'You say that no more, hear? Papa La Bas, he got big ears.'
I went to the office. Daphne was behind the desk on the telephone. She raised her eyebrows when I appeared and nodded toward the chair in front of the desk while she kept talking.
'She's home now, John. I can send her up immediately. I am relying on your discretion. Of course. I appreciate that. Thank you.'
She cradled the phone slowly and sat back. To my surprise, she shook her head slowly and smiled.
'I must be honest,' she began. 'I always expected I would be sitting here confronting Gisselle in this situation, not you. Despite your background, you gave both me and your father the impression that you were the more sensible one, wiser, certainly more intelligent.
'But,' she continued, 'as you now know, being more book smart doesn't make you a better person, does it?'
I tried to swallow but couldn't.
'How ironic. I, who had every right to bear a child, who could provide the best for him or her, was unable to conceive, and you, like some rabbit, just go and make a baby with your boyfriend as nonchalantly as you would eat a meal or take a walk. You're always talking about how unfair this is and unfair that is. Well, how do you like the hand I've been dealt? And then, like salt on a wound, I have to have you enter this house, become part of this family, and confront you with child when you have no right to be pregnant.'
-'I didn't mean it to happen,' I said.
She threw her head back and laughed.
'How many times since Eve conceived Cain and Abel have women uttered that stupid sentence?' Her eyes became dark slits. 'What did you think would happen? You thought you could be as hot as a goat or a monkey and make your boyfriend that hot and not ever pay the consequences? Did you think you were me?'
'No, but . . .'
'Forget the buts,' she said. 'The damage, as they say, has been done. And now, like always, it's left to me to right the wrong, correct and fix things. It was the same when your father was alive, believe me.
'The limousine is outside,' she continued. 'The driver has his instructions. You don't need anything. Just go out and get into the car,' she commanded.
'Where am I going?'
She stared a moment.
'A friend of mine who's a doctor is at a clinic outside the city. He's expecting you. He will perform an abortion and, barring any unforeseen complications, send you directly home. You'll spend a few days recuperating upstairs and then you'll return to public school here. I've already begun to concoct a cover story. The death of your father has left you so depressed you can't continue away from home. Lately you've been walking around here with a long face all the time. People will accept it.'
'But . . .'
'I told you—there are no buts. Now don't keep the doctor waiting. He's doing me a very delicate favor.'
I stood up.
'One other thing,' she added. 'Don't bother to call Beau Andreas. I've just come from his home. His parents are about as upset with him as I am with you and have decided to send him away for the remainder of the school year.'
'Away? Where?'
'Far away,' she said. 'To live with relatives and go to school in France.'
'France!'
'That's correct. I think he's grateful that's the only punishment he's to endure. If he should ever speak to you or write to you and his parents find out, he will be disinherited. So if you want to destroy him too, try to contact him.
'Now go,' she added with a tired voice. 'This is the first and the last time I will cover up your faux pas. From here on in, you alone will suffer for whatever indiscretions you commit. Go!' she ordered, pointing her arm toward the door, her long forefinger jabbing the air. It felt as if she had jabbed it into my heart.
I turned and walked out. Without pausing, I left the house and got into the limousine. I never felt more confused or more lost. Events seemed to be carrying me along on their own. I was like someone who had lost all choice. It was as if a strong current had come streaming down the bayou canal, whisking me away in my pirogue, and no matter how I tried to pole myself in another direction, I couldn't. I could only sit back and let the water carry me to the predetermined end.
I closed my eyes and didn't open them again until the driver said, 'We're here, mademoiselle.'
We must have driven for at least half an hour or so and now we were in some small town in which all the stores were closed. Knowing Daphne, I had expected to be brought to an expensive-looking modern hospital, but the limousine pulled up behind a dark, dilapidated building. It didn't look like a clinic, or even a doctor's office.
'Are we at the right place?' I asked.
'It's where I was told to bring you,' the driver said. He got out and opened the rear door. I stepped out slowly. The back door of the building squeaked open and a heavy woman with hair the color and texture of a kitchen scrub pad looked out.
'This way,' she commanded. 'Quickly.'
As I drew closer, I saw she wore a nurse's uniform. She had roller-pin forearms and very wide hips that made it look like her upper body had been added as an afterthought. There was a mole on her chin with some hairs curling up around it. Her thick lips tightened with impatience.
