mind about something. “You be seeing that girlfriend of yours today?”
“Yes. We’re having dinner later.”
“Tell her from me that today was laundry day, okay?”
Mitch stared at her. “Laundry day?”
“Laundry day.”
“And she’ll know what that means?”
“Just shut up and tell her, will you?” Then she turned around and yelled, “Cee, get your bony ass out here right goddamned now!”
Clarence came running, looking freakishly tall and wiry in his tank top and gym shorts. He was drenched with sweat, his muscles popping. “Yo, whassup?”
“Rondell’s passed out drunk in this here gentleman’s pickup. Put him to bed, will you? And don’t say nothing to Tyrone.”
“Awright.” Clarence went out to Mitch’s truck, opened the passenger door and threw his little cousin over one shoulder with ease. “You were at my party last night with the trooper, weren’t you?” he asked Mitch.
“That’s right.”
“And you found Kinitra on the beach this morning.”
“Right again.”
“Hang out a sec. Want to talk to you.”
Clarence carried Rondell inside. Chantal followed him. Mitch waited there by his truck until Clarence returned, pulling the front door shut behind him.
“Tyrone and myself been doing some reps in the weight room,” he explained, mopping his sweaty brow with a gym towel. “Lifting settles him down some. Helps him deal with the monster inside. And the monster is definitely loose. I hear he almost tore up that whole clinic when he found out Kinitra’s pregnant.” Clarence glanced down the driveway toward the front gate. “We were watching ESPN in the gym just now. Saw that clown Plotka claiming he’s got Tyrone’s spooge all over some blouse. Big man was ready to sprint down the driveway and strangle the little bastard on live television. I told him, yo, that’s what he wants you to do. He’s trying to rile you.” Clarence wadded up the towel and tossed it at the front porch. “He freaks me out when he gets this way. He needs Jamella to calm him down. But she has to be at the hospital with Kinitra.” He eyed Mitch up and down curiously. “So what happened to little man?”
“He wanted to see where I found her. Showed up at my place drunk as a skunk.”
“Where’s his ride?”
“Parked at the foot of the causeway. It’ll be fine there until someone has a chance to fetch it.”
“I’ll go get it right now. I can use a run. It’s just under two miles from here if you cut through those woods at the end of Sour Cherry Lane.”
Mitch looked at him in surprise. “I thought only the old-timers knew about that footpath.”
“You thought wrong. I always familiarize myself with the surrounding terrain. Tyrone likes to take nature runs. Six, eight miles at a clip.”
“I can give you a lift if you’d rather. I’m heading right back there.”
Clarence’s face relaxed into an easy grin. “You talked me into it. Let me just get his keys.”
Mitch got in behind the wheel and waited for Clarence to join him, car keys in hand. The Studey’s cab wasn’t exactly spacious. Clarence had to fold his long self in carefully, limb by limb.
“You have enough legroom there?”
“Yeah, man. I’m good.”
“Think I need a new truck?”
“Why would I think that?”
“Just asking.”
Outside the front gate, Stewart Plotka and Andrea Halperin were still holding the media throng transfixed. No one paid any attention as Mitch rolled on out of there, working the Studey through its three-speed overdrive transmission.
Clarence said, “I wanted to thank you for that heads-up you gave the trooper about the hole in our fence. The fencing company’s going to put in a whole new section tomorrow morning.”
“What about until then?”
“I drilled some holes in a sheet of plywood and wired it into place over the hole. Should do the trick unless someone really wants in. And if they do, there’s no stopping them, am I right?”
“I’m afraid you are.”
“Chantal and myself paid a social call on the Joshua sisters and Mr. Lash. Brought them a mess of food.”
“That was nice of you.”
“Wasn’t my idea. Let me tell you, those are some strange old ladies.”
“Pretty standard for Dorset.”
“And that house of theirs with all of those antique clocks tick-tocking away.” Clarence shook his head in amazement. “I felt like I was walking right into that Tennessee Williams play. The one with the little glass figurines.”
Mitch turned onto Old Shore Road and started his way home. “You mean The Glass Menagerie?”
“That’s the one. And kindly take the surprise out of your eyes. It so happens I majored in Performing Arts at Clemson-until they threw my ass out. That’s a fine old house those ladies have. Real shame it’s gotten so run down. I was able to fix a few things for them. The neighborhood where I grew up? You either do your own repairs or they don’t get done.”
“Did you get rid of that smell in their kitchen?”
“What smell?”
“Nothing. Never mind.”
“I had no cause to hit Mr. Lash last night. It was a dumb move on my part. Guess I’ve just been living with too much drama for too long. That’s life when you’re in Tyrone Grantham’s world. Drama twenty-four/seven. But I got to tell you-I’ve never known Rondell to take a drink. I doubt he even knows how to hold it.”
“He doesn’t, trust me.”
“Poor little man’s like a sad-eyed puppy around that girl. And she don’t even know he’s alive. I keep telling him to forget about her and have himself some F-U-N. Like last night. There was dozens of tasty young sisters in itty-bitty thongs out there by the pool. None of them Wharton graduates, I’ll grant you. But who cares once you’re between the sheets, know what I’m saying? I begged him to come on out and grab himself some. He wouldn’t. Just sat there in his office working on his computer and pining away over that teenager playing her piano across the hall. Totally pathetic if you ask me. She’s just a kid. I mean, yeah, she has ridiculous musical talent. But she’s just a sheltered little schoolgirl. Jamella makes sure of that. Won’t let no man near her.”
“Kinitra didn’t have a boyfriend this summer in Glen Cove?”
“Boyfriend?” Clarence gaped at Mitch incredulously. “What boyfriend?”
“A college football player from Georgia named Lonnie Berryman.”
“Who, Raymond’s friend? Yeah, I remember Lonnie. Stayed at Raymond’s house for a few days. Nice enough dude. Really likes him to party.”
“Did he party with Kinitra?”
“Why, is she saying he’s the baby’s father?”
“She’s saying they had something going on.”
“That’s news to me. I never even saw the two of them talking to each other. Jamella don’t allow it, like I said.”
“Is it possible Jamella didn’t know?”
“Anything’s possible, but Jamella’s very protective. Hell, if you’d asked me yesterday, I’d have sworn to you up, down and sideways that Kinitra was still a solid gold virgin.” Clarence’s face dropped. “But she’s been with somebody, that’s for sure.”
“Who else could it have been? If it wasn’t Lonnie, I mean.”
“Don’t be looking at me, man. I’ve made some mistakes in my life but I ain’t that kind of dumb.”
Mitch took the fork that led into the Nature Preserve, slowing as he left the smooth pavement for the
