“Me neither,” I agreed. He had raved so much about Sweet Sue’s bedroom talents, I recently had to check her out myself. He was right. But, to me, that still didn’t seem like enough to have a man like Willie Frank acting like a fool over her. Aunt Mattie blinked as I went on. “I appreciate you shutting down business tonight so you and all the girls could be here to help celebrate me and Yvonne’s release. I hope you have such a good time, you won’t mind missing out on all the good money y’all won’t make tonight.”

“Look-a-here, young man. Me being born a slave was bad. I still have nightmares about what I went through before Abe Lincoln set us free. But the slavery experience taught me some valuable life lessons. One is that good friends is way more important than ‘good’ money,” she said in the gentlest tone I’d ever heard her use. “I remember when you was a little bitty boy how often I had to chase you and your scalawag playmates out of my yard with a switch when y’all stole pecans off my trees and deviled my hound dogs. You turned your life around when you found Jesus while you was in prison. You must be one of the most righteous colored men I know. I’m pleased to call you and Yvonne my friends. There ain’t no other place I’d rather be tonight.”

My poontang tab with her was late again. If she said anything about it, I would remind her of what she just said. “I declare, you treat me more like a grandson than both my grandmamas done,” I said with my voice cracking. “Knowing you is a double blessing.”

Despite what I’d just said, I cringed when Aunt Mattie’s gnarled hand cupped mine and squeezed it. I cringed even more when I seen a big wart on her thumb. My mama had raised me to believe that warts was contagious. But I was more concerned about all the stories I’d heard about her using hoodoo hexes to get back at people when they offended her. She also claimed to have psychic powers and could see into the future. All that was far-fetched, but I wasn’t stupid enough to do or say nothing to find out firsthand if any of it was true. There was enough normal enemies causing us stress. We didn’t need to add no witch doctor. With that in mind, we bent over backwards to stay on her good side.