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Mrs. Duke came to us when I was thirteen. Actually, it was 1964 and I was three days from turning thirteen. She was only supposed to stay for a few weeks, until her late husband's estate was settled.

We owned a boarding house that my daddy's parents owned even when he was a kid. With daddy off in Vietnam, we were taking in as many people as we could to make extra money. So even if that meant sharing a room with momma, I'd do it to make room for Mrs. Duke and her kid. She woke me up one morning in the middle of July.

"Put the kettle on, wouldya honey?" was my wake up call. The clock on the wall read 7:20. I lazily rolled onto my stomach.

"It's summertime, momma. Kids are 'sposed to be sleeping late and stuff," I groaned. I heard her push back the blinds and felt the sun on my face. It was probably ninety degrees already, but nothing could stop me from sleeping even with a sheet covering me. She pulled it back right away. After some more jostling I was downstairs and working on breakfast.

"Morning, Bets," Mrs. Robinson came in. She was a nice older woman who had stayed with us for the past couple months. I'd miss her when she left. A few other boarders came through and stayed for breakfast. Momma came down with a woman I hadn't seen before around eight.

"And this Betsy, my daughter. Betsy, this is Mrs. Duke." Mrs. Duke was a tall woman, willowy and with dark curls. She didn't look much older than momma. "I was just saying how breakfast and dinner is apart of your board, but lunch is up to y'all."

"Nice to meet you," I said to her. She smiled back and shook my hand like I was a grownup.

"Nice meeting you as well, darling. I heard you're quite the cook." I smiled. This woman and I would be great friends. I loved cooking, and darn right I was good at it too. We all had a nice breakfast together, the boarders chatting and filling up on my delicious grits, bacon, and omelets.

Then out of the blue came, "That food smells like piss."

I hated Phillip from that day forward.