Chapter 103

• Lalaine's mother squealed, "He did not!"
• Dez laughed at her reaction. "Oh yes he did. You should've seen him, Momma Fate. He was all," Dez tucked her chin to her chest and spread her shoulders to mimic Lalaine's father, "'That's my wife, boy, and I'll be goddamned if I'm gonna sit by and let some pimply-faced orderly who's just barely reached puberty and still jacked up on teenage hormones give her a sponge bath! I'm the only man who touches those goodies! Leave the sponge and the tub, and walk away slowly, son, before someone gets hurt.'"
• Lalaine's mother was full-on laughing by the time Dez finished her less than accurate impersonation, and the peal was music to Lalaine's ears. She hadn't heard her mother laugh like that in so long she'd nearly forgotten what it sounded like. Of course, had her father heard Dez's mockery, he wouldn't have found it quite so humorous. Good thing he was at the house getting things ready for Lalaine's mother's return.