Not more than thirty minutes after Mama and Myra left, there was a knock at the door.

I looked at Maggie as she mouthed “open the door!” and after another knock I went to see who was there. Swinging the door open, to my surprise, I found three young black women all smiles and waiting there on our landing.

“Hello,” I said, and before I could say anything else they all burst out laughing and walked into the room. They introduced themselves and announced they were nieces of Mama Vermillion and wanted to know if this was where Layla lived. One of them, named Sue Ann, asked me if she could see Layla, while the other two, who were carrying baskets, walked right by me straight into the kitchen.

Maggie by this time had retreated into the bedroom and closed the door.

“Uh yes, uh, Sue Ann was it?”

“Yes, I’m Sue Ann and you must be Mr. Jim. Can we see Layla?”