Saving Allegheny Green Read Free

novels and you assume it’s an exaggeration. I mean, I’m a nurse for crying out loud. I touch people all the time. Save for static electricity you don’t ever feel a jolt, a shock, a current.
    Except I did.
    And I had no clue why. It scared me. Big-time.
    I jerked away. Fast.
    “Are you okay?” he asked.
    Oh, sure, other than the fact that you’ve fried all my internal organs, I’m peachy.
    “Need to get the circulation back in my legs,” I said, jogging in place, more to shake the sensation of Sheriff Conahegg’s touch than to bring blood to my lower extremities.
    “Ally?”
    The sound of my name drew my attention to the garage door occupied by my mother, Aunt Tessa fluttering at her side.
    “I tried to keep her in the pottery shed,” Aunt Tessa explained, “but she heard the sirens.”
    Mama floated over, hardly noticing the sheriff’s deputies with guns strapped to their sides. “Honey?” As always, she looked to me for explanation and reassurance. “What are these people doing here?” Her voice still held the sugary sweetness of her Carolina girlhood.
    “Ma’am.” Super Sheriff turned on his heel and held his hand out to Mama. “I’m Sheriff Conahegg and we received several complaints of disturbing the peace.”
    “Oh, dear.” Mama pushed a wisp of graying brown hair back into the loose bun atop her head. “Why, I know you.” She smiled. “You’re Lew Conahegg’s boy.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “I remember when you wore short pants. Your father andmy husband used to have offices side by side on the courthouse square. Green’s Green House and James Lew Conahegg, Attorney at Law.”
    Really? I didn’t remember that.
    “That’s been a while,” Conahegg said.
    “I’m so sorry to hear about your father’s passing.”
    “Thank you, ma’am.”
    “Well,” Mama continued. “You’ll have to excuse the noise. My daughter’s boyfriend and his band like to practice here in our garage.”
    She waved a hand at the abandoned instruments. I was beginning to wonder if she’d even noticed Rocky lying on the floor, suffering from a gunshot wound inflicted by her youngest daughter. Mama had the amazing ability to focus upon only what she wanted to see and ignore the rest.
    “So I’ve gathered.” Conahegg nodded. He still held Rocky’s bag of weed in his hand. As if he’d just become aware of that, he shoved the pot into his pocket.
    “Goodness, Rocky,” Mama said, finally catching on. She lifted up her long skirt and stepped over his injured foot. “What happened to you?”
    “Accident, Mrs. Green.”
    “You’ve got to be more careful, dear. You weren’t imitating those musicians on television who smash their guitars, were you? That’s not a nice way to treat your instruments.”
    Everyone looked at me.
    I shook my head. No point in explaining reality to my mother. I’d learned that a long time ago.
    “Mama,” I said. “Why don’t you let Aunt Tessa take you inside and make you a cup of tea.”
    Mama brightened. “That sounds nice. Tessa?”
    But as Mama spoke to her sister, a strange expression crossed Aunt Tessa’s features.
    “Ung!” Aunt Tessa cried out and all gazes swung in her direction. Her right hand went to her throat and her eyes stared vacantly ahead.
    My heart sank into my shoes. No. Not now. Not a visit from Ung. Uh-uh. Please God.
    Not in front of Conahegg.
    But I was not to be the beneficiary of divine intervention. The gathered deputies watched in fascination. I’d seen it before. Many times. I admit, the first time you see it can be quite a show.
    The expression on Aunt Tessa’s face changed from empty indifference to lively animation. Her lips curled back, a combination smile and grimace. Her eyes widened until they seemed to encompass her entire face. Her nostrils flared. Her cheeks flushed with color.
    “I am Ung!” Aunt Tessa growled in a deep voice.
    Conahegg shot me a “what-in-the-hell” expression. I couldn’t blame him. Aunt Tessa’s