Mama Pursues Murderous Shadows

by Nora Deloach

  I looked around, thinking of the party. There was a hardwood floor that was in need of polishing. Stacks of folding chairs were in the corner. Were there enough tables to seat all our guests? We still had to plan the guest list.…

  Next we drove to Sarah Jenkins’s house.

  We found Sarah Jenkins, Carrie Smalls, and Annie Mae Gregory once again sitting on Sarah’s front porch.

  “It’s good to see you ladies enjoying the fresh air,” Mama commented.

  “I need money to pay off my taxes,” Sarah said anxiously. “Did you find out anything, anything at all?”

  As Mama sat, I swatted a mosquito, then sat on the porch near a rosebush. Its sweet scent filled the air. My mind wandered back to when I was a little girl who believed that time stood still and everything in the world was at peace.

  “I’m still looking into it,” Mama told her, no doubt feeling that there was more at stake than helping Sarah get Ruby’s insurance money.

  Now, I’ve told you before that these three women are the town historians. They know something about every soul who lives in Otis. I knew that Mama counted on them as a source. What I didn’t know until today was that they counted on Mama to use their knowledge.

  “You’ve heard that Herman has found Betty Jo dead?” Mama asked, as if she was fairly certain that this news was not going to come as a shock to these women.

  From the confident tilt of their heads, I knew that despite Sarah’s illness and financial problems, they’d already done some research on Betty Jo’s death. And they wouldn’t have been satisfied with just listening to the radio or reading the paper. Delight flickered in Carrie Smalls’s eyes. She particularly was proud that Mama considered them an important resource. And she for one wouldn’t let her down.

  “Talk is that Betty Jo and Herman had a knockdown-drag-out fight last night,” she said. “I talked to old man Capers, who cleans floors at the morgue. He told me that Betty Jo had fresh bruises on her face and neck when they brought her body in.”

  “Let me tell you something else I just learned,” Sarah said. “I got a call this morning from Delcena, the bank teller. She wanted to know how I was doing. During our conversation, Delcena told me that she told Herman that she’d given Ruby a lot of money in cash, and he acted like he didn’t care nothing about that.”

  Mama showed no emotion. Sarah’s information was old news to her, since Abe had already told us about his talk with Delcena.

  “Delcena told me that she also told Herman that she’d given Ruby most of the money in hundred-dollar bills but that Ruby requested two thousand dollars in twenty-dollar bills,” Sarah added.

  Now Mama seemed interested. “Ruby got two thousand dollars in twenty-dollar bills?”

  “That’s what Delcena told me she told Herman,” Sarah said, her voice a little stronger, as if she was satisfied that what she said held Mama’s interest. “Delcena went on to tell me that she thought it was foolish for Ruby to have had all that money, but then she knew that Ruby wasn’t the kind of person you could say that to.” She shook her head.

  “By the way, Candi.” Annie Mae’s tone indicated that she wasn’t about to be topped by Sarah’s news. “I talked to my cousin Christine that lives in Philadelphia. You know I told you I’d ask her to check on Ruby’s aunt for you.”

  “Yes,” Mama said politely. “I was hoping you’d receive some news.”

  “Christine told me that Ruby’s aunt Laura died in the old folks’ home about three months back. Laura left Ruby an insurance policy worth seven thousand dollars.”

  Learning that Ruby had received an insurance inheritance was indeed news to Mama. “So, Ruby had seven thousand dollars. Why would she carry that much cash on her person?”

  “What I want to know,” I interjected, remembering that Abe had told us that there wasn’t even a dollar in the motel room where Ruby had been killed, “is what happened to all that money!”

  Mama looked at me but didn’t respond.

  “Somebody killed poor Ruby,” Sarah wailed. “There ain’t no reason for a woman with all that money to kill herself! Ruby was killed and I won’t be able to hold my head up in this town like the respectable woman that I am until I get my tax money and pay my taxes on time!”

  Mama didn’t say anything but her silence told me that Ruby’s death was more important to her than Sarah’s reputation.

  Supper was over. My father and Cliff were in the backyard, doing what they enjoyed most—drinking cold beer and swapping stories. Mama and I were in the kitchen doing what I liked least—finishing up the dishes. “I’ve got sample invitations,” I told her.

  “Young lady, I’ll do you one better! I’ve got a menu and the guest list.” She walked over to the desk that sits in a corner of the kitchen, pulled out two neatly typed documents, and handed them to me.

  I was more than pleased.

  “So, what else do you need from me?” Mama asked, the look on her face saying that she’d finally decided to work with me on whipping this party into shape.

  “What about a photographer? We’ll need family pictures.”

  “James’s buddy Coal takes pictures for weddings and christenings. James has already spoken to him.”

  “Your dress?” I asked.

  “I’ve got a few things I can wear.”

  “You’ll need a new dress, Mama. Something very chic.”

  “Okay, I’ll buy a dress.”

  “And Daddy will need a tux,” I continued.

  “James can rent a tux,” she replied, then said, “Simone, have James or I ever made you ashamed by what we had on?”

  “No, of course not, Mama,” I said quickly.

  “Then we’ll be fine for the party, I promise you. Let me tell you what I’ve planned for the entertainment,” she said, instantly forgiving me. “James has a buddy who deejays for various functions. James asked him to play music for us.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “James is going to pick the music, so expect oldies but goodies,” she warned me. “So, what else is left to plan?”

  “It sounds like we’ve got everything in order.”

  “Good,” Mama said firmly, walking back to the desk and pulling out a yellow pad and a ballpoint pen. She handed them to me, “Now that we’ve gotten that settled, I want you to write down what we know about Ruby Spikes’s death.” I recognized the determined look in her eyes and knew we’d be staying up late. When it comes to being persistent, Mama’s a lot like me.

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  Right after lunch the next day, Cliff and I left Mama’s house for Atlanta. All the while we were driving, I was going over what I still needed to do for the party, but the thought of the two attempts on Mama’s life—and on mine—kept coming back to me.

  “Cliff,” I finally confided. “There is something I need to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell my father.”

  Cliff looked at me, surprised.

  “It’s about Mama,” I started, then I told him of both the deliberate push into the ditch the week before, and how my mother and I had been shot at at Betty Jo’s house and how the cat had been stolen from the backseat of the car.

  “Simone! You’d better tell your father—all kinds of bad things can happen to Miss Candi! This game you and your mother insist on playing is getting out of control! Neither you nor your mother are detectives … you have no idea of how the criminal mind works!”

  “Things usually turn out okay,” I reminded him, almost offended by his lack of respect for the positive results of our past investigations.

  “There is always the chance that you’ll both come out dead!” he snapped, unimpressed. “As soon as you get home, call your father. Tell him that your mother is in danger!”

  “But I promised Mama that I wouldn’t tell him.”

  “You need to tell somebody,” Cliff insisted.

  “I’ll call Abe as soon as I get home.”

  Satisfied that calling Abe and telling him to keep a
n eye on Mama was the right thing to do, my mind once again wandered to the party. I knew I could count on Cliff and my girlfriend Yasmine and her husband Ernest. They’d all promised to help. Now I gave Cliff his assignment: taking charge of the beverages.

  “What kind of liquor do you want to serve?” he asked.

  “Beer,” I told him. “My father’s favorite is Heineken. And wine.”

  “Nothing else?”

  “No,” I said. “Select a wine that will go with turkey and ham. The beer will be for Daddy’s cronies; they won’t know what to do with wine.”

  “Who’s going to serve the liquor?” Cliff asked. The glint in his eyes told me that he didn’t want to be the bartender.

  “Ernest offered to tend the bar,” I told him.

  “You sure you don’t want mixed drinks?”

  “I’ll call and discuss the drinks with my brothers. It’ll give me some idea of how much of our budget I should put into liquor.”

  “When are you going to take everything to Otis?” Cliff asked me.

  “I’d like to take the beer and wine home next Saturday.”

  “I’ll go with you again,” he said. “Somebody has got to protect you and your mother from yourselves!”

  I smiled. “No problem. By the way, Daddy is handling the music.”

  “Sounds like we’re going to be swinging to the oldies.”

  I laughed. “You can be sure of that!”

  “Do you have the Otis Community Center reserved?”

  “Yes, but Mama remarked that Lois Eager, the woman who makes the reservations for the center, has a habit of booking two occasions at the same time. So I’m going to give Lois a second and a third reminder call.” Then I remembered something. “Dinner plates and silverware!” I shouted in poor Cliff’s ear. “I’ve got to find a place to rent dishes and silverware!”

  Cliff shook his head. “Honey, there ain’t no place to rent dinnerware or silver within a hundred miles of Otis.”

  “Then I’ll have to rent them in Atlanta and bring them to Otis.”

  He frowned. “Simone, that sounds like a lot of trouble you’re putting yourself through.”

  “Nothing is too much trouble for my parents’ anniversary party. I won’t have Mama’s guests eat off paper plates. She’d have a fit.”

  “I have to admit that paper plates ain’t Miss Candi’s style,” he said, nodding.

  “Where can I get enough plates—”

  “How many people are you expecting?”

  “One hundred. That number includes people from out of town, friends my parents have kept in touch with over the years. That means I’ve got to find a place for all those people to stay.” I groaned. Every time I solved one problem, two more cropped up.

  “There’s the Avondale Inn and the Otis Motel.”

  “Yes,” I said, thinking about Ruby and Betty Jo and how both those places had become a part of Mama’s life even before her party.

  Once I’d gotten back home and talked with Abe on the phone, I felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Abe promised he’d track down Leman Moody and question him and get Rick to keep a close eye on Mama. Now I could get back to planning the anniversary party. I set up a conference call to my brothers. “Are either of you planning on bringing anybody to the party?”

  Rodney spoke first. “I’m bringing my new lady and a buddy and his wife.”

  “Will?” I asked.

  “I’m only bringing one lady, somebody I want Mama and Daddy to meet.”

  “She sounds special,” I said.

  “She is special,” Will replied, his tone playfully sensuous.

  “You planning to do something serious?” Rodney asked him, sounding a little worried.

  “Yeah, big brother,” Will said. “I’m going all the way with this one.”

  “Mama will be glad,” Rodney said, not responding to Will’s teasing. “I’m sure she’s thinking that all three of her children are devoted bachelors who would never give her a grandchild.”

  “I’m going to get married,” I said stoutly.

  My brothers both laughed. “Yeah, Simone,” said Will, “we know that in about twenty or thirty years Cliff will finally take the plunge—”

  “Laugh if you want to,” I told them, “but we’ll see who strolls down the aisle first.”

  “Don’t worry about beating me to the preacher,” Rodney said. “I ain’t about to do anything crazy!”

  “Let’s get back to Mama and Daddy’s party,” I said sternly, seeing that we were once again headed in the wrong direction. “Now that we’ve got the party tied down, what are we going to give them as a gift?”

  “A gift?” Will echoed. “I thought the party was our gift.”

  “The party is to let everybody see what a great gift we’re going to give our parents,” Rodney said. “Isn’t that right, Simone?”

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Okay,” Will said, like he always does when he sees that Rodney has taken my side, “what kind of gift do you think we should buy?”

  “A trip,” Rodney said, before I could answer. “A nice long trip.”

  “You’re talking about hundreds of dollars,” Will chided. He hates spending money.

  “Thousands,” I said. “Two thousand at least.”

  “Not bad,” Rodney said.

  “The party is costing that much,” Will complained.

  “Mama and Daddy will only have this anniversary once, and—” I started to say.

  But Will cut in. “Simone, spare me the sermon.”

  “Then you’ll agree to a trip?”

  “I won’t have any money left for my own wedding,” Will argued.

  “Elope,” Rodney said. “Save your cash for the divorce.”

  “Rodney,” I said before my two brothers could start their squabbling, “I’ll check on a nice trip, let you know what I can get one for. Then I’ll call you back.”

  “Let Rodney do the calling,” Will said abruptly and rudely. “He’s the man who will never get married. He’s got the money—”

  “If a trip is too much for you, little brother,” Rodney shot back, “I’ll spring yours for you as a loan, but there will be thirty percent interest to pay.”

  “I can hold up my end,” Will snapped. “Simone, just let me know my share.”

  “Now, boys,” I began.

  And maybe I sounded like I was talking down to them, because Will came back with a sharp, “Simone, how big do boys grow in Atlanta?”

  “Big enough to send their parents on a trip?” Rodney asked, not letting up on Will’s unwillingness to spend another two thousand dollars on a trip for my parents.

  “I’ll call you both later,” I said hastily and hung up the phone. I had so much to do still, and time was running out. My parents’ party was in less than a month. This was no time for my brothers to engage in a sibling verbal boxing match. Even though their skirmishes usually turned out innocent fun and soon forgotten, I wasn’t in the mood!

  CHAPTER

  FIFTEEN

  By the end of the week, I was exhausted. I had no idea that making arrangements for a party could be such hard work. Oh, I’d had a few get-togethers at my apartment before. But all I did for those was to make a few phone calls, buy pizzas and beer, and let things go with the flow. I’d never done anything as extensive as pulling together this affair for my parents. And I wanted this shindig to be just right—Mama and Daddy deserved the best, and to me, the best meant everything had to be perfect.

  I was tired but I was satisfied.

  I’d ordered invitations, and paid extra money to have them do a rush job for me. The invites needed to be in the mail before the weekend.

  I’d also reserved ten rooms at the Avondale Inn and the Otis Motel. I decided that would be a start until I got the RSVPs back. If more people were going to need rooms, there was another hotel thirty miles away in Carrolton. I’d called the reservation clerk at the Carrolton Motel and told her of my plans. She h
ad assured me that September was a slow month and the odds of her having rooms were very good. So I breathed easily, pretty certain that Mama’s out-of-town guests would be every bit as comfortable as Mama would want them to be.

  I’d called each one of the people on Mama’s list who would be coming from out of town. I told them about the party, assured them that an invitation was forthcoming and that arrangements had been made for accommodations. I was pleasantly surprised when each one told me that they’d be glad to attend.

  I’d found a place in Atlanta that would rent me dishes and silverware. They reluctantly allowed me to take them out of town to Otis for the party but not without me giving them a three-hundred-dollar deposit check. The check would be returned to me uncashed if there were no broken or lost pieces. Fortunately, Yasmine and Ernest volunteered to be responsible for picking up the dishes, taking them to Otis, and returning them back to the rental service. And Yasmine had already made a breathtaking centerpiece for my parents’ table.

  I’d checked with several travel agents and had selected a trip to the Caribbean. For two thousand dollars, my parents could take a wonderful cruise to either Jamaica, Barbados, or Martinique.

  Friday evening around six o’clock, I’d plopped down on my couch, popped open a diet Coke, and switched on the television. I was expecting Cliff any minute. All we’d planned for the evening was a night of hot wings and a few old movies. (I’d picked up The Name of the Rose, starring Sean Connery, a movie that I’d seen before but that I liked, and my favorite James Bond, The Spy Who Loved Me, with Roger Moore, and Wesley Snipes’s Passenger 57.)

  The rental car was already packed with chardonnay and Heineken. The next day, we’d deliver all the liquor to Otis and I was to pick up my Honda from the body repair shop where it had spent the past few weeks. My father had insisted that his mechanic work on my car; he swore that this guy was the best in the business. Daddy said that the man would make sure my car was running in tip-top condition again before he’d let me put it on the three-hour trip back to Atlanta.