* * *
I boiled some chicken necks and backs and made a small pan of soup for Odell. After I got him situated, I put all the snacks in a metal dishpan and went next door. “Odell couldn’t make it, so he asked me to bring y’all some goodies,” I told Yvonne when she let me in.
She gave me a puzzled look before she said anything. “It’s nice to see you again, Joyce. But I didn’t know you was coming over tonight.” She turned around and stared at Milton hovering a few feet behind her.
“I’d love to stay for a drink, but I’m going to meet up with some friends from work in a little while,” I lied as I glanced around the room. I was surprised and disappointed to see that the only other guest so far was that mealy-mouthed Aunt Mattie. She was kicked back on the couch with ajar of homebrew in her hand. Her beady black eyes were glassy and her makeup was so smeared it looked like she’d put it on with a whisk broom. Though she was even older than my parents, and drank like a big fish, she was still healthy and spry. She didn’t even need a cane to walk with like Daddy did. I didn’t want to hear any more of her sad stories or listen to her make more comments about me and Odell, so I didn’t plan on staying long. “It’s good to see you again, Aunt Mattie.”
“Set down and chew the fat for a while, Mrs. Watson,” she slurred, patting the seat next to her.
“I wish I could. But like I just told Yvonne, I’m going to go out for drinks in a little while with a couple of ladies from work.” I returned my attention to Yvonne. “Odell told me about your coworker passing, so I wanted to come by here first and offer my condolences and bring y’all a few snacks,” I said, handing her the dishpan. I had no plans to go out with my coworkers, but it was the best ruse I could come up with to explain me not staying more than a few minutes.
“How come you and your friends can’t come over here and drink?” Aunt Mattie wanted to know, folding her bat-wing-looking arms.
“Um . . . I don’t think they’d be too comfortable over here.” My reply must have sounded offensive because Aunt Mattie, Yvonne, and Milton gasped at the same time.
“Humph! I guess your friends think they too good to drink with us?” Aunt Mattie seethed. She glared at me with so much contempt it would take a sling blade to cut through it.
“N-no, that’s n-not what I meant,” I stammered.
“Well, maybe you think your friends is too good to drink with us.” Milton caressed his chin as he spoke. I couldn’t tell from his tone if he was trying to be sarcastic or funny.
“No, that’s not what I meant either. My other friends only drink in real bars or they buy their spirits from the stores. They would never drink homemade liquor. Besides that, they are kind of skittish, so they only like to socialize with a certain type of people. Jook joints and places like bootlegging houses get a little too rowdy for them,” I explained.
Aunt Mattie and Yvonne looked at each other then back at me. “They’d probably stop socializing with you if they knew you hung out with people like us,” Aunt Mattie growled with one eyebrow raised. “Ain’t that right?”
“I don’t think so. Um . . . I hate to run, but I’d better get back home. Odell might be coming down with a cold and I need to make sure he’s comfortable before I go out tonight,” I said, stumbling backward toward the door.
“When we stopped by the store on our way home from the funeral this afternoon, he told us he was going to visit his daddy this evening,” Yvonne said.
“That was his plan and I was going to go with him. But since he’s not feeling well, I’m making him stay home tonight. Maybe we’ll come over for a drink tomorrow,” I said as I rushed out the door.
I ran all the way back to my house.
Odell was pacing back and forth when I got inside. He stopped as soon as he saw me. “You back already?” He didn’t look or sound sick now.
“You sure recovered fast,” I noticed, easing down on the couch.
“Yup! I started feeling better right after I ate that soup you made. I guess it wasn’t a cold coming on after all.” He sat down next to me. “You could have stayed next door awhile if you wanted to.”
“I would have stayed long enough for one drink, but that lady pimp was the only other person there. I don’t care for her, so I didn’t stay.”
“What you got against Aunt Mattie?”
“I don’t have anything against that old woman. It’s just that she gets on my nerves asking nosy questions and talking about some of the nasty stuff that goes on in her whorehouse. I’d rather not spend too much time being around her unless there’s a crowd around. That way, she’d have other people to pick on instead of just me. Um, since we won’t be going out together tonight, I’m going to call up a couple of the ladies I work with and see if they want to go out with me for a little while. Do you mind?”
“No, I don’t mind. How long will you be gone?”
“Well, since it’s Friday, there’s no telling. We’ll have a few drinks and then probably go get something to eat.”
“I do feel so much better. If I’d known you was going to go out, I could
