Free Lean on Me by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

asked.
    “ Handsome,” Alex smiled.
“He and Max are running the marathon today.”
    “ You like the crazy ones?”
Mammy peered into Alex’s face and leaned back to laugh. “I do
too.”
    Alex laughed.
    “ Now introduce me to your
friends.” Threading her arm thought Alex’s elbow, Mammy leaned
forward to see them better. “Zackary! I hear you had a new baby
girl.”
    As if he was fifteen, Zack blushed. He gave
her a goofy smile.
    “ Did you bring Mammy some
pictures?” she asked.
    “ Yes ma’am,” Zack
said.
    “ Is she a dragon?” Mammy
whispered.
    “ No ma’am,” Zack
said.
    “ You’re going to have to
explain that to Mammy,” she said. “The Mister tried a few times,
but it’s confusing to an old island gal like me.”
    Alex covered a burst of laughter with a
cough. Amused by her own joke, Mammy patted Alex’s back. Mammy was
one of the world’s most accomplished and deadly assassins. She
could still kill a man with her bare hands and not leave a mark,
forensic evidence, or even a whisper that she’d been there.
    “ And you must be Trece,”
Mammy said. “Mr. Pershing talks about you.”
    Trece held out his hand for her to shake.
She pulled him in for a hug.
    “ Will you show Mammy your
back?” The woman’s sharp eyes were kind with a touch of
sadness.
    “ Body armor,” Trece
said.
    “ Later then,” Mammy said.
“When we’re better friends. You don’t want to go stripping in front
of any old Mammy. That’s smart, very smart.”
    “ Yes, ma’am.” As if he was
being knighted by some foreign Queen, Trece blushed bright
red.
    “ I’ve heard you can spin a
story,” Mammy said.
    “ Yes ma’am,” Trece said. “I
have a new baby girl too.”
    “ Did you bring Mammy
pictures?” Mammy asked.
    “ Yes ma’am,” Trece
said.
    “ I knew we’d be good
friends,” Mammy beamed at him. “And you young man? Who are
you?”
    “ Sergeant Clifford Mauer,
US Air Force, ma’am,” Clifford popped to attention.
    “ Well Clifford Mauer,”
Mammy said. “What’s your story?”
    “ Story ma’am?” Confused,
Cliff looked at Zack then at Alex.
    “ Now Mammy, he’s just
young,” the bearded man who’d had a bent back said. “He’s here for
us to make something of.”
    Mammy and the bearded man looked like they
were going to eat Cliff whole. Cliff swallowed hard.
    “ None of that,” Mammy said.
“I have good coffee brewing and biscuits in the oven. The Mister
made some of his blackberry jam last night specially for your
visit. I bet you haven’t eaten. Anyone want some eggs?”
    Alex, Zack, and Trece nodded.
    “ Better see if our ladies
have twelve,” Mammy said to the man with a beard. He left the
kitchen.
    “ Where did he go?” Cliff
whispered.
    “ Chickens in the back,”
Alex said. “They’re self-sufficient here. Did you grow the coffee,
Mammy?”
    “ Now Miss Alex, you know
our coffee ain’t no good,” Mammy said. “The General mails Mammy
coffee beans straight from Columbia. I roast it out
back.”
    “ The General?” Cliff
whispered.
    “ My dad,” Alex
said.
    “ General Hargreaves,” Mammy
said. “I heard he’s not running for Senate again.”
    “ He says he’s retiring,”
Alex said.
    Mammy laughed and Alex smiled.
    “ Why is that funny?” Cliff
whispered.
    “ You’d have to know the
man,” Mammy said. “Now stop your whispering or I’ll make you go
milk the cow.”
    “ I grew up on a dairy farm,
ma’am,” Cliff said. “How did you know?”
    “ You just had that look,”
Mammy said.
    “ Oh come on, Mammy,” the
man who’d pretended to have a trick knee said as he walked in the
door. “No parlor tricks.”
    Mammy smiled.
    “ She pulled our files when
we reached the inner gate,” Alex said. “Relax. My guess is the cows
have already been milked.”
    “ We can’t pass up a fresh
young farm boy, Miss Alex,” Mammy said. “There’s a lot of work to
do here.”
    “ I saw your son at the
gate,” Alex said. “He’s handsome and