“I can’t believe that motherfucker stabbed me,” I mouthed, covering the hole in my chest with my trembling hand. I was losing blood and in indescribable pain, but I needed to try and find my money. I had no idea where else to look. Besides that, I was so weak, I couldn’t climb the steps up to their attic and see if that was where they had stashed it. I couldn’t stay around too much longer, in case one of the neighbors had heard the commotion and called the law. And I was getting too woozy to stay focused. I had no choice but to leave.

Somehow, I made it back to my car where I had parked a couple of blocks away. By then, my head was swimming and my vision was blurry. The pain was even worse, and I was bleeding too much to try and make it back to Hartville.

I drove to my street with the driver door open, parked in front of my house, and literally fell out of my car. I got up and staggered to my front door and fell against it, too disoriented to root around in my pocket for my key. But when I turned the knob, the door opened. For the first time, I was glad Joyce had a habit of forgetting to lock up when she went to bed.

Our Christmas tree lights was off, so it was pitch-black in the living room. When I stumbled over the threshold, Joyce clicked on one of the end-table lamps. She’d been sitting on the couch in the dark. “Joyce, thank God you here. Somebody just tried to rob me. Call for help.” I was as frantic as I’d ever been in my life and she just sat there blinking so nonchalantly, I thought I was hallucinating. I was getting delirious. My legs suddenly went numb and I hit the floor. “Please . . . please . . . help me.”

Joyce finally stood up. The way she was walking toward me, you would have thought she was taking a casual stroll in the park. “Odell, who did this to you?” I couldn’t believe how blasé she sounded. Was this woman crazy, or just plain mean? With her husband dying right before her eyes, she was acting like she was discussing what to cook for supper.

“I don’t know. Some thug. He tried to take my wallet. He got away before I seen his face,” I rasped. My voice was getting weaker by the second. “He . . . he stabbed me.” While I gasped for air, she stood over me with her arms folded. “Woman, what’s the matter with you? Can’t you see I’m bleeding to death?”

“Yup,” she replied in a low tone. Then she cleared her throat. “Odell, Yvonne and Milton brought me over to Hartville not long after you left to go visit your daddy.” Joyce looked and sounded as cold as a block of ice.