Read Online Family Reunion "J" by P. Mark DeBryan - Free Book Online Page A

nudged him with his boot. “Nice group there, young lady. I just started a three-bullet sale.”
    Jay, still in shock from having shot the boy, looked confused. “Anything you want in the store for them three bullets,” he said, pointing to the dying kid on the floor. Then he bent down and looked the boy in the eyes. “Your old man was a piece of shit, Orin, an’ it looks like you didn’t fall far from the tree. You should be ashamed of yourself, causin’ this purdy girl to live with your ugly face in her nightmares.”
    Orin tried to say something but it just came out as a gurgle of blood and saliva. He huffed and reached for the old man, but his gun only made it an inch off the floor. Ted shot him point-blank in the chest. The body bounced on the floor one time and then was still.
    Jay stood there, taking quick, short breaths. Her vision started to blur around the edges. “Slow down your breathin’, girl, or you’ll pass out on me,” she heard Ted say. The sharp reprimand brought her back, and she concentrated on taking slower breaths. Her vision cleared.
    “First time you ever shot somebody, huh?”
    “Yes,” was all she could manage.
    Ted made his way over to her behind the counter. “Sit down here, I’ll get you somethin’.” He disappeared into the back room again.
    He came out holding a bottle of Wild Turkey and carrying a couple of glasses between his gnarled fingers. He set the glasses on the counter, poured a couple of fingers of the brown liquid into each, and handed her one. “They didn’t give you no choice…” He paused. “You didn’t ever tell me your name.”
    “Jay, like the letter,” she said, sipping the whiskey and making a frowny face as it burned its way down her throat.
    “First taste a’ whiskey too, huh?”
    “That obvious?”
    “Yeah, like I was sayin’ Jay, them boys didn’t give you no choice. They came in here with murder on their minds, an’ if they’d a’ found you, it wouldn’t just been me they’d a’ murdered.”
    “Doesn’t make me feel a whole lot better about it.” She tilted the glass back and drank the rest in one shot, then she started coughing. She put her head between her legs and began to cry. Ted laid a hand on her back and gave her a couple pats.
    “Go ahead, you’ll get through this, I promise.”
    After an hour or so, Jay was feeling a little better. She had stopped shaking and even ate the sandwich Ted had offered her. The cold Diet Coke was the best thing she ever tasted. She guzzled it down and burped loudly. Embarrassed, she excused herself. Ted just laughed.
    “Feelin’ any better?”
    “Yes, thank you, and thanks for the food.”
    “Yer welcome Jay. Now what are ya plannin’ on doin’ from here? If you don’t mind me askin’.”
    “I’ve got to get home, and then I’m off to South Carolina to find my daughter.”
    “Well, you’re welcome to that truck if ya wannit.”
    “No, thanks, I think I’ll stick with the Harley.” She had bonded with the bike; it gave her a sense of control. No matter that it was all psychological, it worked for her.
    “Well, help me load these two up in the truck, then we’ll leave it down the road a piece, sorta advertisin’ this ain’t no place to loot.”
    He was stronger than he appeared. A lifetime of hard work had taken its toll. But together they lifted the lifeless bodies into the back of the truck. Jay’s lunch threatened to come up, but Ted scowled at her and warned her not to be “wastin’ good vittles.” She laughed at that, which stopped her from heaving it up.
    Jay stayed another hour, helping Ted clean up his store. He was a proud man and it showed in his attitude about the store. The whole time they were mopping up the brother’s blood, Ted regaled Jay with the history of this store. Originally located a mile farther down the road, it had been a stagecoach stop in the late eighteen hundreds. His grandfather purchased it from the company when the trains replaced the