Diana filled her in while Carmen continued to pace from one end of the bedroom to the other.
“Sorry sumbitch,” Tootsie growled, “telling her all that on the phone.”
“Coward is the word you’re lookin’ for,” Diana whispered.
Tootsie sat down on the edge of the bed to catch her breath. “He should have told her when he was home last. You’ve got fifteen minutes, Carmen, to throw your hissy. Go out in the yard and shake your fist at the heavens. Damn him to hell on a rusty poker. Whatever it takes, but when the time is up, you have to move on.”
“Why? I want to be mad for a long time,” Carmen said.
“Because he’s got power over you when you let anger eat away at your heart, and he shouldn’t be given that kind of control,” Tootsie said. “It’s not easy, but that’s what you have to do.”
“Did you go through this when Smokey died?” Carmen’s mouth was so tight the words could barely get out.
“Yes,” Tootsie admitted. “And one night I went outside, stomped and cussed like a sailor, beat the hell out of a metal trash can with a baseball bat, and was about to start in on the motor home when I realized what I was doing. You want a bat?”
“I live right next door to you, and I didn’t hear any of that,” Carmen said.
“I waited until y’all were all gone. It’s two miles to the nearest neighbor out here, so if you want that bat, it’s in the garage. Just don’t use it on Smokey’s pickup truck. The trees, the horse apples—all fair game. There’s also an ax out there and a bunch of logs out back that could use chopping into firewood. Don’t reckon you know how to do that, do you?”
“I was raised out in the country, and all we had was a woodstove to heat the house in the winter. I’ll be back in time for supper.” Carmen stormed down the stairs and slammed the kitchen door behind her.
“You think one of us should go with her?” Joanie asked.
“No,” Tootsie answered. “This is something she needs to work out for herself. We can support her, but she needs to get that anger out.”
“Did you really work over a trash can?” Diana asked.
“Oh, yeah, and I felt better when I got done. What did you do?” Tootsie threw the question back.
“I broke every plate in the cabinet throwing them at Gerald’s picture hanging on the wall. Then I cleaned up the mess and went out and bought a whole new set that he had never eaten off of. The next day, I threw my mattress on top of my van, took it out in the country to a landfill, and set fire to it. No man has slept in my bed since then,” she said.
Joanie sucked in air so fast that it made a whistling sound. “You mean you’ve been celibate for five years?”
“I didn’t say that,” Diana said. “I said no man has slept in my bed. There have only been a couple men since then, and one night in a motel was all I needed to see that I didn’t want to see either of them again.”
“But I swear right now, and you can get out a Bible for me to lay my hand on if you want to, that I’m finished with the army family parties.” Joanie hit her fist against her palm. “Brett can go without me if they have a barbecue or a picnic. It was tough enough to go when Gerald brought in his new woman, but you asked me to do it to be there for Rebecca. This time the girls are grown, and I don’t have to endure seeing those two with their new women.”
Tootsie stood up and headed for the door. “Y’all get unpacked while Carmen is out there choppin’ wood or beatin’ up a trash can. Sissy put a pot roast she cooked for us in the refrigerator for supper tonight, so we don’t have to cook. Luke says he’ll make some biscuits and a salad, and I can make a pretty decent pitcher of sweet tea, so we’re all set for when Carmen comes back inside.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Diana headed back toward her room. “And, Tootsie, don’t come runnin’ up those stairs like that again. You scared the bejesus out of me the way you were all out of breath.”
“I thought someone was attacking Carmen. The bad thing is that I forgot to grab