“Okay, baby. Anyway, I’ll go over there by myself tonight. I’m sure they’ll understand why you couldn’t come.”

“Good. Now let me get off this phone and get back to work. I’d like to get up out of here on time.”

“I got one more thing before you hang up.”

I moaned under my breath and rolled my eyes. “What else?”

“I know tornado season is over, but I heard some thunder a little while ago. Judging from those dark clouds, it’ll probably rain this evening and all the roads will be slippery with mud puddles all over the place. You be careful driving on that windy dirt road to your daddy’s house.”

“Joyce, I been driving on bad roads in the rain for years and I ain’t never had no accident. You worry way too much about me and you need to stop that,” I scolded. “Now you have a blessed evening.”

After I hung up, my head started aching and my chest was so tight it felt like I had on a corset. Getting visited by Yvonne and Milton in the same day had me so rattled, I had a hard time concentrating on anything else. When my egg and milk vendor came around three p.m., I didn’t even check to make sure he’d brung everything I’d ordered. I signed the invoice and shooed him out the door so fast, he looked at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was and just didn’t know it. Right after he left, I got a call from one of my meat suppliers. When he told me he would be three days late delivering next week’s orders because of a clerical mix-up, I didn’t even fret. I knew I’d catch the heat from some of my regular customers who always expected to get everything they’d ordered on time. But I didn’t care. I was facing a much bigger dilemma with Yvonne and Milton.

The rest of the afternoon, I only left my office to duck out the back door to get some fresh air and use the toilet. I didn’t go back out on the main floor until a few minutes before closing time. Sadie had already put on her coat, collected her purse from under her counter, and was about to walk out the door. “Odell, you all right?” she wanted to know. “We ain’t seen you since Yvonne left, and now you look upset.”

“I guess you still feeling emotional about them getting arrested, huh?” Buddy asked as he pulled a black-and-red knitted cap over his head.

“Yeah, th-that’s it,” I blubbered. “I got so shook up when they got arrested, I didn’t know what to do. Now that they out of jail, seeing them threw my emotions off-kilter.”