The Lives of Diamond Bessie: A Novel by Jody Hadlock

Author:Jody Hadlock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SparkPress
Published: 2022-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

27

At the train station the next morning, Abe announced his intention to stop in Jefferson on business before we headed back to Cincinnati. I kept my head down. I had cried all night and now shed more tears. We had barely spoken since dinner, and we didn’t speak to each other the entire ride to Jefferson. By the time we arrived, I had devised a plan. When our train to Cincinnati reached Texarkana, I would disembark and find my way to the nearest steamboat landing. From there I would go to New Orleans. If that didn’t work out, I would go home to Canton. Any humiliation I might suffer would be better than staying in a sham marriage.

A hack driver loaded my trunk onto his omnibus and took us to the Brooks House, a Victorian-style hotel with long galleries along the front and gables atop the roof. A Catholic church stood across the street. Perhaps I would go to Mass on Sunday. It always lifted my spirits.

We were assigned room number four on the second floor. The manager said he would have someone bring my trunk up to our room. When he added, “Welcome to Jefferson, Mr. and Mrs. Monroe,” I wondered if Abe had yet another unpaid gambling debt.

The chambermaid brought towels and a pitcher of water. She kept asking questions, and although I didn’t want to be alone with Abe, I didn’t want anyone else in our room, either. When she left, it was all I could do to hold my tongue about his plans. I didn’t want to eat, so Abe went to supper alone.

When he came back to the room, he acted tetchy. He’d obviously been drinking. I braced myself.

“I hope you’ve changed your mind about our plans,” he said.

“Our plans?” I retorted. “I have not.”

My answer brought a torrent of curses while Abe paced the floor. I burst into tears again at his hatefulness.

“I’ll leave you,” I managed through my sobs.

Abe waved a hand dismissively. “Go, damn you, go!”

“How could you do this to me?” I wailed. “I’ll tell your father.”

Scowling, Abe grabbed me and yanked me close to him. His eyes were filled with hate.

“You bitch, I thought I made myself clear,” he said, then pushed me away and stormed out.

The next morning, Abe again acted as if nothing had happened. Puzzled, I brushed it off. We walked to the business district and browsed the stores. Everywhere we went the townspeople noticed us. I didn’t want anyone to see my misery, so I played the part of the happy spouse. Abe obliged, and played the doting husband. We could both put on a convincing show when necessary.

While Abe went to a hardware store, I walked to the steamboat landing. A steep embankment led down to the bayou. I stood at the top, taking in the greyness of the bayou, the turbid sky, the soaked moss hanging from the cypress trees like heavy sacks of flour. Everywhere I looked, I saw shades of grey. My honeymoon had turned sour.

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