By ten thirty, I tried checking in with both Cedric and Carmen, but neither was answering their cell phones. It occurred to me that I hadn’t heard a word from Amos since our adventure yesterday at the hotel. As I thought about it, I felt my cheeks grow warm, which was silly. I felt even sillier peering out my living room window. Amos’s truck wasn’t in his driveway, not that I had any business keeping tabs on anyone.
Where was everyone today?
Time passed, and I grabbed some lunch. Though I didn’t really want to, I had to put my investigation on hold. There was no way I could miss my duties today.
I made sure to leave the house in time, but by the time I parked my car in the church parking lot, Willie Mae had already opened the church for the afterschool program. I entered the side door of the church that led to the classrooms and both twins stopped their conversation mid-sentence.
Why did I get the feeling they were talking about me?
It was times like this I wished some other folks had stepped forward to volunteer. I had a few who came by when they could, like Carmen, but the Brown sisters were my regular afterschool volunteers.
I slapped a smile on my face, knowing the questions were coming. So far, no nosy reporters had found out about Carmen finding the body. The news report focused on a popular financial expert who had lost his life in one of Charleston’s historic hotels. That should be news enough for the twins.
As I approached, Annie Mae watched me intently with her wandering eye. The only way I could tell the two identical twins apart was Annie Mae’s wandering eye, and Willie Mae had a rounder, softer face. Both women used to drive me crazy, but our friendship had grown a bit stronger. That was definitely a God thing.
“I want to thank you both for helping out yesterday.”
Annie Mae nodded. “We weren’t sure you were coming today.”
“It was a one-time thing, ladies. I do apologize. Were the kids on their best behavior yesterday?”
“Everyone did their homework,” Willie Mae said. “The only one who gave us some trouble was that Johnson boy. He’s really too big for fifth grade, you know? Looks like he should be in ninth grade.”
I corrected her. “He’s just a year behind. We have to be patient with him. He’s the one who lost his dad last year. Remember?”
Both women nodded, but I knew what they meant. Mike Johnson had tried my patience too, but I have had many “Mike Johnson’s” in my lifetime. You had to keep a firm hand, but also an open heart to the hurting child hiding behind a bad attitude.
“So are you okay with your family emergency?” Annie Mae asked. “I didn’t know if you needed me today, but I decided to volunteer again.”
“Yes, I think everything is okay now, but we could always use the extra hands.”
Willie Mae added, “If there is anything you want us to pray about, let us know. We’re all family, you know. Church family.”
“Thank you. My family could use all the prayers we can get.” I added, hoping this would satisfy the twins thirst for knowledge. “This wedding business has been hard work.”
Willie Mae clasped her hands together as though she cracked my secret. “So that’s what your emergency was about. I do remember you saying you and Carmen were going to pick out a wedding cake.”
I nodded. That was actually the day before yesterday, but I wasn’t going to correct Willie Mae. Besides, I did spend time yesterday making plans for the wedding reception among other things.
Annie Mae smiled too. “We received our invitation yesterday. It’s about time Cedric got married. We were getting worried about him.”
Worried about him. Why would they be worried about my son? That was my job.
I didn’t really have any more time for the twins poking their nose into my family business. The bus would arrive soon. I’m just glad the real reason I couldn’t make it yesterday hadn’t come up.
We all went to work setting up the tables for snack time. Each day when the children arrived, we provided a snack before they started on their homework. I wrote in the afterschool program grant that we would provide nutritious snacks. Occasionally, we strayed with hot dogs, hamburgers and even pizza, but those times were rare.
The sisters had already started on the chicken salad sandwiches. They often irked me, but those Brown twins could throw down on any kind of salad — chicken salad, tuna salad, potato salad, egg salad — those two were the go-to salad makers for most church events.
I grabbed an apron before taking the vegetable and fruit tray out the fridge. By the time I made sure each plate had a side of baby carrots, cucumber sticks, sliced apples and grapes, I heard the squeal of the school bus stopping outside.
Two minutes later, our twelve afterschool program participants came through the door. The patter of feet and excited voices brought back memories of the school day. I removed my plastic gloves and walked out to greet the children. I spoke to everyone, asking them about their day. The younger children answered with details while the older ones grunted responses. I asked the oldest member of the afterschool program, Shanice Abrams, an eighth grader, to say grace before everyone grabbed a plate. Once everyone was enjoying their snack, I moved towards Amani Gladstone.
The nine-year-old was a miniature version of her grandmother whom I’d visited yesterday. I noticed she’d been quiet today when she was usually bursting with details about her day.
“Hey, Amani, I saw your grandmother yesterday.”
The little girl wore her thick curly hair in two ponytails. She flipped one of them over her shoulder and smiled slightly. “Did you? I love to visit Grandma at the hotel. It’s a really cool place.”
“It sure is. We’re probably going to have the wedding reception there next month.”
She frowned. “What’s a wedding reception?”
“It’s a celebration for family and friends after a couple gets married.”
“Kind of like a party?”
“That’s right, and you’re invited. I know Ms. Carmen would love to have you there.”
Amani frowned and looked around. “Where is Ms. Carmen? She’s supposed to be here.”
I froze for a minute, not understanding. “Ms. Carmen does volunteer sometimes, but I’m not sure if I had her name down for today.”
Amani’s face fell. “Last week when she was here, she said I could interview her about her job. I want to be a doctor just like her when I grow up.”
“You do?” I had to grin at this child. Last week, she wanted to be a fashion designer. That was how children were, they changed their mind every week. “Being a doctor takes up a lot of time. I can check with her to be sure we get you on her schedule. Is something else bothering you?”
Amani shook her head.
“Are you sure? You seem really sad today, and I know it has to be more than not having Ms. Carmen here.”
“It’s nothing. I’m just having a bad week, Ms. Eugeena. Ms. Jones gave a pop quiz today and I don’t think I did very well.”
“Oh honey, I know about having a bad week.” I grabbed Amani’s hand. “You’re so smart, I bet you did better on that test than you think. Now finish your snack and we will see what you have for homework.”
I felt pretty good after talking to Amani. It would have been nice to have the bad week of a nine-year-old. Life was so much simpler. The room quieted down as many of the children finished their snack and spread out into the fellowship hall or one of the classrooms to start their homework. Willie Mae and Annie Mae stayed around to clean up and keep an eye on the children who remained in the fellowship hall.
I walked back towards the classroom used for elementary Sunday School. Two students were already seated at the table. Behind me, Amani and another fellow fourth grader entered the classroom. Once everyone settled at the table with homework, I pulled my phone out of my bag to check for messages. I’d left several messages before leaving the house, and my phone indicated I had three messages waiting to be heard. I hit voicemail to listen to the first message.
“Mom, it’s me, Cedric. Thanks for checking in. I’m fine. Just busy. I’ll be in touch.”
I noticed Cedric didn’t mention anything about Carmen in his message. That concerned me.
I’d left her a message too, but neither of the next two messages were from her.
I had missed a call from Rosemary. “Hello, Eugeena. I have good news. The Whittington room is available for October twenty-second. Stop by the office to fill out the paperwork and place your deposit. I look forward to working with you all on the wedding reception.”
That was good news!
The last voicemail was from Amos. He’d left a message about twenty minutes ago.
“Eugeena, it’s Amos. Hey, I found out from my contacts that Detective Wilkes has search warrants ready for Cedric and Carmen’s house. Also, I’m not sure if Carmen called you, but apparently, they picked her up from her office and took her to the police station. Eugeena, make sure that girl has a lawyer, okay? Talk to you later.”
“Ms. Eugeena, are you okay?”
I turned towards the small voice in the classroom. It took me a few seconds to register that all four students were watching me closely. “Yes.”
Amani’s eyes were big. “You look like something scared you, Ms. Eugeena.”
That little girl didn’t know the half of it.
Did Carmen get arrested?