Oven Baked Secrets (Eugeena Patterson Mysteries Book 2)

by Tyora Moody

  It was still pretty early and the wind was up today. The fall weather was trying to settle in the South. As I inched my way down the steps, I looked next door. I had a distant memory of Louise bundled up in her down coat feeding a stray cat. She was a gentle soul, though quite the nosy neighbor, she meant well. I felt helpless being so close to a crime with no clues.

  I climbed in my car and glanced over at Amos’ house. I wondered if he was up yet. It was well past eight o’clock. His house was quiet, but I’m sure he was bustling around in there. So many people had left the neighborhood and others may continue to go. I certainly didn’t want to leave my home. When the murder happened a few months ago, my oldest boy wanted to move me out of the home where I raised all three of my children. I just couldn’t do that.

  Plus, I was nowhere near helpless. I turned on my car ignition and headed towards my aunt’s house, which was only twenty minutes away. As I drove, my thoughts wandered to what Esther would share with me. It was quite strange that this August person had been on Louise’s mind. My friend must have been thinking quite a bit about the past after Jocelyn’s visit on Sunday.

  Then it occurred to me. Suppose this August person was still alive? Had Jocelyn tried to reach or find any information about who could be her maternal grandfather too?

  As I drew closer to my aunt’s house, my own past memories were stirred. When most of the family was still living, my aunt’s house was where we gathered for the holidays and family reunions. I parked my car in front of the Gibson family house that was painted in of all colors, Pepto-Bismol® pink. Growing up, the house was a pale yellow. I don’t remember whose idea it was to paint the house pink.

  I knocked on the door and waited. Cora opened it. “Girl, it’s good to see you.” She stepped back and looked at me. “You look like you haven’t been sleeping.”

  I waved her off and stepped inside. “I’m fine. Is Aunt Esther up?”

  A strong, melodic voice floated from the living room. “Is that you, Eugeena?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I went into the living room to where Esther sat in a chair. Most of the people in my family were pretty tall. My sons received their height from their dad and my side of the family. Most of the women were more average in height like me. Esther was the tallest of all the women. Never married, she was a regal woman who carried herself with pride. She reminded me a lot of Maya Angelou.

  Esther’s silver hair was cropped short and reminded me of a halo. She had a blanket wrapped around her. I noticed Esther was holding her worn bible. I believe Esther had that leather King James bible since I was a young woman and that’s been a long time. The pages were barely intact and sticking out in various places.

  I crossed the room to hug her. “How are you doing, Auntie?”

  “As good as I can be. You taking care of yourself, girlie?” Esther frowned at me, but there was a hint of amusement tugging at her lips. “What’s this I hear about you having a boyfriend?”

  I swung around and glared at Cora. Cora sat down on the couch with a huge grin on her face. I turned back toward my aunt making note of the sly smile on Esther’s face. The sight of that smile was pretty rare, but I was still a bit embarrassed.

  “Well, I see you two have been talking about me. What has Cora Gibson been telling you?” I sat down on the couch on the other end of the couch so I could be closer to Aunt Esther. “I don’t know why your younger sister feels like she must create a soap opera out of other people’s lives.”

  Cora leaned in. “Esther, she cooks for him. I would say he’s something special.”

  I huffed. “The man has to eat. Besides he helps me keep up with my yard and broken things around the house. I am on a fixed income now.”

  Cora arched her eyebrow. “I’m sure it’s nice to have a man around the house.”

  I waved Cora away like she was a gnat. “Just ignore her. Aunt Esther, since Cora is keeping you in the know about my business, I assume she told you about my neighbor?”

  Aunt Esther nodded. “She did. It brought to my mind an incident I had almost forgotten about.”

  I frowned. “What incident? Sounds serious.”

  Aunt Esther was quiet for a moment. She laid her bible on the table in front of her and patted it as though she was drawing some type of strength. I looked over at Cora, who glanced at me and then back to her older sister. We both waited.

  Aunt Esther started to rock her chair as she pulled the blanket closer to her chest. “You remember the time you had the family reunion at your house, Eugeena?”

  “Yes, that was about fifteen years ago, Aunt Esther.”

  “That wasn’t the first time I met your neighbor, Louise.”

  “Really?” It was the first and last time I hosted a family reunion at the house. I tried to erase memories of that event. Ralph and I were at each other’s throats, but we put on the best fish fry ever. Many people in the neighborhood showed up at our reunion, pretending to be kinfolks. With her blue eyes and blond hair, Louise kind of stood out, but she made herself right at home. “I remember you seemed to think you’d seen Louise before. She kept saying no this was the first time you two had met.”

  “I rarely forget faces.” Aunt Esther pointed to Cora. “When Cora mentioned something about an August fellow, then I started to remember. You see I’ve only known one man, well really a boy back then, named August in my life. He was a student of mine and that August didn’t have a good ending.”

  “Ending?” I sat up straight and asked, “What do you mean?”

  “August Manning. August was a great baseball player, touted to be the next great Jackie Robinson around here. He wasn’t too bad with his school work. He could have gone a long way except…”

  I leaned forward. “Don’t keep us in suspense, Aunt Esther.”

  Esther’s held her hand to her chest as if the thought made her uncomfortable. “August’s life was cut short. In a very violent way.”

  “He was murdered?” I frowned. Now I was certainly not expecting to hear that and hoped for once that Aunt Esther was wrong.

  Chapter 14

  Esther folded her hands in her lap and continued, “There was a rumor that August had become involved with a young white girl. You know, back then it wasn’t good for a black man to be around a white woman. I recalled seeing a young blond-haired woman around August one evening after a game. I asked him about his friend, and even tried to gently warn him that he and the young woman should be getting along separately to their own homes.”

  Esther stopped talking, she picked at the blanket around her. She finally continued, looking straight ahead. “A few days later, someone or maybe more than one person, had gotten hold of August. Whoever it was beat August senseless and left him for dead near the same baseball field where he broke records and hit home runs.”

  As the reality of what Esther told us sank in, I blinked thinking this was worse than I thought. I asked, “Why would you think this was the same August? Louise didn’t give me a last name. I know you don’t forget faces, but suppose the girl you remembered wasn’t the same Louise. That was so long ago.”

  Esther looked at me. “It was her eyes. That girl with August had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Something about Louise’s eyes made me think I’d seen her before.” Esther leaned forward and asked, “This girl that came to see Louise on Sunday, did she appear to be mixed or what we called back in the day, mulatto?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but her mother was married to an African American man.” I reached into my purse. “Here is the photo of Jocelyn’s mother.”

  Esther took the photo. Cora scrambled off the couch to stand behind her sister to view the photo. Both Esther and Cora studied the photo for a long time. Finally, Esther handed the photo back to me.

  “There is only one way to really know. You should ask your friend, but I can tell you I see August Manning in that woman’s face too. She could be his daughter. Cora, go in my room and bring me that black leather album that sits on the top of my dresser.”
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br />   Cora sped off like she was much younger than her sixty-two years. I twisted my hands and waited in silence to see what else Esther had for me.

  Cora returned with a large black leather album. There were papers and photos sticking out. Esther took the album. She must have already pulled out what she wanted me to see, because she flipped it open and handed me a photo.

  I looked at her and then Cora before reaching over to take the photo.

  The photo was a black and white of a very handsome dark-skinned young man. He wore a baseball hat and appeared to be dressed in uniform. His smile was bright and teeth perfectly straight in the photo. I sensed the warmth and kindness in his eyes and that smile.

  For a brief moment, I felt a deep sense of sadness pass over me even though I didn’t know the man or had ever seen him before. I cleared my throat. “This is August.”

  Esther nodded.

  I held the photo next to Jocelyn’s family photo. I wasn’t sure how to feel at that moment knowing how August had died. Suddenly, I started to understand why Jocelyn felt a need not to dig into the past. If she’d found out any of the information I had just found, or even if her mother knew, that had to be pretty devastating.

  A thought popped into my mind. I wiped my eyes not realizing I had really been affected with a growing sense of anger. “This happened in 1964. So August’s murder has been unsolved for fifty years? No one had any idea who was involved.”

  Esther looked down in her lap. She lifted her head. “There were at least two boys that people in the community suspected. Chuck Nelson and …”

  I leaned forward. “And?”

  Esther stared at me. “I believe the other one was Bill Hopkins.”

  “Bill? Louise’s husband? Well, that would be crazy. Bill was a great guy and neighbor. She certainly wouldn’t have married him if she knew he had anything to do with something that horrendous.”

  Lord, how could someone live with themselves?

  Cora shook her head. “Maybe she didn’t know. It sounds like it was just a rumor. Right, Esther?”

  “Those are the names I remember. They hung out together and played baseball too. Now that I think about it the one that August had a run-in with before his death was the Nelson fellow. He was average height, but a real muscular fellow. He and August were in competition for the most home runs.”

  Chuck Nelson. For some reason that name was familiar to me, but it wasn’t coming to me. Why? I let out a deep sigh. I was tired and it wasn’t even noon yet. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to get something heavy like this laid on your psyche in the morning. “Esther, did anyone question these boys?”

  Esther shook her head. “Not that I know of. Those rumors were mainly in our community. August’s sisters still live in the same house. If they’re up to it, maybe they can talk to you more about their brother. They used to hold a memorial for him every year, but they haven’t done that in years now that they are both up in age.”

  I might need to pay August’s sisters a visit. The pain of someone else’s life being taken away so ruthlessly and with no closure. That kind of guilt weighed heavily on a person’s soul. I wondered if Louise knew the boys responsible. Did she know her own husband could have been involved?

  Who knew that Sugar Creek’s resident busybody had so much going on in her own life? Now I was starting to see why Louise never breathed a word of her past life to me all these years. Oh poor Louise.

  Chapter 15

  The rest of my visit with Cora and Esther was pretty somber. Cora knew not to do any more teasing. I think she was just as surprised as I was about the story Aunt Esther revealed. As I drove home I tried to process all that I had learned in the past three days.

  There was no way I could talk to Louise and dredge up that kind of pain. It was bad enough as long as William’s murder remained a mystery, a funeral would be delayed. I still couldn’t wrap my head around Bill. He was a gentle soul although I must say he wasn’t as friendly with us as his new neighbors, at first. But then neither was Louise. People can change. We all eventually grew on each other. Bill and Ralph developed a friendship and went to the golf course together.

  I really wanted to talk to Amos, but he kind of warned me to not go digging. It wasn’t like I really had been digging though. Aunt Esther provided me with another whole layer to Louise’s life that I would have never saw coming. How did it all, if any, connect?

  It was late in the afternoon when I arrived home. The days were getting shorter and I felt the need to bump up the temperature in the house when I opened the front door. I slumped into the living room chair. I felt something warm and furry circling around my legs and looked down to see Porgy making himself comfortable next to my feet. I bent over and patted him on the head.

  “How are you doing, fellow? I think me and you need a pretty quiet evening.”

  The house phone rang next to me.

  Not only did the house phone ring, but my cell phone was ringing from my bag.

  That figures as soon as I proclaim the need for a quiet evening, all the phones would ring. My first thought was to ignore both phones, but I decided to go for the house phone first. What if it was one of my children or my grandchildren? Sometimes when it was inconvenient, you have to do what’s right in your spirit, not your feelings. Plus, I really can’t stand those persistent phone calls that came when you were too tired to care who was on the other end. That just pushed me into a grumpier state.

  I struggled up from the chair and reached over for the phone on what I knew was the last ring before voicemail. “Hello.”

  “Ms. Eugeena, are you okay? It’s Carmen.”

  That caught my attention. To have my son’s girlfriend and housemate calling me out of the blue was unusual. “Carmen? Maybe I should be asking you that question? Is everything okay with Cedric? You?”

  “I was hoping you could come over. I really have something to talk to you about, Ms. Eugeena.”

  “Now? Are you sure you can’t wait until tomorrow?”

  Carmen hesitated. “I wish I could and I don’t want to sound dramatic, but this is really urgent, Ms. Eugeena.”

  Did she just say urgent?What is going on now, Lord? “Okay. Give me an hour or so, Carmen. I just got back from seeing my aunts and I’m kind of worn out. I will be there as soon as I can. Is Cedric going to be there?”

  Carmen was quiet. “No, Cedric is at a conference this week. Thank you, Ms. Eugeena. This means a lot to me. I will see you soon.”

  At a conference, I thought as I hung up the phone. There was a time when Cedric would have let me know when he was going out of town. I looked over at Porgy, who was peering back at me. “Well, so much for the quiet evening. I can’t imagine what Carmen has to share with me especially with Cedric not being home.”

  Before I went upstairs, I went over to my bag to see who was thinking it was a good idea to call me on my cell phone. I must have not been paying attention to the phone while with Aunt Esther and Cora because I had two messages. I pressed the voicemail. The message was from Pat.

  “Ms. Eugeena, I’m so sorry to keep bothering you, but I’m not sure what to think anymore. You know when you have that feeling something isn’t right. Well, never mind. If we can meet maybe tomorrow I want to run some things by you.”

  This was the second time I’d missed Pat’s call this week. I wanted to call her back, but I knew Carmen was waiting on me. I’m not sure how I became so popular, but Pat did say we could touch base tomorrow.

  It was a shame that Cedric’s home was really only ten minutes away from me, but I rarely saw him these days. As I drove, my mind tried to process all the scenarios that Carmen would present me with when I arrived. I imagined she really wanted to get married and wanted to figure out the best way to get Cedric to pop the question. Or what if she was pregnant? Or wanted to move out?

  Why am I going over to see this woman again?

  Now I really liked Carmen. She was a bit standoffish when I first met her, but I started to see she w
as a young, intelligent woman who actually did a pretty good job of capturing Cedric’s heart and keeping him in line. I just kind of wished I’d raised a young man who wasn’t so afraid to commit.

  My boys, Junior and Cedric, were quite different in that way. Cedric was the more sensitive of the two and also didn’t get along with Ralph. Despite the fact he went into the same profession as his father, delivering babies, the two never did grow close, just tolerated each other.

  I took some blame because Ralph and I had quite a distant marriage for many, many years. Going to work and church, raising kids, but somewhere we just went through the motions, often with me picking up the slack of being at football games while Ralph was delivering babies. Prior to Ralph’s death we had grown closer, but our marriage had affected each one of our children in a different way.

  No one was perfect. You could only do the best you could do.

  I turned into the driveway of Cedric and Carmen’s townhouse and parked next to Carmen’s jeep. She was definitely an interesting mix of a woman. She was a resident at Charleston Hospital, where Cedric was one of the obstetricians on staff. Both were very smart and capable people. Before I could knock or ring the doorbell, the front door was opened by Carmen.

  It never failed, but every time I was in Carmen’s presence I was struck by her height and beauty. I could see why Cedric was attracted to her. She was just as tall as my son who was over six feet. With looks that rivaled Beyoncé, she was tough girl with a soft, vulnerable side that she had shown on rare occasions in my presence. Her honey-colored hair was cut into a short bob with the left side hanging over her big brown eyes.