The lab technician swabbed Lily’s arm with alcohol and nodded at Mimi. “That Benny Jack’s littlegirl?”
Lily reminded herself that this was the lie she was supposed to be perpetuating. She was going tohave to be careful to keep her story straight. A lifetime of honesty hadn’t prepared her for this kind ofskullduggery. “Uh, yes,” she said.
“I thought so,” the lab tech replied. “She looks just like him.”
Sure, lady. Whatever, Lily thought. But she smiled benignly. “Let’s see. I guess you’ll have to putyour little girl down while I draw your blood. She can crawl around on the floor; she won’t hurt nothin’.”
Lily set Mimi down and turned her head as the needle entered her non-tattooed arm. Tattooneedles, she could handle. But she hated having blood drawn.
As Lily queasily watched the syringe fill with red fluid, a middle-aged, smiling nurse stuck herhead in the door. “Hi, honey,” she said to Lily. “I just wanted to stop by to ask if you had any questionsabout ...” She pursed her lips demurely. “Married lady things. I’ve got all kinds of pamphlets, if you need
’em.”
“Mama!” Mimi squealed happily. Despite the lab tech’s certainty that she wouldn’t “bothernothing,” Mimi had managed to dump an entire bag of cotton balls on the floor and was petting them as ifthey were kittens.
The nurse looked at the baby, then at Lily. “I guess you won’t be needing any pamphlets, will you,hon?” She scurried off.
“Poor ole Bernice,” the lab tech said, sticking a round band-aid on Lily’s arm. “She just can’t get itthrough her head that there ain’t a girl alive these days that needs one of her little pamphlets on what agirl should expect on her wedding night.”
Lily laughed. “I guess girls are more sophisticated these days.” More sophisticated than you’llever know, she was thinking. “I’m sorry my daughter wrecked your lab.”
“Oh, don’t worry a thing about it. She’s just as cute as she can be. If you and Benny Jack wannacheck back in half an hour, we should have your test results ready.”
After a quick trip to the Piggly Wiggly for cold Cokes and Pampers, Ben and Lily returned to thedoctor’s office. “Congratulations!” Maybelle crowed when they walked in. “Y’all are healthy andcompatible.”
At the sound of the word compatible, Ben and Lily both burst out laughing.
The Faulkner County Courthouse was typical of small-town courthouse architecture: brick,columns, clock tower. In a stark, fluorescently lighted office, Lily and Ben waited for their license to beprocessed along with another soon-to-be wed couple. The man looked to be in his late thirties. His beard