All He Has Left(6)

But things had been much better for everyone of late—thanks to his whip-smart sister. Beth had put herself in a promising position to take care of them, maybe for the rest of their lives. Their bills were all paid, for the first time in forever. He was driving a newer truck. Plenty of cash for food and fun. Life was damn good at the moment. But all of it was suddenly being threatened, according to the old lady—what he called his mother. She’d texted him twenty minutes ago and told him to get over to the trailer ASAP.

Eddie pulled his black truck onto the dirt road of the trailer park, kicking dust up all around him with his oversize tires. One of the neighbors near the front shouted at him. Eddie gave him the middle finger in return. He circled around to the back and then jerked to a stop in front of the old lady’s run-down RV—the dump where he and Beth were both raised. He’d slept on the short and stiff couch every night while Beth shared the only bed with their mother.

Getting out of his truck, Eddie straightened his black trucker cap, flicked his joint into the dirt by his scuffed cowboy boots. The sun was beginning to set over his left shoulder. He made eyes at the teenage girl who was standing out front watering flowers on the porch of another RV next door. She was a real looker but couldn’t be more than fifteen. He knew the girl lived with her fat mother, who used a wheelchair. What was the girl’s name again? Allison? Ali? He was too high to remember at the moment. The girl smiled awkwardly at him and then went back inside her trailer. Eddie had always had a way with the ladies. He liked them young, too. The younger girls wouldn’t give him as much lip. Girls his own age had way too much attitude.

Walking up to the old lady’s door, Eddie pounded on it.

“Get your ass in here!” he heard his mom shout from inside.

He opened the door, stepped into the small quarters. There was a tiny bedroom on one end, a kitchen in the middle, and a living space at the opposite end. His mom now kept it neat and tidy, but that hadn’t always been the case. There was a row of empty liquor bottles lined up on the kitchen counter next to the sink. Some things never changed, even with an influx of money. More cash simply meant more booze. The old lady was only fifty-two, but she looked more like she was sixtysomething. Her frizzy hair was mostly gray, her skin weathered. She sat in a chair next to the TV with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of whiskey in the other. Probably Jim Beam. His mom loved her cheap whiskey. Eddie noticed she had on her favorite black Van Halen tank top. She wore that damn shirt nearly every day.

Eddie walked straight to the fridge, grabbed a beer from inside, popped it open. “What’s wrong, Mom? What the hell is so important you couldn’t just tell me on the phone? I’m busy.”

“Doing what? Stealing cars with that moron, Jason?”

“I got real jobs, too, you know.”

Eddie had been driving a tow truck part-time for a couple of years. Beth had also been getting him some work lately. He was doing all right. The car-stealing stuff was just for weekend kicks with the boys.

“We got a real problem, Edward.”

Eddie eyeballed her over his beer can. She only called him Edward when it was something serious. “What?”

“Where were you this afternoon?”

“Doing some setup stuff for Beth’s company. Why?”

The old lady cursed.

“What the hell is wrong?” Eddie asked.

“She recognized you.”

“Who?”

“That damn little birthday girl. That’s who.”

Eddie cursed this time. “No way.”

“She even took a photo of you. Beth said questions were being asked.”

“By who?”

“I don’t know exactly. But it ain’t good.”

“Does anyone know I’m Beth’s brother?”

The old lady shrugged. “I don’t think so. Not yet. But we’ve got to do something right now before it ever gets that far.”

“Like what?”

“Shut people up.”

“How do you expect me to do that?”

“You still got your daddy’s gun?”

“Are you serious?”

“You want to lose everything? You want to go to prison just like your daddy? For the first time in our lives, we actually have some kind of future ahead of us. Hell, Beth said she wants me to go look at houses with her tomorrow. Can you believe that? A real house for me, Eddie. Maybe even a little yard for a garden. But it may all go away if you don’t go take care of this situation right now.”

“This is crazy.”

“I’m not telling you to shoot anyone. I’m just saying, you know, scare them.”

Eddie cursed again, pulled out another joint.

“Don’t smoke that right now, you idiot!” the old lady berated him. “You need to be thinking clearly tonight.”

She was right. He put it away. “Where’s Beth?”

“I don’t know. But she said to call her as soon as you leave here.”

“Fine,” he huffed. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Tonight, Edward. Or this could be over for all of us by tomorrow.”





THREE


Jake planned to pick up Piper around eight that evening. He’d made special dinner reservations for them downtown at Truluck’s. When Sarah was alive and they were still a family, their yearly tradition was having Piper’s birthday dinner at the fancy restaurant followed by stuffing themselves on gourmet doughnuts at Gourdough’s on South Lamar. Piper’s favorite had always been the Funky Monkey, a giant doughnut with cream cheese icing, topped with grilled caramelized bananas and loads of brown sugar. Jake and Piper had not partaken in this activity last year since they were still reeling in the aftermath of Sarah’s death. Jake was hoping to find some happy ground again. Although he wondered how hard it would be for them to do this without Sarah.