life and Iâve done nothing; stayed as far from her as I could because I donât like thinking about her pain. But thatâs chicken shit, because once a thing is known, it canât be un known.â He sits back and folds his hands behind his head. âDad and I sit around and watch the God networka couple of hours a week just to see what guys like Brittain are thinking. You know, keep up with the enemy.â
Ellerby stands. âThat, my friend, is about as much philosophical bullshit as I can take in one night. Letâs crank up the Cruiser and spread the word.â
Â
The Cruiser slows to a stop in front of my house a few minutes before midnight. âGet some sleep,â Ellerby says. âWeâve got a tough meet tomorrow.â He squints into his side window. âLook, isnât that Dale Thorntonâs wagon?â
I cup my hands around my eyes to block the light from the dash. âHard to imagine thereâs three of these things.â As I say it, the door to the wagon swings open and Dale steps out. âWonder what he wants. You didnât steal anything from his garage the other night, did you?â
We meet Dale in the middle of the street. âHey, man,â Ellerby says, âgot her running, huh?â
Dale locks his fingers into his belt loops, a stance preceding the moment he used to kick my butt, or take my lunch money. He says, âYeah. No sweat.â He stands, eyes shifting from one to the other of us.
Iâm on past conditioning. âYou pissed, man?â
Dale smiles uneasily. âNaw. Why would I be pissed?â
âTo tell the truth, Dale, up until the other night, I never saw you when you werenât. It was just a guess.â
He looks at the ground. âI wasnât always pissed,â he says. âI just needed to make sure all you guys were a-scared of me.â
âIt worked. What brings you out this late?â
âGot to thinkinâ,â he says. âThe other night. You guys talkinâ about Scarface.â
âYeah?â
âYeah. She really laid up in the crazy house? Like you said?â
I nod. âYup. Why?â
âWell,â he says uneasily, âwe was purty good friends there for a little bit. After that stupid newspaper, when she was kinda mad at you for goinâ off to be a jockâ¦â
âYeah?â
âYeah. Helped me out of some tough spots. You know, let me talk without tellinâ, stuff like that.â
I say, âYeah.â
âThought I better tell you somethinâ else. Told her I never would, but I donât wanna see her rot in some crazy house. I got a aunt thereâ¦.â
I wait, and Dale looks at the street again, kicking at a pebble. âYou got to be careful what you do with this. I mean, who you tell.â
âOkay.â
âCanât just be tellinâ anybody.â
âOkay, I wonât. Tell me.â
âReason I know them burns wasnât caused by no boilinâ pot of spaghetti is she tolâ me different.â
âWhatâd she say?â
âSaid her daddy pushed her face against a burninâ wood stove.â
The hammer hits my stomach with such force that my knees turn to rubber. â Jesus Christ . Are you shitting me?â
Dale casts a sideward glance at Ellerby, then back at me. âYou think Iâd drive over to your house in the middle of the goddamn night to shit you?â To Dale the very worst thing in the world is to be called a liar. I need to remember that.
âNo. I didnât mean that. I just meantâ¦Jesus, Dale. Are you sure?â
âYeah, Iâm sure. Night she tolâ me she was fixinâ to kill herself.â
God, Iâd had no idea. âHowâd you stop her?â
âHad to slap her around pretty good,â he says. âThat ainât no way, to go killinâ yourself.â
I glance over at Ellerby, who has just set a
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