The Country Duet(78)

“What did your teacher do?” I ask, glancing back at her again, trying my best to focus on the road.

“She told him to pull up his pants and that it’s not okay to show him’s penis.” Baker brushes her bangs out of her face. “My friend, Lilly, said it’s a pecker, not a penis.”

“Have you told your momma this?”

“No, I forgot to.”

I bite down on my bottom lip, fighting to find the right words in this situation. “If Carl ever pulls this stunt again, you tell him Hunter will kick his ass.”

“I’ll be in twoubles for saying ass.”

“Yes, it’s not a word you should use, however, if Carl tries to prove how smart he is again you tell him that.”

She nods with her lips pursed. As soon as we pull up to her preschool, she’s out of the car and bounding up the sidewalk. Halfway there, she pauses and turns around, racing back to me.

“Did you forget something?”

She shakes her head with her red hair tossing side to side.

“I wove you, Hunter.”

I bring her to my chest, hugging the hell out of her. “I love you, too, Baker. Have a great day.”

She skips off with her curls bouncing and her little lunch pal swinging back and forth. To be young and carefree again. How would it be? I pull my cell phone from my pocket and call Teale. I’m not surprised when she doesn’t answer. She’s on a new shift rotation at the clinic, so I text her.

Me: Who the fuck is this Carl?

Me: I will kick his ass even if he’s five.

Me: Love you. Have a good day.

It takes me the whole drive to Lewiston to calm down over the Carl situation. That little puke face better never come face to face with me because there will be hell to pay. What in the hell? I’m considering kicking a five-year-old’s ass. I need serious therapy at this point.

The familiar sound of the hospital assaults me as I walk in. Families visiting loved ones smile and wave as I stride past. The nurses on Dave’s floor all nod and give me a hello. We’ve been rounds over the great candy debate. Some of them recognize me from before, while others don’t. Dave’s been in the hospital for nearly a week and a half, where the majority of the time is spent in the ICU.

My jaw drops to the floor when I enter his room. Dave is sitting up in bed, but it’s what is around his neck and on his fingers that blows me away. He has a thick gold chain around his neck with a large gold nugget at the center. Rings on his fingers made of pure gold, with gems and rubies are embedded in each one. He looks like a rapper straight from the studio, laid up in a hospital bed.

He spots me and grins wide. I have to scrub my face to make any sense of what I walked in on.

“Hunter.” He gives me a nod with full swag in effect.

“Dave,” I reply tentatively, walking into the room. “What’s going on?”

“Had my sister-in-law bring me my jewelry.”

I remember him telling me about it, but I chalked it up to another wild Dave story. I should learn that there are no crazy tales when it comes to this man.

“Remember that cobra ring I told you about?” He holds up his hand. “Fifteen thousand dollars, one of a kind piece.”

He was right; there are two cobra heads with ruby eyes all plated in pristine gold.

“Holy shit, Dave.” I take the seat next to his bed.

“What?” He rolls his rings on his fingers in sheer delight.

“You are just one surprise after the other.”

“The nurses have been begging to undress me all day long.” He grins again.

I can’t help but laugh out loud. This man is hysterical. The harder I laugh, the more he laughs. I grab the bag of black licorice from my back pocket and hand it to him. He doesn’t hesitate ripping it open with his bling shining bright.

“Here.” He gestures the bag of candy toward me. “Eat with me.”

I wave him off. “Don’t care much for black licorice.”

“C’mon. You always bring me the candy and just watch me.”

Eventually, I hold out my hand and do my best to choke down the candy. It’s terrible. The bitter, nasty taste makes me want to gag.

“Bring red licorice next time, and we will indulge together.”

I nod.

“Hunter, need you to go out to the farm and clean out my freezer.”

“Why?”

“Just fucking listen, why don’t you?”

I nod, rolling the few pieces of licorice in my palm.

“There’s also an old gasoline tank that needs to be drained. It’s leaded gas, but you just fill up your truck and burn it.”

“What’s going on here, Dave?” I ask, already knowing the question.

He’s making amends, trying to get everything settled for when he passes on. Dave doesn’t even answer my question. What confuses me is his spirits are high right now, but he’s lining everything up to die.

A nurse comes in to check vitals. Dave is his typical dickhead self, giving them hell about candy and requesting ice cream. A second nurse comes in with quite the rack on her. Don’t blame me for noticing; I blame it all on Dave.

“Look at those tits.” Black drool runs down his chin. “My boy Hunter needs to get laid. How about it?”

“Mr. Hendricks, we need to take your vitals and draw some blood. You can admire my tits all you want, but no one is touching them.”