from Some Grace

After a while Beau came and sat beside her on the couch, sighing as he settled into his seat. He stretched out his long legs and crossed them.

“I can’t believe she’s gone.” He shook his head.

Grace didn’t know what to say.

“You would have loved her, Grace. She was sweet, would give you the shoes off her feet if she knew you needed a pair. She raised me and your mama good. She did. And I know that’s what killed her, the way your mama just left us. We was always a close family, thick as thieves.”

He was silent for a while.

“When we were your age, me and your mama was best friends.” Beau laughed and his cheeks kissed the lids of his eyes. “We were. Oh Lord, everybody knew us. ‘Be careful of them Roux children. They lots of trouble.’ We wasn’t no trouble though. Just always getting into things. We might take a couple of crabs outta a fisherman’s catch or tell small tales to get what we wanted. Harmless fun for kids growing up in the country.”

Grace was interested now. She’d never thought of her mother as a child, running barefoot through the woods with the wind in her hair, fearless. It was hard to picture.

“Who’s the oldest?”

“Me. By two years. But your mama always did think she was older. Nobody could tell her different. But she had a lot of heart and sometimes it was hard to tell who was the oldest. We was together so much some folks thought we was twins. Even my friends joked about me hanging around with my baby sister. But we was friends.” He hung his head. “I miss that.”

“You’re not friends now?” Grace already knew the answer but she wanted him to say it.

“No, Grace, we not friends. I ain’t seen or talked to your mama in ten years. Sometimes things happen that are so big, the truth gets mixed up and after a while, the truth don’t matter anymore. The only thing that matters is the story you give it. You too young to understand a thing like that and I pray to God you stay that way.”

“I understand a lot of things,” Grace said. And it was true.

Beau smiled down on her. The glow of his grin was the sun.

“You remind me so much of your mama.” His eyes watered. “It’s hard to look at you sometimes because I just see my baby sister, young and free and happy.”

He ran a gentle hand down her cheek and kissed her forehead. Suddenly the world was shattering around them. A screeching noise scratched in Grace’s ears and grains of glass cut into her skin. She screamed and covered her head and she could feel the weight of Beau on top of her, covering her with his body.

A hush fell over the house when she sat up. Petals of blood seeped into her dress and her arms were on fire. Her scalp was wet and the scent of alcohol scorched her nose. Everyone stared wide-eyed at her mother, standing across the room shaking, her eyes wild and red. Her outstretched finger was a dagger pointed at Beau. Flecks of glass scattered across the carpet at her feet. Grace was paralyzed with fear.

“Don’t you touch her, Beau,” her mother hissed. “Don’t you do that. No. No. No. Don’t you put your hands on my child.”

Beau shook the glass out of his shirt and glanced at the wall behind him. Liquid oozed down the wall. His face was a picture of shock. Slowly he turned to face his sister.

“Did you just throw a damn liquor bottle at me?” Beau’s lips were grey with fright.

“I did and I’ll pick up the pieces and slice open your throat if you put your hands on my child again.”

Everyone stared in shock. No one moved. Even The Cousins stood still in the doorway, their mouths agape, foreheads creased...