Blacktop Wasteland(17)

“Come on now, Beau, just hear me out.”

Beauregard pressed the barrel into Ronnie’s stomach. Ronnie winced.

“I got a line on a job, Beau. A big one. One that can set us up for a long time. A long goddamn time,” he said.

Beauregard eased up on the gun just a hair. Sweat dripped into his eyes. It was almost sundown and the heat hadn’t slacked off at all. He felt like he was standing in an oven. Beauregard looked over Ronnie’s shoulder and saw Kia peeking through the front window. The window of their house. He remembered the day the company brought the double-wide down. He and Kia had held hands as they watched the crew set the trailer on cinder blocks.

Beauregard pulled the gun away from Ronnie’s stomach. He clicked the safety into place with his thumb. He let go of Ronnie’s hand.

“What kind of job?” Beauregard said. The words tasted sour in his mouth. The fact that he was even entertaining this fool for one second told him how much his back really was against the wall.

“Can you put the gun away so we can talk? You gonna like what I have to say,” Ronnie asked.

Beauregard eased up a little more.

“Come on, at least hear me out. Cuz I need ya, man. I need the Bug.”

Beauregard put the gun back in his waistband. He looked over Ronnie’s shoulder again. Kia was gone. “Meet me at my shop in thirty minutes,” he said.

“Alright, alright, that’s what’s good, man. You won’t regret it,” Ronnie said. He motioned for his brother, who hustled over to the car and hopped inside. Ronnie got in the passenger side. Beauregard went to his window and squatted down on his haunches.

“I lost $3,800. That’s the cost of retrofitting the trailer and my time. So what you got better replace that first. And Ronnie? Don’t ever come to my house again. I’ll shoot you next time. No questions asked, just a bullet in your guts,” Beauregard said. He stood.

“I gotcha, bruh. Sorry, it’s just I’m … uh, I’m just really hyped about this. You gonna get your money back and then some. I know I owe you, man,” he said. Beauregard didn’t say anything so Ronnie thumped his brother on the shoulder.

“Let’s go, Reggie,” he said.

The Toyota backed out of the yard and took off down the dirt lane like a bat out of hell.



* * *



Kia was pacing a hole in the floor. Beauregard went through the living room and sat at the kitchen table. Kia came and sat down across from him.

“What was all that about?” she asked.

“Just some guys with some work for me,” he said.

“What kind of work?”

He took her hand and closed his fingers around it. “The nursing home called today. They say Mama owes them $48,000. Something went wrong with her Medicaid. With everything else going, I think I should just hear them out.”

“No. NO. Why the hell does your Mama owe them that much? Bug, I don’t mean to sound evil, but that’s on your Mama. We got our own problems,” Kia said.

“That’s why I’m gonna hear them out,” he said. Kia pulled her hand out of his grasp.

“No. I’m not gonna let you do this. I can’t. Do you know what it’s like laying in bed waiting for somebody to call and tell me to come identify your body because you got killed on a job? Yeah, the money was good, but I can’t take you coming in here with a bullet in your shoulder and a head full of broken glass. Going up to Boonie’s when you should be in a hospital.”

Beauregard reached out to stroke her cheek. She flinched but did not pull away.

“We don’t have any choice. We right behind it. If this is legit it might give us some breathing room,” he said.

Kia inhaled, held it for a second, and let out a long breath. “Sell the Duster. It’s worth at least twenty-five thousand. God knows you’ve put enough money in it.”

“You know that’s not an option.” His voice was low. Dark.

“Why, because it belonged to your Daddy? I don’t want you to end up like him. You holding on to that car like he was some kind of saint when everybody know he was a snitch,” Kia said. Beauregard stopped stroking her cheek.

“Bug, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

Beauregard slammed his fist down on the table. Two jelly jars at the far end fell off and shattered on the floor.

“The Duster ain’t for fucking sale,” he said. He got up and stalked out the front door. The whole house shook when he slammed it.



* * *



Ronnie and Reggie were sitting in front of the garage when he got there. Beauregard didn’t speak to them when he got out of the truck. He went to the door, unlocked it and stepped inside. They got the hint after a few minutes and followed him. He was sitting behind his desk by the time they got to the office. Ronnie sat and Reggie leaned against the door frame.

“Talk,” Beauregard said.

“Damn, right to the point, huh? Alright. So I got this little piece I mess with. She lives over in Cutter County near Newport News. She works at a jewelry store. The manager is this big bull dyke who probably got a strap-on pecker bigger than yours and mine put together. Anyway, she been trying to get down Jenny’s pants. That’s her name, Jenny. So one night a couple of weeks ago, this carpet licker took Jenny out for drinks and let it drop they were getting in a shipment of diamonds. Diamonds that ain’t on no manifest. Jenny said she was talking about giving her one of the diamonds. You know, because she all sweet on her and shit. Now this the part when you ask how much we talking about,” Ronnie said.