some nasty old
man"
"Did he have any friends here?"
She sipped her tea. "Hmm ... he'd go to church pretty
often. He went to New Life Baptist, here in town. I think he
was good friends with the senior pastor, Reverend Brown.
I've been going to the church since I was little, and I'd see
them talking sometimes."
David made a mental note. "I might visit the church tomorrow morning."
The waitress returned. She placed a dish of peach cobbler
on the table, and two spoons.
"I hope y'all saved room for some dessert," the waitress
said. "Willie says this is on the house, 'cuz the Hunter boy's
new in town, and y'all make such a pretty couple, too"
"Ooh, that's so sweet," Nia said. She called out across the
room, "Thank you, Willie!"
David couldn't wipe the embarrassed grin off his face.
"I might as well tell you," Nia said, dipping a spoon into
the cobbler, "in a tiny town like this, an unattached young
man and woman having lunch is big news. By this evening,
they'll be speculating about when we'll get married and
what we'll name our kids."
"You are too much." He laughed. "Speaking of this
evening, are you doing anything?"
"Oh, yeah. There's so much going on in Mason's Corner.
I run into fine, available young men all the time here, you
know. My social calendar is kicking."
He grinned. "How about dinner and a movie?"
"We'll have to drive to Southaven. They don't have a theater here in town. Is that okay?"
"That's fine with me"
"Okay, pick me up at wait a minute. You don't have a
girlfriend waiting for you in Atlanta, do you? Or a wife?"
"I'm an unrestricted free agent. No girlfriend, no wife.
What about you?"
"Nader. I date here and there, but like I was saying,
Mason's Corner doesn't exactly have it going on socially."
He was more relieved than he dared to let on. "So when
should I pick you up? Seven?"
"Seven sounds good"
"Cool. That gives me time to go home and cut the grass.
The lawn hasn't been cut in weeks"
"Wait a couple hours, until it cools off some. I don't want
you to have a heatstroke"
"Good point. It gets hot in Atlanta, too, but this is a whole
new level of heat"
"Ain't nothing like summer in Mississippi, honey," she
said, exaggerating her southern twang.
They finished eating. After he paid the bill, he walked Nia
to her car. They hugged, and she felt wonderful against
him warm and firm, yet as soft and inviting as a favorite
pillow. Her clean, feminine scent filled his nostrils and made
him dizzy.
She gave him her phone number and directions to her
house.
"See you tonight," she said.
Smiling, he watched her drive away. What a beautiful, intelligent woman. He could not wait to see her again that
evening.
His gaze traveled across the blue horizon and stopped at
the old, antebellum mansion. Jubilee. Sitting on the hill, it
overlooked the town, like a forbidden castle.
His smile fell away.
Junior Hodges had been working all day.
Every Saturday throughout the spring, summer, and fall,
Junior awoke at sunrise, and if it wasn't raining, went to the
tool shed behind their trailer home, unlocked it, and rolled
out his old John Deere lawn mower.
He'd push his mower across town, making stops at each
house on his list.
There was good money in cutting grass. He'd earn anywhere from ten to twenty-five bucks per yard. When he
reached the end of his list, he'd usually made over a hundred
dollars, sometimes as much as a hundred and fifty, depending on how generous people were feeling and if he could
squeeze in some extra lawns or quick jobs.
Sometimes, kids made fun of him, calling him dumb,
teasing him for being a thirty-year-old man who made a living doing odd jobs like lawn mowing. Junior didn't let their
mean words stop him. He'd push his mower through town cutting grass until he was an old man, God willing. He didn't dare tell those youngsters how much money he was making. He didn't want any competition.
Still, sometimes the teasing hurt. He wondered whether
man"
"Did he have any friends here?"
She sipped her tea. "Hmm ... he'd go to church pretty
often. He went to New Life Baptist, here in town. I think he
was good friends with the senior pastor, Reverend Brown.
I've been going to the church since I was little, and I'd see
them talking sometimes."
David made a mental note. "I might visit the church tomorrow morning."
The waitress returned. She placed a dish of peach cobbler
on the table, and two spoons.
"I hope y'all saved room for some dessert," the waitress
said. "Willie says this is on the house, 'cuz the Hunter boy's
new in town, and y'all make such a pretty couple, too"
"Ooh, that's so sweet," Nia said. She called out across the
room, "Thank you, Willie!"
David couldn't wipe the embarrassed grin off his face.
"I might as well tell you," Nia said, dipping a spoon into
the cobbler, "in a tiny town like this, an unattached young
man and woman having lunch is big news. By this evening,
they'll be speculating about when we'll get married and
what we'll name our kids."
"You are too much." He laughed. "Speaking of this
evening, are you doing anything?"
"Oh, yeah. There's so much going on in Mason's Corner.
I run into fine, available young men all the time here, you
know. My social calendar is kicking."
He grinned. "How about dinner and a movie?"
"We'll have to drive to Southaven. They don't have a theater here in town. Is that okay?"
"That's fine with me"
"Okay, pick me up at wait a minute. You don't have a
girlfriend waiting for you in Atlanta, do you? Or a wife?"
"I'm an unrestricted free agent. No girlfriend, no wife.
What about you?"
"Nader. I date here and there, but like I was saying,
Mason's Corner doesn't exactly have it going on socially."
He was more relieved than he dared to let on. "So when
should I pick you up? Seven?"
"Seven sounds good"
"Cool. That gives me time to go home and cut the grass.
The lawn hasn't been cut in weeks"
"Wait a couple hours, until it cools off some. I don't want
you to have a heatstroke"
"Good point. It gets hot in Atlanta, too, but this is a whole
new level of heat"
"Ain't nothing like summer in Mississippi, honey," she
said, exaggerating her southern twang.
They finished eating. After he paid the bill, he walked Nia
to her car. They hugged, and she felt wonderful against
him warm and firm, yet as soft and inviting as a favorite
pillow. Her clean, feminine scent filled his nostrils and made
him dizzy.
She gave him her phone number and directions to her
house.
"See you tonight," she said.
Smiling, he watched her drive away. What a beautiful, intelligent woman. He could not wait to see her again that
evening.
His gaze traveled across the blue horizon and stopped at
the old, antebellum mansion. Jubilee. Sitting on the hill, it
overlooked the town, like a forbidden castle.
His smile fell away.
Junior Hodges had been working all day.
Every Saturday throughout the spring, summer, and fall,
Junior awoke at sunrise, and if it wasn't raining, went to the
tool shed behind their trailer home, unlocked it, and rolled
out his old John Deere lawn mower.
He'd push his mower across town, making stops at each
house on his list.
There was good money in cutting grass. He'd earn anywhere from ten to twenty-five bucks per yard. When he
reached the end of his list, he'd usually made over a hundred
dollars, sometimes as much as a hundred and fifty, depending on how generous people were feeling and if he could
squeeze in some extra lawns or quick jobs.
Sometimes, kids made fun of him, calling him dumb,
teasing him for being a thirty-year-old man who made a living doing odd jobs like lawn mowing. Junior didn't let their
mean words stop him. He'd push his mower through town cutting grass until he was an old man, God willing. He didn't dare tell those youngsters how much money he was making. He didn't want any competition.
Still, sometimes the teasing hurt. He wondered whether
Similar Books
