Read Online A Place Called Wiregrass by Michael Morris - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Michael Morris
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drop that old pride, Erma Lee. It’s me you’re talking to.”
Her soft hazel eyes did me in again. Before I knew it, I was telling all the ugly, tattered holes that were missing from the puzzle. The holes I’m sure she had figured out, but gave me the dignity of acting like she didn’t know.
When I began to describe the drunken attacks, the last night before I left Cross City, and what I knew about Bozo coming to town, I somehow felt silly. Nobody said anything about him wanting to kill me. Like always, I assumed the worst. Maybe because if I prepared myself for the worst, the truth never seemed so awful. I expected her to tell me I was making a mountain out of some little molehill, or some other silly expression that older people like to use.
She wiped her hand across the tablecloth as if she was scattering invisible after-dinner crumbs. “You can’t play around with men like him. You think he’d be so crazy to come here?” Before I could say anything, she verbalized my deepest fear. “Well, if he got liquored up, no telling.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.” I pulled my ponytail over my neck and twirled the ends of my hair with my finger. “And just when things were going good…”
“We’ll call the lawyer directly. I just imagine he can get papers drawn up to stop that Bozo person from coming within any distance of you. You got a tag number for his vehicle?”
As I searched my pocketbook, fishing through tissue paper, female needs, and pieces of Juicy Fruit, I thought how wrong I’d been about Claudia Tyler the first time I met her. I assumed I could put her in a neat little box because she lived in that nice big house on Elm Drive. Miss Claudia would tear out of any box anybody ever tried to put her in. And I suspected she had done so before.
While she sat at the kitchen table and used her portable phone to ensure my safeguard, I could make out bits and pieces of the conversation.
“So the divorce papers were already served. I see.” Shaking her head, her hazel eyes locked on me. I knew my eyes were all big and scared-looking. In my mind, when those papers got handed to Bozo, he probably went slam nuts.
I could just see him driving to the Brown Jug and telling everybody how I kidnapped his grandbaby and how he would rot in jail before seeing me keep her. “Them papers say I’m her daddy by law,” he’d shout at no one in particular. Knowing full well he couldn’t raise Cher and she was better off with me. It was that pride thing he had. The same thing kept me from telling Miss Claudia about my black-and-blue past.
Once I confessed my fear and she made the phone calls, I felt stronger. I’d never leaned on anybody before and wondered if I was venturing on shaky territory by letting Miss Claudia get so wrapped up in my business. To be honest, at the time I felt like if she didn’t get involved, I very well might have one of Richard’s nerve attacks. I decided telling her about things that shouldn’t be discussed in public was betterfor her in the long run. The other option was her seeing me run down Elm Drive in broad daylight screaming and pulling my hair out.
“Sheriff Thomas will handle things from his end too. He’s a good man,” Miss Claudia said and fingered her pearls. “You know, sometimes the law likes to look the other way at messes like we’ve been through.”
I stopped twisting the ends of my ponytail and looked up at her. “Well, you got to trust somebody, don’t you?”
She just offered a soft smile, and I hoped she was not about to tell me that the man who set her up with all these nice things had violated her in any way. Right then, I needed the image of a good and decent man. Wade Tyler’s picture hung in her bedroom and offered a glimpse of a soft man with a receding hairline and a shy smile. I imagined him running his department store and letting Miss Claudia take the limelight by fellowshiping with all the customers, complimenting a woman on this
Her soft hazel eyes did me in again. Before I knew it, I was telling all the ugly, tattered holes that were missing from the puzzle. The holes I’m sure she had figured out, but gave me the dignity of acting like she didn’t know.
When I began to describe the drunken attacks, the last night before I left Cross City, and what I knew about Bozo coming to town, I somehow felt silly. Nobody said anything about him wanting to kill me. Like always, I assumed the worst. Maybe because if I prepared myself for the worst, the truth never seemed so awful. I expected her to tell me I was making a mountain out of some little molehill, or some other silly expression that older people like to use.
She wiped her hand across the tablecloth as if she was scattering invisible after-dinner crumbs. “You can’t play around with men like him. You think he’d be so crazy to come here?” Before I could say anything, she verbalized my deepest fear. “Well, if he got liquored up, no telling.”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.” I pulled my ponytail over my neck and twirled the ends of my hair with my finger. “And just when things were going good…”
“We’ll call the lawyer directly. I just imagine he can get papers drawn up to stop that Bozo person from coming within any distance of you. You got a tag number for his vehicle?”
As I searched my pocketbook, fishing through tissue paper, female needs, and pieces of Juicy Fruit, I thought how wrong I’d been about Claudia Tyler the first time I met her. I assumed I could put her in a neat little box because she lived in that nice big house on Elm Drive. Miss Claudia would tear out of any box anybody ever tried to put her in. And I suspected she had done so before.
While she sat at the kitchen table and used her portable phone to ensure my safeguard, I could make out bits and pieces of the conversation.
“So the divorce papers were already served. I see.” Shaking her head, her hazel eyes locked on me. I knew my eyes were all big and scared-looking. In my mind, when those papers got handed to Bozo, he probably went slam nuts.
I could just see him driving to the Brown Jug and telling everybody how I kidnapped his grandbaby and how he would rot in jail before seeing me keep her. “Them papers say I’m her daddy by law,” he’d shout at no one in particular. Knowing full well he couldn’t raise Cher and she was better off with me. It was that pride thing he had. The same thing kept me from telling Miss Claudia about my black-and-blue past.
Once I confessed my fear and she made the phone calls, I felt stronger. I’d never leaned on anybody before and wondered if I was venturing on shaky territory by letting Miss Claudia get so wrapped up in my business. To be honest, at the time I felt like if she didn’t get involved, I very well might have one of Richard’s nerve attacks. I decided telling her about things that shouldn’t be discussed in public was betterfor her in the long run. The other option was her seeing me run down Elm Drive in broad daylight screaming and pulling my hair out.
“Sheriff Thomas will handle things from his end too. He’s a good man,” Miss Claudia said and fingered her pearls. “You know, sometimes the law likes to look the other way at messes like we’ve been through.”
I stopped twisting the ends of my ponytail and looked up at her. “Well, you got to trust somebody, don’t you?”
She just offered a soft smile, and I hoped she was not about to tell me that the man who set her up with all these nice things had violated her in any way. Right then, I needed the image of a good and decent man. Wade Tyler’s picture hung in her bedroom and offered a glimpse of a soft man with a receding hairline and a shy smile. I imagined him running his department store and letting Miss Claudia take the limelight by fellowshiping with all the customers, complimenting a woman on this
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