Deep Fried Trouble (Eugeena Patterson Mysteries) (3 page)

We patrolled Sugar Creek from my porch. Amos and I.  Oh yeah, and little McGruff the Crime Dog. Porgy’s ears shot up from time to time. With his tummy full of Kibbles ’n Bits, thanks to Amos, he seemed at peace despite being in a strange home. I wish I felt a bit peaceful.

My eyes wandered up the hill wondering what evidence the investigators had found. The card from Detective Wilkes sat near my phone in the hallway. Who knows? I might think of something else. I already knew sweet dreams wouldn’t be visiting me.

It was still muggy even though the sun had dipped lower in the sky. Every once in a while a breeze caressed my skin. To keep us cool, I’d fixed some fresh brewed sweet tea. I said brewed not that powdered stuff. You can choke and die on that nasty concoction some folks liked to call tea.

I was still trying to get myself used to Splenda. It ain’t half bad.

I kicked my foot to get the rocking chair to glide back and forth. The chairs were old, but comfortable. With a recent coat of white paint, thanks to my oldest son, the chairs looked brand new.

Amos still wore his denim overalls, but at least he’d retired his hat onto his knee. He looked content. I didn’t want to disturb him, but I needed advice and he seemed like the logical place to start. Plus, it gave me a chance to actually talk to him about something besides the weather and the grass.

I knew he’d worked in law enforcement in some type of capacity. Today, he’d managed to get the necessary authorities to Mary’s house in no time and seemed to be quite friendly with the crew traipsing around behind the crime tape.

“Amos, you know about the neighborhood association?”

“Yeah, the group is a good idea. Now more than ever. People are getting stranger and stranger.”

Tell me about it. Signs of the times for sure. “I can’t help but think how none of us helped poor Mary. What can we do to prevent this from happening again?” Better yet, I wanted to find the culprit. All afternoon I’d watched neighbors come and go. I didn’t realize how many folks I didn’t know. The neighborhood had changed, and now a new crop of young couples and their children lived here. A few retirees like me, Louise and Amos were scattered here and there.

Amos and his wife were from the crop of northern folks who chose to retire on the coast of South Carolina instead of Florida. Charleston was a town rich in history, some bad and some good.

Amos stopped rocking. “I’m still new here, has anything like this happened before in the neighborhood? I was reading the other day; North Charleston had been ranked the seventh-most dangerous city in the nation back in 2007. In recent years, the crime rate decreased. I believe we are around sixty-three now. That’s a definite improvement.”

“Yeah, I saw that list.” I shivered. “Still Jesus must be coming back soon. The world has clearly lost it.”

There were rumors about young men selling drugs out of their home. The house was three doors down from mine. Both young men waved when I passed by, but they did have an awful lot of folks in and out their house at night. They suddenly moved. Nobody knew where they went or where they came from.

Then, there are the robberies. Poor Annie Mae and Willie Mae Brown, the two sisters who lived a few doors down came home one night from playing bingo only to find many valuables stolen, including their television. For days those two old women couldn’t stop talking about missing their stories. Now who would’ve thought the world would come to an end when you couldn’t see your soap operas? Even though I was here during the day now, I still couldn’t bring myself to get attached to television actors and their imaginary problems.

Now Dr. Phil. I can watch that man all day. He tells it like it is. Just the way I like it.

Amos held up his index finger. “You know what you need is to get some history. Police reports are public record you know.”

I raised an eyebrow at Amos’ suggestion. “Really? I know they have a database for sex offenders. Do I need to be checking all that out?” I can’t believe the word sex came out of my mouth in front of this man. When he was alive, I don’t think my own husband heard me say that word. Ever.

“If you want to make this neighborhood association stronger than those signs y’all got up and down the street, you need to know what you are up against.”

“Can you help with some of this?”

Amos grinned. He still had all his teeth. They didn’t appear to be dentures either. “I will be happy to help where I can.”

That made me feel a tad bit better. I’ve wondered how Amos spent his retirement days in an empty house, a predicament I was still adjusting to myself. The more I thought about what happened to Mary, the more I started to fathom my own lonely state.

I had Cedric’s steel baseball bat. But what good would that do me if someone walked in on me with a gun?

And Mary
. I sucked in a breath.
Maybe I shouldn’t leave that butcher block of knives sitting around on my kitchen counter
.

A noise broke through my worry session. I looked down at my feet where the dog laid. His eyes were closed tight. I listened. Well, Porgy was no guard dog that’s for sure. That little mutt had the nerve to be snoring. We can’t have that. I’m the only one who snores in my house. Sometimes I woke myself up.

I would lie awake for sure. Visions of murder and mayhem would assail me for the rest of the night.

“Eugeena.” Amos had stopped rocking. “I believe you’ve got company.”

Sure enough, a car had slowed down in front of my house. I know I needed to work on being more hospitable, but it was getting late in the day.

I eased my hips out of the rocking chair to get a better look at the vehicle. Dusk had arrived quickly, casting a reddish tone across the landscape. The car turned into my driveway. When I caught sight of the old Nissan Altima, I wasn’t sure if I should shout for joy or slump in misery. My prodigal daughter had returned.

There would be no sleep tonight. Leesa Patterson, my youngest and only girl walked towards the porch holding what appeared to be a blanket. As her mother, I should have been happy to see her, especially since four months had passed since I saw her last. Oh, she called. She called when she needed me to wire money. Then, she’d forget about me.

Funny, that’s how she was conceived. One night, I forgot how much I despised Ralph and I guess he remembered I was his wife. Nine months later, with two sons in high school, Leesa made her entrance. She’d a
lways been good at surprises. Like showing up out of the blue.

“Hey Mama.” Leesa looked behind her. “Kisha, say hello to Grandma.”

I watched as a small hand snaked around Leesa’s bare leg and then a head appeared. The large eyes looked up at me.

My little Kisha. I still felt she was a little small for a four year old. “Hey precious, come to Gran
dma.”

Shyly stepping from behind her mother, Kisha smiled and then reached her arms up. I pulled her up into my arms and squeezed. Lord, how I missed this gran
dchild.

My oldest boy made sure his twin boys spent time with me. Both of those monsters made me lose my senses sometime, but I hated the quiet house even more after they left.

I stared at Leesa, who seem to be looking everywhere, but at my face. Something wrestled in the pit of my stomach. My poor stomach had experienced a lot in one day. I couldn’t remember what I ate, which probably wasn’t good for my blood sugar. Earlier the levels were normal. I did remember to do that much for myself. Got to take care of this body of mine. I’ve already failed it thus far.

Amos cleared his throat behind me. I whirled around embarrassed; I’d almost forgotten him. “Amos, you remember my daughter Leesa?” How could he? She doesn’t come around that much.

“I do remember her. Nice to see you again.” Amos stood and held out his hand.

Leesa cringed. Something in her arms squirmed. A little arm popped out of the blue blanket, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Leesa, who’s this?”

My daughter turned her body to the side to show me an adorable little face. “Mama, this is Tyric.”

“My baby brother,” Kisha yelled.

All kinds of questions ran through my head. I know it had been sometime since I’d seen Leesa, but when was she pregnant with that baby? Why didn’t she tell me? Who was the father?

Amos made a choking sound.

I wanted to choke my child. Instead of peppe
ring her with questions, I turned around. “Amos, I guess this is goodnight. Thanks for talking with me.”

He tipped his hat before placing it on his head. “My pleasure. Goodnight, ladies.” I watched him walk away, wishing I could follow him home.

“Grandma, you have a dog now?” My precious granddaughter had discovered Porgy or rather vice versa. The dog wagged his tail and seemed delighted by all the attention he was receiving.

“Looks like it, sweetie pie. Let’s go inside.” I grabbed the little one by the hand and marched back towards the kitchen, making sure she washed her hands at the sink. Kisha, then made herself at home at the kitchen table, while I opened and closed cabinets. Finding plates, I put them on the table, ignoring my daughter until I could figure out what to say. Eating always helped. Or not. 

My beautiful grandbaby, the one I knew about, gave me a crumb-covered smile as she gobbled the peanut butter and jelly sandwich I had made in apprehensive silence. I smiled back, feeling tension slightly release from my shoulders.

Then I focused on Leesa. I tried not to frown, but the spot between my eyebrows clinched up. 

Leesa had the nerve to get pregnant with Kisha her senior year in high school. As much as this child struggled, why would she bring another child in this world?  She just turned twenty-one a few months back and as hard as I tried to get her back in school, it was a closed subject.

I nodded my head towards Tyric. “I’m waiting for the explanation for this one.”

“Mama…”

“A few weeks ago when you called crying about not being able to pay the rent, you couldn’t have me
ntioned there was going to be a new mouth to feed. Even more so, why didn’t you tell me before now? I’m your mother. I was there with you for the first one.”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure.”

“Chile, it wasn’t like you hadn’t been through this before.” I looked over at Kisha, who sat next to me, now munching on a cookie. Her eyes traveled back and forth between me and her mother.

Leesa huffed, “Mama, we are just here for a few days. If you don’t want us, I can leave right now.”

There she goes twisting things around. That’s not what I wanted. For your grown child to show up out of the blue and with an extra child, it didn’t seem too much to have some questions answered.

“Don’t be going all drama queen on me, Leesa Patterson. I asked you a question. And you know this house is always open to you.”

The last time I saw Leesa it was just before Easter. Her weight went up and down like mine.  Always wearing big shirts and baggy jeans, it would’ve never occurred to me to think she was pregnant. Fooled again. Four years ago, if it wasn’t for the child complaining about stomach pain, I still wouldn’t have imagined she’d been carrying Kisha all
that
time.

Somewhere along the way, my two sons must have worn me down.  I missed the boat when Leesa came into this world. I was thirty-eight years old and I had the audacity to have a child fifteen years after the last one. By then, my students had grown more and more difficult each year. I was so tired, I couldn’t wait until the day I would see retirement.

A wail started up from the little body in Leesa’s arms. She tried to move him around in her arms and rock him, but with eyes tightly shut, mouth wide open, he wailed louder.

Porgy who had been sitting in the corner, ran under the table, and wrapped his self around my foot. Kisha reached her little arms around my waist, well at least as far as her arms could go. “Make him stop, Grandma.”

“Let me hold him.”

“Mama, I can handle this.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t. You look like you could use a break.”

Without much coddling, Leesa held the hollering b
aby away from her as though he offended her and passed him to me. I cradled the baby in my arms, surprised by his small body.

A lullaby sprang forth from my lips. One I hadn’t thought about in years. He was definitely a small little fellow, I estimated he couldn’t be more than two months old. As I hummed, sang and hummed again, Tyric’s beautiful brown eyes looked up at me in wonderment. He’d forgotten all about whatever ailed him.

Leesa looked under the table and frowned. “Mama, isn’t that Mary’s dog?”

“Oh no. I need to tell you.”

“Tell me what?”

I shifted Tyric in my arms. “I found Mary.” I checked Kisha. She seemed to be feeding Porgy something under the table. Cookies. That figured. I continued, “Someone
k-i-l-l-e-d
her.” I didn’t want to give my grandchild nightmares. I would have enough for both of us.

“What? No!”

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I guess I would be saying the same thing.”

Leesa wilted in the seat like she did as a teenager. “This is all too much. I’m so tired of ever
ything.”

“Tired of everything?” I stared at my youngest child. 
What else had my baby girl gotten into now?

Leesa keeps her eyes on the kitchen table. She quietly answers, “Just tired, that’s all.”

Something was wrong, but I didn’t need to know tonight. At least she came home, whatever the trouble this time. She was safe with me. “Do you want something to eat?”

“I’m fine, Mama.” Leesa stood. “Is my room still the same?”

“Nothing has changed.”

“I think I need to lie down for awhile.”

It was barely eight o’ clock. She needed to lie down. Let’s see I’m about to turn sixty and she was only twenty-one.
Why is she so tired? And where was she going, leaving me with these children?

I had two mysteries, one started with death, the other with life.

We were going to get some answers.