Kiss of Noir Read Free Page A

with hundreds of insects that had accumulated only since crossing the state line and multiplied the farther south I traveled. So when a large bug splatted right in from of my face, I jumped and gasped, swerving the car a little. The spray of window cleaner was comforting, as if it could wash away my sudden, irrational fear of the swamps. I swigged more gin.
    “I’m comin’, Hambone, I’m comin’!” I cried, giggling. I punched on the radio but couldn’t find any sound that didn’t jar me further. I snapped it off.
    Gradually, homes appeared, then neighborhoods, and then the neighborhoods expanded and merged. I pulled over to study Ellis’s directions. I noticed my hands were shaking. “Might as well have a little drink. Calm me down,” I muttered.
    I continued driving. I was going to a wealthier neighborhood where the homes were very old and very large. The trees got thicker and bigger, the streets wider, the houses farther apart and farther from the street. I pulled into a long driveway, gaping. I sped around to the rear of the house where the three-car garage was. Suddenly, a squirrel ran across the drive and I cried out and swerved to miss it.
    Doing so, I crashed into the stone wall that surrounded Ellis’s back property. I was too loose and relaxed to be hurt and too nervous about being here to be upset about my old workhorse Wagoneer. I whipped my head around to see the squirrel safely mounting a neighbor’s bird feeder. I sighed with relief. I opened the driver’s door with difficulty and left it open as I stumbled toward the back door.
    “I’m here!” I called giddily, waving the gin bottle. “I’m here, y’all! Ha, ha, I’m here!” I fell into a laughing fit.
    The back door blew open. Ellis and a woman came out running. “What the hell?” Ellis roared. Then he fell on me with a big laugh. “You made it, T-Bone! So good to finally see you again!” We hugged tightly. I was moved by unexpected emotion and refused to release either Ellis or my bottle until I was ready.
    “C’mon, c’mon, T, it’s okay.” Ellis patted my back and eased me out of the hug.
    “Family jus’ look so good to me now,” I slurred. “Oh, Ellis, I’m sorry it has been so long.”
    Ellis nodded and waved me away.
    “I meant to visit more…oh, you are so grown up!” I embraced him again.
    “It’s all right, Nora. You’re here now. It’s all right,” Ellis said. The woman watched us, glaring.
    I stepped back and started to take another drink. The woman jerked the bottle out of my hands. “Here, honey, let me take that,” she snapped.
    I straightened up and threw back my shoulders. “And who is this ripe, luscious peach?” I licked my lips and tried to look cowboy.
    In response, the woman poured my gin onto the driveway.
    “Uh…Nora, this is my wife, Sayan,” Ellis stammered. Sayan’s eyes were smoking, her lips poked out, and I was flirty, wanting to appease her.
    “Your wife! Your wife! I remember you got married a while back. Oh, Ham, you did good!” I grinned and swooped Sayan into a bear hug, lifting her off the ground and swinging her in circles. The gin bottle flew out of Sayan’s grip and exploded on the driveway.
    “Put me down, you crazy heathen! Oh, Lord, you put me down right now !” Sayan yelled.
    I let her go and stood expectantly, waiting for the warmth and welcome to come pouring out.
    “Now you listen and you listen good.” Sayan stuck her finger in my face. “Ellis told me about your situation and why you need to stay with us. But I don’t want you here, do you understand?”
    “Sayan,” Ellis said.
    “Just a minute, Ellis, some things need to be said,” Sayan retorted.
    “Yeah, Ellis, why don’t you go on inside?” I said, feeling suddenly sober. “Sayan and I have business.”
    “Well, I don’t know…” Ellis said, looking from one to the other of us.
    “Go on, do what she says,” Sayan said. “Pour us some iced tea.” Deflated, Ellis slunk into the