Tandem by Tracey Bateman

Author:Tracey Bateman [Bateman, Tracey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-45718-9
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2010-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Despair filled her, mocking her with images of a terrifying, excruciating death. At least Papa’s body had received water and food so while the weakness consumed him, he didn’t have the clawing ache in the pit of his stomach and a throat that felt like it had been scraped with sandpaper.

She had known despair such as this only one time before, when she discovered she was carrying Gilbert’s child. She grew so agitated at the thought of raising a child that Papa reluctantly found a couple in Georgia willing to raise the baby.

During her labor, Mama gave her a strong potion to make the pain go away. She was alert enough to know when the child passed through her body. “A girl,” she heard Mama say. “Ah, a boy.” She did not know which her baby was, for Mama refused to speak of it again.

That night, Eden knew despair. Silent and pale and not sure she had done the right thing, she returned to New Orleans with Papa at the end of the week. But she didn’t stay long. Her presence thrilled Amede, and Eden loved being back with her sister, but Papa noticed Amede growing restless in Eden’s presence. He confided in Mama that he was afraid the blood bond between them would cause Amede to run away. He couldn’t bear to lose her. With heartbreak over her baby still fresh, the resentment Eden had once felt for Amede returned with vengeance.

After an impossible evening listening to Amede read to Papa, Eden crept into her sister’s room and stole her prized possession—her copy of Wuthering Heights. But she didn’t stop there. She knew Papa had promised Amede the family ring. She took it from Papa’s nightstand.

Then she left the house and never returned while Papa still lived.

But now that the end of her own life was finally coming, she thought of New Orleans. The home on St. Ann Street she had shared with Mama for the first several years of her life. And the last house she had owned for such a short period of time. And her baby. He would have long since died unless by some miracle he had become like her. She couldn’t help but wonder if he had married, had children and grandchildren.

These were the things she dreamed as she lay hour after hour, day after day and waited for the flames of hell to claim her.

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