He shrugged and looked everywhere except at me. “You went to school today?” “Yes, Ma’am.” “But is yesterday you skip?” He looked at his feet. I refrained from grinding my teeth in anger; I prided myself on remaining calm in these types of situation. I would not shout unless he made me. The radio started to crackle and the ‘Hail Mary’ cut off, started again, and then was silenced. “Is Eddie who tell you that?” Kerwin asked after a while. “No, Doreen.” “That old gossip? You know not to believe anything she does say.” “That old gossip is my very good friend. Now sit down, I want to talk to you.” “I have school tomorrow, and geometry lessons to work on.” “Well you should have thought of that before you spend all that time with Lillian. Sit.” He sat, grumbling something very rude under his breath. I pretended not to hear it. “Who is Lillian?” He fixed his eyes to his lap and twisted the tight curls at the base of his neck with short, jerky flicks of his wrist. “A girl.” I fixed a cool stare to the top of his head. “A girl I met,” he mumbled when the silence became too loud.
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The radio crackled and the prayers started up again. I sighed once it became clear that he wasn’t going to continue. “Okay, I won’t ask anything. But just keep good head. I know you can act like your father sometimes.” His mouth twitched into a snarl. “He’s your father too.” “And also half the village father. Just don’t be foolish and don’t get no girl pregnant for me, you hear?” He sucked his teeth and stood up so quickly that he nearly knocked over his chair. “Go study your work, boy. I want to see straight As on your next report.” He rolled his eyes and left the kitchen, looking almost relieved. I didn’t hear much more about Lillian after that. Even Doreen had nothing else to say about her, except that she didn’t trust her one bit. Lillian was pushed to the back of my mind until I realized I was out of White Oak and the Village feast was coming up. I never understood why everyone had to celebrate a Catholic feast by drinking as soon as they got out of church. But it brought good business, so I didn’t complain. Herbert Severin, a kind, old man had offered to give me a ride to Portsmouth in order to restock my shop. As his rickety pick-up truck – the only pick-up in the village – rambled down the road I saw Kerwin and Lillian walking in the opposite direction. The girl was dressed in the old plantation fashion that I heard she was
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