DURING THE RIDE TO TOWN, I STARTED THINKING ABOUT ALL THE recent setbacks me and Milton had gone through. On top of our arrest, a few other things had caused us some grief. One was the beating on Halloween night last week that Milton had got from some unknown devils. A few days after that, as I was walking down the street on my way to pay Odell another visit, I’d had a hostile encounter with Lester Fullbright, my ex. I’d left him because I had caught him pleasuring a woman who had called herself my best friend at the time. The same day I moved out of his house and into Milton’s, I’d also stole the money Lester had been saving for years. When he stormed Milton’s house and attacked me, Milton helped me whup his ass. Because I’d stole Lester’s money, he got evicted because he couldn’t pay his rent. He had to move in with his mama, so he’d threatened me that day I seen him on the street.

Another thorn in my side was the fact that we still had to be concerned about rival bootleggers causing us harm because we’d stole so many of their customers. Me and Milton and Willie Frank assumed that my ex, or one of them bootleggers, had made the call to Sheriff Potts. We didn’t have nothing to go on that would lead us to the right culprit. I was confident we’d soon find out who the back-stabbing bastard was. But right now, getting money was what I needed to concentrate on.

When I got to MacPherson’s, I parked directly across the street. I sat still for a couple of minutes and scanned up and down the street to make sure none of my enemies was close by. I didn’t want to get accosted by nobody who would slow me down and interfere with my plans. I didn’t see nobody, so I piled out of the truck and rushed into the store. I whizzed by Buddy and Sadie so fast, they didn’t have a chance to bother me with none of their silly gossip and nosy questions.

The door to Odell’s office was closed, and I didn’t bother to knock. I opened it and waltzed in like it was my office and wasn’t surprised to see him reared back in his chair behind his desk, sleeping like a baby. I coughed and cleared my throat to get his attention. He opened his eyes and sat straight up so fast, his chair almost tipped over. “Hello, Odell.” I shut the door and strolled up to the front of his desk.

He didn’t waste no time making me feel unwelcome. “Doggone it! I figured I’d be seeing you again soon!” he blasted.

“I figured the same thing,” I said with a sniff.