Nobody's Fool Y'all

45

 "Jeepers, Hadley," Lou Edna whispered. "There was somebody asleep in the bedroom!"

"Shush" Hadley whispered. "Do you want those thugs to find us in here?"

Lou Edna and Maury seemed to shrink further back into the closet.

Hadley turned her ear closer to the crack in the door.

"She's tied on a good one this time," Nylette said. "I'm surprised we ever roused her. I hate her, even more, when she's in the middle of a bender."

"Yeah," said Percy. "I'd rather deal with a den of angry rattlers."

"Can it!" the other man said. "What are you two thinking? Do you want her to hear you? We're desperate! Don't make her angry. She's hard enough to deal with when she's in a good mood. Play nice, you two. Molly's our last chance."

This is Molly's house, thought Hadley. Molly was Percy's father's second wife. Hadley remembered the wedding. It fueled some mighty good gossip. Molly was young when she married Percy's daddy, giving rise to rumors of gold-digger and worse. But that was years ago.

Molly was fiddling with the doorknob. From the sound of things, she really was drunk as a skunk. Hadley felt a rush of air through the crack.

"It's you," said Molly. "It's the middle of the night? Are you crazy knocking on my door at this hour? No sense standing outside all night. Come in and state your business. Make it quick. What do you want?"

"Is that any way to greet your favorite stepson?" Percy said.

"Huh! Listen to you! You're my only stepson, Percy," said Molly. "Even so, you're far from my favorite."

"Molly," Percy said in his sweetest saccharine whine.

"Don't Molly me. I know you, Percy Loveless. Now, stop wastin' my time. What do you want? Hurry up and get inside, I said. And close the door! You're letting the flies in."

"Huh," the man said. "Afraid somebody will see us in this ghost town?"

The man kept clearing his throat. Hadley wondered if he had a sinus infection. Maybe it was just a nervous tick.

"Hush your sass," Molly said, lumbering away from the door. "And close that door behind you."

"Molly," said Nylette, "we need money."

"Not just small change," Percy said. "THE money."

"Well, that was quick. Thank you for not beating around the bush, Percy. But I haven't the foggiest what you're talking about. Look around this palace. Do I look like I have THE money?"

"Stop giving us the runaround," the man said.

That throat clearing would drive me crazy, Hadley thought.

"Stop stalling, Molly," Percy said. "Acting dumb doesn't become you. You're not fooling anybody."

"Molly, please," Nylette said. "We know you found it."

"Found what," said Molly. "You don't mean to tell me y'all believe those old ghost stories?"

The sound of Molly's laughter was unnerving. It was deep and throaty, but there was nothing humorous in it.

"You three naughty children! Ha! Ha! Ha! I've kept those stories alive," said Molly, "for years because it's just good for business. A motor court's not exactly most folks' first choice when they're planning a trip. I needed a hook to entice a few of them to stay in a dump like this. Those stories of gangsters and murder and ghosts and buried loot were the only things I had going for me. So, I made the best use of them. I've kept them alive for all these years to turn a profit here. Now, y'all go home. It's late, and this old lady needs her beauty rest."