Over the Fence

by Mary Monroe

CHAPTER 49

  YVONNE

  IT HAD BEEN ALMOST A WEEK SINCE I’D VISITED ODELL AT HIS OFFICE and got them ten dollars. Him and Joyce had been to our house a few times since then, but he’d avoided me like I had a deadly contagious disease. With Milton’s paycheck being short, and us having a couple of slow nights at the house, our money was real tight now, and I was going to do something about it.

  On top of our regular expenses, I got a letter from Aunt Nadine last week telling me she’d lost her wallet. It had all the money she had to her name in it, so she and my uncle needed some financial help from me this month. They had never asked me to help support my kids and had refused the many times I’d offered them money. There was no way I wouldn’t come through for them now.

  It was time for me to pay Odell another visit. Today was as good a day as any, so I planned to go back to his office on my lunch break. Mr. Cunningham had already told me I could use his truck again so I could go into town and pick up a birthday present for Willie Frank.

  I didn’t say nothing to Milton about it until a few minutes before I left. He was tending to some steaks he had just put on the grill when I went up to him. Before either one of us could say anything, I hauled off and gave him a peck on his mouth to soften him up. That put a smile on his face.

  “You want to eat lunch in the kitchen today or outside, under one of the pecan trees?” he asked. “I can’t leave until I finish this order, though. Give me another fifteen minutes.”

  “Um, don’t worry about it. I have to make a run into town, and I have to use Mr. Cunningham’s truck now because he needs to go somewhere in a hour.”

  Milton gave me a curious look. “What you need to go to town for?”

  “To get a present for Willie Frank.”

  “Why come? We already got him a new belt and a month’s worth of chewing tobacco.”

  “I know. But he is so helpful to us. I want to do something extra special for him this year,” I insisted. “I was thinking about getting him a necktie.”

  Milton couldn’t have looked more amused if a dancing bear had just shimmied into the kitchen. He threw his head back and laughed. “A necktie? Willie Frank ain’t no Clark Gable. That old, mangy hound dog he got would wear a tie before he would.”

  “You don’t know that. Just because we ain’t never seen him wear one don’t mean he wouldn’t wear one if he had it. If it wasn’t for his snaggletoothed grin, he could look as dapper as you do when you wear one of your pin-striped suits.”

  “Humph. Neckties and dapper is words that don’t cross my mind when I think about hillbillies. Go on and get him one if that’s what you want to do. But if I was going to get him something else, it would be a pair of suspenders or some long johns.” Milton laughed again and returned his attention to the steaks, and I took off.

  * * *

  When I got to the street MacPherson’s was on, I stopped at the end of the block and got out. I didn’t want to park in front of the store, where Buddy and Sadie could see me through the window and be waiting to bombard me with a bucketload of new gossip and nosy questions when I walked through the door. I was going to rush in and rush out.

  Halfway down the block, a older man with reddish-brown skin and thick, unkempt gray hair crossed the street and came straight up to me. It was Delroy Crutchfield, one of the jealous bootleggers that had been running all over town, bad-mouthing me and Milton. This devil was the same one that had let us get married in his living room. He blocked my path, so I didn’t have no choice but to stop.

  “Hello, Yvonne. Bless my soul! I ain’t seen you in a coon’s age. Since you and Milton live on the upper south side now, I hope you ain’t too siddity to speak to me.”

  “Hi, Delroy. It’s been so long, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  He grunted and looked me up and down. “Well, I’d recognize a sweet-looking redbone like you even with my eyes closed.” He leered at me with his lips parted and the tip of his tongue sticking out. “Milton was in the right place at the right time when you showed up at my place that night y’all first met.”

  “Sure enough. I’m still thanking the Lord for sending me over there.”

  “Well, I hope He send you to my house again. Maybe I’ll get lucky like Milton done, huh?” He laughed.

  “If you do, it won’t be with me. Now that I’m married, I ain’t got no use for another man.”

  “Oh well. That’s life.” Delroy pursed his lips and shrugged. “Anyway, I hear you and your husband is planning to throw a big birthday bash tomorrow night for y’all’s pet peckerwood.”

  “If you mean Willie Frank, our best friend, you heard right,” I hissed. “I’m on my way to MacPherson’s to pick up a present for him.”

  “Well, do say. Nary one of my women never gave me no presents. Maybe I should get me a generous, considerate woman like you, huh?”

  “Maybe you should.”

  “Oh, by the way, I heard Milton got hurt falling off the back of Willie Frank’s truck. Humph. I guess Willie Frank don’t think much of him if he don’t allow him to ride in the cab with him. That’s a peckerwood for you. It ain’t bad enough they want us to ride in the back of the bus. They want us to ride in the back of the truck, too.”

  “It wasn’t Willie Frank’s truck he fell off. For your information, whenever me and Milton ride with Willie Frank, we always sit in the cab with him.”

  “Humph. I ain’t surprised. Uncle Toms always get treated better by the man. Is Milton doing all right?”

  I was already mad and itching to be on my way, so I was going to let that Uncle Tom remark slide. But I had to answer his last question. “Milton is doing just fine and is back to work at the grill already.”

  “That’s good. Lucky for him, he didn’t get busted up too bad.”

  “I’ll tell him you said that.”

  I started walking away, and Delroy moved right along with me. I had heard that his business had gone deep south. The soles of his scruffy shoes flapped with each step he took, and half the buttons on his green flannel shirt was missing. I almost felt sorry for him, because he used to dress up in suits and spats and keep his hair neat and trimmed.

  “Tell him I hope he don’t fall off another truck . . .” Delroy slapped the side of his thigh and laughed like a hyena.

  “I will. Now, you have a blessed day. Bye.” I started stepping as fast as I could and didn’t look back. But I could still hear Delroy laughing.

  Before I reached MacPherson’s front door, another devil came around the corner. He stopped right in front of me. It was Lester Fullbright, the used-to-be I thought I’d marry, until I found out he was fooling around with my best friend. I already had a heap of worries waiting in line, and I wasn’t in the mood to add another—especially one I thought I had put behind me.

  “Well, do say!” Lester boomed. “This is a mighty big surprise.” Except for a few strands of gray hair, he hadn’t changed.

  “Hello, Lester. How you been?”

  “Doing fine. And you?”

  “I’m doing fine, too.”

  The way he was smiling and looking at me with such a gleam in his eyes reminded me of the old Lester, the sweet man I’d been in love with before that car wreck messed up his brain. I was touched by how pleasant he seemed, and was tempted to give him a hug and maybe even forgive him for cheating on me. But before I could let myself go that far, his smile turned into a frown.

  “I had nightmares for days after you almost de-balled me and bashed my head with that skillet!” he hollered.

  “Well, you shouldn’t have messed with me!” I hollered back.

  “What did you expect me to do when I found out you stole my money!”

  “I didn’t take your money, Lester.” I stomped my foot so hard, a pain shot from the sole all the way up to my knee. “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to go take care of some business.”

  “Speaking of business, I heard that you and that pig meat you left me for done become big-time bootleggers, living like k
ings on the upper south side, in a fancy house with a picket fence. Got doctors and white women drinking with y’all. I’m impressed!”

  “Everything you heard is true.”

  “Even the part about them white women?”

  “Everything you heard is true,” I repeated with my teeth clenched. I was running out of patience, and I let him know that by giving him a death stare. It must have done the job, because he flinched like I had slapped him.

  He kept talking, anyway. “I don’t like to come back to Branson too often. One of these days when I’m in town, I might pay y’all a visit. Folks claim y’all serve some world-beating drinks.”

  “If you do come, we’ll treat you like we do all our other guests—as long as you behave.”

  “Humph! I know how to behave. You the one I’m worried about. Ain’t you going to ask me what I been up to?”

  “Nope. It ain’t none of my business.”

  “I’ll tell you, anyway.” Lester shifted his weight from one foot to the other, like he was trying to get more comfortable. It didn’t matter, because I was going to haul ass in the next few seconds, whether he was through running his mouth or not. “Five months after me and Katy moved in with my mama, I had to dump her because I caught her with one of my friends.”

  “Is that right? Now you know how I felt when you done it to me.”

  He rolled his eyes, which was not nearly as bright as they used to be. “Katy hurt me. But what hurt me more was you stealing my money and beating me down like a dog. I ain’t never going to forgive you for that!” Spit was flying out both sides of Lester’s mouth as he spoke, so I took a few steps back. “I advise you to start sleeping with one eye open and that monkey—”

  I couldn’t cut him off fast enough. “Get away from me before I holler for somebody to call the police!” I threatened.

  I didn’t wait to hear what else he had to say. I shot past him and hurried into MacPherson’s, with my heart beating like a drum. Now that I knew Lester still had a grudge against me, I was going to stay on guard forever. I hoped that if he came after me, I’d be prepared.

  Odell was walking up the canned goods aisle when I got inside. Buddy and Sadie had several customers at their counters, so I didn’t have to worry about them. When Odell spotted me, he headed in my direction, smiling and beaming like he was approaching a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. I knew the only reason he was doing it was to show off for his cashiers and customers.

  “Hello, Yvonne.” His cheerful attitude surprised me.

  “Hi, Odell. I came to pick out a necktie for Willie Frank to give him at his birthday party tomorrow night.”

  “Good news! We just got in a shipment this morning.”

  “That’s nice. I guess I came at the right time. Um, how you doing today, Odell?”

  “Blessed!”

  “That’s good.”

  “Uh-uh. That’s Jesus!” He motioned me to follow him to the back of the store, where the men’s items was.

  I was so surprised he was being so nice, I almost tripped over my feet. As soon as we stopped in front of the necktie display, I leaned toward him and said in a low voice, “I need some more money.”

  “I figured that. How much?” He was still smiling.

  “My aunt lost her wallet with all her money in it. I need to send her something to help feed my kids.” Before I even told Odell how much I wanted, a sympathetic look crossed his face.

  “We can’t let them kids starve. I’ll do what I can.”

  “I need twenty dollars.” I held my breath and waited for him to fly off the handle because I’d asked for so much.

  Odell surprised me again, because he said something that made my jaw drop. “Will that be enough?” He didn’t waste no time pulling his wallet out of his pocket. Something was fishy. Either he had cracked up, somebody had put a hoodoo hex on him, or my eyes and ears was playing tricks on me.

  When I seen how thick his wallet was with dollar bills, my greed snuck up on me. “How much can you spare? I would like to swing by Mosella’s on my way back to work and get something to nibble on. So a little extra would be appreciated.”

  “If all you want is enough extra to get a snack, you can grab a pig foot or some peanut brittle here and not have to give none of your money to Mosella. She don’t need it.” Odell laughed and handed me a ten and two fives.

  “Okay. I don’t need nothing extra, then.” I cleared my throat and put the money in my brassiere. “I’d better get that necktie and be on my way. I have to get Mr. Cunningham’s truck back to him by one o’clock.” I randomly grabbed the first necktie on the rack. It was a loud orange with different colored zigzags. If Willie Frank didn’t like it, I’d keep it and use it as a pot holder.

  “Do you want it gift wrapped?” Odell was still smiling.

  “No, I’ll do that when I get home.” His behavior was so odd, I was too scared to stick around much longer. But I was so curious, I wanted to know why he wasn’t talking mean. So I asked. “Odell, do you feel all right? You seem, uh, almost delirious.”

  He scrunched up his mouth and snorted. “I am a little under the weather. I was feeling kind of poorly when I got up this morning, so Joyce gave me some of them painkiller pills she take for her monthly female discomforts. They made me a little drowsy and confused. I ain’t been myself since.”

  “Hmmm. Is that why you ain’t fussing up a storm at me today?”

  He laughed and waved his hand. “Even if I hadn’t took them pills, I wouldn’t be fussing at you. I realize now that life is too short. Wallowing in contempt is a waste of time. Having a positive attitude don’t use up half as much energy as being negative. I’m going to try to be in a good mood every day from now on.”

  “Well! I do declare, I’m pleased to hear that.” I had to admire him for looking at things from a more pleasant point of view, especially since it wasn’t a normal thing for a man who was being blackmailed to do.

  “Let me get a bag for Willie Frank’s necktie. Then I’ll have Sadie take you to the meat counter and let you pick out a pig foot.”

  “Thanks, Odell. I hope you feel better by tomorrow so you can come to the party.”

  “I hope I do, too.”

  * * *

  I had a little time left, so I sat in Mr. Cunningham’s truck and started gnawing on the pig foot Sadie had wrapped in a napkin. Before I could finish, I seen one of the other bootleggers that had a beef with us. Cleotis Bates was strutting down the street like he owned it. He had the nerve to be wearing a white linen suit just like the one Milton wore the night I met him. There was a scowl on his wide, homely face that made him look scary enough to haunt a house. Out of all our rivals, he was probably the one we needed to be concerned about the most. He was in his late fifties and had been at the top of the bootlegging game for more than twenty years. He’d beat up, shot at, stabbed, and terrorized anybody that made him mad as far back as I could remember. I knew that if he seen me, he would come up and talk trash. I didn’t want to hear nothing he had to say, so I cranked up the truck and sped off like a bat out of hell.

  I did a lot of thinking on the way back to the grill. I didn’t know what to make of Odell’s oddball behavior. He was playing his wife and her parents for fools to the hilt. There was no telling how many bald-faced lies he’d made up to keep Betty Jean under control. Now he was making philosophical comments to me, a woman who was blackmailing him—and who was the wife of the man who had blowed the whistle on him. I hoped he really was going to be in a good mood every day now. If he was, I’d be duty bound to visit him at his office a lot more often.

  CHAPTER 50

  MILTON

  I WAS SITTING AT THE WORKTABLE IN THE GRILL’S KITCHEN, PEELING potatoes, when Yvonne pranced in and showed me one of the most outlandish neckties I ever seen. I laughed. She gently mauled my head with her fist before she dragged up a chair and sat next to me. I laughed some more when she told me what Delroy had said and how she had ducked Cleotis after she picked up the
tie and got back in the truck. I had more important things on my mind, so I wasn’t about to let them jackasses’ foolishness faze me. “Where did you get that sissified necktie? That novelty shop on Tanglewood Avenue?” I asked.

  “Uh-uh. Odell let me have it.”

  I stopped peeling potatoes and gave her a “You got to be kidding” look. “I wish you wouldn’t go to MacPherson’s unless I’m with you.”

  “Why? And you better have a good reason.”

  I had stopped wearing Band-Aids on my face, but the scabs I had still itched when I got nervous, like I was now. “It’s too dangerous,” I said, scratching one of the scabs.

  “Dangerous how? If you still scared I might say something to Odell for him to figure out I know about Betty Jean, you don’t need to keep worrying about that. I done almost forgot what you told me.”

  “That’s good to hear.”

  I believed Yvonne. But accidents happened every day. I knew that if somebody got drunk enough, there was no telling what they would say or do. If I hadn’t been so drunk the night she got nosy and pestered me, I would never have told her about Odell. Well, that and the fact that I had got tired of her telling me to be more like him. I didn’t like this conversation, so I decided to take a slight detour.

  “Did you remind Prince Charming about the party tomorrow night?”

  “Yeah. I doubt if he’ll make it, though. He wasn’t feeling too good. Something about being under the weather. Joyce gave him some pills this morning, which he probably shouldn’t have took at all.”

  “What kind of pills?”

  “The same ones I take when I get my monthly cramps.”

  I gave Yvonne a disgusted look and started peeling potatoes again. “Do you mean to tell me that a man getting so many dibs on booty take the same medicine used for female issues when he get sick?”

  “Maybe them was the only pills they had in the house. Anyway, the whole time I was in the store, he was kind of light-headed and woozy, and talking out of his head.”

  I tensed up. One of my worst nightmares was that Odell would have a breakdown and blab to Yvonne about the financial arrangement I had with him. “Oh? What was he saying ‘out of his head’ today?”