I had lied to Yvonne so much, every now and then I let my guard down and almost got myself in a pickle. Being that I was such a pro, I always managed to catch myself in time. “Oh that. Well, sugar, she was busy and I didn’t get a chance to ask her.”

Yvonne didn’t look so distressed now and her voice got gentle. “All right then. I guess you’ll have to go back when she ain’t busy.” She cleared her throat and rubbed the back of her head, like she was trying to figure out the right words to say next. “Look-a-here, I wasn’t going to tell you, but I don’t like lying to you. Um . . . when I take my lunch break, I’m going to drive Mr. Cunningham’s truck into town to pay Odell a visit. I’m going to ask him for a few dollars to tide us over until our finances is in better shape.”

I reared my head back and gave Yvonne a serious look. “Oh? Well, that can be took care of when we get home from work. You ain’t got to make no special trip to town for that.”

“Him and Joyce don’t even know we out of jail yet.”

I folded my arms and glared at her. “Humph. With all the long tongues we know, I’m sure somebody will tell them soon, if they ain’t done so already. If not, we’ll visit Prince Charming and Queen of Sheba on Sunday when Odell gets back home from visiting Betty Jean and let them know ourselves. But I don’t think we should take a chance on asking him for money in their house where Joyce might hear us. Her ears is almost as big as her head. She and Odell ain’t a team like me and you. There ain’t no telling how she’d react if she knew from the get-go what we need. When Odell gets comfortable with the idea, he can tell her. Shoot.”

“Milton, Odell got Joyce in the palm of his hand. Whatever he agrees to, she’d probably go along with it. She might not be such a pig in a poke after all.”

“I don’t care. This is too serious. We can’t take a chance on getting Joyce involved too soon. She could hurl a monkey wrench into our plans, and we could end up with nothing. Now you be patient.” I sighed and picked up the dishrag and started wiping the counter again.

“Put that rag down and talk to me,” Yvonne ordered, stamping her foot.