sunlight had a robin-egg kind of color about them. It was early summer on The Creek, but the night air still held a chill. The hounds barked like they always did and Daddy led the way to the headlights. He was the only person I knew that never had to memorize that dance to escape snarls and teeth. As Daddy walked, the hounds parted like Moses had thrown his hands over them, and even the meanest one, Kayla, cowered back as far as the lead would let her. I followed him closely, and the dogs paid me little mind.
The bull was already out of the SUV and leaned up against the front driver-side fender. His body cast a wide shadow in the moonlight. Neither of us could tell who it was, and neither of us spoke, but the fact that he wasn’t driving the standard black-and-white pinned him for ranked. Then, as we got within talking distance, the bull flicked a Zippo down his britches leg and held the flame close to his face to light a smoke. It was Lieutenant Rogers, the friend of the family, as Daddy said.
Rogers was a thick brute, even thicker now that he spent most of his time behind a desk. He didn’t wear the tan button-down shirt and creased slacks that deputies wore. He fastened his badge to his belt alongside his cuffs and gun. After years of night shifts and a résumé filled with what went for big busts in a place like Jackson County, Rogers had worked his way up to comfortable polo shirts and loose-fitting cargo pants. Those years on the road had taken his hair, and the years behind the desk had added a bit more pooch around the middle, but he was still strong. Toughness never wore out of men born with it.
“Hell fire, Jessup, you piling up in here like that at this hour had me all sketched out.”
“Shit, Charlie, I don’t reckon I’ve ever seen you on edge.” Lieutenant Rogers held the cigarette between his teeth, rocked his gun, cuffs, and magazines on his belt, and leaned back about as far as he could without falling onto the hood of the Expedition.
“What the fuck brings you up here?”
“That’s the thing, Charlie. Had a call over at your old lady’s house earlier in the evening. She was strung out all to hell and called the law up there. Said you were outside of her house wanting to kill her. Said you’d been peeking through the windows all night. Now, you and I both know that’s a bunch of bullshit, but the thing is it was one of those new boys who got the call. Thing is she told him a lot of details as they were riding down the mountain and your name got mentioned an awful lot. I told them she was out of her fucking mind, but to keep them little peckerheads happy, I said I’d come up here personally and see if your story checked out.”
“I appreciate that, Jessup. I really do. Pays to have friends, don’t it?”
“Friends, hell. Just business, Charlie.” Rogers squinted his eyes as smoke rose over his face, and took another long drag from his cigarette.
“So what in the fuck did you ride all the way up here for? You afraid of telephones?”
“Well, I guess because I thought you ought to know that the little lady was throwing your name around.”
“I can’t have that.” Daddy pulled a pack of cigarettes from his side pocket and lit a smoke.
“No, you can’t have that.”
I stood there in silence and tried my damnedest to stay just a sliver more than a shadow.
“Well, Jessup, as you can see, me and the boy are right here safe and sound. Not a whole lot more that I can tell you other than that.”
“Just so I got something to tell them boys to let them sleep a little easier, were y’all here all evening?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you the whole goddamn day.” Daddy folded his arms across his chest, making his muscles defined in moonlight. “Woke up this morning and cooked myself some bacon and eggs. Then I did my best to get this pussy-ass boy of mine feeling better after he let his body get a little in front of his head last night. After that I headed over to
The bull was already out of the SUV and leaned up against the front driver-side fender. His body cast a wide shadow in the moonlight. Neither of us could tell who it was, and neither of us spoke, but the fact that he wasn’t driving the standard black-and-white pinned him for ranked. Then, as we got within talking distance, the bull flicked a Zippo down his britches leg and held the flame close to his face to light a smoke. It was Lieutenant Rogers, the friend of the family, as Daddy said.
Rogers was a thick brute, even thicker now that he spent most of his time behind a desk. He didn’t wear the tan button-down shirt and creased slacks that deputies wore. He fastened his badge to his belt alongside his cuffs and gun. After years of night shifts and a résumé filled with what went for big busts in a place like Jackson County, Rogers had worked his way up to comfortable polo shirts and loose-fitting cargo pants. Those years on the road had taken his hair, and the years behind the desk had added a bit more pooch around the middle, but he was still strong. Toughness never wore out of men born with it.
“Hell fire, Jessup, you piling up in here like that at this hour had me all sketched out.”
“Shit, Charlie, I don’t reckon I’ve ever seen you on edge.” Lieutenant Rogers held the cigarette between his teeth, rocked his gun, cuffs, and magazines on his belt, and leaned back about as far as he could without falling onto the hood of the Expedition.
“What the fuck brings you up here?”
“That’s the thing, Charlie. Had a call over at your old lady’s house earlier in the evening. She was strung out all to hell and called the law up there. Said you were outside of her house wanting to kill her. Said you’d been peeking through the windows all night. Now, you and I both know that’s a bunch of bullshit, but the thing is it was one of those new boys who got the call. Thing is she told him a lot of details as they were riding down the mountain and your name got mentioned an awful lot. I told them she was out of her fucking mind, but to keep them little peckerheads happy, I said I’d come up here personally and see if your story checked out.”
“I appreciate that, Jessup. I really do. Pays to have friends, don’t it?”
“Friends, hell. Just business, Charlie.” Rogers squinted his eyes as smoke rose over his face, and took another long drag from his cigarette.
“So what in the fuck did you ride all the way up here for? You afraid of telephones?”
“Well, I guess because I thought you ought to know that the little lady was throwing your name around.”
“I can’t have that.” Daddy pulled a pack of cigarettes from his side pocket and lit a smoke.
“No, you can’t have that.”
I stood there in silence and tried my damnedest to stay just a sliver more than a shadow.
“Well, Jessup, as you can see, me and the boy are right here safe and sound. Not a whole lot more that I can tell you other than that.”
“Just so I got something to tell them boys to let them sleep a little easier, were y’all here all evening?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’ll give you the whole goddamn day.” Daddy folded his arms across his chest, making his muscles defined in moonlight. “Woke up this morning and cooked myself some bacon and eggs. Then I did my best to get this pussy-ass boy of mine feeling better after he let his body get a little in front of his head last night. After that I headed over to
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