“Well, your uncle ain’t got to worry. I can count on Odell. Our friendship is too important for him to let me down. If he can’t give me the money out of his own pocket, he’ll get it from somebody else. I prayed about it last night. I feel so much better today. Especially now that I done talked to Odell.”

“See there, I told you to turn it over to God.” Willie Frank started up his motor and the truck shot off down the street. I snorted and looked at the side of his face, which had two different shades of lipstick on his cheek. “By the way, you look like you got right frisky this time,” I teased. “If your grin got any wider, the top half of your head would fall off.”

We guffawed like hyenas. Willie Frank had to cough to catch his breath. “Yup. I got right frisky this time. My regular sweetie, Sweet Sue, had back-to-back tricks, so I had to pester that midget gal, Tiny.”

We had just reached the dirt road that led to the grill. “I just hope and pray that nary one of them heifers get drunk or mad enough to put a bug in Yvonne’s ear about my visits.”

“Pffft. I wouldn’t fret about that. Yvonne is like most other women I know; if they really love you, they’ll believe anything you tell them.”

“Well, that’s the best kind of woman. But . . .”

“But what?”

“I just hope Yvonne ain’t fooling around with other men behind my back. It would break my heart.”

“Why would she? If you treat a woman good, she ain’t got no reason to fool around. And that’s a fact. I’ll give you a good example. You know yourself Odell treats Joyce like gold. I seen a few of your men guests looking at her long legs with a hungry eye. I bet she wouldn’t give them the time of day. As long as Odell is true to her, she’ll be true to him. You remember my words the next time you even think about Yvonne getting it on with another man. Hear me?”

“I hear you.”

* * *

Yvonne was busy finishing up with one of our regular customers when I got back to work. About two minutes later, she came up to me in the kitchen while I was wiping off the counter with a dishrag. I was glad I was by myself so we could talk in private. “What did Aunt Mattie say, Milton?”

I gave her a puzzled look and shrugged. “Huh? About what?” I laid the dishrag on the counter so I could give her all my attention.

Her eyebrows lifted up and her jaws started twitching. That made me jittery. “You done already forgot why you went to see her? I want to know what she said about the loan you went to ask her about!” she boomed.