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I said to myself, Buster, your time will come, and here it has, ain't it?"
"No," I said. "I made no agreements with you. Now, get out."
"I ain't gettin' out till I get what's comin' to me. What's the difference to you anyway? You make babies without a husband at your side, don'tcha?" He flashed that toothless smile at me again.
"Get out!" I screamed. Pearl started to cry. I started to turn away, but Buster moved quickly to seize my wrist.
"Here now, be careful you don't drop the baby," he said with a threat in his voice. I tried to keep my face turned away from him. His breath and the odor from his clothes and body was enough to turn my stomach. He started to pry my arms from Pearl.
"No!" I cried, but I didn't want the baby hurt. She was screaming hysterically when he put his big, dirty hands around her waist.
"Let me just hold her a moment, will ya? I got babies of my own. I know what to do."
Rather than pull and tug with Pearl between us, I had to release her.
"Don't hurt her," I begged. She cried and waved her arms toward me.
"Hey, now, hey. . . it's your. . . uncle Buster," he said. "She's a pretty one. Goin' to break someone's heart, too, I betcha."
"Please, give her back to me," I pleaded.
"Sure. Buster Trahaw don't hurt babies. Buster Trahaw makes babies," he said, and laughed at his own joke.
I took Pearl back and stepped away.
"Put her to bed," he ordered. "We got business to conduct."
"Please, leave us alone . . . please. . . ."
"I ain't leavin' till I get what I come for," he said. "Now, is it goin' to be hard or easy? I can take it either way. Thing is," he said, smiling again, "I kinda like it the hard way more. It's like wrestlin' an alligator." He stepped toward me and I gasped. "Put her to bed less'n she's going to get an early education, hear?"
I swallowed hard. It was difficult to breathe and not be drowned in what was happening so fast.
"Put her down on that sofa there," he ordered. "She'll cry herself to sleep jist like most babies. Go on."
I eyed the settee and the door, but despite his stupidity, he had enough sense to anticipate that and stepped back to block my escape. Reluctantly I brought Pearl to the settee and set her down. She screamed and screamed.
Buster took my wrist and pulled me to him. I tried to resist, but it was like holding back the tide. He wrapped his enormous arms around me, crushing me to his stomach and chest, and then he pinched my chin in his powerful fingers and forced me to look up so he could bring those spongy lips to my mouth. I gagged under their wet pressure, holding my breath and trying to keep myself from falling unconscious. I was terrified that if I did, he would just rip off my clothes and have his way with me.
His right hand moved down my waist until he cupped my rear in it and lifted me, bouncing me in his hands as if I weighed only a little more than Pearl.
"Whoa, now. This is a fine piece of
merchandise here. Your grandpere Jack was right. Yep."
"Please," I pleaded, "not near the baby. Please."
"Sure, honey. I want a real bed for us anyway. You go on and lead the way upstairs."
He turned me roughly and pushed me toward the kitchen and the stairway. I gazed back at Pearl. She was crying hard and her whole little body was shaking.
"Go on," Buster ordered.
I started forward, searching for a means of escape. My gaze went to the roux I had left cooking on the stove. It was still simmering.
"Wait," I said. "I've got to turn this off."
"That's a good Cajun woman," Buster said. "Always thinkin' about her cookin'. Afterward, I might sample some of your gumbo anyway. Makin' love usually makes me hungry as a bear."
He stepped up behind me. I knew I had only a few seconds and if I didn't make the most of it now, I would be doomed to go up those stairs. Once up there, I was trapped and at his mercy. Even if I could jump out a window, I wouldn't, for I would be leaving him alone with Pearl. I closed my eyes, prayed, and took the handle of the pot firmly in my fingers. Then I spun