She shushed me and kept going. I looked to Asher,who was chuckling, and shook my head. A toilet flushed, and Grandma reemerged.
“Gotta get rid of the evidence before those Nazis come in and force it down my throat.”
“Why aren’t you taking your medicine?” I asked.
“That nurse doesn’t give out medicine.”
It sure looked like medicine to me. “Okay, what does she give out?”
“Poison. Makes you think you’re losing your mind until you do. Thefolks in here are dropping like flies.” Her expression softened. “Today they got Martha.”
“Ms. Long?” I asked.
“Yep.” Grandma shook her head. “It’s a shame, too. I told her not to take those damn pills.”
Now probably wasn’t the best time to point out that Ms. Long was old and that the nursing home was a like a corral for people who were on their way to the big rodeo in the sky, so I decidedto change the subject and introduced Grandma to Asher.
She looked him up and down and nodded. “You shacked up with my granddaughter?” she asked.
“Grandma! No. You know I live with Addison.”
“I sure do, and everyone’s talkin’ about it. I’d rather you live in sin with a man.”
“I told you she thinks Addie and I are lesbians.”
Asher’s eyes laughed, but his mouth did not. Chalking it up to lawyerskills, I turned back to Grandma.
“Well it’s good to meet you,” she said.
“Thank you, ma’am. You too.”
“You know, most of the girls Dylan went to school with are havin’ babies now.”
Heat flooded my cheeks and I shook my head. “I chose to go to college. And now I’m working and paying back my school loans. But I’m not here to talk about that. I need to talk to you about Dad.”
“I was olderthan I should have been by the time I had Chad. All my other kids were pert near grown and I didn’t know the plumbing was still working, if you get my drift.”
God, I did not want to get her drift, but I did. Cringing, I looked to Asher, who appeared to be enjoying himself, and fought to keep myself from kicking him. This wasn’t what I’d envisioned for our conversation about my father.
“It waslike having an only child, and I was too tired to keep up with him. I let him get away with far too much.” She looked out the window. “I should have beat his ass good a hundred times, but I didn’t. Then your momma came along and made him behave. She was good for him until she up and died and left him worse off than he was before. A lot of this mess is my fault, Dylan, which is why I didn’t tellyou who was takin’ the jewelry. You know how things are around here, anyway. Nobody will do anything about it. No sense alienating the last person who comes to see me.”
Oh, the guilt. “Grandma—”
She held up a hand. “I’m not blamin’ you. Gettin’ out of this town was the smartest thing you ever did. I know I never told you, but I’m proud of you. You made somethin’ of your life. None of us madeit easy on you, but you did it on your own.” She smiled. “You get that determination from me.”
For the second time that night, I was speechless. I stared at my grandmother, wondering how to respond to her unexpectedly kind words.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that, and don’t pay me no mind, neither. I’m just an old woman tryin’ to get into heaven.”
“Thank you, Grandma,” I said, giving her a huganyway.
“You two go on and get out of here before you get the old folks’ stink on you.”
“Yes ma’am,” we said, turning to leave.
“Oh, and one more thing. Asher, you better not wait until she’s in her forties to put a baby in her belly.”
Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more mortified, Grandma managed to one-up herself.
Asher handled it like a champ, tilting the hat he’d just put backon like he was in some sort of western. “Yes ma’am. I’ll get right on that.”
