The sun was rising over the French Quarter as I tootled home, trying not to think about all the things I had to do today. Trying to relax and enjoy the morning air swirling inside my helmet, warmer with the sunrise and the promise of springtime. Spring came early this far south, and flowers were already blooming, hints of the coming season in window boxes and narrow courtyards.
The Quarter smelled of water from swamp, bayou, and the Mississippi churning nearby, of petroleum products and emissions, whiffs of garbage that hadn’t been picked up yet, and food. This early in the morning the air was redolent of strong coffee with chicory, bacon frying, eggs, grease, and cane syrup, the fresh smells overriding last night’s older cooking smells: seafood and grease and hot spices.
My stomach rumbled, and rumbled again when I realized that some of the smells were coming from my house. As was the babble of morning cartoons, the ringing of cell phones, and the chatter of news programs, so loud I could hear them in the street when I turned off Bitsa and pushed her down the narrow, two-rut drive. My quiet sanctuary was quiet no more, and I decided that I really didn’t care. Especially when the side door opened and Angie Baby and EJ hurtled through and right at me, screaming a chorus of “Aunt Jane, Aunt Jane, Aunt Jane!” I nearly dropped Bitsa catching them. Yeah. This was why it was all okay.
“Morning,” I said, hugging them and then easing them to the ground. “Am I in time for breakfast?”
“Uncle Eli is putting it on the table right now,” Angie said. “He’s makin’ us French toast,” she said, saying it like it was an exotic, mysterious food. And then I heard the term.
Uncle Eli?
“And syrup,” EJ added. “Lossa syrup.” He whirled and raced back through the open door and inside, his tiny blue sneakers pounding. Angie pulled me in after him, and I shut the door on the chilly air. I washed up and locked my weapons in the weapons safe in my closet, since I didn’t want to open the safe room. No need to make the kids think they should explore.
I joined the others at the table. Evan and his kids sat with their backs to the windowed wall over the sink; my chair had the best vantage point since Eli was cooking, my back to the kitchen windows, but with both entrances in sight. Alex dragged to the table and slouched into his place, still wearing his flannel SpongeBob pj pants and holey T-shirt, eyes glued half-shut, and his body stinking of sweat. He might have steered himself down the stairs while asleep, but if so, he’d picked up his electronic tablets on the way. Or maybe he slept with them cradled to his chest. I grinned to myself, betting the latter.
Eli shoveled two pieces of French toast onto each child’s plate; onto the adults’ plates, he shoveled bacon and eggs, with sides of French toast. I say shoveled, because the flexible spatula looked big enough to garden with. He slid the syrup down the table into Big Evan’s hand and Evan poured syrup onto the children’s toast. “Thanks, Uncle Eli,” I said, letting my lips curl up on one side.
He grunted, sat, and started to eat, but was interrupted by Angie, the bite halfway inside his mouth. “God is great, God is good.”
EJ finished with “Let us thank him for our food.”
“Amen, dig in,” they both said. And did.
Eli finished the bite and chewed, his eyes looking over the people gathered at the table. When he reached me, I waggled my eyebrows, as if to say, Fun, eh? He wiggled his eyebrows back, a bored, minuscule brow-twitch while he swallowed, and took another bite. Yeah. Like having a real family.
The Kid stuffed in an entire piece of French toast and chewed, eyes still closed. He drank down a half mug of strong coffee after and made an exaggerated sighing sound of happiness. It looked as if he’d had a rough night.
When the children finished and had been dismissed to morning TV, Alex managed to get his eyes and vocal cords to function and said, “I found where and when Molly came to NOLA.”
? ? ?
Once the anger—on Big Evan’s part—and the delight—on my part—ended, he pushed his tablets across the table and said, “It wasn’t easy. That side trip she took? It was most likely to her mother’s house to pick up a credit card.” He took a swig of coffee and poured another mug, looking at Big Evan under heavy lids. “She lied to you, man. Your motherin-law, I mean, when she said she hadn’t seen Molly. She not only saw her, but she rented a car for her in Knoxville, on her home PC. And she gave Molly a credit card. Molly used the same credit card for gas, food, hotels, everything. But for the last thirty-six hours or so, there’ve been no charges on it.”