“That sounds good.” Betty Jean stood up and gazed toward the door. “Did you bring anything from the store?”
“Not this time. Some of our vendors is running late with their deliveries, so our inventory is kind of low right now. I have to cut back for a while.”
“Well, I hope it ain’t too long of a while. The boys keep growing so fast, most of the clothes you already brung them don’t even fit no more. And they need socks and underwear real bad.” Betty Jean reared back and gave me a dry look. “On top of all that, I’m almost out of flour, meal, and lye soap, too.”
“Don’t worry about nothing. I’ll bring all of that and more next time I come.”
Our inventory was low, but not because of our vendors running late. In the last few weeks, I had taken huge amounts of merchandise from the store to Betty Jean, especially things for the boys. That was the reason our inventory was low. And somebody had noticed it. Last Monday, that goddamn meddlesome-ass Buddy said something that made me nervous. “We can’t seem to keep clothes in stock as long as we used to. I helped load them racks myself just three days ago and they almost empty already,” he’d said. “Especially the boy clothes and the women’s doodads.”
“I noticed that too,” I’d mumbled. “And another thing, we can’t keep canned goods and a few other items in stock as long as we used to neither. I guess them shoplifters is working overtime.”
“That’s the same thing I thought. But they so slick, they only do their dirty work when the store is real crowded and me and Sadie too busy to keep our eyes on their thieving tails! If we don’t do something to stop them dogs from making us run out of stuff too soon, our customers will start shopping in the white folks’ stores and we’ll be shining shoes or frying fish, and standing in the bread lines and eating at the soup kitchens.”
“Buddy, don’t you worry about a thing. I’m going to hire somebody just to walk up and down the aisles on our busy days. That ought to solve the problem.”
I was going to hire somebody to help us deal with the shoplifters. But that meant I’d have to come up with a new strategy so I could still take merchandise to Betty Jean. As much as I gave her and the boys, it was never enough. She pestered me for all kinds of beauty products, food, and cute frocks. And every time I turned around, the boys wanted toys and new clothes. One reason I had this problem was because I had spoiled them. Betty Jean had several blouses with the price tags still attached. I would continue to take merchandise, but not enough for somebody to notice. I’d already planned to tell Betty Jean that the MacPhersons had decided to stop carrying certain items, mainly the same things she always requested. That way she wouldn’t be expecting all the goodies she’d gotten used to.
I hoped that that would solve the problem, because I needed to lighten up my stress level. If it didn’t, I’d just have to come up with a new plan.
Chapter 36
Joyce
BECAUSE I HAD LIED TO YVONNE ABOUT HAVING PLANS TO DO something with my coworkers this evening, I had to make it look like I went out. After Odell left, I turned off all the lights except the lamp on the nightstand in my bedroom. I was restless and bored. Now I was sorry that I hadn’t gone with Odell after all. The house was so quiet inside it was frightening. Outside was too. Suddenly, one of our other neighbor’s hound dogs started howling and that frightened me even more. I wasn’t superstitious like some folks who believed a howling dog was a sign that somebody was going to die. But it was the last thing I wanted to listen to while I was by myself.
I was tempted to go back and tell Yvonne that the friends I was supposed to go out with had canceled. But just thinking about Aunt Mattie grilling me again about my marriage was enough to squash that temptation. I knew that I couldn’t avoid that old crow forever, but the less time I spent in her company, the better.
I got into my nightgown and climbed into bed with the newspaper. Everything on every page was either boring or depressing, but I kept reading. I fell asleep with the newspaper still in my hand. I had a disturbing dream, which was unusual because I rarely had any at all. But Odell had nightmares once or twice a month and he could never remember the details, so we didn’t give it much thought. In my dream, a beautiful, light-skinned woman I had never seen before approached me on the street and said she had something to tell me. When I asked her what, I woke up, covered in sweat and confused. I couldn’t imagine why a strange woman would be coming to me in my sleep. I dozed back off and had the same dream again, and it ended the same way. I had had other dreams that didn’t make much sense. But I’d never had one that included a woman I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to mention it to Odell or anybody else. Because if it scared me, I knew it would scare them, too. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I finished reading the newspaper.
A few minutes after one a.m. I got up and peeped out the window just in time to see Willie Frank and a thin dark brown woman in a long red wig and short, tight dress stumbling down Yvonne’s front
