Page 37 of Freedom to Love

“Why?”

“Just go get ready, okay?”

He walked off to shower and she went down to the dank, soil smelling basement. She again switched on the flashlight and began searching for the garden spade. She found it where she left it years ago, stuck in an old flower pot from when she’d last planted spring flowers. It was amazing how some things changed and some things didn’t. As if Billy and Bea were mere ghosts sleeping and eating in the house but doing and touching little else. She turned off the flashlight and went out through the back basement door, locking it behind her. She walked across the lawn, through the big pecan trees her grandfather had planted to her great-aunt’s house. She pulled open the glass weather door and knocked as she entered. Ice cold air welcomed her. May preferred it arctic cold, and Brynn always enjoyed it for the first fifteen minutes, then she always ended up hugging herself, frozen.

“May, it’s Brynn!” She waited by the door taking in the smell of spice and antique furniture.

A voice came from the kitchen. “Well, I’ll be, it’s Brynny.” Her aunt appeared and walked slowly to where she stood, arms open for an embrace. Brynn hugged her and teared up. May had always been her rock, and the thought of her getting on in years bothered her. She seemed to be shrinking, and she was feeble looking but still dressed in pressed pants and a nice blouse. Her hair was perfectly set and she still smelled the same. White Shoulders.

“How are you, young’un?”

Brynn forced a smile. “I’m okay, May. I’m okay.”

May patted her abdomen. “Do they not feed you in prison?” Her crinkled eyes showed concern and she backed away offering Brynn a seat.

“Not anything you would want to eat,” Brynn said, sitting on the maroon leather sofa. May sat next to her and held her hands.

“Well, are you hungry? I just made an egg salad for later. But I could make you a sandwich now.”

“No, no thanks. Not right now.”

May smiled and studied her closely. The woman could see things, sense things. Not a word needed to be spoken.

“What is it, child? Bea or Billy?”

Brynn sighed. “Both.”

“I’ve been feeding Billy and he’s been up here doing his wash.”

“We have no power, he has no money, so that doesn’t surprise me.”

May patted her hand. “And Bea?”

“I have no idea. I don’t know where she is. Apparently, she got Billy into delivering drugs. So he quit his job. His good job. Now he’s got nothing, and he’s been living that way since Bea came to get me.”

“I don’t know what all’s been going on. I’ve been telling you as much as I can. You know Bea doesn’t come up here since I stopped giving her money. And Billy, he comes, but he won’t tell me things.”

“I know.” Brynn closed her eyes. “I appreciate what you do. We’d be lost without you.”

May watched her. “What else, honey. A policeman? I saw one bring you in. Got all the phones a ringing around here.”

Brynn pressed her lips together. “That, Aunt May, is a story for another day. Right now, I need to borrow your Lincoln to go get some money and pay some bills, get some food.”

“Of course.” She smiled. “You know where the keys are. Are you sure you won’t have a sandwich?”

Brynn kissed her cheek. “Later, I promise. Billy and I will come eat with you.”

Brynn crossed to the kitchen to retrieve the keys. When she returned, she hugged May again and exited to her front porch. The mosquitoes were already out, floating around the lawn ornaments, seeking, searching, like little sharks. She smacked her legs as she opened the old Lincoln’s large door, tossed in the spade, and slid inside to start the engine. She backed out and drove to her house where she honked for Billy. He came out and jogged to the car, tugging on his ball cap. When he climbed in she could smell the Irish Spring on him.

“You going to tell me why we’re going to Nanny’s tree?”

She put the car in gear and drove up Williams Lane. “To get some money.”

“There’s money at Nanny’s tree?”

“There is.”

He sat back and didn’t ask any more questions, and she didn’t offer any more information. The money had been her well-kept secret and she’d promised to never tell anyone about it and to only use it in emergencies. Her Nanny had left it to her when she’d died, and Brynn had been smart enough to bury it out where her grandmother had grown up. Far away from Bea.

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