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.“Well, hello, my two favorite felons.What’s going on?”“You’ve lost more weight,” I said.Bo nodded.“One hundred thirty-two.If Oprah can do it, I can do it.”“You look great.” She did.Bo’s skin is the color of light chocolate, and her wide-set eyes have a slightly Oriental slant to them.“You don’t.What’d you do to your head?”“Fell over a turkey.”“Sounds reasonable to me.” Bo laughed.“Y’all want to tell me what you’re up to?”“It’s a long story,” Sister said.“I love to hear y’all’s stories.Let’s go down to Hardee’s and you can take your time.I could use a Coke and a potty.”“My house is closer,” Mary Alice said.“And this really is a complicated story.”“Do, Jesus.A complicated story.I’ll follow you.”TwelveRay was sitting in the sunroom eating cereal and watching The Price Is Right when we came in.He had on khaki shorts and a faded blue shirt that looked as if it had seen many a diving trip.He looked considerably more rested than he had the night before.We introduced him to Bo Mitchell who informed him she had apprehended us lurking around on Redmont Crest.“It’s where Eddie Turkett lives,” Mary Alice explained to Ray.“Sunshine gave that as her address at Jeff State, so we were just looking around.”“Clue me in.” Bo leaned back in a wicker chair and took the Coke I offered her.“Take your time.”“It’s a long story,” Mary Alice repeated.“Suits me.”So we told her the whole story of Sunshine (with help from Ray), of the Turketts, all of them, and of the dead Indian who wasn’t an Indian but a man from Bradford named Dudley Cross which probably meant everybody called him Double Cross.Sister showed her the note that said regards to her son, and I told her about the turkey and how I nearly knocked my brains out falling over it.Bo looked pleased as we finished our story.“Y’all are the only people I know that keep falling over dead bodies.It’s just a real talent.”“It’s not me.It’s Mary Alice,” I insisted.“She gets involved with weird people.”Ray hopped to his wife’s defense.“Sunshine’s not weird.”“No, she’s not,” I agreed.“I didn’t mean Sunshine.”“That whole trailer camp’s weird, though.Wait till you see it, Ray.” Mary Alice poured him some more orange juice.“You have to have a stick in your hand so the pit bulls won’t attack you.”Ray put the juice glass on the table.“You have to hit the dogs?”“No.Of course not.You just show them the stick.And you have to yell at Pawpaw because he was in a Port-o-John when a rocket went off.”“Which was sad,” I added.Bo turned to Ray.“You listen to these women.You realize how lucky you are? How blessed among men?”Ray grinned.“Sometimes.”Bo held out her Coke glass for a refill.“Lord, it’s hot today.” She held it up, said “Cheers,” took a big swig, and burped slightly.“Rockets and pit bulls aside for the moment, you think this sweet child’s wife is really over there at her uncle’s house?”“It’s a possibility,” I said.Bo drained the rest of her Coke.“Let me go potty and I’ll check it out.”“How will you check it out?” Sister asked.“Do what any normal person would do.I’ll knock on the door and ask if Sunshine Dabbs Crane is there.And if they say no, I’ll say it’s too bad because she’s been elected Miss Jefferson State and I’m there to deliver her tiara.”“I don’t think they’ll buy that,” Sister said.Bo sighed.“I know it.I’ll try to think of something else on the way over there.” She got up and headed for the bathroom.“Maybe you could be dying, Mary Alice, and asking for her.”“Try something else,” Sister called down the hall.Ray was wiping his beard with a paper napkin.“Are you sure all that hair is sanitary?” his mother asked.Ray thumped his chest.“Me Tarzan.”“Tarzan didn’t have a beard.” Mary Alice turned and looked at me.“How come Tarzan didn’t have a beard, Mouse?”“Jane wouldn’t put up with it.”“No.I mean how could he shave? Seems like I remember seeing Jane cut his hair once.And that’s another thing.Where did she get scissors?”“I have no idea,” I said.“I was too busy worrying about somebody finding the elephants’ graveyard.”“The alligators always scared me,” Ray said.“Just lying around the edge of the water waiting on Tarzan.”“And how come lightning didn’t hit them up there in that tree? Or the tree house get blown down? Don’t you know everything stayed soaking wet?” Sister was getting into this.“And think how Cheetah must have stunk.And he slept right there with them.Loaded with fleas, I’ll bet you.Do they have fleas in Bora Bora, Ray?”“Sure.Ticks, too.”Mary Alice rubbed her forehead.“Ticks.I hadn’t thought about that.It’s a wonder Tarzan and Jane didn’t die of Lyme disease.”“And Boy, too,” I added.“I never liked Boy,” Mary Alice said.Bo came back in.“You’re right,” Ray told her.“I’m blessed among men.”Bo hoisted her purse to her shoulder.“I’ll call you if I run up on anything.The neighbors up there’ll know what’s going on.I’ll ask around.”“We’d appreciate it.” Ray stood up.“I’ll walk out to your car with you.”“Hmmm,” Sister said as the front door closed.“I wonder what that’s about.”“He’s just being polite.”“Ray? Don’t be ridiculous.”“He’s a very polite man.”“Did I say he wasn’t?”This was getting us nowhere.“Get your purse,” I said.“I need that makeup.”“You sure do,” Sister agreed.We were headed out the door as Ray came in.“What are you going to do this morning, son?” Mary Alice asked.“I’m going out to the Turkett Compound.Buck’s going with me.”“Well, carry a big stick.”“And walk softly,” I added.“How come he needs to walk softly?” Sister asked.“It’s just what Teddy Roosevelt said.‘Walk softly and carry a big stick.’”“What does Teddy Roosevelt have to do with the Turketts?”“Not a damn thing.Get in the car.”The Big, Bold, and Beautiful Shoppe always smells wonderful, flowery but with a delicate citrus undertone.The perfume is never overwhelming; you catch a whiff of it as you enter and then it becomes simply part of the pleasure of the shop.Mary Alice wanted to buy some and was taken by our friend, Bonnie Blue Butler, back to a storeroom where a small machine stuck on the wall went psst every hour and spit out the perfumed air cleanser.When Sister found out it was from a janitorial supply house, she changed her mind, though it seems to me a smell is a smell.And this one is good.It was especially good and cool on this hot day.Bonnie Blue was glad to see us.She had worked at the Skoot ’n’ Boot and nearly gotten herself killed along with us.Now she’s manager of the Big, Bold, and Beautiful Shoppe and loving it.Her very words are, “I could eat these clothes up.”She came to us with her arms outstretched for hugs.“Lord have mercy.Mary Alice, you been beating up on this child again?”“Not enough.She’s still sassy.”Bonnie Blue examined my forehead.“How’d you do that?”“Fell over a turkey.”“Figured it was something reasonable.Let’s sit down and have some coffee.I want to hear about this.” Bonnie Blue pointed to a corner where there was a nice seating arrangement.“We’re not overrun with customers this morning.Anybody comes in, Katrinka can wait on them.” She grinned.“Katrinka.And they say us black folks give their kids funny names.You rather have a Coke?”“I would,” I said.“I’ll be back in a minute.You here, Mary Alice, to buy a whole fall wardrobe, I hope?”“Haley’s getting married tomorrow.I’m looking for a dress [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]