Desperation Road(36)

24


HE WOKE SATURDAY MORNING TO THE CALLS OF BIRDS AND THE low chugging murmur of a fishing boat. The sun rising and a mist across the lake. He crawled out of the truck cab and walked to the water’s edge. Moved his head around in a stiff circle then stretched his arms wide and groaned. He could only think of coffee so he watched as a crane flew low across the water and then he headed for home.

When he pulled up to the house a man in a pair of slacks and a crisp blue shirt was standing in the driveway. He wore glasses and was balding in front and he had his hands on his hips as he looked at the broken windows.

Russell parked on the street and walked over to the man.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey there,” Russell said.

“Everything okay over here?”

“Everything’s all right. Just an accident.”

“Sounded like a few accidents.”

“I said everything is all right,” Russell said.

“You sure?” The man pulled at the end of his nose. He looked at the house again and then back at Russell. “You know I got kids over there,” he said. “You understand what I’m saying?”

“I speak English.”

“You know who did it?”

“What do you care?”

“I saw him. Saw the truck. Got the tag number.”

“I don’t need it.”

“We’ve been living here eight years without a peep. I don’t want nothing funny over here. It’s quiet around here.”

“And it’s gonna stay quiet,” Russell said.

The man shook his head some and then gave in. “Fine,” he said and he started across the driveway. Then he stopped at the edge of the yard and turned back to Russell. “I saw what happened. People don’t do stuff like that without a reason. That guy meant business. Next time I’ll be calling the cops.”

He walked to the minivan in his driveway. He climbed in and honked the horn and three boys and a woman came out of the house and joined him. The boys looked over at Russell as they skipped to the car but the woman never looked over, her eyes on her husband and then on her lap as she sat down in the passenger seat.

Russell went inside and cleaned up the broken glass and window frames and then he made a pot of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. The phone rang and it was his father and he told him about the windows. Told him he’d be right out to get a tarp and a hammer and some nails and yeah it was them.

He drove out and his father had what he needed waiting on him, including a ten-foot ladder. They ate lunch and then they put it all in the back of the truck.

“Need some help?” Mitchell asked.

“I got it,” Russell said and he drove back to the house.

The ladder reached the top of the windows and Russell tacked the tarp at the top and bottom corners. It would be no use in calling on a Saturday about new windows and Monday before anyone could get there to replace them anyway and he hoped that the mosquitoes wouldn’t carry him away before then. He also knew that anyone could get in whenever they wanted and he figured he’d be sleeping in his truck out at the lake again. When he was done he went back inside and drank some water and then the phone rang again. Damn it, he said. He picked it up and said yeah I got it. They’re covered just fine. Yeah the ladder was tall enough.

They said goodbye and hung up and Russell went into the bathroom. He washed his hands and he looked closely at his beard. The gray strands here and there. As he was looking he heard a car door slam in front of his house and he tried to remember where he had set down the shotgun. He peeked out from around the corner of the bathroom and he could see out the diamond-shaped window of the front door. He walked across the living room and he seemed to recognize the vehicle from somewhere. A big black four-door thing. He opened the front door and there she stood at the foot of the steps.

“Hey,” Sarah said.





25


UP CLOSE HER HAIR HAD A REDDISH TINT STREAKING THROUGH the brown. She wore black slacks and short black boots. A white shirt with the top four buttons open and forming a V.

They sat down together on the steps and stared ahead at the house across the street. She took her feet out of her boots and sighed. She wore no socks and Russell looked at her feet. At the flaking red polish of her toenails. He then looked at her hands and her nails were smooth and something was written and smeared on the top of her left hand. She wore her wedding ring and a watch.

“You look the same,” he said.

She smiled a little. “Please.”

“You do.”

“Well,” she said. “You look like you could use a few good meals.”

“I’m gonna catch up. Don’t worry.”

She tilted her head as she studied his face. “I like your disguise,” she said.

He touched the whiskers on his chin. “It’s been getting mixed reviews. But I think it keeps me hidden pretty good.”

“I might have walked right by you.”

“I might have stopped you.”

She patted her hands together. Looked at her feet. Stepped back into her boots.

“You all right?” she asked.

He leaned back on his elbows. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“I bet your daddy is happy.”