Louisiana Loco-Motive

Chapter 7

Biscuits from Scratch

Arriving back at Mrs. Devereux's place, Geneva handed her employer the long brown envelope she had been sent to fetch asking,

"Mrs. Devereux, what's in there, if you don't mind me asking ma'am?"

"Important papers, Geneva. It's some real important papers is all. I'm gonna use the information in them for the upcoming Founders Day Festival. Matter of fact Geneva, wasn't yore sister married to a descendant of the Brown family?"

"Which Brown family, ma'am?"

"Don't you play funny with me, Geneva; you know very well what Brown family I'm speakin' of."
"Yes'm. My sister was married to Reggie Ray."

"Not the Reggie Ray," Mrs. Devereux gasped.

At her age, she shouldn't have been gasping at anything, cause it was way too hard for her to catch her breath again any time that she did. She went into a coughing fit that lasted every bit of two minutes. Geneva, like clockwork, left out of the room briefly and reappeared standing within inches of her employer holding a full glass of water. Mrs. Devereux's shaky hands reached for the glass and letting her employer take hold of it, Geneva clasped her own hands around Mrs. Devereux's to gently guide the glass up to her quivering lips so she could get a couple of small sips of the liquid into her mouth and hopefully down her throat.

"Geneva?"

"Ma'am?"

"You were married to Reggie Ray Brown?"

"No ma'am, that was my sister."

"He's married to Sugar now, isn't he?"
"Yes'm. Him and Sugar been married e'r since my niece Remi was one year old."

"Yes. I 'member her. Such a darling child. How is she?"

"She's a feisty lil thing jus' like my sister Diane was. But she's smart too. Very capable. And, an amazing cook, ma'am. Mrs. Devereux, when I tell you that child can cook, I means it."

Mrs. Devereux laughed a bit.

"Well now, how sweet is that! What can she cook, Geneva?"

"E'r thang, ma'am, but her specialty is biscuits from scratch."

"You don't say? It's been way too long since I've had me some biscuits from scratch. Doctor  LeBlanc don't want me havin'em tho. Says they're no good for anybody my age. Can you 'magine that, Geneva? Somebody my age. Pfft.

I'd shore love to have me some biscuits from scratch."

"Yes'm. Our whole family celebrates my niece's birthday every year with biscuits from scratch. It's a family recipe of her great, great, grandaddy Ranger."

"Yes. Its a shame what happened to his daddy Roger."

After an eerie silence, Mrs Devereux broke it by asking, "Geneva y'think yore niece can bring me some of them biscuits from scratch?" 

"Yes'm. We'll be having some next week on account it's her birthday."

"How old's she turnin'?"

"Eleven, ma'am."

Mrs. Devereux's face lost all its color and she looked as if she'd seen a ghost. She stared blankly into the distance in front of her.

Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo. Chugga-chugga, chugga-chugga, chooo-choo.
The sound of the locomotive's engine in the distance was very pronounced. After it faded away she whispered, "My God! Bless her heart, poor Sugar. Lord knows, i'm praying for her!"