Sweet Jesus by Christine Pountney Read Free Book Online

laughed and put her arm around Norm and leaned into him. A candle flame slid into view on the window behind her. The room was so hot and humid. The music from the living room was thick and heavy too. An old blues man’s voice. This was the Newfoundland tropical effect. They were expert, it seemed, at creating artificial weather systems and had sealed, within this clapboard house, all the warm fecundity of a greenhouse.
    The woman sitting across from Hannah had a pale wide face and the rich red luxurious hair of a chow. So remind me, she said, how long have you two been together?
    Bernice McFaddon and Norman Peach went way back. She had once given him advice when a lesbian couple wanted Norm to father their child. They wanted his sperm and no other commitment. She listened and said, What, are you fucking crazy? In this town? The child would be walking down the street in fifteen years and see you coming and buckle at the knees. In a moment, it would destroy the both of you.
    Almost two years, Hannah said.
    Is that
it
? Bernice said. Christ, I thought it was longer than that. You know, I don’t know anything about you. You’re a nurse, aren’t you?
    Hannah’s head jerked back, her chin tucked into her neck.
    I thought I heard.
    A nurse? Hannah said.
    I don’t know, Bernice said. You seem. So what is it you do?
    I’m a writer.
    Oh God, Bernice said, not another writer. And she showed her vexation by resting her wrists on the table and looking sideways at Norm, but he didn’t notice her. A car passed and silver raindrops flashed on the black windows like beads of mercury.
    So, what do
you
do? Hannah asked.
    Bernice took a mouthful of lamb. She rolled her eyes and waved her fork, chewing gallantly. It’s too complicated, she said.
    What do you mean?
    Bernice said, It’s hard to explain. She was cleaning her lips with her tongue.
    Try me, Hannah said. She couldn’t tell whether this evasion on Bernice’s part was self-effacing or supercilious. She was still bristling about being called a nurse.
    She’s a sometimes-academic, the man to Hannah’s right said, a sometimes-chef, and a full-time mom. This was MonaTerrance’s dashing husband and he sat at the head of the table. He wore a thin red bandana twisted and tied around his neck like a Spaniard. He was smiling with apparent delight, but on whose behalf or at whose expense Hannah couldn’t tell. She was starting to feel a little persecuted.
    See? Bernice said modestly. It’s not important.
    But that sounds interesting to me, Hannah said and reached for one of the bottles. If she had to admit, she was a bit afraid of people. She feared that they would always, ultimately, reject her. Norm and I went to Bell Island yesterday, she told Bernice, rallying herself. It’s such a beautiful place. We met this old guy on the ferry and his accent was so thick I could hardly understand him.
    Yeah, and I’ve met a lot of mainlanders I couldn’t understand either, Bernice said, tossing her napkin onto her plate and giving it a small push.
    Really?
    She nodded.
    Like who.
    People from Toronto.
    Come on.
    I’m serious.
    But it was like this guy was speaking a completely different language, Hannah said. Even his expressions were foreign to me.
    Maybe that’s what he was thinking about you too.
    But I speak so obviously. I don’t think he was having any difficulty understanding
me
.
    How do you know?
    I live in a big city. It’s a pool for accents. They all get watered down. He’s living in a remote place. Language evolves idiosyncratically in isolation.
    Maybe he doesn’t appreciate you coming along and making him feel idiosyncratic.
    Hannah stared at Bernice.
    Maybe he doesn’t think where he comes from is so remote or so isolated.
    I’m not trying to, I mean, this is an island. Take any island. It’s like the Irish.
    We’re not Irish.
    But it’s similar. Have you ever been?
    No, why would I want to go there? As if I could afford to go travelling, she said, turning to