Bent Creek (8 page)

After living at Nevers’ house for a week, Rachael knew that Lily was deathly afraid of him.  Lily cringed whenever he raised his voice. And over the course of the week his demeanor began to change toward Rachael. He barked orders at her con
stantly.  He told Rachael to help Lily clean the fireplace, all the cupboards in the kitchen and wash all the blankets and quilts. Although the house looked clean to her, Nevers told Rachael to scrub every floor. She cooked almost all the meals and helped feed the livestock. At night she would fall into bed exhausted. Even having a nice house to live in didn’t make up for being Nevers’ slave. She had to do something about it, but what?

Jesse complained about Nevers nonstop.  He said he hated him and wanted to go home.  He had thought about run
ning off, but if he went home his father would probably whip him good and send him right back.

Chapter Ten

On a balmy Saturday night with the glow of an almost full moon shining on the porch, Rachael and Lily sat in the swing. Jesse rested on the railing strumming on his guitar.  It was a nice evening until the door burst open and Nevers came out carrying a mop and bucket. “That kitchen floor needs a moppin’
, Rachael. Thar’s somethin’ sticky all over it. Git tah it!” He pushed the mop toward her.

Rachael jumped out of the swing and threw the mop on the porch. “You lissen tah me, Nevers Bains, I ain’t been hired on as no slave. Me and Jesse are workin’ for five dollars a week, which we don’t even get tah keep. When the kitchen is cleaned after dinner I am done for the night. I ain’t workin’ on Sunday, except fer cookin’ and every other weekend I want you tah drive us home so that I kin see my family.  You been
bossin’ us around like you own us. Well, you don’t and if’n you don’t like what I jest said, me and mah brother will leave right now. I don’t know whar we’re goin’, but it will sure nuf be better than stayin’ here.”

Nevers glared at her, clenching his fist.  Lily sat in the swing with a horrified look on her face.  She expected at any moment for Nevers to lash out and slap Rachael. Jesse sunk down as low as he could against the wall of the house.

“You got a mouth on you, Girl.  I should tech you a lessen.”

Rachael steeled herself for Nevers’ wrath, but instead of hitting her, he dropped his hands to his sides.  “But, I’m sup
posin’ that’s fair.” He pointed his finger at her. “You better make sure yer work is done before you start lollygagging out here on the porch. Lily, you come in now, it’s time for bed.” Lily slowly followed him into the house.  Nevers stood holding on to the door, “You two stay out here for a piece. I got some business with my wife.”

The next morning when Lily came into the kitchen she had a bruise on her left cheek. Rachael noticed it right away. “Did Nevers hit you last night?”

Lily shook her head no.

“I know yer a lyin’. I’m so sorry, Lily, I didn’t mean tah get you in trouble. He took his mad out on you. Does it hurt real bad?”

Once again Lily shook her head and busied herself cutting up bacon. She jumped when Nevers came into the room. “Git the vittles on now! I’m going up the mountain and put out some traps, and I’m takin’ Jesse with me.  Might be gone all night. Ya’ll make sure them animals are fed and put up fer the night. You hear them varmints out there, jest go outside and make noise and they’ll run off. Do you understand, Rachael?” Rachael did not answer him.

“You two stay in the house. Don’t go wonderin’ off nowheres. You stay in the house and that’s an order.”  He took his jacket off the hook on the wall and motioned to Jesse.

Rachael waited until the truck was out of sight before she threw her arms in the air and danced around the room. “Yahoo, the old bastard is gone for awhile.”  She turned on the radio and began to sing. Lily watched her.  A smile crossed her face.

“I swear, Lily, y
er like a little whipped puppy. Come here.” Rachael took her hands and pulled her out in the middle of the kitchen floor. “We’re gonna dance.”  Shy at first, Lily began to move her foot in time with the music and in a few minutes they were both jumping up and down.

Rachael fell onto the floor, holding her side.  “I am out of breath, but that was fun, wasn’t it?”

A small voice answered, “Yes.”

Rachael bolted straight up, staring at Lily.  “Oh, my God, Lily, you talked. You kin talk.  Wait a minute, what’s goin’ on? How long have you been able tah talk?”  Rachael looked over at Lily. She still lay on the floor, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I shoulda never done that and if’n you tell Nevers, I will say yer a lyin’. He won’t believe you, Rachael. I ain’t talked a loud in over four years. I swear he won’t believe you. You made me do it. I forgot myself.”

“You kin trust me, Lily. I promise you kin trust me. Jest talk tah me. I am so glad you kin talk. How in the hell have you kept from speakin’ all these yars?  It had tah be really hard.”

“Hard ain’t the word fer it.  When Nevers was gone I used tah go out in the woods and just stand there and scream until I really lost my voice. But if he know’d I could talk…I have no idea what he would do tah me. I sure hope I kin trust you, Rachael.” Lily grabbed both of Rachael’s hands and held them tight. “You promise, on yer mother’s life, you promise you won’t tell a soul.”

“I promise,” Rachael replied.  She helped Lily up from the floor and they went outside to sit in the swing.

Lily began to talk. “I was only fourteen when Nevers started comin’ round our house and talkin’ tah my step-pa, Earl, bout takin’ me fer his wife.  Nevers’ second wife had just died and he said he’d takin’ a fancy tah me when he seed me in town. Nevers was done thirty-five years old.  When I told Earl that ah didn’t want tah marry that old man, Nevers said he would give Earl an old truck he had, plus some chickens and a kerosene stove. Hell, we wuz liven hand tah mouth. Those things were better than gold tah Earl. None of Earl’s kin liked tah work so didn’t have anythin’ tah speak of.  Since Earl and I didn’t get along anyway it didn’t matter none tah Earl what happened tah me. He was always tryin’ tah git at me and when I fought him off it made me reel mad.  Earl was a nasty man.  Sides gettin’ all that stuff Nevers said he would give him, Earl know’d it was a good time tah git even with me. Nevers promised Earl that he wouldn’t touch me until I was older, but I knew that was a lie and Earl sure didn’t care none cause I wouldn’t let him git in my britches.” Lily stopped and wiped her nose with the hem of her dress.

“I was scart tah death that Nevers would kill me like I heard he done tah them other women, plus I didn’t want him touchin’ me at all. Well, anyway, one afternoon I was outside our house and I seed Nevers comin’ up the road. I took off run
nin’ and climbed up an old, hickory tree behind the house.  I thought if I stayed away long nuf he would go away.  When I tried tah git down, I grabbed for a branch. I heard it crack and the next thing I know’d I was on the ground.  I landed right on a big, old rock. It hurt really bad awful.  The blood was runnin’ out of my head and I jest laid there too scart tah move.  I musta swooned and the next thing I know’d is when I opened my eyes I was lookin’ right up at Nevers. Lordy, that was a scary sight. My brothers carried me to the house and laid me on the bed. My momma sat by me and put cold rags on my head and prayed for me. And then it comes tah me.  I just wouldn’t talk no more. No matter what they asked me, I wouldn’t say a word.  My plan worked real good. It scart them reel bad so the next mornin’ Earl took me into Lynch and the doctor put a couply stitches in my head. He told Earl that the bump from the fall musta caused me some brain damage and that was why I couldn’t talk, even though he hadn’t ever seen that happen afore. The doctor wanted tah take me into Campbellsburg tah the hospital, but Earl said no. Since I was on my feet and didn’t seem tah be in any pain he would jest wait and see if my voice came back.  It was really hard not speakin’, but when Nevers found out, he stopped comin’ around.”

Rachael interrupted. “Yer really brave, Lily.  I could never stop talkin’.”

“That’s cause you never had tah think about marryin’ someone like Nevers. Anyway, I hated not talkin’, but I figured he
would find someone else and then I could talk again.  But, my plan didn’t work fer too long.  A few months later, Nevers started comin’
round agin. Then one Saturday in the spring, my momma laid out my church dress on the bed and took me tah the creek tah warsh. I seen Nevers drivin’ up the road and I know’d what was gonna happen. We went tah the courthouse in Lynch and I was married tah him.” Lily stopped talking for a moment and looked around as if she expected Nevers to jump out at her from some hidden corner.

“I cried all the way tah his house and he smacked me upside the head and tole me to quit.” I made up mah mind that I would never talk agin, specially not tah him. Them first months were jest plumb awful.  He wouldn’t leave me alone. My bottom parts were so sore I thought they would jest fall out. Then he let up some and went back tah trappin’.  I larned some ways tah keep from bein’ put upon every night.  I made sure I didn’t take a bath when he was around. Cause I didn’t want him tah ketch me naked.  I stayed up reel late at night and waited fer him tah fall asleep first.  Course when I had tah do it, I larned how tah move a certain way and then it would only last a couply minutes. He wouldn’t come near me when I wuz havin my monthly, so I always made it last at least a week. I had thought about takin’ my own life and then I thought about jest killin’ him while he wuz sleepin, but ah don’t want tah go tah hell.” Lily stopped for a moment. “
I sure am talkin’ a lot ain’t I? I been here three years and it twernt hard when it was jest me and Nevers. I got nothin’ tah say tah him. But since you been here it’s been plumb awful. So now you know my secret and the sound of my own voice is makin’ me happy for once.  But, remember, you promised you won’t tell him or anyone, okay? Sometimes Nevers gets reel mad at me cause I don’t talk and he says maybe he should divorce me and send me home. I’m hopin’ real hard that it will happen. But then sometimes I’m real scart he might jest kill me off.”

“Nevers, hits on you, don’t he?” Rachael asked.

“Yeah, he hits me all the time.”

“If you told yer family that he hits on you wouldn’t they do somethin’ bad tah him?”

Lily let out a big sigh. “No. Earl hit on my momma and me so he won’t care. He says a little beatin’ keeps a woman in her place. I wished it wuz jest the hittin’ that he did tah me. There are other things I hate even more” She put her head down. “I don’t
want tah talk about it anymore.  I done went and said too much already, so don’t ask me, but I want tah tell you tah be real careful.  Nevers has a bad temper.  He’s got a mean streak wider
than the stripe on a skunk. When he drinks, I run and hide. You be real careful round him.  All this nice crap he is doin’ is jest an act.”

“What about other people? Doesn’t anyone ever come around here and why didn’t you just run off
when he was gone away trappin’?”

“Most times he was gone it was cold outside. I couldn’t run off, Rachael. Every time he left he took my shoes with him and sides, where would I go? Yeah, sometimes there would be some men comin’ up here, but Nevers always met them outside. He made me stay in the house.  Sometimes he would take me into Lynch, but that was not very often. And lessen’ he was buyin’ me somethin’ tah wear, I had to wait in the truck.”

“I wonder why you ain’t never got pregnant?  Come tah think of it, Nevers ain’t had no children at all by none of his wives,” Rachael said.

Lily shook her head. “No he ain’t got no kids. Nevers tole me one time that he had the mumps when he wuz jest a lit
tle kid and them mumps went down in his weenie sack and he thinks it made him so he can’t make babies. I’m sure nuf glad fer that. I want youngin’ someday, but not by him.  God, them kids would be butt ugly.” Saying it aloud sent Lily into a fit of laughter.

They talked for a couple more hours about everything they could think of. Lily wanted to know all about Rachael’s family. She wanted to know about school since she only went for a few years.  She said at first she missed her family, all except Earl, and wished she could see them.  Nevers wouldn’t let her visit them and refused to let them come see her.  He said they would come around asking for a handout and he wasn’t about to help them. She was his prisoner.

Rachael yawned. “I’m tired, Lily.  I need tah go tah bed.”

Lily took Rachael’s hand, “Yer my friend now ain’t you, Rachael. Yer my best friend and you promised to keep my secret.”

Rachael hugged her. “Yes, Lily, I am yer friend and no one will ever know yer secret lessen you want to tell them.”

Rachael lay in bed for over an hour trying to make sense of everything that had happened tonight. Maybe she should tell someone…but she promised. Then again, who would even care what happened to Lily. Everyone in the holler had their own set of woes.

Chapter Eleven

“He’s home, dang it. He’s back already,” Lily said, pulling back the curtain as Nevers truck turned into the yard.  “Guess my talkin’ time is over. Back to being a mute.”

Rachael laughed, “Leastwise I know yer a talkin’ mute.” Rachael peered out the window.  “Jest look at him, Lily.  With them big bushy eyebrows and hairy knuckles he looks like one of them gorillas I saw in my schoolbook.  See the way he walks, all hunkered over and swingin’ them arms.  Yep, he looks like a big, ole gorilla.”