Read Online Mad Girls In Love by Michael Lee West - Free Book Online Page A

was a state-trooperish question. Alice Ann began bouncing up and down. “Copiah County,” she sang. “Elevation 479 feet. And the air is ever so sweet.”
    â€œYou’re a smart young lady.” The officer smiled.
    â€œA genius,” I said.
    The officer’s smile faded as he turned his gaze on me. “All the more reason to drive careful, miss,” he said, tipping back his hat.
    â€œYes, sir,” I said, my voice squeaking.
    â€œYour driver’s license and registration, please?”
    I blinked. Then I glanced at the glove compartment, wondering if Eunice had, by some miracle, added the registration. I leaned across the seat, pressing my arm against the baby’s chubby legs, and clicked open the glove box. It was immaculate: a box of pink tissues, an oil change record, a folded map of Tennessee. In the backseat, Alice Ann giggled. I slammed the glove box, and sat straight up. I reached for my purse, but I couldn’t find my wallet. And it had been there when I’d stopped for gas near Oxford. I knew it was illegal to be driving without a license and registration.
    Alice Ann leaned forward, laying her freckled cheek against the back of my seat. She twirled one braid. “Mommy, you left your billfold in your other purse. It’s got your driver’s license and registration, and even the title. But Daddy can bring it to Hazlehurst when he comes.”
    She looked up at the officer and smiled, showing the gap between her teeth. “Please don’t give us a ticket, sir. My Aunt Eunice just had herself a new baby boy and we’re going down to help. That’s why we’re in a hurry. Isn’t that true, Mommy?”
    She lifted her braid and painted the side of my face. I tried to smile, but my lips were trembling. To hide the twitching, I covered my mouth with my hand and nodded. Jennifer cackled. She grabbed her foot and shoved it into her mouth. Then she gave the officer an engaging smile. “Please, sir,” crooned Alice Ann, aiming the tip of her braid at him. “Give us one more chance. It’s my fault she was speeding. I was being a brat. Boohooing and kicking the back of her seat. ’Cause I was starving. I’m always starving. ‘Drive faster, Mommy,’ I told her. I won’t never do that again, Officer Nugent. I’ve learned my lesson.”
    I glanced at the patrolman’s shirt—that was his name, all right, spelled out on his platinum badge.
    â€œWhere do y’all live?” he asked.
    â€œMemphis,” said Alice Ann. “Memphis, Tennessee. While we’re in Hazlehurst, Daddy’s getting a neighbor boy to feed the dog.”
    â€œWhat kind of dog you got, sugar?”
    â€œOh, he’s the cutest thing! He’s half pug, half Chihuahua. And real, real funny-looking. His name is Sneaky. Like some people can be?” Alice Ann leaned out the window. She grinned up at the officer, lifting her braid and letting it speak like a puppet. “Please, Officer Nugent. Pretty please? Let the nice people go. They’ll be good. They’ll drive under the speed limit.”
    The officer laughed and stepped back from the Cadillac. Then he pointed one finger at me. “I’ll let you go, just this once. Now you drive careful. You hear me little lady?”
    â€œYes, sir.” I nodded vigorously.
    â€œThank you,” Alice Ann sang.
    â€œAll right, then.” The officer gave Alice Ann a two-finger salute, then he walked back to his cruiser and climbed inside. After a moment the blue lights stopped flashing. I took a deep breath, then grabbed the wheel and shifted into drive. When the traffic thinned out, I touched my foot to the gas pedal, and the Cadillac shot out of the breakdown lane, onto I-55. Glancing into the rearview mirror, I saw that the trooper hadn’t moved. Alice Ann leaned against the window, her arms propped under her head, and she resumed singing “This Old