Page 61 of Whiskey Lullaby
“I appreciate that, Betty.” Momma smiled. I wondered if it botheredher.
“I’m sure you’re glad to be home, Hannah,” she said. I knew she was only trying to be polite, but I had to grit my teeth and stare at the file working over the edge of my nail. I was only home because of my mother’s health. So no, I wasn’t glad to behome.
“Oh, Claire, doesn’t that Noah boy from over in Sylacauga work at the farm now?” Betty wiggled in her chair, trying to straightenup.
“Yes,” Mommasaid.
“What do you know abouthim?”
“Notmuch.”
“Well, aren’t all those boys John takes in for the summer in some kindatrouble?”
She practically leaned across my lap to whisper. “Sinners ledastray.”
“Well, all are led astray from time to time,Betty…”
“Oh, he’s led astray alright. Martha, you know, she works at the Tackle and Gas Stop, she said he’s always gallivanting in with a new girl every weekend, usually drunk as a skunk. Said he’s the sole reason she has to restock the condoms eachmonth.”
“At least he’s using a condom,” Judy said. I could feel my cheeks heating, my chestflaming.
The hum of the hairdryer stopped, and Betty sighed. “Well, condom or not, boys like that are no good. It’s a blessing that John takes them in. They’ll never amount to anything good in my book. Bless his poor grandma, Martha said she’s a lovely lady, just had a badapple.”
My fingers twitched. “You know,” I blurted. “You probably shouldn’t judge someone you don’tknow.”
“Oh,” Betty turned to face me, and Judy stopped filing my nails. “You know him,Hannah?”
“Yes. Verywell.”
“I see.” The way her lips puckered while her judgmental glare skimmed me from head to toe caused my skin to crawl. “We’ll be sure to pray foryouthen.”
“Neither one of them need your prayers, Betty,” Momma said, a slight shake in hertone.
Daisy laughed from the other side of the salon, and I turned in the chair to see her push up from her seat. “I wouldn’t worry, Betty, from what I hear, he doesn’t go for good girls. But, you might want to be careful Hannah, hanging out with him could tarnish your reputation.” The smile that crossed her lips looked about as genuine as her boobjob.
Judy cleared her throat and grabbed the nail polish, shaking it. “You know, I think this color will really pop against your fair skin, Hannah, I reallydo.”
The rest of the visit to the salon was oddly quiet. For the first time, likely since those doors had opened in 1985, the only noise was the sound of the hairdryers and the jets to the pedicuretubs.
After our nails dried,me and Momma went to Ruby’s for lunch. It was a rundown diner on the outskirts of town, but they had amazing soul food. Collard greens and fried pickles. It was Momma’s favorite, and I knew as soon as the new treatment began, her appetite would be gone. We gorged on the buffet and finished it off with Ruby’s famous Silk ChocolatePie.
Momma licked the end of the fork, rolling her eyes back in her head. “That has to be the best chocolate pie in the entireworld.”
“I’d have to agree.” I shoved my plate across the table with nothing but a dollop of whipped cream left. I caught a glimpse of Martha from the Bait and Tackle as she shuffled through the buffet line. All it did was remind me of the hateful tone in Betty’s voice when she talked about Noah, and God, did that grate my nerves. People gossiped, and gossip spreads like wildfire in a small town like Rockford. Each person adds a little something to make the tale juicier. So what if he’d slept with all those girls. He hadn’t even tried to sleep with me? He respected me—after all, thatiswhat a woman is supposed to want, isn’t it? A man who respects her, but if it was, I wondered why my stomach was knotting. What happened when I did end up sleeping with him, what would that make me? Just another girl who lost her way for the guy with the prettyvoice?
“What are you over there thinking about?” Mommaasked.
“Oh…” I glanced up just as the waiter placed the check on the table. “Nothing.” I didn’t even check the bill, just laid my credit card on top ofit.
Her eyes narrowed. “You’re my baby girl, I know when something’s botheringyou.”
“I’m justtired.”
She reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “Don’t let what Betty said about Noah get toyou.”
I sunk down in the seat a little. Embarrassed that my mother was calling meout.
“You feel like you’ve known him forever, don’tyou?”
