Part 19 (1/2)
”Morning, Hadley,” said Macy. She was brus.h.i.+ng Mallie Mae's hair.
”Good morning, Hadley,” said Mallie Mae. ”Wish you were going with us.”
”Me too, Ma'am,” he said. ”But Dr. Mobley insisted that I go to Karnack.”
”To see your brother?” said Macy.
”Yes, Ma'am. And do some fis.h.i.+ng.” He held out his fis.h.i.+ng hat.
”I haven't been to Caddo Lake in years,” said Macy.
Hadley's eyes sparkled with excitement. ”It's fabulous. We'll spend the whole day out there. And then tonight for dinner, it'll be all the Catfish and hush puppies we can eat.”
”Sounds delicious, Hadley,” said Macy. ”So, you're spending the night?”
”Yes, Ma'am. Dr. Mobley told me to stay gone until tomorrow afternoon.”
”Well, y'all have fun,” said Macy.
”Oh, I intend to, Ma'am,” said Hadley with a big grin.
He walked out of the room and down the stairs to the garage and out the back door. Hadley kept his vehicle in the old barn, which was also where he worked on the car from time to time. It was a s.h.i.+ny black 1956 Buick Roadmaster Riviera with red interior.
He was surprised to see Carnie's Malibu missing. She had been parking it in the barn the last couple of days.
Hadley flipped open his cell phone as he drove away from the house.
”h.e.l.lo?”
”Is this Horatio's Fish Camp?” said Hadley.
”Hey, Ben. You on your way?” said Horatio.
”Yes, Sir. And tell Alma she'd better be ready to cook up a huge mess of Catfish tonight.”
”Oh, you wanna do some seriousfis.h.i.+ng, huh?”
”You got thatright.”
”Well, I already hitched up the boat. So, hurry up.”
”I'll get there as fast as I can.”
Hadley never drove his prized Roadmaster over 50 mph. He changed the oil every 2,000 miles and waxed it four times a year.
”Sorry about the late notice,” said Hadley.
”No problem. You know I'm always ready to throw a line in the lake. But why did Dr. Mobley wait until this morning to give you the day off?”
He rarely had a full day off, and he couldn't remember the last time he had done an overnighter. But he didn't mind. He was part of the family, after all.
”Well, just yesterday he planned an all-day trip to the Dallas Zoo with his mother and Macy, and I guess he realized this morning it would be a good time for me to get away too.”
”Well, that was nice of him. But I'm surprised he didn't want you to drive them to Dallas.”
”Yeah, me too. It seems like everybody in the house is acting kinda funny lately.”
”Really? What do you mean?”
”We just found out this week that Mrs. Mobley has Alzheimer's.”
”Oh, Lord.”
”Yeah, it's awful.”
”I hope me and Alma never get it.”
”Only thing is, I'm not sure she actually has it.”
”Well, didn't she go to the doctor?”
”Yeah. Dr. Mobley sent her to a specialist in Dallas, and he ran a bunch of tests on her, and they came back positive. But I haven't seen her having any problems. Her memory seems fine.”
”Yeah, but they say the memory kinda comes and goes. Especially when you first get it.”
”I guess so.”
”Well, hurry up, Man. We're burning daylight.”
”See you soon, Horry.”
”I thought we were going to wear old, worn-out clothes today?” said Greg.
”This isold,” said Cynthia.
”It's just not possible for you to look bad, is it?”
”I'm not wearing makeup.”
”See. That's what I'm talking about.”
”Quit.” She nearly blushed.
”You wanna go through McDonald's on the way out?”
”Sure.”