Under the Sassafras (6 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

The shed proved to be a woodworker's haven
. Every tool one could imagine hung in order on pegboards surrounding the walls. A lamp dangled from the ceiling, flooding the large room with light. Two large windows that faced the bayou offered a portal to natural light. A wooden table with several vises sat under the windows with two stools placed under the table. This was a well-loved room.

Mansir sat on the stool and retrieved the small notebook and pen from his pocket
. In concise letters he wrote.
I owe MaeMae, two notebooks and a black ballpoint pen
. Then after a second thought he added,
the clothes on my back, food, and doctor fees
. This small act gave him control, a start. He laid the notebook and pen aside to add items later.

He inhaled the familiar smell of oil and sawdust. On a peg board behind the workbench hung several small tools used for woodcarving
. He knew immediately what each one was used for. His heart rate increased. Was this the beginning of his return? He sat still for a long time, no memory of his past returned except the knowledge of the tools and the familiar feel of the shed. He decided to busy his hands and mind with the hopes that some memory would drift by.

After an extensive search for the right piece of wood and tool, Mansir sat on the stool and began to carve
.

A
knock sounded on the door. He looked up from his carving and realized he’d been working for a couple of hours. MaeMae came in with a plate containing a sandwich and fruit for lunch. A large glass of cold lemonade accompanied the meal.

“
I won't interrupt, I know when one is busy with his hands the mind is also occupied,” MaeMae said.

Mansir sat the tray of food down and picked up his carving
. He turned the piece over in his hand and held the small crane up to view it better from another angle. He might not remember his name, but he obviously remembered how to carve. Some little guy would be quite pleased with this.

T
he moss swayed in the breeze and covered the window like a dark cloud from time to time. Sunlight peeked between the clouds. If only he could close his eyes and when he opened them, the cloud would lift.

As he ate his sandwich, he watched the antics of two cranes bobbing for food on the edge of the bayou. They were persistent forging for their lunch. He wondered if the Cajun people had gotten their endless work ethic from watching nature
. Mansir resumed work and soon became engrossed in his project.

While he polished his masterpieces, he heard the rattling of the truck as it arrived home
. Joelette's home. Maybe she’d heard some news in town. Also she’d said she would pick up a newspaper. He decided to join the small family group, so he set aside his carving. Besides he’d decided this project would be a surprise. He wrapped four small-carved objects in a rag and stuck them on the top shelf. Cleaning up his mess, he put everything back in place and wiped his hands, and walked to the porch.

“
Hey, I thought about coming to check on you. MaeMae said you'd been in that shed all day.”

Her deep throaty voice tore through him
. She was beautiful. “I'm feeling great. It felt good to work.” He returned the smile.  

“
If you are feeling so energetic, how you’d like to come crabbing with me and the boys when T-Boy gets home? Mrs. Savoy brought MaeMae a big bunch of fresh green onions from her garden in exchange for her tonic. MaeMae's cleaned and chopped them and they are waiting for a good crab stew. Ever been crabbing?”

Mansir took a deep breath, finally a chance to help furnish food for their table.
“Not that I remember. How hard can it be?”

Ozamae came bouncing out of the house.
“T-Boy's home. Can I go meet him, Mama? Can I? Hi, Mansir. Are you going crabbing with us? Mama, can he come too? Please?”

“
Yes, yes, yes,” Joelette said laughing. “You let T-Boy grab some cookies and milk and don't ask him a million questions. Mansir and I will get the crabbing gear together. Coming?”

“
How does one go about crabbing?” he asked. He increased his pace To match her, she was always in a hurry.

“
It's about as easy a catch as you’ll make. Just tie a piece of meat to a line, throw the line in the water, and wait until they bite. Then pull them in close enough to catch them in a net. Just hope that what bites and what you pull in is a crab and not a gator.”

“
Gators? You mean alligators? There are alligators here?”

Laughing, Joelette turned and looked into his eyes
. “Of course there are alligators here. You're in the swamps of Louisiana. Don't you hear them bellowing at night?”

“
Hear them?” The hair on his arms stood on end. “I don't know. What does an alligator sound like?”

Mansir
had lain awake at night thinking of the horrors that could have happened to him in the swamp, but never had an encounter with an alligator crossed his mind. “Do they come far inland from the water?” Moisture ran down his back. “I could have been a meal for one of them when you found me.”

“
You
could
have been a meal for two or three of them. They've been known to wander into someone's yard or onto the road, but that's a rare occasion.” She waved her hand. “Don't worry. They're just as afraid of you. Show your respect and don't taunt one.”

“
That, m'lady, you can count on. I don't plan to get close enough to taunt one or show ill respect.”

Joelette started to pick up a step stool to retrieve two nets hanging on the wall of the carport
.

“
Let me,” Mansir said. He reached up with no effort and handed her the nets. Today, he would let the past rest, and enjoy the gaiety of this family. Smiling down at Joelette he said. “See, I'm not so bad to have around.” It felt good to be useful.

Armed with two nets, two large burlap sacks, an assortment of strings and odd cuts of meat
, the four of them set out for their adventure. Ozamae held Mansir's hand and Joelette walked in front of them with T-Boy in the lead.

“
Here we are”, called Joelette. “Catch.” Joelette threw Mansir a sack containing several small cheesecloth bags.

“
What's this?” he asked, as he smelled the sweet odor emerging from the bags.

“
Dip a bag in water as you need it and wring almost dry. Pat any exposed skin you have. This is basil and will keep the mosquitoes away.”

Doing as he was told was one thing, believing this would work was another
. After the third mosquito bite, he used the bags.

They tied the meat onto one end of the string, and the other end of the string to a stick they pushed into the ground
. Almost immediately the lines pulled taunt. “We have one,” Mansir yelled.

“
Wait until we get all of the lines out, they won't let go. We'll catch them later,” Joelette said as she continued down the bank, setting out the crabbing lines.

“
Why don't you and T-Boy work that end and Ozamae and I will take care of this end of the bank,” she said handing Mansir one of the nets.

“
But Mom”, both of the boys said at once.

“
As I say, boys. Let's see who catches the most.”

“
You and Ozamae will win Mom, I have the rookie on my team,” grumbled T-Boy.

“
But I can reach farther out in the water with the net than they can. I might be an asset. Come on and show me how this is done,” Mansir said.

T-Boy shrugged.
“Alright, but don’t fall in the water. I'll pull the crabs in and you hold the net in the water until I get them over the net, raise the net fast before they crawl out. Got that?”

“
Yes sir!” Mansir saluted. He could hear Ozamae squealing with delight about one they had caught.

“
Bring the net. This line is heavy,” T-Boy said pulling the line in as in slow motion. “I think we have two or three on this line.”

Mansir put the net in the water and watched as T-Boy with expert hands, pulled the crabs over the net then gave him a nod
. He lifted. T-Boy was right. There were three crabs in the net, huge ones with blue claws.

“
Wow, these things are big. Hey over there, we just pulled in three whoppers,” Mansir yelled to Joelette and Ozamae.

“
That's just a start. You haven't seen these two boys eat crabs.” Joelette answered.

The next net held one big one
. The crab hung onto the net with its claws and Mansir couldn't get it out.

“
What do I do with this one T-Boy?”

T-Boy turned his head to the side and said
. “Reach in and work him loose. He won't hurt you.”

Mansir reached in and felt the sharp pinch of a powerful claw on his finger. Cursing under his breath he jerked his finger free pulling the claw off the crab in the process. He squeezed his finger to stop the pain and watched it bleed.

“What happened?” Joelette said as she ran over to them.

“
That crab just cut my finger,” Mansir said. He looked from the clawless crab and then at T-Boy. The little guy's eyes widened in surprise at the amount of blood coming from the cut. An unsaid plea crossed T-Boy's face.

“
T-Boy, didn't you tell Mansir how powerful a crab’s claw was?”

“
Yes, he told me,” Mansir said before T-Boy could answer. “I guess I needed to see for myself. You can bet I won't be reaching into a net with a crab in it again.”

“
Here, wrap this around your finger.” Joelette handed him a strip of cloth. “We'll put some ointment on it when we get to the house. You two stop horsing around. We have supper to catch.” She smiled before she turned around.

Mansir returned to crabbing
. “How many crabs do you think will be enough, T-Boy?”

T-Boy's face tinged with red looked up at Mansir
. “A sack full.” He coughed, cleared his throat. “I'm sorry. I didn't know that crab would break the skin. Thank you for not telling Mom what I did,” he said as he walked off to run another line. “But I’m still the man of the house,” he muttered.

Mansir opened his mouth to speak but changed his mind
. Now wasn't the time. MaeMae and the Doc both thought time healed everything. Maybe it did. He would give the boy time.

The four of them continued to crab, catching dozens.

“I think we have enough. We better get back so we can clean them for MaeMae,” Joelette said.

“
Wait let me check this one.” Mansir pointed to a line pulled taunt. “Bring the net, T-Boy.”

Mansir pulled slowly as he had seen T-Boy do, he could feel the tug on the other end of the line
. “This one’s big, maybe big enough to fill you up, T-Boy.” As the line got closer to shore, Mansir saw two round eyes come up out of the water.

“
I think you better let that one go.” T-Boy said. “You've caught a gator.”

Mansir tossed down the line and grabbed T-boy under his arm. He ran toward the truck.
“Run, Joelette. It's a gator.” He ran past Joelette and Ozamae and then realized she wasn’t running. Not only that, but she was doubled-over laughing.

Joelette tried to catch her breath.
“He's not after you. He wants the crabs. I've never seen an alligator chase a man up a hill yet. Now put T-Boy down and take a couple of breaths. You look like you're about to pass out.”

Mansir s
et down T-Boy.

“
I can't believe you're afraid of a little ole gator. I never saw someone run that fast, you picked me up like I was a pile of sticks,” T-Boy said in between bouts of laughter.

Joelette and Ozamae sat beside them
. “You should have seen yourself running with T-Boy's legs flopping behind you in the wind. That was the funniest thing I have ever seen,” Joelette said.

The sound
of all their laughter was infectious Mansir found himself chuckling with them. Lord, it felt great.

“
Well that had to be one of the scariest sights I've ever seen. I played tug-a-war with an alligator. Not one of the smartest things I've done.”

“
Oh, that hurts,” Joelette said holding her side. “I haven't laughed that much in years. That sight will be hard to get out of my head.”

Mansir watched as the family
around him enjoyed the moment, they all looked so happy. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was that happy in the life he’d left behind, the life he’d forgotten. It was time to go to town and find some answers.

“
We better get going,” Joelette said, coming to her feet. She wiped the grass and debris off her backside. “T-Boy, cut the meat off the lines and Ozamae, help him gather them. I'll get the nets and crabs.”