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I ate an early di
Ori put her fork down and pushed her plate back. "I best get things picked up. Maxine's coming by in the morning."
A
"I asked her to come special. Time to spring-clean."
"You don't have to do that, Mother. Nobody does any spring cleaning out here."
"Well, I know I don't have to. What's that got to do with it? Place is a mess. Dirt everywhere. It gets on my nerves. I may be an invalid, but I'm not infirm."
"Nobody said you were."
Ori plowed right on. "I still have some use, even if it's not appreciated."
"Of course you're appreciated," A
"About nine, she said. We'll have to tear this whole place apart."
"I'll take care of my room," A
"Well, I'm sure Maxine wouldn't do that. Besides, I already told her to do the floors in there and take down the drapes. I can't turn around and tell her the opposite."
"Don't worry about it. I'll tell her myself."
"Don't you hurt her feelings,"'Ori warned.
"All I'm going to do is tell her I'll clean my own room."
"What do you have against the woman? She's always liked you."
Royce stirred irritably. "Goddamn it, Ori. There's such a thing as privacy. If she doesn't want Maxine in her room, then so be it. Keep her out of my room, too, while you're at it. I feel the same way A
"Well, pardon me, I'm sure!" Ori snorted.
A
Ori was now a
Royce focused on me. "Who'd you talk to today?"
I hate being quizzed at the table. It's one of the reasons I choose to eat alone. I mentioned my conversation with Daisy and the brief interview with the dentist. I was detailing some of the background information I'd picked up on Jean when he cut me off.
"Waste of time," he said. I paused, losing my train of thought. "That isn't clear."
"I'm not paying you to talk to that pansy of a dentist."
"Then I'll do it on my own time," I said. "Man's an idiot. Never had a thing to do with Jean. Wouldn't give her the time of day. Thought he was too good. She told me that herself." Royce coughed into his fist.
"He did date her briefly."
A
"Do what I say and leave him out of this."
"Pop, if Kinsey thinks he might provide useful information, why not let her pursue it?"
"Who's paying the woman, you or me?" A
Now the pouting crossed the table from Ori to Royce. A
Ori snatched her cane and began to hobble toward the living room.
"Sorry for the interruption. Her temper's land of short," he said to me.
"Is not," she fired back over her shoulder.
Royce ignored her so he could concentrate on me. "That's all you talked to? Daisy and that… tooth fairy?"
"I spoke to Shana Timberlake."
"What for?"
Ori paused at the door, not wanting to miss a trick. "Maxine says she's took up with Dwight Shales. Can you believe that?"
"Oh, Mother. Don't be ridiculous. Dwight wouldn't have anything to do with her."
"It's the truth. Maxine saw her getting out of his car over by the Shop 'n' Go last Saturday."
"So what?"
"At six A.M.?" Ori said.
"Maxine doesn't know what she's talking about."
"She most certainly does. She was right about Sarah Brunswick and her yardman, wasn't she?"
Royce turned around and stared at her pointedly. "Do you mind?" A
"I'm trying to find out who fathered Jean's baby. I gather he was married."
"She mention any names?" Royce asked. A
"She says Jean didn't tell her, but she must suspect someone. I'll let a little time pass and try her again. Bailey indicated Jean was trying to find out who her own father was, and that might open up some possibilities."
Royce pinched his nose, sniffing, and then he waved the idea away. "Probably some trucker she took up with. Woman never was particular. Long as a fella had money in his pocket, she'd do anything he asked." A second mild bout of coughing shook him and I had to wait till it had passed before I responded.
"If it was a trucker, why conceal his identity? It almost has to be somebody in the community, and probably somebody respectable."
"Hogwash. Nobody respectable would be caught dead with that whore…"
"Somebody who didn't want it known, then," I said.
"Bullshit! I don't believe a word of it-"
I cut him off in a flash. "Royce, I know what I'm doing. Would you just back off and let me get on with it?"
He stared at me dangerously, his face growing dark. "What?"
"You hired me to do a job and I'm doing it. I don't want to have to justify and defend every move."
Royce's temper flared like lighter fluid squirted on a fire. His hand shot out and he pointed a shaking finger in my face. "I'm not taking any sass from you, sis!"
"Great. And I won't take any sass from you. Either I do this my way or you can find somebody else."
Royce came halfway out of his chair, leaning on the table. "How dare you talk to me that way!" His face was flaming and his arms trembled where they bore his weight.