A Hand of Spades

Chapter 17. Arson

In the week that follows securing a copy of the key to the Stella, things are unusually quiet at the Safehouse. I haven't seen hide nor hair of Tex and Cori, but Cash has assured me they're still in town, they just haven't resurfaced. Apparently they have a lot of 'catching up' do to.

Cash and I have been kissed a few more times, that's it. The idea of taking things further sparks some kind of nervous frenzy in me that I don't care to dwell on, and knowing he sleeps only one room away is going nothing to quell the onslaught of fantasies running through my mind at any given moment.

On a rare night off from work - and partially with the intention of cooling my head a bit - I drive over to Pearl's place to visit Blister. It's Pearl herself who opens the door, white hair swept into a french braid. 

"She's not here."

My heart thunders. "Where is she?"

"Take a breath." Pearl sighs. "She's at a study group until late. No boys there, I checked."

It wouldn't surprise me to learn Pearl had walked into the destination of this study group with her shotgun cocked and swept the place for signs of teenaged boys. 

"Thank you."

"She has this big test coming up next week and she's worked herself up something fierce."

"History. She mentioned it to me." I'm about to excuse myself and drive back to the safehouse when Peal opens the door wider.

"Well," she sighs, "you might as well come in for a bit and eat something."

"Oh no, that's okay"-

But she's already waving me into her home with an expression that suggests it was an order, not an invitation. I trail her nervously, lured by the smell of something savory and delicious wafting from the kitchen.

"Got a chicken pot pie in." She says, parking herself at her mint-green kitchen table and matching chairs. I select the chair closest to the exit, which makes Pearl chuckle.

"What?"

"First time Georgia and I sat down for a meal, that's the chair she chose too."

It's weird to hear her called by her first name. It sparks something defensive in me, but I swallow it down. Pearl has already hinted that she's suspicious of Blister and I, and I don't want to add any fuel to the fire. 

"It's a family trait I think." I nod to her front door. "We like to be ready to bolt."

She chuckles. "You both have that look in your eye too, like a spooked horse." Pearl sobers, lowering her arms to her lap. "Your mother must have done a real number on you."

"She was good to Blister."

"I wasn't talking about her, I was talking about you."

A wall comes up inside me. I stare at her, stone-faced, and shrug. The oven timer goes off. Pearl and I continue to look at each other for a few moments longer, locked in a kind of stalemate before she sighs and heaves herself to her feet. 

"This was my mother's recipe. Cash's grandma. We didn't get along so well. Tough lady, but she could be cruel as anything." She slides a plate of the pie across the table towards me. Her dishes have daisy patterns, which I would be admiring intensely if I wasn't so busy salivating over the food. "I never wanted any babies of my own because of it. Figured I was too rotten inside from all the mean words I'd absorbed. Didn't want to pass it along."

I take my first bite and practically melt into the chair. "This is amazing."

She laughs. "I didn't even give you gravy yet! Wait a minute, girl." Her gravy-boat is appropriately shaped like a rooster, and she pours a generous portion over the chicken pot pie. "There you go."