Prom Night in Purgatory(51)

“Oops, sorry,” Lizzie grimaced and started licking in earnest, ready to be done with the mess.

“I was wondering if you’d seen Maggie this morning.”

Maggie stopped licking once more and eyed Johnny with indecision.

“I’m a little worried about her, you see.” Johnny didn’t think it was appropriate to tell the little girl that he and Maggie had slept on a blanket under the stars, and his voice faded off awkwardly, trying to think of a way to word his question without giving too much away.

“Is she gone, then?” Lizzie asked, her mouth turned down in a slight frown.

“I don’t know,” Johnny answered carefully. “We had a picnic out at the reservoir after the dance. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, she was gone. But her shoes were still there.”

“Oh.” Lizzie nodded, as if her question had been satisfied. She finished off her ice cream and proceeded to lick her fingers clean.

“So do you know where she is?” Johnny was really trying not to get impatient, but so far he had gotten exactly nowhere. He wondered if Lizzie Honeycutt was good at chess.

“She probably went back,” Lizzie dutifully protected her queen.

“Back where?” Johnny leaned toward the little girl and stared hard until she turned her head and caught him looking. She blushed a little, and her hands dropped to her lap.

“It’s hard to explain,” Lizzie mumbled. She licked at a spot she had apparently missed. She offered nothing more.

Johnny tried again. “I need to know if she’s okay, Lizzie. If you know something, I would appreciate you telling me. Obviously you know something, or you wouldn’t have known why I was here.”

“I thought maybe she sent you....so I wouldn’t worry about her,” Lizzie answered softly. “I knew she couldn’t come home because the police brought the car back. Nana is very suspicious of her now, too.”

“Wait...Irene didn’t tell you Maggie was with me?” Johnny’s head began to spin. “Then how did you know?”

“Irene didn’t come home last night. She slept over at the Russell’s with Cathy and Shirley. I didn’t know, not until you got here. I was hoping, though. After all, you’re the reason Maggie went to the dance in the first place.”

Johnny felt the hairs stand up on his arms and neck, and his face must have conveyed his astonishment, because Lizzie began speaking again without any prodding.

“She said she was in love with you.” Lizzie searched his expression, worry stamped across her small face.

Maggie had told Johnny she had come to the dance for him. But he had assumed she was coming on strong, letting him know she wanted him. But when he’d challenged her, her eyes had filled with tears, contradicting her forward display. He hadn’t known what to make of it then. He didn’t know what to make of it now.

“Do you know where I can find her, Lizzie? No more games, little girl.”

Lizzie Honeycutt folded her arms defensively, and Johnny thought maybe he’d been too blunt. She was obviously uncomfortable and had moved as far from him as she could. She answered his question with a finality that said she had said all she was going to say.

“No. She just kinda showed up, and I helped her. She couldn’t tell me some things. She tried, but it made her really dizzy and tired. She’s been here before. If she comes back, I’ll tell her you’re looking for her. I promise.”

Johnny thought of the way Maggie had clung to him after she had warned Irene to stay away from Roger Carlton, when she had asked him so sweetly if she could hold his hand. She had been shaking like a leaf, and she had held his hand like he was the only thing between her and hell’s fiery furnace.

Johnny got up off the swing and was about to walk down the front steps when Lizzie stopped him.

“Do you have her shoes with you?” she questioned hopefully.

Johnny nodded briefly.

“Can I have them, please? They’re Irene’s. She’s not gonna be too happy when she finds out her dress is gone. If I put back the shoes, maybe she won’t be so mad.”

Johnny laughed right out loud and shook his head in wonder. Maggie had had the gumption to walk right up to Irene Honeycutt and tell her to get a new guy while wearing her dress. He might just be a little in love after all, damn it.

“I’ve got ‘em.” He smiled at the little girl and turned again to walk to his car. At that moment, Irene Honeycutt decided to come home. She slid into the drive and flew past Johnny’s car, with barely an inch to spare between the two vehicles, making him flinch and cry out. She jerked to an uneven stop, and she and the two Russell sisters tumbled out of the pink Cadillac as if they couldn’t believe their eyes. Shirley, the youngest of the three, was the first to recover, and she smiled brightly and waggled her fingers at him.

“Hiya, Johnny,” she cooed. Cathy looked at her sharply and took a couple steps, shifting herself to a position in front of her younger sister.

“Yeah, hi Johnny!” Cathy offered, even more brightly. Shirley elbowed her sister out of the way and hurried to Johnny’s side.

“Did you have fun last night?” Shirley chirped, looping her arm through his. Johnny sidestepped the pretty brunette, gently extricating his arm.

Cathy tapped him on the shoulder. “We saw you dancing with that new girl. We were all just sooo surprised because she was wearing a dress just like the dress Irene was going to wear.”