There had been an influential assemblage of powerful socialites and Brahmin who'd attended the Christmas banquet, I recalled them arriving elegantly; I'd perceived the debutantes as they vied for the attention from the older men of substance, even if accompanied by their significant others but not all of them preferred wives. Also, the trendsetters had come from abroad.
Then, there were they who straddled the seats of justice, but rich as Croesus.
Many of the blue blooded had wallowed in easy circumstances all their lives and to fraternize among them I needed more than wealth, they frowned down on new money; some thought I sought what they had, a bigger crumb of the upper crust.
I'd only been endorsed into their circle, but again I'd inquired silently, Why had I been chosen?
When I received the lace bordered invitation I knew I would not be able to make the trip and return in time to partake in the gathering at the Windsor Court. I hadn't rsvp'd but rued my inability to attend. Candid but reticent nonetheless, Louisa was the linchpin; her influence alone had been the reason I coveted and the aspiration to be as prosperous as they had come from simply being in her presence. Out first encounter at the hotel was indelible. The pursuit to achieve all she had would have rendered effortless for the virtuous, she was as well off as it could get and not exclusively because of monetary gain.
The dreams had come, and instead of being just involuntary images and visual concepts, they were vividly enhanced and recurring, each time the notion that my daughters had accompanied me was prominent in the dream, but I could only see Ryella. Calling out to her sister while running away from trees this time in the last dream that had occurred shortly before sunrise, Ryella said,"Mother have u forgot she is deaf and dumb?"
Irregardless to our last encounter, I wanted to see my daughters.
As I drove I could tell my sons were restless, I decided to stop at a gas station as I neared it's exit. I was exactly 4 hours away from Shreveport and needed to feed Ciaran, also allow the boys to get out of the truck. Divvying up the fruit snacks I'd brought along, mentally, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Deuce with an ink pen, I caught his attention with my eyes and wished he fuckin would while in deep thought before he put the top back on but as I'd pulled into the gas station that little muthafucka did.
There were markings on the tan leather, where he'd written on the back of the passenger seat and while I scolded him my phone blared through the bluetooth. Nearing a breakdown I decided it was in my best interest to answer but felt I could no longer confide in Dr. Manuel, shit had become personal.
In disbelief I'd answered he responded to my salutation.
"Good morning, I've called on numerous---"
His voice blasted while I turned down the volume. He mentioned my sessions and how I had abandoned the progress we'd made but said the psychiatry insurance had been cancelled. Trenton had paid always paid out of pocket and gotten reimbursed from the insurance company for Dr. Manuel's service being out- of-network. I didn't really understand why it would have been of relevance or how he had even known.
I unstrapped my son and told the other three to get out while responding to his assertion, I thought hard and long but did not know what the pink part of my ass was called that he could kiss.
"I don't have time for the sessions, as a matter of fact I'm leaving New Orleans for a few days."
As he spoke his words were drowned out by the sound that suddenly filled the air, I trembled where I stood. The spiritual had attracted the attention of many.
🎶🎶🎶🎵
"Waaaaaaade in the waaater~~~
Wade in the wa~ter Chil~ren;
Waaaaaaade in the waater
God's gonna trouble the water."
Her voice was so powerful and as she stood on the curb in a long tattered wool coat some gathered around closer to the woman than others had. Different from before, she hadn't worn a hat. My sons had climbed from the back seat to the pavement and were excited about going inside. I cradled my newborn and watched the woman all at once look toward my direction. I became offended for some reason! I mean, she hadn't said or done anything this time toward me or my son but her look. Prematurely greyed, she had a patch of white hair in the top of her head which explained why she'd worn a hat at the wedding. The late winter sun gleamed but announced the arrival of spring and shone against her crown.
The boys ran toward the entrance door, I followed quickly reaching for TJ2's hand leaving the phone behind and the truck running; I slowed my pace trying to remember why I'd even stopped. They hopped from foot to foot on the floor tiles and to the fountain drink machine, through the window I watched the woman as her voice carried and could be heard inside.
I wondered if my decision to put my children in the truck and approach her was a good one, but I needed to talk to her about the orchard.
My son's were trying to get their own cups, TJ2 was trying to break free. I approached them but continued to watch the woman. After filling the cups and now trying to quieten my crying son as he fumbled for my breasts, I'd gone to the register. The clerk's name tag read Kyle. I greeted him and asked about the woman on the curb, impetuously.
"Miss Jennifer?" He'd addressed her by name?
"She just stands there and preaches, come sun or rain. Don't really say much and does not accept all donations."
"Is she homeless?"
"Heck no, lives with her father right off of Broussard. Don't let the look fool u, she's not crazy by a long shot. Been seeing her for the whole three years I been working here, people love her."
"Does she have children?"
The woman behind me with the artificial tan sighed to reveal her presence, but I'd already seen the bitch---as I turned to address her rudeness she turned away and looked toward pump 7. I honestly didn't mind beating her gristles loose, and my look when she'd finally turned back around and met my gaze told her so.
"No, only a sister. She comes in here often but passes right by her standing on that curb and won't even acknowledge her sometimes."
I thanked him for the information as he stood behind the counter puzzled. Exiting the door I ordered the boys to get in the truck but had intentions to approach Jennifer, and demand she talk to me! I was willing to pay her but she hadn't wanted the money before so why would she now!?
After strapping my crying son into his seat and closing the passenger door I got inside and drove toward the air pump while searching for quarters even though the tires were brand spanking new. She stood only about 15 feet away but as I neared the pump she stopped singing midverse.
I noticed she wore a hand chain bracelet, but hadn't before. I couldn't tell if it was authentic but it just didn't fit her.
Stopping at the air pump and trying to give Ciaran the pacifier her expression became phlegmatic.
I disregarded her presence, but reached for the hose. Her laugh rose and fell, at that point I was pissed. The bystanders had turned away as her tune had ended, obliviously.
"Cries of the degenerate offspring, the cries, the cries; listen! EDOMITE! Listen, listen---they come from the under! Just listen---have u heard them!? They fill the land, even after they'd cut him up! Evil, evil, evil---smell it, it reeks of rot, the body is scattered but the soul waits. Listen----sssshhh. Have u heard them? The floor speaks of it, why hadn't they all heeded? HEED! U bless evil and curseth that is good! Hath not He called it GOOD! Oh, the mountains---the Caucasus---in the caves, see! DARKNESS, but they had come without color---EDOMITE! In the dark caves they lived !GOD created them different! SEE! ESAU, albino, but Jacob; pure. U EDOMITE!! MOCKERY OF WHAT IS PUUURE!
While standing there with her arms stretched upward she spake a tongue I had never heard!
"Each time she will come. Through wind and rain, and the wails will inhibit the land! At night, don't u hear and listen? Listen! Shhhh. Like the eye of the calm, she will return! LOOK WHAT U HAVE DONE! Thy carnal---"
I'd dropped the hose and just stared at her, the tears were dripping from her chin. I'd gotten back inside of the truck, my foot now shaking on the brake as I put it in reverse. WHAT THE FUCK HAD TRENTON DONE TO THAT CRAZY BITCH! Jacob and Esau?
As I drove away I heard, "Waaaaade in the waaater---"
I headed toward the entrance ramp almost in denial of what had just occurred, but as I drove away TJ2 turned and watched the woman until she was out of sight and so had I.
I knew not what to make of anything she had said but there was something about the way she cried. I'd driven nearly an hour before I calmed down and realized I had abandoned the conversation I was having with Dr. Manuel. I would call him back later, at the moment I needed to be trying to bribe Pooh, time was ticking.
Proving Trenton was alive was solely for my peace, because otherwise without doing so I would go crazy. I hadn't planned to involve the authorities, I had too much to lose. After stopping twice more to feed Ciaran I arrived in Shreveport and called my mother. To my surprise the calls were unanswered.
On the verge of flipping out I tried to think logically and decided to drive toward the Pines Road home. Sitting in the Murphy parking lot, I recognized the girl who walked up to the window. Trell?
Nikki's cousin was unforgettable if u had ever seen her at least once. I called out to her and apparently she recognized me. Yet standing 6 foot 12, I smiled and wondered about the cornbread.
"Heeey! Trell? Oh---u remember me? Nikki's friend?"
"Oh...yea, what's up?"
"Nothing much. Have u heard anything about her? I miss her alot."
"Nah---they looking into it."
"Oh, ok---hope they find out something!"
"Yea. They will."
"Take care!"
Bitch.
I couldn't believe my mother had stood me up and was tempted to just show up but knew she knew as well as I had that I was on my way to her with my children and she'd promised to keep them.
As the sky darkened I was certain things would not go as planned.
After going inside of the musty Pines Road home that belonged to Troy I felt there was something there I'd missed. I found legal documents and other miscellaneous paperwork, but nothing was vital other than the fact that he'd been sending money for his sister Katerina to a Baton Rouge address. His mother had left him loaded but he'd asked if I'd known how she got what she had. His role was bigger than I'd fathomed and in order to find out he had to be free.
Evocatively, I would comb through all he'd ever said and try to recall anything that may have had meaning now.
I hadn't spoken to him in over 24 hours and it was nearing 3 p.m.
I opened the door that led into the dusty garage after going in the home to see the grey Audi and green Charger parked side by side. When Troy was arrested he had to have been there.
March 17th was an 11 day, I thought about the gathering at The Windsor. With a strong desire to attend I decided I would call Louisa, my hidden agenda had come about abruptly. I had questions, why had I been called an Edomite?
I continued to call my mother's number, still no answer, I pictured her drunken state, sprawled out across the kitchen floor as she had been many times before while I was growing up. No matter how I tried to tune out what the woman had said, her words rang out in my memory of the encounter loudly, as if she was near. What had she meant!? I began to research, it was the only way I could get answers.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau the twin brother of Jacob. Born an albino he'd gone to the caves in the mountains---and lived in darkness, away from the light.
In awe I read.
Filled with anger, but yet entitled to his promise he prospered and fathered the nation of Edomites who inhabited the mountains.
As Ciaran laid on his father's bed in the dark I continued to read, the 3 others were laid across the carpet asleep.
Noah had manifested the first mutation for albinism.
Then along came Esau. Unlike his twin brother Jacob, he'd been born lacking pigmentation and worshipped the demons in the caves of the Caucasus Mountains. The descendants eventually became subdivided and migrated to different regions and were known as Caucasians.
When my phone chimed, I held it in my hand reading the articles I'd found but accepted Troy's call.
While we spoke, I told him about my plans to represent him in court.