Soup...Er...Myrtle!: A Myrtle Crumb Mystery (Myrtle Crumb Mystery Series) (2 page)

“Are you sure it’s no trouble?” she
asked.

“Not a bit,” I said.

I went through the line with them,
and they told me what they wanted. I got it on a tray for them and took it to
their table.

“I reckon I’d better get back to
helping Doris now,” I said. “I hope to see y’all before you leave. I’m Myrtle,
by the way.”

“Thank you, Myrtle,” said the momma.
“I’m Heather.” She nodded toward her oldest one. “My big girl here is Elizabeth,
and my little one is Miranda Sue.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of
you,” I said.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” said
Heather.

The girls were too busy eating to
say anything. God love them. They were hungry.

I went back over to Doris. I started
to tell her I was sorry I’d abandoned her for a minute; but if I’d said it,
it’d have been a bald-faced lie so I didn’t say it. This wasn’t church, but it
was close enough. I mean, we were feeding the hungry and stuff. Besides, Jesus
always knows what you’re doing and where your heart’s at.

And if Doris Phillips had a cross
word to say to me, I meant to rebuke her right then and there. Not that I was
gonna wag my finger in her face and say
I rebuke you, Doris
or anything
like that. I was just going to get her told the way Jesus did that mean old
Martha for tattling that her sister Mary wasn’t pulling her weight during the
party. And Jesus told Martha that she’d best back up off Mary—I’m paraphrasing
here a little—because Mary was doing important stuff herself. Just like me.

But, lucky for both of us—me,
especially, because I’d have hated to make a scene my very first day and ruin
the M.E.L.O.N.S.’ already questionable reputation—Doris didn’t say a word about
my going off to help the young mother.

As I stood there beside Doris
ladling soup into disposable bowls, my eyes kept wandering over to that little
family. I wanted to help them. Of course, being a widow and a senior citizen on
a fixed income wouldn’t allow me to do much, but I could do
something
. I
could find that woman a coat and some gloves for her little chapped hands if
nothing else.

I had Faye and Sunny over to the house for supper that
evening. We didn’t have anything fancy—just some spaghetti, homemade meatballs,
and a loaf of French bread with garlic butter that I’d got from the bakery at
the grocery store.

We also had some cupcakes. I got those at the bakery too
because I didn’t have time to make any myself. I’d reached for the half-dozen
container thinking we’d all have one and then Faye and Sunny would take the
other three home with them. But there I was grabbing up that dozen box, bigger
than Ike. That’s when I knew I was going back to that soup kitchen the next day
even though I wasn’t scheduled to work, and I knew what I was going to do with
that other half dozen cupcakes.

When Faye and Sunny got to the house, Sunny went running
right to Matlock to hug his neck. Faye acts like she’s allergic to Matlock—and
she very well may be—but I kinda figure she just doesn’t like him. She never
has been one for dogs.

“I’ll put him outside,” I said.

“No, Mother, that’s all right. I took an allergy pill.”

Well, wonders never cease
. Maybe she was coming
around.

“I found a coat and some clothes too,” Faye went on.
“Crimson and I will bring them in after we eat.”

Crimson is Sunny’s given name. I don’t call her by that
hippie name. I call her
Sunny
, short for
Sunshine
because she
is
my sunshine. I reckon it could be argued that
Sunshine
is a hippie name
too. But I don’t call her
Sunshine
, and
Sunny
is not a hippie
name.

“I wish I still had some of Crimson’s old clothes,” Faye
said. How old did you say the little girls are?”

They look to be about two and four to me,” I said.

“That’s so sad. After Steve died, Crimson and I didn’t
have much…at least, not financially. But you and Dad were there for us. Wonder
where this girl’s parents are?”

“I don’t know, honey. I wish I did.”

Faye’s husband Steve got killed in a car wreck when
Sunny was just over a year old. Crandall and I never thought they were a good
match, but Faye loved him…and he and Faye gave us Sunny.

“I wish y’all would stop being Debbie Downers so we can
eat,” Sunny said. “I’m starving. Lunch today sucked.”

“Crimson!”

“I mean, it was awful,” Sunny said.

“Go get washed up,” Faye told her.

I knew what
sucked
meant. Faye did too,
naturally, but she thought it was bad language. Granted, it’s a tad crude, but
it’s in the mainstream now. All the young ‘uns say it.

And I believed Sunny when she said the food in the
school cafeteria sucked. I went undercover there one time to investigate some
thefts, and the food
does
suck. The staff does the best it can with what
it has to work with, but Doris takes more pains at the soup kitchen than they
do in that lunchroom. Of course, Doris has about five hundred fewer mouths to
feed, so that makes a big difference. I ain’t mean-mouthing—I’m stating facts.

Anyhow, I heated up the French bread while Faye put
spaghetti and meatballs on our plates and Sunny got us all drinks. I was having
water. Goodness knows I didn’t need any caffeine keeping me up half the night.
Faye and Sunny had iced tea.

We sat down at the table then, and I asked the blessing
before we ate. We were always grateful for what the good Lord provided, but
this evening, we were even more so.

* * *

After Matlock and I got ready for bed, I called Cooper.

“Hello, darlin’,” he said. “It’s good to hear from you.
In fact, I was going to call you in the morning to see if you’d like to go with
me to supper Friday night.”

“I’d like that very much,” I told him. “I wasn’t calling
to finagle an invitation though. I just wanted to say
hi
and ask if you
knew anything about any services around here that helps needy people.”

“Myrtle, you know I’d be glad to help you out with
anything you need,” he said.

“Oh, Coop, I know you would, but this ain’t for me.” I
explained about Heather and her little girls. “They plumb broke my heart.”

“I’ll sure check around the station and see what I can
do. They’re a great group of people, and I know they’ll help out if they can.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I thought I’d go by the store
tomorrow morning and get a little something for the girls. Faye and Sunny
brought over a coat and a few clothes for Heather.”

“You’re something, you know that?”

“I’m blessed is what I am. I’ve got a sweet family, a
good dog, and a handsome man taking me to supper on Friday night.”

He laughed. “If there were more people like you, Myrtle
Crumb, I’d be out of a job.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that. Some of us are speed
demons, and that poor little old Doris from the soup kitchen must not be able
to drive worth a hoot. You should’ve seen how she was parked this morning.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to Friday,” he said. “In the
meantime, if there’s anything we can do to help Heather and her daughters
before then, I’ll let you know.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”  I just threw that
sweetheart
in there. He calls me
darlin
all the time, so I thought I’d just slide
that one by him to see how it felt. It felt pretty good.

We said our goodbyes and then I snuggled in beside
Matlock and went to sleep.

* * *

When I got to the food bank and soup kitchen the next
morning, I left the stuff for Heather and her daughters in my car. I didn’t
want to embarrass them. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to think I was playing favorites...even
though I was. It wasn't anybody else’s business who I wanted to help.

I’d stopped by the general store and got the girls a set
of pajamas apiece, and I got each of them a doll. I also got them that game
Candy
Land
so they could all have something to play together. It wasn’t much, but
it was something.

I walked inside and was surprised that Doris wasn’t the
first person I saw. The first person I saw was Tansie Miller.

I rolled my eyes, but I have to give myself credit for
not groaning out loud.

She came right up to me, flattening her lips to make
sure I knew she was none too pleased to see me there. “I thought you worked
here yesterday.”

“I did. But I thought I’d come back today,” I said. “I’m
glad. Looks like Doris could use the help.”

Before Tansie could say anything else, Doris came over
and got between us. “I’m so glad to have both of you here today. You
M.E.L.O.N.S. sure are dedicated—I’ll give you that. How precious y’all are to
volunteer your time like this.” She pulled me to the side. “Myrtle, honey,
everybody raved over your cornbread yesterday. Would you care to make some
more?”

“I’ll be delighted to make the cornbread,” I said. “You
know, not everybody can make good cornbread.
Some
people’s cornbread
tastes like it’s full of sand.”

“Myrtle Crumb, you take that back right this instant!”
Tansie hollered.

“I said
some people’s
. I didn’t say yours.
Although, I reckon if the sandy cornbread fits….”

Tansie went to sputtering and crowing like a hen getting
baptized, and Doris all but pushed me into the kitchen.

“I can’t help that my cornbread is better than
Tansie’s,” I said. “She either skimps on the buttermilk or the butter. I’m not
sure which. Her with all that money she likes to throw around and then skimping
on her cornbread ingredients. She ought to be ashamed.”

Doris looked pained, and I realized I’d put her in a bad
spot. I patted her shoulder. “You go on and do whatever you need to do. I’ll be
nice to Tansie the rest of the time I’m here.” Or, at least, I would be as long
as she was nice to me. If she knew what was good for her, she wouldn’t run that
big mouth to me again today. I hadn’t come here to be bothered by Tansie
Miller. I’d come here to bring a few things to Heather and her little girls.

* * *

I kept looking for Heather as I stood in the line
serving people once we’d opened the doors. When I didn’t see them after a few
minutes, I worried that they must’ve found themselves at the end of the line.
We had a big crowd today.

“Why, howdy, Myrtle.”

I looked to see who was speaking to me. It was Opal
Grady, a woman who went to our church. Opal was in her nineties, and I was
surprised and concerned to see her out and about on this cold, snowy day.

“Opal, it’s freezing out! What’re you doing here?”

“I came to get me some lunch, same as just about
everybody else in town it looks like,” she said. “And you’d better know I’m
well aware of how blasted cold it is. The locks on my old Dodge were froze up,
and I had to use a lighter to thaw ‘em so I could open the door.”

“Well, bless your heart! Why didn’t you call me if you
needed something? I could’ve brought it to you.”

“You wouldn’t have been home to answer your phone,” Opal
pointed out. “You’re here.”

“Myrtle, you’re holding up the line,” Tansie said. She
was standing to my right.

Don’t you know that attitude of hers burned me up? How
dare she jump on me for paying a little attention to poor Opal?

I started to fire back at her with both barrels, but I
caught sight of Doris’s eyes getting as big as saucers. So I just gave Tansie a
hateful look and asked Opal what kind of soup she’d like.

“That beef stew looks awful good,” she said. “And did
you make that cornbread, Myrtle?”

“I sure did.” I smiled.

“Then I’d like a big piece of that,” she said.

That beat anything I could’ve said to Tansie. I smirked
at the hateful thing as I served Opal her food.

Tansie just flattened her mouth the way she does and
slopped some soup into a bowl for a bedraggled man who was standing there
picking his nose.

I kept looking for Heather and her daughters and was
worried when I didn’t see them. Just about everybody had been served and was
sitting around eating.

“Myrtle, is everything okay?” Doris asked.

“I was looking for that young mother that I helped
yesterday. Her name is Heather. I thought for sure she and her daughters would
be here today.”

“They’re here most days but not always. Maybe one of the
little girls had the sniffles or something, and Heather didn’t want to bring
them out in the cold.”

“That’s a good point,” I said. “Do you know where they
live? I’d be happy to drop some food off to them.”

“Sorry, hon. I don’t have any idea as to where Heather
lives,” Doris said. “It’s sweet of you to think of that though. Frank and I
have often talked about doing boxed meals to deliver to shut-ins, but we just
don’t have the resources.”

“Maybe you could bring it up at the next church board
meeting. It would be nice if some of these people didn’t have to get out and
brave the weather in order to have a decent meal.” My gaze found Opal Grady.
She was dipping her cornbread in her beef stew and eating like it was the best
thing she’d ever tasted.

* * *

After helping Doris finish with cleanup, I mentioned I’d
be back tomorrow because I was hoping to see Heather.

“Between you and me, I’ve got a coat my daughter Faye
doesn’t wear anymore. She and Heather are about the same size, and I wanted to
offer it to Heather.”

“That’s real good of you,” Doris said. “You could just
leave the coat here, if you’d like, though. You don’t have to work here every
day.”

“Aw, it gives me something to do,” I said. I didn’t want
to tell her that I was afraid one of the ne’er-do-wells that come in this place
would take Faye’s coat before Heather even got a chance to see it.