CHAPTER 24 - MILTON

CHAPTER 24

MILTON

I WAS GLAD I HAD COME CLEAN AND TOLD YVONNE I’D BEEN BLACKMAILING Odell, but I didn’t see no reason to keep coming clean. It was too late in the game for me to do something that extreme—and stupid. I thought I’d bust a gasket a few minutes ago when she brung up the subject of us asking Odell for a extra three hundred, and I’d let “four hundred dollars” slip out. I’d played it off real good. The last thing I wanted her to know was that I was up to no good. That wasn’t likely to happen no time soon, though. My woman trusted me and believed everything I told her. She was almost as easy to manipulate as Odell.

The way things was going with him, and since he was going to be out of the picture soon, I didn’t see no reason not to get additional money from him. Before Yvonne brung it up, I had already decided that I really was going to put the bite on him for another five hundred. With the extra one hundred I was already going to get from him on top of the first three hundred we had coming, two hundred more on top of the other three she suggested would suit me just fine.

After Yvonne left the kitchen, I put the chicken feet in a vinegar marinade and set the pan in the ice box. I was relaxing on the living-room couch with a stiff drink when somebody stomped up on the porch. I got up right away and opened the door, surprised to see Joyce. It had been a hour and a half since Yvonne had left Joyce’s house. “Come on in. We was just talking about you.”

“Something good, I hope.” She grinned. “Is Yvonne here? I went over to see my mama after she left my house and Mama had some nutmeg. I borrowed some for Yvonne to use.” I gave Joyce a confused look. “She told me she wanted to make some candied yams to take to Dr. Patterson’s house when y’all go over there for Thanksgiving,” she explained.

“Oh. That’s right. Hold on, I’ll go get her. Have a seat.”

Joyce handed me a little glass container with a lid on it. “I couldn’t take the whole can so I put some in this jar. I hope it’s enough,” she said, dropping down onto the couch. “I hope Yvonne keeps improving her cooking skills. I’m going to put together some recipes for her.”