“ ‘No, I wouldn’t do it in writing, Miss Queen,’ said Grady. ‘I wouldn’t put anything in writing at all. There’s five little ones out there now, no, six as of this morning, and the latest boyfriend is a piece of trash, pure trailer trash, I should say, and in fact they do live in a trailer, the whole gang, and such a trailer you wouldn’t believe, and there are the proverbial rusting cars up on blocks in the yard, it’s just a classical situation out there, a regular motion picture set—.’

“ ‘Cut to the chase, my man,’ said Aunt Queen.

“ ‘But there is that little boy whose father was rich, and he’s growing up out there and Terry Sue is doing the best she can, and this new baby, this new baby makes six, I figure. I’ll take the envelopes of cash for you, that much I can do, but don’t put anything in writing.’

“Of course Aunt Queen and I both understood this. But we were eager and curious about this little boy, still unbelieving though I was emotionally. A little brother, no, a little uncle, named Tommy and with Blackwood genes in him, and maybe a resemblance to the many portraits all over the household.

“It being agreed that we were finished, Aunt Queen had risen and so had Jasmine, who had remained subdued throughout, and I was still sitting there, deeply preoccupied.

“ ‘Does the little boy know?’ I asked.

“ ‘I’m not sure,’ said Grady. He looked to Aunt Queen. ‘You and I can discuss this further.’

“ ‘Oh, indeed, we should; we’re talking about a family of six children living in one trailer. Good Lord, and she’s so beautiful. The least I could do would be to purchase the good woman a decent house, if it wouldn’t offend the pride of anyone squeezed into the trailer.’

“ ‘How come I never heard of her?’ I asked. And to my bewilderment, they all went into peals of laughter.

“ ‘Then we’d have double trouble, wouldn’t we?’ said Jasmine. ‘Men just fall over flat at the feet of Terry Sue.’

“ ‘Well something stands up straight in those circumstances,’ said Aunt Queen.

“ ‘There’s one last thing I should say,’ said Grady, flushed with merriment, ‘and I am taking a bit of responsibility here.’

“ ‘Out with it, man,’ said Aunt Queen gently. She didn’t much care for standing in her spike heels and sat down again.

“ ‘The man that’s living with Terry Sue now,’ said Grady. ‘Sometimes he takes out his gun and waves it at the children.’

“We were aghast.

“ ‘And he did fling little Tommy up against the gas heater and burn his hand pretty badly.’

“ ‘And you mean to tell me,’ said Aunt Queen, ‘that Pops knew of this sort of thing and did nothing about it?’