Twisted Tales Read Online Free Page B

such people—had to prove they were a legitimate relative or friend. No exceptions.
    “I was only doing my job,” he said to Karen. “Rules are rules. Was I supposed to let in every stray person who comes off the road claiming some vague kinship, salivating for a plate of ribs and potato salad? Then you’d be complaining that because of me, there wasn’t enough food left for the real family members.”
    “Yeah, sure, you only did your job,” she said. Sitting on the bed, she pulled off her sneakers and socks. “You had an interrogation going on there. But the elderly lady was worst of all, Anthony. What you did to her was terrible.”
    Karen made it sound as though he had robbed the old woman. A short, stout lady wearing dark shades, a big hat, and a flower-patterned dress, had waddled up to the picnic. A frail young woman was leading her, which made him wonder whether the old lady was blind. In a scratchy voice, the woman said her name was Sis Maggie.
    “Sister who?” Anthony had asked. “You don’t look like the sister of anyone in my family, old girl.”
    Sis Maggie’s face puckered up like a prune. “I’m a friend of the family, young man. Been knowin’ your people from way back.”
    “What people of mine do you know?”
    In a halting voice, Sis Maggie proceeded to run down a list of names: Junebug, Little Tommy, Lillie Mae, and other names Anthony had never heard in his life. He didn’t have the patience to listen a minute longer. He cut her off in midsentence.
    “Listen, I’ve never heard of those people,” he said. “Either they’re all dead, or you’re at the wrong family reunion. In any case, you wasted your time coming here. Have a good day.”
    Sis Maggie frowned in confusion; so did her skinny guide girl. “Young man, listen here—”
    “The exit to the park is over there.” Anthony pointed. “If your eyesight is too bad to see it, I’m sure your little nurse there can find it for you.”
    Muttering under her breath, Sis Maggie and the girl huffed, turned around and shuffled away.
    A handful of people had gathered around the sign-in table. Their mouths hung open in shock. Anthony only smiled. He had balls, all right. No one could pull one over on him.
    Minutes later, one of Anthony’s aunts ran to him and told him he’d made a big mistake by turning Sis Maggie away. No, his aunt said, she ain’t really a friend of the family, but she lives in these parts, and only a fool dares to disrespect her. The old woman has been known to work with roots—and she holds terrible grudges.
    Anthony only laughed at this backwoods’ superstition. Talk about ignorant. If Sis Maggie was so bad, let her work some roots to conjure up some ribs of her own. She wasn’t getting any from his reunion.
    “It’s over now,” he told Karen. He sat on the bed. “Drop it.”
    Karen rolled her eyes. She stripped down to her bra and panties, and the sight of her shapely body made his heart skip a beat. He reached for her as she walked past him. She swatted his hand away.
    “None for you tonight,” she said. “I’m tired, and you’ve gotten on my damn nerves. Make friends with your hand.”
    “That’s cold,” he said, watching her shuffle into the bathroom. He used the edge of his shirt to mop the sweat off his face. Waves of heat pressed upon him like heavy pillows, squeezing sticky sweat out of his pores. On the other side of the room, the air-conditioning unit rattled. Piece of shit. This is what he got for buying into the “family reunion” hotel package: two miserable nights at a cheap hotel. He had wanted to stay at the Hyatt, but Karen had insisted on staying here with the rest of his family, so his relatives wouldn’t think he assumed he was better than them. Who cared what they thought? Most of them envied his success anyway. It was lonely at the top.
    Sighing, he used the remote control to click on the television.
    In the bathroom, Karen screamed.
     
    Two yellow jackets had taken hold of