Bent Creek (19 page)

Emma Jane began to cry. “Look at ya’ll.  You livin’ in a nice house, with lectricity and runnin’ water and we ain’t even got a pillow tah lay our heads on. We come fer the baby.”

“Where you gonna keep her? She can’t sleep on the ground. You got any diapers and milk for her, Emma Jane? You know she’s better off here. Jimmy Dell put you up to this, didn’t he, Emma Jane?”

Jimmy stepped forward. “We come tah fetch our youn
gin, so you jest git her right now.”

“How much do you want fer her?” Ben blurted out. “Cause we ain’t givin’ her tah you either way.  So if’n yer smart you’ll jest take some money and git.”

Jimmy Dell walked back to where the others were standing. He returned a few minutes later. “Two hundred dollars. We want two hundred dollars fer the baby and then you kin keep her.”

Ben clenched his fists. “You are a real hunk of crap, Jimmy. I’ll give you one hundred dollars fer her.  I jest got my army check money. That’s all we got between us. You better take it if’n you know what’s good fer you, lessen I might jest have tah send Jesse tah fetch the sheriff.”

Jimmy Dell turned around and looked over at one of the older men. He held up one finger.  The man nodded his head. “Okay. We’ll take a hundred.” Emma Jane began to cry.

“You git back in the truck, Woman,” Jimmy Dell yelled at her. “This is all yer doin’.” He turned to Rachael. “It’s all her idée tah come back here and git the baby.  I didn’t want no part of this.”

Rachael clenched her fists, wanting so badly to smack him in the face or better yet shoot him. “I don’t believe you, Jimmy Dell, but it’s no matter.  You’ve done tainted my sister so bad that I don’t even know who she is anymore. Before you leave you got tah sign a paper sayin’ that you sold her tah us and if’n you ever try tah get her back I’ll have both you and Emma Jane put in jail. Do you understand?” Rachael said.

“Write the paper. We gotta git,” Jimmy Dell said.

After Rachael wrote the paper, Jimmy Dell and Emma Jane both signed it and Ben handed Jimmy the money.  “Now ya’ll git. You come back here agin you ain’t gonna git sech a good welcome. Next time it’ll be the bullets that will be doin’ the talkin’.”

As they turned to leave, Emma Jane stopped for a minute. “What’s her name, Rachael?  Is she purty?’

“Her name is Violet and she looks jest like you.” Rachael could see the tears welling up in her sister’s eyes again and wondered how she had ever let herself get to this point.  She wanted to jump off the porch and put her arms around Emma Jane, and tell her not to go, but she knew that she couldn’t unless she wanted trouble. “How’s momma and daddy?  Are they okay?” Emma Jane asked.

“
Thar doin’ okay. Momma still cries over you.  You sure done her a bad one, Emma Jane. I feel sorry fer you.”

Jimmy Dell yelled again and Emma Jane ran to the truck and got in. Rachael watched as they pulled out of the yard.  She would never see her sister again.

Inside the house, Lily sat in the corner of the bedroom with Violet wrapped in a blanket.  She slowly rocked the baby back and forth, silently crying to herself. Rachael bent down next to her. “She’s yer baby now, Lily.  We got a signed paper. You kin keep her. Ben’s done paid for her.  She’s yers to keep forever.”

Lily laid the baby on the bed and put her arms around Rachael. Her shoulders shook as the sobs wracked through her body. “Thank you, Rachael. I kin never repay you fer what you and Ben have done fer me. I love Violet, but I love ya’ll, too. But what if’n they come back and want more money? What then?”

“They ain’t comin’ back, Lily.  They know we mean business and if’n they come this way agin they’ll be in really big trouble.”

Lily picked up the baby and held her close to her cheek. “Yer my baby, Violet, and no one will ever take you from me.”

Rachael knew that the paper Emma Jane signed would never stand up in a court of law. She would pray that would never happen.

“I’m gonna go see my momma,” Rachael said, putting on her jacket.

“What fer?” Ben asked. “They ain’t due no money. You ain’t gonna tell her that Emma Jane wuz heer, are you?”

“No, she sure don’t need tah know that. I just need tah see her.” Opening the truck door, she was startled by Joe Seminole. She had forgotten all about him.

“Is it all right for me tah git out of the truck now?  I pert neer been sittin’ in here for ovah an hour.”

There were tales told of a band of migrants who showed up in Tennessee and were stealing crops from the farmers. They were caught and sent to jail and some had been shot in the raid.  Rachael tried to believe that it wasn’t her sister’s clan and that maybe she was somewhere living a good life.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Autumn was silently moving across the mountains. Each day the trees would take on new color and there was a morning chill in the air. The woodpile along side the house was growing and the money under Rachael’s mattress was getting thicker
. Rachael’s
occasional trip past Mabry’s store with Joe Seminole in the passenger seat seemed to quell the curiosity about Nevers. Everyone in Bent Creek now believed he was sick, but still was running the show at his house.  It was almost a true statement since everything they did was controlled by the fact that they had to
pretend he was alive.  That meant they couldn’t buy anything special with their money, or even go into Lynch for an afternoon movie. Nevers wouldn’t have allowed that. Rachael and Jesse usually spent less than fifteen minutes dropping off the whiskey and picking up supplies.  The temptation to buy a candy bar or a new pair of shoes was getting stronger each week, especially for Jesse.

Since Ben had made the offer to buy Violet from Emma Jane, Lily became his constant companion. She would sit next to him and put Violet on his lap.  She loved to watch as he played with her or rocked her to sleep. When the baby was napping, Lily would go out to the smokehouse and sit with Ben when it was his turn to stoke the fire.  Jesse was well aware of her new found interest in his brother and it was beginning to play on his nerves. He had expected by now he would be sharing Lily’s bed instead of the steady snubs he got from her.  He knew he had gone about courting her all wrong.  He had tried to move on her too quickly. When Jesse tried to change and be kinder to her, she still did not respond.  He picked flowers from the field and brought them to her, he brought butterscotch candies from town and even tried playing with the baby. Nothing seemed to work. She was simply not interested in him anymore.

Jesse watched as Lily brushed her hair until it hung down her back like strands of silk and when she put lavender in her pockets knowing it was not for his benefit.  She now favored Ben’s company. Jesse could not understand why Lily preferred a man with no legs to him.  When Jesse complained to Rachael, she just told him that Ben was more a gentle sort and didn’t make demands of Lily. Rachael only hoped that Lily’s feelings for Ben were genuine and not because she felt sorry for him or that he had stood up to Jimmy Dell.  Rachael did not know that when they were alone, Ben, with his limited knowledge of writing and reading, was teaching Lily what he knew. When she confessed to him that she was completely illiterate and didn’t want to raise her daughter the same way he agreed to help her learn. Lily was overwhelmed with Ben’s attitude towards her. He did not make fun of her or grab at her and the idea that he had paid for her to keep Violet was still more than she could comprehend. No man in her entire life had ever done anything that kind for her.

Lily didn’t know that when she asked Ben for help with her schooling it made him feel he had a purpose other than keeping the fire under the still going.  He looked forward to her visits. Ben would pull the chalkboard out from behind the woodpile and take out the one of the books Rachael had given him. They would sit in the glowing light of the fire, their heads close together and practice letters and reading.  When Lily was able to print her name tears ran down her face.  Ben looked at her and he realized that she was becoming important to him.

On a rainy day in early October, while Rachael tended the still and Jesse left to take a shipment in to Lynch, Joe headed to the barn. He said he needed a day off. Lily sat next to the stove rocking Violet while Ben finished off his second bowl of soup. “Can I ask you a question, Ben?” she said, softly.

“Sure, go ahead,” he answered.

“Does it bother you that I’m a soiled woman?”

Ben looked startled. “What do you mean, soiled? You ain’t soiled. I’m the one that’s soiled.”

“You got yer legs takin’ away from you by accident.  I coulda have run away from Nevers before he got tah me.  But, I didn’t.”

Ben wheeled his chair over next to Lily. “Where would you have gone, Lily? I reckon you didn’t have much choice. You wuz jest a kid. Kids ain’t supposed tah be treated like you wuz. Don’t ever say yer soiled.”

“I know Jesse has a hankerin’ fer me. After Nevers died I knew what he wanted and he figured since I had already done my wifely duties that I wouldn’t mind doin’ it with him.  I know he tried hard tah court me the right way, but I didn’t feel anythin’ for him. Ben, I want someone tah love me for who I am not jest what they kin git from me.  I jest don’t think any decent man would ever want me.” Lily sighed and rubbed her hand over Violet’s soft curls.

“I want you, Lily. I mean…if’n I wuz a whole man, I’d want you.”

“Oh, Ben, yer legs don’t mean nothin’ tah me.  I like you jest the way you are now.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek. Ben took her hand and held it close to his face.  “I surely do like you, Lily. I surely do.”

Violet stirred and let out a squeal.  “You see there, Ben. Even my baby approves of you. I think you jest stirred my heart. Now what are we gonna do?”

“We’re gonna give it some time tah stir, Lily, and see what happens. We got time and that’s a good thing.” On that day, Lily Bains knew that she was in love with Ben Riley.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Life had taken on a rhythm that was working well for the Riley family. The moonshine was brewed, bottled and boxed in a smooth operation. It was only the trip to Lynch that made them nervous. There was always the worry that the truck may break down or a car full of revenuers might be lurking behind a grove of trees ready to spring out at them.  There was also t
he real concern that other moonshiners had found out about their operation and were just waiting for an opportunity to move into their territory. Each time they returned home with an empty truck and a pocketful of money there was a sigh of relief.

Every Saturday, Clyde Orby was also nervous as he waited
for Jesse and Rachael to bring in the load of moonshine. On this day it was only Jesse who showed up.  The cases were quickly unloaded into the back room of Clyde’s store and Jesse was given the money, which he stuck under the loose floorboard in the truck.
His usual routine was to get back in the truck and head back home. Today he decided that a cold soda would really taste good. He had a right to treat himself once in a while. Walking across to the drugstore with his hands in his pockets and his head down, he didn’t see the two men coming out the door until he ran headlong into them.  “Oh, hey, I’m sorry,” Jesse said.  “I sure didn’t mean tah run ya’ll down.”

“Yah need tah watch whar yer goin’,” one of the men said. Jesse looked into the face of a yellow-toothed, one-eyed man he had never seen before in Lynch. A deep scar criss
crossed his face.  The stench of the man’s breath lingered on Jesse’s shirt.

“I’m reel sorry,” Jesse said again.  Changing his mind about the soda, he wheeled around and headed for his truck. Just as he put his foot on the running board, he felt someone standing behind him. He turned into the same ugly face again.

“What’s yer hurry, boy? Me and my friend are needin’ a ride tah Bent Creek. Ya goin’ that away?”

His immediate reaction was to start up the truck and take off, but he knew better. They weren’t the kind of men you could run from. He stuttered, “Er…ah…yep, I’m a goin’ that way. Ya’ll want tah climb in the back?”

They didn’t answer him and within a few seconds both men walked around to the other side of the truck and climbed in next to him. Jesse moved over as far as he could, his side pressing against the door handle.

“Whar ya from?” the one-eyed man asked.

“I live down jest pass Bent Creek.  Me and my family, we got a place thar. I’m Jesse Riley,” he said, hoping to find out who these two strangers were. The man nodded.

“Names Cooter, this here fella is Norvelle.  You ever hear of a man named Rooster comin’ round these parts? I’m a lookin’ fer him. He’s mah brother.”

Jesse could feel his legs going weak. He hoped he wouldn’t pee in his pants.  “Nope, sure ain’t heard of him, but I keep tah myself. I don’t know too much about anything.  I jest bring our vegetables into Clyde’s store and then I go back on home.”

“That a fact?” Cooter said, staring sideways at Jesse. “How
bout Nevers Bain. Ya know him?”

“Heard of him, but ah don’t know him personal like.” Jesse over-corrected on a sharp turn and the truck swayed from side to side.

“That’s alls the questions I got fer you.  Jest stop swerving on this road and pay a mind tah what yer doin’.”