by Tyora Moody
Amos swung his head around, his eyes bright. “Really? Mac is related to Chris?”
“Yeah, you know him?”
Amos rubbed his head. “I know Mac Porter is bad news. He’s one of those people who manages to have people around him that do bad things, but nothing ever touches him.”
“You mean he’s never been caught.”
Amos chuckled, “You hit the nail on the head with that one, Eugeena.”
That made me feel good. For once, it appeared we were getting closer to finding out something crucial. The only lurking question was why?
Why did Sondra and J.C. lose their life on the same night?
Chapter 22
After Leesa’s family visit and Amos’s shocking news, the rest of the weekend swam by quickly. Monday morning came with still no signs of Briana. I almost wondered if Briana returned to California, deciding her stay in South Carolina needed to end. When she showed up this past April, she never mentioned what happened to her residence in Los Angeles and if her stay was temporary or permanent. Her leaving her guitar still bothered me.
I certainly didn’t want to upset Amos, although I could tell he had already wandered in this direction.
Did something happen to Briana? Why else would she stay away without contacting anyone?
Of course she was still seen in town before the weekend talking to Theo. What happened after she met with Theo?
When Amos called Alexa on Sunday night, she claimed her younger sister was known for remaining out of contact for weeks. She suspected Briana had depression and had encouraged her to seek treatment in the past.
That worried me even more. I’d been down this road with Leesa when she’d lost her best friend in high school.
There were things in life that remained out-of-control, but the one thing I knew to do was to pray and that I did.
I also had been neglecting my duties with the summer camp, letting other volunteers substitute for me and today was one of those days I needed to be around children. Their pure innocence did wonders for a person’s health.
When I arrived at church, the Brown sisters were already there as expected. Those two had a knack for being on time. Not that I was running late, they just liked to be extra early. I figured they didn’t want to miss anything. It surprised me that they didn’t say anything to me about the events surrounding my family. I should have known they were just lying in wait for me.
The children had all been fed and were seated at the table munching on hot dogs and chips. After the whirlwind of getting fifteen children settled, I sat in the kitchen feeling aches in parts of my body that I didn’t even think I used today. Annie Mae sat down across from me. She managed to keep one eye on the fellowship hall and still state casually, “Gladys will be released from the hospital tomorrow.”
“Oh is that so,” I responded. “She hadn’t been there a week has she? What happened to recovery time?”
“She’s ready to get out of there. Get her daughter buried.”
Willie Mae almost made me jump. I didn’t realize she was behind me. I should have expected the twins to surround and question me the first chance they got.
Well, I had some questions too. Since they liked nosing in other people’s business, I was fairly sure they had some knowledge I could use. I decided to plunge into a conversation I knew they were both dying to have. “Did she ever find out who sent her the video?”
Annie Mae faced me with shock on her face. “What video?”
I narrowed my eyes, “You know what video. I’m pretty sure you saw it, both of you. We are too old to be acting coy.”
Annie Mae grimaced, “I wasn’t going to mention it.”
“Me neither,” Willie Mae agreed.
I looked from one sister to the other. “Really? I still want to know who took it and how it ended up on Facebook.”
“That is curious. Now that you mention it, Gladys was actually wondering the same thing. She mentioned that she isn’t on Facebook that much and that someone sent it to her phone.” Annie Mae shrugged, “She didn’t seem to recognize the phone number.”
Willie Mae scoffed, “She was probably embarrassed to see her daughter acting like that in public. That was just like Sondra.”
Annie Mae grunted her agreement, “That girl got her meanness from her mama.”
Now these two sisters were known for not being the nicest people themselves. And the fact that they were accusing someone else of being mean had me shaking my head.
I wanted to ask more about Gladys, but Annie Mae stood from her seat, her attention riveted on somebody’s child. “That’s enough of that! You finish your food.”
I looked to see who Annie Mae was fussing at and realized the victim, or culprit according to Annie Mae, was Sondra’s son. The little boy stuck his lip out and stared back in quiet defiance.
“Mmm, that one right there is just like his mama and grandmama. He doesn’t take after his dad at all.”
I frowned, “Are you still looking after Sondra’s kids?”
Willie Mae appeared quietly beside me. “Yes. It’s all so sad. I feel bad for them.”
“That was awfully nice of you.” Since Annie Mae mentioned Theo, I asked, “Has their dad asked about them?”
Willie Mae nodded, “Oh yeah, he’s been by to see them.” She dropped her voice, “I have a feeling he’s going to want custody of the kids. Being the biological dad, he will probably get it too.” There was a slight smile on Willie Mae’s face. She wasn’t a smiling woman. “It’s been kind of nice to have children around the house. The little girl kind of reminds me of Pat at her age.”
I knew Willie Mae missed her daughter. I responded, “I’m glad you were able to step in and help. I’m sure Gladys appreciates it too.” I thought for a moment. “Might be good for Theo to take in his own kids. Gladys can’t handle those two children with her heart condition.”
Annie Mae turned around, “We wondered the same thing, but apparently she’s determined to hang on to her grandkids. Theo is going to have a fight on his hands. Gladys has even lined up some help from our cousin’s girl.”
I frowned, “Who’s your cousin?”
Annie Mae, “You may remember her. Agnes Hunt. Her daughter, Charlene was a friend of Sondra. Agnes passed on a few years ago but we try to keep up with Charlene when we can.”
My ears perked up. “Charlene? Yeah, I know her. Wow, that’s awfully nice of her to offer to help Gladys.”
Awfully nice and suspicious. What was that girl doing?
“Did you two know Charlene was with Sondra the same night she’d been killed? They were together at that Black Diamond night club.”
The twins exchanged a look between themselves, one that I couldn’t read.
I waited for them to respond, but neither said a word which I found to be peculiar. “I saw Charlene last week and apparently the two girls hadn’t been in touch for some time, maybe even since high school. I gathered it had something to do with Yvette.”
This time both twins eyed me and for once Willie Mae’s wondering eye was looking directly at me. I know I’d stepped into their family business, but these two didn’t exactly resist being in my business.
Willie Mae asked, “What do you know about Yvette?”
“Not much. I had Charlene in my social studies class, but I wasn’t aware of her twin until recently. I vaguely remembered Yvette getting shot.”
“Mmmmm.” Annie Mae began to rock. “That was an awful time for the family, especially Agnes. She shut down. Charlene was very dependent on her twin. Her mama wasn’t really paying attention to her. For some reason, Agnes doted on Yvette a bit more.”
Willie Mae nodded, “Poor Charlene got a little lost after that. She stopped talking to a lot of people. I don’t think Sondra was the only one. Charlene managed to get mixed in with the wrong crowd and did drugs for a while. It’s sad, but Agnes gave up on her own daughter.”
Annie Mae added, “Yeah, it wasn’t until after her mother died that Charlen
e got clean. Our Pat helped her get into rehab. ”
“I didn’t realize Charlene had been through so much. I imagine it was awfully hard to lose her twin and then have her mother checked out in a way too.”
Willie Mae sighed, “Yeah, that girl hasn’t always had it together, but she’s a sweet girl. Sweeter than her sister. Yvette and Sondra, now those were a force. Both of them were pretty girls and they let it go to their heads. Charlene was definitely a third wheel.”
I frowned, “Is Gladys aware of Charlene’s history? Why do you think she’s trusting her to help with the kids?”
Annie Mae shrugged, “I don’t know, but last week when we visited Gladys in the hospital, we ran into Charlene. She seemed almost as distraught as Gladys.”
I’d never had a chance to talk to Charlene since seeing her at the auto shop last week. That encounter had struck me as odd, and the more I learned about her the more something nagged me.
Before I could think to ask anything else about Charlene, a ping sound came from my phone. I frowned. That wasn’t the usual tone I heard for a text. When I reached in my purse for my phone I realized it was the Simple Security app. Amos had shown me how to use the app and I found myself looking at the cameras over the weekend. I used it to spy on Porgy while he was outside. Nothing special other than watching him chase a squirrel. I was starting to believe it was the same squirrel taunting my dog.
I opened the app wondering if Amos had ordered a package or something. I knew I didn’t. There were some weeks where I clicked that Amazon button way too much. I was too preoccupied the past few weeks to be shopping.
When I saw who was on the camera, I gasped.
Both the twins who had started cleaning up the kitchen turned around to look at me.
“Eugeena, you okay?” Annie Mae asked.
I couldn’t answer if I wanted to, my mouth was tongue-tied. I was too shocked to see the young woman’s face peering at my front door.
Briana was back. Girl, where have you been?
Chapter 23
I hurried home as quick as I could. I sent a text to Amos to let him know his daughter had returned. I just hope she remained in place until he arrived. I practically skidded into the driveway so if my plan was to surprise her, I’m sure she had either heard or seen me coming. Once I parked the Camry, I sat for a few minutes.
A sistah needed to catch her breath and think for a minute!
From the moment I saw Briana’s face on the security app, I went into overdrive. I’m not sure what I thought I could do or even say to her. I just felt the urge to make sure she was okay.
After finally coming to some resemblance of a plan, I got out of my car and decided to go in my house first. I’m sure Porgy could use a walk in the yard being cooped up the past few hours. As I watched my dog tear around the yard, I looked over in the other yard. Most of the houses on my street had a bit of privacy usually by a fence or shrubbery. Years ago, Ralph had a wooden fence installed all around the yard. When the boys were young and living at home, Ralph and the boys would wash down the fence as well as the deck that was eventually added. Then they stained it to protect it from the sun.
I stared over that fence now, for some reason noticing the shed for the first time. I’m sure I’d seen it before, but it really stood out to me. Probably because over a week ago a real dead body had been found.
A body that Briana was being accused of placing there. What struck me and I’m not sure why it didn’t occur to me before was how much effort it would have been to drag what had to be dead weight into the shed.
Briana had her mother’s frame, which was much lighter and slimmer than mine. She wasn’t skinny, but she didn’t strike me as one who could heft a lot of weight. Briana wasn’t short, but slightly taller than my 5’4 frame.
I finally got Porgy back inside and headed over to the house. A few moments later, Briana peeked her head out. As I suspected she was not happy to see me.
The grimace on her face disappeared as quickly as it appeared. In its place was a more haggard look as if the child hadn’t slept in a while.
“Are you okay?” I peered at her. “I saw you were home and wondered if we could talk.”
“Sure,” Briana left the door open and I followed her inside.
Well, at last she didn’t close the door in my face.
I noticed the place looked a bit cleaner than it did the last time.
Briana turned around, her arms were wrapped around her similar to the way they were the night Sondra’s body was found.
“I’m really here to see if you are alright. I’m sure your dad has been in touch with you.”
“Yes, him and my sister have been blowing up my phone.”
“I’m sure Detective Wilkes has too.”
Fear flashed in Briana’s eyes. “Is she going to arrest me?”
“I don’t think she has anything on you other than some circumstantial stuff like the video.”
Briana dropped down on the couch. “I can’t believe someone recorded that. I was doing my job. I wasn’t crazy about the job at first, but it was cool hanging around Fay and Jocelyn at the cafe. I do love coffee.”
I had to smile at that. “Well, that’s something we both have in common.” I took it upon myself to sit across from her. “Briana, if you knew who Sondra was in the first place, why did you pretend you didn’t?”
Her eyes flashed and then watered, “I wasn’t pretending. I couldn’t process what I was seeing. I didn’t understand what or how a dead body was in my yard.”
“That’s understandable. You were in shock.”
Briana’s bottom lip trembled, “When I heard you and my dad talking about her in the kitchen, it started to occur to me that I could get blamed for her death.” She threw her hands up as if all was lost. “Just my luck, being blamed for killing somebody I didn’t even know was in my house. Somebody who hated me for such stupid reasons.”
“Are you sure you never saw her Saturday night? Detective Wilkes is convinced Sondra showed up to start trouble with you and Theo.”
Briana shook her head, “No. I never saw her and neither did Theo. Besides, he left the party early when his mom called. She wasn’t feeling good. I was too busy trying to be the hostess most of the night. I served food, drinks and even sang a couple of songs.” Briana stared off into space, “I will say after Theo left, everyone else seemed ready to go. The party was over probably forty-five minutes after he left. I was exhausted and went to bed.”
I nodded. “Well, what’s even more crazy is she was at the Black Diamond. That’s like what, ten miles from Sugar Creek? I can’t get why she would come all the way here? Certainly the woman wasn’t that vindictive to pick a fight with someone in their own house? And if you never saw her, then I’m wondering if Sondra came here not realizing this is where you lived?”
Briana stared off into space as if her mind was trapped by a dark memory. “Theo told me Sondra had been trying to get back together. He said he made the mistake of spending time with her. He was doing it because he thought it would make his kids happy, but he finally gave up because she was so demanding. She never had anything good to say about him. He told me he got into a huge argument with her before Christmas and that he only wanted to co-parent with her.”
“Before Christmas. That was over seven months ago. Sounds like Sondra never took the hint.”
Briana rolled her eyes, “Sondra was never a person who understood the word no.”
“I imagine her friend was the same way.”
Briana frowned, “Who?”
“Yvette.”
Briana bristled as if an electric current had stung her. “You know about her?”
“I’ve heard a lot I didn’t know in the past week.”
Briana dropped her head in her hands. “I can’t believe all this is happening. I left California to come home for some peace. You would think after all this time life would be different. High school was almost a decade ago.”
“I’m sorry. So
me people never quite grow up from the high school experience.” Since I was curious, I changed the subject and asked, “Have you ever been to the Black Diamond?”
Briana lifted her head from her hands. “Yeah, I had a gig there last month. It was my first paying gig since being in South Carolina. It’s not the most classy place, but I missed being in front of an audience. The stage was a pretty decent size and I liked the band.”
“Did you know Sondra worked there?”
Briana’s eyes grew wide, “No, I didn’t know that.”
I nodded, “I was trying to figure out how she knew you were back in town. Charleston isn’t exactly a small town, and Sondra didn’t live here in Sugar Creek.”
Briana shrugged, “I doubt Theo would have said something to her. He was keeping contact to a minimum with her, only to pick up the kids. I know he said that lately her mother was giving him trouble about picking up the kids.”
“Gladys? I would think she would want the father in their lives.” I thought back to my earlier conversation with the Brown twins. Like mother, like daughter, both Gladys and Sondra seemed to have a mean streak in them. They also mentioned Gladys was determined to keep her grandchildren despite her health condition. She was even bringing in help.
“Briana, what do you know about Charlene?”
Briana frowned, “Charlene Hunt? She was Yvette’s sister. I remember her being shy and wanting to fit in. To be honest, we both were probably a lot alike, but Charlene had her sister and Sondra.” Suddenly Briana’s face went rigid as she stared off again. “Oh no.”
“What? Are you remembering something?”
“Charlene was here at the house.”
Emotions warred in my body as some of my questions were being confirmed. “When was this?”
“Last Saturday. I saw her talking to Damion. At first, I didn’t recognize her, but then I remembered she came to the cafe with Sondra. She’s always been skinny, but she seemed like she hadn’t been well.”