“Them bootleggers that moved one house over from y’all?” Daddy asked in a harsh tone.
“Uh-huh.”
“You better be careful with folks in that line of business, not to mention the kind of heathens they ply with drinks and no telling what all else! They can pull a whole bale of wool over your eyes!” he warned, wagging one of his canes in my face. “We ain’t supposed to bury you, you supposed to bury us.”
“You don’t need to go overboard,” I said, giving him an annoyed look. “I’m always careful. Nobody has pulled the wool over my eyes yet, so don’t worry about me.”
I stayed about fifteen minutes and would have stayed a little longer if I hadn’t seen Yvonne, dragging her feet up the street toward her house. I didn’t know her too well yet, but it was obvious to me that she was distressed about something. And it was no wonder. If I worked in a dingy grill like Cunningham’s, had lost my parents, and was married to a pug-ugly like Milton, I’d be distressed every day.
I didn’t like being nosy, but I wanted to know what, if anything, was going on for her to be looking so sad. When I got to my house, I decided to give her enough time to catch her breath and relax for a few minutes before I joined her.
Since Odell wasn’t coming home for supper, I didn’t have to worry about cooking, so I finished off what was left of the pig feet and turnip greens we’d had the night before. By the time I finally decided to go next door, an hour had passed. I was surprised to see at least a dozen people with drinks in their hands already in the house when I got there. “Oh, hi, Joyce. I’m glad you decided to come over,” Yvonne greeted with a big smile and a one-armed hug. I was glad to see that she didn’t look the least bit distressed now.
“Are you all right now? I saw you earlier this evening and you seemed upset.”
At first Yvonne gave me a blank stare. Then she slapped her forehead and rolled her eyes. “Oh that? Pffft! A man I waited on this afternoon snuck out before I brought him his check so Mr. Cunningham docked my pay. Milton and Willie Frank went to that no-paying customer’s house with a baseball bat a little while ago. They straightened him out and I got my money back and then some. I’m feeling fine now, but thanks for asking.”
“I hope they didn’t hurt that man. . . .”
“Oh, he’s fine. They didn’t even have to use that bat. Now come on in here and make yourself comfortable.” Yvonne waved me to the couch.
“Yvonne, go get Joyce a drink,” Milton ordered, walking into the room. “And while you at it, bring me another one too.”
I plopped down on the couch next to their snaggle-tooth white friend, Willie Frank. He had on shoes this time, but he smelled like sawdust. The bibbed cap on his head had so many stains I couldn’t tell what color it was. His long straight blond hair flopped down over his forehead. “Joyce, Willie Frank left the last time before you got to know much about him. As you can see, he ain’t colored, but he been my ace boon coon for a long time! Ain’t that right, white boy?” Milton yelled. Willie Frank smiled and bobbed his head up and down like a rooster. “Anyway, him and his brothers and daddy make some damn good liquor. Their homebrewed beer is for beginners, sissies, and folks that can’t hold much alcohol. But if you really want to get sure enough loose, you need some of their white lightning. It’s the highest-proof moonshine in the county.”
Willie Frank tipped his cap. “It’s good to see you again, Joyce. I enjoyed your company the last time I seen you,” he said, grinning with his eyes twinkling.
“It’s good to see you again too,” I said.
Willie Frank blinked and looked toward the door. “Is your husband coming later?”
“Uh-uh. He wanted to, but he had to go check on his sickly daddy,” I replied.
“Well, tell him that the next time I come this way, I’m going to bring him a mess of that fishing bait doughball from the batch I’m going to make in a few days. Maybe he’ll start catching more fish instead of spending all that time on the bank and coming home emptyhanded most of the time.”
Before I could say anything else, Yvonne handed me a jar filled to the brim with a drink that had such a harsh smell it irritated the insides of my nostrils. I got a sharp buzz within seconds after I took the first sip. “This is white lightning. We didn’t have none them other times y’all was here. Don’t drink it too fast or you’ll be sorry,” she warned. “I ain’t had but a few swallows and my head is spinning like a whirlpool.” She threw her head back and laughed long and loud.
“Too late,” I giggled. Not only was my head already spinning, my whole body was tingling, all the way down to my toes. And I liked it.
Willie Frank tipped his cap again before he stood up and staggered to the other side of the room where Milton was. They hugged and clapped each other on the back, and then their lips started moving real fast. Somebody was blowing on a harmonica and everybody else was talking at the same time. There was so much noise, I couldn’t hear what people were saying. Not that I wanted to know. I had a feeling that some of the guests had more disturbing pasts than Willie Frank. Less than two minutes after he had left the couch, an elderly woman in a paisley dress and a hat that looked like the lid off a lard bucket flopped down next to
