by Mary Monroe
“They were free. My mother made them for us,” Joyce announced proudly. “She and Daddy bought some our furniture, too.”
“Humph. Y’all doing better than I thought,” Milton commented. “If things go the way I hope they do for me and Yvonne, we’ll be living like kings; just like y’all.”
“Well, I don’t think we living like ‘kings’ yet,” I tossed in, forcing myself to chuckle. “We can’t afford to spend money the way some folks do. We keep ourselves on a strict budget.” I didn’t like the way Milton was staring at me with his eyes narrowed. It was the same way he had looked at me last week when he’d asked me to lend him five dollars. Even though he was brazen enough to already be begging for loans, I still wanted to get to know him and Yvonne. I liked the fact that I didn’t have to go too far now when I wanted to socialize and have a few drinks. But one of the main reasons I wanted to have a good relationship with them was because they’d be a good distraction for Joyce. They’d keep her busy so I could spend even more time with Betty Jean and the boys.
“Joyce, you need some help in the kitchen?” Yvonne asked, already rising.
“I need to set the table and if you don’t mind, you can come in and fix up the Kool-Aid.”
Yvonne and Joyce hadn’t been gone two seconds before Milton stood up. He shuffled over to me and got so close up to my face, I could smell the cheap lye soap he bathed with. “Um, listen.” He stopped talking and peered toward the kitchen. “I was wondering if you could lend me another dollar?”
“Again?” The only reason I had mentioned the fact that Joyce and I were on a budget a few moments ago was to encourage him not to get used to asking me for loans. Now here this clown was asking me for more money anyway!
“This’ll be the last time for a while,” he told me, giving me a serious look.
“I sure hope so, Milton.” I took a deep breath and pulled out my wallet.
I was glad when we all sat down at the table. And I was pleased to see that Yvonne and Milton had good table manners. I was also pleased that they liked to eat and run. As soon as Yvonne scarfed down the last of the pigtails, she was ready to leave. “We’d stay a little longer, but I think Willie Frank is coming by the house tonight,” she explained, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, which was tacky since Joyce had put a cloth napkin right next to her plate.
“Y’all welcome to come over anytime you want,” Joyce said, and I was sure she meant it. Me, I was having some serious second thoughts about our new neighbors. We walked them to the door and as soon as I locked it, I peeped out the window to make sure they had left. Then I turned to Joyce with my hands on my hips. “Baby, would you believe Milton had the nerve to ask me for another loan already?”
“How much this time?”
“Just a dollar,” I said in a tired tone. I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head. “Now I’m a dollar short. . . .”
“Pffft!” Joyce waved her hand and gave me a dry look. “I wish you would stop making such a big deal out of Milton asking you for money. I’m sure he wouldn’t have asked for it if he didn’t really need it.” Joyce paused and gave me a thoughtful look. “But if he’s asked to borrow money twice in less than two weeks, and they both have jobs and a bootlegging business, maybe they are not doing as well as they want us to think. Or, maybe they are just downright greedy and like to use people. Next thing you know, they’ll be asking us to ride them here and there.”
It was a busy week for Yvonne and Milton. Each day there was so many cars and trucks parked bumper to bumper on our street, you would have thought a funeral procession had arrived. Thursday evening Joyce ran to the window and peeped out every time she heard a vehicle pull up. “They must really be jamming next door. That’s the sixth car to drive up in the last fifteen minutes,” she gushed. I walked up behind her and peeped out the window myself. “I wouldn’t mind having a drink or two this evening. And, some of their guests are so entertaining.”
“I’m sure Milton and Yvonne would be glad to see us again. You want to go over there?”
Joyce closed the curtain and put her arm around my waist. We moved over to the couch and plopped down. “Yeah, I’d like to go but one drink will be my limit tonight.”
“One drink?” I said with my eyebrow raised. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t want to get too carried away. Last Monday when we went over there, I had a hard time staying awake at work the next morning,” Joyce sighed, and then her eyes lit up real quick. “Aw, shuck it! Let’s go anyway. I don’t want Milton and Yvonne to think we’re trying to avoid them.”
We spent only a hour next door and we had a good time. I was overjoyed that Milton was too busy talking to his other guests to bother me much. I figured he’d be up in my face again soon enough.
And I was right.
Friday afternoon around three thirty p.m., him and Yvonne showed up at the store. I didn’t like people coming into my office, so when I heard them outside asking Buddy and Sadie where I was, I jumped up and went out to see what they wanted.
“Speak of the devil,” Yvonne smirked as I approached them.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We need a favor!” Milton sputtered. My chest tightened and I groaned. Even if the favor involved only a dollar, I decided I’d tell him I was flat broke.
I motioned for them to follow me to the back of the store. “How come y’all ain’t at work?”
“Jacob Petty, one of our dishwashers, passed on Tuesday. His family just let us know this morning and Mr. Cunningham closed the grill early so all the staff could attend the funeral today. That’s where we just came from,” Milton choked. “Me and him was real close.” He blinked hard and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
“It’s all right, baby. Jacob is in a better place,” Yvonne said, rubbing Milton’s shoulder. She let out a loud sigh and blinked hard to hold back her own tears. “Jacob had a heart attack.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Me and Jacob used to work in the same cane field a few years ago. He was a good man.” I cleared my throat and tried to look as sympathetic as I could. “We got some real nice sympathy cards in aisle eight and I would offer y’all some flowers half price, but the florist man didn’t show up today like he was supposed to so—”
“We already got a card and we don’t want to spend good money on flowers so they can die too,” Yvonne said.
It was a shame to see such a sad look on her pretty face. Milton looked even worse. His eyes were red and swollen. I held up both hands, as if somebody had just pulled a gun on me. “Well, if it’s money y’all want, I can’t spare none this time.”
“We didn’t come to ask for no money,” Yvonne said in a pitiful voice.
Before I could speak again, Milton sniffled and said in a gruff tone, “We need a ride home. We missed the last bus and it’ll be a whole two hours for the next one.”
I glanced at the clock on the wall and shook my head. “It’ll be a while before I close up and y’all can’t hang around up in here unless y’all going to buy something. Mac told me to stop folks from loitering so much. We been having a lot of trouble with shoplifters.” As soon as that last word slid out of my mouth, I wished I could suck it back in. Yvonne’s jaw dropped and Milton looked like he was going to start crying some more.
“You ain’t got to worry about us because we don’t steal,” Milton said sharply.
“I’m sure y’all don’t. But I still can’t have y’all just hanging around here for the next hour or so.”
“We can go over to Mosella’s and wait until you close up,” Yvonne suggested.
I shook my head real fast. “No, that won’t work neither. See, I need to get out of here right at five so I can go out to my daddy’s house. Driving y’all home would be too far out my way.” I swallowed hard and folded my arms. “Anything else?”
“Naw. I guess we’ll be seeing you when we see you,” Milton muttered. “Have a blessed day, Odell.”
“Y’a
ll too,” I said with a tight smile.
Chapter 33
Odell
I WAS SORRY I’D BEEN KIND OF HARSH AND ABRUPT WITH YVONNE and Milton, but they had come at a real bad time. I’d been thinking about Betty Jean all day and how she’d been badgering me lately to spend more time with her and the boys, and it was really started to bug me. But I was glad I’d taken out my frustrations on Yvonne and Milton, not Joyce. In all the years that we’d been married, she’d never seen me upset. And she never would if I could help it.
I was feeling somewhat better now and I regretted not letting them hang around so I could give them a ride home. I made a mental note to be extra nice to them the next few days. Twenty minutes after they’d left, I gave Joyce a call. The only telephone in the school was in the principal’s office, and she worked on the opposite side of the building. Whenever I called her at work, I had to wait anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes for her to come to the telephone. She must have been close by today because she came on the line five minutes later.
“Hello, baby doll.”
She gasped and I could picture the look of ecstasy on her face before she spoke. “Oh, Odell! It’s so nice to hear your voice, sweetie!”
I was amazed that after all these years, Joyce still swooned when she heard my voice. I had a feeling she’d never get used to me calling her cute names. It wasn’t even necessary anymore because she was already putty in my hands.
“I hope I didn’t pull you away from nothing too important.”
“You didn’t. I was just about to clean the blackboard, but it can wait. I’d much rather be talking to you. You still going to visit your daddy this evening?”
“Yup. I was just calling to tell you I probably won’t be back home tomorrow until around noon or later.”
“Oh?”
“Last time I was with Daddy, I told him I’d take him fishing for a couple of hours next time I came to visit. I figured we’d get up tomorrow morning, and go to Carson Lake. I hear them bluegills over there been biting up a storm lately.”
“Hmmm. You know, I’ve been thinking.”
“Thinking what?”
“It’s been a while since I saw your daddy, and enough time has passed so I’m not as mad as I was about the way Ellamae talked to me the last time I went out there with you. What time did you plan to get on the road today?”
I gulped. “Huh?” There was no way I could let Joyce tag along with me. I wasn’t going to visit Daddy. I had promised Betty Jean and the boys that I’d take them out to eat this evening and we’d take a long drive along the countryside. “Uh, baby, why don’t you come with me the next time? I was going to leave as soon as I get off the phone so I can’t wait until you get off.”
“Don’t worry about that. The school day is almost over anyway, so I don’t think Miss Kirksey would care if I leave now. I just need to call and let Mama and Daddy know where I’m going to be tonight. Let me get off this phone so I can let everybody know I’m leaving early.”
“You sure you want to go with me?” I held my breath, praying she’d say no.
She took her time replying. “Odell, what’s going on? Is there some reason you don’t want me to go?” These questions seemed out of character for Joyce. She had never cross-examined me like this before.
“Oh no, baby doll. It ain’t nothing like that,” I said real quick. “You know I would never try to keep something from you. I love you from the bottom of my heart, so I would never do or say nothing that you wouldn’t like. It’s just that . . . well, I know you don’t like to go to Daddy’s house on account of Ellamae. And even if she wasn’t there, Daddy ain’t no fun to spend time with.” I stopped talking long enough to squeeze in a chuckle. “I know you only want to go to please me, but you don’t need to do that.”
“I know I don’t. But I don’t mind doing it when I do. And to be honest with you, I should offer to go with you more often. But if Ellamae is real nasty today, there’s no telling when I’ll feel like going out there again. This could even be the last time.” Joyce laughed.
“Okay, sweetie. I’ll see you in about twenty minutes.” I had to think fast, so I said the first thing that came to my mind next. “Um . . . looka here, before we head out, I’d like to drop in on Milton and Yvonne and check on them. They was both down in the dumps when they stopped by here a little while ago.”
“Oh Lord. I hope none of their guests got drunk over there last night and did something crazy!”
“Don’t worry, sugar. It wasn’t nothing like that.”
“Then why were they down in the dumps? And how do you know?”
“They was on the way home from the funeral of one of their coworkers. They must have been real close to him, because they took his passing real hard. They both had red, swollen eyes from crying so much. I was busy and in a lousy mood myself so I wasn’t as gracious as I should have been. I think I was probably a little too abrupt with them. So now I’d like to go over there and make up for it. I’ll take them a few snacks because I know they’ll have plenty company tonight.”
“That coworker must not have been too close of a friend if they still want to party and drink with a house full of folks after attending his funeral today.”
“Don’t be like that, sugar. That’s how some people deal with grief. They need sympathy more than they need you criticizing them.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I guess. I don’t know what’s wrong with me for saying something like that. Well, I wouldn’t mind spending a little time with them before we go out to your daddy’s house. I’ll be ready when you get here, so just park out front and toot the horn.”
“All right. I’ll be there after I collect this week’s profits from the registers and take them to your daddy.” Joyce mumbled something under her breath I couldn’t make out. “What did you say?”
“I said I get nervous every time I know you driving around with a paper bag full of money. That’s the only thing I hate about Fridays.”
“Baby, I agree with you. But this is the way your folks want to do it. I don’t think they’ll ever trust banks again.”
“Well, you just be careful. There are some desperate crooks out there willing to do whatever they have to do to get some easy money.”
“Tell me about it,” I sniffed. I was one of them “desperate crooks” and I would probably be one for the rest of my life. Or, for as long as I had to take care of my boys and Betty Jean. One thing I planned to do soon was make arrangements to have a telephone installed for her. Since I couldn’t call to let her know I had to postpone my visit, when I got off the phone with Joyce, I called Betty Jean’s sister at her work and told her to relay the message.
“Why ain’t you coming?” Alline wanted to know.
“Something serious came up,” I explained.
“I bet,” she said, which I didn’t appreciate.
“It’s something I can’t get out of,” I went on.
“Uh-huh. It’s a shame it’s more ‘serious’ than your children, Odell. They was really looking forward to spending time with you this evening and tomorrow. They’ll be sure enough disappointed. . . .” This heifer was getting on my nerves with her suspicious-sounding comments, but she was too important for me to piss off. I didn’t know what I’d do if she was to quit helping Betty Jean with the boys. Alline was usually nice to me, but lately she’d been acting standoffish and I didn’t know why. I had always treated her with respect, but there’d been times when I wanted to cuss her out. I would never do that because at the end of the day, I needed to stay on her good side in case something happened to Betty Jean. Life was so unpredictable and unfair, I had to think about things like that. If Betty Jean up and died or decided to run off with another man, or by herself, I didn’t want Alline to take my babies and relocate to Ohio where they had other relatives. She had told me more than once that the only reason she hadn’t already moved north was on account of she wanted to stay close to her baby sister and her nephews.
“Nothing is m
ore serious to me than my boys, Alline. You of all people should know how much I love them!” I snapped.
“I know you love them little devils. It’s just a damn shame they don’t get to see you more often.”
“Well, I’m working on that. But for now, I’m doing the best I can do so cut me some slack.”
“Odell, I’m kind of busy, so I have to go. I’ll tell Betty Jean you called and I’ll tell her everything you just told me.”
I had never discussed my marital status with Alline, but she was no fool. She had to know that I was married. But one good thing about her relationship with Betty Jean was that they stayed out of each other’s business. And, to stay on Alline’s good side, every time I delivered a bunch of goodies from the store to Betty Jean, I always included a few items for Alline. It was because of my generosity that she had a huge supply of hair grease, makeup, and all kinds of other she-products that women had to have. And, at least two or three times a month, she borrowed money from me.
“Let her know that I’ll see her either sometime tomorrow or Sunday afternoon. And tell the boys I’m real sorry, and I’ll make it up to them.”
I was sweating when I hung up. Daddy didn’t know I was coming, so he’d be surprised when me and Joyce showed up. That was one thing. The other thing I was worried about was him letting the cat out of the bag that I hadn’t been visiting him as regularly as Joyce thought I had. Shit! This was the first time I was glad Daddy was having memory lapses. No matter what he said in front of Joyce, or how he acted when we got there today, I’d blame it on his mental condition. Ellamae never had much to say to Joyce and she usually left the house a few minutes after we got there, so I wasn’t worried about her blowing the whistle on me.
In addition to having to pay Daddy an unplanned visit today, now I had to visit Yvonne and Milton, too! Well, I had to do what I had to do to keep everybody happy.
Chapter 34
Joyce