It turned out that Mom and Miss Troy had more in common than anyone would have suspected. For one thing, they both loved celebrity gossip.
“Did you hear about that basketball coach who’s getting stalked by his mistress?” Troy asked.
“Oh, yes!” Mom said. “I heard she went to school with one of his kids!”
“Scandalous!” Troy said.
“Oh, you two!” Aunt Marie cut in. “You can’t believe everything you see in those rags. They say a lotta stuff without confirming whether it’s true or not.”
“Shut up, Merle!” Mom commanded.
“What? It’s true. Half of those stories are made up.”
“Well,” Roscoe said, in between bites of greens, “I know one thing. I can’t wait to get some of that peach cobbler.”
The last thing Roscoe wanted to do was talk gossip at dinner. Mom knew that and broke off the banter.
