Born on the Bayou by Blaine Lourd

Author:Blaine Lourd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery Books

10

Around the time I was sixteen, Bryan was applying for colleges, and the deeper he got into the process, the more the air seemed to thicken between him and Dad. It was like one of the swelling levees erected to hold up the ever-changing path of the Mississippi River as it grew closer and closer to people’s homes—at some point, something would give. One afternoon, watching him prepare, essays and applications covering the entire surface of the dining room table, I saw from the kitchen that Bryan’s look had changed. His eyes tightening. I walked a few steps to see why—Dad had walked in the room. Nothing was said; Dad walked right past him. But there was something about Bryan’s gaze in that moment that reminded me of our fishing trip of five or so years ago, to Marsh Island.

* * *

The top of the Lourd line, in my lifetime, was my father’s father, Hop.

Most all of the Lourds throughout time have been personable, likeable people, though Hop may have pushed the envelope on that one a bit. His brother, William, who’d been mayor of New Iberia in the forties, was especially personable, and at the end of his life, when asked where all of his money had gone, he replied that he’d spent most of it on whiskey and women, and had squandered the rest. Some might call that interminable adolescence. Others might call it wisdom.

Hop liked to give people nicknames. He had a mean streak and, like his brother, William, must not have cared much about money since he lost most of it betting on the nags and playing cards at the gambling hall with guys like Doc, Cot, T-Beb, Killer, and Lil Shrimp. He never planned much past the last race at Evangeline Downs. He never owned stocks. In his opinion, the stock market was for rich guys and gamblers. He would rather put his money on a horse at the track, where he knew the jockey and the trainer, than bet on something that was called security but which oftentimes had none. He kept all of his money, along with his social security checks, in a passbook savings account. That’s how it was for Hop. He had his wife, Nettie; his only son, Puff; and a dog named Boo. Every dog Hop and Nettie ever owned was a small black or brown Chihuahua mutt named Boo.

Throughout his life, Hop owned bars, was a partner in a lumberyard, and dabbled in real estate, in addition to his lifelong love affair with horses. In 1965, through political connections, he was made superintendent at Marsh Island for the Wildlife and Fisheries Department of the State of Louisiana. The state paid him a decent salary to build dams, arrest poachers, and patrol a large area of the saltwater bay in an overpowered Boston Whaler. Hop loved being a game warden. He was always happiest alone on the water, wearing his uniform with the Louisiana state patch on one shoulder and

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