let that Johnny get too close to his best friend. Now he got to mop up Johnny’s mess if he want to stay friends with Antonosanti and his bunch. Iffen it was me, I’d beat Johnny like he stole somethin’,” Scary Mary offered, waving her beer can in my direction. “It sure enough is good to have you back home. I’m so glad Jesus sent you back here to help me keep my house clean.” She looked me over critically, resting her fish eyes on my face.
“I don’t think I’ll have time to clean your house. I’ll probably go back to the phone company,” I said quickly. I was through doing a lot of things. One thing I was not going to do much of anymore was hang around Scary Mary’s house. And I was certainly not going to clean it for her.
“My girl got good sense,” Muh’Dear bragged, screwing her lips up like a coin purse to kiss me on my neck. “She was raised right. Praise God for leadin’ Brother Boatwright to me when he did to assist me.”
“Uh…I think I should go on up to my room and start putting my things away,” I said quickly, rising. One thing I wanted behind me in every way was Mr. Boatwright. I didn’t want to think about him or hear people talking about him, especially if they were going on and on about what a saint he was.
“I done already made up your bed with fresh sheets, new blankets, a new spread, and some pillows fit for a king,” Muh’Dear informed me.
“You want me to help you with your suitcase?” Pee Wee asked, rising from his seat. He had been unusually quiet so far. I had a feeling he was just as uneasy as I was.
“Oh no. It’s not heavy. I’m all right.” I smiled. For a moment our eyes met, and we held the gaze. Without warning, I experienced a hot flash. I couldn’t get upstairs fast enough.
Before I entered my old room, I stopped in front of the room that Mr. Boatwright had lived and died in. A great sadness came over me. I set my suitcase on the floor and gently opened the door.
He had come and gone, and there was nothing in the room to indicate that he had ever existed. Everything that had belonged to him was gone, even his smell, which had lingered for weeks after his murder. Muh’Dear had painted the walls from beige to bright baby blue. One of the windows was opened by a few inches, and a cool breeze made the colorful new drapes flutter. I smiled when I saw a red robin sitting on the windowsill looking at me. It was quite a difference from the owl I’d seen so many years ago on the windowsill in the shack in Florida the day after Daddy left with that woman. I had to blink real hard to keep from crying as I pictured him in that green car. I swallowed and took a few deep breaths before I turned to leave.
Across the hall, I opened the door to my old room. Gone was that haunting bed where I had endured most of Mr. Boatwright’s abuse. The old chifforobe, the wobbly nightstand, and the goosenecked lamp were all gone. The walls were still the warm beige I liked, and there was a new four-poster, a dresser with a mirror, and a bookcase containing the hundreds of books that I had left behind in boxes. Not sure what to do first, I sat down cautiously on the bed and just stared at the walls. I was not aware of the time, but I had been sitting for a while when Scary Mary barged in.
“Girl, we thought maybe you had come up here and fainted in the middle of the floor. Why you just settin’ here lookin’ like you seen a haint? We got us a Thanksgivin’ feast spread out on the kitchen table fit for a king, with a turkey with meat so tender it’s ’bout to slide off the bone.”
“I…I was just resting,” I explained. “I’m not that hungry now anyway.”
“Uh-huh. Well from the looks of you, you don’t look like you done missed no meals lately. Heh heh heh.”
“Oh, I ate dinner with some friends before I left Erie.” In my honor, Viola and Willie had celebrated the holiday a day early. I’d eaten as much as my excited stomach allowed me to.
The old madam strutted arrogantly across the