"What's with Beni?" Ken asked. "She sick?"
"Yeah, she's sick. She caught your disease," Mama told him. His eyes widened and he looked at me. "What's been going on 'round here, Rain?"
"Since when was that you
r concern, Ken Arnold?" Mama shot at him.
"Quiet, woman. Rain?"
"Don't yell at Mama," Roy warned him.
Ken turned toward him slowly, his bloodshot eyes suddenly bright as the center of a candle flame. Mama quickly inserted herself, pouring more coffee into Ken's cup.
"Don't you two start fighting now. I don't need that this morning. And don't you worry about him yelling at me, Roy. I can take care of him," she said nodding at Ken. He simmered down and turned back to me.
"What's wrong with Beni?" he demanded.
"She drank some liquor at a party and got sick," I told him quickly.
He stared at me for a moment and then let out a whoop and a laugh, slapping his knee.
"Got sick, huh? Chip off the old block, you say, woman?" he asked Mama. "I never got sick. She's got your fragile stomach, not mine," he said, as if drinking and eating bad food was an accomplishment.
Mama raised her eyes to the ceiling.
"Lord, give me strength," she said.
Beni stepped out into the hall and we all turned to her.
She looked like she had a helmet made of lead over her head. Her eyes drooped like sagging old curtains.
"Well, girl," Mama declared, her hands on her hips, "what do you have to say for yourself this morning?"
"I made a mistake and I don't feel good," Beth replied. She avoided my eyes and Roy's. When she looked at Ken, she shifted her tired orbs quickly and stared at the floor.
"You'd think watching your father all these years would be enough to make you a teetotaler," Mama said.
"What do you mean, watching your father? Why do you blame me for her behavior? You're with her more than me. If she's done bad it's your fault, woman. Not mine."
"Right," Mama said. "You just sire children like some race horse and gallop away," she added.
Beni looked at me, grateful that Mama was directing her anger at Ken and not at her.
"Sit down and put something substantial into your stomach," Mama told her and nodded at the chair.
"I just want coffee, Mama."
"I didn't ask you what you wanted. I told you to eat something, child," she ordered.
Beth did as she was told. After breakfast, Ken went back to sleep and Beni retreated quicky to her own bed. I helped Mama clean the table and the dishes. Roy had to go to work at Slim's, but he paused on the way out when he had the opportunity to catch me alone.
"There's more to her story," he said nodding at Beth's and my bedroom. "Don't believe her."
"At least she's all right, Roy," I said. "She'll think twice about hanging around those girls now."
"Don't bet on it," he said. "And stop protecting her. We're all swimming in rough waters. You let her wrap herself around you, she'll drag you down with her," he predicted and left.
Beni slept most of the day. Mama complained but let her be. In the afternoon, Ken went to meet some of his friends and I finished all my homework. When Beth woke up again, she was even in a more irritable mood. As soon as she stepped out of the bedroom, Mama began to bawl her out and lecture her about her behavior.