Joetta described the lay of the land.
“This is the fancy part of the neighborhood we’re in now, not as fancy as Ottawa Hills, but they do estate sales, not garage sales, so it’s harder to get the good stuff there.”
Ali and Faye rode ahead of them on a tricycle and a bike with training wheels. Belinda noticed that the girls looked like miniatures of Joetta and Belinda. Ali, a replica of Joetta, and Faye, with her wavy brown hair, a mini of herself.
“Remember riding bikes on Gulf before it got so busy?”
“I do, I miss that.”
The visit was lovely, for the most part. And Belinda would have had nothing but fond memories to take back to Florida, except the last night spoiled the happily ever after idea, completely.
They’d baked cookies with the girls, stayed in, and just enjoyed each other’s company. And, of course, had a few glasses of wine. Joetta poured too much, in Belinda’s opinion. Her sister was tiny and seemed not to know how much was too much. Belinda remembered how poorly Joetta had handled beer all those years ago. But now it was wine, and it made her sister weepy.
“I just feel useless most of the time, you know. We never have enough money, and I’m always begging for pennies, but Bruce doesn’t want me to work. Ha, though, what would I do for a job? I have zero skills, right? Getting a tan? That’s not a hot commodity on the job market.”
“Do you want to get a divorce? I can get a lawyer to you or?—”
“No, no, I love Bruce. He loves me. I’m just feeling nostalgia, I guess. When getting a tan was our only job. I am so sick of housework, you know? Or no, you don’t. Mommy and Daddy still have Erline and Barker, right? You don’t have to clean a thing.”
“Well, I’ve moved to the guest house, trial run for my own place, so I do clean that.”
“Ha, the horror.”
The edge on her sister was unmistakable. But it faded quickly as she started talking about the girls.
“Ali is so smart. Do you know she was reading theseGolden Booksbefore kindergarten? Bruce thought she was just memorizing what I’d read to her, but nope, he tested her. She was really reading before she ever stepped into Old Orchard Elementary School.”
“She seems older than her years.”
“Oh, she is, she’s the little boss, no doubt.” There was no edge on that, only pure love for her precocious daughter.
“And Faye and those flowers!” Joetta added. It seemed everywhere they went, Faye was either picking flowers or planting them. She loved being outdoors and collecting things from gardens and yards along the way.
“She’s my tomboy, always with a scrape on the knee and dirt under her fingernails. I love that, though. Mommy would have a fit, you remember, if we had the slightest bit of mud on our jumpers?”
“I do remember.”
The night finished with the wine, and Belinda was tired. She had a busy travel day ahead and was ready to turn in. Belinda had been sleeping on a pull-out couch on the porch, and after her three glasses of wine, she fell asleep hard.
She was grateful her flight wasn’t until afternoon; her head was going to hurt!
But it was worth it to spend time with her sister.
In the middle of the night, in the depth of sleep, a thud and then the sound of glass breaking woke her up.
She oriented herself and stood up, quickly moving like a rocket toward the sound.Is there a prowler? What if they’re upstairs with the girls!Belinda didn’t think about her ownsafety, just her sweet little nieces. She ran toward the sound. Belinda wound up in the hall, outside Joetta’s room.
There was no prowler. Belinda tried to process what she was seeing.
Joetta was on the floor of her bedroom. Blood was oozing out of her foot. A broken wine glass had shattered all over the wood floor of the bedroom.
“Be careful, Auntie, you don’t have shoes on.”
Belinda whipped around to see Ali, tennis shoes on, with a broom that had a dustpan on the handle in one hand and paper towels in the other. She walked around Belinda to Joetta.
“Mama, you need to be still. Here.” The little girl set the broom against the bed. Carefully, she folded a sheet from the paper towel roll and put it on Joetta’s cut foot. Joetta winced. “Mama sometimes has accidents when she has her headaches,” Ali informed Belinda.
“Sure, how about I help her, and you go back to bed. It’s so late.” Belinda's heart was breaking for Joetta and even more for little Ali.
