Read Online The Evening Hour by A. Carter Sickels - Free Book Online Page A

their hands and faces, and wore clean jeans and button-down shirts. “Y’all clean up good.”
    â€œWe’re celebrating a week of work,” Dell said. “Justin got us on at that new site. He’s up there at the bar.”
    â€œWhat are y’all drinking?”
    â€œWhatever you want to buy.” Dell laughed.
    Cole still felt pumped with adrenaline. Jumpy. He watched Lacy pour out four shots. “How old are you, Cole?”
    â€œTwenty-seven.”
    â€œOh, you’re just a baby. I’m an old woman compared to you.”
    â€œYou ain’t old.”
    â€œThirty-six,” she said. “And I got an eleven-year-old kid. What do you think of that?”
    He carefully balanced the shot glasses. “That ain’t old,” he said again.
    Back at the table, Cole and his cousins and Charlotte downed their shots in unison. Justin had joined them. He wore a camouflaged cap backward, and his gigantic T-shirt and jeans hung loosely from his linebacker frame. All of his cousins, the men anyway, were taller and stronger than Cole. It had always been this way.
    â€œCole, you should’ve applied for a job at that new site in Bucks County,” Justin slurred. “I could’ve gotten you on. I got the twins on.”
    â€œI already got a job.”
    â€œYou could be making double what you earn now.” Justin shook his head. “I don’t know how you stand to be around those stinking old folks all day.”
    â€œYou get used to it.” But Cole knew what they thought of his job. The men in the family, of those who were actually employed, worked in the mines or construction, jobs like that. He’d never wanted to work for the coal companies; he couldn’t gut the mountains the way they were doing and feel right about himself.
    Charlotte’s face was shiny with sweat. She grabbed Cole’s hand. “Dance with me.”
    â€œYou know I ain’t one for dancing.”
    She moved her hips seductively. “Come on.”
    â€œNo, I said.”
    â€œThis is what I’m saying,” she accused. “You’re happy just sitting there doing nothing.” Cole stared through her, lit a cigarette. “I guess I’ll have to find someone else,” she said, and turned to the twins, tugging on their meaty arms, but they just laughed. Charlotte finally gave up. She flipped all of them off and walked away, disappearing in the dark.
    After a while, Justin complained he had the spins, and stumbled out of the Eagle. The twins said they better go after him. “All right,” Cole said, but they just stood there, like they were thinking hard. “There’s something else—,” Dell started, but then Lyle, who rarely spoke, interrupted: “Cole, you got any Ritalin?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œSome guys at the site were asking,” Dell explained. “I told them I could probably get it.”
    Cole shook his head. He didn’t know how much his cousins knew about what he did. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    â€œRitalin, Adderall, whatever. Something to keep us up, you know. It would be a nice chunk of change for you.”
    Cole hesitated, and the twins looked at him eagerly. But he’d always promised himself that he would not sell to family. Family complicated things.
    â€œNo, I don’t have anything.”
    Dell and Lyle looked at each other. “All right, that’s cool,” Dell finally said. “If you hear of anyone—”
    â€œI’ll let you know.”
    After they left, Cole studied the room, also keeping an eye out for Charlotte’s brothers. But now his game felt thrown off, and he wondered if he should give up and go home. Everything felt too small, too close. He wanted it to be simple, the give-and-take, the little ball of power. A couple of regulars walked in. He made a few quick deals, then went out to the parking lot. The Oxy went