Good Lord willin' (First Draft)

The Untold

                                "His name is Fay Preston and he is a detective sent by the state to do some searching on  Wallace's death." Poppa says to Mama. 

                                 Even though the church is no more then a block  from our home, we always walked home as a family. Today was no exception. Resa and I always quietly  brought up the rear letting Mama and Pop walk just ahead  so they didn't see how alert we always are to their conversations. Pop being pastor, he had the best hush-hush conversations on Sunday with Mama. 

Kern, whom I failed to understand  was usually all over the place. He'd see something across the street and run towards it, come back and loudly crack one of his lame jokes. He always had a never ending well of those on hand starting last summer when he'd gotten his mail delivery job.

 I let out a hard breath of air and pulled at the high, white collar of my black shirt dress. The temp had to be at least ninety degrees!In black, brand new Mary Jeans and tights it was a smothering thousand degrees hotter! I couldn't wait to get home and change. 

                   "Where's he staying  Bart?" Mama asked cutting into my thoughts.

In Death Valley-as we liked to call our charming black community town, hotels ran few in between. Kinda made sense though. I mean who in their right mind would pick to go vacation in the desert of California when they could go to the beach side a couple hours away? 

                     "With us." Poppa says playing coolly. But I notice that he picks up his pace just a bit so that he and mama are no longer side by side. He rubs his bald head with a hand. "Later Hun..."

                     "What you shining your lip about?"  Resa sticks her face towards mine.

                    "Stop! Nothing..." I hold back a giggle,-the first one since Monday when I'd heard of Wallace's death. "Why with us Pop?" I ask eyebrows raised. I ignore a hard jab from Resa  in my buns. 

                     "Cause my child." 

I let out a sigh. That was Poppa's way of closing a subject with me". Jeepers, I am thirteen

 and a half! For Pete's sake already! 

"My child..." Kern stifles a laugh in my ear. I turn and stick my tongue out at him and skip off before he can react. He may be 16 and Resa's twin but he could also be such a dum-dum at times. 

                              Fay Preston showed up a couple hours later. From our bedroom window Resa and I watched him closely. Man, he walked weird. Kinda with a swag that messed with my imagination of a real detective. To me a detective was cool and collected like that Sherlock Holmes guy on TV that Kern was so into.  Preston on the other hand, was something else. 

                           "He's funny looking alright " I commented.  

                            Resa  who is only dressed in a full, thin slip and white bra leans forward "That for sure. Welcome to 'Death Valley' brother" she added with a light laugh. 

                   I back onto our bed and sit down. "Where nothing ever happens" I added with a faint chuckle.

                         Resa threw her head back and laughs.I never get what my older sister finds so funny in life. She's constantly laughing about this or that and I just chuckle. "Nothing except murders and suicides" she says.