“What other fifty?” Odell’s shoulders slumped and he gave me a stunned look. You would have thought that by now, he would be used to my behavior and demands. “I just told you all I could spare was fifty.”

“And I just told you I wanted a hundred. So, when can I get the rest of it?” It was fairly cold outside. The wind was blowing so hard, the window behind Odell’s desk was rattling. I was glad I had my winter coat on over my work smock. But even with the chill in the room, he was sweating bullets. “Odell, I wish you would stop fidgeting and sweating. You making me nervous.”

“Yvonne, if I make you so nervous, why do you keep coming here?”

I snickered. “To get money. Now, when can I get the rest of what you owe me? I was really counting on getting a hundred bucks today.”

“I don’t know. Milton wants the eight dollars I didn’t give him this week, and his regular payment come next Wednesday. And if he expects me to come up with four hundred dollars by the end of this month, I’ll have to pray for a miracle.”

Four hundred dollars. I wanted to say, “Don’t you mean three hundred dollars?” If that extra hundred bucks was important enough to Milton for him to lie to me about it, I’d let it go. He had so many other good qualities, me fretting over him being a liar was petty. “I’m going to pray that your miracle will include another fifty for me. But do you think you could give it to me sooner? I don’t want to wait until the end of the month.”

“I’ll do what I can. Now is there anything else we need to talk about?”

“Just one more thing. We’d like to get back up on our feet as soon as possible. Them two days we spent in jail really put a damper on our bootlegging business. On top of that, some of our regulars might be skittish and not come back for a while, if they come back at all. If they hear you and Joyce is back in the mix, that’ll ease their concerns.”

“I’m sure Joyce will be glad to hear y’all got out of jail, and she’ll want to come over. Maybe even this evening.” His tone had got soft and he didn’t look so mean now. “But, as you know, I’m usually away from home every week from Friday evening until Sunday . . .”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I know. Visiting your sick daddy,” I said with a smirk.

“I’ll make sure Joyce comes over tonight, though.”

“That’s nice. I can’t wait to see her. Now you have a blessed weekend.” I rushed back out the store faster than I had rushed in.