Bayou by Chris Helvey

Author:Chris Helvey
Format: epub

Twenty-two

The sound of rain threaded through the darkness and I eased out of bed and padded across the floor. Hinges squeaked as I pushed the door open, but I swung it wide and stepped outside.

Earlier, the rising moon had been visible through the gaps in the tree branches. Now it was a pale halo glowing behind dark clouds. Wind whined in the live oaks and under the eaves of the cabin. Off to the west, lightning zigzagged across the blackness.

The smell of rain was stronger now, although you couldn’t see it. Running through that rain smell was the sweet scent of honeysuckle. Frogs were croaking along the bayou and, out toward the trees, fireflies flickered on and off and on again. I wondered if they flickered in the rain.

Off in the distance, thunder rumbled deep and low. Lightning flashed again and the wind sent a dust devil hurling against the wall of the cabin. Standing there in the dark and the wind, I felt like I was all alone in the world, maybe the first man to ever set foot in the territory. Then, for no particular reason, I thought about Gladys and Johnny; I wondered where they were and what they were doing.

No good in going down that path. I pushed off the doorframe and strolled through the fireflies toward the live oaks. Under the trees, the darkness felt thick, heavy. I glanced up through the canopy. The sky was clouded over and the moon had disappeared. A firefly landed on my right hand and crawled up my arm, blinking as though it was signaling. I couldn’t decipher the code.

A sound caught my ear and I lifted my face and looked back toward the cabin. The woman had stepped out into the yard and was slowly turning around, as though she’d lost something and was trying to find it.

For a moment I wondered what she was searching for. Then I realized she must be hunting for me. Moving carefully, I stepped deeper in the shadows until my back brushed against a thick trunk. I eased up against the tree until it seemed we were one. Standing against the tree, I wondered why I had done that. Thunder rolled in the west, rumbling on and on and on until it sounded like a slow-moving freight train. Ten yards from the cabin, the woman cocked her head and listened. She was wearing a white gown and against it her skin appeared beyond black.

She turned until she was facing in my direction. The smell of rain was thicker. I could hear the frogs again and birds stirred restlessly in the oaks. Lightning flashed, closer now. The woman started walking toward the trees. She moved slowly but surely, like a wild animal. Her feet were bare.

She crossed the open ground and stepped into the shadows. For a few seconds, she paused, then eased through the deep darkness until she was so close I could smell the natural aroma of her body. It had a peculiar scent, more like a ripe melon than anything else I could think of.

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