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drama gene wouldn’t have far to look.
    After a few uncomfortable minutes of silently watching Mama frown and shake her head and Allegra stare stony-faced and teary-eyed out the kitchen window, I made a suggestion that should have been obvious to anyone with good sense.
    “Come on. We need to go to the police station so Allie can give them a statement.” Mama mumbled in agreement and we got up from the table but Allegra just sat there and looked at us like she didn’t understand English. We waited for her to get up but she didn’t move.
    “Allegra Janine Clayton, get your behind up from that table so we can go get this straightened out!” Mama said in a voice that dared my sister to disobey and took me back to childhood. In my case it had usually been, “Kendra Janelle Clayton, get your behind out there and cut me a switch!” I cringed at the memory.
    But Allegra still didn’t budge. Uh-oh. I thought Mama might combust.
    “Did you hear me, girl?” Mama leaned down and got right in Allegra’s face. Her voice was a low snarl.
    “You want me to go cut a switch?” I offered hopefully, but was only answered with dirty looks from both of them.
    “All right, if that’s the way you want it. I’ll just call the police and have them come over here.” Mama headed for the wall phone in the pantry. Allegra burst into tears again.
    “I don’t wanna go to jail, Mama. I didn’t do anything!” she wailed, as tears flowed freely down her face and a trickle of snot dripped from her nose. She ran a hand over her face smearing the tears and snot. Eew! She certainly didn’t look like much of a goddess now.
    My grandmother stared at me in defeat. She’d never been able to stand seeing Allegra in tears. If it had been me she’d have dragged me to the police station by the scruff of my neck. But I sensed now wouldn’t be a good time to point this out. We both sat back down.
    “Allie, this is exactly why you need to go down and tell them what happened. Now, how’s it going to look if they have to track you down? Then you’re really going to look guilty,” I said softly, handing her a tissue from my purse.
    She shook her head no and poked her lip out slightly like a sulky toddler. I groaned and laid my head down on the table.
    “Come on, baby,” Mama said, getting up and putting an arm around my stubborn little sister. She gently attempted to pull her to her feet. Allegra stiffened up and didn’t move for a moment. It almost looked like Mama was trying to drag a reluctant dog by its leash. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Then we can figure out what we’re gonna do, okay?” Allegra finally stood up and allowed herself to be led to the bathroom. Mama tossed me a look that said “Think of something” over her shoulder. But I was way ahead of her.
    Allegra might not want to listen to what we had to say, but there was one person who I knew she’d listen to. Even though I didn’t want to think about the looks the two of them had given each other the night before, I got on the phone and called Carl anyway.

CHAPTER 3
     
    I n the year that Carl and I had been dating, I’d yet to really see him in full-on lawyer mode. It was fascinating to watch. Barely ten minutes had passed from the moment he’d arrived to the time he’d convinced Allegra to go with him to the police station, but, then again, Allegra loves men. She’s one of those women who sees other women as competition and doesn’t have many female friends. She had always gotten along much better with men since she didn’t care whether they dressed better or were thinner than she was. Carl was apparently no exception. Standing in the middle of Mama’s kitchen dressed in a charcoal-gray suit that framed his six-foot-one frame well, with a burgundy silk tie that had been loosened, a crisp white shirt against chocolate skin, and smelling good to boot, Carl was the very image of tall, dark and handsome, my sister’s favorite type. Allegra quickly dried her tears