“Damn, it good to see you pair ‘gain!” he grinned. “Tante Amice tole me you livin’ part-time down near Bayou Boeuf, got yo’ own fishin’ guide business, coupla pirogues an’ a huntin’ lodge; I might need to be borrowin’ some o’ that ‘fore long, less’n you-all objectin’?”
Odelie hugged him and looked up into his eyes.
“Anythin’ you need, jest ask; Maw-maw say you got bad trouble trailin’ you, I’m guessin’ it more than just them idjits we saw gittin’ lost in the cane, so we dealin’ ourselves in too; you know I can shoot the spots off of a zirondelle at fifty yards with papi’s ole Remington, and Mel nasty good wi’ that bow an’ quiver o’ hers; you got us along, I reckon we can make unwelcome comp’ny feel real unwelcome!”
Johnny nodded thoughtfully; what Odelie said had merit; she had a true sharpshooter’s eye, and Melette was lethally expert with her compound bow, her favorite hunting weapon; they would indeed be useful to have around. Too bad he wasn’t going to allow it; bad enough he and Justine had those people after them, but to drag his baby-girls into it as well? No way, no how, not in a million years.
“Lemme introduce you proper, like, to Justine,” he hedged. “She my girl, I think you like her. Wait here…”
With that, he stepped around the Blazer and popped the passenger door, steadying Justine with his hands around her slim waist as she climbed down from the cab. When the two girls saw her close up for the first time, they smiled broadly.
“Li’l Jean-Bastienne pick a real pretty one, no mistakin’!” smiled Odelie, making Justine blush prettily.
Melette looked closely at her, then reached out and smudged away the concealer under her eye before Justine could avoid her hand, revealing the purpled bruise underneath. Her lips tightened as she did the same on the left side of Justine’s jaw, the bruising under the concealer vivid and ugly, clearly outlining the mark of a clenched fist. She spun around to look at Johnny, her eyes flashing with anger.
“What the hell this mean, boy? You do this? You gonna tell me she walk into a door, or she ‘fell down’, an’ it was all a accident, cause if you do…!”
Justine stepped in front of Johnny, wrapping her arms around his waist even as she recoiled at the hot anger blazing in the blonde girl’s eyes.
“NO! It wasn’t Johnny, my Johnny’s never laid a hand on me! It was my husband, ex-husband, I mean, he did this; he did it so he could steal my money, and those people after us, he owed them money, and now they say I owe it to them, and I have to… have to work it off; Johnny was defending me, he got rid of the men threatening me, and now they’re after him because he tried to help me! Johnny’s the most gentle man I’ve ever known, and he’s never laid a hand on me in anger, I swear!”
Melette looked at her for a long moment, then relaxed; she could see no lie in her eyes, she was telling the truth. Odelie gently took Justine’s arm and turned her so she could look at her injuries.
“I’m thinkin’ John-boy show the men who wanna harm you the error o’ their ways, ‘m I right?” she murmured, and smiled at the look Justine darted at Johnny.
“It OK, I know what Li’l John capable of when he get mad, I seen it once, long time ago…” she shuddered at the memory.
“I can guess what he did, but way I see it, he was defendin’ his boo’sha; anythin’ he did was the right thing to do, so I wouldn’t go losin’ no sleep over it. We get you back to Noncle Lubin’s place, I reckon Tante Maigrette know how to make them bruises go down some.”
Johnny looked curiously at Melette, at her flushed face and neck.
“Why you so mad, li’l gal? Someone hurt you too?” he asked softly, his eyes hardening when she avoided his gaze. Odelie too looked away rather than meet his gaze.
“What happen? You tell me now or we ain’t movin’ from this spot; who did it?” he asked once more, a hard, clipped edge to his voice even as he watched both girls closely.
His voice took on a softer, menacing edge.
“I ain’t gonna ast no more. Don’t be no tete dur, c’est moi, ton grande frere qui demande, alor’ dis-moi maint’nent; je ne t’entends pas! (don’t be hard-headed, this is me, your big brother, asking, so tell me now; I can’t hear you!) You gonna tell me who was it, an’ whut he do to you, et co faire (and why)? Tell me!”
Justine’s eyes flicked from the girls to Johnny and back, not understanding the rippling, rapid-fire Creole French, but getting what he was saying from his tone. Melette flushed bright scarlet under her golden tan.
“It OK, Li’l John, it been taken care of, we OK, nuthin’ much happen, an’ it a while back anyways, let’s jes’ get outta here,” she mumbled, then started when Johnny took her arm, gently but firmly pulling her around to look up at him.
“Whut happen, baby-girl?” he murmured.
Melette looked up at him, her gaze level and unflinching.
“Beginnin’ las’ summer, me an’ Odie decide we gonna go do some dancin’, mebbe have a beer or two, so we ask Rafe Guillory an’ Hecky Lafontaine to go with us to new place up the bayou at Belle Fourche, place called Harpoon Louie’s; it was ‘sposed to be a good place, clean, no road-house goin’s-on, good music, but we din’t wanna go there alone, like, so we asked them two along; we even took Apache, ‘cos you don’ go to a place like Harpoon Louie’s in no farm truck. We got there, we dance with the boys, couple other boys ask us to dance, we havin’ fun, and Rafe don’t like it too much; he get all in there, telling me I’m his girl an’ what I doin’ actin’ all loose and ready for whatever, so I tell him to blow it out his butt, ain’t no universe I knows of where I ever be his girl; walkin’ into a bar with him don’ give him no rights over me, he jus’ my frien’ an’ escort an’ nuthin’ else, so back off, go get a beer, ask some girl fo’ dance, there plenty to choose from, an’ we be cool.”
She paused, her eyes far away and dark with remembered fear.
“He drug me outside, Hecky try stop him, he punch him out an’ come after me, gimme couple good licks, made me see stars for sure. When I see straight again, I see Rafe down on his back, his face all blood; Odie must a’ had Papi’s Remmy in back o’ the truck the whole time, ’cause she standin’ over him with that rifle stuck in his eye; she hit him with the butt while he whalin’ on me, an’ she had her finger on the trigger an’ all; I really thought she gonna blow his brains out, I know how light that trigger is, an’ I jes’ knew I was gonna see murder done.”
She looked fearfully at Johnny, at his set expression and icy gray eyes, and continued.
“Bartender must have called the police. Nex’ thing I know Randy Broussard show up, I remember he yo’ frien’ when you young; he one a’ his daddy’s deputies now, he listen to us, Hecky bear me out, so Randy take Rafe away, an’ Hecky take me to ER at Thibodaux Regional, then take us home. When I get home an’ maw-maw see them bruises, she go crazy, roundin’ on Hecky, even though he all busted-up too, blamin’ him, start callin’ ever’one an’ tellin’ them whut Rafe done, an’ how they got to help her drag him off somewhere so’s she can make gator-bait outta him; Odie got to take her twelve-gauge and hide it in the truck otherwise she gonna end up in jail too. When I saw Justine’s face all bruised-up like that, it just brung it all back.”
Johnny stared at her, his lips compressed in a thin line, but his face otherwise expressionless. Melette looked sideways at him, and her eyes widened.
“NO! You leave it be, John-Boy, it done and settled, don’ go makin’ things worse! I know that look, don’ be stupid, Johnny, you got enough, an’ bigger trouble on yo’ ass!”
She dimpled, her eyes dancing, “‘sides, Mack Doubillier an’ Jean-Martin go an’ remonstrate with him, an’ his leg kinda got broke by accident…”
Johnny raised a quizzical eyebrow at her.
“How well you know Macky D?”
Melette dimpled again.
“For shame, Johnny, you-all know ladies don’ talk ’bout such things! Le’s jes’ say we been… close, an’ leave it at that; he cute, he clean, an’ he know how to behave hisself around ladies; ‘sides, he know he get rough he gotta ‘splain hisself to you, an’ he never gonna be ready for that kinda trouble!”
Johnny suddenly realized the girl had expertly deflected him from forbidding her, both of them, from tagging along, something he remembered she was always good at. The little blonde stared at him challengingly, and with a sinking heart he realized they had both dealt themselves in, and there was nothing he could do about it. Odelie grinned and slipped her arm through his, and pulled him down so she could plant a kiss on his cheek.
“Now that all settled, time we got headed outta here; them idjits following still ain’t too far behind, so we best get movin’, it still a fair way to Bayou Petit Gaillou.”
*
Justine’s first sight of Johnny’s uncle Lubin was a shock; apart from the obvious age-difference, she could have been looking at his exact double, they looked that much alike. Lubin was gray, with a craggy brow, the only real sign of age, otherwise he seemed as hale and fit as Johnny; when he smiled, he had that same infectious, boyish grin, his voice was as soft and unobtrusive as Johnny’s, and the same clear gray eyes that seemed to look right through her.