Mama Cracks a Mask of Innocence Read Online Free PDF Page B

now?”
    “Clyde’s house,” she told me. “I’m going to have to talk to him myself. It seems that’s the only way I’ll find out whether or not he was near Brenda the last time she was seen alive.”
    “Where did you say this Clyde Hicks lives?”
    “On Stony Hill near the county line.”
    The drive couldn’t have been better. The sky was endlessly blue, with little puffs of white clouds showing up now and then.
    The air was warm, with a slight breeze. We drove east, beyond a trailer park and the local Forest Service office. Then we made a right onto a narrow two-lane highway. Five miles later we’d driven past thick fields of soybeans where an occasional weathered shack with a corrugated tin roof popped up.
    Following Mama’s direction, I turned onto a road that was a grove of willow trees draped in shawls of moss just like green lace. We drove by a house where a couple sat on the porch. They reminded me of two people who had nothing more to do with their lives than measure time by the rocking of theirchairs. Lying on the side of the road in front of their house was an old hound dog that never bothered to lift its head as we pulled to the other side of the road to keep from running him over.
    “That’s Bosie and Betsy,” Mama told me. “I don’t remember a time that I drove past their house and they weren’t sitting on their front porch. And I don’t remember a time when their old hound dog wasn’t laying in that spot.”
    “I guess it’s safe to say that there is no great drama going on out here.”
    “I don’t think the people who live out here know the meaning of the word ‘drama,’ ” Mama said. “Simone, slow down. You’ll need to make a sharp left at the next road.”
    I slowed down and I’m glad I did. This next road was full of holes and bumps. Even though I was only doing about ten or fifteen miles per hour, I saw a quick movement off to the right and slammed on the brakes. A red fox jumped across in front of us. Then when it felt it was at a safe distance, it turned and eyed me before darting back into the brush.
    It was another few minutes of bone-jarring bounces before we pulled up in front of a small white house. I turned off the ignition. The tidy little house was a traditional one-story with a full wraparound porch.
    “How did you find this place?” I asked Mama.
    “I’ve got several clients who live out here. A few of them are on our list to bring clothes to this week.”
    “Whenever we get back to the business of distributing the clothes, let Ray Raisin come to this part of the county,” I told her. “He looks like he’s got more money than I do. I’m sure I’ll have to put on new shocks after this trip! Speaking of Ray Raisin, what do you think is between him and Agatha?”
    Mama looked at me. “I was surprised at the way Agatha treated Ray yesterday, but right now, Simone, that’s not what’s on my mind.”
    “Okay,” I said, knowing we’d talk about it when Mama was ready. I switched off the engine. Nothing moved; things were quiet, very quiet. “Should I blow the horn?” I asked, looking toward the front door, hoping that somebody would come out of the house onto the porch.
    Mama sighed. “No,” she said, easing out of the passenger’s side of the car. “I’ll knock on the door.”
    Without warning, my heart began to pound. “Mama, I’ve got a feeling that something isn’t right!”
    “Simone, trust me, it’s okay,” she said, moving toward the porch.
    I got out of the car, since I was not about to let Mama go near that house without me. Just then, without warning, a German shepherd flew out from around the back of the house like a demon from hell.
    Terrified, Mama stopped dead in her tracks.
    I screamed, jumped back in the car, and slid behind the wheel.
    Clutching her purse in front of her and using it as a shield between them, Mama faced the dog’sbared teeth and warning growl with a no-nonsense air that I knew I could never imitate.
    What