Footsteps trailed through the house. From the kitchen?
Raven followed the wall. After she cleared the bathroom, she waited outside Mom’s door. Serena usually snored, another reason Raven slept with a spare pillow over her head. But it was quiet inside Mom’s bedroom. A terrifying image popped into Raven’s mind. Mom’s body splayed across the bed, the sheets soaked with blood as Mark Benson loomed over her with an ax.
Raven reached for the door when someone bumped the kitchen table. She crept to the end of the hallway and stared across the living room. A shadowed figure swayed in the kitchen.
The refrigerator door opened, flooding the kitchen with light. Raven released her breath.
“Mom, why are you walking around in the dark?”
Serena’s braids matched Raven’s hairstyle, minus the beads. At forty-one, Serena was only sixteen years older than her daughter. She’d given birth to Raven during her junior year of high school. The boy who’d impregnated her refused to be a father, and Serena never mentioned him, though Raven had dug around and discovered the deadbeat still lived in Harmon. Jerome Ayers. One of these days, Raven hoped to cross paths with Ayers and stare into his eyes after she told him he was her father.
“Sorry, babe. I didn’t want to wake you.” Well, you did, Raven thought as she slipped the gun behind her back. Serena’s eyes widened. “What in God’s name are you doing with a gun?”
Raven brushed the hair out of her eyes and strutted past her mother.
“I thought you were a prowler.”
“Would a prowler sneak a midnight snack?” Serena pulled a blackberry pie from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. Raven laughed to herself. Only her mother could eat dessert after midnight and never gain a pound. The woman had the metabolism of a jackrabbit. “Can I cut you a slice?”
Raven’s mouth watered. Nobody baked pies like Serena Hopkins, though Naomi Mourning gave Mom a run for her money. If those two opened a shop, Ruth Sims and the Broken Yolk would go out of business.
“I’d better not. If I eat this late, I’ll wreck my stomach.”
Serena plated her dessert and set it at the kitchen table. Raven filled two glasses with water and sat across from her mother. Serena took a bite and pointed at Raven with her fork.
“You’re a bundle of nerves tonight. What’s gotten into you?”
Raven sipped her water and stared through the window. The foggy night held too many secrets.
“I can’t sleep. Mark Benson escaped prison.”
Serena set down her fork and leaned forward.
“The man who kidnapped you? How in the world did he escape?”
“I don’t know the details. Kane Grove PD phoned Chelsey after they received the news. Chelsey is close with two of their officers. They promised to let her know if Benson or Ramos got out of jail.”
Serena scoffed.
“Typical. The guards barely pay attention to the white prisoners. They probably let him roam freely. If Benson was black, they’d have found him by now.”
“Benson and Ramos weren’t in maximum security. But I wouldn’t describe their accommodations as a country club.”
“You don’t think he’ll come here, do you?”
Raven scrubbed a hand down her face.
“I doubt it. But it pays to be careful. It’s best if you’re not alone in the house until they catch him.”
Raven’s mother waved the idea away.
“I’m not scared of some over the hill steroid freak. We’re from Harmon, baby girl. A guy like Mark Benson wouldn’t survive five minutes in our old neighborhood.”
“Be that as it may, we need to be extra careful until the storm blows over. That means I’m watching your back.”
“I’m not keeping you from Darren. Girl, I’m forty-one, and you have your own life to lead. Don’t need no babysitter, understand?”
Serena forked another scoop of blackberry pie into her mouth and chewed without a care.
“I’ll call Darren in the morning. We’d planned to hang out on Halloween night. No reason we can’t get together here.”
Serena harrumphed.
“Nobody wants their mom around when they bring a date home. Go to the cabin. I’ll be fine.”
“What if you spent the evening with LeVar?”
“He don’t want to spend Halloween night with his mother, either.” After swallowing the last of the pie, Serena pushed the plate aside. “Tell you what. Naomi wanted company tomorrow night. I’ll spend the evening with her, if it’ll get you off my back.”
“Thanks. That would put my mind at ease.”
“Besides, Naomi and I got business to discuss.”
Raven lifted her eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a sales position open at Shepherd Systems, and Naomi thinks I’d be good for the job.”
Raven set her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her palm.
“That’s great, Mom. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“Because I wanted it to be a surprise.”
A million concerns assailed Raven at once. Sales positions were high-pressure jobs. What if Serena buckled under the pressure and relapsed?
“It’s a lot to consider, Mom. You’ll deal with business people who don’t want to hear from you, and you might need to travel.”
“Don’t worry about me. Your Mom can handle it. Y’all know I don’t take no for an answer.”
“Truth.”
“Besides, I don’t wanna mooch off my daughter for the rest of my life.”
Reaching across the table, Raven held her mother’s hand.
“You’re not a mooch. My home is your home, and that’s forever.”
Tears glistened in Serena’s eyes.
“That’s a charitable gesture. But I don’t deserve it, not after I tossed my daughter out of the apartment just because she wouldn’t sit by while I got high every day.”
“Mom, that’s all in the past.”
Serena straightened her back and set her palms on the table.
“Not for me. I’ll never forget what I did to you and LeVar. If it takes me a lifetime, I’ll make it up to you.”
CHAPTER SIX
October
