Caul Baby by Morgan Jerkins (read any book .TXT) 📕

prosciutto. Hallow carried the ceramic pot, cups, and coasters to the living room table and played some music on their vinyl record player near the fireplace. Then she struck a match and waved the smoke around the room to cut through and remove the stale air.

The doorbell rang and Josephine grabbed Hallow’s and Maman’s hands so they could stand in formation in the hallway while she answered the door. A tall, gray-haired white man with a prominent jaw and a self-satisfied grin stood next to Landon. He took off his hat and placed it in front of his chest.

“Good afternoon.” He extended his right hand.

“Good afternoon.” Josephine shook his hand once and attempted to pull away, but to no avail. The man lowered his lips to her hand and kissed it, exaggeratedly breathing in her scent. Landon’s eyes bulged, and Josephine glared at the gesture until Landon cut in, “Let’s go inside, shall we?”

This visitor was beside himself upon looking at Hallow and Maman. He clasped his hands together and smiled. Then he whispered to Landon, “I thought that there was one more.”

“Yes, yes, but don’t you worry about that. These are the ones you want to meet.”

“Wonderful. I’m Robert Epelbaum.” He extended his hand and just before Hallow was about to shake it, Josephine gently stepped in front of her and said, “Please, let’s go into the living room. We have a few things prepared for you.”

“Where are you coming from?” Maman asked as they took their seats—she in her chair, Landon and Robert on the living room sofa, and Josephine and Hallow in chairs on the opposite side of the sofa.

“Just from the Upper East Side,” Robert replied. “I must say that it is an honor to be in your presence. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh yeah? What have you heard?” Maman asked.

“I’ve heard that you’ve been given a gift, and I want to make that gift worth your while.”

“Mr. Epelbaum here is a multihyphenate. He’s a laboratory scientist as well as a philanthropist.”

“Tea?” Hallow asked.

“Yes, please.” Hallow poured Mr. Epelbaum a cup and watched as he sniffed the raspberry notes before sipping slowly. “Really good.” He lifted his face and looked around the room. “Beautiful home you have here.”

“Thank you,” Maman said.

“Looks a little old, though. Those cracks over there in that corner look pretty serious, and I caught a whiff of something when I came in here. How long have you had this place?”

“Close to eighty years.”

“Eighty years? Wow. And you never thought of selling—”

Maman leaned forward with her mouth wide open to comment, but Josephine nervously laughed and interjected. “We love living here. It’s our home.”

“Hmm. Too bad.” Mr. Epelbaum placed his cup on a coaster and said, “Look, I don’t want to waste all of your time, so I’ll cut to the chase. I’m here to make you all an offer—”

“Us an offer?” Hallow asked.

“That’s correct. Landon has already told me how powerful this caul allegedly is, as well as the business you have set up here. But I think I have a way for you to expand further than you ever thought possible—with a science patent.”

“I don’t think I’m following.”

“The process is very simple: we take some of the caul from you, study it in our lab, duplicate and patent it, then sell it on the market. Imagine the killing you would make.”

“That depends on if you can even successfully sell it,” Maman said.

“I’m very well connected, Ms. Melancon. I know everyone from Wall Street traders like Landon to Virgil Clarence over at the DA’s office to scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Icahn Lab at Princeton University. Trust me, I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“The DA’s office, you said?” Hallow asked.

“Yes.”

“And what about the customers? Could we decide who gets it?” Hallow asked.

“It’s a free market. That’s capitalism for you. The way of the world—a cornerstone of the American Dream.” He sipped more of his tea and ate some of the prosciutto.

“Can we have some time to think?”

Josephine darted her eyes at Hallow.

“Certainly. Better yet, how about you all come to a party of mine that I’ll be holding at the end of the month? You can meet my social circle so you can get a better sense of my world and how I can help, so that the decision can be made easier for you.”

Hallow opened her mouth to speak, but Josephine interrupted again, “That sounds perfect.”

“Very well. I’ll have Landon send over details soon. Good day.” He tipped his head and Landon saw him out the door but stayed behind so he and the Melancon women could debrief.

Before Josephine could give Hallow a tongue-lashing for dragging her feet in giving Mr. Epelbaum an answer, Helena was making her way to everyone from the foyer with a set of keys dangling in one hand and a black leather wallet in the other. Maman was at a loss for words. She alternated between looking to the other side of the room where the stairs led to the basement and the top of Helena’s crown.

“What?” Helena asked.

Maman curled a finger around one of Helena’s strands and said, “Your hair. When did it turn all silvery like this?”

Helena shrugged her shoulders. “I had a few gray hairs here and there, and then one day, my entire scalp turned.”

Maman grabbed ahold of Helena’s shoulders and pulled her close to her face. “You’re not . . . seeing things, are you?”

“No. I’m fine.”

Maman sighed. “Good. You don’t need any more disabilities.”

“Disabilities?” Helena raised her eyebrows. When Maman did nothing but deliver a sympathetic stare, Helena lowered her face and returned to eye level with a smirk. “Nice to see you too, Marceline,” she said, and walked past Maman to the living room.

Hallow stood to her feet in shock. “Helena. H-H-Hi,” she stammered. “What are you doing here?”

“Figured it was better to stop by than to call. Wanna go upstairs or something to talk?”

“No, no, uh-uh.” Josephine wagged her finger. “We all need to talk as a family about Mr.