'You were in that swamp fishing, weren't you, Octavious?' she said, beginning her relentless interrogation.
'Yes, but . . .'
'And you poled to that pond, didn't you? You saw her there?'
'That doesn't mean I did what she claims I did.'
'But you did do it, didn't you?' she pursued.
'Took off your clothes and climbed up on the rock to sit beside her? Well?'
'Look, she invited me to . . .'
'Octavious, you made love to this girl, didn't you?' she demanded, stepping toward him, her eyes wide and furious. He looked down. 'Answer me and tell the truth! You're only prolonging this horrible moment and driving the knife deeper into my heart.'
He nodded slowly, biting down on his lower lip. Then he looked up sharply.
'Ha!' Daddy said, slapping his hands on his knees.
'There's no way she can prove that her baby is my baby,' Octavious said quickly. 'This sort of girl—'
'Doesn't lie,' Gladys said, nodding. She looked at me and then at him before she took a deep breath and looked away for a moment. When she turned back to us, I saw the glitter of tears in her eyes, but she sucked in her breath and blinked away those tears.
'How much does he want?' Octavious asked, glaring at Daddy.
'It's not only what he wants,' Gladys replied. We all looked at her, Daddy the most surprised. 'It's what I want,' she said, and regained her composure to make the most astounding demands of all.
4
Bought and Sold
'What is it you want?' Daddy asked Gladys Tate before Octavious could. Octavious sat there seemingly hypnotized by his wife's movements. Mama once told me there's no hate such as that born out of a love betrayed. Like Octavious, I wondered what sort of revenge Gladys was concocting.
She walked to the window, hesitated a moment, and then jerked the curtains closed as if she thought someone might be spying on us. It darkened the room and her face when she turned slowly back to us. Octavious squirmed in his seat. The dark cherry grandfather clock in the corner bonged the noon hour. While it did, Gladys fixed her eyes on me like a marsh hawk sighting in its prey.
'Who else knows what's happened to you?' she asked sharply.
'Just my mother,' I replied. A small smile trembled over her lips as she nodded slightly. Then she swung her gaze at Daddy, her face tightening, her shoulders rising.
'And who else have you told, monsieur?'
'Me?' He looked at Octavious and then back at her. 'I just found out about this today, so I ain't had time to tell anyone, but you can be damn sure that I'll talk and talk plenty if—'
'You'll get your money, monsieur,' Gladys spit. 'Far more than you expected, too.'
Daddy's eyes lit up with glee. He sat back and smiled, nodding his head.
'Well, that's more like it. You can't treat folks miserably just because they ain't as rich as you,' he said. 'You can't just go about abusing and—'
'Spare me the lecture, monsieur,' Gladys commanded, her hand up like a traffic policeman. 'What my husband has done is terrible, but I'm sure it pales beside some of the things you have done in your life,' she declared.
'What? Why, I ain't never been arrested or—'
'Never?' Gladys smiled coolly. Daddy glanced at me and then at her. 'It's not important. Nothing you've done or even said matters here. That's not what interests me in all this.'
'Well . . . what does?' Daddy cried, his face red with frustration.
'Her,' Gladys said, pointing her thin finger at me. She had rings on every finger, but on the forefinger she had a large ruby in a silver setting. Her long, rose red fingernails looked like tiny daggers aimed at my heart. I shuddered, ice sliding down my spine.
'Me?'
'Since no one but your mother and the people in this room know you're pregnant with my husband's baby,' she began, 'I propose, no, I insist, that you remain here until you give birth to the child.'
'What?' Daddy said. 'What for she should do that?'
I could only stare at her, dumbfounded. Why would she want to set her eyes on me, much less have me in her presence now?
Gladys turned to Daddy and flashed that oily smile at him again.
'You're so ignorant, you don't even understand what a wonderful thing I am offering your daughter and your family,' she said. 'Do you think a mere sum of money extorted from us will cure all the problems your daughter, your wife, and even you will endure once she begins to show her unwed pregnancy?'
'Well, no, but . . .'
