It only took one complete minute of silence before Corey Jean fell asleep. The child snored softly. Maggie had never heard a little girl snore before. She wondered if Corey Jean knew she snored.

On tip toe Maggie crept out of the bedroom. All the men, John Carl and Billy were in the dining room. She peeked through the door. Brenda sat at the table arm wrestling with Uncle Woody. Oh, sure, she thought, you can really beat him. Brenda's arm hit the table with a thwack. Maggie leaned against the door jam. All the males were entranced by Brenda. Billy, Daddy, Uncle Woody and Bill were all smirking and jabbing each other.

Brenda pouted, "You shouldn't pick on me like that Woody. After all I'm just a girl."

Maggie rolled her eyes. What a stupid thing to say. She looked at John Carl. She met his eyes and wrinkled her forehead as if to say, so this is who you've been spending so much time with.

Brenda said, "Let's go outside and I'll show you what I learned in my judo class. I took it for self-protection." She stood and swiveled out the back door. The men fell behind her. Maggie tagged along to see if Brenda really did know judo. She also wanted to find out what was so fascinating about the girl. She sat down on the back step.

"I bet you can't throw me," Billy said taking a lunge at Brenda.

he caught him by the arm and threw him down.

Uncle Woody snickered. "Ha, you got thrown by a girl."

Brenda approached Uncle Woody. She grabbed him and flipped him.

Billy laughed, "I can't believe you got thrown by a girl."

"I'm going to flip you next, John Carl," she said. Brenda started after him. She didn't see Patches' water bowl. Maggie did. Brenda stepped in it. The bowl tipped, water flew into the air and soaked the front of Brenda’s shirt. Maggie thought it was really funny until he saw how the men were looking at Brenda in her wet T-shirt. They were so stupid.

From the shaded side of the house Maggie could heard the boys voices. She got up and walked around the house. No one noticed her leave. Beneath the air conditioner, an intricate road way had been traced in the sand. The boys were pushing cars and wrecking cars. The air conditioner jolted on and roared overhead. Earl shouted, “In coming jet.” Maggie sat down beside Don, the sand was cool and damp. She and picked up a little blue truck.

Don swiped it out of her hand. Angrily he said, "That's my best truck. And you can't have it." He cocked his head sideways and said, "Besides, you're too big to be playing cars. You're supposed to be off kissing." He made a long series of kissing noises, "Your boyfriend."

"Aw leave her alone," Skeeter told him. "Maggie don't have a boyfriend. She's not that stupid," he paused then added, "yet."

Earl handed Maggie one of his cars and smiled. She took it from him and patted his cheek. He was always so sweet. Everyone said he took after his Mama.

Bee Bob confiscated all his cars and sat down in Maggie's lap. He leaned against her. She stroked his hair while he ran his cars up and down her shoes.

Half an hour or more passed.

The back screen door slammed closed. Maggie heard Brenda call out, "We'll see you later." Maggie wanted to hide.

When John Carl and Brenda passed by, Brenda looked over her shoulder and smirked. In an amused voice she said, "Why John Carl I thought you told me she was fourteen. By the time I was fourteen, I'd quit playing with little boys."

Bee Bob stood up and said, "That's just cause little boys don't like to play with you."

Don said, "The boy has a point."

Brenda frowned at Don. She headed for John Carl's truck.

John Carl looked at Maggie. He smiled apologetically. Maggie didn't smile back. She knew she wouldn't see him for the rest of the day.

After they drove away, Maggie got up and went inside to check on Corey Jean. The child was still sleeping. Her curls stuck out at crazy angles around her face. Maggie flopped down on Garnet and Bill's bed. She rolled over and stared out the window.

What is it about that Brenda? What does she have that I don't? Aunt Betty had it too. Men didn't look at Maggie the way they looked at Aunt Betty and Brenda. Whatever it was, they must have been born with it and she had been born without it.

Waking up, Corey Jean asked in a groggy voice, "Is that old girl gone?"

Maggie nodded.

"Good," she said.

*

It was late evening. Maggie sat on the couch by Billy doing a crossword puzzle. "What's a nine letter word for obnoxious?" she asked.

Billy grinned and said, "Corey Jean."

"That's two words."

Corey Jean looked up from her coloring book and asked, "Huh?"

The adults were in the dining room playing cards. Garnet's voice rose above the rest, "No, Bill. It was his time. Nothing nobody could have done would have stopped it from happening."

Maggie heard a chair scrape across the linoleum. Then Bill shouted, "You are wrong. This could have been prevented."

Billy sat straight up, his body tensed.

Lowering her voice, Garnet replied, "It says in the Bible our days are numbered."

Though Bill didn’t shout this time, his voice was still angry. "It also says King Solomon had a thousand wives. You don't see me going out and getting a few more. Right now the one I got is about all I can handle." Maggie saw Bill walk into the kitchen and open the refrigerator door. "Billy, we're out of Cokes. Go get some."

Billy turned to Maggie and whispered, "Will you come with me?"

"Yeah, if Daddy will let me."

They went into the dining room. Maggie asked, "Daddy can I go too?"

Daddy looked her up and down a second before he said, "I guess.” He then squinted at Billy and said, “Boy, you come straight back."

Billy said, "Yes sir."

Maggie was embarrassed by her father’s attitude. Billy didn’t seem to notice. In the back yard, Skeeter and the boys were throwing mud balls at the chickens roosting in the trees. They stopped the second they saw Billy. Billy shook his head and said, "Boys, if my mama catches you, you're in big trouble. She don’t need to deal with no more trouble-so stop it."

Billy went to his car. Maggie opened the door and slid onto the seat. He turned the key and pushed down the gas pedal. Nothing. After a several tries it finally started. When it did, Billy turned on the radio and roared down the drive. Overhead, the stars were just coming out. Maggie watched them twinkle into the sky, one by one. The night air moved through the open car. Maggie wanted to stick her head out the window and feel the wind rushing through her hair. The headlights bobbed crazily. The road was still slick in some places from the rain. When they entered town, Billy waved or honked at every car. He knew everybody. Back home, Maggie didn't even know all the people on her block, much less the whole city.

In the drive of a white frame house was John Carl's truck. He pointed and said, "That's were Brenda lives."

Maggie didn’t respond. A block later, Billy pulled his car into the convenience store parking lot. He hopped out. "This'll just take a second."Maggie sat alone under the parking lot lights. Loud music drifted from passing cars. She wondered what John Carl and Brenda were doing. No she didn’t.

When Billy came out he slung two six packs of cokes through the open window onto the back seat. He fired up his car, which started on the second try, and spun out of the parking lot. Maggie crashed against him. He grinned and said, "Hold on girl."

Maggie righted herself and tried to put on her seat belt. It was busted. Billy laughed. When they passed Brenda's house, Maggie strained to see in the windows. The house was completely dark except for a square of blue light that must be the TV. She couldn't see anything.

"Don't waste your time on John Carl, Maggie.”

"Why not?"

Billy lit up a cigarette, then said, “Brenda’s got him fast. He’s not going anywhere.”

Maggie looked at Billy. The dull orange glow of the ash illumined his face. He looked tired. Maggie noticed deep lines around his mouth and under his eyes. She leaned toward him and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, it just hurts when I breath.” He thumped his chest. “I feel like this sometimes.” His voice shook, “It's like the water is still rushing in and I can't get any air."

Maggie reached for his hand. Billy grabbed it and pulled her close beside him. She leaned her head on his shoulder, then tugged the cigarette from his lips. In a gentle voice she said, "This isn't doing you any good."

Billy took the cigarette from her and tossed it out the window. He flipped off the radio and asked, "Who do you think is right about Daniel dying, my mama or my daddy?"

Honestly, Maggie didn’t know. He wanted an answer. She could feel his ribs heaving in and out as he struggled for breath beside her. What to say, she had to say something. She stammered, "I don't know." She felt his body stiffen beside her. Then words came to her, she said, "Seems like thinking one way helps your mama, and thinking the other way helps your daddy."

Billy sighed. "Neither way helps me. Daniel was too young to die. I heard some stupid woman at the funeral say, 'Daniel was just too good for this earth.' What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I heard a lot of weird stuff too. My mama thinks this happened for a reason, but I can't see no reason in Daniel dying. It's crazy."

Billy griped the steering wheel with one hand and held onto Maggie with the other. "Why did God let this happen?"

"I wish I knew," Maggie said.

"Makes me wonder if He even exists." Billy's voice was hard.

Maggie whispered, "I hope He does because I want to see Daniel again."

“Do you think Daniel can see us?"

"I don't know. Mama says he can."

"I miss my big brother."

"I know." Maggie stroked his cheek. It was wet.

Billy went on, "I'm afraid John Carl and I might kill each other without Daniel to stop our fights. He had to pull us apart more times than I care to remember."

"Why can't you two get along?" Maggie asked.

Billy shrugged his shoulders.

They rode the rest of the way home in silence.

When they pulled up behind the house Maggie whispered, "Billy, I love you."

"I know," he said and he wrapped his arms around her. For a moment they clung to one another in the darkness. "I love you too."

He kissed her cheek. "Will you take these Cokes in. I'm not up to going back inside. Tell Mama I'll be back before it gets too late. I'm gonna go see Sally."

"Okay." Maggie slid out of the car. "You be careful."

He smiled up at her. "I will."

Maggie hugged the six packs against her. She watched Billy's car slip into the darkness.

*

Thick fog. Maggie struggled against it. She screamed. A hand gripped her shoulder. The fog disappeared. She felt the couch beneath her. It was only a nightmare. Patches thumped his tail on the floor beside her, and then she felt the pressure of someone’s hand on her shoulder. She gasped, "Aah," and sat straight up. Her eyes flew open. It was John Carl.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you." He let go of her shoulder.

Maggie squinted at him. "What are you doing?"

"I was on my way into the house and I heard you talking in your sleep. I thought I better check on you."

"I was having a terrible dream."

He sat down on the arm of the couch and said, "I've been having some myself. The other night when I woke up from one I saw you sitting in the moonlight with Patches. You looked like you were crying.”

Maggie glanced up at him. It was too dark to read his expression. She whispered, "You saw me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to come outside, but I didn't think your daddy would like that."

"Nope, he wouldn't. Skeeter says if I ever get a boyfriend with Daddy around, it will be a miracle." Maggie dropped her eyes. Sudden embarrassment flushed though her. She thought God why did I say that?

John Carl asked, "You okay, now?”

Maggie nodded.

He got up off the couch and said, “Guess I better let you get back to sleep. Night Maggie.”

"Night, John Carl.”

He touched her cheek and walked quietly into the house. Maggie felt a silly smile spread across her face. For the first time in her life, a nightmare, had turned out to be a good thing.