The Queen of Cool Read Free Page B

and
panties, she went down the wide oak stairwell to the ground floor.
Her memory filled in the image of her mother’s lifeless body
hanging from the living room ceiling fan.
    “ Hi Mom.”
    Waving, she continued walking to the front
door. She flipped the lock and peeked out. Her little sister Lisa
stood on her doorstep wearing her “get things done” outfit – blonde
hair in braids, a bandana over her head, old jeans and one of her
husband Earl’s old work T-shirts. She had four or five plastic
grocery bags in her hand and her purse strap over her shoulder.
    “ It’s eleven o’clock!” Lisa
said. “What the hell are you doing? You can’t sleep all
day.”
    Lisa pushed her way into the house.
    “ Why didn’t you call me?”
Lisa asked. “I sat next to you at the funeral and a few hours later
you’re homeless?”
    “ I don’t know,” Lo’s eyes
filled with tears. “This whole thing… I…”
    “ Never mind,” Lisa said.
“I’m here now.”
    Lisa stopped in the doorway to the living
room and stared.
    “ Do you see her there?”
Lisa whispered.
    “ Larry too,” Lo
nodded.
    “ I know she’s not there,
but…” Lisa said. “God that’s creepy.”
    Lisa pushed and prodded Lo into the kitchen.
She set the bags on the Formica table in the middle of the room and
began unpacking groceries. Lo leaned against the door frame to
watch her sister. Within minutes, Lisa had bacon and eggs sizzling
on the stove. She revealed a box of cinnamon doughnut holes and a
bag of coffee grounds. Lisa gave the coffee to Lo.
    Lo rummaged through the cabinets until she
found her mother’s old percolator. She filled it with water and
dropped the basket of coffee. She watched the coffee bubble in the
little glass handle on top of the pot. This simple act was the
first thing Lo had accomplished since she’d heard Don was sick.
    “ What’s that?” Lo pointed
to a clump of grey-green leaves tied with a bright-red
string.
    “ This is sage,” Lisa said.
“We’re going to burn the sage, open the windows, and let the ghosts
out of this place.”
    Lo lifted her lips in a partial smile.
    “ Where’s your car?” Lisa
asked.
    “ In front,” Lo
said.
    “ Of this house?” Lisa shook
her head.
    Lo ran out the front door to where she’d
parked her car. Gone. She dropped to her knees to touch the ground
where the vehicle had been. Overcome, she began keening with
grief.
    “ They came this morning,” a
woman’s voice said.
    Lo felt a hand on her shoulder. Through
blurry eyes, Lo looked to see who was there.
    “ I asked them,” a
dark-skinned woman said. “They told me they had to take it. It was
their job. I told them that wasn’t much of a job. They told me
about the economy and a bunch of other garbage.”
    “ Mrs. Williams?” Lo
whispered.
    “ Yes, child,” the elderly
woman said.
    “ Mrs. Williams,” Lo
repeated. She looked up into the lined face of her mother’s next
door neighbor. “I’m glad to see your face.”
    “ I’m glad to see you too,”
Mrs. Williams said. “I usually see that husband of yours. Great
man. He brought me groceries. Once a week. Not ‘cuz I can’t afford
them, just ‘cuz I don’t move around so good anymore. I cried when I
heard he’d passed.”
    “ Don’s dead,” Lo
said.
    “ Yes, child,” Mrs. Williams
said.
    “ Lo!” Lisa screamed from
the porch. Lisa ran across the yard to her sister. She stopped
short when she saw who was standing next to Lo. “Mrs.
Williams.”
    Lisa did an odd curtsey and Mrs. Williams
laughed. The elderly woman held her arm out to Lisa and gave her a
hug.
    “ Now, I read in the
Star-Telegram that you bought that car after winning that Olympia
thing,” Mrs. Williams said.
    “ Three years ago. Lo bought
this car when she won Ms. Fitness Olympia the first time,” Lisa
said. “Don insisted she get something she’d use every day, so she’d
remember she’d won.”
    “ Paid cash for my car,” Lo
said.
    “ Why did they take your
car?”