Something to Believe In
A/N: Enough heavy angst and smut, come get some fluff and get emotional yall!
It's Smoke and Annie young/puppy love meet cute!
It is a long fic tho because this fic was originally intended just for Ao3 but! I feel like sharing it here due to some of my mutuals: shout out @spaceshipsandpurpledrank @cherrynews @soufcakmistress I wanted to add that I quite literally pulled from stories of my granny childhood as the daughter of a corn sharecropper in the 1920's in rural Oklahoma as reference for things. RIP&L to Ethel💜🕊️.
Trigger Warning: Child abuse, Dog attack
In need of medical help after dealing with their father. Mary leads the teenage SmokeStack twins to a special friend of hers. Smoke finds out there Angels just may be real and can get him high. Annie may have to admit that Mary was right, that the quiet twin is quite charming and is quite cute.
Part Two Part Three Part Four
Elijah never had a reason to believe in anything that wasn’t his brother or his own two hands. Angels took his mama before he could even meet her. The spirit of his great-great-whatever never gave him food when his belly ached or a hat to keep the sun out his face. The devil never offered him a glass of cold water on a hot day and God’s hands never stopped his daddy’s from beating him and his brother.
What the fuck did Elijah need faith for?
All Elijah ever needed was his brother and Smoke.
That’s all he needed, neither a preacher’s sermons or card reading could tell him different.
Smoke is 16 years old and huffs with every step. He takes deep and deliberate breaths that are shoved out between his teeth with every barefoot stomp over the Mississippi dirt. Stack groans every now and then when Smoke’s steps falter from his own weariness on the uneven ground and Stack’s bleeding head is jostled in the walk. They come to Monroe’s backyard but before they can go for the house, a 15 year old Mary bursts out the backdoor with her hands frantically waving for them to back into the treeline.
“Mary?!” Smoke hisses tightly through a wince, speaking painfully stretches his swelling cheek. Mary startles as Smoke spits out blood from his busted lip between their feet.
“Ya’ll pa, here!” Mary informs him. She gently tries to coax the oldest of them to set his brother down but Smoke shakes his head, tightening his grip on Stack’s legs.
“Stack needs help. Daddy kicked him all in his chest and down the steps. He landed on his face and ain’t get back up.”
“Shit…” Mary pauses to brush dirt off the side of Stack’s face. She frowns in thought, they all tense when Big Eli’s voice booms from Mary’s front porch. Ms. Monroe hollers for Mary and the pale girl bites her lip in thought. Her mama hollers again and Mary snaps her fingers in realization.
“I got it! Lets go Miss. Greenwood’s!”
“The VooDoo lady? Hell nah, someone gonna see and they gonna tell Unc Jeb, then he gonna tell Big Eli!”
“She is a medicine woman and she can do stitches and she lives far out! And is she ain’t there, we got Annie!
“Who the Hell is Annie?”
“Her granddaughter! Don’t worry she’s just as good too! Now C’mon before they get nosy ‘bout me.” Mary argues, waving Smoke to follow behind her.
Mary leads them back down the hill and through the thicket to one of the less traveled dirt roads. It was easy to follow the pale of Mary’s waving hands and worried chatter in the coming night as the sun sank further down until the sky was barely purple-blue, fireflies blink ahead of them as cicadas rattle echo through the air.
Almost loud enough to drown out as Stack’s moans turn into wheeze-y and laborious pants.
Almost.
Smoke looks at Stack’s watch from his brother’s limp arm and huffs to find they had been walking for nearly 40 minutes. Mary is a speck of moon beam in front of them, like a worried lighting bug.
“Just gotta turn down the slope.” Mary says over her shoulder.
Finally, they arrive at the shack cabin of Miss. Greenwood and Mary rattled the door with frantic knocks. Smoke had caught glimpses of the old woman every now and then but really only knew rumors about her. She had moved back home to Clarksdale just two years ago after her daughter died in Baton Rouge from consumption. If Smoke was being honest, he was scared to go to her for help.
But, he was scared of his brother dying more.
Fuck, he only had a few baker nickles on him. Nothing for the butcher, the pharmacy or the grocer. No way could he pay any kinda price for the care his brother may need.
The door swings open and instead of the round old woman with white colored plaits and a blind eye…. Elijah is pretty sure this is an actual angel. Through the beaded curtain that acts as a screen dorm is a girl.
It was a girl his and Stack’s age, holding a kerosene lantern high so she could see them all in the coming night. Elijah can’t help but notice how her rich skin reflects back both the sliver of the early moonlight and the gold of the cloudy lantern. The girl is plump and soft looking, her hair in two puffs on the side with a cornrow front, her face full of apprehensive concern and her eyes….
Those coffee coals of hers stare deeply into Elijah’s eyes, like she’s reading his soul for a moment.
“Annie! Is ya meemaw in? My friends need some help, bad.” Mary says as she points her thumb at the bloody twins. Annie finally turns her eyes to Mary and shakes her head with a sorry pout on her thick lips.
“Granny’s over at Pleasant, helpin’ deliver a baby. Whatchu need, what’s happening?”
“My brother’s hurt. Got beat and didn’t get up.” Smoke speaks up gruffly. He tenses a bit when Annie comes off her porch stairs with silent and strong steps. Once close to them, enough that Smoke gets a whiff of citrus and herbs off her, she examines Smoke. Annie’s fingers barely graze the swell of Smoke’s check before he winces back, making her finger tips brush the tender flesh of his busted lip instead.
“Don’t worry ‘bout me, my brother!” Smoke insists with begging eyes. Annie nods, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment before addressing Stack. Annie turns his head towards her and mutters in Yoruba under her breath at the sight of him. Annie steps closer and places her head on Stack’s back as her free hand pats on the side of his ribs.
Smoke flinches hard, his hands have to grip into Stack’s jeans so he doesn’t shake as Stack howls in pain. Stack wheezes rattle through Smoke’s body like a ghost shoved through him.
“Ribs and a head rattles forsur’. Bring ‘em in and put ‘em on the bed near the kitchen. Mary-girl go run to the pump and fill me a bucket with some water, then put that on the stove.” Annie instructs them all as she leads Smoke inside. Annie lights four more lanterns while Smoke eases Stack down to the bed and for the first time in nearly two hours Stack says something.
“ ‘Moke?” He rasps.
Smoke swallows thickly, sitting himself besides Stack’s head and grasping his brother’s jittery hand with his own trembling fingers. Smoke’s resolve is the only thing keeping them both steady, he gently shakes his head as he wipes tears and blood off his brother’s face. Smoke is careful of the mass of bruises and swelling that reach all the way from Stack’s forehead, over his right eye and meshes over his nose and upper lip.
“Easy, Stack. Easy, we gotcha some help.” Smoke informs him. Both twins wince as Smoke finds a dirty gash dragged back behind Stack’s ear.
“ Sh- sh- sh’ orry. Got..got…got ta running-g-g my ‘ip.” Stacks stutter as his eyes flutter and roll back in pain. It takes a long moment but he’s able to blink harshly, showing that blood has inked the white of his eye, red.
“Big Eli ain’t shit! Don’t you be sorry, just hold on man.”
“Pa’s j-j-jus-sta….” Stack trails out, closing his eyes instead and letting his head rest to the side as a wave of pain forcing him to breath with fast and shallow pants that barely let his lungs fill with enough air. Stack jerks up as he starts to cough and blood flicks off his busted lips. Smoke swears and holds Stack’s head up until the bout of coughing stops and he can weakly breath again.
“Get his shirt off then help him try and take a full breath. Slow down his breathin’.” Annie instructs as she finally comes over to them. She sets down a big jar of moonshine and a round tin case, she opens it to reveal vials of iodine, an ear trumpet, sewing needles, Cloverline salve, and huge rolls of bandages.
“Water’s starting to bubble!” Mary hollers as she watches the pot of water on the high fire.
“Start counting to 200.” Annie tells as she helps Smoke undress Stack’s upper half.
“Any of his teeth broke? Did he spit out blood?” Annie asks and Smoke creases his brows in thought.
“Nawh, all his teeth was there but I think he bit his tongue bad. His spit was red, he was droolin’ it earlier."
“Shit,” Annie tuts “Liquor’s gonna shock him too much right now. Mary get me that light wood pipe and matches. It’s by that mint hanging to dry out back. You know how to smoke?” Annie asks, not even pausing to see the look of disbelief on Smoke’s face at the question.
Oh… that right… she just met him.
She ain’t something all knowing, of course she doesn't even know his name.
“Yeah.” Smoke nods as Mary hands him the pipe, then the matches and she goes back to her post at the pot. Muttering numbers under her breath, she had just reached the 60’s
“There’s reefer in there. Try not to take it in deep, Just get it puffed up and blow it in his face. That’s all the pain relief I can get ‘em right now. Do it.” Annie commands as she pours a little of the moonshine onto the ear trumpet and wipes it dry with a rag.
Smoke takes a deep pull off the pipe, trying his damndest to keep the smoke in his throat and mouth, but the skunk-like herb creeps further down into his chest. He coughs and lets his fist curl in frustration as the cloud goes above them (tobacco never did this shit!). Smoke takes another hit of the pipe, forcing his lungs to hold steady and quickly blows it out, aimed at Stack’s face.
He takes another hit and blows it out.
Takes another hit and blows it out.
Takes another hit and blows it out.
Before he can drag on the pipe for a sixth time, Annie snatches it from him. Smoke swears he can feel every line of fingerprints on Ainne’s finger tips as they brush his hand. Smoke feels like he’s floating up and down as he watches Annie with her angel fingers wrap some kinda wet herb in a cheese cloth rag and carefully place it in Stack’s mouth, muffling his whimper of pain.
“You bouta green out, boy! I needa ya here, ya hear?” Annie tells Smoke, her words send the older twin crashing back into his body, before he can respond Mary shouts 200. Smoke heard sloshing and the tiny chant of ‘hot, hot, hot, hot’ until the voice echos away and suddenly there is a pot of warm water to the left of him.
Annie softly grabs his wrists and leads Smoke’s hands to hold either side of Stack’s face who had become more docile and settled, his good and open eye a bit glazed with a coming high.
“Do your best to keep him from buckin’. Okay, Sugar?” Annie instructs, Smoke stares at her plush hands on his hands, amazed at how still they were for once. Annie gives a soft chuckle and tips Smoke’s chin up, for him to look into her eyes. He blinks rapidly and tries to clear his daze just to get lost in the dark Mississippi night that is Annie’s eyes.
“Smoke!” Mary tuts, pinching the meat of his arm. Elijah crashes back into his body again and takes his commands with a nodding grunt. Annie lets him go so she can kneel over and put the ear trumpet to Stack’s chest.
“Deep breath, Stack. C’mon.” Mary gently coaxes as she starts to gently wash the blood and dirt off him. Stack does as such with a whimpering wheeze. Annie listens to the other side and grimaces, she tentatively presses on his right side where his ribs are, starting at the bottom and going up. She gets to the eighth rib and they all wince as Stacks jolts and cries out. Smoke and Mary jump in to comfort him while Annie rubs laterally over the bone.
“Weak, not broken.” Annie notes and continues to go up. They jolt again as she finds another spot, she sighs wearily and gives both brothers a sorry look.
“Broken.”
For the next 30 minutes they work in a tense silence save for Stack’s occasional whimper or out cry. On his right, from his seventh to his fourth rib is broken, the rest bruised and his left shoulder is strained.
“Sit him up.”
Smoke does as such, getting behind Stack and pulling him up until he is mostly sat up and supported by Smoke holding his shoulders. Annie feels his back and notes where the backribs were injured.
“Mary wash his back, then wash out his mouth. I gotta get something for the swelling and to numb him.” Annie says while she quickly gets up and busies herself gathering different herbs into a mortar bowl.
Mary moves to wash the dirt off his back and Smoke takes the other rag and coaxes Stack to let him squeeze water in his mouth to swish, then spit. He does it two more times before Stack’s head fatigues and he lets it flop Smoke’s shoulder with a shaky whine.
“Eveything gonna be a’ight bro. I swear it, Eli ain’t shit. You-you just gotta hol’ out. Alright?” Smoke encourages as he forces Stacks head back up and makes him clean his mouth again.
Annie comes back, and finally Stack actually looks at her.
“You?” he puffs and Annie gives a comforting smile as she tips his head back.
“Annie Greenwood at your service, sorry to meet like this. Now can you open your mouth for me, I need you to swallow this.” she says gently and Stack’s swollen lip twitches with mirth.
“Onna fir’ t date?”
Mary breaks out in pitchy chuckles as she shakes her head in disbelief and starts to clean blood off his neck.
“You can’t have Annie, you got me.” Mary teases through the teary eyes and Stack gives a wheeze and twitch of his lip again. His hand clumsily grasps the front of Smoke’s shirt.
“You ca’ get ‘Moke ‘den, Ann.”
“Elias, what the fuck! Open your mouth for that medicine nigga!” Smoke scolds, warmth blooming under his brown. One foot in the grave and his idiot brother is still running his trap.
Annie takes it in stride, barely hiding a chuckle behind her smile and shakes the power of crushed herbs into his mouth before guiding him to take a swallow of warm Valerian root tea. Stack smacks his lip in distaste.
“Grass?” he mumbles and Annie rolls her eyes.
“Tumeric mostly, and some other things. The tea will help numb ya out and let you rest some while I treat you.” Annie explains gently as she guides Smoke to rest his brother back down, Mary slides in and pillows Stack’s head in her lap. Her hand rubbing his temple and muttering coos of comfort to him
“What’s next?” Smoke asks and Annie hums as she sets out more things from her kit.
“Once he's down, imma rub him with the Cloverline, then we’ll wrap up his ribs and hopefully patch up the gashes he got.” Annie tells him. Smoke moves from Stack’s side to kneel next to Annie’s, looking over her shoulder at all the things sat out. He reaches for the jar of Cloverline and Annie stops him by bumping into his shoulder and shaking her head
“Don’t bother right now. Let’s worry about you.” Annie says as she studies his busted lip, swollen cheek and bloody elbow from where their father was able to get a backhand on Smoke and send him to the floor of their porch before kicking Stack down the steps of it.
Smoke shakes his head and goes again but Annie stops him by snatching the jar from him and holding it behind her back. She straightens up her kneel so she can glare in his eye, it makes Smoke blink in surprise.
“You ain’t cleaning up shit if you still got dirty shoes. Take a moment…. Uh.. damn.. What’s yo’ name?” Annie asks, her look of resistance growing bashful at realizing they were never introduced.
Oh Lord, she had some strange (and cute) boy all in her granny’s house and didn’t know his name!
“Smoke.” Annie frowns her brow.
“Ya mama named you Smoke?”
“My mama ain’t name me nothing, my name’s Smoke. Now give me that jar, girl, we gotta get Stack set.” Smoke said, tipping forward to try and snatch the jar back, Annie stretches her arm up and back.
“Call me girl again, and imma call you mule!”
“Girl! Whoa!” Smoke tips forward too far, his equilibrium still thrown from his own exhaustion of the day and fading high from the reefer. Mary gasps as Soke collides forward into Annie then they both go down.
Stack blinks sleepily with a lazy turn of his head and whispers a chuckle at the scene. Mary cringes but keeps messaging his head as he starts to drool on her skirt.
Smoke is staddled over Annie, his eyes widened in awkward surprise with trembling, clumsily placed arms on either side of her shoulders that keep him hovered over her. Annie blinks up at him with just as much surprise as well. Her arm holding the jar still stretched over her head and the other clutches the front of his shirt to further support him from falling on top of her.
They breathe together for a moment, before Annie slowly starts to push up and Smoke follows her lead and leans back off of her. Once they were both up right and steady Smoke swallowed nervously and clutched the bottom of his shirt.
“Sorry,” he said quickly. Annie just nods, too rattled for a retort.
“Uhh… Stack’s sleep.” Mary comments and it snaps Smoke’s attention. Sure enough his brother’s chest was gently rising up and down instead of the painful jolts of earlier. His face slack instead of twisted in pain.
“Damn, you drug him?” Smoke tries to joke and Annie shrugs as she opens the Cloverline jar.
“Of course, I did.”
“Huh?”
“I said of course I did. Dem weak ass puff you blew on him wasn’t gonna numb him out much longer. He ain’t in any pain so he can start to rest and heal.” Annie explained simply, like Smoke just asked her the time.
“Tolda she’s a medicine woman! Last time we had to give Stack my momma’s wine and he was all hungover the next day.” Mary says, she bites her lip in nervousness at the deadpanned glare Smoke sent her at Stack’s snore.
“So all that mojo jojo potions and spells shit work? Gonna need true love’s kiss to wake him up or do he turn into a frog first?” Smoke says, feeling his senses come back to him. Just to lose them a moment later when Annie quickly jabs her knuckles into his side and makes him wheeze. Smoke turns sharply to address her after gathering his breath and gasps to find a gleaming and sharp pair of scissors held at his eye level.
“It’s quiet time for you boy, you wanna a task so you can sit there and think? Unroll that,” Annie dropped the roll of bandage in his lap, her glare and scissors gleam never leaving his eyes, “You-a perfect match, unroll it enough to bind your chest three times and when ya done. Cut.”
Mary tuts and shakes her head as Annie smoothly twirls the scissors on her fingertips so it spun and she could hand the handle to Smoke. The older of them huffed, making sure to glare and flare his nostrils but ultimately got up and walked to the corner to do as Annie commands.
“Okay Mary, you take a handful of this and get his left rubbed down. I’ll take the right and then we’ll roll him and do his back the same way.”
Later that night, Mary lays curled next to Stack on the mattress as he rests finally properly bandaged and stitched by Annie. Smoke sits on the steps of the house holding a cold cloth to his lip while Annie addresses his elbow. He breaths through the little flares of pain focusing on losing himself to the night instead as she cleans and wraps. The glittering stars, the shades of darkness in the moonlight, the cool breeze shifting leaves. Yet….the cicadas and frogs can’t out rattle the sorrow and fear of his thoughts.
“You shakin’.” Annie says softly. There isn’t any pity or sad concern in her tone, she just whispered a fact and it makes Smoke swallow.
“Yeah, I do that. I needa cig.” he tells her just as quietly and she hums.
“I can get ya that in a bit. Let me see your lip.”
Smoke turns to her, handing her the cloth so he can clutch the straps of his overalls to hide the shakes. Annie tips his head toward the lamp light so she can investigate.
“Ain’t nothing but time and something cold healing that lip. Some aloe vera and yarrow mash would work on that cut. Keep ya face pretty.” Annie bites her lips in abruptly at the last comment of hers, her shoulders chasing up to her ears as she feels Smoke smirk under her fingertips.
“Keep me pretty huh?”
“It prevents scarring is all I was tryna say!” she excuses, taking her hands back. She darts her eyes to the stars and Smoke still stares intently at the white of her eyes.
Smoke hums, “Is that gonna cost extra? I only got some bread nickels. Shit… I don’t know how imma pay ya back at all actually.”
“You ain’t gotta worry a-”
“Nah! I owe ya Annie Greenword, I ain’t now bum like Eli. I pay my dues and imma need you to know your worth.” Smoke insists. Annie sighs, closing her eyes. Smoke tilts his head as she says something in the tone of a prayer to the ground. The language from her lips sounds off but familiar, like when his auntie or lil Sammie would slip into tongues on Easter.
“I ain’t know hoodoo people prayed. Doesn’t that make yall mouth hurt? My uncle’s a preacher. He’s always going on about rebukin’ and shit.”
“Prayer is an action anyone can do. My tongue don’t burn anymore than yours when I do it. Unless, you tryna tell me your God be setting yo teeth on fire?” Annie asks back and Smoke scoffs.
“I don’t talk to that nigga and he don’t ever say shit to me. So it’s nuthin’. Don’t need him or Lucy or ghosts.” Smoke tells her, he grips his hands into fist then shakes them out.
“No offense.” he says after their silence became awkward. (Again!)
“So…. What's to believe in then? What makes you go on? Who can ya ask for help?” Annie asks and Smoke cringes as he can now hear pity from her
“My brother I guess…. That imma get back what I put in… I like being able to rest and shit be okay. So… I guess that’s what I believe in, something that’ll make shit okay.”
“That’s something.” Annie whispers.
“Yeah, I guess.”
The both turn from each other and stare into the night, the quiet between them soft, resolved. Stack’s snore resonates behind him and Annie watches as Smoke relaxes another degree, like ice melting.
“So… what I owe you, Annie?” Stacks says to the stars, the words make Annie settle back on her arms.
“What’s your name? Your real name? I’m Antonia.”
“I see…. I’m Elijah.”
“Elijah ...okay… so we’re even now.” Annie smiles, moonlight gleaming off her teeth and Smoke shakes his head with a soft grin of his busted lip.
“Nah we ain’t, but I’ll let it breath.”
---------------------------------
Smoke startles awake the next morning to a goat bleating from the doorway and Stack still snoring in his ear. Mary still sleeps, curled up in a chair diagonally from the two brothers wrapped in a quilt. The goat bleats again and Smoke blinks heavily as Annie shoos the animal on and goes back to her chores of feeding the chickens.
Smoke snorts, wiping at his face as he gets up with a wobble, swearing to himself that the only thing ever going in his lungs again is tobacco and air. He shuffles to the porch and watches Annie for a quiet moment as she shakes out the last of sunflower seed to her chickens.
“Mornin’” Annie greets, back still turned to him as she inspects the wire of the coop.
“Uh, Mornin’.” Smoke cringes as his voice croaks then cracks. Annie’s shoulder hitch with a small hidden chuckle but she continues on with her inspection.
“My Grandma sent word. Said she ain’t gonna be back until this evening so y'all can rest up here for a bit longer.” Annie relays and Smoke hums. He shakes his fingers out as the craving of nicotine makes his lips dry. He pats his pocket and sighs in defeat to find nothing, he’s smoked the pre-roll Stack had made him before dinner the other night. All he had was some tobacco stuffed in an old Murray Pomade tin.
“Uhm… you gotta pipe or something? An empty pipe?”
Smoke finally makes his way down the steps and to Annie’s side. She curses under her breath to find that something had dug and pulled at the wire in the back, leaving it open.
“Yeah I do. Damn, gonna have to run to the Chows sometime today.”
“Oh! I can get some wire for ya, get it fixed. It can be part of my pay for what I owe ya.” Smoke negotiates and Annie chuckles with a shake of her head.
“I told ya, Eljiah! Your debt to me was your name.. Ya paid up, boy.”
“And I told you that ain’t no even! I ain’t a chump who can’t fix no coop, just gotta get a smoke and bite to eat real quick to get going. I’m pals with Bo and can getta deal on some new wire, some burlap too. I'll set a barrier an-” Annie crosses her arms but allows Smoke to ramble on and on about all the things he could fix or improve for her. He trails behind her as she does her chores; Annie wordlessly hands him sticks that had fallen in the yard from the wind.
“Paw musta been awful hungry… he don’t usually hit ma face.” Stack mumbles as Smoke helps him wash and change his bandages while Mary snuck back home to get the brothers some fresh clothes. Stack winces but can’t help to keep poking at the cheek bruise and the underswelling of his black eye. He squints into the piece of mirror that Annie had reluctantly propped up at Stack’s insistence to see himself.
“Big Eli shouldn’t been hitting you at all!” Smoke grumbles as he forces Stack’s hand and arm up so he could start applying the Cloverline.
“He was hungry and I knew better. You know I knew better than to go sneakin’ that big ass piece of chicken. He w-”
“Sush! Pa ain’t done shit but take the guitar down to Pleasantville. That nigga ain’t pick a bag in two weeks, he ain’t caught a fucking fish. He ain’t done nuthin’ but stank and play that raggedy ass guitar.” Smoke says, talking over Stack for once.
“He made rent day tho, an-”
“Stop excusing that nigga!” Smoke ends up barking and the whole room winces.
“Easy.” Annie tuts quietly from where she stirs a pot of grits on the stove.
Both brothers give her matching side glances, then matching sighs of tension. Stack grunts in pain as breathing in so deeply hurts, he forces his breath through his teeth and lets his head fall forward to rest on Smoke’s shoulder in search of relief.
Smoke carefully rubs his brother’s back, “Sorry… it’s getting hot outside,” Smoke mutters and Stack give a shallow nod.
“I know.” He mumbles before sitting back up and letting Smoke finish re-wrapping him in a sad silence. Once done, Smoke helps Stack get up and sit at the small dining table. Annie sets a dish of grits with a side of eggs and half a slice of ham in front of him, Stack smiles gratefully before giving a suspicious squint to the cut of tea she sets next to it.
“Once you finish your food, imma need you to drain that whole cup of tea.” Annie says and Stack hums.
“Will I atleast stay awake long enough for Mary to get back wit’ my clothes?”
“Take ya time eating, Mr. Moore.” Annie tells him with a growing smirk and turns her back.
Smoke shakes his head with a small grin as he takes a seat, Annie sets a dish of grits, ham, and eggs in front of him too.
“Aw shit, you better lock up ya sugar bowl Ann.” Stack warns. Smoke gives an annoyed kiss of his teeth and twitch of his lip at his twin for letting his sweet tooth be announced. Annie shrugs and slides a little jar of sugar onto the table before settling with her own plate.
“I don’t need no sugar for some grits. Stack’s head still rattled.” Smoke insists.
“Not you lyin on me infront of me! Ann let me tell ya, this nigga makes brown rice white wit’ sugar anytime he can.”
“No I don’t!”
“Yes you do!”
“No I-” Smoke trails off, letting his fist hit his thigh before relaxing as both brothers watch Annie sprinkle two large spoonfuls on her portion of grits before giving them a shallow stir.
“I like a little sweetness in the morning too. We had a rough night.” Annie explains before digging in. Stack just chuckles and shakes his head as he starts to eat as well. Smoke hums before helping himself to three spoonfuls of sugar and digging in.
Soon Mary joins them, all finish breakfast and the girls go out back to give the brother privacy to get changed. Annie takes Mary down the way towards the berry bushes to collect blackberries.
“So,” Annie starts, “ those are the twins you always talkin’ ‘bout.”
Mary blushes a little and looks intently at the inner branches of the berry bush.
“Yup. I usually stick more to Stack, when they get done pickin’ for the day. Stack takes me to run tricks on them crackas at the train station and pool hall. He even taught me how to pick a pocket! Smoke is all shy and shit, kinda boring but he’s cool. Real quiet like you be, sometimes. He likes fishin’ and playing cards, you can always find ‘em playing solitaire. He’s always reminding me to put on aloe vera if we out in the sun for too long, he's such a worry wart.” Mary rambles.
“ Solitaire? Seems like a pyramid or spades kinda guy.” Annie says and Mary tosses a bad berry to the side.
“He is, but he only partners wit Stack or Bo. He taught me all the rules but Stack taught me all the tricks on how to really order dem books!” Mary brags and Annie chuckles.
“Fishin huh?”
“Yeah, he’s the only one of us that can swim good. He got me to tread the water and float. Stack sinks like a hole inna boat! My poor fella.”
“Oh! Stack is ya fella?” Annie grins and Mary giggles.
“Yeah, he just don’t know it yet. Imma do that love spell you taught me on him and we gonna fall in love and move all the way to Cali and have a wedding day parade.” Mary gushes. Annie has to bite her lip to avoid laughing in her friend’s face. She thinks over Mary words for a second and her brows furrowed in thought.
“What love spell I teach you?” Annie asks with her hands on her hips and Mary goes bright red. The pale girl shoves a handful of berries in her mouth to avoid speaking but Annie continues drilling her with a wise look.
“Uhg!” Mary cringes as she swallows a sour berry and is forced to speak.
“Well you ain’t teach it to me yet! It’s that one ya granny was telling Daisy how to do about two months ago to put that lock on Mr. Lincoln’s son! The one spell made with her monthly blood! Soon as I start raggin’ you gotta teach me how to putta lock on Stack! That hussy Jo’Mae was all up on him at Cornbread’s birthday party last week and he was kissin’ her cheeks! So yo- dontcha laugh at me like that Annie!” Mary scolds as Annie has to grip the branch she was at and burst with giggles.
“Girl I ain’t gonna teach you that shit!” she chuckles out and Mary let her basket fall to her feet
“Why not? We could each lock up our men wit it!” Mary bargains and Annie howls again, holding her gut and tearing with laughter.
“Sionsiere ni? You 15 Mary! You don’t even get monthly-es! The folks before ya finna be confused you sniffing around wit kinda offering.”
“I can find some then!”
“Mary you ain’t finna steal some poor woman’s blood cloths over some nigga!”
“Elias ain’t any ole’ nigga! He’s mine! And you gotta help ya girl out Annie, we gonna be sister-in-laws. Think about it! I lead you to Smoke and you lock me to Stack!-”
“I ain’t worried ‘bout that boy! He done already got on my nerves all night and all morin’!
“Don’t you play me Annie-girl! I heard you call him pretty last night!
“Tch! Girl that wasn-
“Now focus! Those two brothers are always at the hip, so we gonna have the same wedding day! So you gotta help me put the work on ‘em”
Annie just shakes her head and wipes the berry juice off her fingers. “Sorry Lil Mary, but it’s a no. Besides, that ain’t the kinda root I want in my spirit. But…. I will say… you have a powerful will for manifesting, keep it up.” Annie states. She giggles again as she doges Mary pelting her with black berries.
The two finish their picking and head back to Annie’s house. Stack is sitting in the rocking chair on the porch, head tilted back on a pillow and snoring sleep. Smoke stands at Annie chicken coop, shirt tied around his waist as he works to re-tie the salvageable wires back to the roof nails. Three hens peck at the ground under him curiously while Smoke has to occasionally glare down at the rooster that threatens to peck his shins.
“Boy! I thought I told you to leave my coop alone! I gotta go to Chows for supplies!” Annie scolds as she sets the basket in Mary’s hands. One hand goes to her hip and the other pokes his shoulder in scolding. Smoke waves off her words and bends down another wire to mold to the nails with a pair of pliers.
“Girl hush! I told-ya Imma fix it! Now there is still good wire here, I’m tryna see what ya got to work with before I waste a trade wit Bo.” he mutters. Annie smacks her lips when the weak wire chips then falls to the ground instead of forming a new hook.
“See! The wire’s shit.” Annie points out as she grabs it from the ground before her rooster can inspect it. Smoke shakes his head and grabs it from her with a frown.
“Fine! C’mon, we going to the Chow’s.” Smoke grumbles and Annie gives him a wide eyed look.
“What?”
Annie watches as Smoke marches away from the coop to the door, wrestling his shirt back on. Mary wiggles her eyebrows at Annie from her position sat at Stack’s feet and Annie throws a handful of grass at her as she follows after Smoke. Before she can cross the threshold of her doorway, Smoke is handing her the messenger bag he’d seen Miss. Greenwood carried when he’d helped Bo unload the supply truck.
“Now, how you know this was my bag?”
“Is it?”
Annie huffs, “It’s my granny’s. Mines the navy leather one,” she points to the thinner bag on the stand rack next to the doorway.
Smoke nods, “I’ll remember that,” he says as he trades the bags and steps towards her.
“Now, c’mon let’s get to the Chow’s. Ya said ya Granny ain’t getting in ‘til late right? I can getcha coop done by then. Be part of what I owe ya.” Smoke says. Annie lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls her eyes.
“Elijah, I done tol-”
“Aht Aht! What I tell-ya last night. A bull ain’t got nothing to the Moore Mule, girl. Here’s ya bag.” Smoke shuts down. Annie can only stare him down, her doe eyes full of disbelief at his audacity.
Smoke holds the gaze firmly as he offers her the bag again, not dropping the gaze until she takes it with a quick sling over her shoulder. Smoke offers her his hand next.
“Mary! Lay a cold wet town on Stack for about 30 minutes. Then you gonna wake ‘im up Stack and give him some water and that second dose of tea. Cloverline on any of his complaints.” Annie instructs, her head barely turning in the lighter girl’s direction in favor of scanning Smoke’s hand.
“Uhh, okay? How long ya’ll finna be?” Mary asks.
“Bout two hours." Smoke answers for them both and Mary nearly gasps.
Annie just hums, she walks ahead and down her steps, ignoring his hand but leading them towards the road. Smoke stuff both into his pockets and gives Mary a curt nod.
“Don’t let him drown in drool, Lil Mary.”
“Oh, uh, okay?”
“Good.”
Mary watches in disbelief as the two older teens leave down the path. She watches until the back of them is lost to the haze of the heath and delta dust. With a huffing pout Mary settles into the chair next to the snoozing Stack, grabbing his hand and admiring the lines of his palms.
“Ain’t fair, she already got her man wrapped around her finger and mines snoring away!”
---
As the two young teens travel, Smoke makes sure to keep a step ahead and to the left of Annie. It allows her to still walk on the stable ground but not be out in the road or the first to confront if any trouble comes their way. Not a sound nor word is had between the two of them, besides the cicadas, birds, and the dirt crunching under their shoes, all was quiet.
Annie must admit, it’s a nice quiet to share with someone. Her granny would be huffing about the heat and the judgement of others at this point.
The last countryside marker before the edge of town is Mister Wilks covered wagon and mule. The resident forager that lives and sells from the cart, is a light skinned older fella who was all vinegar and made a strict living on sellin’ the wild onions, greens and mushrooms he’d gathered from the thickets on the east side of the Anderson plantation. Annie would like to say she didn’t mind the mean ole coot at all, if it wasn’t for one thing about him.
His damn mutts.
Wilks had two of them. A bulky boxer that usually minded the business of foxes and chicken more than anyone else, and a feisty redboned CoonDog, usually tied with braided leather to the back hitch on the wagon when not accompanying him to the thickets.
Annie tenses at the sounds of tugging cord and harsh barking sounds of Wilks' coon dog. That thing hated everyone but Wilks and the boxer. In the heat of the day, Wilks rested inside while both dogs were tied to a large wheelbarrow under a tree next to the wagon with just a set of deer antlers and a bowl of water for entertainment.
The dog hadn’t even seen the two teens proper on the road and was already barking and lunging to get at them. Annie thinks of the frayed leather and twine acting as leash and the back of her neck hurts. Annie goes to warn about her bad feeling but Smoke has already moved. The muscular teen steps back from Annie to swoop down and grab a thick stick off the ground.
Annie looks in awe as he tests the swing of it and comes back to her side, putting himself between her and the aggressive dog, then enclosing her under his arm. Smoke pauses them for a second to look her up and down before turning his attention to staring down the growling animal as they start to walk along again. Annie is blessed to be brown as the way Smoke’s heavy arm pressed on her back makes her all flustered. Annie’s head drops and she looks at her feet, praying that they won’t stumble because… maybe Mary was right… Smoke is awfully pretty.
Smoke bumps her hip with his when he feels Annie’s steps become shy then taps the side of her chin with a finger. Annie jerks her head up to look at the side of his face as he continues to stare down Wilks yapping dog, the mutt continues to growl and snap but never truly lunges for them.
“Don’t bow ya head in front of a mutt. It’ll think it can bite ya and you’ll yield if you do. Keep walkin’ how ya was and gon’ forward, we almost in town.”
Annie nods with a swallow and does as such. They go forward and make it past, the barks stopping abruptly once they are down a ways on the path. Smoke lets out a big sigh and turns his head forward, they get a few more steps before Annie’s neck aches again and she grip Smoke’s wrist hanging on her.
“Watch ya back!” She shrieks.
A snarl echoes behind them, the boxer was the one to pop his tie and charges with low growls for them. Annie backs away just as Smoke whirls around and shoves her behind him. With a brutal swing he connects the stick with the top of the dog's head, sending it dizzy but now truly angered.
Smoke stays low and in between the dog and Annie, meeting each of the growl dog’s lunges with another successful swing. Annie scrambles forward and grabs a large rock off the ground in one hand and the other grabs a fistful of Smoke’s shirt in the back. Before he can holler or question her, Annie drags him with a jerk to the left. The dog’s teeth chop at air instead of mauling into Smoke’s shin how it originally intended to and Annie grunts as she pitches down the rock and lands with a thud on the boxer’s back.
The dog yips in hurt defeat and bounds away from the two of them towards home, tail between its legs.
Smoke and Annie both heave for breath, both shake with the dump of adrenaline at the attack. Smoke tosses the stick aside and grabs Annie’s shoulder, he inspects it hands and arms first before looking over her face.
Annie can’t help but grasp his wrists and do the same.
“You good?” Smoke pants and Annie nods.
“You, you?” she croaks and he nods.
They go still after another moment just trying to breath. However, the angry yells of Wilks, running stomps and more barking sound behind them and break their moment of reprieve. Smoke swears, he turns his back to her and points a thumb to his back.
“C’mon!”
“Boy, you ain’t carryin’ me! I ain’t no stick!”
“We ain’t got time for this shit!”
Smoke whirls around and squat, “Elijah!” He wraps an arm around her hips and lifts with a slight grunt. He takes a moment to brace her legs to his chest with the other arm then takes off in his flour-bag carry of her. Annie yelps, her hands scrambles to grab the shoulder and back of his shirt as Smoke takes off in his flour-bag carry of her.
She watches as Wilks and his non-injured dog race closer and closer to them. Annie closes her eyes tight and prays for strength to Smoke’s legs and for anything to obstruct their chasers.
She opens her eyes to witness Wilks tripping over his own dog and hollers to beat it next. Smoke gains more speed and a firmier grip on her body.
All Annie can do now is close her eyes and pray she can handle this kinda ride.
Five hours later, four dollars spent, three more rolls of bandages used, and a wild story told twice later; Annie has herself with one freshly repaired chicken coop. Annie nods as Mary helps Stack into his shoes, the twins and pale girl having to head to Mary’s house soon if they wanted to make it for supper.
Annie walks out the house towards Smoke who firmly closes the new hatch door with a small smile of accomplishment.
“ Elijah?”
Smoke jumps a little at the sound of his name, but doesn’t let that smile fade. He may admit it later to his brother in the dead of the night but… Annie’s presence was starting to put a fuzzy and light feeling in his chest in a way that reminded him of that reefer weed from the night before. The fire in her eyes, the care in her voice, the way she wasn’t afraid to hold a blade up to him, the feeling of her soft and juicy skin pressed to his. Annie sure was something Smoke’s never encountered before and he hoped to have again.
“Antonia?”
“Here, you ought to wipe off before y’all move ‘round.” She hands him a dripping wet washcloth and with a nod he starts to wipe down his face and neck. Annie inspects his good work as he does so, letting her nails drag across the new wire and netting, she chuckles to find her rooster's approval with a cocky tut.
“This is a mighty fine coop, ‘Lijah. Oughta pay ya for something this nice.” she praises and Smoke shakes his head lightly with a puff of a laugh.
“Is that so?”
“Yea, name ya price,”
“Humph… how about, bangain’ up a knucklehead brother?”
Annie whistles sharply, “Elijah Moore, that’s a lowball bargain! You gonna have to up that price cus imma need you to know your worth.” Annie smiles sweetly as that draws a real laugh out of him. Smoke settles himself against the side of the coop, washing his hands and looking Annie over. (She looked too pretty in this denim dress and white headscarf, her curls billowed like a halo out the top.)
“...Well… hook me up wit breakfast again, it was pretty good. Ain’t had something that fillin’ in a while, it started my day.” Smoke compliments and Annie hums as she steps forward into his space.
“I think I can arrange it, catch ya at Hopson's witcha plate?”
“Nah, meet me at Sunflower.”
“Yeah, I can do that… let me see ya wrist.”
Smoke does so without question.
The pink of Annie’s tongue pokes out a tad between her lips as she ties a bracelet made of braided navy colored cord around Smoke’s wrist. Smoke can’t help but note it’s the same color as her satchel’s strap from earlier and that a turquoise bead from her necklace secures the knot of it.
“That pays off some of your tab.” Smoke says and Annie smiles.
“And it adds to yours. I wanna go fishin’ next Sunday.”
“ I gotta hidden spot on the creek, all trout in it. I’ll bring the poles, you bring the worms.” plans and Annie nods.
“That’ll cost you, Elijah.”
“You bargain hard, you may be too expensive for me.” Smoke jokes.
“Bring ya head my way and I’ll show ya how to pay it.”
And just like that, Annie and Elijah deal is sealed with a kiss.
_______________
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