Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

Author:Daniel Black [Black, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9780312582678
Publisher: Griffin
Published: 2010-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Three weeks later, Emma Jean was as close to her old self as she ever would be. She could only sit for a few minutes at a time, and lying on her back was out of the question. Gus relegated her to the floor again, and, like before, she reclined on her stomach without complaint. She never slept more than two or three hours a night, catnapping as often as she could during the day. That’s what she hated most—the fact that she wasn’t as functional as she’d once been. She felt old now. Her normally elegant, graceful stride had deteriorated to a slow, self-conscious gait, and she absolutely hated that, for comfort, she had to walk with a slight slump of frame. But oh well, she rationalized. At least I’m alive.

During Emma Jean’s recovery, Paul began slopping hogs, chopping wood, and digging holes for fence posts. His once-soft hands became calloused and bruised, but he didn’t dare whine. He told Mister that he despised physical labor, and Mister advised him to keep his opinion to himself. Sweat drenched his brow daily and his back ached constantly, but he never said anything to Gus. What would have been the point? This was a man’s life, Gus had made him believe, so Paul had no choice but to live it.

He sneaked away one evening and met Eva Mae, who led him to a grassy expanse near the Jordan.

“Ain’t this pretty?” she said.

“Un-huh.”

“I come here a lot. By myself.”

“Your momma don’t care?”

“Naw, she don’t care. She don’t even know.”

Paul surveyed the endless sea of clovers. They looked like tiny green trees, he thought.

“I sit on that stump over there.” She pointed and led the way. The two shared the seat.

“I can hear the Jordan,” Paul said.

“I know. It sounds angry, huh? Like God crying or something.”

Paul watched a robin build a nest, one straw at a time, and wished he could help. It would take the bird a year to finish, wouldn’t it?

“I want a real husband one day,” Eva Mae said out of nowhere.

Paul continued studying the bird.

“A real handsome man who loves me. My momma talks about it all the time. She said if she could do it over again, she’d wait for one.”

“Don’t she think yo’ daddy’s handsome?”

“I don’t know. I guess so. A little bit. But I think she means real handsome, you know. Like the men in the Sears and Roebuck catalog.”

“Oh.”

“Like you gon’ be. When you grow up. I can tell. You gon’ be real handsome.”

“How you know?”

“’Cause you pretty now. I mean, I know you a boy and all, but you still pretty. At least to me.” Eva Mae smiled.

“You think so?”

“Un-huh.”

“Well, you pretty, too.”

Eva Mae shook her head. “No I ain’t.”

“Whatcha mean? Sure you are.”

“No I ain’t. And it’s okay.”

“I think you are.”

“No you don’t,” Eva Mae said. “You ain’t neva said it before.”

Paul couldn’t argue.

“And, anyway, my momma don’t say it, so I know it ain’t so. If you pretty, yo’ momma’s the first one to tell you.

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