"Ma Buck!" Claire and I both took off running toward Wally B's house as soon as we saw his grandmother sitting on the porch. We ran up the stairs and pushed each other out of the way to hug her first.

She held out her arms and hugged us both at the same time. Ma Buck was a tiny woman, but she made you feel like she was bigger than everyone else in the world.

Ma Buck hugged us tight, but when she felt Claire flinch in pain, she pulled away quickly. Claire's face fell and she looked down at her feet. She was trying so hard to hide what Papa was doing to her from everyone. She looked like she wanted to cry.

I took her hand in mine, but she pulled it away and gave Ma Buck a weak smile.

"It's good to see you." Then she disappeared back down the porch steps before either of us could say anything, hanging her head as low as it could go, and headed back toward our house. It was probably best. Papa would flip if he saw her sitting on Wally B's porch.

I didn't follow.

I wanted to talk to Ma Buck.

She sat down on one of the old kitchen chairs that they kept outside and patted the chair next to her. I sat down and looked silently at her. She read the sadness on my face. Ma Buck always knew when people were hurting. It was her gift.

"What happened?"

"Papa beat her. Bad."

"Why?"

I stared at Ma Buck and didn't answer. She nodded her head and didn't force me to talk. She never did. That's why I liked her so much. I didn't like to talk and she didn't make me.

"My grandson being good?"

My eyes widened, but I fixed my face before I looked back over at her. She also always knew who was causing trouble whether you told her or not. That was her other gift.

"Yes ma'am. He is."

She looked at me like she knew he wasn't.

"How long you here for?" I loved when she came to town. She always made huge meals with desserts and brought treats for all the kids in the neighborhood. I wondered how much of what Wally B was up to she already knew about.

"Only for the weekend. I have to get back to my boys." Ma Buck ran a reform school in Virginia. She chuckled. "I should take my grandson with me." I looked over at her. She knew. She always knew everything. I wondered how much of the good that he was doing she knew about. She always only came down for the bad. "Next time." Her eyes silently told me that if they called her down there one more time, that was exactly what she was going to do.

I hoped she didn't. Our neighborhood would fall into chaos without Wally B.

I wondered if she knew that.

I nodded and looked back out over the neighborhood. She was letting me know ahead of time that my friend would be gone soon. Ma Buck knew that Wally B had always been my only real friend.

"And you? Are you behaving yourself?"

I looked over at her and smiled. "Yes ma'am."

The way she eyed me made me wonder if Wally B had told her about me and Remmey. I looked down at my hands and gave myself away. She chuckled again and patted my knee. Then she sat back in her chair and I sat back in mine, and we spent the rest of the day in warm, comfortable silence.

When the sun went down and it was time for me to leave, Ma Buck went back into the house and came back out with a tin full of butter cookies. "For you girls." Then she reached in her pocket and pulled out a handful of hard candies. "For my sweet Claire." I smiled and nodded, hugged and thanked her. Then I left.

When I got home and gave the candies to Claire, she cried.

Later that night I was hiding out behind Ray's when Remmey walked up and sat down next to me.

"Peace, Jazz."

"Peace Remmey." Sometimes Remmey followed Wally B's rules and greetings and sometimes he didn't.

"Why you always back here?" He gazed at me and my face started to burn. "You don't want to go home?"

I looked down at my hands. He reached out and lifted my face back up to his.

"That why?"

I nodded, embarrassed.

"Why not?" I didn't answer.

Remmey took his hand away from my face and leaned back against the wall. I did the same. After a while, Remmey spoke again.

"Wally B told me to be careful with you." I looked over at him and his face was kind. It made me wish that his arms were around me. "He said take it easy with you." I looked down at my hands again. Remmey lifted my face back up to his. "Why he say that?"

I just looked at Remmey, but didn't answer. He took his hand away and continued to stare into my eyes.

"Wally B...told me what yo' daddy do to you girls."

I blinked and tried to fix my face, but I couldn't. Shock and humiliation swam in and out of my expression like two serpents fighting under water. Remmey's eyes scanned across my face like he was watching the fight just below my skin.

Finally, I was able to speak.

"What he say?" It came out barely a whisper.

"He told me if you get pregnant your daddy take knitting needles and..." he looked down at my middle. My hands involuntarily folded in front of me, blocking his view. He looked back up into my eyes. "He do that to you?"

I shook my head no and looked down. He put his hand on my arm. I looked back up at him.

"To my sister."

He looked angry. "Which one?"

"Marguerite."

"Which one she?"

"The one who ran away." He nodded. "We don't talk to her anymore."

Remmey nodded again. "He touch you?" I shook my head no. "Beat you?" I stared into his eyes but didn't answer.

Remmey sat back on his crate and relaxed again.

I did the same.

After a while, Remmey took my hand and shifted his body around to face me directly.

"Want me to take care of it?" I just stared at him. "I ain't on Wally B's council. He don't have to know." He said it softly and held my hand tighter. "I can make him stop." Silence. "Huh bruh."

I thought about it. I really did. But then finally, I shook my head no and looked back down at the ground.

Remmey let my hand go.

"Peace Jazz."

And he walked off.