CHAPTER FOUR
Swamp Song
Cain couldn’t believe that Tapestry had never been to the Barataria Preserve in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, about thirty minutes outside of New Orleans. The place was massive, highlighting 23,000 acres of wetlands and swamps. She had a million excuses—she worked so much she didn’t have much time for recreation, she often felt exhausted, things of that nature. It was time for her to live a little and he demanded to come by her place and pick her up, take her out for some fresh air.
This was the perfect spot for their little adventure. A nice boardwalk made the trek easy, and alligator spotting was something he rather enjoyed. They’d seen quite a few, as well as several furry critters.
“You enjoyin’ yourself?” he asked as they walked hand in hand, perusing the grounds.
“I am. I must say though, this is a strange first date, Cain.” She chuckled.
In her bright yellow blouse, white shorts, and yellow and white striped platform shoes, she looked so pretty. She was a real snazzy dresser. This time, instead of a flower in her hair, it was piled high in a messy bun with a pair of white sunglasses doubling as a headband. Gold jewelry adorned her neck, ears, and fingers. Tapestry was stylish, smellin’ good, and lookin’ absolutely delicious.
“I ’magine it’s a bit out of the ordinary, but there’s somethin’ ’special I want you to see. Anyway, my uncle Adrien used to have an alligator farm.”
“I can’t imagine messin’ around with no gators. My cousins and brother used to go out and mess with them but you wouldn’t find me doin’ it. No sir, I kept my ass in the house sewin’ with Mama.”
“You kept it safe, huh?” He smiled, though all she did was confirm his suspicions each time she opened her mouth. Tapestry was simply not a chance taker. Had she been born that way, or had some unfair events rolled out and created her fears? He wanted to find out, but not yet…
“My uncle was funny. He’d find ways to hustle, make a bit of extra change. See, he’d charge people a quarter to come and see ’em, and let folks watch him feed ’em. There was a big one named Betty. Betty had an insatiable appetite. She got a hold to one of his dogs. He was madder than hell… then the next night she got hold to another one, and a cat, too. I guess that was it, ’specially when he found out she’d gone and gobbled up the neighbor’s old poodle. And then we ain’t see Betty no more. Betty was dead-ie.”
Tapestry paused, then burst out laughing. She quickly covered her mouth with both hands, looking shocked she’d had such a reaction but it didn’t bother him any.
“I’m sorry! I don’t know why I laughed… that’s terrible.” The woman looked downright remorseful but her mouth twitched nevertheless.
“Naw, it is kinda funny ’cause he knew what Betty was capable of and that dog of his was always down there messin’ around. She ain’t get that big from eatin’ no salads and nectarines. She preferred a buffet of domesticated pets… ones with collars and vet bills ’nd shit. She wanted that poodle on a platter combo with a side of fries.” At this, the woman hollered. He loved her laugh. “So, uh, anyway, what do you do to keep the air on?”
“I’m a RN, a nurse. I do home healthcare and provide hospice and Palliative Care Services. I also help train nurse’s aides.”
She takes care of folks… helps heal ’em.
Cain gravitated towards women that were natural nurturers. This was getting better and better.
“What about you? Or do you survive on enough from your gigs?”
“Naw, by trade I’m a carpenter.”
“Oh, okay. That’s good! Do you like it?”
He shrugged. “It’s aiight. I’m pretty good at it and I have a contract with Home Depot and Lowes, so I get booked up plenty of times, which is nice. Keeps the money flowin’. Word of mouth makes the world go ’round. Sometimes I even get nice tips. Can’t complain.”
“But you don’t light up how you do when you’re holding that guitar and singing. You’re not in love with it… you love your music.” She stopped walking and looked at him, adoration in her eyes as they held onto each other a bit tighter.
“That’s right. I don’t need to be rich and famous though, Tapestry. I just wanna be paid a decent enough amount to do it full time is all. I write a lot of songs for other people, too. Even wrote a song for Carrie Underwood.”
“No way!” The woman snatched herself from him and rested her hand on her hip. “Fo’ real?”
“Yeah.” He grinned, glad she was impressed. “She’s performed it, too. The song is called, ‘Crowd Pleaser.’ I think my vision is simple, but there’s a lot of fish in the sea. It’s hard sometimes to stand out from the crowd.”
“Let me ask you somethin’ Cain. Have you ever thought about playing in a band?”
“I like being a solo act, but I’ve played in bands in the past… I much prefer my own company. I can’t quit myself.”
They moved along, enjoying one another. It was a beautiful sunny day, relaxing, with a nice breeze blowing, too. Such a far cry from many years ago when Hurricane Katrina had hit. The Preserve had sustained some damage and so had many of his favorite haunts. Now things had improved a great deal, but for a while, that natural disaster had left him in a state of despair.
“Where do you stay?” she asked.
“I live in the French Quarter… the May & Elis Apartments on Chartres Street.”
“Ohhh, those are nice! Aren’t they newly renovated?”
“Yeah, they sure are. They mixed the old with the new quite well.”
“Isn’t it… kinda expensive though?” Her nose wrinkled in a cute sort of way.
“Well, I’m a bit of a saver, so I had put some money aside for a few years after livin’ in a few dumps. That was on purpose ’cause I realized if I did just that I would have what I needed later—and let me tell you, it was well worth it. Now I can stay there for a couple of years with no problem. I needed a nice place to stay where I can concentrate, practice my music and relax. I perform in loud places all weekend; when I come home, I like tuh unwind.” She nodded in understanding. “Oh, look at that tree frog!”
He pointed ahead at a bright yellow and orange jumper, its skin shiny and slick like it had been painted with oil.
“So pretty… nature is amazing, isn’t it? Those armadillos we saw a while back were a hoot. When I was a little girl, my parents used to take me and my brother out to the zoo all the time. It was so much fun. My brother liked the coyotes best.” She smiled as if it were one of her fondest memories of all.
“And what was your favorite?”
He noticed all throughout their afternoon together, Tapestry didn’t speak much about herself. She asked him plenty of questions and he was more than happy to answer but when it came to her, she seemed to skim over it as if he’d never questioned her in the first place. He knew about her mother being retired after years of being a cook in a fancy hotel downtown. He knew about her father who still worked as a senior manager at Rouses Market, and he knew about her friends and her brother, but not much about her. She intrigued him and yet kept a tight lip. Perhaps she didn’t find herself especially interesting, but he begged to differ.
“What was your favorite animal at the zoo?” he repeated, his arms crossed over his chest as he waited for an answer.
“I… I don’t know.” She smiled. “I never really thought about it.”
“Let me tell you somethin’, Tapestry… but first let’s take a seat.”
He took her hand and led her away to a bench. They sat down and he immediately wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. His dick jumped as he got a whiff of her perfume.
Damn, she is so warm and smells so good…
He took a good look at her face and her gorgeous eyes… not a flaw in sight on her rich, velvety skin.
She’s made out of the midnight sky. She DID fall from heaven. I knew it…
The whites of her eyes were stardust, practically blinding, and her large, juicy lips gave him the lewdest thoughts he’d ever conjured.
“Look now, I want to know about you, all right? I ain’t just bring you out here to look at a bunch of animals ’nd plants. I ain’t just bring you here to know all about your family ’nd friends. That’s good, I appreciate that, and I like knowin’ all of that, too, but I brought you out here ’cause it’s pretty and peaceful… like you.” She smiled at his words. “But it’s the you I’m tryna know.”
He pressed his finger into her chest as he smiled at her. Before she could respond to him, he leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers. The softness of her mouth was like nothing he’d ever imagined.
Her sweetness spread in every fiber of her, like expensive chocolate. He pulled briefly away to look into her eyes, then did it again. It felt like electricity was flowing through them, hooking them together and it would be far too painful to try and reverse the connection…
“Tapestry, I got a feelin’ you too busy takin’ care of everybody else that you forgot about your own needs.”
The woman dropped her head, smiled into her lap, then looked back at him.
“You seem to be pretty intuitive. I can’t argue with notta word that you said.”
“All right then.” He kissed her forehead and took her hand once more. “So, tell me all about Tapestry… What do you love? What do you hate? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? When’s the last time you’ve had a good time on a date? Are you ready to get serious or are you just enjoyin’ the single life? I wanna know all of that and more.”
“Well, I love to sing and entertain, ’nd make people happy. Nursing is a good field for me. It’s hard work though, sometimes more emotionally drainin’ than physical.” She sighed as she ran her hands together. “I did well in college, enjoyed my time there, but singing always made my soul blissful.”
“How long have you been carryin’ a tune?”
“I’ve been singin’ since I was a little girl… haven’t stopped since.”
“My mama can sing. I imagine that’s where I got it from. She sings a lot in the church choir. Can yours?”
“Not really, and my daddy can’t, either.” She chuckled. “My grandmama could though… They think I got it from her.”
He nodded.
“So, I’d like to know, if you could do it full time and make an honest livin’, would you?”
The woman sat back against the bench and looked up at the sky, thinking for a minute.
“I probably would, but I love my patients too, so it’s hard to choose just one. In some ways, nursin’ and singin’ are the same though.”
Now that was an interesting thought…
“How so?”
“I’m healin’ people. Music calms people down; it’s a peace maker. It can shake things up, too. It can make you sad… remind you of the life you used to have, or in some cases, it may make you happy because now you’ve overcome hardships from the past. Nurses… we try to make our patients more comfortable… make ’em happy… make ’em live longer and have a better quality of life, no matter their hardships and challenges. Music does the same thing, don’t you think?”
He looked at her and his damn heart skipped beats.
“Music makes people happy, huh? Makes people live longer and have a better quality of life… Yeah, you’re definitely on to somethin’ there. Damn, baby, not only are you beautiful on the outside, you’ve got a beautiful mind. Come here.”
Unable to control himself, he wrapped his fingers around the base of her neck and drew her near. Kissing her passionately, he wiggled his tongue within her mouth and worked it inside, tasting her minty flavor from the gum she’d been chewing earlier in the day. When he forced himself to pull away, he hated himself for how fast he was falling.
It was only their first date and she was making him lose his damn mind.
She was just too damn perfect… He couldn’t have chosen a lovelier woman.
Reaching into her purse, she plucked out a tissue and gently wiped his lips.
“You’ve got red lipstick all over your face, boy.” She grinned as she continued on with the task, her brows slightly furrowed as she kept at it. “Look like a bottle of ketchup exploded on you.”
He laughed lightly as she smiled at him, then put her hand down, clutching the lipstick-soaked tissue in her palm.
“I don’t care nothin’ about that… not in the least. All right, get to your feet. I wanna show you something.”
She did as he asked and off they went, passing crowds of people who were oohhing and ahhing at the various critters.
“Now see, my father’s people were Acadians. You know I’m sure they call them Cajuns now…” Tapestry nodded. “Daddy’s ancestors were from France—that’s nothin’ new for a lot of us here in Louisiana. The part of France my father’s folks was from though was the rural western region. They left many decades ago… long before he was even thought about. My mother’s family on the other hand has a rich and diverse background. She’s got at least three Native Indian tribes flowin’ in ’er blood, as well as a lot of French like my Daddy, a bit of Spanish and a dash of Creole.”
“Sounds like a good recipe,” Tapestry said.
“It does, don’t it? A big ol’ bowl of beauty, tasty and always warm.”
Hand in hand, they moved towards the edge of the swamp. Long, skinny, light gray tree trunks that twisted that way and this way lined the boggy waters. Bits of dead wood, dustings of green grasses, and lily pads covered the thing like it was wearing a thick, gravy-like coat.
“Now see, there’s a sayin’ that goes, ‘There is peace in the swamp, though the quiet is death.’ Bret Harte said that. This right here is one of the most peaceful places on God’s green earth. It’s foul and divine, loud and quiet, the perfect place to hide a body and the perfect place to tell somebody you love ’em, then ravish their body too. This is you, and this is me.”
The woman looked at him downright perplexed.
“I can’t sing better than you, Tapestry, so I’m not gonna even try, and why should I? Your gift belongs to you and nobody else. You’ve got one of the top three best voices I’ve ever heard… and I mean that, Tapestry. Look at this swamp…” He pointed out towards it. “It don’t know it’s a swamp. People make fun of it, and people love it, too. It has probably over three hundred creatures in and around it. It’s self-sufficient. It doesn’t need nobody. It’s not always pretty, ’specially when the moss and mold get out of control, but it never professed to be. It’s also got a bad rap.
“It’s not pretentious… It’s not tryna be an ocean or waterfall. It’s a goddamn swamp… period. But what if someone found out that there was treasure in that swamp? That, at the bottom, under all of those mysterious, gooey layers, under all of that water and thick goo, under all of those creatures, animal remains, and trash, there’d be gold, diamonds and rubies, and rare coins? This could be true… indeed it could! I see folks like me and you as swamps.”
At this, the woman burst out laughing and shook her head.
“This is the line you’re usin’ on me? You think comparin’ me to a swamp is gonna get me all lovey dovey over you? You gotta come better than this, Cain.”
“Hear me out now.” He smiled. “People think we’re one thing, but we’re somethin’ else altogether. We look like regular joes and joe-annes, but we’re magic, baby. I used to think everybody was better than me… that I was good at many things, but so many people were so much better. I never gave myself the credit I deserved. I pick that up about you too. I know now that I’m one of the best guitar players in this entire fuckin’ city and I am not bein’ cocky by sayin’ that. I’ve been around and really paid attention, and I have a God given gift. I can hear a song one damn time and play it.”
He squeezed her hand. “But now it’s back to you, all right? It might not sound the best at first, but my ear is good and so is my voice. I love music. I am addicted to it, baby. I am fascinated with anyone who has the same gift as me… and especially those who are even better than me. I’m not jealous if they’re better. I respect them for it. I praise them for it. I want them to be even better, for it…”
The woman swallowed as he pulled her impossibly closer.
“You have no fuckin’ clue how rare you are, Tapestry.”
He traced her face with the tips of his fingers, his breathing becoming hard to manage as he practically overdosed by being in her mere presence.
“Naw, I ain’t famous yet, but I ain’t a nobody, neither. I’m somebody, ’cause I can make music with my vocal chords and use these here fingers to make people dance and cry and feel, baby. I like to laugh… and I hurt deep inside sometimes but Imma stop right there with all of that… ’cause I don’t want to scare you away.”
She took his hand and caressed it with her thumb.
Yeah… she understands me… she gets it…
“So here’s what I want to do. Next weekend, try ’nd clear your schedule. I got a gig that’s very important. I want you to come and sing two songs with me. But we need to practice first… make it just right.”
“What songs are they?”
“Wild Child’s, ‘The Escape’ is one. Heard of it?”
“No, but I learn real damn quick.” He could see the fire in her eyes. She wanted this…she wanted it bad.
“Good, cause I’m gonna work you real hard and make sure you know it frontwards and backwards. The second song is, ‘Slippin’ by Quadron.”
“Heard of it… own the CD.”
“All right. Good. That’ll save us a little time. Tomorrow I am gonna swing past your place again, when you have time, and bring you back to my house for practice.”
“But I got a double shift…”
She grinned as he rolled his eyes at her, then took her free hand and intertwined their fingers.
“Tapestry, you need to give your blessings a double shift for a change? Sometimes other people just gonna have to wait… but I ain’t one of ’em. You’ll make time for me… for us… for you…” He leaned in close and pressed his lips to hers. They held hands, swinging them like fools in love.
I’m doin’ it again… fallin’ too fast for someone. But shit, she’s just a damn sweetheart… Her body and face say dollbaby,’ her voice says soulful hell-raiser…
Daddy said to stop runnin’ around and settle down. I just may take his advice if she’s as damn wonderful as she seems… I need second, third, fourth, and one hundred and eleven dates outta this woman…
“Tapestry, I like you… I like you somethin’ fierce.” She chuckled at his words, but he was serious. This was no joking matter.
Gotta make Tapestry mine. Gotta collect the pieces of her heart like baseball cards and play this game right… hit it right out the park…