“No, I don’t need no help.” I waved him away. “You . . . you get your spittoon and go on home. I can take care of this. Besides, we too busy for you to miss work because of your bad back.”

Buddy looked relieved. “That’s for sure. Lord knows I can’t afford to take off time with no pay. Anyway, I’ve had to torch my yard a few times to get rid of them weevils and other creatures. I can go to your daddy’s house with you to help. If we both use sprinkling cans, we could get the job done in half the time it would take you to do it by yourself. I ain’t seen Lonnie in a while, and it’d be nice to see him.”

“Buddy, don’t worry about it. You know how crazy my stepmama is. I don’t want to show up with company she ain’t expecting.”

“You got a good point. Lord knows I ain’t in the mood to lock horns with that she-devil.” Buddy grinned. “I’ll see you in the morning. Now you be careful with that stuff. Once you strike a match, it’ll burn fast.”

“I know.”

When Buddy left, I took the box to my car anyway. I couldn’t burn down Milton and Yvonne’s house now. Then something else jumped into my mind. A burned-down house next door to mine would be a real eyesore on our deluxe street. Dagnabbit. I had to come up with another plan.

CHAPTER 27 - YVONNE

CHAPTER 27

YVONNE

A LOT OF OUR REGULARS VISITED US ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY night. I was surprised Joyce and Odell didn’t come. Several folks asked about them. “You reckon Odell done got even sicker? He sure is having a lot of problems with his health these days. He was sick the night y’all got arrested,” Aunt Mattie said Tuesday night, giving me a curious look. Me, her, Sweet Sue, and Milton stood across the room facing the couch where Dr. Patterson, two unmarried young nurses who worked at the colored clinic, and Mr. Cunningham sat jabbering away. I didn’t know where Willie Frank was in the house, but I could hear him guffawing like a hyena.

“Joyce ain’t been feeling too good lately neither,” Sweet Sue tossed in.

“Sounds like they could use one of my potions,” Aunt Mattie said, pursing her mouth in a self-satisfied smirk. “That’s what’s been keeping me and my gals fit as fiddles. One of our tricks brung me some fish heads the other day. With a pinch of one of my special spices, they make a stew that go right to the source of whatever ails a person. We can drink booze all night and don’t have no hangovers.”