The atmosphere inside the house was subdued. Aunt Betty lay sprawled on the fold out couch. The boys were already at the table plowing through a mound of scrambled eggs and bacon. John Carl and Uncle Woody had gone back to work. Corey Jean and Annie played baby dolls on the floor. Corey Jean looked up at Maggie when she sat down at the table. She asked, "Want to play? We'll let you be the grandma."

"No, thanks." Maggie said. She blinked hard, her eyes felt like they had been ground in sand. She stared at the food on the table. She picked up a piece of toast and bit into it. It stuck in her throat. She wasn’t hungry. She got up and headed for Daniel’s room to change her clothes. As she passed through Billy and John Carl’s room, Billy who was propped up in his bed reading a magazine, grabbed for her. His hands went around her waist. He said, “I got you,” and pulled her onto his bed. He started tickling her.

Maggie squirmed in his grasp. "Billy, you stop tickling me. You know I hate to be tickled."

He laughed, pulled her closer and whispered, "I know," in her ear.

Maggie's face brushed against Billy's cheek. She looked up at him. His face was so close to hers. She could feel his breath. Mischief flashed in his eyes. He was going to kiss her. She hadn’t brushed her teeth yet. He cupped her chin with his hand and brought her face closer to his. Never had he tried this before. A frightening thought jumped in her brain, what if Daddy caught her in Billy's bed being kissed in her pajamas? She jerked her chin free and spun out of his arms. Billy made a swipe at her rear as she got out of bed, but he missed. Maggie crossed the floor to Daniel's room and slammed the door. She heard Billy laugh on the other side.

Confused, Maggie sat down on Daniel’s bed. What was with Billy? One time he ignored her and the next he tried to kiss her. She didn’t know how to act around him any more. She used to know. She used to always know.

Through the door Billy asked, “What are you doing in there?”

She didn’t answer. She took her paper bag of clothes and went into Daniel’s closet to change because she was worried Billy would hear her changing. The closet was little and Maggie bumped her elbow against the wall. It made a loud thump. She zipped up her shorts. The sound it made seemed too loud in her ears. Had Billy heard? When she was done she went to bedroom door and listened. Was Billy still there? She opened the door just a crack to see. He was still in bed. With a quick jerk she opened the door and ran passed Billy. When she was safely out of arm range she asked, "You staying in bed all day?"

He snickered and said, “Only if you join me.”

Maggie’s mouth flew open. Hot embarrassment flushed her face. How dare he! He just laughed. Angry and insulted, Maggie said, “That was not funny.”

“Oh, yes it was.” He winked at her.

Disgusted with him Maggie went to the dining room. Grandma Marcy was putting fresh scrambled eggs on the table. She said, “Try these, they’re still hot. You need to eat girl.”

Obediently, Maggie pulled an empty paper plate off the stack and shoveled some of the steaming eggs onto it. Grandma Marcy patted her shoulder and poured Maggie a glass of orange juice. She cleared her throat, before she asked, “Did you sleep okay honey?”

Maggie nodded. She wondered if a nod counted as a lie.

Grandma Marcy sighed and said, "I'm sorry about Betty last night.” She turned and went back into the kitchen.

The food had no flavor. Grandma Marcy kept checking on her to make sure she was eating her eggs. Aunt Betty came into the dining room and eased herself into the chair beside Maggie. She folded her arms and leaned her head on the table. In a hoarse voice she said, "Oh God, what a night."

Grandma Marcy marched into the room waving her spatula, "I don't want you talking about what kind of night you had in front of Maggie. You hear?"

"Yes, Mama."

Maggie could feel the tension between Aunt Betty and Grandma Marcy. Aunt Betty groaned as her mother put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her. Maggie took her glass of orange juice and went out the back door.

Chickens peacefully scratched the ground. Maggie sat down on the step to sip her orange juice. She thought, It might be nice to be a chicken. They didn't have trouble sleeping or stupid feelings. They scratched, they squawked, they slept.

*

After lunch Grandma Marcy, Aunt Betty and Annie left. Maggie watched the van lurch down the drive. Her cheek was damp from Grandma Marcy's kiss. She didn't want her to leave.

Corey Jean stood holding her mother's hand sobbing. "I don't have nobody to play with but dumb old boys. Nobody but dumb old boys."

Garnet looked at Maggie. Her face was ashen in the afternoon light. In a quavering voice she asked, "Could you take her? I can't deal with this right now."

With effort, Maggie pried Corey Jean's hand out of Garnet's. "Come on, I'll read you a story." Corey Jean followed her inside. Maggie picked The Princess and the Pea from the shelf and sat down on the couch. Corey Jean usually liked this story. The four-year-old scooted onto the couch beside her and leaned her head against Maggie’s arm. Her face was still wet with tears. Her little lip trembled as she said, “I didn’t want Annie to go.”

"Annie will come visit you again."

Corey Jean shook her head. "Nuhun, you don’t know that for sure. She might die too, then I'd never see her again like I'm never gonna see Daniel again."

In an effort to comfort her Maggie said, "Oh, you'll see him again."

"Not until I'm dead too. Maggie I don't want to die." Corey Jean flung her arms around her and buried her face in her shoulder.

"Sweetie you're not going to die till you're a real old lady."

Angrily Corey Jean said, "You don't know that either."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Maggie held the child tightly against her. Corey Jean was right, she didn’t know.

*

Around six a big thunderstorm blew up. The air quaked with thunder. Corey Jean sat wide-eyed and frightened in her mother's lap. With each crash she trembled. Skeeter and Uncle Woody's boys had their noses pressed up against the living room window.

"Wow, did you see that one?" Skeeter asked.

Don said, "Sure did. That was the biggest jag of lightening I ever saw. You think we could find the burned spot tomorrow?"

Skeeter shrugged. "It'd be awful far away. After lightening strikes you count till you hear thunder. The number you count is the amount of miles away the lightening struck. Isn't that right, Maggie?"

"That's what my science book says." Maggie was sitting on the fireplace. John Carl was on the couch near her. Maggie kept sneaking glances at him. He looked good, even in his greasy work cap.

He caught her eye and smiled at her. He said, "I think I'm going to stay home tonight."

Surprised, Garnet asked, "You are?"

With his eyes still on Maggie he said, "Yes. I think I like the company here better."

Maggie felt herself blush. Did he expect her to respond? She needed to say something. What? Finally she blurted out, "Do you think all this rain will make the branch rise?"

He winked at her before he answered. "Yep. I'm going to have a heck of a time getting my truck out in the morning."

Corey Jean whined, “I wish it would stop.”

“Don’t be wishing that Honey, we need the rain,” Garnet said. “Maggie would you bring me a coke?”

Reluctant to leave the near vicinity of John Carl, Maggie got up, went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. John Carl followed her. The nearness of him made her heart feel funny. She grabbed a coke. John Carl set his tea glass on the counter then took a step closer to her. In a low voice he said, "I guess you're going to be sleeping inside tonight."

"Yeah, but I don't want to."

"Why?"

Maggie forced herself to meet his eyes. She had to be sure he really wanted to know before she confessed her fear. His eyes met hers. A strange and unfamiliar something twanged inside of her. Would he understand? She whispered, “Because, I don't want to sleep in Daniel's room with my parents."

"You could sleep with Skeeter," he suggested.

"No thanks." Maggie lowered her eyes. "Nobody knows this except me, sometimes Skeeter pees in bed. Not very often any more, but it's real embarrassing, so I don't tell Mama." She felt John Carl touch her hair. He ran his forefinger down her nose, over her lips and tilted up her chin. Maggie met his gaze. Her heart was banging in her ears. He had that look in his eye, so similar to the look Billie had given her just that morning.

In a gentle voice he said, "I won't tell anyone about Skeeter."

The phone rang. Even before Bill spoke Maggie knew who it was. Bill called out from the dining room. "John Carl, it's Brenda."

John Carl turned away from her. Maggie watched him go to the phone. The receiver had a long cord. He took it into his dark bedroom.

What is Brenda, psychic or something? Maggie thought. She went back into the living room, handed Garnet her coke, and sat down beside her. Corey Jean slid into Maggie’s lap and relaxed against her.

Uncle Woody, perched in the black vinyl chair, took a sip of his tea. He winked at Maggie. She wanted to wink back but she was too shy. She felt herself blushing again.

"Maggie girl,” he said, “did I ever tell you about the time Daniel was sleep walking up at my trailer?"

Maggie shook her head.

"Well, I never will forget that night. I was sound asleep. Then I hear this strange thud, thud. Somebody was walking around in the front room. I'm thinking where's my gun? Can't let nobody hurt my boys. I jump out of bed. Suddenly, Daniel walks in. He's decked out in his boots and cowboy hat but he don't got nothing else on but his drawers. He mumbles, 'Uncle Woody where's my banana?'

"I said, “What?'

"'Where's my banana?'

"'Your banana?'

"'Yeah, it's the red one.'

"I said, 'Boy, bananas ain't red.'

"He said, 'Yeah, they are. They can be purple or blue or any color.'

"'Only bananas I ever seen was yellow.'

"'They can be yellow too,' he says. Then he clomped out of the room. I hear him take off his boots and lay back down on the couch. After a while I heard him snoring. Now Miss Maggie, what do you suppose Daniel was talking about?"

She thought for a moment then she knew. "He wanted a bandanna not a banana."

"Smart girl," Uncle Woody said.

John Carl came back into the room and sat down on the fireplace. Uncle Woody glanced at Maggie then asked, "That girlfriend of yours isn't feeling long winded tonight?"

"I told her we have company."

Sarcastically Billy said, "We've had company for days.”

John Carl glared at him.

Tension, the ever present tension, filled the room. Uncle Woody looked uneasily from one brother to the other.

Outside, lightening illumined the dark night. The electricity flickered.

Corey Jean squealed.

The lights came back on.

Nervously Bill asked, “Woody, why don’t you tell us another story?”

"Well, now," Uncle Woody said, "does anyone remember that pig of Daniel's that wouldn't grow until his tail got bit off by that dog?"

Every one nodded except Corey Jean. She said, “Tell me Uncle Woody, I must of not been borned yet.”

*

The moon made rectangles of white light on the walls. The rain had stopped. On the floor in Daniel’s room Maggie had her sleeping bag pulled up to her chin. She had asked to go out to the porch, but Mama said it was too wet. Her entire body was stiff, because of Daddy. If she moved, he would say, "Be still." He didn't tolerate any movement or noise from anyone when he was trying to go to sleep. That included Mama.

She wanted to read, but Daddy didn’t tolerate flashlights either. Daddy didn’t tolerate much, the big baby.