God Still Don't Like Ugly by Mary Monroe Read Free Book Online

about.” She clutched my arm. Her knee started shaking against mine as she rose from her seat, pulling me up with her.
    Lillimae started waving with both hands to the woman in the car.
    But the woman shook her head and yelled, “Lillimae, your mama died!” Then she rolled her window back up and drove off, leaving Lillimae and me on the porch staring in slack-jawed amazement until the car turned the corner.
    Lillimae and I sat on the front porch in silence for about five minutes after the woman had delivered the news about Lillimae’s mother’s death. Finally, she turned to me and spoke through trembling lips that suddenly looked so dry I thought they’d crack. “What do you want to eat for dinner?” She sniffed and scratched the side of her neck, her eyes blinking hard. I noticed that when Lillimae was upset or angry, her eyes looked darker. Right now they looked as dark as mine.
    “I’m not that hungry. Anything you fix is fine with me. Uh . . . I’m sorry about your mama.”
    GOD STILL DON’T LIKE UGLY
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    Instead of speaking again, Lillimae sighed and gently rubbed my thigh. The glider squeaked like it was in pain as we wobbled up to our feet at the same time and shuffled into the living room. I followed Lillimae into the kitchen where she grabbed a dish towel off of the table and started wiping her face.
    Standing next to her, reared back on my legs, I asked, “Is there anybody you can call?”
    She whirled around to face me. Her eyes were now red with dark shadows already forming beneath them. “For what?”
    “About your mama. Don’t you want to know how she died?”
    Lillimae shrugged, sucked in her breath, and shook her head. “I’ll find out soon enough,” she told me, narrowing her eyes.
    CHAPTER 10
    Lillimae and I spent the afternoon in front of the television watching game shows and The Phil Donahue Show . Around five, Daddy stumbled in with a bucket full of catfish. Two hours later, over a dinner of fish and more greens, Lillimae turned to Daddy and told him,
    “Roxanne came by today.” Lillimae had dabbed on some makeup, but it didn’t help. She couldn’t conceal her pain.
    Daddy stopped chewing and looked from Lillimae to me and back to Lillimae with his eyes bulging. “Well, now I know why you lookin’
    so much like hell, that I can smell the brimstone.” He snorted. “What did Roxanne want?” Fresh black-and-gray stubble on Daddy’s rough face reminded me of a briar patch. He dragged his fingers through his knotty hair and sniffed. “Musta been somethin’ deep for her to come by here in broad daylight.”
    “She came by to tell me that Mama died,” Lillimae muttered, her eyes on the plate of untouched food in front of her.
    Daddy leaned back in his wobbly chair. Scratching the side of his face, he muttered to Lillimae, “Well, bless your soul.” Then he let out a loud, deep breath. “Them fish sure was bitin’ today. Them bad boys was all but jumpin’ out the lake into my bucket on they own.”
    It was an awkward moment for us all. I forced myself to eat as much as I could. Without a word, Lillimae pushed herself away from the GOD STILL DON’T LIKE UGLY
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    table and waddled back to the living room. Daddy turned to me with his eyes narrowed.
    “I bet that piece of news about Lillimae’s mama made your day,” he hissed, his jaw twitching. His words shocked and angered me.
    “Well, it didn’t,” I snapped, surprised that Daddy would think I’d celebrate the death of a woman I didn’t know. “My mama raised me better than that,” I added proudly, rising.
    I didn’t know what to expect the next day or the rest of my visit but I had already prepared myself to expect the worst. She didn’t say it, but I assumed Lillimae wanted to be left alone. So instead of joining her in the living room, I decided to turn in for the night and try to get some sleep. I couldn’t hear the television but I did hear a brief, muffled conversation between Daddy and Lillimae in the