Peanut was right about Katie’s collard greens. There was some kind of magic to them that the girl kept secret. It was something her mama taught her that would hopefully get passed on to one of her sons.

“I’d rather not impose.”

“Hell, you won’t be imposing,” Peanut said. “Katie’d love to have you over again. She hated the circumstances that brought you over last week. It would make her feel better.”

I wasn’t going over there for supper, and Peanut knew it. It was just a game he played with me, and I went along. “I’ll think about it.”

“Do that,” he said. “We’d love to have you.”

Peanut leaned back in the chair, and it almost scrubbed the wall behind him. He spat a brown streak into his cup. “Talk to your mama any?”

I sat up in my chair, and my body went rigid. I didn’t mean for Peanut to see that he’d gotten to me, but this wasn’t a game I’d play. He leaned forward too quickly, and the springs whined. “Now calm down there, Mack. I ain’t trying to make some kinda threat against Rhonda. That’s a good woman, and I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head. She got worried sick the other morning when she woke up, and you wasn’t at the house. I let her know you had your own business to take care of and was all right. Thank God, you didn’t make me into a liar.”

“I talked to her yesterday,” I said. “Wanted to make sure she got back home.”

“Good.” Peanut spit in his cup. “Buford sure does miss her. He loved mama, but he was always jealous of your deddy for landing Rhonda.”

“Peanut, I ain’t gone talk about my mama that way, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t either.”

He nodded at that, and then his tone grew more serious. “Your brother’s madder than hell at you. He’s talking like he don’t wanna have nothing to do with you no more. I’ve tried to get that outta his head, but he don’t wanna hear it. He took it real personal that you went rogue like you did.”

I knew Peanut wanted me to play into the drama with Marshall, but he could stay mad at me. This wasn’t the first time he said he didn’t want to have nothing to do with me. It might be a few months before we ever spoke again, but we’d mend this bridge.

“What’ve you done with my brother?”

Peanut didn’t dance around the question like I thought he might. “I got him and Caudell working a job up in Memphis.”