I didn’t want to have this conversation outside in front of the church. “Unfortunately, Pastor Jones is visiting with homebound members. He may or may not swing by the office today. Why don’t we come inside out of the heat? You can tell me what happened and when you last saw Sondra.”
As I led Gladys inside, we walked past the fellowship hall where the children had gathered for a snack. Annie Mae looked up to see us walking by. I shook my head at her inquisitive look and led Gladys further down the hall to one of the adult Sunday School classrooms.
I had no idea why I remembered Sondra Howell during our walk. I pictured a younger version of her in my mind when she was in my class. It’s amazing how I could recall a student from my classroom from fourteen years ago out of the blue. Sondra was a smart girl. She also had a really smart mouth too. But she loved learning and talking about history. She was also one of those students who retained information easily without a lot of study. I remembered her doing well on her exams, scoring high grades.
Gladys sat down heavily in one of the chairs, while I closed the door behind us. I didn’t want prying ears and hoped the children kept the Brown sisters preoccupied. I pulled up a chair next to Gladys.
“How has Sondra been doing?”
Gladys seemed taken aback by my question. “What do you mean?”
“Was she doing okay the last time you saw her? Happy? Sad?”
Glady shrugged. “Sondra has some awful mood swings sometimes. Saturday night, she went out with some friends and seemed to be in a better mood than usual.”
“I see. I’m so sorry you are going through this; I want you to know I understand perfectly what you’re going through. My Leesa ran off and left her kids with me for a few days. After birthing her second child, she was totally overwhelmed at the time and needed a break. I had no idea where she was, worried me silly, but she returned a few days later.”
I sat back in the chair, “I remember Sondra being an excellent student, but it’s hard to keep up with children after they leave my classroom. I know she graduated from high school because the church presented her with a plaque during her graduation year.”
Gladys sighed. “I hate to say it, but it’s been hard to get her to come to church since she’s been an adult. She had her first child not too long after she graduated. Things were fine for a while, but she had trouble keeping a job. Then, she had another child. Since she had the second one, she’s been trying to be more stable. Now she works all the time. I hardly see her some days. Her and the children moved back in with me a few years ago.”
I nodded. Sondra sounded pretty similar to my Leesa in a lot more ways than I expected. “Did Sondra say where she was going?”
Gladys wrung her hands, “No. She had the day off on Saturday. Which was really unusual, she always worked weekends.” The woman swallowed, trying to catch her breath as she spilled out the story. “I thought she would spend the day with the kids, but she slept most of the day. I didn’t hear a peep from her until late in the day. When she does that, kind of hide in her room, I know she’s in a bad mood about something. The last thing I wanted to do was argue with her. I let her be and made sure the kids stayed out of her way. That night she walked out of the room, dressed and ready to go.”
My mind thought back to the outfit the woman wore in the shed. I envisioned the bright yellow halter top, sure to have turned heads. I shook the memory away and murmured, “Sounds like she was tired and ready to let off some steam.”
Gladys frowned, “Yeah, it’s the new job. She works during the day at the Food Lion. A few months ago, she’d started working at the Black Diamond Night Club. I wasn’t happy about her being out at night in that atmosphere, but she claimed she made good money.”
“What does she do there?”
“Waitressing. That’s always been her thing before she started working as a cashier. I didn’t think she ever wanted to go back but she claims the tips she receives are good. Even talked about quitting her job at Food Lion.”
“Have you reached out to any of Sondra’s friends since Saturday?”
Gladys shook her head. “She used to hang out with Charlene Hunt when they were young, but the past few years they haven’t really been speaking. I know someone picked her up outside, but I didn’t get a chance to see who it was. I was busy trying to get the kids settled in for the night.”
“Women have fallings out all the time. Do you know why she may have stopped talking to Charlene?”
Gladys closed her eyes.
“Gladys, are you okay?”
Her eyes flipped open, filled with tears. “A lot of people stopped hanging around Sondra because of that man. I can’t even refer to him as a man, but he’s the father of my grandbabies. He certainly is choosy when he sees them and when he decides to take care of him.”
“Did Sondra have trouble with him?”
“Nothing but trouble with that one.”
“Have you reached out to him to ask if he’s seen Sondra?”
“Yes, in fact that’s where I was coming from when I saw the church. That man made me so angry. He acted like he didn’t care about the mother of his children being missing. He told me I was being a drama queen and that she would probably show up any time. He made my nerves so bad, I had to swing by here and talk to Pastor Jones.”
“I’m sorry he isn’t here.”
“Not a problem, I appreciate you listening to me.”
“I’m here to be supportive where I can. I hate to ask so many questions, but I’m concerned. Have you reached out to the police at all? I know she’s an adult, but you can report her as a missing person.”
Gladys nodded. “That will be my next stop.”
“Good, they will want a current photo of Sondra. Do you have one?”
“Yes, I do. In fact, she insisted that her daughter take a photo of her Saturday night.” Gladys pulled her phone out of her bag.
I watched as she slid her fingers across the phone, dread returning to my mind. I suddenly was afraid of my reaction to what Gladys had on her phone. She swiped a number of times until she found the photo she wanted. She turned the phone around to me. “How about this one? Do you think this will work? She’s wearing the clothes she had on that night.”
I stared at the photo for a long uncomfortable few seconds before answering. “Yes, that photo should do fine. You should get to the police station as soon as possible.”
I walked Gladys out into the hallway where we met Pastor Jones arriving.
“Hello, ladies. How are you doing this fine day?”
I responded in Gladys’s place, “Pastor Jones, good to see you today. Ms. Howell really needs your help.” I wanted to pass Gladys off to the pastor quickly because now I had a mission. I needed to call Amos and find out what to do about what I’d just found out.
I was pretty sure the woman in the shed last night was Sondra Howell. I had no idea how she got there and why, but now I was more determined to find out.