Yet again.
Chapter Four
When I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t believe it was after nine. I wondered what the Henryetta Southern Baptist Church would do since Momma didn’t meet her pie commitment. Then, I reminded myself it didn’t matter. Momma was dead.
I sat up in Ashley’s frighteningly pink princess room feeling like a little girl, but finding myself a suspect in Momma’s murder seemed like a very grown-up thing. I couldn’t let myself act like a child anymore. After twenty-four years, it was high time I grew up.
I walked out of the bedroom and leaned against the wall in the hallway, watching Violet and her family in the kitchen. Mikey sat in his high chair and Ashley played with a small pony at the table. Violet stood in front of her stove, a spatula in hand. Mike walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her on the cheek. My heart ached for this, this sense of belonging. Violet would let me live here the rest of my life, and Mike, God love him, would too. But this was their family, not mine.
“Good mornin’,” I said as I sat down at the table next to Ashley.
Violet twisted around, a bright smile etched into her face, but worry lines wrinkled the corners of her eyes. “Good mornin’! Did you sleep well?”
I yawned. “Yes, actually I did. I can’t believe I slept so long.”
A frown crossed her face. “It was a long night.” She turned to the skillet and flipped pancakes. “We need to go to the funeral home today.”
I hadn’t considered that, but it didn’t surprise me. I picked up one of Ashley’s ponies and fingered the pink mane. “Okay.”
“I thought I could send Mike over to get some of your stuff,” she said with a forced brightness. “You just make a list and he’ll get whatever you need.”
It would have been an easy habit to slip into, letting Violet take care of me, but I felt a rebellion brewing deep inside. “Thanks Vi, but I think I’d like to go home.”
Violet and Mike, who had been reading the Sunday paper, both gawked at me as if I had announced I was becoming a Tibetan monk.
“Rose, don't be silly. It’s not like you’re puttin’ us out. We want you here. Isn’t that right, Mike?” Violet turned back to the stove and dismissed the silly thought.
Mike smiled. “Rose, you’re welcome here as long as you need to stay.”
“I know, Mike, and I appreciate that so much, but I don’t want to stay here. I really need to go home.”
Violet spun and faced me again, frowning like I was a misbehaving child. I worried she was gonna get whiplash with all the twisting around. “Rose, you cannot go back there! Momma was,” she lowered her voice, “murdered there.”
“I am well aware of that fact, Violet, considerin’ I was the one to discover her.”
“I’m not puttin’ up with this foolishness. You’re stayin’ here, and that’s that.”
I looked at Mike. Our eyes locked and I could see he read the seriousness of my decision. He patted my hand and winked. “Violet, Rose is a grown woman and is capable of makin’ up her own mind. If she wants to go home, then I’ll take her home. When do you want to go?”
I smiled a thank-you. “Right after breakfast, if it’s not too much trouble.”
“No trouble at all.”
“Rose! You can’t go right after breakfast! We have to go to the funeral home at three o’clock.”
“Then I’ll meet you there.”
Violet fumed all through breakfast. When we finished, I put on my clothes from the previous day, not bothering to take a shower. No sense getting clean, just to put my stinky clothes back on.
Mike waited in the living room. I stopped to kiss Ashley and Mikey good bye, but Violet was noticeably absent. But as we walked out to Mike’s truck, Violet ran out and pulled me into a hug so tight I suspected she was trying to graft me onto her own body, ensuring I could never get away again. I leaned back and smiled into her tear-filled eyes.
“I’m fine, Violet. I’ll be fine.”
“I just worry about you.”
“I know you do, and I love you so much for it.” My voice cracked and the floodgate of tears opened up. “But I have to do this. I know you don’t understand, but trust me, okay?”
Violet bit her quivering lip and tears rolled down her cheeks. She slowly nodded her head.
I kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks. I love you.”