“She’s not home,” the little girl said.She had two pigtails and held a ball in her hands.Unlike the other kids, there was not a speck of dirt on her clothes.
“Do you know where she is?”
“She left early, around nine, and she hasn’t come back.She can leave days at a time,” the little girl said.
“Okay, thanks,” Doc said.
“Is she in trouble?”the little girl said.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m new here.My mommy said I’m not allowed to talk to Hilary, because she’s a horrible woman that sleeps with men’s husbands, and that I don’t want to get that kind of nasty on me.”
The little girl pointed across to another trailer that was as far away as the other trailers, and Doc saw a woman cleaning the outside.This is what made her different.All the other trailers were covered in a thick layer of dirt.
Doc made his way across the yard, and Razor followed behind him.When the woman caught sight of him, and clearly her daughter, she stopped cleaning and turned toward him.He spotted the wedding band on her finger, and her little girl stepped right in front of her.
“Can I help you?”the woman asked.
“The name’s Doc.I was wondering if you knew where Hilary went?”he asked.
“I don’t know where she went, but she’s had a couple of guys calling on her.They’re in flashy black cars.The windows are tinted and all that.I don’t know what she is into, but I want my little girl to stay out of it.”
He looked at the little girl.“What’s your name?”
“June,” she said.
He smiled at her.“Hey, June.”
“We’re not in trouble, are we?”the woman asked.
He looked at her ring.“Where’s your husband?”Doc asked.
She glanced down at her ring and sighed.“He’s moved his tramp into our home.”She let out a little laugh.“I worked three jobs to finish putting him through college, for him to become a lawyer, and what does he do?Move the young paralegal and kicks me out of the house.He told me I have no leg to stand on, even though I know I paid for most of our house.”She stopped and quickly pressed a hand to her mouth.“I’m so sorry.”
Doc could easily fill in the blanks.“Do you want to tell me your husband’s name?”he asked.
“Wilson Carmichael.”
He was aware of the name.
“You be good, June,” Doc said.“What’s your name?”He turned toward the mother.
“It’s Jamie, Jamie Carmichael.”
Doc nodded at the two, then he headed back to the bikes.Razor followed with him.
“Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”Razor asked.
“Don’t you hate it when men give us a bad name?”He straddled his bike and turned to look at Razor.
“There are a lot of men out there that give us a bad name.”
“She has no right to lose her house just because he decided to move someone else into it.There is a level of respect that needs to be given to a woman that bears you a child.”
“You seem pissed.”
“I am.I want you to find me every little detail on Wilson Carmichael.”His first instinct was to drive over and find Wilson, to have a little chat.He never did things in half measures.
