then move on to the next issue in sixty seconds or less. In my opinion, anything more than a minute constituted fiddling around. And Queen Elva Lafay was a first class fiddler.
Their conversation weaved in and out around mundane things before Addie got to the real reason she’d made the call. They even discussed at great length a recipe for Cajun crawfish gumbo before the important topic surfaced. When I heard a lively debate regarding whether or not shirts should be tucked in, I nearly lost it. I shot Addie the stink eye then pretended to play my imaginary violin to hopefully give her the hint that she was fiddling around. It worked. A minute later, their conversation ended and Addie presented me with a small slip of paper. On it was a name and a phone number. Detective Karl Bailey. I now had professional help in tracking down Josette.
“Here ya go! Granny’s gonna give him a quick call first to let him know you’ll be contacting him. Good luck. I hope he finds her for ya.”
“Thanks, Addie. I’m going to head home now. I got zero sleep last night.”
“Wait! You can’t go until I read your tea leaves. Hurry up and finish your cup.”
I was so tired that I forgot one of the main reasons I stopped to see her. With one last swallow, I drank what was left then performed the usual ritual. She wasn’t going to find a single bee inside there—not this time. No, I was clearly going forth again.
When I looked inside that cup, I discovered that Mom had a wicked sense of humor. But I was far from being amused. I was definitely correct in saying there wouldn’t be a single bee. Instead there was a virtual swarm of them.
“Well if that ain’t one of the weirdest things I ever did see! Look at all those cute little bees, Ruby!”
Not seeing what I hoped to see in that cup really stung—no pun intended this time. With all of the new leads I had, this couldn’t possibly be the right time for me to be still. I listened half-heartedly while she explained the meaning to me.
“Bees are the sign of hard work that pays off in happiness. It’s a good sign, Ruby. Why do you look so sad?”
“It wasn’t what I wanted to see. I’m ready to take off on another adventure—not sit here waiting to see what’s going to happen next.”
“It will happen when it’s supposed to happen. But in the meantime, think about the parallels. Bees work hard but for a sweet reward. Zach’s your honey—you’re going to get him back in the end. Go with the flow—don’t fight it. Have a little patience.”
“The only time I’m patient is when I’m asleep—so that’s what I intend to do ASAP.”
“Yes, you’re going to need all of the energy you can get tomorrow. It’s Halloween weekend—Poe’s Corner is going to be crawling with zombies!”
Ugh. I’d forgotten all about that. Halloween used to be my favorite holiday yet this year it almost passed me by without notice. I guess when your entire year was chock full of ghosts and everything else that goes bump in the night; there was no need to celebrate it anymore.
I drove home feeling slightly depressed but clinging to one last hope for the day—my phone call to Detective Bailey. He would have much better luck finding Josette than Roxanne or I ever would. He would have access to police data bases all over the country. The tea leaves were wrong this time. I would have Josette’s information in a matter of a few hours. This definitely wasn’t time for me to be still.
Detective Bailey answered my call on the first ring. He was clearly not a fiddler. He was a touch on the sarcastic side yet laughed after almost every sentence. I got the impression that he was the kind of cop who got things done—even if those things weren’t always
Their conversation weaved in and out around mundane things before Addie got to the real reason she’d made the call. They even discussed at great length a recipe for Cajun crawfish gumbo before the important topic surfaced. When I heard a lively debate regarding whether or not shirts should be tucked in, I nearly lost it. I shot Addie the stink eye then pretended to play my imaginary violin to hopefully give her the hint that she was fiddling around. It worked. A minute later, their conversation ended and Addie presented me with a small slip of paper. On it was a name and a phone number. Detective Karl Bailey. I now had professional help in tracking down Josette.
“Here ya go! Granny’s gonna give him a quick call first to let him know you’ll be contacting him. Good luck. I hope he finds her for ya.”
“Thanks, Addie. I’m going to head home now. I got zero sleep last night.”
“Wait! You can’t go until I read your tea leaves. Hurry up and finish your cup.”
I was so tired that I forgot one of the main reasons I stopped to see her. With one last swallow, I drank what was left then performed the usual ritual. She wasn’t going to find a single bee inside there—not this time. No, I was clearly going forth again.
When I looked inside that cup, I discovered that Mom had a wicked sense of humor. But I was far from being amused. I was definitely correct in saying there wouldn’t be a single bee. Instead there was a virtual swarm of them.
“Well if that ain’t one of the weirdest things I ever did see! Look at all those cute little bees, Ruby!”
Not seeing what I hoped to see in that cup really stung—no pun intended this time. With all of the new leads I had, this couldn’t possibly be the right time for me to be still. I listened half-heartedly while she explained the meaning to me.
“Bees are the sign of hard work that pays off in happiness. It’s a good sign, Ruby. Why do you look so sad?”
“It wasn’t what I wanted to see. I’m ready to take off on another adventure—not sit here waiting to see what’s going to happen next.”
“It will happen when it’s supposed to happen. But in the meantime, think about the parallels. Bees work hard but for a sweet reward. Zach’s your honey—you’re going to get him back in the end. Go with the flow—don’t fight it. Have a little patience.”
“The only time I’m patient is when I’m asleep—so that’s what I intend to do ASAP.”
“Yes, you’re going to need all of the energy you can get tomorrow. It’s Halloween weekend—Poe’s Corner is going to be crawling with zombies!”
Ugh. I’d forgotten all about that. Halloween used to be my favorite holiday yet this year it almost passed me by without notice. I guess when your entire year was chock full of ghosts and everything else that goes bump in the night; there was no need to celebrate it anymore.
I drove home feeling slightly depressed but clinging to one last hope for the day—my phone call to Detective Bailey. He would have much better luck finding Josette than Roxanne or I ever would. He would have access to police data bases all over the country. The tea leaves were wrong this time. I would have Josette’s information in a matter of a few hours. This definitely wasn’t time for me to be still.
Detective Bailey answered my call on the first ring. He was clearly not a fiddler. He was a touch on the sarcastic side yet laughed after almost every sentence. I got the impression that he was the kind of cop who got things done—even if those things weren’t always
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