I was glad Willie Frank brushed off my comment. He even laughed again, but I noticed a tinge of sadness in his tone. “Well, I’ll tell you. Me, and a heap of other men, are more interested in what a woman’s got from her mouth on down, and what she can do with it.”

I laughed, even though my face got so hot I had to fan it. “Willie Frank, you stop that! We’ll chat some more later.” I moved away before he could say anything else.

Yvonne was standing alone by the wall, sipping from a large jar. Her face lit up when she saw me, so I started walking in her direction.

When I stopped in front of her, she waved the jar in my face. “Hi, Joyce. I’m glad you made it. This is the third and last drink I’m having tonight. I need to keep my wits about me,” she slurred.

“Hi, Yvonne. You sober enough for us to talk?”

“Hell yeah! What about?”

I looked around to make sure nobody was close enough to hear what I was about to say. “Um . . . you can let Milton know I brought the money,” I whispered.

Her lips formed a smile that was so extreme, she looked like a clown. “You brung the whole hundred?”

“Yup, I did. Don’t talk so loud. I don’t want folks to know my business.”

“Okay. I’m so pleased you came through for us,” she said in a low tone with a wistful look on her face. “You and Odell been so good to us. I just wish that we was half as sophisticated and classy as y’all. That way we could relate to one another better and our relationship might be even closer than it is now.”

I rarely saw Yvonne’s sensitive side. When I did, I wished that Odell and I had not started feeling resentment toward them so soon in our relationship. I hoped that in the future we’d move past our petty differences and be more tolerant and actually become real friends. “I appreciate hearing that. I feel the same way,” I replied, hoping she’d change the subject before one, or both of us, became too emotional.

Yvonne gave me a curious look and then she whispered, “By the way, did you ever try that headstand trick I told you about that could help you get pregnant?”

“Pffft! Girl, please.” I giggled and gave her a dismissive wave. “I tried it one time and almost fell over and broke my neck. With my gangly long legs and arms, I am not graceful enough to stand on my head for one minute, let alone ten.”

“I know what you mean. I don’t know what made me suggest something like that to a woman your size in the first place.”