An hour later, when her guests had gone, Nessa used a pencil to pick up the coffee cup that Laverne Green had used. She carefully placed it inside a plastic bag.
“That wasn’t her mother,” Nessa told Franklin when he phoned later that evening.
“She brought a birth certificate and photos and a folder full of documents,” Franklin said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Nessa insisted. “I kept the woman’s coffee cup. You need to test her DNA against the girl’s.”
“Nessa.” Franklin sounded like he was going to talk sense to her. “There is no way I can justify that. Laverne Green had all the right paperwork. What makes you think she’s not the girl’s mother?”
“The whole time that woman was in my living room, she was sitting right next to the girl she claimed was her daughter. The girl didn’t recognize her.”
“Hold on a second,” Franklin said. “Are you telling me that girl’s ghost is inside your house?”
“Do I sound like I’m messing with you?”
Franklin took a moment to absorb the news. “Nessa, there is no way I can justify doing a DNA test. I believe what you’re saying, but as far as the department is concerned, the girl is Venus Green.”
“Fine,” Nessa huffed. “I’ll do my own test. She left her DNA all over my cup.”
“You’ll need the girl’s DNA, too,” Franklin said. “How are you going to get that?”
“I’ll ask for a few strands of her hair when I have her buried.”
“When you have her buried?” Franklin sounded confused.
“Now that the girl’s body has been identified, it will be released from the morgue. Is Laverne Green planning to take it?”
Franklin pulled in a deep breath. “She said she doesn’t have the money for a funeral. The county will have to bury the body.”
“Mmmhmmm.” Nessa’s hunch had been confirmed. “I knew there was no way in hell that woman was going to pay for a funeral for a girl she doesn’t know. Tell the county they can save the taxpayer dollars. I will take care of that baby.”
Laverne Douglass Gets What She’s Owed
Anthony walked in at one in the morning, smelling like another woman. She wasn’t asleep. Sleep wasn’t an option. She hadn’t made it to the grocery store and there was no food left in the house. It made her suffer if she didn’t feed it every few hours.
She was sick when he opened the door. Still, she didn’t yell. She’d learned better. Those powers didn’t work on him anymore.
“The baby’s hungry,” she told him.
“Then feed it.” He walked past her. “You’re its mama.”
“Why are you like this?” she asked.
“What did you expect after you let yourself go?”
She made to stomp out, and he didn’t stop her. “Go on, then,” he said. “Run home to your daddy. But if you do, don’t bother coming back.”
Back then, a pregnant lady walking down the street at three a.m. was a murder waiting to happen. The Lord hadn’t paid Laverne much mind in a while, but he must have been smiling down on her that night. She made it to her aunt’s house just as the sun came up. Across the street at her parents’ house, the light in the kitchen was already on. Her father was getting ready for his shift at the hospital. But she didn’t dare knock. He’d made it perfectly clear how he felt about her coming home. Theirs was a good family, and she didn’t belong.
Her aunt tsked when she told her what had happened. “Bastard,” she said. There were moments when it was possible to see that she’d once been as beautiful as her niece. Those moments were now fewer and farther between.