When Good Bras Go Bad (Myrtle Crumb Series) (6 page)

“Well, keep after her
.
Maybe she’ll break down and tell you what she knows.”

I gotta say,
I started getting interested in them try-outs
.
Some of those young ‘uns were really good…almost like they were born to the stage or somethin’
.
And some of them, God love their little hearts, were so awful I nearly choked to death trying to keep from laughing.

Let me tell you, though, I wasn’t laughing when little Miss Alicia Granger flounced across the stage
.
And nobody else was either
.
There she stood in her black tee-shirt and tight black jeans lookin’ more like Wednesday Addams than Lady Macbeth, but then she opened her mouth.

“I have given suck, and know how tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me,” she quoted, holding her arm like there really was a baby in them
.
“I would, while it was smiling in my face—
”
Her face lost its motherly serenity and took on a look of pure hatred as she gazed out at the audience
.
“—have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums and dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you have done to this.”

Honey, I looked down and
had
goose bumps on my arms a mile high
.
Either that Al was quite the little actress, or she had a genuine mean streak.

DIVIDER HERE

As soon as Lenny got off the school bus, he came right to the house
.
He must’ve cleared it with Delphine ahead of time
.
Anyway, he put his backpack down by the door and
loved on
Matlock first thing
.
Then he asked me how the brownies went over.

“They went over fine with everybody except Sunny.”

“Huh,” he said, “I thought Sunny liked brownies.”

“She does
.
It’s me she don’t like.”  My voice broke, and Lenny got up and hugged me.

“Now, Ms. Crumb, you know that ain’t so
.
That girl’s crazy about you.”

I took a deep shuddering breath
.
“She used to be, but she ain’t now.”  I reached and got a tissue from the box on the table next to the recliner
.
“Not since Alicia Granger came along.”

Lenny sat back down on the floor next to Matlock and went back to pettin’ the dog’s head
.
“I’m sorry
.
You want me to talk to Sunny?”

I shook my head
.
“No, honey, I can’t see where that’d do any good, and it might make matters even worse if she knew I was talkin’ to you about it.”

“I don’t know whether it’d do any good either,” he said, “but I’ll try if you want me to.”

I smiled
.
“You’re awful sweet, you know that?”

He grinned
.
“That’s what all the girls say.”

I laughed, glad he was here and glad he could cheer me up
.
Sunny would get over her mad spell
.
Right now I needed to concentrate on ferreting out that thief.

“Let’s go in here to the kitchen and make you some candy,” I said
.
“We’ve gotta keep you sweet, you know.”

“You gonna make that kind usin’
th
e
sweet
condensed milk?” he asked.

“I thought I would.”

His grin got even wider
.
“Can I sop the milk can?”

“Yeah,” I said, laughing, “and the bowl, too.”  I tapped him on the nose
.
“Rotten young-un.”

DIVIDER HERE

When I went in the school the next morning, the first thing I saw was a big poster announcing who got what parts in “Macbeth.” 
Billy
Carpenter got the role of Macbeth
.
I wondered if he was the young-un in the cowboy boots, but somehow I doubted it
.
I hoped he got some part, though
.
You hate to see somebody work that hard at somethin’ and then not get a thing to show for it.

And guess who was Lady Macbeth? You got it—Alicia Granger.

I went on into the lunchroom
.
“Morning, ladies.”

They all spoke back, and then
Jane
Kershaw nearly shocked the life out of me when she said, “Glad to see you back today.”

“Well, thank you,” I said
.
“It’s nice to be back…although I will be glad when this case is solved.”

“Bet you hope it gets solved before winter sets in,” said one of the other ladies whose name, I believe, was Kate.

I smiled
.
“Yeah, but not just so I don’t have to go out in the snow
.
I want to see my granddaughter’s good name restored.”

Now, I know you’ve heard that old sayin’ about speak of the devil and he appears?  Well, I swanee, it was like I spoke somethin’ right into happening because I hadn’t no more got them words out of my mouth than the principal came over the loudspeaker callin’ Sunny to the office.

Chapter Four

I dropped my jacket and pocketbook onto a nearby chair
.
“I’ll be back,” I said, and then I took off like a shot for the principal’s office.

             
That old sour-faced Mrs. Anderson sat there lookin’ like she hadn’t had a good bowel movement in at least two weeks.

             
“Has Sunny—I mean, Crimson
Dailey—come in here yet?” I asked.

             
“Yes, she’s with the principal.”

             
I headed for the principal’s office.

             
“You can’t go in there!” Mrs. Anderson shouted.

             
“Watch me,” I said, opening the door
.
“What’s goin’ on here?”  I looked from Sunny’s big scared eyes to the principal’s stern face before sitting down on the chair next to Sunny and puttin’ my arm around her.

             
I’d left the door open, so Mr. Jenkins—the principal—got up and closed it
.
He was a tall, well-built man—used to be a gym teacher or a coach of some sort, I believe—but he didn’t intimidate me
.
All right
, maybe a little, but I wouldn’t have let on if my life depended on it.

             
Mr. Jenkins sat back down at
his desk
.
“I take it you’re M
s. Crumb, Crimson’s grandmother?”

             
“I am.”

             
He nodded
.
“I’ve been kept apprised of your volunteer work here at the school, that relating to cafeteria help as well as looking into our recent thefts.”

             
“Thank you.”  I realize he hadn’t exactly paid me a compliment, but I felt obliged to say something
at that point
and that’s all I could come up with.

             
“No, uh, thank
you
,” he said
, pushing a lock of wavy brown hair off his forehead
.
“We appreciate your concern and involvement
.
However, you do not have the authority or permission to interfere with any disciplinary action.”

             
“I didn’t realize I was,” I said, taking my arm from around Sunny and squaring my shoulders
.
“I heard you call Sunny down here, and I came to see what’s the matter
.
Is there anything wrong with that?”

             
Mr. Jenkins huffed out a breath
.
“No, but—”

             
“Then could somebody tell me what
is
the matter?”

             
Sunny, who’d been sitting there as silent and still as a rock, spoke up
.
“They think I stole Mrs. Anderson’s bracelet.”

             
“Why, that’s ridiculous,” I said
.
“Why would a young girl like Sunny want anything that belonged to that dried-up prune?”

             
“I haven’t the foggiest,” said Mr. Jenkins, “and yet the bracelet in question was found in Crimson’s locker.”

             
The bracelet in question
…. Like we were on
Law & Order
or something
.
And, speaking of Law & Order, it like to have broke my heart when Jerry Orbach died!  Did you know he did the voice of the candlestick in
Beauty and the Beast
, too
?  He could just play anybody…or anything
.
Anyhow, back to the “bracelet in question.”

             
“What does that prove?” I asked
.
“Several of her friends use her locker; and, besides, with somethin’ as small as a bracelet, somebody could’ve poked it through one of them vent holes in the top of the locker and
that’s
how it got in there.”

             
“As you may know, Ms.
Crumb, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”  Mr. Jenkins sat back in his chair and looked smug.

             
“I’ve heard people say that before, but I ain’t so sure it’s on the books anywhere
.
Can you show it to me?”

             
He rolled his eyes
.
“I find that irrelevant since this is not a legal matter.”

             
“It might as well be!  You’re accusin’ my baby granddaughter of stealin’!”

             
“Crimson is not a baby and I’m not accusing her of anything
.
I’m merely asking her—
her
—how that bracelet came to be in her locker
.
Do you have an explanation, Crimson?”

             
I looked at Sunny who was staring down at her lap
.
“Well, do you?” I asked her
.
“Who all has your locker combination?”  I looked back at Jenkins
.
“Let’s get them in here and see if any of
them
know
s
anything about a bracelet.”

             
“No,” Sunny said, shaking her head
.
“I’m not gonna embarrass my friends by getting them called to the office.”

             
“You mean Alicia Granger, don’t you?” I asked
.
“Ain’t she the one you’re protecting?”

             
Sunny didn’t answer, so I turned back to Mr. Jenkins
.
“Are you sure it’s the same bracelet?  Maybe it’s just a look-alike.”

             
“We’re sure it’s the same one
.
Mrs. Anderson’s initials are engraved on the back.”

             
I was as frustrated as a cat in a rubber mouse factory
.
“Sunny, please!”  I took her by the arm so she’d look at me
.
“Tell this man—”

             
“I don’t have anything more to say,” she interrupted
.
“I didn’t steal that bracelet, but I can’t prove it; and since it was in my locker, I’ll take the punishment for it.”

             
“You’d take the punishment for something you didn’t do rather than—”

             
“Very well.” 

That Mr. Jenkins cut me off right in the middle of my sentence
.
I thought that was rude
.
Especially when I was just trying to convince my grandbaby not to
g
o down—no wait, not to take the fall, that’s it—for a crime she didn’t commit.

“In the meantime,” Mr. Jenkins continued, “I’ll have your locker combination changed
.
I strongly suggest you keep the new combination to yourself.”

“Wait,” Sunny said, “I like my locker combination
.
I’ve got it memorized
.
I don’t want it changed.”

“Still, it seems several of your friends have your locker combination—a situation your grandmother wisely disapproves of—and I think we should remedy that.”