talk?” said the guy in the hoodie. “Get this asshole out of
here so we can finish up.”
“ Shut up, Marek. I’m talking to my
friend.”
“ There is no house,” I said. “We got
foreclosed. And my mom … um … she passed about a week
ago.”
Jared shook his head. “First your dad, now
your mom. That’s some hard luck, man. Need a smoke?” He held out a
pack of Camels.
“ Um … thanks … but no
thanks.”
“ Listen. You can’t stay here man.
Bad shit goes down in these places. Way too easy to end up in the
wrong place at the wrong time, like almost happened here. Can you
imagine if I wasn’t here to vouch for you?”
“ I ain’t gonna be staying here much
longer,” I said. “As soon as estate crap gets sorted out, I’m
leaving … I’m going out of state.”
“ Yeah? Where you headed?”
“ Um. Ohio, probably. My uncle live’s
there.”
“ Ohio, huh?” Some inscrutable
calculation went on behind Jared’s eyes. He looked at his friends.
“Giulio got any peeps up there?”
“ Dunno.” The guy with the bat
shrugged. “Probably.”
He turned back to me. “So how you getting
yourself up there?”
“ Hopefully, with my dad’s pickup. If
I can shake it loose from the creditors. It might have to go up for
auction. Mom willed it to me, but … there are bills to
pay.”
“ Yeah, well. Good luck with that.
Bankers got their hooks into everything these days.”
A cell phone buzzed. The guy in the hoodie
checked his screen. “Enough with the chit-chat. Giulio’s ten
minutes out.”
“ Okay … um … listen James. You gotta
make yourself scarce. Alright? You never saw us. Never tell anyone
you saw anyone here after hours. Understand?”
“ Not a problem,” I said. “I’m just
gonna rinse off a bit with that hose over there and then I’ll be
out of your hair.”
Jared stuck his hand on my shoulder and
steered me around. “No can do. You gotta scram. We got company
coming.”
“ But—”
He shoved me back the other way. “I’m serious
Bud. You can’t come here at night no more. Come back in the
daytime. Okay?”
***
I only pretended to leave, circling around the
back of the facility to the storage bay. I crawled in, pulled the
screens in after me, and slid down the overhead door.
I was stuck back in my personal tomb without
the shower that would have made it bearable. I made do with wiping
myself down with a grimy towel. Morning couldn’t come soon enough,
and it didn’t.
I propped the door open with a pebble to let a
little bit of fresh air seep in. I squirmed on the mattress, trying
to get comfortable.
I went into one of those half-trances where
dreams mix with reality, but it was not an actual visitation. I was
thinking about Karla, going over and over in my head every detail
about her face, her voice, the layout of her little abode. I got
excited when I mistook a few stray itches for roots. I took every
loud thump for Reapers.
I heard a truck pull up outside the fence. A
storage locker slid open. Something trundled down the alley. Heavy
objects thumped into a trunk. Doors slammed. The gate rattled shut.
Cars pulled away. I was left with my pounding heart, my snuffling
breath and the roar of the highway.
I tucked a moving blanket under my arm and
left the locker before dark. I slipped back through the fence and
walked the two miles to the graveyard where Dad was buried. There,
I washed up at one the spigots for folks to water
flowers.
I was dead tired, but the idea of sleeping
over corpses creeped me out. But there was this old magnolia tree
with roots so thick and gnarly, there was no way anyone could be
buried beneath it. I spread out the blanket and found my escape in
the form of sleep, blessed sleep.
***
It was light out when I opened my eyes. Beyond
the low-hanging branches, palmettos and cypress bent in a stiff and
steady breeze. I crawled out from under the tree. My mind was
blank. I couldn’t remember dreaming.
The mosquitoes had gotten me
here so we can finish up.”
“ Shut up, Marek. I’m talking to my
friend.”
“ There is no house,” I said. “We got
foreclosed. And my mom … um … she passed about a week
ago.”
Jared shook his head. “First your dad, now
your mom. That’s some hard luck, man. Need a smoke?” He held out a
pack of Camels.
“ Um … thanks … but no
thanks.”
“ Listen. You can’t stay here man.
Bad shit goes down in these places. Way too easy to end up in the
wrong place at the wrong time, like almost happened here. Can you
imagine if I wasn’t here to vouch for you?”
“ I ain’t gonna be staying here much
longer,” I said. “As soon as estate crap gets sorted out, I’m
leaving … I’m going out of state.”
“ Yeah? Where you headed?”
“ Um. Ohio, probably. My uncle live’s
there.”
“ Ohio, huh?” Some inscrutable
calculation went on behind Jared’s eyes. He looked at his friends.
“Giulio got any peeps up there?”
“ Dunno.” The guy with the bat
shrugged. “Probably.”
He turned back to me. “So how you getting
yourself up there?”
“ Hopefully, with my dad’s pickup. If
I can shake it loose from the creditors. It might have to go up for
auction. Mom willed it to me, but … there are bills to
pay.”
“ Yeah, well. Good luck with that.
Bankers got their hooks into everything these days.”
A cell phone buzzed. The guy in the hoodie
checked his screen. “Enough with the chit-chat. Giulio’s ten
minutes out.”
“ Okay … um … listen James. You gotta
make yourself scarce. Alright? You never saw us. Never tell anyone
you saw anyone here after hours. Understand?”
“ Not a problem,” I said. “I’m just
gonna rinse off a bit with that hose over there and then I’ll be
out of your hair.”
Jared stuck his hand on my shoulder and
steered me around. “No can do. You gotta scram. We got company
coming.”
“ But—”
He shoved me back the other way. “I’m serious
Bud. You can’t come here at night no more. Come back in the
daytime. Okay?”
***
I only pretended to leave, circling around the
back of the facility to the storage bay. I crawled in, pulled the
screens in after me, and slid down the overhead door.
I was stuck back in my personal tomb without
the shower that would have made it bearable. I made do with wiping
myself down with a grimy towel. Morning couldn’t come soon enough,
and it didn’t.
I propped the door open with a pebble to let a
little bit of fresh air seep in. I squirmed on the mattress, trying
to get comfortable.
I went into one of those half-trances where
dreams mix with reality, but it was not an actual visitation. I was
thinking about Karla, going over and over in my head every detail
about her face, her voice, the layout of her little abode. I got
excited when I mistook a few stray itches for roots. I took every
loud thump for Reapers.
I heard a truck pull up outside the fence. A
storage locker slid open. Something trundled down the alley. Heavy
objects thumped into a trunk. Doors slammed. The gate rattled shut.
Cars pulled away. I was left with my pounding heart, my snuffling
breath and the roar of the highway.
I tucked a moving blanket under my arm and
left the locker before dark. I slipped back through the fence and
walked the two miles to the graveyard where Dad was buried. There,
I washed up at one the spigots for folks to water
flowers.
I was dead tired, but the idea of sleeping
over corpses creeped me out. But there was this old magnolia tree
with roots so thick and gnarly, there was no way anyone could be
buried beneath it. I spread out the blanket and found my escape in
the form of sleep, blessed sleep.
***
It was light out when I opened my eyes. Beyond
the low-hanging branches, palmettos and cypress bent in a stiff and
steady breeze. I crawled out from under the tree. My mind was
blank. I couldn’t remember dreaming.
The mosquitoes had gotten me
Similar Books
