Free The Scandalous Summer of Sissy LeBlanc by Loraine Despres Page A

learn for
    senior English class: “And that one talent which is death to hide/
    Lodged with me useless.” He rubbed some of the dust off the tro-
    phy with his shirttail, wondering who wrote that. Milton? Then he
    realized his shirt was caked in creosote.
    T h e S c a n d a l o u s S u m m e r o f S i s s y L e B l a n c 5 7
    The Most Valuable Player of Gentry High sat down and spooned
    a gob of corned-beef hash onto a piece of white bread. He consid-
    ered it for a moment. Then he pushed the greasy mess, dripping
    with catsup and cheese, into his mouth as Ralph Edwards appeared
    on the screen and said with jovial excitement, “This is your life.”
    A girl has to look her best while she’s still young enough to
    look real good.
    Rule Number Twenty-four
    The Southern Belle’s Handbook
    C h a p t e r 5
    The men in Buster Rubinstein’s glass-enclosed office at the top of
    the store were finishing up their noontime poker game. Sissy’s
    father-in-law, Bourrée LeBlanc, laid down his final hand and pulled
    a pile of bills across the table. “Nice doing business with you all,”
    he said.
    “What I can’t figure out, Bourrée, are you the luckiest white man
    in the parish or the biggest cheat?” That was Tibor Thompson, the
    district attorney and Sissy’s uncle.
    “Hell, Tibor, I ain’t never heard of a politician getting cheated.
    Not in Louisiana, anyway. It’s them that does the cheating, isn’t it?”
    Bourrée accompanied these remarks with a bland smile.
    Tibor’s handsome, avuncular face froze. His brown eyes blinked
    a couple of times like a calculating machine counting up insults.
    Then he slapped Bourrée on the back. “What’s that they say about
    Cajuns? If you know one that’s rich and honest, you don’t know
    him well.”
    The men laughed. Bourrée kept the smile on his lips, but his eyes
    T h e S c a n d a l o u s S u m m e r o f S i s s y L e B l a n c 5 9
    narrowed. He was a timber manager who managed to pocket most
    of the profits as he clear-cut the land he was paid to take care of. He
    specialized in rich widows from New Orleans. His steel-blue eyes,
    which spoke of danger, and jet-black hair streaked with gray were
    an irresistible combination. Each widow recommended him to a
    friend. And Bourrée took care of them all.
    His real name was Beauregard LeBlanc, but everyone called him
    Bourrée after a fast-paced, high-stakes Cajun card game, at which
    he was a master. Bourrée had always loved to gamble. He stood up
    to transfer the money from the table to his pocket and saw his
    grandchildren run into the toy department. Then he spotted Sissy
    following them. She was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a wine-
    colored halter. His eyes narrowed as he watched all the men in the
    hardware department turn and stare at those long freckled legs.
    He saw Chip take an elaborate chemistry set off the shelf and
    Billy Joe climb onto a new bike. As Bourrée carefully folded his
    winnings into his gold money clip, he figured he’d ask Sissy just
    what those children had done to deserve such expensive presents.
    While the kids were making up their minds, Sissy wandered
    into the dress department. Above her, chipped mannequins in bad
    wigs perched on pillars, making even the latest fashion from New
    York look dowdy. She tried to tell herself she wasn’t really giving in
    to Chip’s blackmail. She was simply expiating her guilt, like when
    she made the boys mow the lawn after they’d done something
    naughty. Of course she knew better, but in a little town like this,
    with everybody minding everybody else’s business, Rule Number
    Twelve of the Southern Belle’s Handbook applied. A lady must
    develop the knack of finding a noble motivation for doing what she
    wants, or she’ll never get a chance to do what she wants at all .
    Besides, she was always coming down on Chip. Maybe giving in to
    him this once would build up his self-esteem and he’d start acting
    like everyone else.
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    L o r a i n e D