He Started It(77)

“Eddie,” the Godfather says.

“Eddie?” Portia says.

The Godfather looks only at Eddie and the weapon in his hand. “There’s no reason to bring a gun into this.”

“You just broke into our room,” Eddie says. “I’d say this is a perfect time for a gun.”

The Godfather shrugs. “We thought we lost you when you decided to go camping. Now that we’ve found you again, I didn’t want to make that mistake again.”

Eddie snorts.

“Excuse me,” Portia says. “But what the fuck is happening?”

The Godfather raises his eyebrow at Eddie and the young guy laughs. “I guess Eddie didn’t tell you he knows us.”

I’ve been listening and watching like this is a movie and not really happening, but somewhere deep in my mind, the wheels have been churning along, processing it all. Portia telling me about Eddie arguing with someone on the phone about money, then watching him yell at someone on the phone at the gas station. The answer comes all at once.

“Eddie owes you money,” I say to the Godfather.

“Ding ding ding,” the young guy says.

“Thank God one of you was born smart,” the Godfather says. “You hit it on the nose. Eddie owes us money.”

“And I’ll pay it. You know I will,” Eddie says.

Portia throws her hands up in the air. “I . . . I don’t even know what to say right now. I can’t. I just can’t.” With that, she stomps off into the tiny motel bathroom and slams the door.

That left the Godfather, the young guy, Eddie, and me to figure out what would come next.





Real talk.

Sometimes assumptions are wrong, as mine are in this case, because that young Alabama guy is smarter than I thought. When we were all distracted by Portia’s yelling and storming off into the bathroom, he moved his hand real slow. Too slow to notice, until he already has the gun out.

Now we’re in a motel room with two guns, and it really does look like a movie. There’s Eddie, the preppy guy with the shiny chrome gun. Me, in my shorts and Jacksonville Jaguars shirt that used to be Felix’s but is now mine. A young guy with a gun, a beard, and a Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt. Finally, the Godfather. He looks about sixty but may be younger, with a grey beard and deep lines around his eyes. The Godfather is the only one smiling.

“Looks like we have ourselves an old-fashioned standoff here,” he says.

For the first time since killing Felix, I kind of wish he was around. He was pretty good at diffusing situations because no one thought of him as a threat.

Except me.

The old man looks at me and says, “It seems we’re the only ones without a weapon.”

I hesitate before answering. “Looks that way.”

“I’m Nathan,” he says. “And this young man is my nephew, Jonah.”

“Who was the woman?” I say. “The one who knocked?”

“Oh, that’s my girlfriend. She’s waiting outside,” Nathan says.

“Well, I’m Beth.”

“I’d say it’s a pleasure, but I suppose that would sound ridiculous.”

I smile a tiny bit and Eddie glares at me. He can’t see my heart pounding or feel my hands shaking, but they are. Before I can say another word, the bathroom door opens and Portia reappears. Her hair is pulled back tight, out of her eyes, and she’s holding a can of something. It’s pointed right at Nathan.

“Mace,” she says. “Never leave home without it.”

Nathan doesn’t look surprised, nor does he stop smiling. “Perhaps we should take this down a notch. No one needs to die today.”

He’s the only one making sense right now.

I clear my throat. “So our brother owes you some money,” I say.

“That’s right,” Nathan says. “Roundabout a hundred, give or take.”

“A hundred?”

“Thousand.”

“Holy hell,” Portia says. “Are you an addict? What is it? Oh wait, don’t tell me—pain pills, right? You’re on oxy.”

“I’m not on oxy,” Eddie says.

“I don’t sell drugs,” Nathan says. His voice is hard and a little bit scary. No one says anything, and we fall into a silent void.

“I made a few bets,” Eddie finally says. “Football games, some horse races.”

Portia sighs loud enough to wake the dead.

“This is a gambling debt?” I say. “Our trip has been sabotaged because of a gambling debt?” I shake my head, trying not to kill Eddie before these guys do.

Portia changes targets. She sprays the mace at Eddie.



* * *



–––––

The guns are down now. Eddie dropped his when the mace hit him, and Jonah lowers his because he’s laughing too hard. All of us are sitting except Eddie, who’s curled up on the floor, rubbing his eyes while retching.

“Quit crying,” Portia says to him. “You’ll live.”

Eddie chokes out a rather feeble, “Go to hell.”

Jonah laughs again but one look from Nathan shuts him up. “This has been very entertaining, but I’d really like to talk about my money. As you have already seen, I’m a very reasonable man. I haven’t hurt anyone, though I’ve had plenty of chances on this little road trip of yours.”