aTCHAFALAYA
Our story is about LESTER SOILEAU, Deputy Sheriff of Garonville, Louisiana, a fictitious town located on the Atchafalaya River, about sixty miles south of Lafayette. The year is 1961.
LESTER is 32 and lives at home with his mother BELLE, his grandmother DIAMOND and younger sister EMILY. LESTER’S father was killed in an offshore explosion in 1958 and the burden for caring for his family falls on him.
Early on, BELLE and GRANDMA DIAMOND take EMILY to the Greyhound bus station for a one-way ticket to Baton Rouge, Louisiana's capitol.
EMILY is ecstatic about the move. She is ready to leave Garonville FOREVER.
The family is Louisiana French and GRANDMA DIAMOND speaks very little English.
As a Deputy Sheriff, LESTER makes enough money for the family to get by as his mother also receives money from her husband’s untimely death.
His mother and her family were born and raised in the town of Atchafalaya. This small town was located deep inside the Atchafalaya basin and was washed away in the great flood of 1927. Only LESTER’S friend, EMILE POCHE, resides in the town in a rebuilt three-story house tree-house that he calls home. EMILE makes his modest living as a fisherman. LESTER loves him like a father.
Garonville has a population of black folks who live across the tracks. One of LESTER’S closest friends lives there. His name is WITCHDOCTOR, and he is an accomplished accordion player in a Zydeco band.
The town’s librarian is LINDA LANGLEY who is single, cute and five years older than LESTER. His good friend and first cousin, D. B. GARON, reminds him of the age difference all the time. LINDA is always on LESTER’S mind.
Our story takes a major turn when LESTER is seriously wounded from being shot by a four-ten shotgun that was wired for protection of a shack owned by JELLY ROLL BROUSSARD, who is a “high yellow”, a derogatory term meaning mixed Creole. He’s considered an outsider to most folks around Garonville, white and black.
Because of his injuries, LESTER is unable to work. He and his friend D. B. decide to go to Baton Rouge for some sight-seeing and to visit with LESTER’S sister EMILY.
Baton Rouge is another world to LESTER ands D. B. and they both realize that Garonville is not that bad after all. Plus LESTER’S boss, the Sheriff requests LESTER return home at once. Even with injuries, LESTER is needed.
Returning home, our story takes a dramatic and cruel twist. The events cause our hero to make a major decision in his life, one that will affect all concerned.