Part 4 (1/2)
”Cody,” Theresa asked, ”what you doin' here?”
”I said I was comin',” he said.
”That was more'n a week ago.”
”I had sumpin' to do, woman. I got here as soon as I could.”
”What you had to do?” Elma asked.
”I don't see what's it to you. You done already got another boyfriend.” Cody smiled and reached down beside him. He brought out of his overalls a full quart bottle of store-bought Old Crow whiskey. ”I planned to say I was sorry wit' this here, but I guess I got to find me another girlfriend.
”You still wit' John, Theresa?”
The handsome black woman's mouth came open and she shook her head to say that she was not.
”Theresa!” Elma shouted.
”I ain't did nuthin',” Theresa screamed. She licked her lips and avoided Cody's smiling eyes. ”He jus' axed an' I told'im.”
”You ain't gonna go messin' 'round right under my nose,” Elma said. She was crus.h.i.+ng At.w.a.ter's hand.
”Come on, girls,” Cody said. ”Don't let's fight. They's whiskey for all of us. Right, Atty?”
”I-I think I had enough,” the boy answered. The room was hot but his forehead felt like ice. ”I got . . . I gots to go home.”
Cody reached down into his pants again and came out with a long homemade knife. The blade was from a five-inch metal saw that had been shaped and sharpened by a grinding stone. It was black and jagged but At.w.a.ter could see that it was still sharp. The haft was wadded cork wound tightly around with fly-green fis.h.i.+ng twine.
Cody put the knife down next to the bottle and said, ”You not refusin' my hospitality now is ya, man?”
”Cody . . .”
”Shet yo' mouf, Theresa. Ain't n.o.body axed you. If this man here is man enough take my woman then he man enough t'drink wit' me.”
Elma sat stock-still. She let go of Atty's hand. That was the scariest moment for At.w.a.ter, because he knew that if Elma was scared then he didn't have a chance.
”I drink it,” Atty said.
While he was still smiling, Cody poured the tin cup full to the brim and then pushed it in front of At.w.a.ter.
”Cody, he cain't drink all that,” Theresa said. ”He ain't no man.”
Cody raised his hand and Theresa flinched back so hard that she banged her head on the wall.
At.w.a.ter picked up the cup and started sipping. Fifty and more years gone by and he was still amazed that he had the strength to drink as much as he did.
Cody put a finger to the boy's throat to make sure that he was swallowing.
When Atty finally put the cup down, Cody smiled and said, ”That's only half.”
The room changed after At.w.a.ter drank. Most of what he heard was just noise but he could hear some talk, even from across the room, very clearly. Colors became stronger and the yellow paint on the walls really did look to be stars.
Elma was saying something but he couldn't make it out.
”I gotta go,” At.w.a.ter said.
”See?” Elma pointed at him. ”You done made the boy sick.”
She moved quickly to get up off the bench and let At.w.a.ter out. He slid over with no problem, but standing up was a whole new experience. One leg gave way and then the other. He struck the table with his chin, but the feeling was more sweet than it was painful. He was afraid of falling to the sticky floor, but Cody caught him before he tumbled all the way.
The evil baby face came up close to his and said, ”You go out an' do yo' business an' then come on back, ya hear?”
The boy thought about nodding-maybe he did.
”'Cause if you ain't back in two minutes I'ma come out there an' cut you bad.”
Then Cody pushed At.w.a.ter toward the door. It was a crooked path to get there; bouncing off one body and then into somebody else. It was like a playful child's dance with everyone laughing and pus.h.i.+ng. He didn't mind the horseplay though, because, even in that small room, he was too drunk to find the door by himself.
There was the moon again. About three-quarters floating in a thick black eye. The night clouds were golden shoulders for that cyclops. The air was chill and for deep breathing, not like the h.e.l.l smoke of the Milky Way.
While At.w.a.ter relieved himself he laughed because it felt so good. Then he started walking. The leaves crackled and the stream sounded like baby bells. Every footfall was a ba.s.s drum going off.
He was lost but that didn't matter. He had a long talk with his murdered friend and said good-bye.
He sc.r.a.ped and scuffed himself and finally fell face forward in the cold stream. The water sobered him for a moment and he sat on a big rock and wondered where he was.
Once he heard somebody call his name. At first he thought that it was Inez out looking for him. He almost called out but then he worried that it might be Cody. So he kept quiet and played dead.
The next morning he awoke in Alyce Griggs's barn, just about a quarter mile from his house. A white hen was clucking and dancing around his feet.
”What you doin' in here, boy?”
When At.w.a.ter lifted his eyes to see the woman he felt sharp pain throughout his head and jaw.
”Sorry, Miss Griggs,” he said to the elderly white woman. ”I got drunk at Milky Way an' I landed here in yo' barn.”
”That's the devil in you, Atty,” the scrawny white woman warned. ”You know that, don't ya?”
”Yes, ma'am,” he said, and meant it.
”Go on now. I hope Inez hides you good.”
He never did get a beating for that night. When At.w.a.ter came through the door he was staggering from fever. The chill and the whiskey had made him sick. For three weeks Ruby and Inez took turns sitting over him, covering his forehead with damp towels and feeding him foul home remedies one after the other.
His lungs filled up and his dreams walked around the house with a life of their own. He choked and coughed and finally accepted that he was going to die. He made his goodbyes to Ruby and Inez so bravely that even stone-faced Inez cried.
When At.w.a.ter got out of bed again he knew that he was a man.