The next day the street was quiet. No children played. No adults worked in the yard. The spot where Lucia had died had been hosed down multiple times and sprinkled with Ajax. Ronald stood in the living room peeking through the curtains. He saw a neighbor stuck their head out their door, quickly grab the newspaper, and vanish back inside.
"It's too quiet," Ronald said aloud. He closed the curtain and sat down on the couch. He looked at a picture of Lucia that sat on the coffee table. Nathaniel had put a candle down next to the photo. It was a very old picture of Lucia, long before she had a child or let her life fade into the sad story it had become. "What we gon' do today?" Ronald asked Latoya who sat on the floor with her legs crossed and a notepad on her lap.
"We are gonna get rid of the Bug Lady" Latoya said without looking up from her notes. "Did you notice anything crazy about what she did to daddy?" she asked.
"What'chu mean?" Ronald said.
"Like, when she made me throw up them worms I didn't die. Then when she did it to yo mama she did die" she said, counting the instances off with her fingers. "But when she did it to daddy he just kinda choked, right?"
"Yeah" Ronald replied. "He didn't even spit no worms out."
"Exactly" Latoya said. "When that happened I thought of sumthin' Mrs. Watson had said."
"But you said she didn't say anything important" Ronald said, looking at his sister suspiciously.
"Well, it wasn't important until now," Latoya said while looking up from her pad to let Ronald see that he was annoying her. "She had said 'it only matter what you believe.'"
"So?" Ronald asked. He was not following where Latoya was heading with her train of thought.
"When was the last time you saw daddy in church?" Latoya asked.
"Once, but I think he was lookin' for mama," Ronald replied.
"Daddy ain't religious the way few people is" Latoya said. "He believe in God but he ain't scared of God. Am I makin' any sense?"
"Not really," Ronald replied. "How can he believe in God but not be scared of Him?"
"Most of the people at church are scared of God the way you are…well, were or Lucia" Latoya said. "You do bad stuff sometimes and hope she don't find out and while you doin' it you hope they will forgive you. See?"
"Kinda," Ronald replied. "Like when we would sneak an' get food from Mrs. Watson and not tell mama?"
"Yeah, like that," Latoya said. She was visibly relieved that Ronald finally understood her. "Now daddy does bad stuff sometimes but he never asks to be forgiven. I don't think he is afraid to die."
"What that gotta do with the Bug Lady or Mrs. Watson?" Ronald asked. Latoya could see she was losing him again and had to slow down.
"Remember yesterday we heard some of the people on the street say that that policeman did the worm thing?" Ronald nodded. "They said he kept screamin' 'bout bein' sorry. Lucia couldn't scream but I bet she was tryin' to ask for forgiveness." Latoya sat quietly for a few moments before continuing. "I think the Bug Lady uses God against people somehow."
"How?" Ronald asked. He was scared enough of the Bug Lady with worms as her weapon. He did not want to imagine what she could do with God as her own personal machine gun.
"Faith as a weapon," Latoya said. "I think she can only really get you if you have what Pastor Jones called 'shaky faith.' Daddy barely got any so she couldn't do to him what she did to Lucia an' that policeman."
"I don' wanna stop believin' in God just to stop the Bug Lady" Ronald said with panic in his voice.
"You won't," Latoya said. "Let's go over Mrs. Watson house. I think she can help us."
Miss May stood in her kitchen staring at the stove. She had three large pots of water boiling and sighed as she sat waiting for more steam to rise from them. She slowly made her way to the hallway and listened for a sound. She heard nothing and grunted. Miss May walked upstairs and looked at all of the closed doors. Suddenly the last one at the far end on the right swung open and three young girls rushed towards her. She smiled and let them continue running by her.
They were halfway down the stairs before they saw Miss May waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Miss May smiled and suddenly she was in their faces, smoke bellowing out of her mouth like a locomotive out of control. She grabbed on of the girls and pitched her the down the last half of the stairs. She landed with a loud smack half on the stairs half on the floor, her body at a terrible angle. The other two stood frozen in place.
"Where you thank you goin'?" Miss May asked. "I give ya'll a home, food, and love. This is how ya'll repay me?" She grabbed each of them by their necks and threw them down next to the first girl. One of them tried to get back to her feet but her leg made a very loud cracking sound and she collapsed back onto the pile. Miss May walked back to the kitchen and checked on the water. "Good," she said as she grabbed one of the pots, the handle sizzling as it touched her skin. “'But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.'" She dumped the first pot all over the girls as they screamed. "Oh, stop bein' such babies," Miss May said as she threw the pot down and went for another one.
As Latoya and Ronald were about to make their way over to Mrs. Watson's house their father Nathaniel came out of Lucia's bedroom. He looked at them and smiled, relieving Latoya. She was afraid that he would be upset that they were going anywhere so soon after what had occurred the previous day.
"Where ya'll headin' off to?" Nathaniel asked as Latoya tied Ronald's shoes. "It ain't like any kids' is out there."
"To Mrs. Watson's," Latoya replied. "We think she can help us fight the Bug Lady."
"For real?" Nathaniel asked. "And how you plan on doin' that?" Nathaniel asked. Latoya could see that he was not taking them seriously. She bit her tongue and pulled her backpack over her shoulder. "I'm serious. How ya'll gon' try an' fight that crazy old bitch? By yourselves?"
"How you feelin', daddy?" Ronald asked.
"Better" Nathaniel replied. Since what happened the day before at Miss May's house he had not coughed up worms or any other form of insect. "Actually, I haven't felt this good in years!"
"Really?" Latoya asked suspiciously.
"Yeah," Nathaniel said. "I ain't felt this good since I was little."
"Hmm," Latoya said. Ronald could see that she was thinking of something but could not figure out what. Ronald always wished that he were as smart as Latoya. Or at least as tall as her. He felt like his father did not quite love him as much as he should because of the way he looked. Nathaniel was a big, strong man. Confident and charming. Ronald was the complete opposite of those. He was small, weak, shy, and all the girls at school hated him.
"Any police stop by today?" Nathaniel asked.
"Nope," Latoya said. In fact there had not been any form of policemen in the neighborhood. There were at least three patrols in the neighborhood before noon on a regular day. But today she and Ronald had not seen any.
"I ain't surprised after what happened yesterday," Nathaniel said. "Well, ya'll go over Mrs. Watson, but don't be bringin' up any of this crazy Lady Bug shit."
"'Bug Lady'," Ronald corrected him.
"Whatever" Nathaniel said as he headed back to the bedroom. "I'll go to the sto' later to get some food. Ain't shit in that fridge."
"Okay," Latoya said. "We'll see you later." With that they went next door to Mrs. Watson to share their theories on Miss May and how they thought she could be defeated.
In the backyard Miss May was patting the dirt flat on three fresh new graves. She looked at the upstairs windows and none of the curtains moved. She smiled to herself as she spat on each of the graves. She bent down and dug a small hole in each grave with her bare hands. When the hole was about one foot deep she placed worms from a large pickle jar into them. Once that was complete she placed the dirt back in the holes and wiped her hands off on her apron.
"My own little Valley of Achor, Lord," Miss May said aloud. "It's bee
n quite a while since I had the time to speak to you, Lord" Miss May said while looking at her hands. The day was a bright, beautiful perfect Los Angeles summer. In moments dark clouds rolled over the city. Clouds pregnant with water waited in anticipation. A slow rumble, deep and as menacing as any childhood fear, soothed the clouds into submission. "One on one, I mean," she said as she chuckled to herself. "All's I wanna know, Lord, is when am I done? When do I get to come back home? Hmm?"
The sky crackled with lightning as rain poured down on the city. Miss May removed her large brimmed straw hat and let the rain wash over her. Her hair, a few stray strands of gray, clung to her face. Rain ran over her eyes, but unblinkingly she stood and let the water soak every inch of her.
"'Do not degrade your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will turn to prostitution and be filled with wickedness.'" Miss May placed her hat back on and spat on the ground once again, a trail of smoke following the brown liquid to the ground. "I was not His whore, Lord. And I won't be yours either." Miss May grabbed the large jar of worms and flung it against the side of her house. Worms slithered here and there. Some did not move at all. Miss May looked at the curtains. This time they moved. She smiled as she grabbed the shovel and dragged it towards the front door.
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