Read Online Mama Cracks a Mask of Innocence by Nora Deloach - Free Book Online
Authors: Nora Deloach
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advantage of by her stepfather. Then, like the fall of a curtain, herhostility vanished and Stella’s eyes filled with tears. “I spent hours with Brenda trying to convince her to call Miss Russell and tell her that she’d made a terrible mistake.”
Mama nodded kindly. “I’m here to help you get that straightened out,” she assured Stella. “I’ve already talked with your mother and she assured me that Victor never tried to molest you. If there’s nothing to Brenda’s accusation, there’s no reason that the investigation can’t be dropped.”
Stella wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice now signaling that she’d decided it was in her best interest to tell Mama what she wanted to know.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Mama urged her. “Tell me exactly how this rumor got started.”
Stella bristled slightly. “I had a fight with my mama’s husband. Victor’s always on my case, always trying to make me do one thing or the other. I was mad and said something that made him slap me.”
Mama looked the young girl in the face. “Stella—are you afraid of Victor?”
Stella waved dismissively. “No way! That big ape is ugly but I ain’t scared of him.” She picked up a leather pocketbook from a nearby chair and took out a pack of chewing gum. She offered me and my mother a piece. We shook our heads, she unwrapped a stick and doubled it into her mouth, biting down. She wadded up the gum wrapper and dropped it on the floor. “Victor ain’t dumb. He’s leftmama and I don’t think he’s ever coming back to her. The only reason she married him was because he gave her plenty of money. All I asked her to do was to get money from Victor whenever I needed it, but my mama was greedy, she told me it’s to our advantage if she puts the money Victor gives her into the beauty shop!”
This girl has a serious problem
, I thought.
She doesn’t mind using her mother to get money for her
. I was glad Lurena refused to give in to her childish demands.
“When did Victor leave?” Mama asked.
“From Wednesday night when he learned that there was going to be an investigation, until Sunday, Victor was cursing about how he didn’t want nobody digging into his business. Mama tried to tell him that she’d get it straightened out but he was still carrying on like he was crazy until we got the news that Brenda’s body was found. That’s when he calmed down. I thought he’d decided that now that Brenda was dead, the whole thing about his so-called molesting me would be dropped. I guess Mama thought the same thing as I did because, on Monday evening when Victor didn’t come home from work, she called his boss. Boy, was she surprised when the owner of the trucking company told her that Victor had quit his job early Monday morning and told him that he was leaving town for good.”
“Let’s get back to when you last talked to Brenda?” Mama asked, her voice giving away thatshe wasn’t interested in the way Victor had slipped out of town like a coward.
“Thursday afternoon,” Stella told her.
“Where?” Mama asked.
“Here, in this room.”
“Tell me about that.”
“I’ll have to tell you about Wednesday night. I saw Brenda and told her that I wasn’t going to Orlando with the class because my mama wouldn’t get more money for me to buy new clothes. The next morning, I ran into Brenda leaving the cafeteria. She told me that she’d decided not to go on the class trip too and that she thought it would be a good idea if she came over to my house after school so that we could talk in private. She knew my mother would be at the beauty shop and Victor would be working.” Stella paused. “When we got to the house I went into the kitchen to get cold drinks. When we finally sat down and began talking, I tried my best to convince Brenda that it just wasn’t true, that Victor or nobody else had messed with me. I couldn’t make her understand. God, she was
Mama nodded kindly. “I’m here to help you get that straightened out,” she assured Stella. “I’ve already talked with your mother and she assured me that Victor never tried to molest you. If there’s nothing to Brenda’s accusation, there’s no reason that the investigation can’t be dropped.”
Stella wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry,” she said, her voice now signaling that she’d decided it was in her best interest to tell Mama what she wanted to know.
“Let’s start from the beginning,” Mama urged her. “Tell me exactly how this rumor got started.”
Stella bristled slightly. “I had a fight with my mama’s husband. Victor’s always on my case, always trying to make me do one thing or the other. I was mad and said something that made him slap me.”
Mama looked the young girl in the face. “Stella—are you afraid of Victor?”
Stella waved dismissively. “No way! That big ape is ugly but I ain’t scared of him.” She picked up a leather pocketbook from a nearby chair and took out a pack of chewing gum. She offered me and my mother a piece. We shook our heads, she unwrapped a stick and doubled it into her mouth, biting down. She wadded up the gum wrapper and dropped it on the floor. “Victor ain’t dumb. He’s leftmama and I don’t think he’s ever coming back to her. The only reason she married him was because he gave her plenty of money. All I asked her to do was to get money from Victor whenever I needed it, but my mama was greedy, she told me it’s to our advantage if she puts the money Victor gives her into the beauty shop!”
This girl has a serious problem
, I thought.
She doesn’t mind using her mother to get money for her
. I was glad Lurena refused to give in to her childish demands.
“When did Victor leave?” Mama asked.
“From Wednesday night when he learned that there was going to be an investigation, until Sunday, Victor was cursing about how he didn’t want nobody digging into his business. Mama tried to tell him that she’d get it straightened out but he was still carrying on like he was crazy until we got the news that Brenda’s body was found. That’s when he calmed down. I thought he’d decided that now that Brenda was dead, the whole thing about his so-called molesting me would be dropped. I guess Mama thought the same thing as I did because, on Monday evening when Victor didn’t come home from work, she called his boss. Boy, was she surprised when the owner of the trucking company told her that Victor had quit his job early Monday morning and told him that he was leaving town for good.”
“Let’s get back to when you last talked to Brenda?” Mama asked, her voice giving away thatshe wasn’t interested in the way Victor had slipped out of town like a coward.
“Thursday afternoon,” Stella told her.
“Where?” Mama asked.
“Here, in this room.”
“Tell me about that.”
“I’ll have to tell you about Wednesday night. I saw Brenda and told her that I wasn’t going to Orlando with the class because my mama wouldn’t get more money for me to buy new clothes. The next morning, I ran into Brenda leaving the cafeteria. She told me that she’d decided not to go on the class trip too and that she thought it would be a good idea if she came over to my house after school so that we could talk in private. She knew my mother would be at the beauty shop and Victor would be working.” Stella paused. “When we got to the house I went into the kitchen to get cold drinks. When we finally sat down and began talking, I tried my best to convince Brenda that it just wasn’t true, that Victor or nobody else had messed with me. I couldn’t make her understand. God, she was
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