“Because I can’t catch him red-handed with the drugs. When I do, I’m putting him into the in-school suspension program for a long, long time,” she answered.
“Why don’t you fingerprint that bag of marijuana?” Zed asked.
“The police have assured me that they will do that, but think about how many hands it had to pass through on the way to her purse. By tomorrow morning, we’ll have a definite answer, or at least no sign of her fingerprints, and there will be no problem with Brook coming back to school.”
Zed was proud of the girl. She’d stood up for herself like Annie had done so many times when she was that age.
Dana met the principal’s gaze. “And tomorrow when she comes back to school, I want the word in the halls to be that those drugs did not belong to her.”
“It will be,” Mrs. Johnson said. “And Brook, I know you don’t want to be a snitch, but it might help if you’d—”
Zed rose up and gave the principal a quick nod. “She’s told you what she knows and the rest is your job, not hers.” Then he turned to Brook and Dana. “You ladies ready to go home?”
“Yes, I am.” Brook stood and wrapped her arms around Dana. “Mama, they aren’t goin’ to find my prints on that bag. I promised you a long time ago that I’d never do drugs. We don’t keep secrets from each other.”
Dana hugged her tightly. “I know that and I trust you.”
Zed marched out to his truck, laid his head on the steering wheel, and let out a long whoosh of breath. Yes, sir, Brook was going to be all right. He didn’t have to worry about her, but the three sisters—they still needed a lot of work.
“Annie, I was really worried. My heart was pumping so hard I thought I might be comin’ to see you sooner than we ever expected, but she’s okay. She ain’t hurt and I’m right proud of her.”
He started the engine and pulled around to the door where Dana and Brook would be coming out of the school. “Raisin’ kids ain’t for us old dogs, Annie, but I gave you my word that I’d make things right for them if you went first. I didn’t know that a bag of pot was going to be the first big hurdle.”
“Is something wrong with our truck, Mama?” Brook slung open the door and slid across the bench seat to the middle to sit between her mother and Zed.
“No, Uncle Zed took the call in the kitchen and . . .” Dana slammed the door shut and glanced over at him.
He pulled around the rows of vehicles and back out onto the road. “I knew you’d be nervous and worryin’ about what was goin’ on, so I didn’t want you to drive.”
“Thank you for that, Uncle Zed, but I’ve been takin’ care of myself and Brook for years with no help,” Dana said.
“Yep, you have, but you don’t have to anymore. I’m here, and you got two sisters who’ll come through in a pinch,” he told her.
“I might trust you to be there for me and Brook, but my two sisters—not so much,” she chuckled. “Now, Annie Brook Clancy, who put that bag of pot in your purse?”
Brook stiffened her spine and stared out the windshield without blinking. “I know it was Ryson Taylor. I’ve seen him during the noon hour giving kids something and they hand him money. He sits about six seats behind me. But Mama, I didn’t want to say anything because Cassidy is right in front of him and she thinks he’s cute. She’s the only friend I got so far.”
“That means her fingerprints will be on that bag, too. I imagine Flora is going to be really upset,” Dana said. “What if that kid blames it all on her?”
“You think they won’t go back and look at the seating chart and see who all was close enough to drop it in your purse?” Zed asked.
Brook threw her head back dramatically. “I work with Flora, and I really like her and Cassidy. They are going to hate me.”
“No, they are not!” Dana said emphatically. “If this happened to Cassidy, we wouldn’t hate Flora for it or Cassidy, either. But if she’s doin’ drugs, you better tell me.”
“She’s not, but she likes him a lot. I bet she’ll protect him,” Brook said.
Zed crossed the bridge and made the turn back to the resort. “Crazy what love will make a person do, whether it’s the old folks or the young’uns,” he muttered.
“What was that?” Dana asked.
“Just mumblin’ to myself.” Zed parked at the back of the café. “Y’all might as well come on in and get a glass of tea or a soda pop.”
“Sounds good to me. Got any of that gingerbread you were makin’ for lunch?” Brook asked.
“Little bit,” Zed said. “And kiddo, I’m real glad that you ain’t hurt or sick.”
“Me too, Uncle Zed.” She gave him a quick hug as the three of them entered the café by the kitchen door.
“Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? Do I need to go to the school and whip someone’s ass?” Harper started the minute they were inside. “I’ve been worried out of my mind. Talk to me.”
“I’m fine. Someone put a bag of marijuana in my purse, and I’m expelled until tomorrow morning,” Brook said as if that happened every day.
“What little bastard did it?” Tawny peeked through the serving window. “I’ll go up there and take care of him or her.”
“I’m not really sure, but he’ll get caught eventually. Thanks, Aunt Harper and Aunt Tawny, for worrying about me.” She grinned. “Now let’s have some of Uncle Zed’s gingerbread with lemon sauce.”
Tawny giggled.
“It’s not funny,” Dana said.
“No, it’s not, but I smarted off to my mother the other day about going to the school to score some marijuana. Looks like I was right,” Tawny said.
Harper’s hand flew up to her heart. “I can’t believe you said that to her.”
Tawny’s shoulders popped up in a dramatic shrug. “Did you think it was all rainbows and unicorn farts after you left? The only thing that changed was that I got all the bitchin’ instead of sharin’ it with you.”
Zed stuck a bowl of lemon sauce in the microwave and set half a pan of gingerbread on the table. “Life is what you make it, girls. The past is all over and done with. What you got is the present, because tomorrow might never get here. Annie told me that a lot when I got to frettin’ about things, so we worked hard at makin’ today a good one.”
“That’s a good sermon,” Dana said. “Brook and I’d better take our gingerbread to go since Flora will need to get back to her regular job.”
“Fifteen minutes more ain’t goin’ to make a difference,” Zed said when the microwave bell dinged. “Y’all sit down and have a snack and then we’ll all go back to work.”
“Will you sit with us?” Brook asked.
A grin spread across his face. “Naw, honey, I’m going to use my fifteen minutes to go outside and smoke a cigarette. You bring that pan of gingerbread to a table, Harper, and I’ll get this sauce. Y’all will be more comfortable out there in the dinin’ room.”
Dana didn’t realize that her heart was still pounding or that there was a knot the size of a grapefruit in her stomach until she sat down at the table. But she’d learned to handle fear by putting on a hard shell. Then, when the situation was over, she fell apart in private.