“Yeah.” I didn’t want to call attention to them shadows if I didn’t have to. Milton was superstitious enough. “It’s been two days.”

“Two days since what?”

“Since you told Odell how much money we need.”

“So what? We still got more than two-and-a-half weeks left to pay Lamar.”

“I know, but maybe we shouldn’t cut it too close. What if we wait until two or three days before the month ends, and find out Odell couldn’t come up with the full amount? You know that white man ain’t going to let us off with a partial payment. We need to have three hundred dollars in our hands by the deadline he gave us.”

“What about the money Joyce said they’d give us?” Milton asked with a yawn.

“Odell could change his mind about that. Or what if he will only let us have ten or twenty dollars? And even if they give us a hundred-dollar gift, how do we know we’ll get it anytime soon? We can’t count that until it’s in our hands.”

“Look, baby. Odell said he’d give me what we owe Lamar in time! That’s all we need to be concerned about!” Milton hollered, clawing at his face.

“You right. I should know better. Calm down and leave them scabs alone before you bust open one.”

“They itch like mad when I get upset,” he griped.

“Itching ain’t going to kill you. If you get a infection, you’ll have to take off more time from work. Now back to Odell. I was just making a point, in case things with him don’t go as planned.”

“I’m sorry. I ain’t itching that bad. And I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you,” he mumbled. “Anyway, I don’t see no reason why Odell can’t get all that money for us.”

“I don’t neither. But something could come up that would make it umpossible for him to pay us. He ain’t no magician who could wave a magic wand and pull cash out of a hat.”

“Ain’t nothing ‘umpossible’ for Prince Charming. He don’t need no magic wand.” Milton let out a sharp laugh. “You think he would still be supporting that woman and them kids all this time if he had a problem getting money?”

“When he comes over here on Wednesday to give you your weekly payment, you should try and get a little extra.”

“I’m already getting ‘a little extra’ from him, Yvonne.”

“Oh?” For a moment, I thought Milton was going to confess that he’d put the bite on Odell for a extra hundred. I was wrong.

“I told him he got to pay me for missing last Wednesday’s payment because we was locked up. He is going to give me a double payment this coming week.”