Fallen Angels (12 page)

Jeb returned to the table and seated himself. He clasped his hands in his lap and determined he should not stand again until Fern Coulter left the parsonage.

“I'm just seeing it all now. The longer I stay, the more tangled up I get in this place. Now duping those farmer folks is one thing, but that teacher gal, she's quite another. That girl's got a thinker on top of those shoulders and pretty soon she'll have us all figured out. I'm no saint and surely no man of the cloth. She'll be the first to know. Then you give her a chance to get a letter back from that school, wherever this Gracie family comes from, and our little con job will wash on down the river.”

“We can tell her we use nicknames, you know. My name for sure sounds like a nickname. When we get hold of the real names, then we'll just give her that for an answer,” said Angel.

“What if Gracie has three sons? Or two sons and a girl? This scheme of yours ain't going to fool nobody. I got enough food to last me a month; a mule and a wagon that will get me clear to Tennessee if I want. Come Sunday, I'll be somewhere, someplace you won't know about, but I won't be here.”

Jeb heard a knock at the door. He climbed out of the rocker and answered it. Horace Mills and a man Jeb remembered from town greeted him. “Reverend Gracie, this is Tom Plummet the tailor. I bought a suit for you ready-made but he won't have it any other way. He wants to fit you for it.” Mills held up the suit of clothes, a dark gray suit with a faint pin stripe.

Jeb blew out a breath. “Please do come in, Mr. Mills. Mr. Plummer. Kind of you to drop by.”

“I got to thinking about Sunday and it occurred to me you lost all your wardrobe.” Mills stepped back, his toes pointing out, while Plummer lifted Jeb's right arm and measured it.

Jeb felt the house growing smaller, the windows squeezing shut and locking themselves from the outside in.

“I have to hand it to you, Reverend, you're a calm one, like a cucumber, you are. If I had all my clothes stolen, why I guess I'd just sit in the house and hide until the wife fixed me up again.” The tailor moved to measure Jeb from the top of his leg down.

“He's a cucumber, all right,” said Angel.

“Angel, you take your sister and go wash up those breakfast dishes.” Jeb had had his fill of her. “Here it is noon and you have yet to make yourself busy.”

Since the teacher had appeared at the parsonage, Angel had moped around sullen, answering him in short sentences.

“We already washed up. That Miss Coulter did it, actually,” said Angel. When she said,
Coulter
her voice faltered.

“Miss Coulter came by? Don't say. Well, now, that is a fine young woman, Reverend. I'm glad you had the chance to make her acquaintance.” Mills handed the twine back to Plummer.

Jeb dropped his arms at both sides. “Mr Mills, I'm feeling badly? about you buying this suit for me. I don't think I can take it. As a matter of, fact, I know I can't.”

Angel studied him as though trying to see clean through him.

“The missus had me do it and I'm glad she did. Don't you give it another thought at all, no sir! Our two oldest children are off to school. Oldest boy, Matthew, is all the way up in a Chicago college. Daughter studies in Little Rock, Our two youngest boys will be going off to college in the next two years, if they ever start studying here, that is, Helping you all gives my wife things to think about besides growing old.”

“I'll have this back to you on Saturday, Reverend,” said Mr. Plummer. “You going to need some shoes. When you come into town, drop by Honeysack's Or try Woolworth's. They keep shoes for men all the time.”

Mills reiterated, “Sure, sure, you do that. I guess you know all the Women done started cooking for the big church picnic on the grounds Sunday.; My Susan she's the best at potato salad, but I can't say that to anyone.Makes the others mad. Can't do that in a town this small.”

“I appreciate you both dropping by,” said Jeb. He followed them out onto the porch to be certain he headed them toward Mills's June-bug-green automobile. The men disappeared into the long vehicle, waved, and pulled away.

Angel appeared on the porch in a candy-red sundress. “They done too much for you now, Jeb Nubey. If you take off now, lightning will strike.”

“If I don't take off now, lightning will strike, Willie, you go hitch up my mule. I do hear thunder.

“No use, Willie. He won't leave,” said Angel.

“Do you mean what you Say, Jeb? You really leaving after Mr. Honeysack signed for you on this wagon and mule? He’ ll be the one paying for it if you steal it.” Willie had the corners of his shirt pulled up over the ends of his elbows.

“That's what it means when you take things don't belong to you, Willie—other people have to pay. Those boys took my truck and it didn't cost them a cent. Now I'm taking something that makes up for what I lost. It's plain and simple borrowing.” Jeb Saw his reflection in the window. His face looked shadowed again, as though his beard was coming back even though he had gotten a shave this morning.

“All them people are going to show up expecting to hear about all them commandments while you're off breaking them,” said Angel.

“You got a confounded way of looking at things. All them commandments is for the good of the community. Just keeps governments orderly. You live on the road, you keep your own commandments. Do thyself a little good, feed thy face, and other ones like that.”

“Mr. Honeysack is a nice feller. I don't think it's right.” Angel seated Ida May between her legs on the floor and commenced rebraiding her hair.

“In case you haven't noticed, Biggest. One way, I'm lying. Other way, I'm a thief.” Jeb tucked in his shirttail.

“Lying makes more money. How you think the big rich men like Rockefeller made it so big?” Angel's reasoning face emerged. Three wrinkles formed half circles on either side of her brows.

“You saying that me sticking around is going to make money? They give me five dollars and a month's supply of Mrs. Honeysack's pies. I ain't Rockefeller.”

“Barbara Stanwyck preached, using big words, making all kinds of promises, and people just flocked to her with money.” Angel tied off Ida May's braids with green satin ribbons.

Jeb sat slouched back in the rocker. He looked at Willie, “Why does she keep rattling about Barbara Stanwyck?”

“It's something she saw at the picture show, got her all goggly-eyed with big ideas. They're playing that one downtown at the Starlight.”

The lights on the theater marquis buzzed and then came on just as the light of evening faded.

“Hand me the popcorn down,” said Jeb to Willie, who sat two sisters away. “I still don't get what this Barbara Stanwyck has to do with Sunday.”

“You talk too loud. Preachers ain't even supposed to go to the picture show,” said Angel. ?It's a sin.” She sat on the other side of Jeb beside Ida May, who was none too happy to be seeing the same film all over again. She'd hated it me first time with Lana.

“How is watching this a sin?” Jeb dug into the bag and redeemed the remaining soft popped corn for himself, but then wished he hadn't said anything to her. He tired of her antagonizing him, feeding him little tidbits about preaching and Moses, like her superiority was all he had in his favor.

Angel sipped her Coke. “We, should have gotten the giant popcorn. Movies is just a sin. Momma let us go if we earned the nickel for ourselves. Granny pitched a fit but we went anyway. She sang a song with words like, ‘be careful little eyes what you see.’”

“That's just plain silly. If I preach, I'll tell people they can go to a picture show. What's the deal with that anyway?” Jeb Watched Barbara Stanwyck enter a lion's cage and then preach from it.
The Miracle Woman
went from one unhappy part of life to the next, her money machine collecting offerings like a giant snowball rolling and growing out of control. She called people forward, daring the devout to buy into her theatrics, calling her malarkey faith, A blind man accepted her invitation for getting religion.

As he watched the film unfold, Jeb suddenly got the gist of the whole preacher business. Jeb watched her staging, the way she seized the platform, lifted her arms, and addressed the crowd. He'd never got any of it until now. “Some of those folks, they really believe all that show and put on.”

“That's the point. Religious people get bored. They want entertainment. You know—a big show. But they'll pay a lot of dollars for it,” said Angel.

He watched Barbara's temple go down in a fire. “Big show. All an act. I'll study on that,” said Jeb. “Willie, here's another nickel. Go get me some more popcorn and some of that penny candy.” He hadn't had any in years.

“ ‘The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed”.
Now you say it.” Angel, standing behind Jeb, handed him the Bible. “Hold it up and kind of out in front of you.”

Jeb wet his lips with his tongue, stretched out his arms and said, “The Lord thy God—”

“Not thy’ God. The Lord God planted a garden. Can't you remember that?”

“No, I can't remember it. No more than I can remember Fi-le-mon. I'm telling you I can't memorize all the Bible and surely not none of it by Sunday. What is this story about anyway? Since when did God do some gardening?”

“The Garden of Eden. Don't tell me you never heard of it?” Angel removed the Bible from his hand.

“It's coining back to me. That's when the two naked people was running about naming the goats and horses.”

“You got to learn to read.”

“By Sunday? I told you this wasn't going to work, did I not?” Jeb checked the necktie at his throat. “Willie, if this is the way you going to tie this, I might as well wear it around my head.” He loosened it, lifted it over his head, and threw it onto the kitchen table.

“I'm tired of making you understand religion” said Angel. “I'd rather read a magazine.”

“You're tired because you don't understand it yourself. Willie, throw me back that tie.” He pulled the whole length of necktie out of the knot and drew it around his collar. “Now, Angel, you read me back that garden thing again. I,ll give it a whirl.”

Angel read it once more.

Jeb took the Bible and held it up to the mirror. “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. Yes, He did.” Jeb tried to imagine a heavenly glow lighting people's eyes and loosening their pocketbooks. “I'm telling it right. He didn't need no other to plant it. He planted it himself.” He dropped his hand down and said, “I sound like Barbara Stanwyck?”

“When you say ‘the Lord God,’; lift both arms up beside your ears,” said Angel. “If you're talking about the Son, arms out in front like you're about to hug your momma.”

Jeb gave the words a singsong beat in his head. “And there he put the man that He had formed.”

“He got it, didn't he, Angel?” Willie asked.

“Let me see.” Angel rechecked the Scripture. “You said it right, Jeb. Maybe that's the only Scripture you ought to use. Just fill in the rest with all that other business, the a-has and hallelu-yers.”

“Halley-loo-yah!” Jeb handed her back the Bible. “Give me another one. How many am I supposed to read?”

“You can learn another next week …” Angel walked in her bare feet around the kitchen table and turned the radio dial to the evening serials.

“Here, Willie, you read me another.” Jeb extended the Bible to Willie.

“I can't read much more than you, Jeb. Angel, she's the one with the learning.” He hurled out a yo-yo and it came back to him.

“I thought you was going to school just like your sister. Isn't that what you said to Miss Coulter?”

“I was in the same room. But nobody never keered that I learned. I guess I don't give a keer neither. I learned enough readin’ to get by is all.”

“Willie has trouble in his books,” said Angel. “I tried to help him but he just gets mad at me.”

Willie formed his tongue into a fold and jutted it out at her.

“Someone's here,” said Angel. She padded to the front room, walking on the sides of her feet.

A face appeared in the door glass. “Hello, I hope I'm not disturbing you all.”

“It's that Josie lady. Maybe she brought our dinner.” Angel let her in. She took one step back, surprised. “Hi, Miss Coulter. Mrs. Hipps, you, too. Nice for you all to come by.”

“Josie told me she was bringing by a dinner so I thought I'd drop by some books. Maybe you two older kids can help Ida May with her alphabet.”

Jeb turned around with the Bible still in his hand. “Miss Coulter. Josie.”

“Don't you look nice,” Fern said. She wore a dress, pale blue and that made her eyes more definably blue.

“Willie can't teach me the alphabet,” said Ida May.

Fern pursed her mouth, but didn't reply. But her eyes held a question for Willie.

“I'm not good at reading. My trot line's better than … than Daddy's, though.”

Jeb felt his tongue touch the dry top of his mouth. “You think you can run a trot line better than your old man. Maybe so.”

“I'm going to set this dish on your kitchen table. If you all will excuse me,” said Josie.

“Let me show you something,” said Fern. She seated herself on the sofa and patted the cushion. Willie joined her. “Reverend, if you want, you can come see what we're doing. Maybe you can help Willie yourself.”

Jeb, still in his sock feet, pressed his heels against the linoleum that had a floral print just like Victorian wallpaper. He sat on the other side of Fern. As she read to Willie, he noticed the curls in her hair were tighter, held in place by some women's concoction. He resisted the urge to place his fingers inside one of the curls and pull it just to see it spring back.

Willie's face tightened when she tried to coax him into repeating a phrase.

“You just say it back to her, Willie,” said Jeb.

“Not actually. If he doesn't see the word as a whole and then read it, he's not really learning anything. It's not any different than a parrot mimicking the teacher. Willie, I'll bet you're oceans smarter than a parrot,” said Fern.

“He ain't, though.” Willie pointed at Jeb.

“Your daddy's a wise man, Willie. Here, Reverend Gracie. You try reading to Willie.” She laid the book in Jeb's lap.