Winter Loon(76)

I returned the album back to the box, then got beers for the both of us. Ruby stretched out in Gip’s recliner. The light bulb flickered and blew. We drank in the dark.





CHAPTER 22

WE BURIED GIP near my mother. Aside from a few coworkers who held their John Deere hats in their hands, only Jolene, Mona, and Troy stood with me and Ruby graveside. Plus one face I would not have expected to see. Burt Rook stood apart, hands together, head bowed. It impressed me to no end that he would come, that he would put aside Gip’s trespasses to pay his respects. I spent more time during the brief service thinking about the kind of man I wanted to be, the one who would not live in the past, who would let bygones be. I decided right there and then that I would shake Burt Rook’s hand, apologize for all that had happened, thank him for being there. It made me stand up a little taller even as my grandfather was being lowered into the ground.

The Hightowers offered Ruby their sympathies and, after a quick hug, Jolene mouthed to me that she would see me later. The three of them walked away, Jolene in the middle holding Mona’s hand, her head resting against Troy, who had his arm around her shoulder. I’d thought we were the same once, both living without our parents. How different her family turned out to be from mine.

Burt Rook was last in line to offer his condolences. Ruby stood rigid as he approached. I held out my hand. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Rook,” I said. “We, my grandmother and me, we sincerely appreciate it. I hope Kathryn’s alright after the incident and all.”

“She’s fine, Wes. Thank you for asking after her.” He cupped my hand in his. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Mrs. Furniss,” he said as he moved on to Ruby. “What a thing to happen. I know this must be devastating.” Ruby kept her head level and looked up at Burt Rook with just her eyes. “On behalf of the bank, I wanted to let you know we’ve extended your notice.”

Ruby unhinged her head. “You mean I can stay on?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Furniss. No, we extended it. We can’t revoke it. But we can give you an extra few weeks to recover.”

So much for being the better man, I thought.

“You’ll kick a widow woman out into the street. That’s what you’ll do?”

“Mr. Rook, is there any way she could stay, maybe until the summer?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Wes.”

“Here’s what I think of you and your bank,” Ruby said. She shifted her purse to her left arm, stepped back with one foot, and spat from her toothless mouth right on Burt Rook’s shiny black shoes. “Better plan on dragging me out.”

The banker closed up like a fern. He walked away because he could.

Church ladies brought lunch to the house. Ruby met them at the door and told them they could shove their goddamned ham.



THE POLICE CALLED THE HOUSE asking for Ruby. She hadn’t left her bedroom since after the burial—not to eat, not to watch television, only to use the bathroom. I hadn’t even been able to get her to drink coffee. She’d only yelled at me to leave her alone, said she wasn’t hungry. I told the officer as much. “Maybe I could bring her down tomorrow or the next day to talk to you,” I said, thinking for sure they’d figured out Ruby meant to run her own husband down.

“Sure,” the man said. “We have some of Mr. Furniss’s things here, is all. Won’t take but a minute to sign for them. Plus you can take your car out of the impound lot. We’re done with it. You’re going to need to get the windshield fixed.”

I was glad the police weren’t at the door because knowing the truth was shaking me. But over the phone, I was able to conceal my nerves. “So that’s it?” I asked. “Nothing else?”

Ruby came out after I hung up. Her hair was stringy and loose, her eyes sunken in along with her lips, but she was dressed, which I hadn’t expected.

“I know what they’re doing,” she said. “Trying to trick me into coming down there so they can arrest me.” She crumpled up a cigarette box and tossed it on the table. “Make yourself useful. Run down and pick me up some smokes. And matches, too. I’m out.”

Our routine revolved around Gip’s coming and going, one paycheck for bills, one for groceries, dinner when he asked for it, quiet when he demanded it. Would the shape of things change with him gone? It was a Saturday, so I walked to the little store next to Lester’s house for Ruby’s cigarettes. He was outside tossing a baseball with the red-haired kid who lived next door to him. Lester had a limber way with people. Though his edges were hard, the billow and sway that made him a good basketball player would eventually make him a good salesman. When he saw me, he lobbed the ball and told the kid to get lost, though he said it in a way that made the boy smile. He knew about my grandfather, but I’d only told Jolene about Ruby’s confession. The fewer people who knew that truth, the better, I figured.

“Picking up smokes for Ruby. Thought I’d say hi.”

“Man, I heard. Wild shit, your grandma running him over like that. You okay?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Worse thing is, I keep imagining that moment when she hit him. Looking through the windshield at her. Grisly.”

“What about Ruby? Jesus,” he said. “Gives me the shivers thinking about it.”