Onna listened to the rain as it slapped the tin roof of the farmhouse. "A hard rain and a tin roof make for a good sleep", her granny had told her. She had been asleep. The sound of her granny's cane tapping on the wood floor outside her room had awakened her. Onna knew she would check on her before going to bed herself. It was a time in the evening both had come to enjoy. Onna pulled herself up into a sitting position and lit the candle on her night table as her granny entered the room.
Onna watched as her granny looked around the bedroom. She walked over to the window and peered out into the night. "Rain is letting up, child. You are missing a good sleep." With that said she walked over to the chair next to Onna's bed and sat down.
In the candlelight, Onna’s granny looked larger than life. She had her hair pulled back tightly into a bun. Her face told the story of a life that had been long and hard. Everybody knew Onna’s granny. Carol Teal had become Granny Carol long before any of her own grandchildren had been born. As a midwife, she had brought more babies into the world than both the doctors in Chelsy.
There was more to Granny Carol than her ability to help in the birthing process. She had been born on the Bayou. Her family had a long history of having “the gifting”. Onna, as a child, had sat for hours, listening to her granny talk about it. “Everybody has their share of demons. Most people can meet them, head on. Others, weaker by nature, push the ugly thoughts and prodding back to the darkest corners of the mind. Demons can smell fear. When they see it, they attack like a pack of wild dogs. The pain and suffering on a body is as real as can be. Those that have “the gifting” can actually see the struggle inside a person.”
Granny’s voice pulled Onna back into candlelit room. “What is on your mind, child?” she asked. “Well”, Onna began, “I saw Mrs. Shelton at the Utility Office today. She told me she was worried about her husband, Charles. He works at the local battery company in Chelsy. She said he had been working a lot of hours at the plant. She said that some nights he doesn’t even come home. She said she is afraid that if she doesn’t get him to slow down, his health may break.”
Onna’s granny turned her head to look out into the night. It was as if the answer lay just beyond the walls of Onna’s bedroom. “So, what did you make of what she told you?” she inquired. “I don’t know”, Onna said. “It was as if she wanted me to agree with her…as if she really didn’t believe what she was telling me. I had the feeling that she knew it had to be something else. But, she seemed intent on getting me to agree with what she was telling me.”
The old woman turned to face her granddaughter and smiled. “I think you are right”, she said. “So what are you going to tell her?”
It was Onna’s turn to look out into the night. The rain had stopped. As she looked at the tree standing just outside her room, she noticed a huge limb that had been broken by the wind and the rain. It was barely hanging. The next wind would bring it to the ground. “I guess I will tell her what I have seen”, Onna replied. “I will tell her that her husband has already broken from the life that they had together and that, soon, he will completely fall away.”
Sensing she had eased Onna’s mind, her granny said, “Well, you will have to wait till morning to tell her. Right now, you need to get some rest.” Onna reached to blow out the candle as her granny stood to leave her room. She could still hear the tapping of her granny’s cane as she drifted off to sleep.
The sun was shining the next morning as Onna left for work. The only reminder of the previous night’s storm was the limb that was still hanging from the tree outside her room.
It took all of five minutes for Onna to get to work. She was a receptionist for Mr. Taylor, Chelsy’s only lawyer. He had come to Chelsy upon graduating from Law School and passing his bar exam. Although the town was small, there was enough business for one attorney. He had come to enjoy the easy pace of a small town and seemed perfectly content to build a practice that would bring in enough money to support himself and his family. Onna was glad. She had been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and Mr. Taylor had hired her immediately.
Onna decided she would go see Mrs. Shelton during lunch. She only lived a couple of blocks from Mr. Taylor’s office. She would have more than enough time for a quick visit before having to be back at her desk.
Mrs. Shelton was sitting on the porch when Onna arrived. “I thought we would have some ice tea on the porch”, she said. Onna sat down beside her and said, “I just wanted to stop by and let you know I have been thinking about what you told me yesterday.”
“Oh, well”, Mrs. Shelton replied. “I didn’t mean to go on and on about my problems yesterday. It’s just that Charles is so busy these days and I really don’t have anyone else I can talk to.”
Onna took a sip of her iced tea and said, “I know how you feel, Mrs. Shelton. I mean, I know what you are going through. “
Mrs. Shelton pulled at her apron, as if trying to straighten out an imaginary wrinkle. “So, what do you make of all I told you yesterday?” she asked.
Onna reached out to take Mrs. Shelton’s hands in hers. This was always the hardest part. Telling someone what they were so afraid to hear…something that, deep down, they already knew. Onna said, “I thought about it all last night. I know you say you are worried about your husband’s health and that all the extra hours are going to, sooner or later catch up with him. I think there is more you are worried about. I think you see him pulling away from you…away from the life you and he have shared for all these years.” Summoning up her courage, Onna continued. “I have come to tell you that you are right.”
The look on Mrs. Shelton’s face told Onna that she already knew it to be true. After a few more minutes of small talk, Onna told Mrs. Shelton she had to get back to work. As Onna stepped off the porch, Mrs. Shelton said, “You know, you remind me so much of your grandmother.”
That night, by candlelight, Onna told her granny about the visit with Mrs. Shelton. As Onna spoke, her granny nodded her head. “I know it was a difficult thing to do. The gifting is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing to be able to bring relief to a troubled mind. The curse is in having to be the one to do it.”
Onna waited until her granny was almost out of the room before saying, “Mrs. Shelton said I remind her of you.” Onna drifted off to sleep thinking about the smile her comment had put on her granny’s face.
The next couple of days were busy ones for Onna. Mr. Taylor had decided he was going to take a vacation. He and his family were going to be gone for an entire week. After seeing how much work was involved in getting ready for a week off, he had almost decided to cancel the vacation completely. Onna had assured him that she could handle things while he was away. By the end of the week, Mr. Taylor was certain he would be able to leave without the slightest reservation.
That evening, Onna told her granny how impressed Mr. Taylor had been with her work. “He said he was going to be able to enjoy a week’s vacation without the slightest bit of worry.”
Onna’s granny smiled and said, “You have grown into quite a lady. I am so proud of the woman you have become.”
The next morning, while getting into her car, Onna felt her eyes drawn to the tree outside her room. There, on the ground, lay the limb that had broken during the storm. The wind had finally blown hard enough to take it completely from the tree. Onna drove to work in silence.
The phone was ringing as Onna unlocked the door of Mr. Taylor’s office. Zach Peterson, owner of Chelsy Battery was on the other end of the line. When Onna told him that Mr. Taylor had gone out of town on vacation, Mr. Peterson said, “Well, you had better tell him to get back here. We have a problem.”
Onna shuddered as Mr. Peterson began to tell her why he needed Mr. Taylor to forgo his vacation. Charles Shelton, his plant manager, had been juggling the books. He had been successful in skimming several thousand dollars into his pocket. What Shelton didn’t know was that Mr. Peterson had decided to sell the company. It had been in his family for years and he had finally decided to sell the whole thing and be done with it. He had told Charles about his decision. He had let him know that an outside auditor was going to be looking at the books to ascertain the company’s true worth. Last night, Charles Shelton had taken a pistol, put it in his mouth, and killed himself. His body had been discovered this morning by his secretary. He was lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his office.
Onna gave Mr. Peterson the number Mr. Taylor had left in case of an emergency. As she hung up the phone, she reached for her rolodex. With trembling fingers, she fumbled through the cards until she found the number for the tree service Mr. Taylor used. “Dillon’s Tree Service”, the voice on the other end of the line announced. “This is Onna from Mr. Taylor’s office”, she said. “I have a tree limb that blew down during the storm the other night. I was hoping you would have time to come out and dispose of it immediately. I can give you the address and meet you there to pay you if you can take care of it today.”
That night, Onna wept as she told her granny all that had happened. “There, there, child”, her granny had said. “Things like this are bound to happen. You did all you could do.”
On the day of the funeral, the sky was overcast. Onna had thought of not going. But, she knew she had to. At the cemetery, she waited until almost all had gone before leaving. As she walked along the rows of markers, she paused to look at one. The marker was plain and the inscription simple. It said,
Carol Teal
Born 1897 Died 1968
Granny Carol
May You Rest In Peace
As Onna looked at the marker, she thought of what her granny had told her about “the gifting”. Wiping a tear from her eye, Onna said, “You are right. It is both a blessing and a curse. For me, the curse is having to tell many what they don’t want to hear. The blessing is knowing that I will talk with you, again, tonight.”