to

do about money and everything, so don’t think about that. I’m

going over to the city this morning to check on Momma and I’ll

go to McAlister’s and make all the arrangements.All right?”

Momma nodded her head and threw herself into his arms.

My uncle began to cry again and Momma just wailed and wailed.

“You’ll be alright,” he said. “I swear, MC, you’ll be alright.

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All the children too. Please. Let’s get hold of ourselves.We’ve got

to.” He looked around the room. “Did anybody call the rectory

yet? Father O’Brien needs to be called.”

“No, I came straight ’eah from the police station,” Mr. Struthers

said. “The wrecker got the car out the marsh and it’s over to the

Phillips 66 station by the Cooper River Bridge.” Mr. Struthers’s

answer had little to do with the question and I wasn’t so sure I

wanted all the details.

“I’ll do it right now,” Aunt Carol said, once again leaving

the room, rubbing her eyes.

Livvie put her arm around me again and squeezed. Every-

one was crying except me. I choked up then, but it was rage I

felt and fear.

“Now what?” I asked. “Tell me. What’s going to happen

to us?”

I looked up at her and even Livvie, in all her wisdom, knew

I was right. Daddy’s death would mean an instantaneous and

magnificent downslide for our family. Momma didn’t work—

she didn’t even drive. Livvie hugged me so hard I thought she’d

never let me go.

All I could manage was a series of deep sighs.

We’d be poor and fatherless orphans. Momma would go to

pieces. Maggie and I would raise the twins.We wouldn’t be able

to afford Livvie anymore. That was the worst scenario I could

imagine. I broke away from her and ran to my room.

I threw myself on the bed and considered running away,

but, pathetically, I had nowhere to go. Finally, I started to cry. My

tears burned. I heard my door open.

“Susan, please.” Maggie was still crying.“Please talk to me.”

I continued crying but eventually I rolled over and faced

her. “What’s the use of living, Maggie?” I asked. “If you can tell

me what’s the use, I’d give you anything.”

“I don’t know the answer to that and I don’t know why

Daddy’s dead. I don’t know.This is so awful, Susan. Please don’t

shut me out.You’re all I’ve got!”

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305

“No, she ain’t.” Livvie was in the doorway with two cups of

coffee for us. Her face was dry and she had put on her apron.

“Whether y’all likes it or not, y’all got me. Amen.”

She handed us the coffee. Maggie took a sip. I took it but

didn’t want it.

“I don’t drink this stuff, Livvie.Thanks anyway.” I smelled it

and put it to rest on my bedside table.

“It’s a grown-up drink, ’eah?”

“Yeah, tastes bitter.”

“Life’s bitter. Gone, drink it.Y’all bess be growing up today.

Y’all got little brothers and little sisters to take care of. People

gone be coming like cattle to this ’eah house. Good thing I

clean for the holiday. Least we don’t have to worry none about

that. Drink him, Susan, and both you girls ’eah me good.This is

a terrible thing done happen to y’all, but that don’t mean you

ain’t got nothing to do except wail and moan about the injus-

tice of it all. Don’t talk to me about injustice. Humph.This ’eah

is sure enough bad news, but Gawd got His plan.”

“Oh, come on, Livvie. Where was God when Daddy was

beating the slop out of Timmy?”

“Susan!” Maggie said, shocked.

I was good and mad.

“You listen ’eah, Miss Susan, don’t be disrespectful about

Gawd to me!” Livvie said.“You ain’t got no right! I don’t know

why
these thing happen! They just do! Maybe Gawd think this

family be better off with Mr. Hank gone! How do you like that?

Maybe He need him in heaven for some kinda work. Or maybe

the devil need him to sharpen pitchforks! I don’t rightly know.

You gots to be a woman, not a ugly-minded, angry chile! Just

like when your granddaddy die, people gone be coming around

with cake and ham and such.We ain’t got no time for wallow-

ing.” She looked at us, and then she said more gently, “Now go

on, wash your face and put on some clothes. Both of you! This

day ain’t over yet!”

I dressed, but wasn’t aware of doing it, and went downstairs

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to figure things out. Timmy and Henry finally got up about

seven. They wandered down to the kitchen and found all of us

there except for Uncle Louis, who had left for the city. Momma

was still at the table, head down.

“Momma?”Timmy said.

She lifted her grief-stricken face to him.

“Momma! What’s wrong?” Henry said and they both just

started crying.

“Sit down, boys,”Aunt Carol said.“Your momma has some-

thing to tell y’all.”

“Daddy. Your daddy’s gone,” Momma said. She choked up

and started sobbing again. Rather than rise up and hug her boys,

she put her head back down on the table.

“Where’d he go?” Henry asked.

“Dead,” Momma said with difficulty,“car accident.”

“Is this true?”Timmy asked.

“Daddy’s
dead?
” Henry screamed. “You mean I’m never

going to see him again?”

“Come on, son,” Livvie said,“let’s go for a walk on the porch,

just us two.”

Henry’s crying could be heard across the water in

Charleston, I was sure of it.
Bam! Bam! Bam!

“He’s kicking the walls,” Mr. Struthers said to no one in

particular.“I’ll go outside and see if I can help Livvie.”

The fog distorted Henry’s cries, sent them pulsating in all

directions, until you couldn’t tell if it was Henry or someone

else crying. Or maybe an animal.

Timmy had been delivered. Henry and Momma felt they’d

been robbed. Maggie and I had to be the responsible ones. My

anger was like a bonfire.

The phone rang from the hallway. Maggie answered it. It

was Uncle Louis. He wanted Aunt Carol. I heard Aunt Carol

gasp and say,
“No!”
Instantly, I knew. Grandma Sophie was dead

too.

The door slammed and I knew she had gone to the porch

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307

for Livvie and Mr. Struthers. Aunt Carol wasn’t about to bring

that news to Momma alone. She had enough spine to lift her

skirt, and enough arrogance to stick her nose up to Livvie, but

not enough to face my mother solo.

Timmy, who still sat silently at the table, whispered to me.

“Grandma Sophie?”

I nodded my head and he shook his. I jabbed Maggie with

my elbow.“Grandma Sophie bit the dust,” I whispered.

Her shoulders lurched, she covered her mouth and ran to the

bathroom. Timmy and I just stared at each other. I realized that

during this entire morning of unbelievable bad news, Momma

had not once tried to console any of us.

“Momma?” I said. “Do you know that Maggie’s in the bath-

room throwing up?”And there was no answer.“Come on,Timmy.

Let’s go get the twins.
Somebody
needs to take care of them.”

I looked out the window as a car door closed.The stick-’em

doctor was coming up the steps. Momma looked up at me and

a shallow line of discontent was drawn between us. I ignored

her and left the room with Timmy.

“This is some day, huh, Susan?”Timmy said.

“Yeah.You okay? Shit! I can’t believe Daddy’s dead.”

“Are you kidding me? This is the first break I’ve ever

caught! I hope the son of a bitch is writhing in hell with a

branding iron up his butt.”

“Timmy! Don’t let anybody else hear you say that!”

“Well, aren’t you glad he’s gone?”

“Yeah, I guess, in a way,” I said.“But if he had a heart attack,

I’d feel pretty guilty.”

“Why? What do you think?”

“I don’t know and, right now, I don’t want to know.”

We passed Mr. Struthers and Livvie in the hall. I pulled on

her sweater.

“Grandma Sophie, right?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Susan, but it’s for true,” she said, putting her arm

around me.

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“I knew it,” I said.

“Come ’eah,Timmy.”

She reached out for him and he shrugged his shoulders,

wiggling out of her arm.

“I’m okay, Livvie, really. It’s okay.We’re gonna go see about

the twins.”

Timmy raced up the stairs and I stood with Livvie for

a minute, then I heard Momma scream again and knew that

Mr. Struthers had delivered the news. Livvie ran for the kitchen.

I called to Henry and Aunt Carol through the screen door.

“We’re out here!” Aunt Carol responded.

“Henry? You okay?” I said. I ignored her, letting the door

slam. Henry was lying in the hammock, arms crossed, knees

drawn up. Aunt Carol was standing beside him with a tissue

pressed against her lips, while her left hand rocked the ham-

mock slowly. She had on khaki pants and a starched blue shirt

tucked in tight. Her belt and loafers matched and her hair was

sprayed. I had thrown on something and everybody else was still

in pajamas. I wondered how long she’d made Uncle Louis wait

so that she could accessorize herself.

The sun was up now, burning through the fog over the east-

ern end of the Island. At least the day would be clear.

“Henry, answer me. Are you all right?”