“After he paid me my hush money for this week, I just suggested that I would like to have them three hundred dollars no later than Wednesday next week. He made a big stink about it, so I ain’t counting on it.”

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean?”

“Milton, the way you was looking a second ago, I thought you was going to tell me something bad.” I was so relieved; a wide smile crossed my face. “Well, it would be nice to get the money early. But we don’t have to pay Willie Frank’s uncle back until the end of the month, which would be next Thursday,” I reminded him.

“If we get it a day before it’s due, we’ll be able to breathe easy and sleep good the night before. What if something was to happen to Odell before Thursday, and he can’t give it all to us in time? He could have a car wreck and be laid up in a coma for weeks. Then we’d have a mess on our hands.”

“I hadn’t thought about nothing like that. And since you brung it up, we need to be real concerned.” I was tempted to tell Milton that Odell could get laid up tomorrow, too. I didn’t because I didn’t want to make the situation no more worrisome than it already was. I decided to soothe him. That always made him feel good. I sniffed and brushed off the sleeve of his plaid shirt and smoothed back his greasy hair. “Honey, you look so good right now. I’m glad you decided to wear your new suspenders tonight. I bet every man here is jealous of you for being so sporty. Wear one of your pin-striped suits when we go to the Patterson’s house for Thanksgiving supper tomorrow. They make you look so . . . um . . . dapper. Almost as much as—”

Milton didn’t waste no time cutting me off. His eyebrows furrowed and his lips quivered. “Don’t you dare mention Odell’s name! I thought we had got beyond you comparing me to Prince Charming!”

I wanted to bite my tongue off. The reason Milton had lost his cool and told me about Odell and Betty Jean in the first place a few weeks ago, was because he’d got sick and tired of me telling him he should be more like Odell.

I smiled and caressed the side of his face. That calmed him down a little. “Baby, I’m sorry. Now that I know what a fraud he is, I won’t never compare you to him again.”

“You told me that before.”

“I’m telling you again.”

“Good. I’d rather you liken me to a mudpuppy.”