LaTisha Blogs

LaTisha Barnhart here, resting my bunions as I type out this message of greeting to you. Hardy, my husband, is hovering nearby, in a stew because he kept procrastinating returning some library books and now they're overdue. I told him, I said, "Hardy Barnhart, there's no sense in paying a fee for overdue library books when you only live a couple of blocks away from the place. You best get over there and pay up." Did he listen to me? No. He went and curled his hide up in a ball on the sofa. Sound asleep. That man. But you get me in the kitchen whipping up one of my Caramel-Pecan cakes and Hardy suddenly listens real good. Listens for the sound of the mixer mixing up the caramel frosting! Then, sure enough, he's right there at my elbow, big brown eyes pleading to lick the beaters. I always have to double the recipe in order to have enough. Of course, having raised seven hungry children, I'm used to doubling recipes, sometimes tripling them if they were favorites.

Now that's it's just Hardy and me, I try not to cook so much. Sure is tough though. Know what's even tougher? Seeing my babies leave the nest. Funny how it didn't strike me quite so hard until Lela--she's our youngest--left for college this past fall. Now the house seems too quiet and too big. And when Hardy plays his piano, I miss the sound of our babies singing along. It's a good thing I've got my college work to keep my mind busy.

Which reminds me, I need to hustle over to the library and return those books. Maybe I'll drop by Out of Time, the little antique store here in Maple Gap. I used to work there, but Marion and I didn't see eye to eye too often. I hear she's having a going-out-of-business sale, so it might be worth checking out, that is if I can get Hardy on his feet. I can hear him snoring all the way in here.

When LaTisha Barnhart sets foot into the Out of Time antique store, her bunions tell her something's afoot. Upon discovering the body of her former employer Marion Peters, LaTisha decides to put her Police Science degree to good use and do a little investigating of her own. But when her husband Hardy opens his trap and implicates her, the ante is upped, and she is determined to clear her name and find the real culprit.

She's burping Mark Hamm's bad cooking to investigate his beef with Marion. . .gettin' her hair styled at a high falutin' beauty parlor to see what has Regina Rogane in a snarl. . .and thinking Payton O'Mahney's music store lease might be the reason he's singing out of tune when discussion of Marion's murder arises. LaTisha's thinking she just might use the reward money to have her bunions surgically removed, but she's got to catch the crook first!

Murder on the Ol' Bunions, March 2008
by S. Dionne Moore
http://www.sdionnemoore.com/
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