Prayers and Lies (23 page)

“Okay, look, it ain’t wrong.” Her voice was soft and pleading now. “I promise you, Harley, it ain’t so very wrong. ’Cause Caleb loves me. He’s gonna marry me. Don’t you know he’s gonna marry me as soon as I get old enough?”

“Good gracious God, Reana Mae! He can’t never marry you.” Caleb sounded tired now. “Don’t you know that the state of West Virginia won’t never let you marry your daddy’s own brother?”

“But Caleb says …”

“Oh, well, Caleb says … That’s a real good one. Caleb says … like Caleb’s word is worth a piece of shit … like it’s just Caleb’s mouth to God’s own ear.”

Harley Boy rose as he spat the words. He looked wiser and more grown up than I’d ever seen him.

“Listen, you cannot marry your own uncle. Not in West Virginia, and not anywhere else in the whole United States of America,” Harley spoke confidently. “And Caleb damned well knows it! He just wants you to think he’s gonna marry you so you’ll let him do whatever he wants to you.”

Harley Boy’s words came tumbling out in a jumble of fury and pleading. He grabbed at Reana’s hands again, pulling her close to him on the church steps.

“He ain’t never gonna marry you. He just wants to do it with you. And you … dear God, Reana, actin’ like you are … why, you’re no better than your own sinful mama. You’re actin’ like a whore for him. And if you don’t stop it right now, you’re gonna go straight to hell, just like your grandma and your mama before you.”

“You just leave them outta this, Harley Boy. Do you hear me? You leave my mama and her mama out of this.”

Abruptly, Harley Boy dropped back onto the wooden steps of the church, burying his face in his hands. Reana Mae dropped down again beside him, touching his shoulder tentatively; then she leaned against him, her arm circling his back.

I held my breath in the dark, afraid even to breathe. Leaning heavily against the old wooden fence, I heard Reana Mae whisper, “Oh, Harley Boy, I know you love me. You told me so right and plain last winter. But, Harley, you just ain’t the one for me, and you know that’s true. You know straightaway that I’m meant for Caleb, and you’re meant for Ruthann. That’s just the way it is.” She sighed then and leaned closer into him.

“But you can’t tell on me, Harley. You can’t tell your grandma or no one what you know…. Hush now, don’t you go to arguin’ with me.”

Reana Mae knelt before him on the ground, raising his chin with her hands so that he had to look her straight in the face.

“Look, Harley, if I’m goin’ straight to the devil’s own hellfire … well, then, I’m goin’ to hell. There ain’t nothin’ you can do about it. You know that’s the Lord’s own truth, don’t you?” She was insistent now, knowing she had won.

Harley stared at her in a palpable mute anguish, but even I could see that Reana Mae was winning.

“You know that’s the truth, and you know I’m right. I am who I am—and maybe I am my mama’s own daughter and maybe I am going straight to hell. But I love him, Harley. I know it hurts you, and I’m sorry … truly and honestly I am. But I can’t help it. I love Caleb with all my heart.

“So promise me, Harley. Promise me because you’re my only real friend in the whole wide world. Promise me you won’t tell. ’Cause if you tell, Aunt Belle will have them take me away to Charleston or Huntington or somewhere else, and then you won’t never see me again. And I’ll be living in some house with people who don’t even know me, people who aren’t my own.”

He stared at her steadily now. I could see the pain written across his white, freckled face.

“Don’t you see what will happen? They’ll take me away … from the river and from Mama and from you. Don’t do that to me, Harley. I’m beggin’ you, don’t do that to me.”

“I won’t.” He whispered it so quietly I could barely hear him. “I won’t let them take you away.”

“You just keep your mouth shut, then, you hear me?” She leaned forward and kissed his freckled forehead, smiling at her victory.

Suddenly, he lunged toward her, grabbing her face in both his hands and pulling her toward him. I watched him kiss her hard on the lips, and she never struggled, not even once. She only leaned in, letting him kiss her again and again. When he finally released her, she sat back slightly, smiling.

“You just keep your mouth shut, okay?” she repeated, licking her lips quickly.

I saw Harley grimace, clench his fists tightly, and slowly nod.

He wouldn’t tell. Not now, maybe not ever.

Reana Mae rose, smiling down at him. Kissing the top of his red hair, she turned and ran silently back toward the dirt road and me.

Joining her on the path, I turned back to see Harley Boy still sitting on the church steps, his head buried in his hands. He wouldn’t tell on Reana Mae. I was sure of that, and so was she. But at what cost?

Turning briefly to smile at me, Reana grabbed my hand as we pounded down the path toward the road. For the moment, her agony over Caleb and Nancy was at bay. She had won Harley Boy’s silence, and with it Ruthann’s. And she knew she had mine.

She was safe, then, for the moment, in the love of her friends … if not safely in Caleb’s.

19
Cool Water

T
he next morning, Ruthann knocked on our door early. Moments later, I was walking down the road with her toward the beach. Neither of us spoke about the day before, about Harley Boy or Reana Mae or the mattress in the woods. Instead, we talked about the fireworks and the cookout and, briefly, about Nancy and Caleb.

“He surely seems taken with her,” Ruthann said, glancing sidelong toward me.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Who knows?” I said as lightly as I could.

“I wonder what Reana Mae thinks about that?”

I stopped to pull a small rock from my sandal, unsure what to say. Thankfully, I was spared a response when Harley Boy came running down the path toward us.

“Hey, ya’ll,” he said, pulling up short beside us. “What are you up to?”

Ruthann glanced silently from him toward me, waiting for some kind of signal, I guess. Then she shrugged elaborately. “Nothing, I guess. Just goin’ to the beach.”

I straightened up and smiled at Harley as we walked toward the beach. When we passed Reana Mae’s house, I glanced at Harley and saw him looking toward the cottage and trying not to. I wanted to touch his arm, but I didn’t dare. Instead, I said brightly, “Those sure were some fireworks last night, H.B. What did your grandpa say about them?”

He shook his head, red hair hanging thickly over his forehead. “I went to sleep before he got home. But I know they was good, ’cause I helped pack them.” He knelt down to pick up a small, flat stone. “Did ya’ll like them?”

“Sure,” Ruthann lied smoothly, glancing at me. “They was plain gorgeous.”

I simply nodded in agreement. I certainly did not want him to know that I’d been with Reana Mae the night before in the churchyard.

We spent that morning as we had every morning—lying on the beach, swimming out to the raft, lying in the sun there, then swimming back to the beach. By now, it was almost a ritual, but this morning it felt different. Every little while, I turned my eyes toward Harley Boy, wondering how often he had snuck out of his bedroom in the night to meet Reana Mae. I was certain the night before had not been the first time.

Along toward noon, I heard Melinda’s voice float out toward the raft—the words unclear but the voice unmistakable. Ruthann raised her head, too, glancing toward Harley as she said, “Looks like the reinforcements are here. What do ya’ll want to do about lunch?”

I watched as Harley leaned forward, straining his eyes toward the shore. In a minute, he flopped back down onto the raft. “I don’t care.” He sighed. “What do ya’ll want to do?”

I lay in silence, knowing that if Reana Mae was on the beach, Harley would be up in an instant. Finally, Ruthann sighed loudly.

“Okay,” she said, standing and pulling at her swimsuit, “let’s swim back and eat.”

I looked from Ruthann to Harley Boy, feeling sorry for both of them. I knew how Ruthann felt about Harley by then—it probably was clear to anyone who spent five minutes with them. And I knew how Harley felt about Reana Mae.

We swam back to the beach and unwrapped the peanut butter sandwiches we’d packed. Nancy and Melinda were bickering over which radio station to listen to. Tracy was nowhere around.

We ate our sandwiches in silence, listening to “Mr. Bojangles” on the radio. Just as we were wiping away our crumbs, Tracy appeared, carrying her towel and stationery box. But instead of settling down beside Nancy and Melinda, she threw her towel down by me.

“What are you all doing?” Her voice was bright.

Ruthann and Harley Boy looked at each other, then at me.

Tracy never joined us. She never even spoke to us except to mock us for something.

“We was just fixin’ to swim out to the raft,” Ruthann said warily.

Tracy leaned back on her towel, shaded her eyes against the noonday sun, and smiled. “I thought you might be going hiking again.”

I glanced at Ruthann, but she was watching Harley Boy. None of us spoke.

“Where’d you all go off to yesterday?” Tracy asked, eyebrows raised slightly above those clear hazel eyes.

“Just hiking … in the woods, you know. Back toward our house … or … I mean, toward Ray’s store.” My words came out in a jumble. Even to myself, my voice sounded unnaturally sharp.

“Nowhere in particular,” Ruthann added.

“None of your damned business,” Harley Boy growled.

“Why? Is it a secret?” Tracy leaned up on an elbow and smiled sweetly into Harley Boy’s angry face, her beautiful eyes widening. “Some kind of national security secret?”

No one answered her.

“Oh, well, then … maybe it’s a hillbilly secret.” Tracy shrugged slightly, still smiling at Harley Boy. “Maybe a hillbilly love secret—the kind of love secret that only happens in West Virginia.”

“Shut up, Tracy,” I hissed.

“Oh, did I guess it right, then? It
is
a love secret.” She sat up, lowering her sunglasses on her nose and smiling brightly.

Harley Boy stood up suddenly, kicking sand onto the rest of us in the process.

“You just stay out of what ain’t your goddamned business, you hear?” He spoke quietly, but there was a dangerous edge in his voice.

“Well, maybe it is my business, Harley Boy.” Tracy leaned toward him, her eyes gleaming the way they did sometimes when she was feeling especially mean. Or when she was about to cry. “Maybe you don’t want it to be, but maybe it is anyway.”

That made all of us jump. Tracy leaned back, her eyes narrowed, watching us closely.

“You just stay out of it, Tracy Wylie,” Harley repeated. “You hear me? You better just stay out of what don’t concern you … or else …” His voice rose, his hands were clenched into tight, white fists.

“Or else what?” She smiled, shading her eyes as she looked up at him.

“Or else … you’ll make a whole lotta trouble for a lotta people … and for yourself, too. Goddamn it, just stay out of it … you hear?”

With that, Harley Boy turned and ran toward the cool, dark water. Ruthann looked at me briefly, then followed him. But I stayed put. If Tracy knew something about Caleb and Reana Mae, I had to find out what. Harley might think he could scare Tracy into staying quiet, but I knew my sister too well to believe that.

“Why are you so mean, Tracy?” I asked. “Why can’t you just stay out of things that aren’t yours to worry about?”

Tracy simply smiled, covering her eyes with her arm.

“I mean it, Tracy!” I hissed. “Why are you so mean all the time?”

She let out a soft laugh, dropping back onto her towel gracefully.

“Why can’t you just be nice like a regular person for once?”

I felt like I might just hit her if she laughed again.

“Oh, chill out, Bethany,” she said. Her voice was bored now. “Do you think I give a shit what you and your little friends do in the woods?”

She rolled onto her side facing me and rested her head on her hand. “You’re just so … easy, Bethany, you know?” She wasn’t laughing or even smirking now. In fact, she looked almost puzzled, staring at me.

I wanted to walk away, swim to the raft, and hate her just like always.

But she had never looked at me like that before. Like she actually was waiting to hear what I was going to say.

I shook my head, staring at her suspiciously.

“What does that mean?” I asked. “What does that mean … that I’m easy?”

She gazed at me unblinking, her eyes narrowed slightly. “I mean, you let yourself get hurt so easy,” she said, in the same puzzled voice. “Why do you let everyone hurt you so much?”

“I don’t,” I snorted.

“Fine, then,” she said, dropping back onto her towel, her voice contemptuous again. “You don’t.”

I sat a minute longer, waiting to see if she would say something else, but she was done. Whatever had caught her interest before was gone. She had no use for me now.

“Tracy?” I couldn’t help it, I had to push it.

“What?”

“That hike we took yesterday, me and Ruthann and Harley Boy … it was just a hike. That’s all.” I stood, wiping sand from my legs, watching her closely.

“Whatever.” She didn’t even open her eyes.

“Okay, well … then, I’ll see you later.”

She lay silently, her eyes closed against the sun.

I swam slowly out to the raft, where Ruthann and Harley were waiting.

“Do you think she knows?” Ruthann asked as I pulled myself out of the water. Her eyes were wide and anxious. Harley Boy stared grimly toward the shore, as if ensuring Tracy’s silence through sheer force of will.

“No,” I said, wringing water from my hair. “She’s just yanking our chain.”

“You sure?” Harley asked, still staring at the beach.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I nodded. “If she knew, she’d have told Mother already.”

“She wouldn’t!” Ruthann sounded appalled.

“Yeah, she would.” I nodded grimly. “She’d tell Mother, and she’d make it sound like she was doing it because she was worried about Reana Mae.”

I grimaced, picturing the scene.

“Or …” I was thinking out loud now. “Or she’d let me know that she knew, and then she’d use it to make me do stuff.”