When Good Bras Go Bad (Myrtle Crumb Series) (7 page)

Sunny glared at me
.
“Thanks, Mimi.”

I sighed, running my left hand across my
chin
.
“What’s her punishment?”

“Three days’ suspension.”

DIVIDER HERE

             
“I don’t see why I have to stay with you,” Sunny grouched from the passenger side of the Buick
.
“I’m old enough to stay by myself.”

             
“Not when you’re being punished, you’re not
.
And this ain’t my idea of a day at the beach either
.
There goes three days of my investigation.”

             
Sunny huffed out a breath
.
“As if
.
Like
,
I’m sure the school will fall apart now.”

             
I slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road
.
After putting the car in park, I turned to look at her
.
“I know it don’t mean a whole hill of beans to you, girlie, but I’ve been bustin’ my butt at that school for you
.
Not for any pay, not for any thanks…for
you
.”  I took a deep breath and dared myself to cry
.
“I’ve been tryin’ to prove you ain’t a crook
.
‘Course, you might be, no more’n you’re sayin’ about how that bracelet got in your locker.”

             
“I don’t know how that bracelet got there!”

             
“This ain’t about whether or not you stole the bracelet
.
This is about you treatin’ me like dirt
.
Now, you’re gonna quit it, or I’m gonna talk to Cooper Norville to see if you can’t serve this three-day suspension at a juvenile detention center.”

             
Sunny’s jaw nearly bounced off the floorboard
.
“You wouldn’t!”

             
“Try me.”  I put the car in gear, checked the rearview and pulled back onto the road
.
I could tell Sunny was still staring at me
.
She was probably trying to decide whether or not I was bluffing
.
I wasn’t
.
I was fed up with her little attitude
.
I love that young ‘un more than life itself, but I hadn’t been anything but good to her and she was gonna quit treating me like
a mangy
cur dog.

             
Sunny didn’t say anything else
the rest of the way home, and I didn’t either
.
We got out and went in the house, and I went to the back door and let Matlock in
.
He was tickled to see us both, especially Sunny
.
She started loving on him, and I sat down in the recliner and turned on the television
.
I could be every bit as stubborn as Sunny, and I wasn’t about to make the first move toward making up.

             
I found a “Bewitched” rerun on and decided to watch that
.
It made me wish I was like Endora and could float around invisible by Sunny’s locker until I could catch that Alicia in the act
.
I just knew she was the very bird making trouble for Sunny.

             
This episode of “Bewitched” was the one where Paul Lynde played a nervous driving instructor trying to teach Samantha how to drive.

             
“You reckon that’s how I’ll be when I start learn
ing to drive?” Sunny asked, talkin’ about how bad Samantha was at it.

             
I shrugged.

             
She sighed
.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a grump, Mimi
.
I just…I don’t know…there’s a lot goin’ on and stuff and…I’m sorry.”

             
I got up and hugged her
.
“It’s okay, but I want you to remember one thing
.
Friends may come and go, but your family will stick by you no matter what.”

             
She laid her head against my shoulder
.
“I didn’t steal Mrs. Anderson’s bracelet, Mimi.”

             
“I know, angel.”

             
“And I don’t think any of my friends did either
.
I think somebody’s been trying to get me in trouble.”

             
I figured I knew who, but I thought it best to keep my mouth shut on that one
.
“Have you made anybody mad?”

             
“Not that I know of.”

             
“Jealous?”

             
She snorted
.
“Who’d be jealous of me?”

             
“Ugly girls who make bad grades.”

             
She laughed and shook her head
.
“I don’t think so.”

             
“Well, let’s just watch ‘Bewitched’ and not worry about this other stuff right now
.
We’ll get to the bottom of it.”

DIVIDER HERE

             
After Faye came and got Sunny that afternoon, I called Sunny’s friend Claire
.
After swearing her to secrecy, I told her about Sunny getting accused of stealing Mrs. Anderson’s bracelet
.
Naturally, she already knew all about it
.
She even knew about me storming into the principal’s office.
Word travels fast in middle school.

             
“I don’t think Crimson stole that bracelet, Mrs. Crumb.”

             
“You think somebody set her up?”

             
“I don’t know about that
.
I do know somebody got mad at Mrs. Anderson last week and might’ve taken the bracelet to get back at her.”

             
“Who, Claire?”

             
“I’d rather not say.”

             
“Was it Alicia?  I promise I won’t say you told me a thing.”

             
“I’d really rather not say,” Claire said
.
“I’d better han
g
up and start on my homework now.”

             
“Okay, honey
.
Thank you.”

             
So maybe Sunny wasn’t intentionally set up, but she still took the blame for something she didn’t do
.
What real friend would stand by and let that happen?

             
I read a devotion this morning about bein’ careful who you follow. It said sheep ha
ve
been known to follow each other off a cliff. I’ve been givin’ that a lot of thought. I mean, what’s wrong with these sheep?
Are they blind? Suicidal? Does this happen at night when
they can’t see where they’re goin’? Are they followin’ too close; and when they realize what’s happening, it’s like a pileup on the Interstate?
Do the slow, out-of-shape sheep wander up the mountain and
look around and
wonder where everybody else went?
What do they do then for a leader?

             
Are young ‘uns dumb
as sheep
?
Would Sunny follow that Al plumb off a cliff?
I’d hate to think so, but look at that bunch of grown people that Jim Jones got to drink poisoned juice! If that ain’t sheep mentality, I don’t know what is. That’s why Jesus tells us—and I’m paraphrasin’ of course—“
L
et me be your Shepherd, and I won’t lead you off no cliff.” When we don’t have sense, He does. Hallelujah! I’m prayin’ He pitches a little wisdom in Sunny’s direction.

DIVIDER HERE

             
The next morning when Faye dropped Sunny off, I had biscuits in the oven and a cup of decaf in the microwave
.
I was brewing a pot of the real stuff for me
. T
he decaf was for Sunny
.
That young ‘un loves coffee and bread—homemade biscuits broke up and put in a cup of coffee with milk and sugar—and I wanted to start the morning off on her good side
.
Especially since I figured I’d be on her bad side not long after she’d had her coffee and bread.

             
She came into the kitchen as I was getting the biscuits out
.
“Those smell good
.
”

             
“Your coffee’s in the microwave.”

             
She flung her arms around my neck
.
“You’re the best!”  She giggled and retrieved her coffee.

             
I buttered Matlock a biscuit and put it in his bowl
.
He gobbled it down in a flash and looked up at me like he was starving to death
.
He’d already had his breakfast, mind you; he’s just a greedy pig
.

             
“One more,” I told him, “and that’s it.”  I put peanut butter on this one hoping he’d be better satisfied
.
I reckoned at least it’d take him more than two seconds to choke this one down.

             
I buttered myself a biscuit and sat down across from Sunny, who was crumbling her biscuit into a cup of coffee that was the color of pale oak.

             
“Been thinking about that bracelet,” I said.

             
Sunny hesitated in mid-crumble but then went on as if I hadn’t said anything.

             
“I wonder if it has less to do with you than it does with Mrs. Anderson.”  I opened my biscuit so I could eat the bottom part first.
I was saving the fluffy top part for last.

             
“What do you mean?” Sunny asked.

             
I shrugged
.
“I’ve been thinking somebody set you up by taking the bracelet and puttin’ it in your locker
.
But what if somebody took the bracelet because they knew it meant a lot to Mrs. Anderson and the whole thing really didn’t have anything to do with you?”

             
“I guess that’s possible.”  She stirred her biscuit into the coffee
.
“She can be a total grouch.”

             
“I’ve seen that myself
.
Do you know of anybody the old sour ball made mad recently?”

             
Sunny took a bit
e
of her coffee and bread
.
“This is good, Mimi.”

             
“Do you need a pencil and a sheet of paper?”

             
She frowned at me from overtop of her spoon.

             
“To make a list of everybody Mrs. Anderson has made mad lately,” I explained
.
“You can put my name on there.”

             
“You already know, don’t you?”

             
“Know what?”

             
“That Al had a run-in with Mrs. Anderson a few days ago.”

             
“No, I didn’t know that.”  That wasn’t a lie
.
I suspected, but I didn’t
know
.
“What happened?”

             
“Al was late for school, and Mrs. Anderson wouldn’t approve her excuse.”

             
“Since when does the receptionist run the school?” I asked
.
“Ain’t it for the principal to decide what gets excused and what don’t?”

             
“Yeah, and after Mrs. Anderson ran her mouth, Al asked to see the principal.”

             
“And?”

             
Sunny shrugged
.
“He was in a meeting, so Al took her note and went on to class.”

             
“Anything else?”

             
“What do you mean?  Like, then did Al go back and steal the bracelet to get back at Mrs. Anderson?”

             
“No
.
Like, do you know anybody else who might’ve had a reason to wanna get back at Mrs. Anderson?”