by Vicky Jones
“I wanted to try and put things right between you and me. You’re my only child now, Chloe. A man should go to his grave knowing his affairs are all in order.”
“Shame you couldn’t have afforded the same consideration to all those guys you had murdered. Poor Cuban. You remember him? He was Shona’s best friend. He didn’t deserve what you did to him.”
Larry shook his head. “You’re right, he didn’t deserve that. If I could take it back, I would. As God is my witness, Chloe, I swear I would.”
Chloe stared in disbelief at her father. Was he really the same man? He seemed so different, a shadow of his former intimidating self. He’d lost at least fifty pounds and the gray sack suit he was wearing was nowhere near the quality of the expensive tailored ones he used to wear.
“While I was in prison, I met a couple of nig…um, negro men. At first I was wary, I was disgusted, but the more I got to know them they seemed like decent enough fellas. One helped me out when I wasn’t well. Made sure I saw the doctor. If he hadn’t have insisted on it, I would be dead by now and not have this chance to speak to my daughter for the last time.” He turned to Chloe and exhaled at length, his breath crackly. “What you told me the day I was arrested. About Moses and how he helped on the day your brother died? It hit me hard, Chloe. I couldn’t stop thinking about how wrong I’d got it all those years. And after that, all those men that died because of me and my actions. I am truly sorry for that. I’ve found God, Chloe. Done a lot of work on myself, a lot of thinking. Tried to do some paying back when I can. That’s why they let me out early. They knew I was dying and my lawyer got a deal with the D.A. back in Alabama.”
“How’s Mother? Have you seen her since you’ve been out?”
“Not really, just told me you were here and shut the door in my face. Can’t say I blame her.” Larry replied. “Apparently Ellis gave her some money to help her to keep the house, but on the agreement that she’d never have anything to do with me again and that I never came back to Daynes after that.”
“Yeah, that’s Mother all over really. All about the wealth and status.”
“She did ask me to get you away from here if I could. She never did get over you dumping Kyle, and his money, for Shona.”
“And what about you, Larry? After what I told you about what he did to me, you still think I should be with him?” Chloe glared at her father.
“Of course not. If I ever see him again, I’ll kill him.” He paused. “You seem happy now…living here. It’s beautiful. And if Shona is the reason for that then you both have my blessing.”
Chloe was stunned.
But, after everything that had happened, and the news he’d brought with him, it was just too late now.
Larry coughed and wiped his mouth. “I’ve made so many mistakes, Chloe. I just wanna put them right now. I brought a few gifts for the boy. Will you allow me to give them to him?”
“He’s not back from his sleepover yet. I need to think about all this before I agree to that,” Chloe replied, shaking confusion from her head.
“I understand. I’ll come back tomorrow morning if that’s OK? I’d leave it longer but…” He coughed again, leaving his sentence rhetorical.
“OK. Say around ten?”
“OK. I’ll be here. Here’s my number at the hotel, in case you need it.” He handed her a business card. Chloe noticed it was the same place Kyle had stayed at.
Larry reached out his arms for a hug, but Chloe recoiled.
“I understand. Not yet,” Larry said, nodding.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” She waved goodbye as Larry drove slowly back up the drive to the highway.
“Did he tell you he’s changed? That he’s seen the light finally?” Shona scoffed as Chloe walked back inside the house.
“Yes. And you know what? I actually believe him.”
Sunday morning, ten o’clock on the dot, Larry Bruce’s battered old Chevy parked outside the beach house. He got out and walked up to the door. It opened before he had chance to knock.
“Larry,” Shona said, her tone emotionless.
“Shona. Chloe said it was OK to come back today. I brought this for the boy.” He held out a small box of painted wooden toys he’d clearly bought from a thrift sale.
“Good morning, Larry,” Chloe said after appearing in the hallway seconds later. “Come in.”
“Thank you,” Larry replied. He took a seat at the kitchen table next to Shona as Chloe went to fetch David.
“What are you playing at, Larry? You think I believe your act? We got nothing now other than each other. We’re a family, which is more than you offered Chloe.”
Larry, wearing the same creased gray suit as yesterday, looked defeated. “I know. Look, I said this to Chloe and I promised I’d say it to you too. I’m sorry for everything I did. I know you won’t believe me, and I don’t blame you, but I’m dying. I’ve got nothing left to lose now by admitting my mistakes.”
Chloe appeared at the kitchen door. Behind her was a wide-eyed David, looking around her to see who the strange man in the kitchen was.
“David, go say hello. This is your grandfather. His name is Larry.” Chloe brought him out from behind her and pushed him forward. “Go on, don’t be shy now.”
David stepped forward. Larry bit back his tears, then looked at Chloe. “He’s the image of his…”
“I know,” Chloe whispered, her expression broadcasting her regret at that fact.
“Well, he’s grown up around you both, so I know he’s been well loved. He’ll be OK,” Larry said to Shona, who raised an eyebrow. “Come here, boy. See what I got you.”
David edged closer and looked into the box. “Can I play with the red one?” he said, pointing at a wagon near the top.
“Why, sure you can. Here.” Larry fished into the box and handed his grandson the wagon. David beamed and began rolling it up the back of the wooden chair Larry was sitting in.
“David, no. On the ground,” Chloe said.
Laughing, then coughing, Larry reached down and picked him up, seating him on his knee. David began to roll the wagon gently up Larry’s arm and up to his shoulder. “I’m gonna drive wagons when I’m older.”
“Is that a fact?” Larry replied, hugging him in close. “He’s beautiful, Chloe. You’ve both done an amazing job.” His eyes filled with tears.
“Grandpa, why are you sad?” David asked, looking up at him.
“I’m just sad I missed out on this, that’s all. But, um, they’re happy tears. Yeah, happy tears.”
“Hey, why don’t we take a picnic down to the beach? You can show off your new ball, David. Would you like that?” Shona’s suggestion surprised and delighted Chloe in equal measure.
“You mean…?” Larry began.
“Yeah. All of us.”
Shona left the kitchen to go into the bedroom to get David’s sun hat, closely followed by Chloe.
“Are you sure? I mean. I’d understand if you…”
“Look,” Shona replied, “as much as I wanna hate him, and I do, he’s your father, and David’s grandfather and he’s dying. And you’re right, he does seem different somehow. Maybe, in the time you guys have left, you can make peace. Perhaps he can even be a father for once.”
“When I was in my first week in jail, they paired me up in a cell with a black man. Oscar, his name was. Oscar Jefferson the Third.” Larry let out a chuckle. “At first I was surprised they’d put a man with my reputation in with a negro. I think they thought it’d be funny.” He sat forward and clasped his hands around his knees as he looked out onto the ocean. Up ahead on the shoreline, David and Shona were kicking a soccer ball to each other. “Oscar looked after me that week, when the others had an axe to grind with me. I’ll always be grateful for that.”
“Is he still in there?” Chloe asked, handing him another bottle of soda.
“Yeah. They had him on a charge for every crime in the area the local police couldn’t solve. I doubt he’ll ever get out. But he helped
me when I got sick and brought me food when I couldn’t make the journey down to the food hall. He was a good man.” He took a long sip of his soda, then coughed.
“Have you seen a doctor recently?”
“Nothing they can do. It’s in my lungs. They’ll give out soon, so I gotta make every day count.” He looked at his daughter.
“What was that?” Shona breathed, rushing up to them, closely followed by Cooper and David.
“I was telling Chloe here that I’m a changed man. I don’t wanna fight anymore. I just wanna see out my days around the people I love.”
“You should stay here,” Shona said.
“Really?” Larry’s grey eyes beamed.
“Yeah. We got a spare room you can have until…” She paused. “If anyone in town wants to make an issue out of it, I’ll say I’m sleeping on the couch.”
“Thank you, Shona. I don’t deserve your generosity. But I’m very grateful for it.” Larry reached out his hand for Shona to shake.
“Everyone deserves a second chance at a family.” Shona’s eyes misted over for a moment. “We should go back in, it’s getting late. David will want food.”
They arrived back at the house. Shona’s grin slid off her face. Chloe pulled her arm. “What’s the matter?”
Shona stood frozen on the spot, her nose high in the air. “You smell that?”
Chloe sniffed and stared back in panic at Shona.
“Gasoline?”
Noticing the front door at the end of the hallway was ajar, Larry walked ahead of them, looking from side to side trying to find the cause of the smell. Reaching the door, he looked to his left and recoiled. “What the hell are you doing here?”
Chloe and Shona ran up behind him and looked into the room. There, sitting in an armchair in the farthest corner of the room, shrouded in the darkness created by the closed drapes, sat Kyle.
“Well now, isn’t this a cozy little reunion,” he drawled. “I must admit Larry is a bit of bonus. Must be my lucky day.” As he spoke, his eyes moved to the armrest of the chair on which he sat. There stood a tiny silver object.
A lighter.
“Chloe, you and Shona take the boy and go. Get in your truck, now,” Larry ordered, his breath almost abandoning him as he spoke.
“No,” Kyle barked. “Oh no you don’t.” He flicked open the top of his lighter. “One strike and boom. This whole room will light up.”
“What the hell do you want, Kyle?” Larry said, trying to keep calm for the sake of David, who was looking over at his father.
“Well, first I wanna know why I had to get my parents to pay thousands of dollars to get me out yet you, without a penny to your name anymore, and who did much worse than me, are standing as free as a bird right now.”
“You should have gone away for the rest of your life, Kyle. My evidence should have made that happen. Always were a spoiled little rich boy, weren’t you?” Larry stepped forward into the living room. Chloe and Shona didn’t dare move, with Kyle’s beady eyes darting between Larry and them. “Let the girls go. Your argument is with me, not them.”
“Oh, father of the year now, are we? From what Eleanor said last week, you’ll be dead soon anyway.”
“What? You’ve been to see my mother?” Chloe gasped, then rolled her eyes. “Of course you have. It all makes sense now.” She turned to Shona. “The allegations.”
“What I don’t understand is why he gets to see my son, but I don’t.” Kyle pointed his lighter precariously at them, his thumb grazing against the flint.
Chloe tried to keep her voice as even as possible. “Kyle. Please put down the lighter and we can ta—”
Shona, her mouth clenched, threw herself towards Kyle, but Larry held her back. Pressing his face into hers, he held her arms tight. “No, Shona. That’s exactly what he wants.”
“I’m gonna kill him, Larry. Get out of my way!” Shona shrieked, but stopped dead when she saw Kyle strike the flint.
“Let’s all calm down, shall we?” Kyle said, the lighter now glowing with a bright yellow flame.
“Momma, what’s that man doing with the fire?” David whispered up to Chloe.
“Nothing, baby, he’s just leaving.”
Kyle glared at her. “Hey David. Has your momma told you I’m your father?”
Chloe froze. Shona groaned and leaned against the doorframe. David tugged on Chloe’s arm again. “Momma?”
“I think it’s time we told him how the world works.” Kyle shifted his dark stare from Chloe and softened it towards his son as he leaned forward in his armchair. “You see, kids have a mommy and a daddy. Would you like that? Would you like a daddy?” Kyle clicked the lighter shut and kneeled in front of David, holding his forearms.
“I like Shona,” David replied. He wriggled out of Kyle’s grasp and snuggled into Shona’s open arms.
“You need to go, Kyle. Now. Your allegations didn’t work, and neither will this. It’s over,” Shona snarled.
Chloe, Shona and Larry formed a wall between Kyle and David, their faces stern and unwavering.
A grin spread across Kyle’s face. “I’ve poured gasoline where you’re all standing.” He clicked open the lighter. “If I can’t have my son, then none of you can and yes, I will do it.”
As if in slow motion, he ran his thumb over the flint wheel and threw the lighter on the ground. In an instant, a searing blue flame had engulfed the floorboards between them, the drapes now completely ablaze. Everybody jumped back in complete shock to avoid the fireball that had now brought the drapes, and the pole, crashing down.
Chapter 46
“Get out of here, now!” Larry yelled as the flames caught the bottom of the armchair nearest to the door.
“I can’t see anything,” Chloe spluttered, choking on the acrid black smoke. Blinded by the heat, she reached out to try and find Shona and David, but Larry grabbed her first and threw her towards the front door. “No, Larry, I need to find Shona.”
“I’m here,” Shona yelled back. Through the flames Chloe could just about make out Shona and David huddling together in the far corner of the room, their hands shielding their faces from the unbearable heat. “I’ll get David out, baby, you just go. Now.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Chloe bellowed back from the hallway, just as the first of the ceiling tiles melted and crashed to the ground, blocking the living room doorway between them.
“Go,” Shona ordered, then crouched to shield David from another tile falling on his head. “I’ll pass David through the window.”
“We gotta go, Chloe.” Larry yanked his daughter’s arm and threw her onto the veranda outside the front door.
“Shona! Where are you? I can’t see you!” Chloe screamed, but the flames licked without mercy around the door, stopping her from getting back in. Seconds later, the door frame collapsed. In sheer desperation, Chloe banged her hands against the front window even though the glass was red hot and burning her palms. Tears streaming with utter panic for Shona and David, she looked around the veranda for something to smash the glass with, but Larry pulled her aside. He was struggling to breathe through the thick black smoke.
“Look out!” he roared.
The windows blew out above them and flames cascaded all around the peeling blue wooden frames. As the smoke cleared, Chloe looked through to see Shona huddled in the corner waiting for her opportunity to make a run for the window. David was wrapped tightly in her arms.
“Shona, now,” Chloe ordered, seeing a break in the flames.
Shona leaped over in one bound. “Quick, grab the boy.” She lifted David through the shattered window, avoiding the shards of melting glass.
“Momma,” David coughed, his little face black with soot.
“I got you, baby.” Chloe clutched on to David with one arm, her other not letting go of Shona’s forearm. Turning to her father, she passed David over to him, then looked back at Shona. “Now you, come on.”
As Shona lifted her foot onto the window frame, a pair of
strong hands pulled her back.
“Not so fast there,” Kyle growled, grabbing on to the bottom of Shona’s shirt.
“Get the fuck off me, you fucking animal!”
“Kyle, no. Shona!” Chloe tried to hold on to Shona’s hands, but the heat had made both hands too slick with sweat. “Oh God, Shona, no!” Chloe wailed as their fingertips slipped away from each other. “I’m so sorry.”
Shona was gone. The last glimpse Chloe had of her was her disappearing back into the living room, with Kyle’s forearm wrapped around her neck.
“No, Chloe, I forbid it. You are not going back in there—it’s too dangerous. Think about your son!” Larry bellowed over the noise of another batch of tiles melting away from the ceiling and smashing on the floor inside the house. Moments later, the gutter on one side of the roof crashed to the decking inches away from him and Chloe. David was now safely sitting in the truck parked twenty feet away from the house.
“I will not leave her to burn alive in there. I will never leave her!” Chloe screamed back, her soot-covered face a sweaty mess. Using her shirt to shield her eyes, she looked through the window and through the flames, which had eased off a little now that the direction of the breeze had changed. Squinting, she could just about make out the figure of Kyle lying on the floor with blood seeping from his forehead, a desk lamp smashed into pieces by his side. Three feet away in the corner, with smashed tiles burning at her feet, Shona lay slumped next to the couch.
“Shona, get up, goddamn it. Come on, baby, please hear me.”
Shona jerked her head and opened her eyes. She held her hand to her brow, the sight of Chloe reinvigorating her enough to drag herself to her feet using the armrest of the couch for leverage. She launched towards the window but was beaten back by another wave of flames reignited by a gust of ocean air.
Kyle started stirring on the ground by Shona’s feet as she tried to see a way she could get out. Encouraged by Chloe’s shouts, Shona staggered for the window.
