Page 52 of Home Tears

“How’d you know?”

“Because I know my daughters. And I know how they don’t enjoy each other. You talk to Mae. That means you don’t talk to Kathryn.”

“I thought my mother got along with Kathryn.” They always had. She could remember Sundays spent together. Holidays. Birthday parties.

“Nuh huh.” Sandra leaned forward and grabbed a pencil awkwardly. Her hands shook, but she managed to keep a hold on it. “Kathryn, Danny, and Mae hated each other. No, that’s not right. Mae loved Danny, but Danny knew who she could be around and who she couldn’t. Your Aunt Mae was wild back in her day. Too wild, but she never listened to me. Hated me, she did.”

“But Aunt Kathryn and Momma…”

“No.” She waved the pencil at her. “Kathy and Danny had two things in common. Presentation. And their taste in men. Their taste in men was awful.” Sandra sounded disgusted. The loose skin under her chin was wiggling as she kept waving the pencil in the air. She nodded to Dani. “I see how you been raised. You been raised like Mae. You look like your momma, but you handle like Mae. Not much Kathryn in you.”

“Why didn’t I know about you?”

Her grandmomma lowered the pencil to her lap. “You have to come for a second visit for that one.”

Dani leaned forward. This grandmother spoke of ‘Danny,’ not ‘Dani.’ Dani knew Mae was careful when she talked about her mother, but they shared the same name. She knew they shared the same nickname, but it felt different coming from this woman. This was almost a stranger, and in a way, Dani hadn’t felt closer to her mother than she did at that moment. She wanted to hear more about ‘Danny.’

“Why were you kept a secret if my mom came to visit?”

She snorted. “I’d like to know why your momma stopped coming to visit. I’d like to know what my granddaughters were like. I’d like to know how my daughters are doing, if they’re happy or miserable. I’d even like to know if they’re living on the streets. There’s a whole hell of a lot more that I’d like to know than you, I guarantee that.” She paused, then abruptly asked, “You a drinker?”

“What?”

“I know what Mae was like. A drunk and a whore. You got a little of that in you?” She didn’t sound accusatory, just curious.

Dani flushed. She rarely drank, but got drunk the previous night. And she rarely had sex, but had it that morning.

“No.” Her grandmother answered her own question. “A drunk and whore wouldn’t blush like that. You ain’t no drunk and whore. Tell me.” She leaned forward. “Mae still like that?”

What kind of family did she come from? Kathryn would’ve fainted at the nerve. Dani had a hard time understanding her Aunt Kathryn had lived with this woman, as a mother.

“No.”

“What is she then?” She barked out. “What she doing nowadays?”

“She owns a bar. She’s really successful. You should be proud of her.”

“What’s the name of it?” Her grandmomma had hawk eyes. They followed every twitch, every swallow like a mouse two miles away.

“Mae’s Grill.”

“Are you serious?” Dani was startled by the sudden smile that spread over her face. All the wrinkles were pushed back, and her face distorted into a happy human being.

“Yes.”

She tipped her head back and laughed. “All the workers talk about that place. They love it. Once a week they put in orders, and James drives down and gets them. Her food is good. Damn good. Just like my own momma’s cooking. How is Mae?”

“She’s good. She owns the house next door to the grill, and she’s letting me stay at her lake cabin. She’s happy and sober.”

“Still got the men, I bet.” Sandra harrumphed, but there was no condescension behind it. “Tell me about Erica. I want to know about the one who died.”

“I don’t really know who Erica was when she died.”

“Why not? You’re her sister.”

“You don’t know about your own daughters!”

“No.” A breath. “No, I sure don’t, and I’ll tell you next visit why I don’t know them. I want to know why you don’t know your sister now. This visit.”

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