“I’ll send a check to your office,” she tells Julian.
“Okay, Pauline. Be safe getting home.”
He tries to lead her to the front door, but she pauses and looks at Micah.
“You’re mighty tall,” she says, as if surprised. Micah says nothing, but rolls her eyes. “Your mama ever get herself straightened out?”
Micah shoots a look to her grandmother, who shakes her head and shows Pauline out the door.
“Is she gonna pay you for that stuff?” Micah asks Julian after her grandmother and Pauline are on the porch.
“Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn’t. I’m only glad she left. Mercy, that woman has a devil in her.”
I stand there in astonishment and catch Micah staring at me with a grin on her face.
“Welcome to south Alabama,” she says.
* * *
We drive home mostly in silence, and I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to ask Micah on a date tonight.
When we’re inside the city limits, she finally speaks.
“Did you see that Pauline took the necklace I wanted?” she asks her grandmother.
“I did,” she says. “But jewelry wasn’t on our list.”
“I know, but I wanted it for me.”
“What was it?” I ask.
“Oh, it was beautiful. An art deco piece with emeralds. Looked like something straight out of The Great Gatsby.”
“It was pretty,” says Ms. Barbara. “And expensive.”
“She’ll probably throw it in a drawer and never look at it again.”
“Well, one day she’ll die and we’ll be at her estate sale,” Ms. Barbara says. Her tone is so casual it’s humorous. “You’ll get a second shot at it.”
“Evil never dies,” says Micah.
“Does she have kids?” I ask.
“No,” says Ms. Barbara.
“Proof there is a God,” chimes in Micah. “She would’ve been a horrid mother.”
I remember the comment Pauline made about Micah’s own mother, but keep my curiosity to myself.
We pull into the hotel, and Micah parks by my car.
“Rhodes, are you staying another night?” she asks.
“Yes, I am.”
“Well, if you don’t have dinner plans, Micah can take you?—"
“Nana, I have plans,” she says. I pause midway while opening the car door. I guess that takes care of my asking-Micah-out dilemma.
