almost every day and one evening I think he raped Momma or at least he tried to rape her. She would never talk about it. Whichever it was we packed up the very next day and left Lafayette and moved to BR.’
The plane was flying more steadily now, and suddenly the sun broke through the windows. Sissy’s wild gray hair shone silver, and all of her necklaces and bangles sparkled.
‘You
lost
your Momma, though, didn’t you?’ she asked T-Yon. ‘When was that?’
‘Everett was twelve and I was five. First of all Momma got a job at a grocery store and we lived in back of the grocery store and we liked that even though the rooms were so shabby. But then something happened, I don’t know what, and the manager accused Momma of stealing groceries and she lost that job. Maybe he came on to her and she said no.
‘She managed to get another job for a cleaning company and we lived in this one room, but the worst thing was that she was out for most of the night and she was sleeping for most of the day and we hardly ever got to see her. Then she got really sick and they took her into hospital and me and Everett had to stay at this children’s home. Then one afternoon when we came home from school they told us that Momma had died. We never even got to say goodbye.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Sissy. ‘I know it was a long time ago but it must still hurt.’
T-Yon looked across at her and smiled but there were tears in her eyes. ‘Yes, it does. I have pictures of her and it wasn’t just my imagination that she was beautiful.’
She paused for a few moments, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Sissy could have offered to get in touch with her late mother’s resonance, but she didn’t think that now was the time. They had other, more immediate problems to deal with first. Like blood.
T-Yon said, ‘About six months after Momma passed, we were taken into foster care by George and Renée Savoie. They were the couple who started the Red Bean Restaurant chain, and they had never had the time to have children of their own. Great people. Great, great people. Warm, loving, very hard-working but always cheerful. After a year they adopted us; and that’s how we became Everett and Lilian Savoie.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Sissy. ‘I always like a happy ending.’
‘Oh God,’ said T-Yon. ‘Let’s hope this all turns out happy.’
Luther was waiting for them as they came out of the baggage claim area. He was wearing mirror sunglasses and a very white short-sleeved shirt. The air conditioning inside the airport was ferocious but outside Sissy could see the glare of a hot Louisiana afternoon.
‘Where you at, Ms T-Yon? And you Ms Sawyer, correct?’
‘That’s right,’ said Sissy. ‘But why don’t you call me Sissy? I’ve never been one for formality. By the way, I’m sorry about your loss.’
Luther had taken the luggage cart from T-Yon and had started pushing it toward the entrance. It had one squeaky wheel. ‘My
loss
, ma’am?’ he asked.
‘You lost a pet quite recently. A dog, wasn’t it?’
‘That’s right. My old bloodhound, Hooker. Named him for John Lee Hooker. But how’d you know that?’
‘Because you still miss him, that’s why, and if there’s one thing that nobody can ever hide, it’s grieving. Of course it’s always more pronounced if it’s a
person
that you’ve lost, rather than a pet, but it’s grieving all the same.’
‘Well, brush my feet,’ said Luther. ‘You and my Aunt Epiphany ought to get together. She’s all into this mind-reading and fortune-telling and spellificating. She even perdicted the exact day and the exact hour when my grandpa was going to breathe his last, and he did. Five after eleven in the morning on the twenty-first of February, nineteen ninety-seven. I’ll never forget it.’
They walked out into thirty-three degree heat and eighty-percent humidity. There was only one cloud in the sky, a long thin wisp of cirrus that looked as if an angel in
The plane was flying more steadily now, and suddenly the sun broke through the windows. Sissy’s wild gray hair shone silver, and all of her necklaces and bangles sparkled.
‘You
lost
your Momma, though, didn’t you?’ she asked T-Yon. ‘When was that?’
‘Everett was twelve and I was five. First of all Momma got a job at a grocery store and we lived in back of the grocery store and we liked that even though the rooms were so shabby. But then something happened, I don’t know what, and the manager accused Momma of stealing groceries and she lost that job. Maybe he came on to her and she said no.
‘She managed to get another job for a cleaning company and we lived in this one room, but the worst thing was that she was out for most of the night and she was sleeping for most of the day and we hardly ever got to see her. Then she got really sick and they took her into hospital and me and Everett had to stay at this children’s home. Then one afternoon when we came home from school they told us that Momma had died. We never even got to say goodbye.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Sissy. ‘I know it was a long time ago but it must still hurt.’
T-Yon looked across at her and smiled but there were tears in her eyes. ‘Yes, it does. I have pictures of her and it wasn’t just my imagination that she was beautiful.’
She paused for a few moments, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Sissy could have offered to get in touch with her late mother’s resonance, but she didn’t think that now was the time. They had other, more immediate problems to deal with first. Like blood.
T-Yon said, ‘About six months after Momma passed, we were taken into foster care by George and Renée Savoie. They were the couple who started the Red Bean Restaurant chain, and they had never had the time to have children of their own. Great people. Great, great people. Warm, loving, very hard-working but always cheerful. After a year they adopted us; and that’s how we became Everett and Lilian Savoie.’
‘That’s wonderful,’ said Sissy. ‘I always like a happy ending.’
‘Oh God,’ said T-Yon. ‘Let’s hope this all turns out happy.’
Luther was waiting for them as they came out of the baggage claim area. He was wearing mirror sunglasses and a very white short-sleeved shirt. The air conditioning inside the airport was ferocious but outside Sissy could see the glare of a hot Louisiana afternoon.
‘Where you at, Ms T-Yon? And you Ms Sawyer, correct?’
‘That’s right,’ said Sissy. ‘But why don’t you call me Sissy? I’ve never been one for formality. By the way, I’m sorry about your loss.’
Luther had taken the luggage cart from T-Yon and had started pushing it toward the entrance. It had one squeaky wheel. ‘My
loss
, ma’am?’ he asked.
‘You lost a pet quite recently. A dog, wasn’t it?’
‘That’s right. My old bloodhound, Hooker. Named him for John Lee Hooker. But how’d you know that?’
‘Because you still miss him, that’s why, and if there’s one thing that nobody can ever hide, it’s grieving. Of course it’s always more pronounced if it’s a
person
that you’ve lost, rather than a pet, but it’s grieving all the same.’
‘Well, brush my feet,’ said Luther. ‘You and my Aunt Epiphany ought to get together. She’s all into this mind-reading and fortune-telling and spellificating. She even perdicted the exact day and the exact hour when my grandpa was going to breathe his last, and he did. Five after eleven in the morning on the twenty-first of February, nineteen ninety-seven. I’ll never forget it.’
They walked out into thirty-three degree heat and eighty-percent humidity. There was only one cloud in the sky, a long thin wisp of cirrus that looked as if an angel in
Similar Books
