Bottom Feeder by Maria G. Cope Page A

plans
today?” she asks, opening up a book of Sudoku.
    “ Lamont is in town from
Pendleton.” I hesitate before adding, “I’m going to see Maddy in a
little bit.”
    She places the book on the table and
drops her pen on top, glaring at me over her reading glasses.
“Jackson Benton-Monroe, you most certainly will not. I mean it. I
mean it through every ounce of my soul.”
    “ Mama . . .”
    “ She’s a good girl,
Jackson. A good girl . She’s not like those other . . .” Mama pauses to search for
the right words, taking her glasses off in frustration. Every time
she does this I know I’m in for a verbal lashing.
    “ Mama . . .”
    “ She’s not like the
others.”
    I stare at her, horrified that she
seems to know more about my past than I’d like anyone to
know.
    “ You’re too much like your
daddy, JB.” I stare at my empty glass of orange juice. “Oh, honey,
I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.”
    I’m nothing like
him. Nothing .
    “ You don’t think I know
about all the other ones? I don’t care about them. They made their
choices. Maddy is like a daughter to me. She’s had a rough life but
still manages to keep a smile on her face through
everything.”
    I can’t imagine how rough her life
could be living in a mansion and receiving BMWs as gifts. “But Mama
. . .”
    “ I don’t know what you’re
doing or what you think you’re going to do, but Maddy is not
falling for your crap. She’s the type of girl I’d like to see you
end up with, to settle you down a little, but she’s too smart to
fall for a single line that comes out of your mouth.”
    Should I be offended or ashamed at
this declaration?
    “ We went out last night,”
I say, my voice level and matter-of-fact. “We went to Hettie’s. She
had vegetables. I had steak, shrimp, red velvet cake and some of
her okra. We went for a walk on the beach. I took her
home.”
    A look of shocked awareness crosses
her face. “What is he asking of you?”
    Mama is not buying the look of
innocence. Her eyes look fiercely into mine until I give in. “The
Barracuda.”
    “ For?”
    “ To make sure she gets to
New York safely.” I tell her the ins and outs of the plan and why
Cordell wants me to drive Maddy. It’s mostly a lie. I hate lying to
her, but I’m too deep in this now. I have no other
choice.
    “ He sure is hasty to get
her out of here. She’s only been out of high school for a few days.
There’s something more to this and I don’t like it.” Mama pushes up
from the table. “I’m going to miss her. She was here for me on the
hard days when you were over there.”
    Mama never refers to Afghanistan as
its namesake, only “over there.” She swipes a tear from her cheek.
I want to console her, but she’s pissed right now. I can almost
feel the wooden spoon slapping across the back of my head if I make
any sudden moves.
    “ She reminded me that God
was watching over you no matter what happened, no matter what was
going on, no matter what scenarios I conjured up in my mind. She
also reminded me I needed to be strong for you. She let me cry on
her shoulder more times than I’m willing to admit. Can you believe
a woman my age crying on the shoulders of a seventeen-year-old? But
she’s a beautiful girl, inside and out.” Mama looks at me sharply
before adding, “I never believed she could be born of somebody as
wretched as Cordell Carrington.”
    Her gaze is penetrating. Does she know
their family secrets? I don’t ask. I finish off another glass of
orange juice and take a long, mostly cold shower.
    The heavy rain is preventing me from
going to the beach, so I call Maddy to ask what time I should come
over.
    “ Any time before two is
fine,” she replies.

 
    Maddy
     
    “ What are you making?”
Larry asks.
    “ Cinnamon rolls,” I
answer, gently punching down the proofed dough. In order for the
rolls to turn out just right, the dough cannot be over-worked or it
will be tough and chewy.
    There aren’t many things I can