County Woman: a Novel by Joan Williams

Author:Joan Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781497694668
Publisher: Open Road Media

20

“WHY’S YOUR LIP all stuck out?” Poppa said. Milk dribbled from his chin. She looked into his imp’s eyes and at his evasive grin. Suddenly, he doubled up his little dukes and fought air. “Go ahead and hit me,” Poppa said.

“Hit you?”

“I can read that mad look you got on your face.” His head swiveled; his voice grew louder to reach her retreating back. “Caught it from Tate, didja, about sitting up so late with old Brother Hopper, sick? You got me to look after. You don’t need to go running round nursing sick folks for the church too, less you’re a do-gooder like—” His spoon dropped with a tiny clink to the floor, and Sweetie began to lick it.

She came back and picked it up when the dog had finished. She made her voice quite firm. “Like my momma? Tell me something more about her, for once.” Now, there was something brand new in her voice.

It registered on Poppa. Briefly it flashed through her mind to wonder what she’d do if he said nothing: bop him on the head with the spoon?

He said, “She was this kind of woman. Always had to have as a dog one of them pretty little fellers with a tail curled up so tight over its back, its hind feet wouldn’t touch ground.”

She pictured her momma in dressy clothes, her face haughty because of her tits, a flighty lapdog at her heels. Allie suspected she and May Stewart would have been worlds apart. She’d not have liked the woman much.

She reached out to straighten a flimsy, babyish strand of hair atop Poppa’s shiny little pate. He dodged and cried out, “Get away, woman. Can’t you see when a man’s busy! No. Because a woman don’t have sense enough not to bother a man then.” She hid her smile. Actually he was pleased by her touch. “I couldn’t breathe in the night,” he said, petulant on purpose. “You let me run out of Mentholatum. And me and Sweetie ain’t had a piece of candy in a week.”

“All right,” she said. “But Mentholatum’s not the answer to your breathing problem. You haven’t been taking your heart medicine, have you?”

He drained his cereal bowl of its milk. No sense standing here and looking at him and warning him again that the doctor had said he could go out like a light without his pills, anytime. She had sometimes watched him take them, but felt her real duty was to go on reminding him. She reminded him again. He seemed so much at her mercy she said she’d go to the store after picking up a little, and putting in Monday’s load of wash. Minnie wandered in at random for her one day a week; they were good enough friends that it didn’t matter. Minnie knew what to do without being told.

Allie walked to town, the buzzards solemn behind Mose’s. Sy came around from his outhouse pulling up his zipper; usually, he looked toward the road for company. Today, his chin tucked to his chest, he did not notice her wave.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.