A Lamb Made of Stone

A Lamb Made of Stone

 

How could they be twins? Pearl and Rose grew more different as they got older.  By the time they were seventeen, they didn’t event look like sisters.

 

Rose’s face revealed a trace of the Indian blood that had mixed with the Foreman strain generations earlier. Her eyes were the color of the creek on a cloudy day. Her face was always flushed as though the blood was close to the surface. On the rare occasion when she smiled she revealed even white teeth that appeared somehow slightly threatening. She wore her shiny dark hair in the same no-nonsense shingle she had worn when she was six years old. Her perfectly straight hair brushed her eyebrows, the top of her ears and the nape of her neck. Her strong fingers tirelessly pulled weeds in her mother’s garden, gathered eggs and scrubbed clothes on an old washboard. Rose never tired, rarely smiled and seldom sat down.

 

Pearl – her opposite – was frail and iridescent.  Pearl had uncontrollable blonde hair that encircled her head and floated down her back. She wore long skirts and floral print blouses, always with long sleeves to hide her scars. She had crooked, protruding teeth and a habit of hiding her mouth with her hand when she talked or smiled. Her luminous blue eyes were always focused on the horizon. She would pause in the middle of a routine task like shelling peas or whipping in a hem and gaze off into the distance.

 

“Come on girl. You’re never going to finish that hem if you don’t move faster than that.” Irene smiled as she lightly touched the head of her day dreaming daughter.

 

“Sorry, Mama. I was just thinking.”

 

Rose interrupted her. “You’re always ‘just thinking’. Thinking doesn’t get the work done.”

 

Rose deposited a tub of collards on the board next to the pump. “These are the last of the collards. If her highness can tear herself away from her fairy tales, she might get these greens washed and looked before our stomachs grow to our backbones.”

 

Benjamin limped through the door in time to add his unkind laughter to Rose’s.

 

Pearl gave her mother a faint smile, folded her sewing and walked over to the tub of collards.

 

Benjamin’s eyes bore into her as she primed the pump and worked the handle until water gushed over the greens. Pearl rinsed each broad leaf and then examined it carefully for worms before dropping it in the waiting pot. She could feel Benjamin’s eyes on her. The kitchen was quiet while she worked.

 

Rose broke the silence. “Mama, I forgot to tell you. I saw Aunt Sarah up at the store earlier. She was sure looking worn out.”

 

“I should go over there and see how they’re doing. That poor woman.  She’s probably not eating right. I worry about her living all alone.” As Irene spoke she moved around her kitchen gathering foodstuff to carry over to her sister’s house. “Rose, help me get this down to the skiff. I want to row over there and see her before supper.”

 

Rose picked up the eggs, a bottle of heavy cream and a loaf of the bread Irene had baked that morning. “I’ll go with you, Mama.”

 

“Pearl, just put those greens on low. We’ll be back before dark.”

 

They went out leaving Pearl and Benjamin in the kitchen. From where she stood at the sink Pearl could see her mother sitting in the front of the skiff holding the bundles for her Aunt Sarah.  Rose took off her shoes and tossed them into the little boat before pushing it off the sandy bank.  Then she hopped nimbly into the boat and took her place at the oars.  She heard Benjamin behind her. “Won’t Madeline be wondering where you are, Benjamin?”

 

Pearl caught her breath as Benjamin’s hands closed around her breasts.

 

“Please don’t, Benjamin. Please.” Tears were already streaming down her face. Pearl had hoped that Benjamin’s assaults would stop after his marriage to Madeline, but instead they were becoming more frequent. She ignored her until they were alone but in those moments when no one was around to see or hear, he forced himself on her.

 

“This is all you’re good for Pearl – all you’ll ever be good for.” His hands found her n*****s and pinched them hard. Pearl bit her lip to keep from crying out. Salty tears fell into the tub of collards. Her hands reddened by the icy water gripped the edge of the enameled tub.

 

Benjamin pressed his body against her and let go of her breasts. He unbuttoned his trousers and lifted her skirt. There was no affection in the act. It was for his pleasure only and it was over quickly.

 

The door slammed as Benjamin left. Only when she heard the sound of his boots on the back porch steps did Pearl open her eyes and release her grip on the tub. Across the creek she could just make out her mama and Rose climbing up the bank to Sarah’s house.

 

Pearl drew a basin of water and cleaned herself. When she was done she carefully carried the basis to the edge of the porch and poured it over the hydrangeas. Benjamin was nowhere to be seen.

 

She went back inside and finished washing the collards.

 

Her mother looked worried when she got home. “Sarah just doesn’t look out for herself.  Now that Benjamin has his own place I think she ought to move in here with us.  What do you think about that, Pearl?”

 

Irene paused and fixed her gaze on Pearl. “What’s wrong, honey?  You haven’t heard a word I’ve said and you’ve hardly touched your supper.”

 

“Nothing’s wrong, Mama. I’m just worried about Aunt Sarah.” Pearl pushed her uneaten greens from one side of the plate to the other.

 

“She just can’t stomach her own cooking.” Rose laughed and waited for the others to join in. When they didn’t she frowned. “Look. We ain’t at a funeral yet.”

 

Author's Note

I am adding chapters pretty much at random rather than trying to post the entire novel. That may account for what appear to be gaps in the story.

Reviews

[justjenn_2u]

So sad that Pearl has to live this painful life of the pain Benjamin inflicts.