For Pete’s sake, Mattie thought, quickly sending a reply. “You’re not a bother! You can come over anytime. I’ll check with Mama T and get back to you.”
She yawned as she settled in behind the wheel for the short drive to town. As if contagious, Robo joined her in a squeaky yawn, his pink tongue curling, and then he circled on his cushion and plopped down with a sigh. When she checked him in the rearview mirror, it looked like he’d fallen asleep within seconds.
Robo slept all the way into town. She tried to check in with Stella as she drove, but there was no answer, so she left a message for her to call back.
After a shower and a change of clothes, Mattie left Robo asleep on his dog bed and drove the short distance to Mama T’s house. Mama T had left the front porch light on for her, but she slipped around to the side door that led into the kitchen where she knew the two women would be cooking, visiting, or both. After tapping on the door, she opened it and was greeted by a wonderful, spicy aroma that could come only from her foster mother’s stove.
Mama T and Doreen sat at the table wrapping tamales, her mama’s special recipe and one that Mattie had helped with many a time. They both looked up with smiles, and she could tell by the expression on Mama T’s face that she was in her element—cooking with someone she loved.
Her mama gave her a long hug, and Mattie could feel the concern and sympathy flowing from her heart. Mama T leaned away, still holding her by the arms, and fixed her with intense scrutiny. “I’m happy to see you, mijita. How are you?”
Mattie’s eyes prickled with tears. “I’ll be all right.”
Mama T squeezed her upper arms before releasing her and taking her hand. “You’re here now. I told Doreen I knew you would come, and we must keep busy while we wait. The time goes faster, right? Come, meet your sister.”
Doreen had stood, holding back while Mattie and Mama T greeted each other, but now she approached, opening her arms for an embrace. As Mattie leaned forward to accept the hug, she caught a whiff of lavender infused into the woman’s long, black hair. Her foster sister was dressed in a flowing, vanilla-colored tunic over black trousers, and she came across as strong and sturdy. She had a broad, round face with soft, pleasant features and kind, dark eyes. She appeared to be of mixed race, perhaps Hispanic and Caucasian like Mattie.
“I am so very sorry about your brother,” Doreen said. “Come, sit at the table. Can I get you something to eat or drink?”
Mattie realized that she was starving. “I haven’t had much to eat today, and Mama T’s kitchen smells amazing. But you don’t have to get it for me, I can help myself.”
“Sit down at the table,” Mama T said, bustling over to the cupboard to grab a plate and then heading for the stove. She opened one of the pots, revealing the tops of cornhusk-covered tamales wedged upright inside for steaming. She served up three of them, set the plate in front of Mattie, and then went back to the stove to dish up a bowl of green chili. She also grabbed a jar of homemade tomatillo salsa and plopped both dishes down beside the plate. “Now, what to drink? Iced tea?”
Mattie stayed out of her foster mom’s way and helped herself to cutlery and napkins from the cafeteria-style containers that always sat on the table. “Iced tea would be great.”
Doreen had settled back into her seat and taken up a cornhusk to open wide on the cutting board she was using. She placed a spoonful of viscous cornmeal into the middle of the husk and spread it into a thin rectangle, followed by a dollop of seasoned, chopped beef. She then folded one side over and rolled the tamale so that the cornmeal encircled the meat, after which she enclosed it by wrapping each side of the cornhusk over and folding up a flap at the bottom. She placed the finished tamale open end up into a pot, ready for steaming.
Mattie found it soothing to watch the familiar process performed by Doreen’s flying fingers, and realized with some surprise that this felt like home. Even though these women weren’t related to her by blood, she still felt like she was among family.
Her first bite of Mama T’s spicy chili confirmed her feeling. Comfort food.
“Do you have any idea who killed your brother?”
Doreen’s words threw up a wall between them; Mattie might feel like she was home, but that didn’t mean she would share information about Willie’s case. “Nothing I can talk about.”
Mama T placed her warm hand on her shoulder, and it steadied her. She realized she’d come across as abrupt, and she put her own hand up to cover her mama’s.
Doreen’s gaze conveyed sympathy. “I’m sorry. We should talk about other things.”
As she went back to wrapping tamales, Doreen told Mattie how she’d grown up in Timber Creek but left after high school, how she’d driven an old beat up Chevy wherever her heart and her savings would take her and had ended up in New Mexico, and how she’d married a man who was a farmer and had been later blessed with two children, a boy and a girl.
Mattie felt the knots in her shoulders release, and her appetite returned as she listened. She finished her plate and stood to take her dish to the sink, a rule established for all of Mama T’s children.
“Mama T said you were looking for your biological mother,” Doreen said.
“My brother and I had talked about it.”
“I have to say again that I’m so, so sorry about your brother.” Doreen’s eyes brimmed, and her sorrow appeared genuine. “But maybe you can carry on by yourself and find your mom. If I can help in any way, please tell me. What’s her name?”
“Ramona Cobb.”
“Ramona—such a pretty name.”
Mattie thought so, too. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she reached for it to check caller ID—Stella. “Excuse me for a minute. I’ve got to take this call.”
She rose from her chair, stepped outside the kitchen door as she answered the phone, and leaned up against the white stucco wall of the house. “Hi, Stella. You back in town?”
“Just about. Are you home?”
“I’m at my foster mom’s, a few blocks away.”
“Can you meet me at your house in a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
She knew that Stella had information she wanted to share privately, and the thought gave her a chill. Stella was coming back from Willie’s autopsy. What had she learned?
Mattie returned to the kitchen, remembering she needed to confirm a start date for Riley. She mentioned it to Mama T, they agreed on Thursday after school, and then Mattie turned to Doreen to say goodbye.
Doreen clasped her in a warm hug and murmured, “I hope to see you tomorrow for dinner, my sister.” The sentiment made Mattie’s eyes fill, and she turned away so that her emotion wouldn’t show. Though Doreen’s words were meant to be kind, they came as a reminder that the one who could truly call her “sister” was now gone.
As she drove the few blocks to her home, she realized that her emotions were raw, which she attributed to being exhausted. The circumstances of Willie’s death and the physical demands of the last two days had taken their toll. And now, the foreboding associated with the information that Stella might be bringing weighed heavily on her.
When she pulled up in front of her house, she felt relieved that she’d left on the porch light. That bit of brightness seemed to give her an inordinate amount of comfort. She sent a text to Riley, telling her when she could start work with the kids, before she unlocked the door and let herself inside. Robo’s woof came from the bedroom followed by the ticking sound of his toenails as he scrambled out of bed to greet her, yawning as he trotted across the room. She sank to her knees and opened her arms, clasping his warm, furry body to her heart and holding him. He swiped a wet kiss against her cheek.