Sweetsmoke (38 page)

    I
have missed my friend, said Cassius without looking up.

    I was
missin you, too, said Jenny.

    Everybody
been busy.

    She
took a step toward him.

    I
brought some things from my garden, said Jenny, opening her apron and revealing
carrots, radishes, and okra.

    Glad
to have them, I thank you. Sit?

    So I
guess you heard, then, said Jenny without moving closer.

    Not
sure, said Cassius.

    'Bout
Big Gus?

    Not a
word.

    She
came over and sat, setting out the radishes and carrots in a line.

    Mind
you, it a secret from Abram.

    All right,
said Cassius, not certain he wanted to know something that was to be kept from
a friend.

    Abram
been tellin things to Big Gus, confidin, you know.

    Abram
and Big Gus?

    Told
Big Gus things 'bout you and that little girl.

    Cassius
nodded as his mind raced, fitting pieces together. Jenny was speaking to him,
for which he was grateful. She continued to hold a grudge against Quashee, but
that did not surprise. Abram had betrayed him to an enemy. He set that aside to
be considered later and said nothing.

    He's
just doin what he can to protect his boy, said Jenny.

    Before
or after Joseph ran?

    Both
ways, before and after. Even after Joseph got stripes. Big Gus sayin to him
that it could still go worse for him.

    Cassius
set his mouth in a line.

    So
Savilla keep her plan secret from a husband who can't keep a secret from the
Driver, said Jenny.

    Poor
Abram.

    Maybe,
maybe not. One day we's all out there mindin our business and Big Gus he come
over to Savilla's row and want to see where she at with her primin and all, so
she show him her bag and it only 'bout half-full. Now Big Gus lookin for
anythin to keep that family down, so he nod and smile pretendin that everythin
okay and such, but he go right to Mr. Nettle and say, Oh Mr. Nettle that wicked
Savilla not doin her work!

    Why
that son of a—

    No
wait, said Jenny. Big Gus come back with Mr. Nettle and they walk on up to
Savilla and Mr. Nettle he say, Open your bag, Savilla, and Savilla she open her
bag and lo and behold, it full of tobacco leaves. Mr. Nettle look in and then
he look at Big Gus and he say,

    Now
Gus, don't let me find out you got it in for this family. He got a inkling Big
Gus drove poor Joseph to run.

    How about
that Savilla, said Cassius with admiration.

    Ain't
the half of it. So Big Gus go 'way mad, and he thinkin 'bout what he can do to
get even. He don't like it much when Mr. Nettle not trustin him.

    No, I
reckon not.

    So we
all know Polly been sidlin up to Big Gus 'cause she like the special treatment.

    Polly's
no fool, said Cassius.

    And
everybody know Fawn can't keep her mouth shut to save her life.

    Fawn
can't keep her mouth shut to save her breath, said Cassius.

    So
next day come and some of the older ones go over and be primin and toppin near
Fawn, and they talk all in a hush so Fawn can't help but listen. And one of 'em
say Andrew done it, he run off, like his brother, and Fawn, she hear that and
she likely to burst. She go right to her friend Polly and tell her Andrew done
run away, and Polly don't even pretend to hide it, she call Big Gus over wavin
her arms and tellin him directly. Big Gus get that wide smile he get when he
plannin to give it to someone? And he go right to Mr. Nettle and say, Mr.
Nettle, sorry to say, but we got ourselves another runaway, and this time it be
Andrew.

    But
Andrew's ten, said Cassius looking around for any sign of Andrew in the lane.

    Just
wait now, so Mr. Nettle he march right over to where Abram and Savilla workin
and he say, Your boy Andrew done run this morning?

    Big
Gus is with him?

    Right
by his side, and Andrew, who been hidin from Big Gus all mornin pop up his head
and say, I am right here, Mr. Nettle.

    He's
a good boy.

    And
Mr. Nettle, he turn on Big Gus and say I done warned you, Gus. I trust you to
be fair with all our people and you done undermined my trust.

    He
said undermined?

    He
say undermined, and I like to think he whip Big Gus right there, but he done
give him a sack and send him off down a row away from everybody and told him to
start toppin and primin.

    So
wait a minute, where's Gus now?

    Hidin
out in his cabin. You shoulda seen Abram, he was swearin and cussin out his
Savilla, sayin he had Big Gus calmed down and now she got him all riled up
again, but I think Big Gus not be comin back to Driver no time soon.

    So
Big Gus finally got his, said Cassius with satisfaction.

    Sure
seem like it, said Jenny and they laughed together.

    And
Savilla, how 'bout that, said Cassius.

    She a
strong one when it come to her boys.

    Good
to have someone looking out for you, said Cassius.

    Jenny
looked at him pointedly and said: Real good to have someone look out for you.

    Yes
it is, said Cassius, continuing to chuckle as he played it out in his mind,
picturing their expressions and body language.

    Take
me with you, Cassius, said Jenny suddenly.

    How's
that? Cassius stopped laughing.

    You
heard, take me with you, I can't stand much more, I got to go with you.

    What
makes you think I'm going?

    Please,
Cassius.

    Cassius
looked at her but now said nothing.

    She
stood up abruptly. Please, she said. Think about it.

    She
walked quickly away leaving radishes and carrots and okra in a line on his
step. If Jenny knew he was planning to run, then everyone knew, and he had
thought he was undecided. He had also thought he was inscrutable, only to find
that he was no less transparent than Fawn. He watched Jenny go along the gully
and out of sight up near her cabin.

    The
next day Mam Rosie came to see him. She came in the afternoon with the sun
high, and he thought of Jenny and wondered if Mam Rosie also knew. She had
removed her apron, and wore her good dress, and she found him outside the barn
repairing a wagon wheel.

    Cassius
was impressed that she was not apologetic.

    I
ain't had no chance to see you since you come back, said Mam Rosie.

    You
been busy.

    Busy?
Always busy, what you mean busy?

    Hoke
ill, people coming and going, doctors and visitors, said Cassius.

    Mouths
to feed, that so.

    Well,
it's a fine surprise to see you.

    Mam
Rosie winced, but he kept the smile firmly planted on his face.

    Cassius,
you know's well as I it ain't no fine surprise, said Mam Rosie, thus marking
the deliberate course change in their conversation.

    Cassius
looked at her and allowed his easy smile to fade. He knew she knew that he
would not make it easy, but he would also not make it impossible.

    I
didn't mean it the way it come out, said Mam Rosie. I didn't mean it the way it
happened.

    Never
thought you did.

    Didn't
do it to hurt you.

    All
right.

    I thought
you was gone, clean away. I thought you was smart to do it, too. The way you
think about everything all the way to the end. The way you plan things out.

    You
flattering me, Rose?

    No,
Cassius. Just me and you.

    All
right, Rose. Tell me how you thought.

    Master
Hoke sick, said Mam Rosie. He not there to lead them paddyrollers after you,
and you know them paddyrollers, if he ain't there, they don't care the same
way. And the way they just got paid paper money for Joseph, too, how much they
get worked up for another runner after that? They go hard in the bush for
Joseph, and now they got another one? No, sir, they never find a smart one like
you. I was glad for you. I knowed you was away for good.

    So
you saw an opportunity, said Cassius.

    Now
what you got to say that for?

    I
know you, Rose. Don't you think I don't.

    Mam
Rosie remembered how she had used those very words on him, and her face twisted
in recognition and pain.

    I
deserve that, I do. But Missus Ellen, she promise me some old clothes, fine
linen, hard worn, but nice, you know how that be. I do be likin that soft
cloth. But after she say that, it never come so I figure she done forgot, or
maybe she promise in her happy time with that secret bottle. I knowed you was safe,
so I figure ain't no harm to give her somethin, so maybe after she trust me a
little and I can ask her again for them things she already promise.

    She
give them to you?

    Give
what? said Mam Rosie.

    After
you told her I said I was running, she give you the linen?

    No.
She done forgot.

    You
never got them.

    No.

    Never.

    Mam
Rosie understood his meaning as he reemphasized her betrayal of him for soft
linen.

    Who
you think you are? said Mam Rosie.

    She
turned and walked away, back to her kitchen, and he went back to repairing the
wheel.

    Quashee
found a piece of time to slip away and met him outside the carpentry shed. She
was different, girlish, and he did not immediately appreciate that she was
flirting. Finally she took his hand and led him into the shed. Her eyes did not
wander but remained fixed on his. Her clothes carried the aroma of fish from
the whale oil lamps in the big house, and Cassius was again pleasantly reminded
of power and privilege. He felt himself aroused, in proximity to a strong,
exciting woman who desired him; better still, a woman who had chosen him,
someone who smelled good in an influential and elegant way, and he welcomed the
moment, turning his head slightly and closing his eyes to breathe her in. She
was very close, and his memory brought back the night in the big house so
completely that he felt the sensation of her warm mouth against his and then
something turned in his mind and he forced himself to step back and he moved
away from her across the shed.

    You
all right? said Quashee and he saw the awkward tilt of her shoulders and the
confused hurt in her eyes.

    I am.
No. Guess I'm not, said Cassius.

    I
thought maybe this time was good for us, said Quashee, and he had never before
heard insecurity in her voice.

    It
would be. Should be, even might be.

    Her eyes
opened wider as she contemplated the enormity of her error, believing she had
completely misread him.

    Oh,
said Quashee. I'm sorry, I thought something else.

    You
didn't think wrong.

    No, I
did and I'm sorry, said Quashee and she backed up toward the door.

    You're
not wrong, Quashee. But something changed.

    You
don't got to explain, I best be getting back.

    No,
not yet. Hear me.

    She
stopped at the door, and her girlishness was gone and he was sorry. Her
shoulders tried to close around her heart and her eyes were large and moist in
her face. He saw that she was alone, and it broke his heart.