The sweet smell of boiling raccoon wafted from the Loud cabin, enveloping Lincoln Loud in a delicious aura as the white haired youth plucked at his banjo strings. It had been a good day for him, because he'd managed to bag two raccoons and a pheasant without any wasted shots. Lincoln rocked back and forth in his chair as the breeze wicked away any beads of sweat that formed on his forehead.
The peaceful gurgling of the bayou was pierced by men shouting. Two dark figures darted across the muddy waters. Lincoln narrowed his eyes and realized that they were negros.
"Luan! Leni! Som'buddeh! Fetch me ma' twelve gauge!"
A man's voice called out from the unseen depths of the bayou.
"Don't shoot em!"
Lincoln recognized the voice as none other than Howard McBride.
"Them's my niggers!"
The skinny McBride leapt into the air and slammed into the smaller negro, sinking both of them into the mucky water. The other negro stopped cold in his tracks and screamed. McBride pulled himself up, the negro boy in his clutches.
"Don't ya tryan run away from me, slave!" McBride shouted.
The stocky adult negro fell to his knees.
"Please masta, don't hurt my boy!"
Lincoln sat dumbfounded. He knew slavery was illegal, but he also knew that McBride didn't believe in the thirteenth amendment.
"I only know da' first and seconds amendments, an' thayt's all I need," McBride had said.
McBride shot Lincoln a look. Lincoln simply nodded. He hadn't seen anything.
Luan stirred at the simmering pot of raccoon stew, baby Lily clutched to her bosom.
"Hey," she called to no one in particular, "why'd da nigger cross da road? Ta gets ta da chicken on duh odda syde!"
Lisa drooled and Leni stared confused.
"Gets et? 'Cause niggers be dumb."
Luna looked up from the shirt she was mending.
"We gets it, Luan."
Lincoln walked in, his banjo slung over his shoulder.
"Wha' was wit' da hottin' an' hollerin' ya was doin' earlier, Lincoln?" asked Luan.
"McBride's negros got loosed. I hadn't a known they was hims"
Luna sneered.
"What's he got niggers for? Ain't no lan' for niggers ta work 'round her'"
"They's probably for cuttin' peat," Lincoln replied.
"Lincoln, 'ave I tolds ya da one 'bout da nigger and tha' road yet?"
Lincoln pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned in reply. Before Luan could repeat her zinger, Lisa waddled up to Lincoln and tugged on his trouser leg.
"O-outhouse," Lisa said.
Lisa had been a sharp little thing. Too sharp. She had made useful, but peculiar, and perhaps even diabolical contraptions to reduce the family's labor. One day, Papa Loud became suspicious and read her diary, and when he read her openly questioning God, he burned her books and destroyed her devil machines. To save Lisa's soul, the family pooled together what little money they had and took her into the city for an operation. The cityboy doctor called it a 'lobotomy,' but the family called it a miracle.
"Outhouse," Lisa repeated, this time with more urgency.
Lincoln took her spittle coated hand and led her outside.
Luan looked over the raccoon stew and sighed. It didn't look or smell nearly as appetizing as Lori's. The day that Lori had ran away was still as fresh in Luan's mind as the raccoon in the stew. Lori said she was going to go to the city. She said she was going to vote. She said she was going to make something of herself. All Luan knew was that she wasn't going to cook them raccoon stew anymore.
Luna held out the shirt she'd finished mending with pride.
"Y'all think Lincoln'll like it?" Luna asked.
Luan was too concerned with how the stew was turning out to answer. Leni looked over and beamed.
"It looks hunky-dory!"
Leni moved a few chairs closer to Luna to get a better look at the shirt.
"So, could ya teach me ta' sow?" Leni asked.
Luna gave Leni a sad smile. She had tried to teach Leni how to sew multiple times in the past, and every time Leni ended up pricking her fingers over and over again until she gave up. On the few occasions Leni managed to get started, she'd completely ruin the fabric by sewing in jagged, uneven patterns.
Luna patted Leni's head.
"Someday."
Luan called out while ringing her dinner bell.
"Suppertime!"
Lincoln salivated at the smell of the stew in front of him. It wasn't Lori's, but dammit Luan could still cook a fine meal. Papa Loud sat at the head of the table, the tail of his greying beard curling onto the floor. The twins sat next to each other, with Lola in her pretty Sunday dress and Lana in her muck coated overalls. Luan sat with baby Lily cradled in her arms. Luna fidgeted slightly, waiting for grace to start. Both Leni and Lisa stared blankly at their bowls.
Papa Loud started in his raspy voice.
"Oh Lord, thank you for this bountiful meal. Thank you for the roof over our heads and the loved ones we still have. And bless those that you have taken to live with you in your kingdom."
Lincoln shuffled awkwardly. He'd been assured that the exorcism had saved Lucy's soul, he knew that Mama was in heaven waiting for him, and he couldn't care less if Lynn was in hell. However, just the mention of those that had left caused him to squirm.
"Amen."