Helena was sitting on Ryder’s lap in the chair by the door. She wore his Stetson tilted way back on her head. In her blouse and jeans, she looked about twenty years old. Then Leo saw another woman. She had straight black hair and sat at the other end of the table. She smiled up at him with her lips pressed together and he could see she had a little bit of an overbite. Helena hopped off Ryder’s skinny legs, grabbed Leo’s hand, and led him to the woman. “Leo Suther, I would like you to meet Mary Anne Walker. She’s a superb seamstress. Mary Anne, this is Jim’s son Leo, and you should hear him play that harmonica.”

“Young Buddy’s a bluesman.” Ryder was at the fridge pulling out beaded cans of Pabst. Leo shook the woman’s small hand and told her it was good to meet her. Her lipstick was pink with some white in it and she’d painted both her top and bottom eyelashes very black.

“Here you go, man.” Ryder handed Leo a cold can of beer.

“I was just going out.”

“By God, you’d better have one with me before you go.”

Leo leaned back against the sink and drank from his beer while Ryder filled in Mary Anne on the fact that Young Buddy here’s joined up so he can go to Europe on Uncle Sam.

“But gosh, skinny,” Helena said. “What about that darn war?”

Lightning Hopkins started singing off the record player in the parlor and Jim walked in. Leo noticed he’d changed back into his dress pants, and he wore a dark blue short-sleeved shirt. The colors didn’t quite go together and it reminded Leo of the Woodies’ black and blue wrestling uniforms. Ryder handed Jim a Pabst.

“Well, fellas,” Helena said. “To a great success.”

“Damn straight.”

Everybody drank, including Mary Anne, who sipped from her beer real slow, careful not to smudge any of that baby pink lipstick. Leo glanced at his father, who was looking down at the floor as if something very important was just said or was about to be. Leo rested his half empty can in the sink. “I won’t be long.”

“Better not,” Ryder said. “’Cause I’m not leaving till I get a good-bye kiss.”

Helena slapped Ryder with his hat and said he got enough kisses as it was. On his way out, Leo glanced at Mary Anne. She was smiling at Jim, still not showing any teeth.