I knew as soon as she opened the door, Louise wasn’t about to let me off the hook. As I entered her home, it always struck me as odd how similar our houses were constructed on the inside. Now the decor was another matter. Being a social studies teacher, I loved history and especially loved exploring my family tree. Photos of family members as far back to 1890 graced my hallway along with school photos of my children.
Now Louise was the cat lady of Sugar Creek. I remember her having as many as a half dozen cats at one time. In the house. Now only two remained. There were no signs of the sleek grey cat, Sylvester but the old tabby, Chester, sat perched on a chair, keeping an eye on me. There were more than just the live cats. There was the cat wallpaper. The cat figurines. The cat wall hangings. The cat rug. And yes, Louise was sporting one of her probably hundred shirts with a feline imprinted on the front.
Louise shuffled into the living room. “We had a good time. Miss Kisha is so sweet.”
Kisha sat on the couch, her eyes glued to the television. When she saw me, she ran over. “Grandma. Did your bring Mama?”
Oh Lord, here we go.
Louise picked up Tyric from the carrier. “Yeah, Eugeena. Where is Leesa?”
This must be how a cornered cat felt except there was no way I could scratch my way out of this one. But I had no answers for either one of them. I still tried to get my head wrapped around the fact that my child dropped her kids off Saturday night and hasn’t been seen since. And the new grandbaby, well I just laid that burden down at Jesus’ feet. The child was here now and that story would have to come later.
“Let me get Tyric.” He really was a good baby. Leesa hadn’t given me much trouble during her baby years either. “With two little ones Leesa needed a bit of a break. I remember when Junior and Cedric were about their ages; I thought I would pull my hair out.” At least I prayed that’s what this situation was all about. She would show up rested and with a full explanation for her disappearance. Then, all would be back to normal.
Maybe not. There still was the problem of a dead neighbor whose funeral was only two days away.
“Louise, I did need to ask you something that’s been worrying me.”
“Sure, is it about Mary? I’m telling you I’m getting most of my sleep during the daytime. Can’t bear to close my eyes when the sun goes down.”
I didn’t think Louise liked to keep her eyes off much of anything at anytime of the day. “We need to discuss some strategies on how to get to know our neighbors.”
“You’re right about that. Most of the folks around here are young. I sure hated to see Clarissa passing a year ago and Johnny’s daughter moved him up to North Carolina with her. I heard she put him in a nursing home anyway.”
I shook my head. I still had years on me to enjoy my home, but I knew a day would come when I might be shipped off to a nursing home or to live with one of my kids. As much as I whined about loneliness, I wanted to keep my independence more. Staying healthy would be even more important. I looked down to find Tyric studying my face, while holding his finger in his mouth. I also needed to keep my energy level up so I could enjoy my grandkids.
“Louise, do you know anything about Carmen? Seeing she lives on the other side of you.” She clasped her hands together. “Pretty girl, but certainly a strange one.”
“How so?”
“She was one of the first to get robbed you know?”
“What? Carmen never said anything about her house being robbed?”
“She didn’t report it the police.”
“You are kidding, right? Please tell me how you know?”
“I went by her house one morning after I heard all this racket the night before. I wanted to check on her. Neighborly thing to do, right? Anyhow, she opened the door, but she didn’t invite me in. But from where I stood I could tell the place had been ransacked or either honey doesn’t clean her house very well. Plus she seemed really upset about her laptop being missing.”
“She told you someone stole it?”
“Well, no. She just said they took the laptop, but she was kind of talking to herself. She really was kind of out of it. Like she was in shock.”
Not really sure whether to believe Louise’s tale or not, “I just saw her at the hospital. Did you know she was a resident over there?”
“I figured she must have worked at the hospital. She comes in and out of her home all times of night and she wears scrubs.”
“How long has she been next door anyway?”
“She moved in a few months after Johnny’s folks moved him out. If I’m not mistaken I think she knew the family or they were familiar with her.”
“So, she’s from North Carolina. A relative?”
By this time Kisha was pulling on my skirt. “Grandma, I’m hungry.”
“Hold just a minute, honey. We will be home soon.” I hoped to hear back from Cedric soon. Seeing Carmen’s reaction about him earlier, I might can get some more out of him. “Have you noticed if anyone has been in and out of her house?”
“You sure have a lot of questions about this woman all of a sudden.”
“Well, we did just have a murder here at Sugar Creek. We need to find out more about the people around us. Don’t you think?
Louise rubbed her hands through her thinning silver hair. “That’s the truth. You know that I hate to stick my nose where he doesn’t belong, but she does get male company at night.”
Oh oh. I steeled myself by bowing my head down. Cedric was quite the ladies man, but surely he wouldn’t be down the street with a young neighbor so close to his own mama’s house.
“Wayne. He’s been over there quite a bit.”
I whipped my head back up, almost putting a cramp in my neck. “Wayne Goodman from across the street? Carmen and Wayne?”
“Yep. I seen him show up at her house late in the evening. A few times.”
“They’re seeing each other? I would think they weren’t each other’s type.” I thought back to the neighborhood meeting a few weeks back. When they were at my house I remember they sat on opposite sides of the living room. Seemed pretty indifferent to me. Almost like they couldn’t care less to be in the same room with each other. Was that a ploy to hide something? “What’s the story on Wayne anyway?”
“He served time, but for what I don’t know. You remember Clarissa was really hush-hush about the whole situation. Her broken heart probably took her to an early grave.”
“I can maybe ask Amos to check it out. He mentioned we need to be aware of folks around here with police records.”
“That sounds like a plan. Eugeena, you know you sounding like a detective over there. If I didn’t know any better, I would think you are trying to figure this out yourself? And what’s going on with you and Amos?”
“Nothing.”
Louise smiled. “I think you two make a great couple.”
“What? Please woman,” I stuttered. The last thing I needed was Louise trying to play matchmaker. There were more things on my plate to worry about than my love life.
I gathered the children and headed towards the door. Another question struck me. “Have you heard anyone saying they saw somebody around Mary’s house on Friday night?”
“No, but I imagine they are not going to get anywhere without a witness.”
I needed to find this witness. Hopefully, Amos would have some luck picking Detective Wilkes for information. “Kisha, give Ms. Louise a hug. Thanks for watching them, Louise.” Kisha skipped down the sidewalk. “Grandma, can I play with Porky?”
“Who? Oh you mean Porgy. Of course, sugar. I’m sure after being lonesome, he will love to play.”
“Can we play in the yard?”
“It’s too hot right now. Hurry up so we can get inside.”
What in the world? Did I hear my name?
I turned around. Tamara waved from across the street. I waved back.
Is she coming over? Oh, yes she is.
“Hi, Miss Eugeena. You out walking with the grandkids today?”
“Actually, we’re trying to get out of this hot sun.” I peered into Tamara’s face. Her eyes were red. “Are you okay, honey?”
“I’m fine. Just missing Melvin. I tried to call him and I guess he’s still in a meeting.”
Against my better judgment, I felt sorry for the woman. I knew too well about a man being too busy with his work to come home or remember his family. Really, if that man planned to stay married, he needed to pay more attention to his wife. “Why don’t you join us? I’m going to get dinner started.”
“I can barely cook rice. Maybe I can learn some tips from you.” Tamara grinned big and wide. She had straight white teeth.
“Sure, come on inside. Now a Paula Deen I am not, but I can show you some basics.” Back before the doctor made me change my cooking habits, I might have given ole Paula from the Food Network Channel some competition with my fried chicken.
“May I hold your grandson?” The girl held out her arms, looking woefully at Tyric. “I can’t wait to have a baby one day.”
Lord, if you expected me to mentor this young wife and I can’t keep up with my own daughter, certainly I wasn’t the one with godly advice to give. One thing I knew for sure, children added a whole other level to a relationship. “Girl, don’t rush yourself. Let God time the entrance of children into your life. Now let’s go inside. This child needs to be changed.”
Porgy barked and yipped so when I came through the door with the children, I thought he would have a stroke. I put him upstairs with the children. Tamara didn’t know she was going to be put to work when I came back into the kitchen. I pulled out pots and would have made Rachel Ray proud with the way I chopped and stirred all the while grilling my kitchen guest.
“Tell me how long have you been married, Tamara?”
“One year yesterday.”
“Really? Well, what did you do to celebrate?”
Tamara wouldn’t look at me. I had her chopping onions, but I wasn’t so sure if the tear that rolled down her face was from the onions or something else. She finally answered, “Melvin had to be out of town so we will celebrate this weekend.”
Well, that explained the source of Tamara’s tears earlier. This was not the way to start off a marriage. “I’m sure Melvin will have something extra special planned.”
“I don’t know. We’ve been fighting so much lately. He’s pretty upset with me.”
“It will blow over. Just give him time. Sometime a man’s pride stops him from seeing straight.”
Tamara walked over to the stove and raked the onions into the skillet. When she turned around, her face was so distraught. I would have hugged her but my hands were covered with flour. “Chile, sit down and rest yourself. Being married is hard work, but don’t give up. With thirty-five years of marriage under my belt, I can tell you I had to learn to pray and trust God.”
“I’m not really on good terms with God, Miss Eugeena. Probably now more than ever. I went to your church Sunday because … things just keep going from bad to worse. I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, attending church is a start. As long as you are seeking God that’s what matters. You don’t ever want to just go through life not trying to connect to the Lord at all. He’s always trying to reach us. The communication usually stops because we don’t respond.”
“So, you believe God really does forgive you for anything?”
“It says it in his Word. I’m no bible expert, but I believe what the Scriptures say.” I knew this was one of those moments that came along where you’re supposed to witness. I went over to the sink to rinse my hands. I grabbed the kitchen towel and walked up beside Tamara, “Would you like a relationship with God?”
“I … I have some things that need to be fixed.”
“Oh no, chile. You come to Jesus just as you are. Let him fix it.”
“Thank you, Miss Eugeena. I will think about it some more.”
“Eugeena. You can call me Eugeena.” I patted her on the arm. “I will be here if you need to talk some more. Why don’t you grab the lettuce out the fridge over there? You can chop some up in that big bowl.”
I wasn’t sure if my talk helped any. You can’t make anyone accept Jesus. My youngest son and daughter, despite all the Sunday school, were still on the fence. I planted the seed and that’s all that God required. It still hurt my heart to know people, especially loved ones, didn’t truly know the Lord.
Lord, where was Leesa’s heart with you? My child, my child.