When the Tide Ebbs: An epic 1930's love story (A Grave Encounter) (13 page)

Chapter 10

School let out for the summer on May 3
rd
. My stomach tied in knots, knowing it would be the last time I saw Zann for three whole months.

I wanted to plead with her not to go, but I knew it wasn’t her idea to leave. What right did I have to cause her more grief?

I took the long way home, by way of the bridge. I’d miss her terribly but she’d be returning in the fall and she was worth waiting for. I leaned against the rickety wood railing and looked down below, where Zann and I had shared our innermost thoughts. I’d told her things no one else in the world knew about me. I chuckled aloud as I recalled the first day we met here and the funny way she yanked off her shoes and tied her skirt between her legs. I relived our first kiss. My heart ached. I missed her already and she hadn’t yet left town.

I never fathomed that love could be so grand. I pictured her
wearing the blue dress—my favorite. Her hair down, blowing in the breeze. My lips parted in a wide grin, as I envisioned her smiling back at me with eyes sparkling like jewels. I’d hold the image in my mind until she returned to me. Though I’d miss her terribly, three-and-a-half months wasn’t so long, when compared to a lifetime. That’s how long we’d have together. I wanted to grow old with Zann Pruitt. I would, too. As soon as I finished college and got a job, I’d put a ring on her finger.

The world had never looked as beautiful. I couldn’t remember the sky ever being so blue, or the water so sparkling clear. The plum trees were budding and the grass was green velvet. Gray Spanish moss hung gracefully from the large live oak trees. The fresh, invigorating scent of evergreen needles filled the warm air. All was quiet except for the bubbling sound of water, rippling over rocks. I looked up on the rise and imagined a beautiful house with tall columns. Our house. Mine and Zann’s. We could sit on our veranda and look down at the spot where we first fell in love.

I couldn’t fathom what Zann Pruitt saw in me, but I reckoned I was about the luckiest man alive. I’d spend a lifetime with one goal and one only. My life’s ambition was to make her happy. I’d work hard and care for her the way she deserved to be cared for. Our children would never wear rags from a rummage sale. No siree. We’d buy them new outfits every fall, and they’d be the best dressed kids at school. And the smartest. At night, we’d gather the children at the kitchen table and help them with their homework. They’d be top in their class. Zann would teach our little girls how to dress and act like ladies and I’d practice being a gentleman so I could properly train up our boys. I’d want them to have a good role model. And no one—no one would ever call one of my kids a little buzzard. If I could prevent it, they’d never know the meaning of such a ghastly word. My pulse raced as I recalled my own childhood, but I quickly erased it from my mind. From now on, life would be different.

I’d need to start going to church after we married, for Zann’s sake, her father being a preacher. The idea didn’t trouble me so much, anymore. I’m not saying I was ready to be dunked in Pivan Falls, but lately, I’d been slipping around, reading Mama’s Bible and pondering. I made sure Mama didn’t catch me. She’d jump to conclusions and I didn’t want to disappoint her. There were questions I needed to settle in my mind, but the last thing I wanted was for Mama to get all excited, thinking I’d done gone and got religion. I was curious. Not stupid. I hadn’t forgotten that I didn’t have reservations on the big fine Fellowship.

I marked the long days off on the calendar above my bed. Dabney and Mama had become close friends. No, it was more than a friendship. Mama looked toward Dabney as the daughter she never had and it appeared Mama was the mother Dabney had always wanted. I no longer worried about what ignorant people thought about her. She was a sweet girl. Maybe she’d made a few bad decisions in the past, but who hasn’t? Since getting to know her better, I learned Dabney followed in her mother’s footsteps out of desperation, making money the only way she knew how.

One Sunday night as we sat on her front stoop and she commenced to tell me about the parson’s sermon, I asked why she wanted to waste her time going to church. Surely, she’d heard what people said about her.

“Kiah, Parson Pruitt is about the kindest man I’ve ever met. I was sitting outside on the doorsteps one day, when he drove up, got out of his car, walked over and knelt right there at my feet, like he thought I was a Princess, ya know? Just between me and you, though, it did kinda scare me, him being a preacher. Then, he reached up and took my hand in his and said he wanted me to know that God loved me and that he loved me too. And I knew he meant it, Kiah. Don’t ask me how I knew, but I did.”

Jeepers, how dense could she be? How many times had she heard that old line before? I raised my brow when she commenced to tell me about the parson’s visit. No doubt, he wasn’t worried about being seen, for who’d accuse him of being there for any other reason than to see a sinner saved? Not those brain-washed holy-rollers, that’s for sure. Folks have a tendency to forget that preachers are mortals walking around on two legs like the rest of us, and not angels with wings tucked neatly beneath their frocks.

“Dabney, I just don’t want you to be suckered into listening to the lies of any man, even if he does have the title Parson in front of his name. A man is a man is a man. Remember that.”

She stood and stretched. “My foot’s gone to sleep.”

Was she even listening to what I said?

She held her foot up and wiggled it in the air. With a full moon outlining her silhouette, the thin cotton dress failed to hide the beauty of the feminine curves to which it clung. When it appeared she’d caught me staring, a strange sensation I attributed to a blush crept from my neck all the way to the top of my head.

Suddenly, I felt the need to reemphasize. “Yep, Dabney, you just remember what I’m telling you. Any man will say whatever it takes, and you’re plain stupid if you haven’t learned that lesson already.”

She plopped her hands on her hips and spoke rapidly, her chastising words firing out like hot lead from a Gatlin gun. “So Kiah Grave, you’re telling me you’re all alike?  That you don’t care a hoot about me? That you’re only pretending to be my friend so you can get a cut-rate on what I have to offer? Well, why didn’t you come out and say so, sooner, instead of tip-toeing around the subject.”

I looked twice, after imagining smoke billowing from her flared nostrils. I stammered. “Don’t be silly. You know I don’t think of you in that way. I like you, Dabney, and if I had a sister, I’d give her the same advice I’m giving you.”

“Parson Pruitt ain’t like all the others. He looks at me with gentle eyes.” She glared at me and threw up her hands. “It’s no use trying to explain to you. I can see your mind is made up about him.”

“Dabney, I don’t know why you feel the need to take up for him. I’m not saying he’s any worse than any other man in town. I’m just saying he’s not any better, either.”

“Kiah, you’re wrong. He’s different. No other man has ever stopped to talk to me whenever I’m sitting out in broad daylight. I was on the doorsteps around noon, and he stopped his car right in front of the shanty. And another thing—no other man has ever brought his wife when they paid me a visit.”

Was she serious? “You mean . . . you’re saying Mrs. Pruitt came with him?”

“She did and they treated me like I was somebody. Not Rooster Run trash.” Her mouth flew open. “Oh! I’m sorry, Kiah. I didn’t mean to suggest everyone living here is trash, but—”

She didn’t need to explain. I was privy to what folks in town called those of us who lived in the camp and at the moment it was at the end of my worry list. If she’d bothered in the beginning to mention the parson’s wife was with him, my mind wouldn’t have tumbled down such a dark path. I’d hurt her feelings and it wasn’t my intent. Still, I was curious. Attempting to sound less accusing, I said, “I suppose they came to welcome you into their fellowship?” Even though in my heart I knew the real purpose of their visit, I was simply curious to know how the subject was approached.

“No, I’d never been inside a church—theirs or any other—not even when Mama died. The undertaker laid her out in the back of the Hardware, and from there she was transported to Potters Field.”

“That’s tough kiddo.” I suppose I should’ve backed off, seeing the hurt in her eyes as she spoke of her mama, but we could talk about that later. “So what was the purpose of the Pruitts’ visit?” Naturally, I knew the answer, already. For her own good, she needed to acknowledge the truth. They’d gone for the supreme purpose of familiarizing Dabney with the highly regarded Fellowship Handbook, which states that without exception, only purebreds are allowed to board the Gloryland vessel. What puzzled me was the fact that she’d been attending church lately on a regular basis. Was she so dense she didn’t get their message?

She sighed. “Kiah, you know how folks like to talk.” She wrung her hands and paused.

I shrugged. “Yeah, Dabney. I know.”

“Well, the parson, he got wind of my reputation.”

“Oh?” I feigned surprise.

“I reckon you might say Parson Pruitt and Mrs. Pruitt came to teach me right from wrong. Maybe they felt I didn’t know no better than to let the men have their way with me in exchange for a little pocket money or a dozen eggs or a chicken. But I knew better. I can’t explain how I knew it was wrong, but I knew. I knew it before I was knee-high to a grasshopper. Mama would lock herself up in the house with some strange codger and tell me to play outside on the porch ’til she called me. When I turned thirteen, she started locking me up inside, while
she
sat on the porch. I always said when I got grown, I’d never let a man near me again. But if you get hungry enough, you’ll do things you never imagined you’d do.”

When I saw her eyes glistening, I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her I was sorry she’d endured such a hard life. But I didn’t. I just listened. Naturally, she wanted to believe the Pruitts had her best interests at heart. However, all I could think about was the day Mama and I had the unforgettable visit from the religious do-gooders who threw us out of their “Fellowship,” without so much as a raft to keep us afloat.

Without opening my mouth, I spoke through clinched teeth. “So I suppose after Parson Pruitt took you by the hand, he tactfully explained the reason for his visit.”

“Yes, he did. They were worried about me. I understood what they were saying, but I told them I had to eat and no one in town would hire me.”

I smirked. “Oh, I’m sure he put on a most sympathetic face, moments before suggesting you find somewhere else to go on Sundays other than to his church.”

“Somewhere else? Why would he say that?”

Was she serious? Seeing the surprise on her face, I decided she really didn’t know what I was talking about. I couldn’t make sense of it all. Curious, I wanted to hear the rest of her story and I told her so.

Dabney looked right pretty when she smiled. In fact, I reckon she was down-right beautiful, in her own backwoodsy sort of way.

The corner of her mouth lifted in a soft smile and her moistened eyes glistened. She said, “I won’t never forget how Mrs. Pruitt put her arms around me. Shucks, no need to confess something you already know, but Kiah I’ve had a lot of arms around me before. But none ever made me feel the way Zann’s mother made me feel. Like a human being and not a play toy to be thrown out the back door after it was no more good. I don’t ‘spect you to know what I’m talking about, though.”

I nodded. “Yes, I do, Dabney. I understand more than you realize.” I understood because that’s exactly how I believed my daddy had treated Mama . . . like a toy he’d outgrown. I waited for Dabney to tell me if the good parson had a solution for her dilemma.

Her face lit up, as if she were reliving a special moment in her life. “As soon as I told the preacher I didn’t like what I was doing, but I had no other way of making a dollar, he took Mrs. Pruitt by the hand and said, ‘Dear, didn’t you say you could use help around the house?’”

I swallowed the hot anger rising inside me, knowing I’d never get the whole story if I didn’t hold my tongue. “Well, now that was mighty considerate of the parson. So what did his wife think of the idea?”

Dabney’s brow furrowed. “I know what you’re thinking Kiah Grave. It wasn’t like that at all. These are good folks. I love the parson, and I believe he loves me . . . but not in a bad way. Not the way you’re thinking.”

I was embarrassed that I’d not been as subtle as I’d hoped. “Sorry. It wasn’t meant as a reflection on you, Dabney. I won’t deny, though, the notion did cross my mind that the parson might’ve wanted to hire you for a purpose other than to clean his house.”

She shrugged. “I’m not offended, Kiah. I understand why you’d wonder, knowing my past, but honest, he ain’t never been nothing but a gentleman around me. He treats me the way I’d think a daddy would, if I had one. And Mrs. Pruitt is the sweetest woman alive . . . well her and your mama, of course. I love your mama to death.”

Dabney managed to convince me all church folks weren’t like the ones I’d had the experience of knowing, and in time , I stopped being suspicious of the parson, even though he drove her home every evening. Alone.

But just as I began to trust him, something happened to make me feel I’d been right about the man all along.