"Sorry? Mary-Breast?"
"Yeah, Mary-Breast. It's what we all call her, since she has the biggest—"
"I get it. You were saying?"
"She fished him up for Sadie Hawkins. They're a good match, looking like a wedding cake topper and all." I kept going, even with a growing lump in my throat. "It's just his mom gave me this… Look. Like, she hated me from the womb."
Genie slammed on the foot brake and brought the Jeep to an illegal, tire-screeching stop. "Suzie-cat … Don't—"
"Don't what? You said so yourself, with eye-rolling flair and dramatics, in the big fight with Aunty Meg. 'We're Black Irish stock drowning in unwanted Lakota Sioux blood.'"
Genie pulled up the parking brake and touched my left shoulder. A shock ran across me, and I fell apart, bawling uncontrollably. Having all that bottled up inside surprised me! She pulled a bandana out of nowhere, wiped away my tears, and said, "You … with the memory of an elephant. A day will come when your own inner strength surprises you. Grandma Nicoma had a saying for it. 'Look for the wolf in the river.'"
Her words slowed my crying, but I had no idea what to say back.
Genie reached over the floor shifter and hugged me—like I was a tube of sadness, and she would squeeze it all out of me. The smell of sandalwood and her strawberry-scented Lip Smackers comforted me, searing a perfect memory I will take to the grave.
"Oh, Suzie-cat. What I want to do can wait. I'd better get you home."
#
Driving back, thunder sounded in the distance. Genie shared knock-knock jokes that were so bad, I couldn't help but laugh. When we pulled in, Aunty Meg was on the porch, pacing back and forth. She pecked at us right away—going for a joyride, worrying her half to death. What I remembered most, though, was Genie's ropers as she crossed stonework and wood. I expected sharp cracks, but heard in each step a warbly, weary sound. She climbed the short steps, pushed past Aunty Meg, and said, "Forget all of this."
"Get back here!" Aunty Meg barked back, upgrading her rant to name-calling and slurs. Genie said nothing in defense. Her energy went into packing bags and leaving them on the porch. I made myself useful by buckling each of her bags into the Jeep.
The last of the pack was Genie herself, sliding down into the driver's seat. We both listened longer than we should to Aunty Meg slamming doors and cupboards from inside the house. Black smudges fell from heaven, for a while without pattern, before running like tired mascara down the skin of the Jeep.
It was black rain.
Genie spoke first, " Suzie-cat. You know you can leave anytime, right?"
"I know."
She started up the engine, giving it a rev at the end.
I asked her before I thought it through, "Will I ever see you again?"
