Free Sinner's Ball by Ira Berkowitz

turned her attention back to the scab.
    The combination of Jonas’s posturing and Adele’s retreat told me that nothing useful would come of this. It was time to separate them.
    I put a friendly hand on Jonas’s shoulder and nudged him toward the door.
    â€œLuce, Jonas and I are heading down to the bar. Why don’t you stay with Adele until we get back. Won’t be long. That OK with you, Jonas?”
    Luce gave me a slight nod and sat down next to Adele and took her hand.
    Jonas threw his wife an angry look. “Why not? Being cooped up here with her is making me buggy anyway.”
    The bar was empty. We settled in at a corner table. I ordered a Diet Coke. Jonas went for a beer.
    â€œNot normally a drinking man,” he said. “But you lose your two girls, it kinda does something to you.”
    Two
daughters? I was confused.
    â€œYou lost two girls?”
    â€œFirst, Wanda. And now Angela.”
    â€œHow did Wanda die?”
    â€œDidn’t die. Least as far as I know. She ran.”
    I filed that away for later.
    â€œWhat do you do for a living, Jonas?”
    â€œTrucker. Farm some a little on the side. Work my ass off for my family.”
    â€œBet you do. Not easy working two jobs.”
    He tipped the glass to his mouth and drained it, using the sleeve of his sweater to blot the foam off his lips.
    â€œDamn straight,” he said. “Thankless. Thankless as a son of a bitch.”
    â€œAdele work too?”
    â€œNo sir. I believe in old-fashioned values.”
    I flashed him a smile. “You don’t see much of that anymore.”
    â€œAnd it’s a shame,” Jonas said. “Woman’s place is in the home. Raising the kids. Making sure there’s a hot supper waiting when you come home. There can only be one master of the house.”
    â€œRight from the Good Book. Read it every day,” I said. “Keep it right on my bedside table.”
    I was fully expecting lightning to strike. But not before Jonas had fully warmed up.
    â€œWorld would be better for it, if more people followed your example. All the wisdom you ever need.”
    â€œCouldn’t agree with you more. So, tell me about Angela.”
    He tapped the empty glass. “You think I can get a refill?”
    â€œNo problem,” I said, signaling the waiter.
    Less than a minute passed before his beer arrived.When it did, he knocked it right back the same as the first.
    â€œWhere were we?” he said.
    â€œAngela.”
    â€œRight. My baby started off just fine. Not like her sister.”
    â€œHow so?”
    â€œWanda was willful. Headstrong. Didn’t mind her daddy.”
    â€œBut Angela was different.”
    â€œOh yeah. Sweet little thing. Did what she was supposed to. Never gave me a moment’s trouble.”
    â€œWhat changed her?”
    â€œWanda,” he said. “Set a bad example. Pretty soon, Angela was acting like her sister.”
    â€œAnd what was Wanda doing?”
    â€œBoys were sniffing around her like dogs in heat. And she was Johnny-on-the-spot. You know how that goes.”
    â€œI can see where that would be a problem.”
    â€œWas. And Adele just coddled them.”
    â€œAnd you had to lay down the law.”
    â€œSure did. Spare the rod, spoil the child.”
    â€œDid Adele need disciplining too?”
    Jonas signaled for another beer.
    He nodded. “She had to learn to do right.”
    I could feel a bubble of heat rising from down deep inside of me.
    â€œHas Adele figured it out yet?”
    He smirked. “She’s learning.”
    â€œWhat kind of discipline are we talking about here? Curfews? Time-outs? That kind of stuff?”
    â€œLittle beyond that.”
    â€œHow did Wanda react?”
    â€œThe slut went off to cavort with the Devil. And Angela wasn’t far behind.”
    The skin on my face went tight as the friendliness flaked right off.
    â€œUse your belt, or just your