“I know you men don’t want to sit here and listen to me tell you all the salacious details of our relationship.”
“What’s salacious?” asked Kenneth.
“It means dirty,” said Larry.
“Well,” said Miss Jasmine, let’s just say that besides being soulmates, we were physically harmonious. Cupid and Psyche, you know. After a few months, I learned I was pregnant, and we were so happy.
“Mrs. Atkins wanted to have a baby shower, but most of her white friends, if you call them friends, didn’t want to come to a black girl’s shower. So, Mrs. Atkins went out to the clothesline and passed the word of the shower. All welcome.
“On the day of the party, a lot of people came. Mostly other people’s house help. Back then baby showers were for women only, so Leopold just sat on the front porch a little jealous and read a book. Somebody must have complained about all the Negros at Mrs. Atkins’ house and even one on the porch, so eventually Sheriff Ortega himself showed up. He saw Leopold and motioned for him to come to the car.
“Sherrif Ortega told Leopold that he knew Jasmine did not want to ever see him or talk to him again. He said he had regret, and he knew he could never make up for what he did. And he also said he had books, lots of books in Portuguese that he didn’t need and that Jasmine might have an interest in them.
“Leopold explained to him that I would not want his books. That I wanted no association with him. But the sheriff convinced Leopold that these books were literary treasures. I did not have to associate the books with him, but these books needed a proper caretaker, and that caretaker was me.
“Leopold agreed that the sheriff could have some of his men take the books to his office, but not to the house. He would gradually take a few books home and gauge my reaction. They agreed, and the sheriff said, ‘Vidas secas, that’s the best one. Maybe she could translate it.’
“About a week after the shower, I was still so happy. Then one day, Leopold came home from school with some books. He said, ‘Honey, look what I have: some books in Portuguese. Maybe you’d like to read them.’
“I must have turned white as a sheet, which is hard for a black person to do. I looked at the books and said, ‘Those are from the sheriff. Why did you bring me that evil man’s books?’
“Then I stomped into the bedroom and started crying. One of the neighbors heard and came over, thinking maybe Leopold was beating me. Leopold told her, no, he had stupidly dredged up my previous life, and it was a horrible mistake.
“Leopold didn’t know what to do, but the neighbor knew the story of how we got married. The marriage had been the talk of the town, the bribe, the White Jesus, sinful copulation and whatnot. The neighbor said to call Mrs. Atkins and get her to come over and talk to me. Pretty soon Mrs. Atkins was outside the bedroom door and sounded angry with Leopold.
“I learned later that she had instructed Leopold to rephrase what she’d said, like he meant it.
“Mrs. Atkins started, ‘You, Leopold, are a piece of shit.’
“‘Yes, ma’am, I am a piece of shit.’
“‘You don’t understand a woman’s feelings, do you?’
“‘No, Mrs. Atkins, I do not understand a woman’s feelings. I certainly don’t.’
“‘She’s carrying your child, cooking for you, cleaning, and probably picking up your dirty socks.’
“‘Yes, ma’am. Jasmine is carrying my child, taking care of me, and picking up my dirty socks.’
“‘Because you are a dirty pig.’
“‘That’s right, I’m a dirty pig.’
“‘And you want to torment her by reminding her of her past—’
“‘That’s not right, Mrs. Atkins. These are works of literature. People in this town can’t appreciate them. Jasmine is educated and is a talent. I know she loves literature, and I just thought she might—’
“I opened the door and pulled Mrs. Atkins into the room, then slammed the door. Leopold told me he just sat on the sofa and waited. I started crying again, sobbing for quite a while. Then Mrs. Atkins got me quiet, and we whispered to each other for a few minutes.
“I was quiet now. Mrs. Atkins opened the door and said to Leopold, ‘Give me one of those books, please.’
“Leopold looked through the books, found Vidas secas, and handed it to her. Mrs. Atkins closed the door, and we talked some more. Finally, I opened the door and walked out with Vidas secas in my hand. I walked to the sofa and sat on the other end from Leopold. I put the book on the coffee table and said to Leopold, ‘Mrs. Atkins said to keep one of the books, just one, so this one. Put it where we can both see it. Take the other books back to the university and leave them there. We’ll just talk about happy things and think about the baby. If after some time the book causes anxiety, then get rid of it. But it’s a book; it is not the sheriff. That period of my life is gone. The sheriff knows he hurt me, and that our relationship is destroyed. But literature is literature, and it has nothing to do with him. Basically, Mrs. Atkins told me I need to get over it and not blame you for my trauma.’
“I started to cry again and moved next to Leopold. I put my head on his shoulder and kept crying. Mrs. Atkins picked up her purse and left.
“That’s how we got married, and that’s how I got the book. Eventually all of his books. As they say, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Jasmine with the baby carriage and a boatload of Portuguese books.”
“My goodness, it is almost supper time,” said Miss Jasmine. “Sam, would you like to stay for supper?”
“That would be very nice, Miss Jasmine, but on another evening please. In theory I’m here visiting my sister, and she’s expecting me.”
“And what did you tell your sister you are doing every day?”
“I told her I’m doing research every day, at the state library.”
“That’s where Larry used to work,” said Kenneth. “He was a librarian. Ha ha ha, some librarian.”
“You just shut up,” said Larry.
“Now, boys, you can argue about that later. Sam, did you say you were taking these thugs to JHOP tomorrow?”
“Thug Larry said it was JHOP and for the rest of my life.”
“Well then, may I join you?” said Miss Jasmine. “I can’t remember the last time I went anywhere.”
“It would be my pleasure,” said McArdle. “I’ll see you all in the morning.”