He has a thick bandage on the side of his head, and his face is bruised. The accident. I did that to him. Too bad he wasn’t hurt worse.
“Hello, Evalene,” he says to me as if I invited him.
I can’t speak.
He smiles. Then he picks up a doll and, for no reason I can imagine, pops its head off and pockets it.
His dirty white fingers around the doll’s neck. Somethin’ familiar about that. I’m seeing red. And black. That coal-black hair. Those ocean-blue eyes.
I’m remembering now. I’m remembering fragments of Virgil Hampton. Oh god, I remember him, the smell of him, the feel of him, the pain of him. I want to disappear, to go unconscious, but none of that can happen. I can’t let him see the terror I feel, and I have to protect my sisters.
“You get the hell outta here now.” I try to make my voice steady. Cold and steady.
“You caused serious damage to my truck with that little game of yours.” I’m noticing now that his voice has an odd dulcet quality. Like a Svengali. Everything about him is vulgar.
“If youda left me alone, none of it woulda happened,” I say through my dry throat. I know I’m angry. The very thought of this fucker fills me with fury. But I cannot activate my anger band. I try to remember what Grammie Atti said. Take back what he took from me. It’s inconceivable.
“A spiteful man would make you pay dearly for what you’ve done, but I’m not a spiteful man. I didn’t come here to fight. I came for a truce.”
I almost wish one a the bad headaches would come to me now and I could at least make myself puke on him. But I think I mighta grew out of ’em. Lucky me.
“I’m going to give you one more chance. Let me escort you home from your job. That’s all. During that time, we can get reacquainted and put an end to this frivolous power struggle before somebody gets killed.”
“You do realize if you stopped bothering me, it would be over, don’t you?” I’m starting to feel stronger.
“Why do you need to make this so hard?”
“Why do you want what you can’t have?” It slipped out before I could think about it. If I had, I probably wouldn’t have said it.
He doesn’t seem angry, though. He leans against the pink-and-green mini dresser. It’s not meant to support the weight of a grown man. He better not break it.
“If you got to know me, you wouldn’t be so defensive all the time,” he says.
The twins have crept down the hallway in total silence. I didn’t know they could be that quiet. I glance at them and, with a gesture, warn them to freeze where they are. I wanna pick ’em both up and run to Mama’s room, but I remember how she crumbled just upon hearing Virgil Hampton’s name. I remember feeling like I had to take care of her in that moment.
Then a more ominous thought crosses my mind: she couldn’t protect me back then. Why would she be able to now?
“I’m really not that hard to get along with, you know? I have no intention of disruptin’ your life,” he continues. “That said, you are going to drop your Negro auto mechanic. It has to happen. It’s non-negotiable.”
The little dresser creaks, and Virgil springs away from it. I think this is the first time I’ve seen him genuinely startled by somethin’, and it was nothin’ at all.
“Seems like he has a high opinion of himself,” he says. “Good for him, I guess. He’ll get over the hurt. But you gotta do it, Evvie.”
I’m seething. He has the gall to call me Evvie? Like we’re friends? Who the fuck does he think he is?
“I get that it’s hard, but I want him outta the picture. It’ll happen one way or another.”
I cannot have him threatenin’ Clay. No, ma’am! He scares me, but I don’t care. I stretch myself up to my full height, spreadin’ out like a cobra. Time for him to see that he is not the only predator in this room.
“Virgil Hampton. I will be blunt so there is no confusion. I do not like you. I have no interest in getting acquainted with you. Leave my house and do not come back.”
His eyes sparkle. I hate him, and he likes it.
“I’m not asking for much,” he says, “and I’m tryin’ to make it a fair arrangement. Course you can make it hard if you want to. Hard can be fun. In the meantime… Coralene and Doralene, right? That’s cute. They sure are pretty, aren’t they? Just like big sister. They can call me Uncle Virggie. I can teach ’em some games.”
My heart throbs in my throat, in my head, my guts. And I still can’t make the power I been relyin’ on work. He’s too strong, and he knows where I’m weak. I gotta do somethin’ now. So I just use my brain.
“Non-negotiable you say? This is not how a negotiation works. What do I get?”
He looks surprised; then he laughs. “You’re right. What do you want?”
Shit. I want him to shrivel up and die, but I don’t think that applies in this situation.
“I want you to stop following me. I want you to stay out of my home—”
“That’s two things.”
“Quiet,” I say. He listens.
“I want you to keep my sisters’ names out of your mouth and out of your mind. That is non-negotiable. Do you understand me?”
“I do. Funny. I thought you were gonna ask for money,” he quips.
I take the deepest of deep breaths. He’s complying. I am making a risky decision, and I can only pray it’s the right one. The time has come for an everyday hex.
“Fine,” I say.
“Fine?”
I try to sound as civil as I possibly can. “What you are asking for is fine. As long as you bring me straight home.”
He perks up. “At first. That’ll give
