Deep Fried Trouble (Eugeena Patterson Mysteries) (14 page)

Cedric protested, but Amos insisted on bringing me home from the hospital. It made sense to me. Amos did live next door.

When I stepped out of the truck, I assured Amos I would be fine.

Amos nodded in my direction and said, “If you need anything, just holler.”

A moan escaped my mouth when I closed the front door. I leaned against the door for a few minutes. Cora had the children, so the normal s
ilence of the house greeted me. Well, almost. I could hear barking in the distance. I sighed again. I was getting a bit used to having a dog, but I’d been on the go so much and the dog had needs.

I retrieved Porgy and then opened the back door. My eyes watched for any signs of movement in the darkness while, Porgy ran circles and finally stopped to take care of his business.

Back inside, I added water to the tea kettle, thinking of the two mugs that were on Louise’s counter.
Who came to visit Louise tonight and why?
  I placed a bag of chamomile tea in my mug and eased my way into the kitchen chair, waiting for the water to boil.  Porgy sat, his black button eyes watched me. I didn’t know much about dogs, but he probably needed to be groomed.  “I know you miss your other mama. I do too.”

Missed Mary. Concerned about Louise. Wo
rried about Leesa
.

The tea kettle whistled and I poured the hot w
ater into my mug. I sat down and took one sip, and then I stared at the kitchen chair on the other side of the table. Leesa sat in that chair almost a week ago holding Tyric in her arms.

I put my chin in my hands, elbows on the table. Tears flowed down my face.  “God, I need a miracle right now.  I don’t know what to do. There’s no way Leesa had anything to do with Mary’s death or Louise’s assault. Where is my daughter?” My shoulders heaved. I grabbed a na
pkin from the table and wiped my eyes.

Porgy whined.

“I’m okay little fellow. I’m having a bit of a pity party. I don’t like when things get out of control. I like it when life is lined up and everything is flowing.”

Trust me.

“What?” I looked down at Porgy. He looked back at me. I declare the dog cocked his bushy eyebrow at me as though he was saying, “Are you alright, lady?” I didn’t know if I was or not, but I definitely heard a voice. Or did I? I needed to go to sleep. But how could I? All I could think about was finding more places where Leesa could be.

Trust in the Lord.

I crushed the napkin in my hand and sat very still. I was reminded of a story. Samuel. The little boy who God called out in the middle of the night while he slept. What did that old priest say to him? God’s talking, sit and listen.

So I listened.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

How many years had I referred this verse to ot
hers? The rest of the scripture stated “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

I’m a fixer. Or at least I try to. Some things you can’t fix on your own. Like my marriage. God inte
rvened.  I remember when I went to Ralph with the news that I was pregnant. So many girls around me moaned and groaned about how their boyfriends left them high and dry. Ralph did the right thing. Reluctantly, but he did the right thing.

I will trust the Lord
.

My mother raised me and my siblings by he
rself, supporting us through her work in people’s houses. She was the one who told me, even after I became pregnant with Junior, I would go to school and become a teacher. Something she always wanted to do.

God made a way.
I will trust the Lord
.

Then there was my Leesa. My baby girl after fifteen years of ma
rriage. So like Ralph and so like me. God certainly kept us connected when we were often so disconnected.

I wanted to fix my relationship with Mary, but it seemed life crashed into us tossing us farther and farther away. But I can’t honestly say I went to the Lord to patch up
the friendship.

“Okay Lord, I hear you. I will trust you. I trust that you know where Leesa is and that you will bring her home safe.”

It was after midnight, my eyes were drowsy.  Porgy and I trotted up the stairs. I would start the morning off ready to locate my daughter.

While I didn’t care for him to be on the bed, the dog curled up at the end of the bed around my feet. I was too exhausted to move him. I nee
ded to rest.

I don’t know how long my eyes had been closed, but I jolted awake. Porgy heard whatever I heard and stood on the bed with his nose pointed towards the door. Then he started to jump and bark.

Was it my imagination or was someone downstairs? Did Cedric come by the house anyway?

I reached for the steel baseball bat underneath the bed. I didn’t b
elieve in keeping firearms in the house so I hoped the Lord would make this bat enough of a weapon. 
Lord, you said trust you. Send your angels
.

I crept towards the bedroom door. “Shhh.” Porgy ran around like a maniac. I placed my ear against the door, but couldn’t hear anything.

I wonder if I should call Amos. The man did say call him anytime I needed. I’m not so sure if I cared to be awakened at ... I peered at my digital clock. It read 3:00 a.m.

A crash from downstairs almost sent me to the bathroom. On m
yself.

I yanked the door open and sprinted into the hall. Porgy shot out in front of me heading for the stairs. Whoever was down there was about to be assaulted
by an old woman and a toy dog.

With the bat in front of me, I called out, “Who’s there?” as I pa
dded down the stairs.

I realized too late that I had left my glasses on the nightstand. All I could make out was a shadow by the picture window in the living room. Porgy growled and charged further into the room.

At the bottom of the stairs, I reached my hand and felt for the hall light switch. Light illuminated the hall and part of the living room.

My intruder faced me. 

My intruder appeared a tad bit bedraggled, but I no longer felt threatened. Porgy stopped running around and sat at my feet matching the quizzical look probably on my face. I placed the bat in the air.

“Leesa Patterson, you got some explaining to do. Do you know I could have took you out with this thing?!”

Leesa smiled, “Nice protection, Mama.” Her eyes didn’t match that smile.

I couldn’t wait to hear this explanation, but right now my soul was overjoyed. I dropped the bat and raced over, embracing my long lost daughter. She’d only been gone a week. Felt like months. She was finally home.

“Thank you, Lord. Thank you.”

An hour later, I had grabbed turkey bacon, eggs, and cheese from the fridge.  Before I grilled Leesa I wanted her nourished. Bacon sizzled and I had whipped the eggs until they were nice and fluffy by the time Leesa arrived in the kitchen. Never too early for breakfast.

“Mama, you shouldn’t have cooked. I’m not hungry. And it’s four in the morning.”

“Well, you better find some appetite somewhere because I can’t eat this by myself.”

Leesa sighed and sank into the kitchen chair. I turned the pan off and lifted the bacon slices onto a paper towel. I threw the dish towel around my shoulder. “Well, start explaining. What brought you back? And why you come sneaking in my house like some burglar?”

“I didn’t sneak in. I have a key.”

“I thought something happened to you.”

Leesa eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t plan for all this to happen. I saw my face on the ele
ven-o-clock news. It occurred to me it was time to come back.”

“So, last Saturday you had every intentions of dropping off the kids. Oh and by the way, one of them, practically a newborn and u
nknown to me until seven days ago. Then, you high-tailed it to wherever. Did it not occur to you to ask me instead of assuming I would take care of your children?”

“It’s not like what it seemed.”

I sat down and stared at my daughter, the breakfast in progress forgotten about. “Tell me. Make me understand, Leesa. Does this have something to do with that Chris boy?”

My daughter’s eyes grew wide. “What do you know about him?”

“I met him. Thursday night at your apartment. Kind of an intimidating fellow, isn’t he?”

“Chris isn’t all that bad.” Leesa kept her eyes on the table, fascina
ted by the plastic fruit in the center. “He was at my apartment?”

“Mrs. Hattie said he’d been looking for you pe
rsistently. Why didn’t you tell me about him?”

“I mentioned him. I told you I had a boyfriend months ago. I just felt bad about ... Mama, I really didn’t want to have Tyric.” Leesa’s face crumbled and her shoulders shook.

I moved my chair over and rubbed the back of her shoulders. “Things happen sometimes that we wished didn’t.” I know when I found out I was pregnant with Junior, I thought my whole world would come to an end. I could imagine what Leesa was thinking, already struggling with Kisha.

She lifted her head. “I love Chris in a way, but I don’t know if I want to marry him and I wasn’t pla
nning to have his baby.”

I could have went into a spiel about how she could have used prote
ction or better yet kept her legs closed, but now wasn’t the time, and I can’t say I was one to talk. Though the only man I ever was with was the same one I married and had my other two children with. Life is different these days. People make choices not to marry. If there was no love in the first place, sometimes it’s better not to if it’s only going to lead to divorce later.

“Has Chris harmed you?”

“He can be intense, but he’s a good guy.”

“Are you trying to convince me or you? That’s not what you said in that notebook.”

“What? Mama, you read my journal. You did that when I was a teenager.”

“Well, excuse me, but it seems to be the only way I can get info
rmation, because you certainly didn’t provide answers.”

“I don’t tell you stuff sometimes because you can be so judgme
ntal.”

“What?” I nearly jumped out of the chair. “I’m your mother. I brought you into this world.  I have a right to look after your best and this
doesn’t
explain where you have been and why you left. You
are
a mother!”

Leesa looked down, her bottom lip trembled. She choked out, “It’s not the same.”

I sat back. “Baby girl, what’s not the same?”

Leesa wailed. “I don’t care for Tyric like Kisha. I mean he’s my b
aby, but I have a hard time with him. He cries more than she did. I want to shake him so bad sometimes. He’s just different. And something about me is different when I’m with him.”

“Oh, Leesa.” I stood and went to hug my daug
hter. Tight. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you let me help you?”

Leesa trembled and took a long deep sigh. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I couldn’t handle not wanting to be pregnant, then having this baby and then ... disappointing you.”

I sat in the chair beside Leesa and held her hand. We sat in silence for a long time. I tried to process all that Leesa told me and knew I needed to get her some help.

Leesa broke the silence. “Did they already have Mary’s funeral?”

“Yes, it was Thursday. The same day they found your car by the side of the road. What was that about?”

Leesa shrugged. “I ran out of gas. If they checked the needle they would have saw it was on ‘E.’”

Well, what could I say to that?

“You know. I went to Mary’s house.”

I held my breath. “When?”

“Last Friday afternoon. I guess that’s why it shocked me when you said she had died. She’d sent me a letter about finding the ring. You know
the ring
that started it all.”

I had to chuckle. “Where is the ring?”

“I pawned it.”

“So, that explains the money in the bag? What exactly were you pla
nning to do with the money? A diaper bag isn’t exactly secure. Don’t you still have the bank account we set up when you were in high school?”

“I wasn’t sure what to do with it. I was so shocked that I received so much money from paw
ning it. Sometimes I feel like I need to make a fresh start. You know put some space between Chris and me.”

Something about her strained relationship with Chris still made me u
neasy. I frowned, “I thought you said he was a good guy. By the way, why aren’t you letting the man see his son?”

Leesa gulped. “Let’s not talk about Chris an
ymore. Anyway, I need to tell you about my visit with Mary. She was older, still pretty. We talked about Jenny a little.  I told her it would be great to get you two talking again.”

My cheeks burned. “You did?” My daughter had more courage than I did to mend past wounds. “You didn’t notice anyone or an
ything unusual around the house?”

“I noticed Mary watching the clock. Maybe someone else was co
ming for a visit. Are they still looking for a suspect?”

             
Detective Wilkes heeded my pleas about not mentioning in the news that Leesa was wanted as a person of interest in Mary’s case. “Yes. There was a witness that saw someone near the house.”

“Really? Who?”

“Someone reported seeing a woman with an aqua blue Nissan.”

“What?” Leesa lurched in her seat. “The police think I’m a suspect.”

“Just a person of interest. You probably were the last person to see Mary alive. At least besides whoever came to see her after you left. Why didn’t you come by the house?”

“I did come by the house, but you were out. That man next door, I know he saw me.”

My ears perked up. “What man next door?”

Leesa pointed to the side of the house. “Over there?” He was out mowing his lawn or something.

“Amos?”

“I don’t know his name. He’s an old guy, prob
ably dad’s age, but he looks nice for his age.”

He looked nice alright, but there were some things about Amos I a
pparently didn’t know. Or rather he chose not to tell me. Was he the one who told the police he saw my daughter at Mary’s house? Because of him my daughter was fingered as a suspect.

Oh, I wasn’t too happy about that at all.