Half a hour later, I walked back into the living room with a towel wrapped around my head. Milton was hanging halfway off the couch. “I feel so much better,” I said. I plopped down next to him and he leaned in to hug me. I flinched and scooted a few inches away.

“I’m sorry. I know that what them deputies done to you is still fresh on your mind.”

I held up my hand and wagged a finger in his face. I was ready to put that incident behind me and stop talking about it. “Milton, I done almost forgot what it felt like.” I was as mad as I could be about them deputies raping me, but I wasn’t going to harp on it. I didn’t want Milton to be no more upset than he already was.

“Oh. Well, the way you just reacted when I touched you—”

I cut him off right away. “That ain’t the reason I flinched. I done that because I’m scared and I’m going to be scared until we collect them three hundred dollars to give back to Willie Frank’s uncle.” He hugged me again. This time I didn’t flinch. “Milton, I want you to know right now that what happened to me in that jail cell could have been a lot worse. Let’s be glad it wasn’t. So, we don’t never need to conversate about that no more.”

“Oh?”

“I just want you to know that that episode won’t have no effect on our lovemaking. Okay now. Let’s talk about something else.” I puffed up my cheeks and blew out some of the stale air I’d been toting around way too long. I’d rinsed out my mouth with salt and hot water a little while ago, but it hadn’t done much good. The inside of my mouth still tasted like I’d been chewing on an old shoe. “If I can get up enough nerve when we go back to the grill tomorrow, I might ask Mr. Cunningham to loan us some money. But that’s only if he’s in a good mood.”

“And I’ll start feeling Dr. Patterson out the next time I see him. Aunt Mattie is too unpredictable, but I’ll approach her soon, too.”

“That’s good. While I was soaking in the tub, another idea came to me.” I gave Milton a thoughtful look, and then a wide smile. He smiled, too. “What about Odell and Joyce Watson next door? They get free food, clothes, and all kinds of other things from her folks’ store. All they got to pay is rent and a few other bills, so I know they got money to burn.”

Milton groaned. “Humph. Tell me about it. That’s why they such happy so-and-sos,” he snarled with lips quivering.