The afternoon sun burned down. Maggie sat on the back step trying to eat a cheese sandwich. She really wasn't very hungry but Mama said she had to eat something.

The screen door creaked as Billy came outside. A cigarette dangled from his lips. Quietly, he sat down quietly beside Maggie and blew a stream of smoke out the corner of his mouth.

Maggie wrinkled up her nose at him. “You're still doing that?"

He glanced at her and said, "Yeah, get over it."

They sat in silence until a girl in white jeans approached them. Billy stood up and said, “Hey Brenda.”

The girl smiled. She had streaked blonde hair and her face was familiar to Maggie though she had never seen her. Brenda was John Carl's girlfriend. Maggie had seen her school picture in his wallet. An older man followed Brenda up the sidewalk. Billy went to the girl and hugged her. He said, "John Carl's in the living room eating." He, then, extended his hand to the man behind Brenda. "Hi, Mr. Thompson."

The man shook Billy’s hand and asked, "How are you son?”

Billy shrugged as he let go of Mr. Thompson’s hand. He asked, “Are ya'll hungry? We got a ton of food in there."

Maggie got up to let them pass. Billy followed but Maggie did not. Instead, she remained on the porch, in what was left of the shade. Sweat stung her eyes, tears too if she was honest with herself. She was not honest. That Brenda was even prettier than her picture and she had curves her picture hadn't shown.

The back door banged open. Corey Jean burst through the doorway and plopped down beside Maggie. In a disgusted voice she said, “Icky old Brenda's here.”

Grateful for an ally, Maggie asked, "You don't like her?"

Corey Jean shook her head. "No I don’t. I wish she'd go home.” She glanced over her shoulder. “And I wished all them other peoples in there would too. They make Mama sad. They talks to her and tears come out her eyes."

Maggie knew what she meant, however she felt compelled to explain, "They are here to let your mama and daddy know how much they cared about Daniel."

"Well some of them had a funny way of showin’ it when he was still here. I heard Mr. Brown call Daniel a moron once. I told Mama and she cried." Corey Jean looked up at Maggie and asked, "Why'd she cry?"

Maggie put her arm around Corey Jean. "It always hurts your mama when somebody talks about Daniel like that. He just had trouble learning. He wasn't a moron."

Corey Jean leaned up against Maggie and said, "Mama says Daniel's in heaven now. She says he's up there with my sister, Marcy, who died. You know, the one that come before me a long time ago and didn’t live very long. Anyways, Mama says now she's got two babies in heaven. I told Mama Daniel wasn't no baby, he's almost a man. That made Mama cry. Seems like everything makes Mama cry. Why do you think Mama cried when I said that?"

Not sure what to say, but knowing some explanation was needed, Maggie said, "She's crying so much because she misses Daniel."

"She can't miss him too much, he just left yesterday. Why he's gone two weeks in June and Mama didn't cry then." Corey Jean wrinkled her forehead. "How you think he got to heaven? Mama says somethin’ about his spirit. I guess that's like a ghost, though I can't imagine Daniel being a ghost. But if he was a ghost he'd be a nice ghost. Don't you think?"

Maggie nodded.

"Anyways, his spirit is supposed to go up to heaven and that's how Mama says he got there. His spirit goes up. I guess it floats like a bubble, but it don't pop. His body don't. Brother Stephens told me Daniel's body is just a shell. I thought a preacher ought not to say somethin’ so stupid. Daniel don't look nothin’ like a shell." Corey Jean took a deep breath and changed the subject. "My onliest girl cousin's comin’ tomorrow."

"Yes I know."

"How'd you know?"

"I heard you tell Uncle Woody."

"Oh, well anyways I can't wait." Corey Jean hopped up, banged open the screen door just as Mr. Thompson came out the back door. She said, “’Scuse me,” and swerved around him.

Maggie stood up to let Mr. Thompson pass. Without a word he headed down the sidewalk to his truck. After he drove off, Maggie went to the well-house where the chickens were scratching. She broke her sandwich into tiny pieces and tossed it to the squawking birds. Her stomach was too upset to eat. She was getting over heated and she needed to go inside. She headed for the house, walked up the steps and stopped. Unable to force herself to go inside, she sat down on the top step. In that instant the screen door banged open once again. Brenda’s long white denim covered legs strode passed her. John Carl brushed against Maggie’s arm as he hurried after Brenda. He glanced back and said, "Sorry."

Brenda stopped at the end of the sidewalk. She glared at John Carl. "I want to go to Liddie's now, John Carl."

"I told you I can't leave yet. Mrs. Jenkins wants to see me and Mama told her I'd be here."

"I knew I should've gone home with Daddy. I can't stand being in there one more second." Brenda grimaced at the house.

"Please Brenda. It's hot out here, come inside." John Carl reached for her arm. Brenda jerked away from him.

"If I die of heat stroke it'll be all your fault." Maggie noticed John Carl wince at Brenda’s words. He dropped his hands helplessly to his sides.

Brenda thrust her chin into the air and stomped down the drive. She disappeared around the house. A truck door opened and slammed. Rock music blasted from what Maggie guessed was John Carl's truck radio.

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John Carl stared in the direction Brenda had gone. He shook his head then walked toward the house.

Maggie said, "She seems kind of mad."

Without looking at her, John Carl said in a low flat voice, "When isn't she mad?"

*

Around four, John Carl finally took Brenda home. After that more and more people left. The ocean of cars and trucks that had surrounded the house thinned out to just a few. At last Maggie felt she could go inside. Her head ached a little from sitting so long in the heat of the bright sun. It took her eyes a couple seconds to adjust to the cool darkness of the house. She went into the living room. There was an empty space beside Billy on the couch. He smiled at her as she sat down. Her arm rested against his. They didn't talk or even look at each other. Being together was enough. Maggie leaned back and closed her eyes. In a matter of seconds she was asleep.

Two hours passed before she stirred. Women's voices pulled her out of sleep. Two separate voices spoke in soft whispers beside her. Maggie opened her eyes. They were a pair of neighbor women she had met during her sojourn on the back step.

The woman in the flowered blouse hissed, "Yeah, that's what I heard."

The blonde woman in the white sleeveless blouse nodded and whispered back. "Sure is strange the way it happened."

"Yeah I'll say. I thought Daniel could swim."

Their voices dropped lower. Maggie strained to hear the blonde say, "I heard those boys was drinking and doing dope."

"No, not Daniel."

"Oh, I don't think so either, but you never know with kids these days."

Maggie leaned over and glared at the two women. How could they say such things in Daniel's house? What if Garnet or Bill overheard? They were cruel, spiteful women.

"Oh, you're awake, honey," the one in white said.

The other laughed, "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough," Maggie said. She got up and walked angrily away. She wanted to slap those women. She slammed the front door behind her. Her heart was beating hard. How could people be like that?

Uncertain what to do Maggie stood on the front porch and looked at the evening sky. It was still cloudless. A stray breeze carried the sound the boys and Corey Jean's voices. Suddenly she heard Don yell, "Geronimo!"

Maggie wanted to be with them. She raced down the cow trail leading to the branch. The kids were jumping up and down in the water hole trying to see who could make the biggest splash. Billy leaned on a shovel ready to repair the dam if it broke. "Finally, wake up?" he asked Maggie as she climbed down the steep bank.

She nodded.

"I couldn't believe you just fell asleep."

Maggie smiled shyly at Billy. He wore cut-offs. His back and chest were tan. His legs were getting hairy and he had a little stubble on his chin. He seemed a stranger. She was loosing her Billy to this emerging man. Maggie sat down in the soft sand and yanked off her shoes. She waded across to him. He grabbed her hand. It was all right. He was still her Billy.

Before she realized what was happening he grabbed her other hand and shoved her backwards. Maggie landed in the cool water. "You," she yelled. Maggie reached for Billy. She started to pull him down too. Then, she thought of how he had been coughing earlier in the day. She put her hands back in the water and pushed herself up.

The boys laughed as she waded back to shore. Her clothes were soaked.

Angrily Corey Jean ran over and kicked Billy's shins. "You be nice to Maggie or I'll tell on you." Corey Jean's eyes flashed in Maggie's direction. "Us girls got to stick together."

Billy walked over to where Maggie stood. He touched her face gently with his left hand and said, “I’m always nice to Maggie.”

Maggie felt shy and a little embarrassed. She looked at Billy. His mouth smiled, but his eyes didn’t. He turned his attention back to the dam.

*

Maggie lay awake on the old lumpy couch on the screened-in front porch. She couldn't go to sleep. She had been here all day and still she didn’t know what happened when Daniel died. No one told the story from beginning to end. From what she had managed to over hear, Daniel, John Carl, and Billy were all home from work yesterday. They ate. They went to the tank. Billy tried to save Daniel. Daniel drowned. No one said what John Carl did.

Maggie rolled over and looked at the blank space under the oak tree where John Carl’s truck should be. He was still with Brenda.

It was so hot and still. Maggie kicked her sheet off. Her nylon sleeping bag was sweaty beneath her. She could have slept with Skeeter on the fold-out couch or on the floor in Daniel's room. In spite of the heat she’d rather be exactly where she was. She needed to see the stars in the deep black sky. The sky comforted her in a way she couldn’t explain. She stared at the big dipper and wondered if people in heaven knew about the future. If they did, then Daniel knew whether or not John Carl would ever like her or even love her.

She heard a truck bumping down the drive. She re-covered herself with the sheet. It had to be John Carl coming.

The brakes squealed. It was John Carl's truck. Maybe he would go through the front door. Maggie lay there waiting. She heard his boots crossing the brittle grass. He turned. He was going in the back door. Maggie sighed and kicked the sheet off again.