Page 17 of Justice II
Rita stared at me for a moment. “Did she steal from you?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Did she steal from me or mistreat those babies?”
“No, but she came into my house under a fake name.”
“Uh huh.”
“You don’t understand how serious this is.”
“I understand that you brought a scared woman into this house, fell in love with her and threw her out the first time you learned something ugly about her past.”
“She played me.”
“There go your damned ego. I knew it would get here before your common sense.”
I sucked my teeth and glanced toward the door. “You don’t know everything she did.”
“I know what she did in this house. She took care of me on days I couldn’t find my own bedroom. She kept me clean and never made me feel small. I watched her love Dream when she didn’t know anybody was looking.”
“People can fake that.”
“She was real about how she felt for this family. How she felt ’bout you. And I could tell she was running from somebody, Justice,” Rita continued. “She changed her name so whoever scared her couldn’t find her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know she had secrets. I could sense it.”
“She accused Storie of killing Monica.”
Rita’s expression changed.
“She said Storie suffocated her,” I continued. “Then she accused her of poisoning Midnite.”
“And you threw her out before checking anything?”
“You believe that shit?”
“I believe you threw out the wrong woman.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because Storie cannot be trusted.”
I lowered my voice. “That’s your great-granddaughter.”
“Is she?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She ain’t no Banks. Something is wrong with that girl. Something is dead in them eyes. When you not around she’s cold with Dream. Chile, I lock my bedroom door at night.”
“Grandma, she’s fifteen.”
“And?”
“She lost her mother. She’s still grieving.”
