Chapter 35 The Fais Do-Do
Nerve shattering thunderstorms had ripped across the parish for the last three days in a row. Each day the heat and humidity had built until it reached its peak at about four pm each day, then the sky had darkened from the northwest pushing cool winds in front of the lashing rain and hail that accompanied the deafening thunder and blinding blue white purple flashes of lightning. The cooler temperatures were welcome but the deluge of rain that was delivered so quickly raised creek and bayou levels, dirt tracks turned into almost impassable muddy quagmires and the level of Lake Cavelier and its surrounding swamplands rose quickly.
Achile and Francine Bergeron, Papite and Madeline Valier and Jean and Therese Leblanc all sat on Archile and Francine’s porch discussing what they should do, they had organized a Fais do-do to start that night and after the last three day’s rain the water was starting to enter Malase. It was a party that they held every year for extended family and friends and this year they had had invited about one hundred and eighty guests which would probably swell to about four hundred people as invited guests brought friends along. Francine was extremely concerned that if the water level kept rising at the same rate at which it had over the last few days only the center of their small settlement would be left above the water. This was were the residents of Malase parked their assortment of pickups and cars in the wet season, but with all the visitors parking back along the track leading directly into Malase they would in some places become swamped. Francine worried that if the water rose up as it could then everyone would get wet feet.
Papite said that they could always take people out by boat the at the end of the weekend if the waters got that high which he seriously doubted. Then Madeline suggested that they asked all of their guests to park along the track about a mile outside Malase where the land was higher and never flooded. She said that their guests could easily walk in and as Papite had suggested they could ferry them out by boat if needed late Sunday afternoon or on Monday morning, she added they could also ask their guests to wear gumboots or at least bring some along. Therese, Achile and Francine all nodded and agreed that that was the most sensible thing to do. Francine giggled,
“Pouvez vous imaginer la danse.”
She said as she imagined everyone dancing and jigging around in gumboots up to their ankles in swamp water.
“Nous l’a fait auparavant.”
Achile said with a smile as he remembered many a Fais do-do where they had been up to their shins in water, but to be fair those had been smaller parties, spur of the moment affairs that only included the residents of Malase and those had normally been the result of a good hunt and too much shine or whiskey.
All the while Jean sat silently puffing away on his pipe.
“Ce qui vous pensez.”
Therese said to Jean with a sharp playful jab in his ribs, he jumped and laughed, he had been listening but now he had been asked what he thought so he sat forward with a broad smile.
“I’l ne nous a jamais concernés auparavant.”
He said laughing through a cloud of deep blue pipe smoke.
“C’est vrai,….c’est vrai./”
Conceded Achile. They all agreed that it was true, such things had never concerned them before.
Jean laughed again and said.
”Nous sommes vieux avec notre concerné.”
Again they all agreed that age made them all worry to much and as Papite added everyone who was invited knew the lay of the land in Malase as they had all been there over the years at some time or other and they would know what to expect especially with all the rain they had had the last few days.
So all was settled the Fais do-do would go on as planned.The Fais do-do’s that were held annually in Malase had become legendary in Evangeline and had been an annual fixture for over eighty years, even the second world war could not stop the reveling. People from across the parish and some from neighbouring parishes had that date firmly fixed on their calendars.Francine and Madeline volunteered to contact all the invited guests and suggest parking a mile or so out of Malase and to bring along their gumboots, before helping Therese with the final preparation of the food for the night. Papite, Achile and Jean busied themselves with preparing the roasting spits and barbeques, there were to be two spits and three barbeques. The roasting spits were easy to set up because they had five cast iron stands and spits between them in Malase that just needed placing into the ground in the required location. The barbeques werealso just as easy to prepare. They had four of them in total; each barbeque stand was made up of a fifty five gallon drum cut in half length ways with each half barrel held end on as a pair in a wrought iron frame. The frame held the top of each half barrel about forty inches off of the ground, an ideal level to tend to the cooking of the meats. On the top of each half barrel was a removable iron grid to cook the meat upon, the inside of each half barrel held the charcoal. Cuzn Booee had provided four large sacks of charcoal and some seasoned oak logs for the roasting spits which Treacle had delivered the day before. The cooking of the meats on the spits and barbeques would be shared as always between Louis, Maurice, Remy and Jerome Bergeron, Maurice Leblanc and Henri, Hector and Jerome Vallier. In years gone past their fathers had done all of the roasting and barbequing but now as older men they preferred to just sit drinking, chatting, laughing and of course dancing.
For the last week all of the men of Malase had been out on various hunting trips and brought back with them a couple of deer, four wild hogs, an untold number of rabbit and squirrel, five raccoons, a muskrat, three good sized gators, a snapping turtle, an untold number of frogs and fish of varying species and sizes, crawfish, crab, fifteen ducks, two woodcock and five turkeys. They had also purchased a three hundred pound hog from Cuzn Booee which he had butchered and lightly salted before delivering four days earlier for hanging then a light smoking in the Vallier’s smoking shed.
All of the women of Malase and some of the men, dependant upon whether they had been out on a hunt or not had helped in the last day and a half to prepare an assortment of dishes and other foods. Spicy meat and rice sausages or Boudin andAndouille sausageswere filled and hung in strings, birds plucked, fish de-scaled and meats skinned and butchered. Two eighteen gallon flat bottomed cast iron pots of Gumbo, two eighteen gallon flat bottomed cast iron pots of Jambalaya, and seventy five pounds of dirty rice were cooked ready for having the last ingredients added on the day before being reheated. Red and white beans were soaked and cooked, spices prepared for blackening some of the fish and meats and an assortment of vegetables and salad were washed and cut up, these included artichoke,bell peppers, onion, cauliflower and celery, lettuces, tomatoes, squashes and pulses, garlic and an assortment of fresh herbs. All in all it had been a hive of activity with every resident of Malase helping in on way or another. Cuzn Luke had delivered a couple of gallons of his shine and Darois had delivered eight barrels of beer from the Red Oak bar.
The music was to be supplied by two bands and two DJ’s. The main band was a local band called the ‘Evangeline Fiddle and Bass Boom Boom Band’, or as they were better known ‘Fiddle-De-Boom-Boom’. The band consisted of two fiddle players, an accordion player, a drummer, two acoustic guitarists who were also the vocalists, one of which played the Dobro guitar with a sublime mastery and finally a bass guitarist, the bass guitarist also played banjo. As ever their numbers would be supplemented at some point in the night by any and sometimes all of the accomplished musicians of Malase. They would grab their instrument and join in improvised jam sessions throughout the night and these were always the highlight of the first night’s entertainment. They also liked to have fiddle duels were each participant would try to out do the other, weaving notes in an intricate fashion at ever increasing speeds which would send the cheering dancing crowd completely ‘Hog Wild’, as the music wove its magic the crowd would become a jigging, dancing mass of happy revelers who improvised their own intricate dance steps over, around and on top of the traditional Cajun one and two step dance steps.
The second band was called Circadian Rhythms and came from the swamplands east of Lafayette; they were made up of two fiddle players, an accordion player, three vocalists and two guitarists who played acoustic, electric and bass guitar. The vocalists also took turns to play the fiddle and an assortment of percussion instruments such as a full drum kit, the Tee-fer which is an oversized triangle, a rub or wash board and she also stamped out rhythms on the ‘Thump Box’.
The DJ’s were a quite recent addition to the musical entertainment and this inclusion had been driven mainly by the younger family members of Malase. Henri had invited his friend DJ Vidor Nagidda fromNew Orleanssome year earlier and he had been an instant success and firm fixture as well as a good friend of the families of Malase. He was a world renowned DJ who mainly played Reggae, but also fused this with Cajun Dance and Bluegrass music and was as well known in New Orleans as he was in New York, London England and Trenchtown Jamaica.
The second DJ called himself Cola CRX, he was a giant of a man of Bobadian descent and wore a smile as wide as his shoulders were broad. He played a mixture of Rave, Hardcore, Hard House, Progressive House and Garage music and again was world renown for his DJ skills, albums, remixes and live performances in cities such as Batton Rouge, Tampa, New York, London England, Amsterdam Holland, Ibiza, Prague Czech Republic, St Petersburg Russia and Tokyo Japan. Hector had met him after a dance party in Baton Rouge three years earlier, the two of them had got on like a house on fire and Hector had invited him along for the last two years. The youngsters loved his music and even the older generation admired his skills, even if some of them thought that some of his music was what they called ‘weird stuff’, all of them however had instantly warmed to his friendly personality and love of life.
By two pm everything was set for the night, all of the families of Malase sat around tables that had been set up near to the furthest end of the clearing in the middle of Malase. They sat in groups chatting and having a quiet drink with the members of both bands who had arrived, unloaded all of their gear and set up by one pm. The DJ’s were scheduled to arrive late that night probably after midnight but both would stay for the duration. As they sat chatting, an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation enveloped them all while they awaited the arrival of the first guests.
They were all satisfied that everything was prepared, food, drink and the entertainment was all ready, and as Therese said ‘they could feed an army and get them all as drunk as a skunks with all of the food and drink what had been prepared as well as whatever their guests would bring along as well’. Generators had been filled with diesel and a plentiful supply of full diesel jerry cans were stacked ready to refill these thirsty machines. Lights had been put up across the fronts of the porches and wires trailed up into the trees where a network of fairy lights had been interlaced with the overhanging branches. To supplement the electrical lighting there were hurricane lamps set on tables and hanging from posts and porches throughout Malase.
The first to arrive were Cuzn Luke, Cuzn Booee and Treacle. They pulled up in Cuzn Luke’s pickup, parked at the side of Jean’s shack and proceeded to unload another hog, cases of beer and more shine, more wood and more sacks of charcoal.
“We got mowa goodies.”
Cuzn Luke shouted over to Jean, Juste, Achile, Louis, Billy-Bob and Papite as they sauntered over to help carry the supplies. Treacle had already started on the shine and staggered slightly under the weight of four cases of beer, he was veering off to the left as he staggered and would have ended up in a ditch if a steadying had from Louis had not have caught hold of his shoulder and steered him towards where all the beer was being stored.
“Treacle m’incite à rire.”
Madeline said with a chuckle as she watched Treacle being shepparded by Louis across the clearing in front of the shacks.
“Make yuh laugh Mom, he’s already chugged full’o shine, wait till lader then we’ll all be laughin ad him.”
Ethola replied to her mom with a smile.
“Nuh he’s probly only had a bitty bit.”
Sherri replied as they all watched with amusement the spectacle of Louis escorting Treacle across in front of them.
“Vous avez raison, je pense il est comme ceci la presque toute les heure.”
Conceded Madeline.
“Auh knows Auh is right Mom he’s always the say-am,….. un clown drôle inoffensive.”
Sherri said, she liked Treacle, it was a fact that everyone present liked Treacle. He was a good natured, thoughtful and compassionate man who just liked to drink. As others would drink water, coffee or fruit juices during the day Treacle would drink shine, whisky and beer. He seemed to be in a state of almost perpetual inebriation. The one thing that they all would agreed on was that Treacle was that they all called ‘Bullet Proof’, no matter how much he drank he would be the last man standing at the end of the night or even the next day, still jigging and dancing around happily in his own world, he was never offensive or belligerent he was just Treacle and everyone loved him for that.
They let out a collective laugh as Treacle tried to salute them all as he staggered past, nearly dropping his load of beers he took two steps to the left, two backwards then one to the right before moving on forwards again.
“That’l trans-forem into his dancing later.”
Jean Jnr said as he let out a howl of laughter.
That made the others laugh all the more as Treacle and Louis disappeared around the side of Achille’s shack.
“Fuh Sure…., he sure do seem addled most the time but the way he carries on with his dancing do make me cry with laughter.”
Mary -Jo added.
The skies that were visible through the dense canopy above Malase had started to cloud over with dark blue storm clouds as the afternoon progressed. The relative cool of the morning had faded fast, it was already up to ninety one degrees and the air was a stifling clammy burden that weighed everyone down within its oppressive grasp. Slowly more people began to arrive, in small groups and over the next hour the numbers increased significantly as they walked down the track into Malase carrying an assortment of drink, food, instruments and young children.
They were greeted with a genuine welcome and helped to store their gifts of food or drinks with the rest of the supplies for the party, if they were newcomers then they were introduced to the residents of Malase. The majority of people knew each other though and there was a lot of hand shaking, back slapping, hugging and kissing before each guest was handed a drink and told to make themselves comfortable ‘Veuillez avoir l’amusement…., pleeze ave fun’.
By about quarter to five in the afternoon about three hundred people had arrived in Malase and the drink was flowing freely, people stood or sat in groups around tables chatting and laughing, some sat quietly people watching, while others took the opportunity to catch up on the latest talk or gossip with friends. There was a buzz of chatter and excitement that radiated out from Malase through the surrounding swampland and as each new group of guests walked along the track into Malase they could hear the general hubbub getting louder and louder as they approached the dark shrouded settlement
Jean had been sitting on his porch for some ten minutes waiting for the latest weather report on the local radio station KVPI-FM. With a smile he strode down the steps and across to tell everyone the good news. The storms that were building that afternoon were being driven by humid southerly winds and would pass well to the west of them over Mamou and then over Pine Prairie further to the north. The forecast for the next three days was also good, mainly dry staying very hot at around ninety seven degrees, with the possibility of scattered thunderstorms here or there. The cool of the last few days which was driven by super cell storm formations from the North West had dispersed apparently and now high pressure had taken over. There was a collective sigh of relief, they wouldn’t have to worry about the water level rising any higher than it already was. The odd small thunderstorm they could deal with but if the storms of the last few days had persisted in their intensity then their weekend party would have been a washout.
Samuel SJ, Jason and Jenny-Ray arrived just before five, weighed down with cases of beer, bottles of wine and some loaves of bread that SJ had baked. They had been twice before but the last time was probably five years ago. It wasn’t that they hadn’t been invited because they received a written invitation each year, it was Samuel. The last few years Samuel had been getting more and more introverted, shunning crowds and a social life which made things difficult for SJ. But this year Samuel agreed with SJ when she said that they should go especially when she pointed out to Samuel that it would be rude not to and Jean and Therese would be offended. SJ also pointed out that Samuel he had thoroughly enjoyed the highly successful hunt Jean had only recently taken Samuel and that he got on with everyone and enjoyed himself.
Jean saw them walking into Malase and immediately went over to welcome them.
“Mon ami’s Mon ami’s, Vous êtes arrives.”
He said as he flung his arms wide open and first kissed SJ then Jenny-Ray on both cheeks, shook Jason’s hand and slapped Samuel firmly on the back.
“Veuillez venir, venez,… pleeze, come, come.”
He said as he gestured to them to follow him through the crowd.
Juste took the beers from Samuel whilst Dee and Mattie took the bottles of wine from SJ and the mountain of freshly baked bread that Jason and Jenny-Ray were both peering out from behind.
Jean had reserved them four chairs at the large table with him, Therese, Papite, Madeline, Achile, Francine, Cuzn Luke, Cuzn Booee, Treacle, another couple called Boffa and his wife Clemsy, Odeo and Francine and their four children Louis, Maurice, Remy and the youngest Jerome. Jean introduced Samuel, SJ, Jason and Jenny Ray to everyone that was seated around their table before sitting himself back down next to his wife and saying in a loud voice
“Laissez-nous buvons.”
While Samuel, SJ, Jason and Jenny-Ray were taking their seats glasses were passed to them and then a bottle of shine, a bottle of whisky, a bottle of wine and a couple of six packs of beer were placed on the table in front of them. Maurice and Armintine, Henri, Hector, Sherri, Mattie, Billy-Bob, Mary-Jo and Theo were circulating amongst the happy crowd making sure that all of the guest had drinks in front of them on their tables ready for the Fais do-do to really begin.
Samuel and Jason both cracked open a can of cold beer while SJ poured herself, Therese and Francine a wine, Jenny-Ray was at first undecided what to drink but after a moment of thought picked up a can of beer from the table and like Jason opened it with a quick movement backwards of her right index finger.
Just before five thirty Jean, Achile and Papite got up from their seats and walked through the crowd that had filled the clearing in the middle of Malase and climbed a small flight of steps onto the makeshift stage. They walked to the center in front of the bands’ instruments and stood around one of the microphone stands. Jean tapped the microphone with his hand and three loud thuds boomed out of the four massive speakers that were in pairs at either side of the stage,Achile leaned forward and spoke first.
“Bienvenue à tous…. Bienvenue à tous.”
Boomed out across the crowd, who responded as one with a huge cheer. People who were seated at the large tables that encircled the central clearing jumped to their feet and started clapping and cheering.
Papite was next.
“Une fois de plus mes amis nous respondent…., once again frienss we all meet…..,etnous sommes tous siheureuxde vous voir tousicidans,…..an weeze so appy to see youz’all.”
The crowd cheered louder, people clapped and jumped up and down and the dogs tied up on various porches or to table legs barked excitedly. While the three men talked into the microphone‘Fiddle-De-Boom-Boom’,quietly took up their positions on the stage behind them, instruments at the ready.
“il est chaud et ici nous sommes de bons amis, de la bonne nourriture, beaucoup à boire et musique fantastique à venir,…it’s hot, we is are all good friends an we have good food, plenty to drink an some real good music comin.”
The crowd roared again, clapped, stamped their feet and cheered. Jean motioned for the crowd to quieten down and after thirty seconds or so all was silent in Malase. The crowd stood looking towards the three men on the stage expectantly; the atmosphere was electric as all stood in silence listening, waiting. Ten seconds became twenty, which became thirty, which became forty, the air crackled with excitement and anticipation as everyone waited….. and waited……..and waited. Suddenly Jean leaned forward towards the microphone and shouted at the top of his voice
“Permet la fête commence!!”
Instantly and without warning ‘Fiddle-De-Boom-Boom initiated their musical set with a musical detonation of the accordion, fiddle, guitar and banjo which all struck up a fast paced intricate melody that was accompanied by the deep booming tones of a bass guitar and accompanying drums.
The crowd erupted in a rapturous explosion of dancing, jigging jumping, cheering, clapping and stomping as they individually interpreted the sounds that roared out of the speakers and reverberated off of the overhead canopy, surrounding shacks and moss laden Cypres trees. There was not one person present that was not overcome by the sheer excitement of the moment and swept up in frenzy of dancing, clapping stamping and jigging.
The first number that the band played lasted about fifteen minutes and all the while everyone danced. People were still arriving, walking along the track towards Malase as Achille, Papite and Jean had been welcoming their guests from the stage. There were probably about sixty of seventy people strung out along the track between their parked vehicles and Malase. They heard loud voices drifting between the trees along the track and they heard the crowd cheering in response. As they got progressively closer the sound became louder until all fell silent, it seemed to be silent for quite a time and some thought that the P.A system had probably tripped or the power supply into Malase had overloaded. All of a sudden out of the quiet gloomy forest in front of them a shockwave of music, cheering and shouting swept over them. It startled some and made others physically jump as if scared by something but the overall effect was to hurry them along, the party had obviously started and they didn’t want to miss a bit of it. As they entered Malase in small expectant groups they were confronted by a frenzy of happy, dancing people who were bobbing and weaving in and out and in between the heaving mass of human happiness. Belongings were temporarily put to one side as all the latecomers rushed to join in the fun.
Just as the sun started to set hurricane lamps were lit and the strings of lighting were connected to one of four generators, the crowd cheered as the lights came on and everyone was bathed in a warm glow. Some of the lights on the small stage were colored and shone out over the crowd sending weirdly contorted shadows bouncing off of the shacks and stout buttresses of the Cypress trees. Some people noticed a twinkling above their heads and looked skywards where thousands of small fairy lights had been hung overhead draped through and across the lower boughs of the dark towering trees. In places the long shawls of moss that hung down seemed to glow with greenish, grey, purple and blue colors, smaller children looked up in awe and pointed the spectacle out to their parents who in turn looked up and gasped in surprise at the breathtaking beauty above their heads. As darkness enshrouded the happy gathering in Malase the spits and barbeques were lit and the various meats, fish and poultry brought out for cooking. ‘Fiddle-Do-Boom-Boom’ were still playing and people were getting up from their tables in groups or as couples to dance, the initial frenzy had died down and people mingled, chatted, laughed, drank, danced, smoked and drank some more as the smoke from the barbeques and spits drifted in and around them all.
Samuel was sitting back in his chair, a bottle of beer in one hand happily chatting away with SJ, Papite, Jean, Francine and Clemsy about the different ways to falvor, season and smoke fish, when the wobbling figure of Billy-Bob lurched towards their table. He had been drinking since dawn that day and was as drunk as a skunk.
“Gonna have the best alligator farm in the world an he ain’t gonna stop me, that dumb fuck she-it face.”
Billy-Bob slurred as he pointed his right index finger right in Samuel’s face. Samuel sat in astonished silence for a couple of seconds, astounded by the verbal onslaught before jumping to his feet knocking his chair backwards as he leapt up. His happy smiling eyes disappeared in an instant to be replaced by a dark, cold and piercing stare.
Billy-Bob was slightly confused by Samuel’s response and stood there swaying backwards and forwards on his feet looking around at the whole table that had now gone completely quiet as they watched the drama unfold. His face wore an inane grin, his stubbly chin was stained by the dribble that bubbled from his sagging lips, and every now and then he belched, hiccupped and wobbled his head from side to side as he attempted to focus.
“Nah youze is the mother ucker who is messin withme an Mary-Jo’s plans an Auh si gonna put a stop to it right now.”
Billy-Bob said as he pulled his right hand back to punch Samuel. Before Jean or Papite could react Billy-Bob let fly with his punch, Samuel neatly sidestepped the arching right-hander leaving Billy-Bob to miss his target completely and crash into the dirt, face first in a cloud of dust spit and swearing. Samuel stood over the sad heap at his feet nodding his head from side to side. By now Jean and Papite were on their feet.
“Vous nous rendre tous embarrasses.., passé.”
Jean shouted as Billy-Bob struggled to his feet.
“Passé.”
Jean repeated as he pushed Billy-Bob away from Samuel.
Papite placed his hand on Samuel’s shoulder.
“Je suis désolé Samuel qu’il ne soit très ivre, Auh am sorry Samuel… he is very drunk.”
Samuel turned to Papite.
“It’s ok Papite, it’s only the liquor talking and I’ve dealt with a lot worse than him in my time.”
He said as he looked down at SJ’s concerned face and winked.
“Allons, soyons boire et oublier cette veuillez,….Come on,… let us drink an forget this please.”
Jean said as he ushered Samuel and Papite away towards the bar.
Cuzn Luke and Treacle helped Billy-Bob to his feet, they were both pissed with him and told him in no uncertain terms what an asshole he had been, Cuzn Luke suggested that he went and slept off his angry liquor fueled head and shoved him of in the general direction of his shack.
“If yuh repeat that Billy-Bob I swear I’ll whop yuh ass.”
Odeo called after Billy-Bob as he weaved his way through the crowd. With the commotion over the table returned to chatting and laughing although both Francine and Therese went out of their way to apologize to SJ. She thanked them both for their concern but explained that Samuel was big enough and ugly enough to look after himself and said that they should forget about it completely.
By eight o’clock the food was ready, all of the meats, fish and poultry had been cooked and the prepared dishes laid out on long tables next to the barbeques and spit stands. ‘Fiddle-De-Boom- Boom’ where just finishing the last song from their long first set as Francine took to the stage and approached a microphone. She waited for the music to stop and the applause from everyone to die down before saying with a wide smile spread across her face
“Mes amis la nourriture est prête, veuillez manger votre remplissage, please eat yuh fill.”
The whole crowd cheered as one and the dancing revellers in front of the stage started to disperse and people got up from their tables en mass, all following the aromatic woody sweet smells of barbequed or spit roasted food.
As the happy crowd patiently waited, chatting and laughing in queues for their food DJ Vidor Nagidda quietly took to the stage and started his first set, he had arrived earlier than expected and was eager to fire off some tunes. He opened up with Scientist’s ‘Heavyweight Dub Champion’, followed by Lee Scratch Perry’s ‘Conscious Man Dub’ then a selection of intermixed tracks from Black Uhuru’s ‘The Dub Factor’, King Tubby’s ‘Declaration of Dub’ and Burning Spear’s ‘Living Dub Volume 1’. His set was a mixture of heavy dub, classic 70’s roots reggae and a slightly softer and more romantic lover’s rock reggae, which provided a superb background musical accompaniment to the feast.
The food was a sure fire hit with everyone and soon all of the seats at the large tables were occupied. Plates were laden with seasoned, rubbed, spiced and marinaded meats of every description, cuts of poultry, various fish either blackened, smoked or steamed, Boudin and Andouille sausages. There were large side dishes placed along the center of the tables for everyone to help themselves to. These held Gumbo, Jambalaya and Dirty Rice, red and white beans seasoned with Tasso, slightly spiced squashes and pulses and mixed salads of lettuce, tomato, bell peppers, onion, celery, and artichoke. There were also platters of pistolettes which were small, golden brown fried bread rolls stuffed with crawfish and Jalapeño peppers, smaller bowls of Cracklins and baskets filled with fat slices of plain freshly baked long French and tomato or garlic flavored crusty loaves, plain or salted corn breads, corn crackling Pone, as well as flat pan bread.
For the first time that evening the two makeshift bars were empty as everyone sat together and ate. The food was magnificent, both in quality and quantity , there certainly was enough to feed an army of one thousand and everything had been prepared and cooked to perfection. While everyone ate Vidor turned the volume down some and softened the tone of the music by playing Marcia Griffith’s ‘The First Time I ever saw your Face’, Janet Kay’s ‘Lovin You’, Horace Andy’s ‘Ain’t no sunshine’, Tippa Irie’s ‘Hello Darling’, Bob Marley and the Wailer’s ‘Don’t Rock My Boat’ and Gregory Isaac’s ‘Night Nurse’.
A general hubbub of eating, talking and laughter rose up and mingled with the soft background music which together drifted out of Malase on the sultry evening breeze that blew in from the southwest. The sound had a ghost like presence as it moved between the shrouded trees out to the edge of the swamp, across the flat drier land before it entered the outskirts of Lokchapi. It was a mixture of weird, but somehow enchanting sounds, with a deep and almost imperceptible baseline beat intertwined with soft melodic tones and the fuzzy babble, cackle and jangle of drink fueled conversations, gossip and laughter.
Samuel, SJ, Jason and Jenny-Ray who were seated with Jean,Therese, Papite, Madeline, Achile, Francine, Cuzn Luke, Cuzn Booee, Treacle, Boffa and his wife Clemsy, Odeo and Francine and their four children to eat their feats. They all talked amongst themselves, laughed, ate, drank, ate some more and laughed some more over the course of the next hour or so. Jean, Cuzn Booee and Treacle with some help from Jason, Odeo and Achile went on a couple of missions to the bar throughout the course of their meal to replenish their table with beer, wine, shine and whiskey. Nearly everyone at their table made a second trip to the barbeque and spit stands to re-stock their plates with meats, a few of the men managed a third trip and Achile managed a fourth. By all rights he should be the size of a house with all the food he ate but he had a fast metabolism that burned up the calories almost as quickly as he consumed them. As a result he was a relatively thin, wiry, muscular man, who was light on his feet and deceptively strong.
As everyone present was finishing off their feast and clearing their tables of empty plates, bowls, platters and an assortment of knives, forks and spoons Vidor finished off the mellow part of his set playing Delroy Wilson’s ‘I’m Still Waiting’. He then turned the volume up while at the same time upping the tempo by playing classic 70’s and 80’s roots and Dance hall hits such Tennor Saw’s ‘Ring The Alarm’, Yellow Man’s ‘Zungazungazungazeng’,Eek-a Mouse’s ‘Wa-Do-Dem’, Dennis Brown’s ‘I’m Still Waiting’, then ‘Promised Land’, and Beresford Hammond’s ‘One Dance’.
By the time the sixth track ‘One Dance’ was playing the whole crowd was up and dancing again, then he dropped Ini Kamoze’s ‘ World A Music’, the crowd roared and went dancing crazy, jumping and weaving in and out as the Lyrical Gangsters’ voice sailed across the slightest of evening breezes in a haunting melodical style, they were mesmerized. As one they were joyously dancing and singing, laughing, jigging, weaving and staggering bopping and steppin, going dancehall crazy, as a Jamaican would call it. But to these happy people they were just enjoying the rhythms and beats and the beautiful voice that sang the lyrics that vibrated through the hot evening air out into the darkness of the surrounding swamplands, it was a sight to behold, Vidor looked on with a broad smile spread across his face. The two bars were three deep with people replenishing their alcohol levels while the dogs of Malase were untied to scavenge for scraps in the shadows. Vidor continued his set for another half an hour playing classics such as Beresford Hammond‘What One Dance Can Do’,Barrington Levy’s ‘Here I Come’ and Wayne Smith’s ‘Under Me Sleng Teng’.
By ten thirty Vidor finished his set to rapturous applause and a wall of cheering and clapping, he thanked the crowd for their appreciation before introducing Circadian Rhythms who were taking up their positions on stage.
There was a short silence before a leather healed boot tapped time on the stage and the accordion sparked into life supported by a fiddle and two guitars. The notes danced across the heads of the revelers before the lead singer leant forward into his microphone and started to sing a beautiful soft song called ‘The Forest Feufollet’, it told the story of a hunter who lived and died alone in the swamplands that he loved. His spirit has risen up out of the forest on the back of a Blue Heron but turned back at the gates of heaven and returned to his beloved swamps as a sparkling ball of bright fire that radiated a brilliant whitish blue, mauve and red light that skipped and danced forever between the dark Cypress buttresses. As the singer’s voice trailed off near to the end of the song a lone fiddle played on, its notes skipping and dancing away off into the night and as the last note faded away on the breeze a brilliant flash of purple white lightning streaked overhead. There was a collective gasp before a thunderclap detonated right above them making everyone including the dogs, chickens and pigs jump.
“Two, three, four.”
Then boomed out of the speakers and the band launched into their next song of their set, this was a lively tune with an infectious beat that was tapped out on the triangle and drums with the accordion providing the melody that was interwoven by the dancing notes of the two fiddles.
In no time everyone was up and dancing either the one step, two step, or a more complicated three step stagger jig. They were dancing in couples, on their own or in groups, on the tables, in front of the stage, some even jumped up onto the stage to dance in between and around the band. This happy energetic scene continued for a good half an hour as the band cranked up the beat and pace with each successive tune that they played. One they had reached their peak, they slowed everything down with a soft, gentle ballard, this gave the sweating exhausted dancers an opportunity to sit back down at their tables and have a well deserved break. Again drinks were replenished as everyone got their breaths back and wiped the sweat from their brows.
At juts past midnight the stage was opened up to a musical free for all as people were invited up to take part in duels. For more than an hour and a half an assortment of fiddles, guitars, banjos and accordions were brought up onto the stage by their owners who would stand and do musical battle with an opponent until one either gave up, lost the ever increasing and intricate tune or beat or due to the amount of alcohol consumed fell over drunk. If both participants were still doing battle with each other after five minutes they would be stopped by Francine who would ask the enthusiastic gathering to pick the winner by the volume of their applause. The winner would then go on to duel with the next person and so it went on until there was just one person left standing in the middle of the stage electrifying the air with his deft and acrobatic fiddling.
It was young Remy Guidry the eight year old son of Marcel and Adele Guidry. His mastery of the fiddle was something to behold, all the booked musicians as well as the beaten duelers looked on in awe as his bow flashed backwards and forwards across either side of the bridge and the fingers on his left hand cavorted up and down the fingerboard with ever increasing speed. He ducked and dived as he danced around on the stage with the fiddle clasped firmly under his chin, on and on he went until every person was up on their feet clapping and cheering him on. Young Remy Guidry won the duel by a mile and as Achile presented him with the winner’s trophy, a small silver fiddle which he was allowed to keep two proud parents stood by the side of the stage, their faces beaming with pride.
By three in the morning the crowd was starting to disperse, some revelers where walking along the track back into Lokchapi, others were walking along the track to meet cabs. Others just about managed to make it back along the track to their parked vehicles before climbing and in sleeping off the night’s alcohol in their cars or pickups. Some of the members of Fiddle-De-Boom-Boom and Circadian Rhythms were jamming together on the stage and they had been joined in their musical improvisations by some enthusiastic but very drunk locals.
The families of Malase started to retreat to their own porches with small groups of friends to carry on the night in a more relaxing intimate fashion. This is were the serious drinking happened and stories of old retold. Samuel SJ, Jason and Jenny-Ray took this as their cue to say their goodbyes for the night and despite the protestations of Jean and Therese to join them on their porch they managed to get away while they could still walk. SJ promised that they would return at some point in the morning and a very drunk Samuel promised Jean that he would join him for an all night drinking session tomorrow, he also apologized twice for not pacing himself with his drinking and with that the happy foursome started off down the track for home.
“Ils sont de bonnes personnes.”
Jean said as he stood with his arm around his beloved Therese watching the giggling family leave.
“Ah oui tres bonne…., tres bonne.”
Therese agreed.
It was an amusing wobble along the track for the four of them as none on them were that steady on their feet and Jason who was is charge of the flashlight insisted on shining it everywhere except for where they were going. There also seemed to be a competition going on between Samuel and Jason about who would fall over the most, both SJ and Jenny-Ray were in hysterics as Samuel and Jason took turns to hit the dust. Eventually they reached home and their long awaited beds. Jenny-Ray who was on a sleep-over didn’t even make it to the spare room; she fell fast asleep on the sofa while SJ was preparing the four of them a mug of coffee. Jason brought down a light blanket from the spare room and covered the soundly sleeping Jenny-Ray before disappearing up to his room and crashing out fully clothed face down on his bed.
Samuel and SJ kept their promise and returned the next morning about eleven to find a crowd of about fifty or more people still drinking and dancing. By two in the afternoon it was a sea of dancing laughing people again and by seven that evening the place was jammed, there seemed more than the previous night with people overflowing out of the main party area amongst, besides and behind the shacks. The music sounded louder and there was certainly more liquor of all kinds being consumed.
SJ was sitting at a table catting away with Samuel and Papite when SJ received a tap on her shoulder. She looked round and saw the beaming face of Charlotte.
“Hello my dear, having fun?”
Charlotte asked as a suprised SJ stood up to greet her.
“Charlotte how lovely to see you, I wouldn’t have thought that this was your kind of thing.”
SJ said,Charlotte laughed.
“My dear I have been attending these magnificent parties since I was a child as has Landon.”
She said as she turned so that she could introduce Landon who was standing just behind her to SJ and Samuel.
“Jean, Therese, Papite, Madeline,Achile and Francine are very good friends of ours and even when we lived in Baton Rouge we did our best to come and party every few years, now we’re back it’ll be a permanent fixture on our calendar again…., just like when we were kids.”
Charlotte said with a thoughtful smile on her face.
While SJ and Charlotte chatted away Landon sat down with Samuel and Papite and accepted with a smile the large glass of shine that he was offered.
“I hope this is Cuzn Luke’s…, not that yours isn’t good Papite.”
He said before downing it in one go.
“Naturellement.”
Papite said smiling.
“Wooaaahhhhh…, that sure hit the spot.”
Rasped Landon as he accepted a fill up”.
Samuel and SJ both spent an enjoyable day, evening and night with their friends in Malase, chatting, laughing, dancing and of course drinking. This time though they paced their drinking and Jean was impressed that they were both still matching all the old timers, glass for glass of shine right through the small hours until the next morning as dawn was breaking.
Chapter 36 Advice
Rebecca had spent the last few days furiously researching the information that Lottie and handed to her in that intriguing folder. As the revelers in Malase partied the weekend away Rebecca read and re-read all of the documents, listened to some voice recording that she had found loaded on a DVD within the file and also looked at an assortment of photographs of different people. At first it seemed very confusing but as she read and re-read the documents and then carried out a huge amount of research on the internet about the people named, their jobs, where they lived, what they were responsible for and their lifestyles, then all of the pieces of the jigsaw started to fall into place.
With each passing hour of work her knowledge grew and the picture of the state wide corruption and deceit started to show itself more clearly. She was staggered by the information that she was reading and listening to, how detailed it was and how it directly linked each player in the conspiracy to another with a mountain of hard evidence in each case. She was also more than a little surprised for Clive Meek to be identified within the file.
‘Horrible little man’, she thought. She also wondered how anyone would be able to amass such information in the first place and again she pondered why it was her that Lottie had chosen to break the story. She ran through their last conversation, over and over in her head questioning what had been said by Lottie and why she had said it.
‘You are such a bubbly, happy young woman, full of life and drive, you are interesting to talk to and hard working, you are ambitious and I can feel that your heart is a journalists’ heart, you are not a waitress ……….….., that is it, no more, no less’.
Finally Rebecca satisfied herself that she was happy with Lottie’s response and having confidence in her ability to quite accurately judge a person’s character she judged Lottie to be truthful in her explanation.
It was late on the Sunday night when Rebecca was reviewing her notes that the enormity of the story and its implications hit her and it hit her hard. The story involved high flying lawyers, politicians, local government officials, corruption, bribery, malpractice, professional misconduct, money laundering and to cap it all links to a terrorist organization. Paranoia overtook her thoughts as she struggled to rationalize why she had been selected to break the story. She started to question everything,’ who was Lottie really? Why didn’t she break the story herself? What would happen when the story broke? Would she be in danger? Where any of the people involved dangerous? Was the information really true? Who could she trust? And finally was she being watched?’ With that final thought Rebecca’s jumped up from her desk, turned off the light and peered out through a slit in-between her curtains into the darkness of the street outside. It took a minute or so for her eyes to adjust to the dark and as she waited, peering from behind her curtain her pulse increased and her breathing quickened.
She scanned both ways up and down the street, there was nothing unusual to see, no unknown cars parked with shadowy figures inside or none that she could see at least and there was nobody lurking on the street corner. By now here heart was pounding in her ears and her legs were starting to shake a little, she released the curtain and stepped away from the window before turning the light back on and sitting down at her desk. She held her head I her hands as her thoughts raced, she needed to talk to someone about all of this, someone that would be straight with her and give her good advice, it had to be someone she could trust and the only person that came to mind was Jerome. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Jerome, it was late at night but he was still up watching the football so at least she didn’t wake him. Her paranoia had also spread to doubting her phone line so she said nothing to Jerome about the story just asked him if he would come over as she needed to talk urgently.
Within the hour Rebecca heard Jerome pulling up outside her home, she went down stairs and opened the door for him, welcoming him with a big hug.
“Thanks Jerome I’m so happy you are here, please come in.”
She said as she ushered him into the house, she held her finger up to her lips and whispered
“Everyone is asleep.”
Quietly Jerome took off his big clumpy boots and left them by the door, he then followed Rebecca along the hallway and up the stairs towards her room. He padded along behind her like a big friendly grizzly bear taking each step with care on the squeaky wooden stairs trying to be as quiet as he could. Once inside her room Rebecca closed the door behind them both.
“Please take a seat Jerome.”
She said pointing towards her bed, while Jerome tentatively sat on the end of her bed Rebecca pulled her chair away from her desk and swung it around to face Jerome. She then picked up her grey file and her note book and sat down.
“Before we get started thanks for coming over.”
Jerome’s face flushed a little.
“Oh it’s no problem.”
He replied rather shyly before continuing.
“I hope yuh pa don’t catch me in here.”
“Don’t be silly Jerome, I am a grown woman and we are two friends talking and its not as if you’re screwing me is it.”
“C’est vrai…….That is true.”
“Now get yourself comfortable and I’ll begin.”
Rebecca said as she opened up her file and laid it on her lap. Jerome moved backwards on the bed, reached for a pillow and put it between his back and the wall; he then settled himself into the softness of the pillow and waited for Rebecca to start.
For the next two hours Rebecca explained all that had happened over the last few days. She described Lottie, how she talked, dressed and her own assessment of her character. She described the conversation Lottie had had with her about breaking the story and she went through the contents of the file in detail. Halfway through her description she popped downstairs quickly to make them both a mug of strong coffee returning in no time with both of the coffees and a jar of cookies. All the while that Rebecca had been speaking Jerome sat silently listening, he had visibly flinched when Rebecca mentioned Clive Meeks name but said nothing, he just let her continue talking. What he was hearing did not surprise him at all as he had thought that power and corruption always seemed to go hand in hand. He also had a healthy cynicism regarding government officials and bureaucrats in general and how they wheeled and dealed behind closed doors. In his mind they were public servants who would make arrangements that served their own personal interests more than those of the public and that was often through financial gain.
When Rebecca had finished explaining all she knew Jerome asked her some questions. He asked about her research, about her gut feelings and about her opinion on the accuracy of the information that she had been provided with in the grey file that lay in her lap.
They sat there chatting away for another hour, Jerome would ask a question and Rebecca would think about it carefully before replying. Rebecca then would ask Jerome his opinion of differing aspects of her situation and he responded with the best advice he could muster, back and forth the conversation went.
By three thirty am they were all but talked out. The one aspect of her situation that Rebecca had not revealed to Jerome was her paranoia. She had been mulling it over in the back of her mind for the last half an hour or so wondering if Jerome would laugh at her.
“Well Jerome that’s about it I spose, what do you think I should do?”
She said as Jerome stretched and yawned.
“Well how do yuh feel aboud it ?… Anything botherin yuh that would stop yuh?” Auh mean yuh have all the information, yuh dun yuh research an yuh is a journalist.”
He said looking at her with concern etched across his face.
“I know all of that Jerome, but…, it’s…… I mean I…………, I am a little scared you know.”
She replied dropping her head and fiddling nervously with her fingers. Gone was the confident, excited young journalist, sitting in front of Jerome was a scared young woman who was depending upon him for the right advice.
“Hey c’mon now.”
Jerome said as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat directly opposite her, some two feet away. He leaned forward and held her hands tenderly between his.
“She looked up and smiled weakly.
“I mean what if I’m being watched already, what if any of these people are dangerous and what will happen if I do go through with it…., I mean everything will change and I don’t want anything bad to happen to my family.”
“Listen, you know your own mind an Auh think you know what you will do, all Auh will say is that promise to discuss this once more with your contact an ask her all of the questions that I couldn’t help you with. Then discuss it with your boss at the Ville Platte Gazette, whadid you say his name was?”
“William Ashlock.”
“That was it William Ashlock, If he thinks it’s ok an will support you then go an discuss it with yuh parents, then once yuh have everyone’s opinion then yuh make yuh own mind up,…….If yuh don’t wanna do it then don’t. But Auh hope you do go for it because this is a chance in a million. A journalist could work all their lives an never come across a story like this……, d’ya hear me.”
“Yes Jerome I know that.”
“Good, finally if you do go for it an the shit hits the fan an you an yuh family are being hassled by the media or yuh gets scared then come an hang at mine,…. I’ll look after you, you’ll be safe with me.”
“Oh Jerome.”
She squealed as she launched herself forwards and flung her arms around his broad shoulders
“I knew I could depend on you.”
I hope you enjoy your reading. It is available on Kindle and a free copy can be borrowed for download at https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Blue-Heron-Howard-Moore-ebook/dp/B00KK6BWLK..
Howard Moore
