A Catered Mother's Day by Isis Crawford

weight, right?” Sean said to Bernie.
    â€œThat’s what Libby said,” Bernie told Clyde. “And boy was she right.”
    â€œWhat did I say?” asked Libby. She’d just come upstairs with food for Clyde.
    â€œThat Manny had gained a lot of weight, which was why you didn’t recognize him at first,” Sean repeated.
    â€œHe sure had.” Libby put the tray down and offered Clyde a platter consisting of kalamata olives, salami, roasted red peppers, cherry tomatoes, and homemade roasted artichoke hearts finished off with a sprinkle of Asiago cheese, plus a few slices of Italian bread.
    â€œPerfect,” Clyde said as he dug in. “Raymond Manford Roget.” He shook his head as he ate a couple of olives. “I heard he was dead.”
    Sean nodded. “That’s what I said too.”
    â€œWell, he is now. No doubt about that.” Bernie reached over and broke off a small bunch of green grapes. She put a couple in her mouth, then readjusted the pack of frozen peas on her ankle and sat back.
    Libby sat down on the sofa. “The beard and the weight threw me off, but his eyes are the same and so is that little crease in his nose. I thought I recognized the face when I saw him on the bed, but I couldn’t put a name to it. Then I saw the family headstone and it all came together.”
    â€œManny Roget.” Clyde repeated the name. His eyes got that faraway look they always got when he was remembering the past. “He certainly got himself in trouble. For years he was Mr. Upstanding Citizen, not even a parking ticket, and then boom!”
    â€œIf he did what they say he did,” Sean reached over and snagged a brownie. Sweets were definitely his downfall.
    â€œWhich was?” Bernie asked.
    â€œMelinda Banks and Kitty Price accused him of imprisoning and raping them.”
    Bernie wrinkled her nose. “Those names don’t sound familiar.”
    â€œThey weren’t here for that long. Thank heavens,” Sean said. “Something bad always seemed to happen when they were around. Anyway, the DA bought their story and Judge Munoz signed a warrant for Manny’s arrest, at which point he got the hell out of Dodge. Basically, he disappeared off the grid.
    â€œThe interesting thing, though, was that rumor had it the whole thing was a setup and that the girls had gotten paid to testify because Manny was fooling around with this girl and the family didn’t like it and this was the way they took care of the problem.”
    â€œI never heard that,” Sean said.
    â€œI did,” Clyde replied. “From a lot of different people. They said Manny had been warned off, but he didn’t listen.”
    â€œThat’s pretty extreme,” Libby said.
    â€œIf it’s true,” Clyde replied. “I never pursued it.”
    â€œDo you think it was true?” Bernie asked.
    Clyde thought for a minute. “Knowing the two girls, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was.”
    â€œThis is news to me,” Libby declared.
    â€œYou were at Buffalo State,” Sean answered.
    â€œAnd where was I?” Bernie demanded.
    â€œIn Oakland.”
    â€œI guess Mom didn’t keep us up on all the local news,” Libby said as she leaned over and snagged herself a hazelnut macaroon. It was one of the last ones left. They really were a lot of trouble to make, but boy were they worth it , Libby thought. And no matter what anyone said about chocolate and raspberry being the best combination, in her mind you couldn’t beat hazelnut and chocolate or chocolate and coffee. She could live on these forever.
    Sean laughed. “Not on the news she didn’t deem fit to pass on.”
    â€œWhen I knew Manny he was such a . . .”
    â€œDork,” Bernie said, finishing Libby’s sentence for her.
    â€œI can’t picture him doing something like that. I mean the Manny I knew was afraid to keep a library book out late,