She found herself putting her clothes back on and securing her hair before she had time to consider a different option. Ed lingered in the door frame of the bedroom. His dark eyes watched her movements; he seemed more curious than upset. There was some relief in that.
“Where you going?”
“Out.”
“It’s storming. When we rolled in, they warned us to stay put,” he said. “You don’t want to go out there.”
“This ain’t about want. I need to.”
“The baby’s probably with her daddy,” he said.
Elnora slid on a pair of black rain boots and grabbed her coat from a nail off the back of the door. “What about Cissy?”
“She’s at work or at her folks’ place.”
She shook her head.
“What if Cissy took off with Graham Lee?” Ed said, reaching for his pants. He spoke as he dressed. “We’re going out in hell and high water, and she’s back with him and the baby.”
“We don’t know that,” Elnora said, “and you don’t have to go.”
He buttoned his coat and said, “Yes, I do.”
VII
Elnora thought once again about trouble. She wouldn’t fault Cissy for seeking her help in getting the baby back, but damn this storm. The heavy rain and relentless wind proved to be formidable foes. Pushing back as she and Ed pressed forward. The weather was nothing but trouble, and Elnora had a strong suspicion that Grenada was only getting a small taste of what the storm had to offer. Again, she hoped that wherever the little one was, she was safe from this ruckus.
They reached the Baldwin Hotel soaked. In normal conditions, the walk was half an hour. It took them close to two. Clyde, one of the dishwashers, saw them at the back entrance. He gave them dishtowels and let them dry off in the pantry.
“Thanks, man,” Ed said.
“Is Cissy back on shift?” Elnora asked.
Clyde shook his head. “She doesn’t work overnight.”
“You sure you haven’t seen her?” Ed asked.
“She would’ve come back a little before the storm hit,” she added.
“Yeah, she’d have to come through here and I haven’t seen her since she clocked out,” Clyde said. “Ain’t nobody come this way but y’all. She ain’t here.”
Ed gave Elnora a look that she ignored. She thanked Clyde for the towels and moved back to the door.
“You don’t have to go back out in that,” the man said. “As long as you’re quiet, won’t nobody know you’re here. It’s bad out there.”
“I have to find Cissy.”
“She’s a smart girl. She’s fine.”
Elnora only nodded while Ed and Clyde shook hands. Out under the awning, she paused on the back steps. Ed took her arm. The walk to the hotel took them out of the colored section. Heading back to that side of town would mean another hour or more in the rain. Their options were limited. Unless they went back uptown to the little office above Romano’s. Rayford Drew kept late hours, and his stash of liquor made him more inclined to stay there than go home to his wife.
“It ain’t letting up,” Ed said.
He was referring to the storm, but those words meant more to Elnora. Finding Hattie and probably Cissy too had become like a nagging shrew that refused to give her peace. The weather could continue to wreak havoc on her search, but going home was not a choice she even considered. Hell, she wouldn’t let up either.
“It ain’t good when you’re quiet,” he said. “Where to next?”
“I wish you had a car.”
“You ain’t the only one,” he muttered. He drew in a deep breath. She sensed the moment he understood her meaning. He stiffened tight like a whipcord. The hand that was holding her squeezed then let go.
“I can’t do that. I can’t ride in that man’s car, knowing he—”
“He what?” she said softly. “Careful with it, Ed.”
“With what?”
“You know what I told you,” she said. “That’s all there is to it.”
“But the folks say—”
“You stand here and worry about what the folks say,” she said, stepping out into the rain. “I don’t have time for it.”
VIII
Before Elnora reached the intersection of South and Main, a car braked beside her. The door skimmed her knees as it was flung open. “Get in,” Rayford Drew barked from the driver’s side.
The coupe seemed more confining than it had earlier that day. Or maybe the conversations with Ed and the driving storm made Elnora conscious of the space. The aroma of liquor and Listerine billowed with every agitated sigh or dissatisfied grunt that came from the driver. Streaks of lightning interrupted the darkness of the night and the interior of the Pontiac. She chanced a long look at him and was taken aback at the hard line of his mouth. In over twenty years, she couldn’t recall that expression of resolute apprehension darkening his features. He was not always the most pleasant person, but there was a certain air about him. At that moment, she didn’t know what to make of him.
“Where are we going?”
“Out a ways,” he said. “Sit tight. I don’t like driving in this shit.”
It should have crossed her mind to worry. Their families were linked in ways that some folks in Grenada weren’t ready to accept or admit. Ed’s beef about riding in this car with this man had nothing to do with that. He was jealous. Any other time, Elnora might have enjoyed his discomfort. Maybe she would have played with it a little and had some fun. But not when she didn’t know where her girls were.
After a couple of glances at Rayford Drew’s drawn face and his tight grip on the steering wheel, she grew concerned. While he had flirted with her many times, he had never come close to making any demands. Something was different. She had seen many sides to him, but not this one.
Her hand closed around the door handle and she sat up straight. “Where did you say?”
“Settle down, Nora.” He rubbed his left hand over his face. “I’m not taking you to meet your maker. Hell, He’d get us both, I ’spect.”
“So I’m supposed to just sit here and not ask any questions.”
“Most would,” he mumbled.
She clenched her hands together in her lap. Keeping her mouth shut was not easy.
The landscape, what she could see of it, held her attention. They had left Grenada city limits and were headed south toward Tie Plant. Her uncle Joe had been a sharecropper out there before he died back in ’25. His wife and kids left for Memphis soon after that. She heard one of the boys got a job at the Ford plant in Michigan. They had invited her to come along, but she couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Cissy or the idea of telling her the truth. Looking back, Elnora wondered how different their lives would have been if she had accepted their offer, taken her daughter, and left Grenada for good.
“Do you know who lives out here?”
His sudden question broke the silence and startled her. Elnora needed a moment to give meaning to his words and to form a response. The deeper the coupe took them into the country, the more the water sloshed against the car’s wheels. She used the noise to ease her tension.
“Some of your people.”
“You don’t come out here much, do you?” he asked.
“My feet only carry me so far.”
“You need a car,” he said. “Can you drive?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Yeah, you were driving that old Buick that Will Tennant had before he got the Ford,” he said. “Did Will teach you how to drive that or was it Billy?”