Saving Savannah

The tour company had port-a-johns scattered all over the area of the tours. With me being pregnant, stopping every so often was a necessity. We pulled into an area like a sand bar with a couple of port-a-johns on it. There was also a picnic table there. I headed for the pink port-a-john and took care of my business.

Greg and the driver were sitting on the picnic table facing me when I saw someone come up behind them. He smacked the driver in the head with what looked like a large piece of a tree limb. The driver was out like a light. He tried to hit Greg too but the blow glanced off of Greg's head. He was dazed but still conscious.

Greg backed up away from the guy and got in front of me.

"Look here colored boy. You may as well not try to protect that whore. The only thing that'll git you is shot. She's going with me whether she wants to or not. I should a kilt her all them times I been watching her over the past few weeks in that big ole fancy house a yours."

He took off the baseball cap he had pulled down over his face and if I hadn't recognized the voice, seeing his face would have told me who I was dealing with. My brain refused to process the information. It was Melvin Drucker.

"You...you're dead," I said. "They told me you were dead."

"Not hardly missy," he spat. "While my daddy and me was running back to the house. Zeke and Randy had already gotten back there. They'd killed a guy who'd been snooping around the house and threw him off the edge of the cliff. He was about my size and had dark hair too. So when I jumped off a' the cliff I found his body, I put his shirt on and put my shirt on him, while them cops was coming around the long way. He'd smashed his face on a rock anyway. So they assumed he was me. That's what they git for assuming."

He pulled out an old decrepit looking pistol and pointed it at us. "Git outta the way boy," he said. "Me and her got business. I been waiting until she was almost ready to pop. I'm gonna git my kid outta her and then she's heading for the bone orchard."

"Why not keep her around," asked Greg.

"No chance a that partner. She's bad luck. Just like Jenny told me all them times. God gave her that ass to make men just want to fuck her, then she brings ruination down upon us all just like them preachers say. Jenny told me. Now Jenny and my whole family is dead. So I'm getting my kid outta her and I'm gonna kill her. Then I'm gonna git my little sister from whoever they have keeping her and try to break my step mama out of jail. I figure me and Beulah will have to start the family up again. Now git out of the way."

"No," Greg said. "You may as well just shoot me because it's the only way you're getting her."

I jumped in front of Greg and screamed, "No," as Melvin calmly aimed the gun at Greg.

"Be quiet Vannah," Greg hissed to me so quietly that Melvin couldn't hear him. Melvin had his back to the swamp.

"Oh alright, take her," said Greg. I was shocked.

"Now that's a smart colored boy," smiled Melvin. "She ain't your woman anyway, she's mine. And it ain't your kid. It's mine. When I'm done gittin my kid maybe you can buy back whut's left of her. Maybe I'll even tenderize some of that attitude out of her for you. You kind of spoiled her you know."

Greg was pushing me towards Melvin and there were tears running down my cheeks. I was willing to go with Melvin to keep him from hurting Greg, but I'd never have thought that Greg would just let me go. I expected him to fight for me. "Get ready Savannah," hissed Greg again. I was so shocked that I almost didn't understand. He hadn't called me Savannah in a long time. I was always Vannah, the name that I only allowed him to call me. He only used my whole name if he was pissed or the situation was serious.

I tensed as I tried to figure out what he was planning. Just when we got close to Melvin, Greg started talking again.

"You should take the airboat too," said Greg.

Melvin looked towards the boat. "That's a damn good idea," he said glancing at it. As he took his eyes off of us Greg launched himself at Melvin and pushed me the other way. He knocked Melvin flat on his ass in the muddy water.

But Melvin was more pissed than anything else. He'd held onto the gun too.

"Now that was stupid of you b..."he began. Then he reflexively shot up into the air as he screamed in pain. I then saw what Greg had seen before. The gator in the swamp behind Melvin had grabbed onto to Melvin's leg.

"Help me," screamed Melvin. "Please, oh Jeezus help meeee." Melvin started taking shots as the gator dragged him down into the swamp. Greg leaped to try to help him, but I held him back.

"Vannah, with his leg nearly bitten off, he's not going to be much trouble," said Greg. We'll call the Sheriff and drop him off at the hospital. He can go to jail with his mother."

"No, Greg," I said. "We never saw Melvin. He's already dead anyway, everyone knows it."

"But Vannah," he said. "It's not too late. He can give me the gun and I can shoot the gator."

"What gator, Honey?" I asked him.

"But Vannah what if they find the body?" he asked.

"Then he'll just have been killed by a gator," I told him. "It happens every day. You, me and our baby are much better off without him in the world."

He looked at me and finally, after Melvin's screams and thrashing had died down, took my hand. We went back over to the driver and tried to revive him. He was kind of shaky on his feet and asked what had happened. I pointed to the sand and the tree branch.

"That branch hit you in the head and knocked you out cold," I smiled. "Can you get up? Are you okay?" He got to his feet shakily. "Can you take us back? I think I've had too much excitement for one day."

The driver was able to drive us back to where we started the tour. He offered to take us back out at a later date to make up for what we'd missed. Greg nodded his head but before he could say anything, I thanked the driver and told him I'd seen enough swamps to last me the rest of my life.

"There's nothing out there but mud and alligators," I said. "There's nothing there I want to see."

As soon as we got back to the car, I grabbed Greg and kissed him. "Vannah,"he said.

"Oh shut up, Greg," I said. "I don't care who sees us kissing."

"You saved my life, Greg," I said. "...Again. Are you going to make a habit of this? Is this what you do for a living, Saving Savannah?"

He tried to smile, but I could tell that Melvin's death weighed heavily on him. We spent the next few days just being together. We took drives in his Mustang and took little picnic lunches with us. We spent a lot of time around the house to get ready for the baby's birth.

I went by to visit the Sheriff's department and told them that I wanted them to arrange for me to visit Beulah at the prison. I went about a week later. I was escorted into a room where we were on opposite sides of the glass screen again. No one could hear us except each other.

Beulah was still herself. Alternately claiming to be my friend and then warning me with veiled threats.

"I understand what you meant by "Things aren't always what they seem," you old bitch. Melvin is finally dead for real. His soul is in hell and his body is in an alligator's belly. Things may not always be what they seem, but most of the time they just fucking are."

I got up and left her sitting there staring at the glass with her mouth open. I went back inside the house needing some cuddling time with Greg badly and didn't make it. My water broke as I was raising my leg to walk up the first step. Strangely enough my first thought wasn't that the baby was coming. It was how glad I was that I didn't have to clean that up. I calmly shouted for someone to get Kerrie and Greg. One of the accountants in Kerrie's office came out and got on the phone. Kerrie and Greg were at manufacturing. They were there in less than five minutes. I was loaded into Kerrie's car because Greg was too nervous to drive.

I'd heard horror stories about twelve hour plus, painful births. I guess those were what was on my mind when I went into the hospital. I was scared shitless. When the nurse wheeled me into the room, I latched onto Greg's hand and told the nurse to bring him a gown and a mask out.

I snapped at Greg, "You do not let go of me or leave me for any reason."

"Vannah, you're going to have to let go of my hand so I can put the gown on," he said.

He was great. He stayed there the entire time. I almost wish it was the old days and he could've videotaped Gigi's birth. Less than four hours after we got there I practically squirted Gigi into Greg's waiting arms and he even cut the cord. For the first few months, Gigi's crib was in the room that Greg and I had been sharing. Once she got to the point that she could sleep through the night, we installed a very high tech baby monitoring system and put her in her own room. Greg could check on Gigi from anywhere on the planet as long as he had internet access or a cell phone signal. In the middle of the night he could reach for his phone and tap the app and see and hear everything going on in her room.

He thought it was great. I wondered why he'd do that instead of just walking into her room. But I understand the necessity of a tool like that if he was ever away from her. The problem was that he rarely left the property for the first six months after we brought her home. He didn't even go fishing or to the golf course with the guys. The funny part was that he even second guessed ME on things with her.

If she chirped during the night, he was in that room. I'd say, "Greg Honey, the doctors say that we're supposed to let her actually start crying and give her a second to calm down before we go charging in there."

He'd look at me with that, "We can't trust them, they're only doctors," look.

My tummy snapped back with barely any visible sag and no stretch marks too. Unfortunately, my boobs went away too, but I don't think he really cares. Neither of us pushed anything, we just lived our lives from day to day. If my therapists were worried about Gigi being the result of my kidnapping or her being the product of forced sex, no one would ever know it to look at her or the way she was treated.

That little girl was surrounded by love from the first breath she ever took. Unfortunately for all of us, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And it's good intentions that are tearing my family apart.

Greg, Kerrie and I were shopping at a local supermarket. We were having a barbecue and we'd invited a few potential customers as well as all of our employees and a bunch of their friends as well.

Gigi was walking and loved to do it as often as she could. Greg, of course, was her favorite target. I'd put her down and she'd take a few halting steps and he'd grab her and pick her up and hug her like she'd just won a marathon or something. You could see her little face light up and she'd say, "Dada Dada."

So I never thought about it in the supermarket that day when I was looking at steaks and didn't want to hold her because she was grabbing my hair and everything else that she could reach. I just said the magic word, Dada and put her down. She saw him and started toddling and lurching for him.

A few of the customers in the store were watching and they smiled. It was kind of funny seeing Greg down on his knees on that dirty floor in the market urging her on. Gigi made it, though. She pitty patted her tiny little feet the entire three feet from my hands to Greg's outstretched arms and he picked her up and squeezed her. "Dada," she said and the customers in the store all clapped and said, "Awwwww." Good lord those people were as sappy as Greg.

Two old southern belle type church ladies didn't think it was cute though. And within moments they'd sidled their buggy up besides us and started talking. As usual when people are trying to run some shit on you, they started out nicely.

"Isn't she the cutest thing," said one of them.

"Can I hold her?" asked the other one. Greg was diplomatic.

"She's almost asleep," he said. "And she has trouble with new people."

If they'd asked me, I'd have just said, "Hell no."

"I just got a good look at her," said one of the church ladies. "You know at first I thought that baby might've been one them mixed things. You know, a little of this and a little of that. But that baby is white. She's as pure as the driven snow and you're not doing her any favors. In fact you're probably confusing her."

"Exactly," said the other granny. "There's no way you're her daddy. It's only going to lead to pain and suffering for everyone down the line. You seem like a really good boy, you should go out and make some kids of your own. I bet they'd be just as pretty, just different."

I was shocked. I couldn't conceive of any reason why someone would say something like that to another person that they weren't related to or didn't know.

Kerrie went to the rescue as usual. Kerrie, with her height, her piercings and all of those tattoos, can be quite intimidating. She got between Greg and the old ladies and stuck her face right up close to theirs. "Get the fuck out of here you narrow minded, old bitches," she growled. They immediately and very quickly rolled their carts out of the vicinity.

But the damage had already been done. The seed had been planted. Two stupid old women, who, because of their age would thankfully be as dead as their outmoded ideas by the time my daughter was an adult, had torpedoed my happiness.

I went after them but Greg called me back. He handed Gigi back to me, supposedly so he could push the cart. Things changed after that. Greg never treated Gigi any differently. If anything he hugged he a little tighter and played with her a little bit more. I know Greg and I know how he thinks. He was preparing himself to live without her. He was savoring every moment they had together and stashing them away in that memory of his for the day when he wouldn't have her anymore.

With me, he wasn't that subtle. He started making hints about whether I'd like a job on the property or one somewhere else. And then he started talking about that house shit. He also tried to stop sleeping with me.

I sat him down and explained things to him. "Gregory Gates, you are not going to pull this shit," I told him. "I belong here with you and so does YOUR daughter. I love you, Greg. Gigi does too. You're not going to let two crazy old women separate us, when alligators and men with knives and guns couldn't are you?"

"I warned you about this from the very beginning," he said. "This is still the south. Maybe two crazy old ladies are SAYING what EVERYBODY is thinking. Old people can be very direct because they just don't give a damn anymore. Maybe it's better for Gigi to figure out where she belongs before she's old enough to be hurt by it. And Savannah, this is for you too. You are one of the most beautiful women, I know. You'll be able to find someone else so quickly it'll make your head spin."

They say that war is about killing people and breaking things, to get your point across. Well those old ladies must've been a squad of marines in disguise. Because they tried to kill my relationship and they broke Greg's heart. And apparently they got their point across.

Hatred is insidious. Even when disguised as something else or hidden under the layers of caked on make up on an old lady's face, it never brings joy or brings people together. It only brings pain and pulls us farther apart.

For the first time since we'd met I couldn't get Greg to even budge on this thing. He thought he was doing it for Gigi. That's the saddest part. He was practically dying inside, but he'd go through all of that and more to make life better for his little girl. I tried for weeks to convince him. I told him the worst thing possible for Gigi would be to take her daddy away from her.

He said it then and it cut through me like a knife. "I'm not her father." I slapped him as hard as I could. He just sat there looking at me, he never moved.

"What's her name?" I asked him.

"Gigi," he said.

"Where did it come from, you ass?" I spat.

"I don't know, wasn't it one of those old movies from the fifties?" he sputtered.

"I wasn't even born then," I shrieked. "Her name came from your initials dumb ass. And I will not let you abandon her. She's your daughter. You have no say in that matter. She is only in this world because of things you did. And I'm not talking about the abortion. You also are to blame for her color so don't start that black/white bullshit. Greg, no matter how things worked out, you and I were supposed to be together. We were supposed to have kids together. When we first met if you hadn't run away, it would have been you who got me pregnant. I was already flirting with you and we'd have ended up together. I'm sure of it. It was fate or the circular nature of the universe. You tried to foil fate."

"You chose to let me go off with those psychopaths. I still ended up pregnant and we still ended up together. We still have OUR baby, so you're still responsible for her. If you're not her father, who is?"

"Savannah, I swear to you that she won't ever want for anything," he said.

"Greg, that little girl doesn't need a pile of money. She needs her dada, and you're not taking him away from her."

"And that's the story your honor. I decided to go to court and make Greg legally responsible for OUR daughter."

Judge Wapner shook his head and looked at me. "Miss Hill, do you realize that during your story you admitted to a crime. I'm going to forget that you told me about the incident in the swamp because it has very little bearing on this case and because neither of you directly murdered the man...and because he was a son of a bitch anyway. Mr. Gates, you wanted to do the right thing but you seem to do exactly what Miss Hill tells you to do. Perhaps you should give that some thought and try to discover why that is. I'm going to call a recess. Court will re-convene at ten a.m. tomorrow at which time I'll make my decision."

That night sucked. We went back home. That's what it had become for me. It was the only place I'd ever really felt like that about. I didn't feel that way about my father's house, even when I was growing up there. He made it clear to everyone concerned that it was HIS place and we were there by his allowance.

I watched Greg playing with Gigi. It was tearing him apart. Everything she did or said he smiled at and then almost cried about. As the evening went on, I told him it was time for her to go to bed. He looked at me with the saddest eyes possible and begged me for just a little bit more time. She eventually fell asleep in his arms. We put her in her crib together. He smiled a wry smile at me and headed for one of the other bedrooms. At the last second he turned back to me.

"Savannah, what did you mean when you said I cheated on you while you were pregnant?" he asked.

"Remember what Jimmy Carter said. If you had lust in your mind, then it was as bad as if you did the act," I told him. "You were all ready to go off to California and Las Vegas whoring, while I was left at home carrying YOUR baby. So in my mind, YOU cheated. It was especially bad since I was dying for some of you at the time and you wanted to go off and give it to some whore."

"I just watched you play with Gigi for the whole evening," I said. "I don't know why you have to be such an asshole about this, Greg. I love you too. I loved you before we ever had her. And you know what? You love me too. That's why you don't even want to sleep with me. You're trying to act all hard, but you know you're making the biggest mistake of your life."

"So if this is the last night that we're going to be together, we're not spending it in separate beds." I grabbed his arm and dragged him into our room.