“I’m used to being by myself.” We dropped down on opposite ends of the couch. “You want some coffee?”

“Uh-uh. I already had two cups.” Yvonne paused and scratched the side of her head. “Thank you again for that money you gave us last night.”

“You’re welcome. Um . . . you’re out and about mighty early today. You could have waited until later to check up on me.”

“I know. But I was at such loose ends, sitting around the house twiddling my thumbs. You know me, I always like to be doing something. I seen you go out and empty the trash a few minutes ago, and I decided to come over and check on you. And to see if I could borrow some nutmeg. I want to make candied yams for the Thanksgiving supper at Dr. Patterson’s house.”

“I don’t have any right now. I’m making yams, too, so I’ll tell Odell to bring some from the store on Monday.”

“You think he’d mind bringing enough for me?”

I waved my hand and chuckled. “Girl, please. You know Odell would be happy to bring enough for you. He’s so considerate and thoughtful.” I didn’t know if anybody noticed how often I praised my husband. But I couldn’t help myself. He was one of a kind. “He’d give anybody his last dollar if they needed it. And he’s got a few other qualities that set him apart from every other man I know. I feel sorry for women who are stuck with dull, weak, cheesy men. By the way, where is Milton?”

“At the house. Unless him and Willie Frank is going fishing, he don’t like to go out too early in the day on a weekend. He says when he do, bad luck always seem to come his way.”

“Oh? It seems like bad luck finds him any day, any time. I’m sure he’s still trying to get over that beating he got last month.”

“Pffft. He done almost got over that,” Yvonne chirped.

“I guess it was nothing compared to y’all getting arrested and roughed up this month, huh?”

“That’s for sure.” She exhaled and stood up. “I guess I’ll be getting back to the house. We still have a little cleaning up to do. You wouldn’t believe all the ashes and crumbs folks dropped on my floor last night. Our place is a pigsty.”