It's Not Like I Knew Her by Pat Spears Read Free Book Online Page A

up.”
    â€œMa’am, I do appreciate the fine job you’re doing. But about me taking her off your hands .…” He paused, and the air went out of Aunt Pearl in a deep sigh. “I’ll need to talk more with my wife. Maybe come again before the next school term.”
    Jodie bristled at his bald-faced lie. Since when did he talk with his wife where she or Jewel were concerned?
    â€œMr. Dozier, please understand that I never meant for her stay to be anything but temporary. If she’s to ever make a proper young lady, she’ll need a firmer hand than mine.”
    â€œYes’m, I understand. But, there’s the balance of the school term to consider.” He tapped his hat against his knee and glanced toward the door. He’d had his say, but her aunt wasn’t ready to give up.
    â€œSir, that’s not exactly the problem it might have once been.” She bit her tongue. “But, yes, you’re right. School’s end would be a better plan.”
    Jodie exhaled, relieved that her current school suspension hadn’t become part of their bargaining. Red didn’t need to know she’d pulled her knife on Tommy Lee. If she had it to do over, she’d do the same. No boy was ever again going to pin her and feel her up.
    â€œMa’am, if you’re strapped for money, I’ll gladly pay.” Red stood and handed Aunt Pearl a crisp bill from his wallet. “And I’d appreciate you passing along these funny books.” He smiled sheepishly. “Her favorites, I believe.”
    â€œI’m sorry, Mr. Dozier. I must ask that you not leave those.” She stared at his big hands as he rolled the comics into a tight tube.
    Too bad he’d wasted his money. Aunt Pearl had set down the rule of no comics as punishment for what happened with Tommy Lee.
    Concealed behind the hedge at the corner of the house, Jodie watched as Red crossed the yard, the rolled comics clutched in his hand. Reaching the car, he turned and squinted back in the direction of the house. He bent and placed the comics on the ground, got into the Dodge, and drove away.
    Why had he bothered if he was just going to drive away like all the times before? She got a sinking feeling that after hearing peculiar , he was gone forever. Then it suited her fine that he’d come only to hear about Jewel. Let him stop by the cemetery, put flowers on her grave. Not that it could make a tinker’s damn to her now.
    She walked to where he’d stood, picked up the comics, and glanced back to see if her aunt was watching from the front window. She’d take his damn funny books, trade with one of the kids on the block. That way, it didn’t have to mean she’d ever expected anything from Red Dozier.
    T he last day of the school term came with no word from Red, and it pleased Jodie that Aunt Pearl had stopped repeating the certainty of his return. In her book, he was no more dependable than her mother had been, although Jewel had the better excuse. Rather, she believed her best bet lay with the envelopes that arrived monthly. Jodie had to hand it to her timid aunt; she was a damn sight better at squeezing money from Red than Jewel had been. She had begun to relax, believing Aunt Pearl had come to view her staying as profitable, if not ideal.
    Jodie’s end of the year report card sat propped against the salt and pepper shakers in the center of the kitchen table, along with a vase of mixed flowers from the yard. The aroma of chicken, deep frying in the big Dutch oven, wafted through the house, and supper promised to be as close to a celebration as Aunt Pearl permitted.
    Jodie scrubbed her face and hands and stared at her image in the cloudy mirror. She had none of her mother’s good looks, and any similarities ended with their tar black hair, hers impossible to drag a comb through. Aunt Pearl had said she had her mama’s way of looking on others with suspicion. She straightened her