The Dry Grass of August(74)

I asked Mama, “What’s a rebar?”

“They use them in their business.” She turned her back to me and wiped around the burners on the stove.

Stell stood. “I need a pedicure.” She gave me a sidelong look that told me she wanted me to come with her.

When I got to Stell’s room, she was sitting on her bed, polish brush suspended in air, three toes on her left foot still unpainted. “Have you told Mama what Link said at Mary’s funeral?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m keeping my head down.”

“Tell her.” When she tried to spread her stubby toes, they hardly moved. She touched up a spot and blew on the wet polish. “Daddy’s in trouble.”

“What’re you talking about?”

She put the brush to her pinkie. “Sometimes you are so out of it.”

“Because nobody ever tells me anything.”

“Link told you something.”

I breathed in the sharp smell of the polish.

“If Daddy did something wrong, we’ll all pay for it.”There were tears in her eyes. “Our name will be mud in this town.” She put the cap back on the bottle and twisted it tight. “Tell Mama what Link said.” She didn’t look up.

I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and put on my pajamas. Finally, there was nothing else to do.

Mama was at her dressing table, already in her nightgown, wiping cold cream from her face with a tissue. “What is it, Jubie?”

I sat on the foot of her bed. “At Mary’s funeral, Link told me to ask Daddy about a room behind the warehouse.”

Mama looked at me in the mirror. “Behind the—there aren’t any rooms, just a wall with bays that open to the train tracks.”

“Link said to ask Daddy about it.”

“Where’s your father?”

I stood. “You want me to get him?”

“No, I want to know where he is.”

“I guess he’s still in the den.”

“Close the door.”

I shut the bedroom door and sat back down.

Mama lit a cigarette. “Exactly what did Link say?”

“He told me to ask Daddy about a room behind the warehouse.”

Mama threw away a tissue, then rearranged her silver comb and brush. “Are you sure Link didn’t say ‘beside’ the warehouse?”

“He said behind or maybe in back of.”

She began brushing her hair off her forehead. “There’s a storage shed built onto the side of the building. Maybe that’s what he meant.” She glanced at me in the mirror, took a drag on her cigarette and put it out. Her face was shiny and she looked tired. “I’ll look into it, Jubie.Thanks for telling me.” She stood and held out her arms. “Hug good night?”

Her shoulder blades felt like bird bones. I kissed her cheek, which was slightly sticky from the cold cream. “Night, Mama.”





The next day, Aunt Rita came over. She looked nervous and uncomfortable.

I was scraping carrots for supper. Mama poured coffee for the two of them and told me to scram. “Put the carrots in water. We won’t be long.”

As I filled a bowl with water, Aunt Rita said, “I’ve talked with Stamos and he—”

“Jubie?” Mama looked at me. They weren’t going to say anything until I left. I went through the swinging door into the front hall, then tiptoed down the basement steps to Mary’s bathroom, where I could hear Mama clear as a bell.

“Stamos knew about it, then.”

“Not about the pedestal for the diving board. He’d have closed it down.”

“What did he know?”

A cup clinked in a saucer. “I just wish Bill hadn’t fired Joe Templeton,” Aunt Rita said.

“Joe was embezzling, for God sakes.”

“But that’s when Stamos took over the books and found out what was going on.”

“What? Found out what?” Mama was almost shouting.

“Do you know what rebar is?”

“The rods they use to reinforce concrete.”

“I think Bill was buying it cheap, putting it on the books as expensive, and using the money to support the W.B.A.” I remembered Daddy and Uncle Stamos talking about the W.B.A., how I’d wondered what it was.

“You think?”

“Stamos let something slip, then clammed up. He’s loyal to Bill, Pauly; he follows wherever his brother leads. But he’s been bothered for a long time about how Bill runs things. When Stamos took over the books, he was shocked at some of the—”

“Ye gods!” Mama’s voice was shrill. “They’ve taken the books. Those inspector people.”

Aunt Rita sounded like she was crying, and her voice was so low I could hardly hear her. “Stamos did tell me that. He feels responsible. He’s so guilty about the Daniels boy, so deeply distressed. I keep trying to soothe him, to reassure him.” I heard the rasp of a lighter. “He knew the books weren’t right. But he couldn’t have known about the diving board. He’s not that kind of man.”

“Not like Bill, you mean.”

“I didn’t say that.”

Mama said,“Jubie told me something last night.That’s why I called you.” A chair scraped the kitchen floor. “Mary’s son, Link, worked at the warehouse for two summers, remember?”