All the Ugly and Wonderful Things(39)

“Hi, sweetie,” Sandy said to me. “You ready to go home?”

I nodded.

“Wow, that guy really did a number on you.”

“Are you her mother?” the deputy said.

“Yes, I am. I’m Valerie Quinn. I’m not sure why I had to get out of bed at o’dark-thirty to come tell you that, but here I am.” Sandy wasn’t like me. She always sounded sweet, even when she was mad.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Quinn, but you can see why we were concerned about her being out so late with him.”

“No, I guess I don’t see.”

“I wasn’t sure her parents knew where she was.”

“Well, of course, I knew she was with him. Don’t you think I’d be out looking for her if I didn’t know where she was?”

“I just wanted to be sure,” the deputy said.

“Is that all? Are we free to go?”

“Yes, ma’am, but can I just say? You ought to keep an eye on your girl. You shouldn’t ought to let her out with a man like—”

“Thank you so very much for the advice. We’re gonna go now, if that’s okay?”

I got up when Sandy did, but before we could walk out, the deputy reached across the desk and handed me a piece of paper.

“If you ever need anything, Wavy Quinn, you call me,” he said. That’s what was written on the paper, his name—Deputy Leon Vogel—and his phone number. I stuck it in my pocket and followed Kellen outside to the car.

Sandy stretched out in the backseat and slept all the way to the ranch, snoring a little. I curled up beside Kellen and rested my head on his leg. Even though we didn’t talk, I stayed awake to keep him company.

When we pulled into the yard in front of Sandy’s trailer, Liam was standing on the porch, drinking a beer. Kellen got out of the car and folded the seat up so Sandy could get out of the back. Liam came down the stairs, his eyes red. If you could see into him, see what he was, his eyes would always be red. The sun was coming up when he walked across the driveway and grabbed Sandy by the arm.

“What the f*ck is going on? Where you been?”

“I got into this whole dust up down by Garringer. Me and Wavy went out to the drags, I got in a fight, and a Belton County deputy gave me a rash of shit about Wavy being out so late. He wanted her folks to come get her.” Kellen was talking fast, so I knew he was nervous. I scooted across the seat and swung my legs out of the car. So he wouldn’t be alone.

“And what the f*ck was Sandy doing out at the drags?”

“I didn’t go, Liam. I went to get Wavy,” she said in a soft, don’t-hurt-me voice.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Well, Val couldn’t go. You know, she couldn’t go. So I went, to get Wavy. I just told them I was Val and—”

“Oh, I see,” Liam said. “You went and pretended to be her mama?”

“Yeah, I—”

“You went and pretended to be Val? My wife?”

Sandy was wringing her hands, not like Mama, who always stood up tall when Liam was getting ready to hit her.

“It was just to get Wavy. Not for—”

Pow! Liam smacked her right in the mouth. Kellen could be fast when he wanted. He yanked Liam back from Sandy so hard the beer bottle flew out of Liam’s hand and landed in the gravel.

“You wanna hit somebody, you hit me. It’s my fault. Sandy didn’t do nothing wrong,” Kellen said.

Liam’s fist crunched into Kellen’s jaw, hard enough to make his head snap back.

“I don’t like people sneaking around behind my back,” Liam said. “You know that, Sandy.”

“We weren’t sneaking,” she whispered.

“It wasn’t sneaking.” Kellen had his mouth clenched up like his jaw hurt. “I didn’t see no reason to wake you up. Sandy was up anyway, so—”

“And what were you doing up?” That was all Liam cared about, where Sandy was.

“I can’t sleep when you’re not here,” she said.

“I was just next door. You know that.”

“Well, we didn’t wanna wake you,” Kellen said. “Sandy said she’d go. And the cops were fine. They didn’t hassle her. Anyway, I’m sorry. The cops were just—”

“Fucking pigs. What business is it of theirs? Like they got any business telling me what to do.”

“I know.” Kellen finally put his hand up to his jaw.

“You took this out to the drags? I didn’t know you had it finished yet,” Liam said. He leaned down to look at the polish on the Barracuda’s hood.

“I finished it yesterday. That’s why we took it out.”

“How’d it do?”

“It’s goddamn fast,” Kellen said. He knew how to make Liam look the other direction. “I think it’ll beat just about everything out there. Well, not one of them big-block Corvettes, but damn near anything else. We smoked a ricer, which is how I got in a fight.”

Liam laughed and looked down at his empty hand. He reached over and slapped Sandy on the leg. “Go on in the house, baby, and get me and Kellen a beer.”

“Okay.” She hurried up the steps and slipped inside.

“How fast?” Liam said.