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True Blood S4
Chapter 45 Honey Hole
When Andy had mentioned to Terry late Wednesday night that he wanted to go fishing the next morning Terry was ready to offer an apology and beg off. Arlene saw that look on his face and got angry. They were in the kitchen helping her wash up the dishes and Arlene threw down her drying towel.
"Terry Bellefleur, don't you dare," she scolded him.
Terry looked confused. "Well, I wasn't darlin'..."
"No, I mean don't you dare use me as an excuse and not go."
Andy gave her a thankful smile.
"Y'all been working around here like madmen—you need a break. And frankly, so do I," she said a touch indelicately. Terry's look of confusion gave way to one of insult.
"Arlene," he began defensively as he shifted to his other foot and puffed out his chest, "we are fixing up this house for my gran and, by extension, our family; and you need me around here to see after you..."
"Oh, honey, I didn't mean it like that at all," she went to him and gave him a sweet kiss. I'm fine, baby...but if I hear another hammer bangin' 'gainst another nail, why I'm just gonna scream. Everything is coming along so nice—everything is looking so beautiful around here..." she said, sweet as honey." Terry smiled in appreciation of his wife's praise. "But y'all have been busier than a cat covering crap on a marble floor—give it a rest for a day, would ya?" she said irritatedly.
"She's right, dears..." said Caroline Bellefleur as she entered the kitchen. "Go fishing, boys. It's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow and I'll be here to look after this one, here..." she walked over and linked her arm through Arlene's. "Now, honey, how about a cup of tea before bed? Will you join me?"
"Why yes, I will. You go on up and I'll bring it to you," offered Arlene with a broad smile.
"Thank you, my love. Good night boys. Enjoy yourselves tomorrow and bring back dinner," their grandmother admonished them as she left the kitchen.
"Well, just call me hen-pecked and feed me corn," said Terry.
"Oh, you stop that," laughed Arlene as she picked up the drying towel and playfully snapped his bum with it.
Andy laughed as well. "I was thinking 'bout headin' to Lake Bistineau, Terry."
"Ain't that one kinda choked up?" he asked, referring to salvinia problem there.
"No, there's still some good spots—a buddy of mine was just out there last week—told me about a real nice honey hole he come up on..."
"Sweet. Alright then, we're goin' fishin!"
Andy and Terry were up at four am and served a hearty breakfast by Arlene. She packed their lunches and sent them both off as they each gave her a hug and a kiss to her cheek. They packed their gear onto the truck, hitched up their boat and headed for the highway, both men in better spirits than they would have thought.
"Guess we really needed this, huh cuz?" said Terry as he rolled down his window and let the cool morning air wash over his face.
"Yep," agreed Andy with a broad smile.
By six forty-five the men were on the lake and at the spot where Andy's friend had suggested. Andy was about to hook his line with a jig and pig when Terry stopped him.
"What, man? It's gonna be sunup in twenty minutes..." said Andy irritatedly.
"You might want to try this instead..." said Terry as he produced two rods he'd hidden and secured in the boat earlier unbeknownst to Andy.
"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? G. Loomis?" he asked in shock as he held his lantern closer to the rod and then took it from his cousin. "Hot damn, cuz! You know how long I've been wanting one of these? I'd holler, boy, but I don't want to scare the fish away."
"Happy Early Birthday, cuz...I ordered these a while back. After last night I knew I had to bring 'em on out of hiding."
"Thank you, Terry. You're just the best damn cousin a man could ever have."
"Right back at you, cuz."
When the sun bid the night farewell twenty minutes later the men sat in reverent silence as it rose and kissed the lake with its first rays of light.
"Aw man," said Terry quietly.
"What?" Andy whispered back.
"Listen at those white pelicans, man..." he said as their almost duck-like squawking, which had been lonely and intermittent at dawn became more vocal and intense with the burgeoning appearance of the sun.
"Yeah, that's sweet," Andy agreed.
"If everybody in the world could just get a taste of this on a regular basis this world would be a better place."
Andy just nodded his head in agreement. The men sat in silence again for a while.
"I wish Portia could be here," said Terry after a while.
Andy did a double take. "Portia?"
"That girl is wound up tighter than an eight day clock. She could use some of this."
"Yeah, well Portia ain't never been nobody's little country girl. Never. She wouldn't appreciate it one bit. I promise if you ever did manage to get her out here she'd scare all the bass away and they'd never come back." The two men shared a quiet chuckle and fell silent again.
"I can tell somethin's on your mind, cuz, it ain't never been this hard to hold conversation with you on a boat before. What's wrong?"
"Uh, the new doors with the patina caming will be delivered next Wednesday—you gonna be around?"
"Yes. But that's not what you really want to talk about and I know it."
Andy let out a heavy sigh. "Damn, you know me too well."
"Yep."
Both men concentrated on their lines and the lake, never once looking at each other as they spoke.
"It's Holly."
"Sweet woman."
"Yes, she is. You know, I ain't never been with a woman like her. Ever. She's so caring; so insightful; I don't think I've ever heard a real complaint come out of her mouth. With the work she does counseling sexual abuse victims and my work at AA—she makes me feel like we're the damn Dynamic Duo. I love that woman something powerful."
"So, what's the problem?"
"Her two boys, to put it in a nutshell. It's a horrible feeling when kids don't like you. But they're really not kids; they're two brutes disguised as teenagers."
"Well, of course they don't like you—you're dating their mother. It ain't no real reflection on you," Terry said matter-of-factly.
"You're so lucky you met Arlene while her kids were little; it gives you a chance to bond with them, for the seeds of a real family to be planted. I won't ever stand a chance with these two. I'm pretty sure they've seen some horrible things and I could be a real father to them, if they'd let me. I want to marry that woman but those boys...I just don't see it happening."
"Well, it ain't all been peaches and cream with Coby and Lisa. They're sweet kids, but Arlene is super protective and real hard on 'em. And you know how kids like to play one parent against the other; I can't tell you how many times I have stand back and be like the old lady who fell out of the wagon so that I'm not always the good cop to Arlene's bad. It ain't easy, let me tell you. But we manage to handle everything with love and it all works out in the end. And Mikey—he's just been a little blessing. And now with the new baby on the way—let's just say that if things get any better around here, I may have to hire someone to help me enjoy it."
"Well, I'm real happy for you two. You having any more rug rats? Because I'm too old; and even if Holly wanted—which I don't know, cuz we ain't never talked about it and I just assume she wouldn't—well, those two boys of hers would probably take the poor thing out somewhere and drown it in a swamp. They're devils, I'm tellin' you."
"That's not good at all, cuz."
"No, it ain't."
"Well, four is the magic number for us; Arlene's havin' her tubes tied after this one."
"Well, your kids will just have deal with me, then," Andy said as he smiled to himself. "Nieces and nephews are just as much as blessing as havin' your own."
"I'm praying for you, cuz. Just keep handling things with love. I could see you with a kid, easy," Terry assured him.
"Well, maybe with a different woman..."
"What are you talkin' about, cuz?" Terry's head whipped around and he looked at his cousin in shock.
"I uh, met another woman...that night you you left me in the woods."
"I don't understand—we got hookers in the woods now?" Terry asked, more than alarmed.
"No, Terry..." said Andy exasperatedly.
"Well then, who was this woman?"
"I don't rightly know, but she wasn't no damn hooker. She was beautiful; and young; and she wanted me—me! And she had me, right there, out in the woods that night," Andy related to him sheepishly. "Even in my younger days, when I was a damn sight more fit than I am now and not too bad-lookin', have I ever experienced a woman like that..."
"Are you sure she was a woman?" Terry asked him suspiciously.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" said Andy, a flash of anger registering in his eyes immediately along with a rush of blood to his cheeks.
"A woman, out in the woods, at night alone, finds you and in the throes of mad passion, lust and desire has her way you—a stranger—a man she knows absolutely nothing about and not for pay. Think about it, cousin—this is Bon Temps, we're talkin' about. Maybe she was a vampire. An especially sweet and loving vampire that had fed already and just wanted more sweet sex."
"Terry, dammit man, get back in the fuckin' boat, already. She wasn't no vampire; she was warm and alive."
"Well, where did she come from, Andy?"
"I don't know..." Andy said uncomfortably. "Alright, fine...she jumped out a ball of light," he finally admitted.
"A ball of light," repeated Terry slowly, as if he'd never heard any of the words before.
"I told Arlene all about it when I got back to the house. She thought I was crazy."
"Andy, I'm the crazy one."
"Terry, no..."
"Andy, this woman was not human. Maybe not a vampire, but I don't know what. You put her out of your mind. You got a real woman who loves you..."
"She was a real woman!" Andy protested vehemently.
"I didn't. Say. She wasn't, cuz. I said she wasn't human. Shit like this happened in the desert man; bits and pieces of my brain are still tryin' to connect the dots..." Terry took his hands into his head as a memory tried to assault his brain; he grabbed a handful of his hair and screamed out; his torment echoed through the swamp and sent a flock of birds flying from a nearby cypress tree.
"Terry?" came Andy's worried voice through the cacophony of Terry's memories, which he swore he could hear buzzing like broken telephone wires on a utility pole. Then suddenly it ended.
"Andy," Terry struggled to catch his breath. "Just be glad that you still have your faculties and leave well-enough alone; forget this 'woman'; forget it ever happened. You have a real life and a real chance at love; Holly's bad boys are nothing compared to the mess you could be in. Don't invite it into your life, promise me," Terry beseeched him.
"I promise, Terry," said Andy completely bewildered.
"Thank you. I probably scared all the fish away. We can leave if you want."
"No...it's still a beautiful morning. Either we catch something or we don't...let's hang a bit, huh?"
"Sure. Sure cuz." Terry drew his cousin into a strong embrace and hugged him tight. When they released each other both men looked back out onto the lake and spoke no more, each man lost in his own thoughts.
