“Wha’ ‘bout Mary?”
“She safe from all this,” she tell me. Then below her breath, when she don’t think I can hear nothin’, “She don’t got the curse we got.”
“Maybe she should know.”
“She wouldn’t want to,” The Misses says. “I did try once- sayin’ sompin’ ‘bout yeur daddy an’ you an’ she jus’ blocked it out.”
“Daddy an’ I?”
She nod, an’ then her face switches to pity. “Corinne- oh there so much you don’ kno’.”
But she kno’. Kno’ mo’ than she ought to. She kno’ everythin’. “Then tell me.”
“I’m ‘bout to.”
Suddenly I scared. I don’ wanna hear ‘bout all this- how she kno’, or wha’ it is. It a reward that all- he’s savin’ me, like he says. Daddy ain’t as bad as I think of in my head, he alrigh’- truly. The Misses she bad- all she’ll be tellin’ me is dirty little lies. I don’ wanna kno’, I don’ wanna hear nothin’.
“I think I jus’ gonna go ta bed,” I say, throwin’ myself beneath the blankets. The rest a my voice is muffled. “Good nigh’, thanks fo’ the offer.”
“Corinne- you can’t run away.”
“I ain’t runnin’, I sleepin’.”
“Then let me tell you.
“No.” I turn beneath the cover to face the wall. Maybe that’ll give ‘er the hint. She need to leave, let me sleep an’ then in a few days we’ll be back with daddy an’ Lloyd an’ everythin’ will go back to normal. I can pretend it was jus’ a dream. All a dream.
“James ain’t at Military school,” she suddenly say- like words leavin’ er mouth with no choice. “Yeur daddy been lyin’.”
I’m awake. The blankets thrown off- ta the side, my hair a mess, my eyes sleepy but still focused. Focused on her.
“What?”
“It part a the story, Corinne. The end. It won’t make no sense, unless I tell you the whole thin’.”
An’ then I gotta choice. I mean- James. He ain’t… He ain’t dead? No. The Misses is lyin’- he in Virginia learnin’ to be a military man. But… But then why can’t I write him? Why haven’t I heard from ‘em?
“She safe from all this,” she tell me. Then below her breath, when she don’t think I can hear nothin’, “She don’t got the curse we got.”
“Maybe she should know.”
“She wouldn’t want to,” The Misses says. “I did try once- sayin’ sompin’ ‘bout yeur daddy an’ you an’ she jus’ blocked it out.”
“Daddy an’ I?”
She nod, an’ then her face switches to pity. “Corinne- oh there so much you don’ kno’.”
But she kno’. Kno’ mo’ than she ought to. She kno’ everythin’. “Then tell me.”
“I’m ‘bout to.”
Suddenly I scared. I don’ wanna hear ‘bout all this- how she kno’, or wha’ it is. It a reward that all- he’s savin’ me, like he says. Daddy ain’t as bad as I think of in my head, he alrigh’- truly. The Misses she bad- all she’ll be tellin’ me is dirty little lies. I don’ wanna kno’, I don’ wanna hear nothin’.
“I think I jus’ gonna go ta bed,” I say, throwin’ myself beneath the blankets. The rest a my voice is muffled. “Good nigh’, thanks fo’ the offer.”
“Corinne- you can’t run away.”
“I ain’t runnin’, I sleepin’.”
“Then let me tell you.
“No.” I turn beneath the cover to face the wall. Maybe that’ll give ‘er the hint. She need to leave, let me sleep an’ then in a few days we’ll be back with daddy an’ Lloyd an’ everythin’ will go back to normal. I can pretend it was jus’ a dream. All a dream.
“James ain’t at Military school,” she suddenly say- like words leavin’ er mouth with no choice. “Yeur daddy been lyin’.”
I’m awake. The blankets thrown off- ta the side, my hair a mess, my eyes sleepy but still focused. Focused on her.
“What?”
“It part a the story, Corinne. The end. It won’t make no sense, unless I tell you the whole thin’.”
An’ then I gotta choice. I mean- James. He ain’t… He ain’t dead? No. The Misses is lyin’- he in Virginia learnin’ to be a military man. But… But then why can’t I write him? Why haven’t I heard from ‘em?
