Mama Rocks the Empty Cradle by Nora Deloach

beer. “James, a young man came by the house today,” she began nonchalantly.
    Daddy swallowed deeply from his bottle.
    “Simone, tell your father about the young man.”
    I started describing the creep and how threatening he looked when my father broke out into a loud laugh. “Simone, baby, you’re talking about Nightmare.”
    Mama sat straight up. “James, what’s the boy’s
real
name?” she asked.
    “I don’t know, baby,” he answered. “People havebeen calling that boy Nightmare all his life. I reckon only his mama knows Nightmare’s given name.”
    “Who are his people?” Mama asked.
    “His mama was a Givens. His daddy’s name was Leman Childs.”
    Mama’s eyes widened. “That boy is kin to Cricket Childs?”
    Daddy took another draught from his beer. “Nightmare and Cricket are first cousins, brothers’ children.”
    “I was right,” I said, excited. “I did see Morgan in the backseat of Nightmare’s car!”
    Mama held up a hand to quiet me. “Wait a minute, Simone,” she said. “Why would that boy come
here?”
    Daddy’s eyes were still laughing. “ ’Cause I asked him to.”
    “You did
what
?”
    “Nightmare is the best hunter around,” Daddy answered. “When he’s not trying to scare people, he catches all kinds of wild game. I saw him in town this morning and told him to bring me a slab of that venison he said he had in his freezer.”
    I felt an uneasiness, a sense that something was wrong with what I’d just heard. “Mama,” I said, “Rose was lying to us—
Nightmare
is hiding Morgan.”
    Mama took a deep breath. “I guess you were right about him,” she said.
    “He’s got Morgan,” I repeated, “and when he saw me, he tried to hurt me.”
    Daddy looked confused. “What did Nightmare try to do to you?”
    I told him about the incident on the CypressCreek road. Daddy leaned back and shook his head. “Simone, baby, Nightmare looks spooky, but he’s harmless.”
    “He tried to grab me but—”
    Daddy interrupted. “You’re not the first woman Nightmare has pulled that trick on, Simone. That’s probably how he got his nickname. Fact is, that boy gets his kicks from trying to scare women. He especially likes that road because it’s a long stretch and seldom used. But he’s never hurt a soul.”
    I swore. “That creep!”
    Daddy grinned at the irritation in my voice. “Abe’s always warning him about doing that. He’s even threatened to lock him up, but it hasn’t stopped Nightmare.”
    “Suppose I had a weak heart? He could have scared me to death,” I retorted hotly.
    “Worse still,” Mama said, “Simone could have blinded him with that can of oven cleaner she found in the cabinet.”
    Daddy looked surprised. “What about the oven cleaner?” he asked in a flat, hard voice.
    “Next time, I’ll be
his
nightmare,” I vowed.
    “What about this oven cleaner?” Daddy repeated.
    I refused to answer so Mama had to tell him about how I was prepared to open the front door and greet Nightmare. “You’d better let that boy know how close he came to harm, James,” she cautioned. “Maybe if you can get him to understand how his antics might provoke somebody into hurting him, he’ll stop his foolishness.”
    Daddy didn’t say anything. Instead, he nodded, his expression one of concern.
    “Tell him that I resent his tricks and that he’s messing with the wrong black woman.” I was still angry.
    Mama frowned. “Those were Cricket’s exact words,” she murmured.
    “What?” I asked.
    “I was thinking that Cricket told Birdie those same words. In Winn Dixie last Saturday.”
    “Oh, yeah.” Only six days had passed but so much had happened since that incident. The anger in Cricket’s eyes when she hollered at Birdie flashed through my mind. And now she was dead and crazy Nightmare had her baby.
    “Poor Morgan.” Mama shook her head. “There must be a reason that her family is hiding that baby and letting everybody in the county believe that the