Twisted Roots (DeBeers 3)

He gazed at the house. I could see by the way his eyes grew smaller that he was remembering, reliving events, conversations and arguments.

"Everyone was afraid to raise his voice in that house. They walked on tiptoes, fussin around Bessie, keepin' her from doin' too much. Poor girl, she wasn't allowed to do things other girls her ace were cloth'. She never been to a fun park, ride one of them roller coasters, and she was practically of marry-in' age 'fore they'd let her go out on a date."

"How sad."

"That ain't the worst of it. First man she gets heavily involved with makes her pregnant. That was Mr. Simms. He was a no-account man, always blowin off about himself, what great things he was gain' to do in business. He had all sorts of new ideas for this place. 'Caused Mr. Stanton to lose a pile of money, too, and after Mr. Stanton died, he considered himself the boss round here. Truth is. I almost quit a few times 'cause of him. but I kept thinkin' about Mrs. Lilliann."

"What about Bess's mother and father?" I asked.

"Mrs. Lilliann's daughter Jessica died when Bess was only ten. Bad cancer, like a wildfire in her body. Bess's daddy remarried 'bout two years afterward and moved on to California. He didn't have much to do with the family."

"He just left his daughter behind?" I asked.

Chubs shrugged. "He married a woman who wasn't interested in a ready-made family, especially one with a sickly daughter. He kept promisin' he'd send for her. In the beginnin' there were calls, and then they started growin' fewer and far between, Mrs, Lilliann took over the motherin'."

"Haw terrible for Bess," I said, looking toward the house too.

"Losin' her mother like that and then her father runnin' off with another woman left her shaky, to say the least,' Chubs said. nodding. She was always afraid somethin' terrible was waitin' around scone corner like a wild cat ready to pounce on her. She had this way of lookin' at me when she s

aw me first thing in the mornin'."

"What way?" I asked.

"Well, it was like she was expectin' bad news all the time, anticipatin' it, holdin' her breath. I couldn't get my 'Good mornin' out fast enough, but when I did. I bellowed it and smiled and she relaxed. It made me feel good to see that."

He turned and looked down the driveway.

But I guess she was right about the bad news. I remember that terrible night, the police cars with their lights turnin'. Soon as I saw that mournful parade comin'up the driveway, my heart sunk. I was workin'in the back here when Mr. Simms come out of the house with Rosemary, both comin' suitcases and she carry-in' that beautiful stuffed black cat under her arms. I knew if she was takin' that out of the house, somethin' was bad wrong. It had belonged to her grandma Jessica and was passed down.

"Anyway. Mr. Simms just looked at me like I was so much dirt or somethin' and drove off, squealin' his tires round the turn there.

"I went back to work and it was dark 'fore I quit I just started to wash up. thinkin' about somethin' for dinner, when I seen the lights. I went out first, and this policeman, a local boy, Bobby Pine, steps out shakin' his head at me and sayin"It's bad. Chubs, real bad.'

"You know. Mrs. Bessie, she didn't even go to the funeral. She just lay up there in her room all week, and when anyone go to see her, she'd perk up and ask. 'Is Rosemary back? Did they come back vet?'

"She wouldn't hear nothin"bout anyone bein' dead and gone. No. sir. Those words drifted out of her head as fast as they drifted in. It was like... like she stepped out of the world each time and then stepped in and smiled and asked. 'Is she back yet? Is Rosemary back?'

"Got so I heard that in my sleep," he said. "How sad. All of it is so sad," I said. Heyden nodded.

"You did a kind thing lettin' her believe you was Rosemary," Chubs said. "Most people would just high-tail it outta here, for sure."

"Hannah's mother is a psychotherapist." Heyden told him. I thought he was about to reveal something about Uncle Linden, too, but he stopped.

Chubs raised his eyebrows. That so? And your daddy and she couldn't get along anyway, huh?"

When someone is so forthcoming with you as Chubs had been with us, it made it doubly difficult to fabricate and deceive. I looked at Heyden and saw in his eyes that he didn't want to lie to this man anymore. either.

"My mother and father are divorced. Chubs, but the man who is with us is my uncle, not my father."

"That so?"

"We thought it would be easier if people thought he was my father. I'm sorry we didn't tell you the truth."

'Easier? Why easier?"

"Well, we're two young people in a motor home," I began. Chubs looked from me to Heyden and then back to me.

"Y' all runnin' away or somethin'?"