”“Yeah!”“Well, I’ll catch up with y’all after the service.”“Thanks, Daryle.”Gail Cannon turned to her niece and said, “I should’...e recognized him. He basically looks the same, but I’ve been away thirty years so I don’t place faces all the time.”“It’s cool, Auntie. You knew his sister pretty well?”“Yeah. The Woodens lived a few doors down from us. They had five k**s and we had seven. No other families were as big as ours. But your mom and I used to play dolls with KeKe.”“Nice.”The director. By the time she reached my door, I was sure of it. Christ, she was sure making my Dad pay. She must have gone to bed naked and then put him off. What a tease. She must be really mad at him.I shut my eyes and waited for Mom’s call to see if I was sleeping and readied my deep breathing gambit. The call didn’t come. I raised my eyelids enough to see. Mom was still standing by the door. Slowly, as if not really sure about what she was doing, Mom pulled the belt loose on her robe. She held the belt. I'm going to give it to you straight and hard. Eitheryou spill the load, or you get yourself another boi."With that her eyes got all misty and those pretty little red lips allpouty. She pulled a hanky out of her purse and dabbed at her eyes."We, we, we got a ransom note. They said if we called the cops, they'dkill daddy."Now it became as clear as glass filled with mineral oil ready to be usedfor a rubdown. Daddy, as she was called, ran a chain a lady's clubs inCastro, where the girls could. In fact, Conniesaid Nelson had his best month ever during the grand opening of theco-op. Not selling beer, but selling fine cigars to the many visitors.---- ------- -----Earlier in October River had been in the store, where some of theother girls from the high school were in looking over the clothes.They bemoaned the lack of selection to Darrin Hooper, the friendlyshop owner."Sorry girls," he said. "But there is a limited market in a small townlike this and I just can't afford to get in trendy.