Flossie's Revenge

by Lubrican

Chapters : Foreword | 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14 | 15-16 | 17-18 | 19-20 | 21-22
23-24 | 25-26 | 27-28 | 29-30 | 31-32 | 33-34 | 35-36 | 37-38 | 39-40 | 41-42 | 43-44

Chapter 35

Two weeks passed with alarming speed. There wasn't much for either boy to do to get ready to go. Each would have a suitcase, with some clothes in it, but that was about it. The gold coins would be carried in their pockets.

Bernadette stayed away from Curtis Lee, primarily because she couldn't stand to be around him and not be able to touch him. This time of the month was a very bad time to let him touch her. The other kids were willing, after their overdose of dangerous sex, to stay apart, though, as the summer wore on that would change. Nathan also stayed away from Flossie. With things going so well, neither of them wanted to take a chance on being caught now. That lasted until the night before they were to go.

They couldn't resist meeting then. Flossie was tense. She had been tense for weeks. Their interlude on the 4th of July had been a welcome relief, even though she had worried about all that sperm. Her period had started on the 6th, brought on early, she thought, because of all that sexual activity, but it had still been welcome, particularly because it was abnormally short. Now, six days after she had stopped, she felt sure that it was too early for their last night to do any harm. She could not know that her emotional highs and lows, and the tension, had affected her body in ways that, had she known, would have changed her plans. She could not know that an ovary had dropped another egg days sooner than usual, or that the egg was already halfway to her womb, safe and viable in the fallopian tube that was its highway.

When Nathan's millions of sperm entered her this night, her uterus was awash with them, battling for the chance to meet and conquer that egg. They died by the millions, their little tails wagging slower and slower as they ran out of energy. When Nathan left her, half were already dying. When he got into his mother's car the next morning, only hundreds of thousands were left alive. By the time he and Curtis Lee were on the bus, sitting in different sections, because the bus was segregated, the number had dropped to thousands that still wiggled and swam. As Nathan nodded off, letting the miles flow under the tires of the bus as it took him away from her, one sperm cell found a dark tunnel to swim up into. It was the strongest of them all ... the most persistent ... the one destined, by the time the bus stopped for lunch in Arkansas, to make Nathan a father.

Again, he had left part of himself with his lover. This time, that part of him would still be in her body when he saw her next.

The first thing they did was find a coin shop and inquire about the worth of the coins they had. Nathan explained that his grandfather had left them to him, and that now that he was striking out on his own, he was thinking about converting them to cash. The man said they were in remarkably good condition, and offered eighty dollars apiece for all five coins. When Nathan said he actually had ten, the man licked his lips and started counting out cash.

The next thing they did was buy a car for a hundred and fifty dollars.

Then they checked in at the address Nathan's mother had given him. They were told when to report for testing, and provided a voucher for staying at a motel for two days and three nights. It was good up until the night of the test. If they passed, they'd be given a dormitory room in the academy until the next class started. No one seemed to think it was odd that Curtis Lee had showed up, or that he wanted to be a policeman. Two of the people they dealt with in the application process were also colored, and they worked right alongside white people. It was a whole new experience.

The test was almost a let down. There were only ten people in the room. There was no mood of excitement, or anticipation. It was almost like taking a test in school. You didn't have to wait for the results, but if you elected to, your test was graded first. They waited, along with two others who wanted to know how they did right away. The results of that were anticlimactic too. A mousy looking man came out, called out a name and handed whoever answered a piece of paper. One of the other's name was called first, and as he looked at the paper he cursed, wadded it up, tossed it in a corner, and stomped out. Waggoner was called before Wilson. The paper told them they'd passed, and to report to the academy for an interview and room assignment. That was it. On the way out, Nathan picked up the paper the other man had thrown away. It said they were sorry, but that he had not passed. It gave instructions on when he could take the test again.

The interview was more interesting. They were interviewed separately, but compared notes later. There were quite normal questions, about where you were from, and what you liked and didn't like. They asked if you'd ever been arrested, or in trouble with the law. But then there were other questions, asked by a man with slicked back hair and horn-rimmed glasses. Those were questions like "If you came upon an accident scene, and there was a mother and her child injured, and you could only save one of them, which one would you save?" Another was "Would you rather fly or drive to Canada?" Those questions didn't seem to have a right answer, and they were thrown in between normal questions.

They were sent to another office to draw uniforms, equipment, books and get a dormitory assignment. Whey they asked to room together, no one seemed to think that was odd.

The academy would make a story in itself, but that's for another time, except for a couple of things. Neither the physical demands, nor the academic work caused either of them to sweat. They studied together, quizzed each other, and worked hard. It was six weeks long and it was tough in the sense that they had no time for themselves, except on weekends. Those weekends were instructive too. Initially, with their soft Southern drawls, they were made fun of and assumed to be bumpkins. But, when they consistently scored first and second, alternating in those positions in the academic standings, people began to realize that these two were sharp cookies. Weekends found others in the academy gravitating toward them, and in those few short weeks, they found themselves with a large group of friends, both black and white. The groups didn't mix well, at first, because even in this much more relaxed city, cultures were different enough that there was uneasiness. But, as they sat around drinking beer and telling stories about home, they found that they weren't so different, and bonds formed. Four of the recruits in the class lived in Kansas City, and Bar B Ques happened that brought both blacks and whites into parts of the city they were rarely, or had never been seen in before.

Quite suddenly, it seemed, the graduation ceremony was done, and they were hunting for an place to live. They had one week to get situated, and then report for work.

One of the things they learned in school was that Nathan and Flossie couldn't get married in Missouri. It was against the law. Not only was it illegal to GET married in Missouri, it was also against the law for an interracial couple who were married somewhere else to live as husband and wife in Missouri. It was one of the few laws that segregated people by race, but because of that, Nathan had to find a place to live on the Kansas side of town. He rented a post office box in Missouri to use as an address on all his records.

Curtis Lee was amazed at Kansas City on a number of levels. It was segregated, but it was segregated by pure bigotry, as opposed to law. What that meant was that, if someone was a racist, he or she would treat Curtis Lee just like he had been treated back home. On the other hand, everybody else treated him like ... everybody else. There were no signs saying "Colored Only", or "White Only". He could go into any store or restaurant. He might get the cold shoulder, but no one yelled at him and said he had to leave. People might say things to let him know he wasn't welcome, but they almost never cursed at him or ordered him around. It was jarring, because you could tell a racist to go jump in a lake, and nobody would do anything to you at all. On the other hand, he and Nathan couldn't find any place to live, because they wanted to live together, and all the landlords in decent places wouldn't allow a colored tenant. Nathan could rent anything, but Curtis Lee wasn't welcome.

The sad part was that any place Curtis Lee could rent, meant the people who lived around there didn't want Nathan living with HIM! No honkys allowed, no sir!

It was through the new friendships they had forged that they found a place to live. It was owned by the grandfather of one of their classmates. The grandfather had farmed, but was now retired and in a nursing home. The family didn't want to let the land go, but they didn't want to live there or farm it either. The offer was made that, if they'd take care of the place, they could rent it for fifty dollars a month.

It was an old two story farmhouse in Wyandotte County, north of County Line road about five or six miles. That put it near both the Rosedale area, which was all colored, and a rough part of town, as well as Mission Hills and Prairie Village, which were affluent white suburbs. There were four bedrooms upstairs, and a large parlor, living room, dining room and kitchen downstairs. There was no insulation, but there was a huge old pot-bellied stove for use in the winter, and ample wood on the property. The barns were full of old equipment. Grandpa's furniture, dishes, books, and even some of his clothing had been left there, along with a shop full of tools.

It was quiet, remote, and perfect, as far as they were concerned. They arranged for the utilities to be turned on, including their own phone number. It was a party line, but there were only two other families on the circuit, and both of them were elderly.

Their first call, of course, was to Nathan's mother.

Marian was almost frantic with relief when she heard Nathan's voice on the line.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" she yelled into the phone. "IT'S BEEN ALMOST TWO MONTHS!"

"Calm down, Mamma, we're fine. We both graduated, and we have a house to live in and a phone and everything! I'm calling you on our phone right this minute!"

He had to apologize two or three times for worrying her "half to DEATH!", but eventually she cut him off. Her voice was terse.

"Flossie's pregnant!" she moaned into the phone. "And things are happening around here you wouldn’t BELIEVE!"

Nathan was stunned at the news that he was going to be a father, but part of him was elated too. He peppered her with questions, and found out she had tendered her resignation to the town fathers two weeks after she missed her first period. Even though they hadn't heard from him, she was working on faith that his situation was working out. She couldn't appear in school the next year with a swelling belly, and no husband.

The next news made Nathan have to sit down. His mother had offered, and been hired, to take Flossie's place.

"But you're not a teacher!" he gasped.

"I know that, but they have to have SOMEBODY!" she said back excitedly. "And it's only temporary, until they can get a new school built and hire a proper teacher."

"A new school?" he asked, amazed.

"Harvey's finally getting his way," she said. "When I offered to teach, I sort of didn't tell him I was going to, and they accepted and everything, and then he found out. I thought he was going to have a conniption fit, Nathan! He said there was no way I was going to teach in that school. He got on the phone and yelled and screamed or something, because the State is going to build a new schoolhouse!"

"Wow, that's great, Mamma," said Nathan, dazed.

"Well, it didn't all work out," she went on. "They'll only build one school, because of those Supreme Court people up there in Washington. He's fit to be tied that I'm teaching Negroes. He's acting so angry, and Flossie doesn't know WHAT she's going to do! She's been helping me with lesson plans and all that, but the only time we can meet is at school, when he's at work. She's been showing me how to teach. How in the world did she ever teach you all those things in that horrible old place? Oh I wish you were here, Nathan."

Nathan thought furiously. The arrangements for the house had been made during the last two weeks of the academy, and, upon graduation, they had only to move their clothing in. The utilities had already been turned on. Nathan had been a police officer for less than twenty-four hours when he made the call. They still had six days, before they had to report for their first patrol assignments. If they went together, and switched off driving, they could get there in a day. Another day driving back would still give them four days in Catfish Hollow. They wouldn't even need that long to gather up Flossie and get her out of there. There was plenty of time.

"We're coming down there, Mamma," he said into the phone. "Tell Flossie to get ready to go. She's coming back with us. Don't tell Daddy we're coming, though. I may want to talk to him when I get there, and I want it to be a surprise, OK?"

She expressed, a little over dramatically, how appreciative she was, and that she'd run right over to see Flossie, and then they hung up.

They made the trip in sixteen hours, driving straight through. They got some stares, back in their home state ... two young men, one white and one black, driving together. That would, in the next few years, suggest they were civil rights workers. But for now, people just stared, and shook their heads.

Nathan dropped Curtis Lee off at his mother's house, knowing he shouldn't take him home. That was because of Bernadette, rather than worry about people seeing him with Curtis Lee. The whole town knew they had left together. There had been some tongue wagging about that. His father hadn't spoken a word to him after he found out about it.

When he got home he was inundated with soft, good-smelling women. His sisters kissed him right on the mouth, in front of their mother, but broke those kisses quickly. Marian didn't seem to notice. She hugged him too, pressing her body tightly against his, and whispered in his ear: "They don't know."

Bernadette suggested they might know a bit more than their mother knew.

"Flossie's all ready to go," she said excitedly. "She started packing just as soon as Mamma went to see her."

"And how do you know that, young lady?" asked her mother, her eyebrow arched.

"Well, when Nathan called, you got all excited and ran out of here like the house was on fire," said Bernadette. "It was only natural for us to wonder where you were going. We followed you. When you left, we visited Miss Flossie." She turned to her brother. "We were SO mad that she didn't let us talk to you before she hung up!" She hugged and kissed him again. Her loins pressed entirely too hard against him, and he pushed her away.

"Sorry." He grinned, to cover the flush on his face. "We sort of had things to do to get ready to come. We drove straight through."

"We?" asked Bernadette, her voice rising. "Did Curtis Lee come with you too?!"

Both of them knew they'd made a mistake immediately. Nathan knew he should have told his sisters privately that Curtis Lee had come with him. Bernadette knew that she had communicated something with the voice of her question. She looked at her mother, who was staring back at her, the beginnings of a frown on her face. It deepened, and she looked back at Nathan.

"So that's how it is," she said. "It's not bad enough that my only son falls in love with a Negress and gets her ..." She stopped. "Now you've put ideas into HER head too!"

"Mamma ..." Bernadette started, but her mother cut her off. "We will discuss this later. You are not to see Curtis Lee while he's here. Is that clear?"

"But Mamma!" Bernadette crumpled.

"Is that CLEAR?" Marian was adamant.

Bernadette turned and fled to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Marian turned back to Nathan. "What have you done?" There was anguish in her eyes.

"I didn't do anything, Mamma," he said seriously. "I tried to stop it. Why do you think I talked him into coming with me to Kansas City?"

"You KNEW?" she gasped. "Why didn't you TELL me?"

"Mamma," he said, taking her hands. "How could I? You know what would have happened. The whole place would have fallen apart. I thought they'd just forget each other once he was gone."

"Oh my," His mother slumped. "Oh, mercy me." She started to turn to Hilda Mae, who had stood there frozen, watching something unfold she never thought she'd see. She realized, now, how savvy her mother was, and panic gripped her as her mother's face turned her way.

She turned and bolted for the bedroom, crashing through the door and slamming it behind her.

Marian turned back to her son, her eyes wide.

"Her too?"

Nathan couldn't look her in the face, this time.

"I couldn't say anything. I tried to talk sense to them. Flossie even gave the whole class a speech and told them they had to stop thinking that way. It didn't do any good."

"SHE knew too?" Marian wavered on unsteady legs.

"Not until school was almost over," he rushed to say. "Things got kind of complicated when the kids found out about me and Flossie, and Curtis Lee and me going away and all that."

"So THAT's what she was talking about!" sighed Marian. "She said all the boys wanted to follow you ... to become policemen like you and Curtis Lee." I thought it was just hero worship, but now I see. They want to get OUT of here ... to someplace where they can ..."

She burst into tears. "Oh what am I going to DO? Harvey may KILL them, Nathan! What have you DONE?!"

"Mamma, please!" said Nathan urgently. "I TRIED ... really. It was just like talking to a waterfall. It kept going. Curtis Lee told her she was crazy, but she wouldn't listen to him either, honest!"

"Who's the other one?" she asked calmly. "Who is Hilda Mae infatuated with?"

"You should talk to her, Mamma," he tried.

"I'm talking to YOU right now, young man!" she snapped. "YOU set the example for them."

"No I didn't!" he said. "That was going on long before anybody found out about me and Flossie."

Surprise wiped the anger off her face. "How long?" she asked.

"All last school year, practically," he said.

"Oh my word ... and I didn't even suspect," she said, her voice startled.

"You didn't suspect about Flossie and me either until that night," he said nervously.

"I knew you were smitten with someone," she said. "I just couldn't figure out who. Then I saw you together."

"That's how Flossie figured it out too," lied Nathan, hoping it was a good lie. "We really tried to stop it, Mamma, honest."

She snorted. "You can't stop that kind of thing. I knew that with you, and I know it with them too. But this is different. Bernadette has a whole year of school left, and Hilda Mae TWO! Oh, what am I going to do?" she moaned.

She looked startled. "Have they ....?" Then she covered her face. "I don't even want to know," she moaned through her hands.

"It'll be OK, Mamma," he said, taking her into his arms. "Curtis Lee will be in Kansas City."

She moaned into his chest. "That's fine, for now, but what about Hildy?"

"Talk to her," said Nathan. "Don't yell at her, just talk to her like you talked to me. I never knew how smart you were until you talked to me like that, Mamma. Help her. You helped me, even if you don't know it."

Marian snorted into his shirt. "I helped you so well that I'm going to have my first grandbaby. And I won't even be able to hold herrrrrrr." She bawled, all the frustration and emotion pouring out to soak his shirt.

"Yes you will," whispered Nathan. "We'll find a way to let you hold her." He thought about that. "How do you know it's going to be a her, anyway?"

His mother actually laughed, and pushed him away, smiling again. "Men are so silly, sometimes," she said. "Now, go see your woman. I have to go talk to my daughters."

Flossie bawled when she opened the door, and he had to almost carry her into the living room. She couldn't admit it to him, but she had been worried that he wouldn't come back ... that she'd languish here, reduced to having a child out of wedlock. Neither she, nor the child would be welcome in any way, shape or form. She kissed him frantically, short, repeated kisses on his cheeks and chin and lips, as he stood there grinning.

She wouldn't let go of him, until she felt his hand on her abdomen, smoothing across it. Then the relief she had been feeling pulled back and the anger at him surfaced. She pushed him away.

"Why didn't you CALL me?!" she choked. The idiocy of that penetrated her mind when she remembered she didn't have a phone. "You could have written me a letter at least!"

Her pain made him feel pain too, at hurting her. "I'm sorry," he pleaded. "I ... don't know your address," he finished helplessly. "And we were busy at the academy, and they wouldn't let us use the phone for a long distance call or anything."

She shrugged that off, and went on to her next complaint.

"You made me PREGNANT!" she huffed.

"Really?" he asked, his face eager. "Is there really a baby in there?" He peered at her stomach. "You don't look any different."

"I've missed two periods, you ... you ... you MAN!" she grumbled. "And her father wasn't even here for me to TELL him about it!"

"Why are you and my mother so sure it's a girl?" asked Nathan, distracted by the characterization of a baby he couldn't even tell was there yet as a "she".

"Because it is, that's why," said Flossie. Suddenly all her fear and worries were gone. "I'm packed and ready to go!" she said, brightening.

"I bought a car," he said proudly. "Curtis Lee and I came back together and shared the driving. He and I have a couple of things to do, and then we can leave."

"Not before you make love to me," she demanded.

"Are all women like this?" he asked, grinning. "One second you're yelling at me and the next second you're trying to get me naked!"

"You have a lot to learn about women," she said, unbuttoning her dress. She had left her bra off for him ... her panties too, when Marian had told her he was coming home.

He just stood and stared at her for a while, when she lay back on the bed, naked. Her hair had grown back out, and there were only the tiniest traces of tissue damage where teeth marks had been so vivid before. He crawled onto the bed, and got his face right next to her stomach. He imagined it was bigger, swelling slightly, but he couldn't really tell. He ran his hand over it again.

"Are you in there?" he said softly. "I'm your Daddy, and I love you already. I don't even care if you're a girl."

Flossie slapped his shoulder.

He punished her by not stopping to let her breathe, and leaving her a limp, sweating pile of bones.

As they lay there afterwards, she asked him about Kansas City, and the house, and the academy. He gave her sparing details. It was a long trip back, and he could fill her in then.

"Are we going to have enough money?" she asked. "It sounds expensive."

"We're fine on that count," he said. "There are a couple of things you don't know."

"So tell me," she said, running her hand over his chest.

"We'll show you," he said. "Tomorrow."

"I thought we were leaving today," she said. It was clear that she would not miss Catfish Hollow.

"I think you'll decide it was worth hanging around," he said. "Now, as much as I hate to do it, I have to leave. I have a couple of things to do while I'm in town. I'll come back later if I'm still welcome."

She rolled over on top of him, her face in his.

"Can I come?" she asked.

"It would be better if you didn't," he answered truthfully.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to visit a bunch of farmers, driving there in the car, and you'd be seen with me," he said. "I'd rather get you out of town quietly."

She morose. "I can't wait to leave here," she said sadly.

"Tomorrow, probably," he promised.

Chapter 36

Nathan didn't pick up Curtis Lee for this part of the mission either. They had already talked about it.

He stopped at Jesse's place first. His mother came to the screen door and stood, warily. Yes, she remembered him. No, Jesse wasn't at home. He was out in the fields. It was harvest.

He explained that he and Curtis Lee had decided to do a little business on the side, up in Kansas City, selling antiques. He inquired if she had anything he might be interested in, and offered cash money.

She laughed. "Everything we HAVE is an antique." She relaxed. "The oldest thing I think we have is the coffee pot. You interested in that?"

He asked to see it, and she let him in. He pretended to examine the dented old pot and pulled out a hundred dollars, which he handed her.

"This is all I can give you for it," he said sadly. "But we'll be back, occasionally, and interested in more."

"That's a hundred dollars," she said, staring at the money fanned out in her hand.

"Yes, Ma'am," he said.

"You're giving me a hundred dollars for an old coffee pot?" she asked, incredulous.

"I'd appreciate it if you let Jesse spend some of that money," he said gently. "It's been nice seeing you again."

He took the pot with him, and tossed it in the back seat. He repeated the scene everywhere he went.

At Johnnie Sue's, he asked her mother if she'd been making anything, and the woman was almost ashamed to show him woven hot pads, made out of old rug yarn. There was an old brass coat hook on the wall. He gave her a hundred dollars for that, and four hot pads, and then discovered that the coat hook was nailed to the wall, and he didn't have the proper tools to remove it without damaging it.

"I'll pick that up next time we're in town," he said. He took the four hot pads, and left the woman standing, staring after him with the money in her hands.

Moses was also out at harvest. He had done some woodcarvings of something that was supposed to be a horse, but looked more like a mule from mars. That and an old sausage grinder brought a hundred dollars. Mrs. Finshaw was crying when he left. They needed a repair on a machine that he couldn't do himself, and hadn't had the money to pay the blacksmith in town to do it.

Minnie Cripps, Luthor's mother, smiled at him and invited him in, offering a glass of sweet tea. Luthor was working, and when he spun his tale for her she looked at him askance. "You went off to be a policeman, and that's all my boy can talk about now, and you're selling antiques too?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he said calmly.

"And you came all the way back down here, just to pick up something to peddle up there?" She was smiling, but her eyes were alert.

"I'm just trying to help out, Ma'am," he said.

She had an old flat iron, that was being used to hold down a stack of newspapers. "Like that?" she asked.

"That would be fine, Ma'am," he said.

"How much?" she asked.

"A hundred dollars," he said simply.

Her eyes got wet too. She picked up the flat iron and handed it to him. "Bless you, boy. I'm not going to ask any more questions. I don't know why you're doing this, but bless your heart."

"We'll be back, I 'spect," he said. "Needing more things to sell."

"We?"

"Curtis Lee and me."

"That boy is helping with this crazy idea?" she said, surprised.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Well then bless his heart too."

"Thank you, Ma'am. I'll tell him."

His last stop was at the Brown farm, where Ruth Ann met him at the door with a smile. Her belly was bulging, and he complimented her on the impending arrival. When he asked her if she had anything to sell, she was at a complete loss. She insisted that he talk to Lester, who was in the barn repairing a piece of machinery.

He scratched his head when he heard Nathan's story.

"Got all manner of old junk lying around," he said. "Take your pick."

Nathan spied an old cross-cut saw hanging on a wall. One wooden handle was broken off, and it was thick with rust. Lester pulled it down and then goggled as Nathan offered him two hundred dollars for it.

"I can't take that!" he gasped, looking almost fearful. "That saw ain't worth two dollars!"

"Consider it a late wedding gift from Curtis Lee Waggoner," said Nathan. "He said to tell you he was sorry we couldn't get it here for the wedding."

The man actually cried, twisting his hands, until Nathan forced the money into them. He almost carressed the money.

"You got no idee what this means." He sniffed, wiping his broad nose with the back of his sleeve.

"Maybe you can buy Ruth Ann a new dress," suggested Nathan. He shook the man's hand and left the farmer staring at the money in one hand, and then at the other, that a white man had just shaken. He got the idea that Lester Brown didn't know which hand was more confusing.

He stopped by Curtis Lee's house and showed him all the junk in the back seat. Curtis Lee asked how it had gone, and he described the wary and blank looks. He also told him what Luthor's mother had said.

"You want to hang around a day or two?" asked Nathan.

"If I do, I'll be sorry," said Curtis Lee.

"My Mamma sort of found out how Bernadette feels about you," said Nathan. "Bernie asked about you right off, right in front of her."

"Do I need to get out of town tonight?" asked Curtis Lee.

"I don't think so. If I know Bernie, she's going to come over here tonight, and if she doesn't find you, she's going to be a mite pissed off."

"Your Mamma would let her do that?" asked Curtis Lee, amazed.

"Oh no. In fact, she already said Bernie can't ever see you again. But you know Bernie. And, as long as we leave tomorrow, I s'pect my mother might not make too much of a fuss. Just keep it in your pants."

"You think she'll let YOU keep it in YOUR pants?" Curtis Lee grinned.

"She won't have a choice. I'll be at Flossie's."

Curtis Lee looked thoughtful. "Hey, you know, how about if I go to Miss Flossie's tonight too. You could tell her I was going to be there. She could meet me there, and then nothing could happen."

Nathan sighed. "Well, it's better than having her sneaking around in your part of town and getting caught. She might not show. Mamma was going to talk to them both when I left."

"If that happens, I'll just take a little walk. What about the gold?"

"I figure to get it, and maybe a couple of those rifles, and then leave," said Nathan.

"With Miss Flossie there?"

"She's going to marry me, Curtis Lee. She's going to find out about it sooner or later. Some of that is ours. I think she'll understand."

"Suits me," said Curtis Lee simply.

Nathan went home for supper. His father acted like he wasn't even there. His mother asked him all about the police academy, but not anything about where he was living, or what it was like. He told her he'd write her letters, and call sometimes.

His sisters sat and ate, eyes warily darting between their mother, father, and brother. They obviously wanted to ask questions of their own, but weren't doing that. Neither looked mad any more, but there was a residual of fear in their eyes. When supper was over, Marian began clearing the dishes.

"Girls, after you help me with this, you can take your brother down and show him where they're going to build the new school. Your father and I would like a little private time tonight."

Harvey looked up, and Marian smiled at him. His face relaxed a little, and he got up and went into the living room, where he turned on the TV.

Nathan went to his old room, which hadn't changed at all. He got more clothing, and his doorknobs. There wasn't much else to take out and put in the trunk of the car. He was sitting in the driver's seat, his legs out of the open door, listening to the radio when his sisters skipped out of the house. They got in, looking all around like his six year old car was brand new. He made them sit down, and then drove off slowly.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"I've never seen her that mad," said Hilda Mae. "She yelled, and she cried, and then she settled down and we talked for a long time."

"You OK?" he asked Bernadette, whose happy mood had evaporated.

"She says I can't see him again until I graduate."

"She said that?" he asked. "I mean she said you CAN see him again after you graduate?"

Bernadette slumped. "She says that then she won't have any say in the matter. She expects me to come up there and live with you after I graduate."

"What about Daddy?" he asked.

"She's not going to tell him," said Hilda Mae. "I'm not allowed to see Moses except at school. She said she's going to get some of those new birth control pill things, and that we have to take them every day."

"You're kidding!" he gasped. He had heard two women arguing about the recently released pills. One said it was against nature to stop conception, and the other said she had enough children, and didn't want any more.

"I HAVE to see Curtis Lee while he's here," moaned Bernadette. "I just HAVE to!" She looked like she'd lost her last friend. "He'll forget all about me if I don't."

Nathan laughed. "He's not ever going to forget about you. You know how many times he wondered what you were doing while we were supposed to be studying for a test? It had to be a hundred. Every time we did something cool, he'd talk about how he wished you were there so you could see him acting like a cop. I got sick and tired of him moaning and groaning about how much he missed you."

"Really?" She perked up. They rode in silence for a while. They hadn't told him where to go, so he just drove. They were out in the country now. "You know, we missed you too," said Bernadette. "Mamma told us about Miss Flossie while she was talking to us. She said you got her pregnant."

Nathan didn't know where this was going. "Yeah," he said softly. "We're taking her back with us tomorrow morning."

"Stop," said Bernadette. "I'm horny."

"I thought you just HAD to see Curtis Lee tonight," he said.

"I do, but I'm horny now. Maybe if you take care of me now, I won't let him put it in me tonight."

Nathan sighed. "He's going to go over to Flossie's tonight. If you're going to see him, it will have to be there."

"We can't do anything there!" she moaned.

"I can't believe you want to do anything at all!" said Hilda Mae. "Nathan got Miss Flossie PREGNANT doing that, Bernie! I'm even GLAD I can't see Moses outside of school."

"Well, if I can't do anything tonight, you have to help me not be horny any more!" said Bernadette firmly. "Hildy's been acting all weird lately too, because she hasn't been able to see Moses. Find someplace to stop this car, cause I want something in my pussy!"

"You know I won't do that, Bernie," said Nathan patiently. "You can suck me one more time, and I'll lick you real good, but that's all. Besides, didn't you complain it almost killed you last time?"

"What last time?" said Hilda Mae, sitting up straight. She turned to her sister. "Did you get him to put it in you and you didn't even TELL me?!"

"It wasn't like that," said Bernadette. "I was mad. It was right after that very first time that Curtis Lee accidentally went in me, and you know how I felt about how Nathan was supposed to be the first. I kind of tricked him in his room while you were asleep."

"But that's not fair!" squealed Hilda Mae.

"He almost killed me. He WOULD have killed you."

"So why are you begging for it like some tramp now?" asked Hilda Mae, obviously upset.

"I know how to do it now," said Bernadette. "And if I can't have the man I love, then I'm going to have the other man I love." She said it like it made sense.

"I got Flossie pregnant," Nathan reminded her.

"It's a safe time right now," said Bernadette promptly. "You can just squirt all you want in me. Or you can not squirt and save it for Miss Flossie tonight. I don't care, as long as I don't feel horny when we're done!"

Nathan had always been of two minds about his sisters. On the one hand, he felt like he had cheated on them with Flossie. On the other hand, he felt like he would be cheating on Flossie if he acceded to her demand. On a third hand, the thought of spurting in Bernadette, something he had dreamed of doing for years, was almost irresistible.

"Well, I'm horny too," announced Hilda Mae. "And I know how to do it now too!"

Nathan groaned.

To say they wore him down by pestering him, is to give him too much credit. He had always loved his sisters in a way most brothers don't, and the easiness of their illicit relationship had always been a joy. He ended up parking the car by a bridge that went over a creek that didn't have enough water in it to make it much of a draw for fishermen, and they walked downstream until they found a grassy area where they could lie down.

The girls shared his prick, using their mouths. Bernadette wanted another lesson on how Hilda Mae was able to press her nose clear against his pubes. She was trying to do what Hilda Mae had told her, when Hilda Mae put her hand on the back of her sister's head, and shoved down hard.

Suddenly, Bernadette's nose brushed the same pubes. She choked and pulled off immediately, but in the process learned that it COULD be done. It had hurt her throat, though, so she settled for sitting on Nathan's face, while Hilda Mae deep throated him. Both girls got their cookies.

Then, Bernadette crawled on top of him, and slowly wedged his prick into her pussy. She did it in little bits, working herself onto him until it hurt, and then lying down to kiss him. It took her five minutes before she sat up and stared down. All she saw was her stiff clitty, poking into his hair.

"I did it," she breathed. "I feel like I swallowed a watermelon or something."

She lay down on him again, and then used her arms to slide back and forth. She came hard and quickly, moaning and thrusting herself down on his thick column. She stopped thrusting just in time to keep him from flushing her full of brother cum. She didn't sit back up, but crawled forward, pulling herself off of him while Hilda Mae watched, her eyes huge, from behind her sister.

Bernadette rolled over on her back in the grass, panting. "I knew it would be good," she gasped.

Nathan looked at Hilda Mae. Her breasts were heaving, just from having watched. "You want to try that, little sister?"

She licked her lips. Then she got up and crawled on him like Bernadette had. Oddly, she didn't have as much trouble working her way onto him. She also sat up, and did thrusts back and forth with her hips, loving the full feeling of her weight pressing him deep. She reached down and diddled her clit with two fingers, and her pussy muscles started milking him as she came.

Nathan warned her, and she got up, drawing her pussy off of him slowly.

"I don't want that thing to go soft for a while," she panted. "I liked that a lot!"

Nathan rolled over and crawled on top of Bernadette. Her eyes flew open and he leaned down to suckle at a nipple. She spread her legs and gripped him.

"Easy," she whispered, pulling it to her portal.

He was as easy as he could be, which, thankfully, was easy enough. She went "OOF" as he slid all the way in her, and then sighed. "You don't go as deep, but you stretch me more," she huffed.

He started rodding her like he had rodded Flossie, not letting her rest, and soon he was pounding into her rapidly. She had an orgasm, and then another as he went in and stayed there, grinding her clit flat.

He kissed her, and then said "I have to stop or I'll shoot."

She kissed him back and sighed as he dragged it out of her. She felt completely relaxed.

Hilda Mae was spread wide for him, holding her legs with her hands under her knees. As he got into position, he lifted her legs and rested them on his shoulders, bending her almost double. Her buttocks came up off the grass as he fed her his prick again.

"Ohhhh Bernie," she groaned. "He's going so deep. I needed this so baaaad." Nathan rodded her too, scooting her back along the grass, he was thrusting so hard. Bernadette crawled around to fondle his hanging balls as they flopped loosely. Hilda Mae went rigid and squealed as he kept slamming into her. Fifteen seconds later she started teasing him.

"You gonna squirt Nathan? I love to feel Moses squirting in me. When Mamma gives me the birth control pills I'm gonna sneak off and get him to squirt in me a lot. You gonna squirt in me like you squirted in Flossie? You got her pregnant with that beautiful thing. You gonna get me pregnant too Nathan?"

He groaned and cried out as he dug deep and tried, with all his might, to make her pregnant. Bernadette squeezed his balls gently, and watched as thick white cream began oozing out around her sister's tightly clasping pussy lips.

"It's a very good thing it's a safe time for us," she said, her voice trembling. "He squirts a LOT!"

Nathan took the girls home. It was getting dark, and there were no lights on in the house when they went in. Their parents weren't trying to be quiet. Nathan waited while Hilda Mae and Bernadette made up a fake body under Bernadette's covers. Hilda Mae crawled into bed, blew them both a kiss, and pulled the covers over her head. After making sure the window was open and there was a box for Bernadette to use to climb in on, they also rigged Nathan's window, just in case someone closed the other one. Then she went with him to Flossie's.

Curtis Lee was already there.

Flossie looked on worriedly as Bernadette all but tackled Curtis Lee. Their kiss was so long, and so ardent, that she motioned to Nathan to do something. He went and kissed her, figuring that might help. Then he nudged her toward her bedroom. She pushed ineffectually at him, shaking her head, and he pinched both of her nipples gently. She made faces of outrage, and he began unbuttoning her dress and kissing the bare skin that was exposed.

Finally she couldn't take it any more.

"You two behave yourselves!" she called out as he backed her into the room. "We'll just be right in here!"

"Yes Ma'am," came Bernadette's voice.

Bernadette HAD been relaxed, her horniness gone after being fucked royally. But seeing Curtis Lee had brought it all back again. Like Flossie, he resisted, but it did no good. She worked his penis out of his zipper, and tried the new thing she had learned. His penis didn't hurt her throat, and it was easier to get it past that place that made her gag. He hissed as she took almost all of him in, and leaned back in the chair, his neck muscles suddenly unable to keep his head up.

She worked him over until he was vibrating, but she knew him well enough now to know when he was about to spurt, and she pulled off of him before he did.

"I want you inside me," she whispered, rubbing her breasts against his face. She stopped long enough to unbutton her shirt, and then rubbed her bare breasts against his face again.

It had been two months for Curtis Lee too, and he didn't stand a chance. She put him on the dirt floor, and played the game she had always loved, sliding her pussy lips along his prick, and then nosing it into her. On him, she sat up, taking him deep, and on him she milked him until he filled her with his juice.

In the bedroom, Flossie was trying to be quiet. When she crawled on the bed naked, Nathan followed her, bending down to nose between her legs from behind, licking at her. She buried her face in the pillow, letting him do this new thing that felt so erotic somehow. Like Moses had done with Hilda Mae, Nathan kneed his way up to slip his prick into her from behind. With his hands on her hips, he pulled her onto him as she moaned into the pillow. Her hand came back to slap at him, telling him to stop, but he ignored her. He began rocking into her gently, and then lay on her back to thrust harder, his hand snaking under them to feel for her clit and rub it. She squealed, forcing her face deeper into the pillow, and her whole body shook as she came.

Feeling no particular urgency, but still able to make it happen, Nathan stiffened, groaned, and filled her up, like he had filled up Hilda Mae.

This time, Nathan stayed all night. It didn't really matter any more, since he was taking her away with him the next day, and they'd get married. He woke early, and found that, while Bernadette had gone home, Curtis Lee had slept in a chair. He hadn't planned that, but she left him weak and happy, and it was just easier to stay there.

Flossie bounced out of bed, so full of energy was she. When she'd first come back to Catfish Hollow, she'd had big dreams, but they had faded over the years. Now they were back. She fixed her last breakfast in this house, looking around and wondering if she'd ever see it again. She hadn't thought about what would happen to it when she left. But the future was so exciting, it didn't really matter to her. As an "asset" it wasn't much.

They swung by Curtis Lee's mother's house, and he picked up his belongings. Nathan then drove back, past Flossie's house to the bridge over Foster's creek. She asked where they were going, of course, but they just smiled. When she saw the treehouse, she was amazed. She had roamed these woods all her life, and the newness and extent of the treehouse looked completely wrong to her. When they started digging, she was even more curious.

When she saw the chest, and then it was opened in front of her disbelieving eyes, she had to sit down. They transferred fifty coins to a bag, and reburied the rest, explaining to her where it had come from, how it was found, and what they were doing with it. She had seen the "antiques" in the back of the car when she got in, asking what in the world all that was, but they had put her off. Now she understood.

When they drove from the creek to a road that went half a mile from the mansion, and struck off across a newly harvested field of cotton, she followed them, again in suspense because they wouldn't tell her what they were doing. She had seen the mansion as a child, and the pit that now was exposed, leading to the cellar, was, again, all wrong in her memory. When they brought out two rifles and scopes, she was astonished, never having believed the old wreck could contain so many interesting things.

She came up with theories about the gold and the rifles all the way to eastern Arkansas. Her favorite was that the rifles had been part of a plan for sharpshooters to assassinate particularly important people during the war. The gold had been to hire them, or to get food or more arms for the Confederacy, but something had gone wrong before the plan could be completed. That no one had come back for the gold, suggested that the original owners of the property had all died during the war, without passing on the information about the gold, or its location.

Really, it didn't matter. What mattered to Flossie was the irony of the situation. After all the horror the South had perpetrated on her race, and the persistent belief, even up to the present, that the people of color in the South were less than equal, those same people had left riches behind that would practically set her up for life. The same white men who had abducted her ancestors, and brought them to America against their will, had left behind something that would make her life, and the lives of a number of other folks in Catfish Hollow, better than they could have dreamed.

There was a kind of justice in it ... not enough justice to make good all that had been done wrong. But those men's money, and the fact that she had stolen the heart of Harvey Wilson's son, was enough for her.

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