Page 31 of The Soul Never Forgets

“Kill her?”

“Yes, sir. He tried to strangle her, his own flesh and blood, all because he doesn’t want her to be married to me. He thinks I’m not good enough for her, and I’m not, but I love her and by some miracle she loves me.”

Gussy tightens her arms around me.

Mr. Le Blanc shakes his head. “Naw, it’s too late for y’all to leave town tonight. Especially on that thing.”

“It’s not what I want to do, but we don’t have a choice. They’ll be out looking for us soon if they aren’t already.”

There’s no telling what kind of allegations Mr. Lebeau has made against me to the authorities.

Kidnapping. Rape. Attempted murder.

I could go to prison for a long time for a crime I didn’t commit. Just like my daddy.

“Where are you going to buy gasoline when you run out? What are you going to do if it starts raining? Or that heap of junk breaks down on the side of the road?”

“I don’t know, Mr. Le Blanc. I just… I just don’t know.” I hear the desperation in my voice, and I’ve never felt more like a failure. I’m a husband who can’t even provide my wife with a safe place to sleep tonight.

Mrs. Le Blanc comes out of the house wearing a nightgown and robe, her hair in curlers, and joins her husband on the porch. “What’s going on?”

“Frank and August got hitched, and her parents aren’t happy about it. Her father tried to kill her when he found out.”

Mrs. Le Blanc places her open hand over her chest. “Lord have mercy.”

“He’s trying to leave town on that thing with her hanging on the back.”

“Oh, Frank. Surely you know you can’t do that,” Mrs. Le Blanc says.

“We don’t have a choice, ma’am.”

“Thomas––” Mrs. Le Blanc grasps Mr. Le Blanc’s arm, pulling him closer to the house and speaking in a hushed tone.”

“What do you think they’re talking about?” Gussy whispers.

“I don’t know.”

“They wouldn’t turn us in, would they?”

“No. I trust them completely. They’d never do anything like that to me.”

They finish their private conversation, and Mr. Le Blanc approaches us. “Sable has gone inside, and when she comes back, she’s going to give you two keys. One is for her car, the other is for a house in town. It belonged to her sister who recently passed away. No one lives in it now. You can stay there as long as you like.”

This isn’t my proudest moment… taking handouts. But I have no choice. I’m a husband who must keep his wife safe and right now this is the only way. “Thank you, Mr. Le Blanc. I’m grateful for your help.” Again.

“I’m happy to help. And I know what’s on your mind about the law looking for you. You’re right to have those thoughts, but you’ll still be at work in the morning.”

I think the world of Mr. Le Blanc, but he doesn’t understand the Lebeaus. “I’m sorry, Mr. Le Blanc, but I can’t come to work tomorrow. The boat shop is the first place they’ll come looking for me.”

Mr. Le Blanc says, “Honey, would you please wait for Frank by Sable’s car? I’d like to talk to your husband in private for a moment.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for letting us borrow the car and giving us somewhere to stay until we can figure out what to do.”

“Frank is like a son to me. That means you’re my daughter now. I’m happy to help both of you.”

Mr. Le Blanc waits until Augustina is out of earshot to speak. “Lebeau and the sheriff will come for you at the boat shop first thing in the morning. When they do, they’ll find you going about your business like normal. Because that’s what innocent people do.”

“Mr. Lebeau is going to tell them that I kidnapped her.”

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