by Nick Russell
“They’ve got some good-sized dog pens over at Tractor Supply," John Lee said. “Or maybe you can get some fencing and fence off a place where he can get some shade and can’t get himself all tangled up like that. He seems like a friendly dog, he'd sure be worth spending a few bucks on to make his life easier and keep your neighbor from getting all bent out of shape."
"I can do that," Ronnie told him. “But, I swear, Deputy, if I had known he was bothering the neighbors, I’d have done something before now. I had a girlfriend who was living with me and she was afraid of him, and then she left and I had another girlfriend there and she was supposed to take care of him, but she's gone now, too. You know how it goes."
John Lee’s own life had been complicated enough that he certainly did know how things like that went, but there was no call to tell a perfect stranger about all of that. Instead, he said, "I appreciate you taking care of it, Ronnie. You have yourself a good day."
"Yes, sir, I will. Hey, Deputy. Do you think it would be okay if I went over and apologized to Mr. Becker next door?"
"It sure couldn't hurt,” John Lee said. “I'm all about open communication. It can solve a lot of little problems before they become big problems."
Chapter 4
An hour before John Lee got off duty, his cell phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket, pushing the button to answer the call. "What's up, Mama Nell?"
“Can you and Maddy come over for dinner tonight, John Lee?"
"I don't know what Maddy’s got going on, but I can. What's up?"
“Your Uncle Billy is here."
"No kidding? I'll damn sure be there,” he assured his grandmother.
"See if you can get Maddy to come, too, John Lee. You know how much Uncle Billy loves that girl."
"If she knows Uncle Billy is there, nothing would keep her away," John Lee said.
***
Maddy opened the door to his knock, almost bouncing with excitement.
"You look all fired up and ready to go," he told her. “What's up?"
“I did it," Maddy said, throwing her arms around him and hugging him. "I did it, John Lee."
"You did?"
“Yes, sir, I did! I marched myself right into the courthouse and up to D.W.’s office and told him I was ready to go back to work."
John Lee hugged her tightly and said, "Good for you, Maddy. I'm so proud of you."
She pushed herself back slightly and looked him in the eyes and said, “I've got to admit, I'm kinda proud of me, too."
“You have every right to be," he told her. “You've come a long way."
Something clouded her eyes for a second, and then she was back and said, “It’s been a long road, John Lee, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you were there for me all the way. You, Dixie, and Beth Ann. The three of you never stopped believing in me, even when I couldn't believe in myself anymore."
"We all love you, Maddy.”
"And I love you all, too," she said. “Hey, John Lee, I feel like celebrating. Do you want to go someplace and have dinner and maybe do some dancing?"
“That sounds good,” he told her, “but I've got another idea."
Seeing the look in her eyes, he hastily said, “No, not that."
“I'm almost there, John Lee. I just need a little more time."
“No, Maddy, that's not what I meant," he said. “I meant, how do you feel about going over to Paw Paw and Mama Nell’s for dinner?"
"Gosh, you know I love your grandparents, but I was thinking of something a little more…"
“Uncle Billy is in town," John Lee said.
"Uncle Billy? You’re kidding?"
"No. Mama Nell called and asked if we could come over for dinner."
“Why didn't you say that in the first place? We can have dinner and go dancing anytime. I want to see Uncle Billy!"
“I told Mama Nell you would," he said.
***
The sound of Steppenwolf singing Born to be Wild greeted their ears when they got out of John Lee's pickup truck in his grandparents’ driveway. Following the sound of music around to the back porch, they both sniffed the pungent smell of marijuana.
"Oh, shit, Billy. The law’s here. We’re busted!"
"What are we gonna do now, Stan?"
“We could make a run for it.”
"Not with my hip, I can’t. How about I go sweet talk the blonde and you see if you can hit the ugly one upside the head with a pipe or something. Maybe he’ll wake up with amnesia and forget all about this.”
"Now you two put your wacky tobaccy away and behave," Maddy said. "I just got my badge back and I don’t want to have to bust you on my first day back."
"You did? You’re back?"
"Yes, I did, Paw Paw. I sure did!"
"Well, good for you," John Lee's grandfather said, getting up from his chair and hugging her. John Lee noted the subtle stiffening in her body when the man's arms went around her, but then he saw her relax.
Seconds later the other man, with a fringe of white hair around his bald head, said, "Hey man, don't bogart the pretty girl. You were supposed to hit the ugly one upside the head with a pipe. Where's my hug, Maddy?"
Again, no one who wasn’t looking for it would have seen the slight hesitation before Maddy put her arms around the old man and hugged him tightly. "It’s so good to see you, Uncle Billy. When did you get into town?"
"Just this afternoon, darlin'. I couldn't stay away any longer."
"Well, next time you need to not be gone so long, mister,” she said.”
The screen door slammed and Mama Nell came out of the kitchen dressed in a brightly colored lightweight muu muu. “Maddy Westfall, you stay away from those nasty old men before you catch some kind of disease neither one of us wants to talk about. Get your butt up here on this porch and hug me instead.”
Maddy laughed and went up the three steps to the porch to hug the older woman. “How are you doing, Mama Nell?”
“Well, if it wasn't for these two old fools sittin’ on my back porch drinkin’ beer and smokin’ that nasty stuff of theirs, I'd be doin’ right well, Maddy. How about you do me a favor and take both of them to jail and leave them there for a while? Maybe six months or a year? Is that possible?"
"Oh, I would, Mama Nell," Maddy assured her. "Unfortunately, those two reprobates would be a bad influence on those dope dealers and wife beaters and drunks and people like that we got down there in the jail. We wouldn’t want those people to come out knowing things these two can teach them, would we?"
Mama Nell laughed and said, “You got a point there, girl. Come on inside and help me make the tea.”
“Tea? Who the hell wants tea? This here is a Budweiser kind of night,” John Lee’s grandfather said.
“Well, ain’t that just too bad? We’re all out of beer, and I’m makin’ tea,” Mama Nell told him. “And don’t you two hoodlums be smokin’ any more of that dope, either. Not with John Lee and Maddy here. Show some respect.”
“You know, she’s got a point,” Billy said. “We two put these two kids in a bad position, what with them being deputies and all that.”
“Damn, you’re right, Billy. I never thought of that,” Paw Paw replied, then turned to John Lee and Maddy and said, “You two, go home!”
Billy was not really John Lee's uncle, not by blood, anyway. But he and Paw Paw had formed a bond as Army buddies, seeing the worst of the fighting in Vietnam, and the experience had made them closer than any biological brothers could have ever been.
Yet they seemed as different as night and day. Paw Paw was tall and solid. Even though he had retired from Florida Power and Light years ago, he kept himself in shape with a series of never-ending projects around the house. One minute he was putting up an arrangement of solar panels on the roof, the next he was building another greenhouse to grow his marijuana, which he insisted was for medicinal purposes, and the next he was welding together pieces of scrap junk he had hauled home, creating knights and horses, and dragons,
and such. His grey hair hung down his back in a long ponytail, and while he was generally in a good mood, John Lee knew that there were times when his grandfather sat up late at night, thinking about the days so long ago. The days when he and Billy had been young soldiers fighting to survive in a terrible place so far from home.
Billy, on the other hand, was shorter and rounder, had been bald as long as John Lee could remember, and no matter what was happening, he always had a smile on his face and a joke for everybody. For as long as John Lee could remember, Uncle Billy would show up in town once or twice a year, usually unannounced or with little advance notice, and for a time his grandfather and Billy were young men again. John Lee knew they shouldn’t be smoking pot, even though it was legal for medicinal purposes in Florida. Paw Paw didn't have a medical marijuana card and had no interest in getting one. But what the hell? John Lee figured they had paid their dues a long time ago, and he darned sure wasn't going to hassle them about something like that.
The steaks were delicious, two-inch thick ribeyes grilled to perfection, along with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and potato salad. Mama Nell followed that up with thick wedges of chocolate cake for dessert.
"I've got to say, this was one of the best meals I've had in a long time," Maddy said, sitting back and patting her belly. "I'm full as a tick."
"Well, thank Uncle Billy for the steaks,” Mama Nell said. “He supplied them.”
“I keep telling you that you don't need to be bringing expensive food like that around here," Paw Paw said. "After all, Nell here’s a connoisseur of the can opener. If it's canned or frozen, that lady of mine can cook it."
"Now you hush your mouth, Stanley," Mama Nell admonished her husband. Then she turned to Billy and said, "But he is right, Billy. You don't need to bring steaks and things like that when you come to visit. Just havin’ you here is wonderful."
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Billy said, “those steaks were so cheap I damn near stole them."
“Ain’t nothing cheap at the grocery store these days, Paw Paw said.
"That's true," Billy agreed. "There was a time I could go to the store with ten bucks in my pocket and get two steaks, a couple of potatoes, maybe some bacon and some eggs for breakfast in the morning and a couple candy bars, and still walk out of there with money in my pocket. You can’t do that no more, John Lee. Too damn many security cameras everywhere you go."
Everyone laughed, and in spite of herself, Maddy took a fork full of cake and put it in her mouth, smiling and rolling her eyes at Mama Nell. “This is delicious. Absolutely delicious.”
"Well, with you back on the job, you need to get some calories in you, girl. You can’t be wrestlin’ those old cracker boys and not be in good shape."
"Oh, I don't know, Nell," Uncle Billy said, then gave Maddy an exaggerated leer and said, "She looks in damn fine shape to me."
"You are just a dirty old man,” Maddy said with a grin. “And don't you ever stop being one, Uncle Billy. I count on it."
“I promise,” the old man said with a warm smile.
“So, how long will you be in town?"
“You asking me that as the law, or just as John Lee?"
“Just as John Lee, Uncle Billy."
"Well, Stan’s got me parked under the trees there and I’ve got a water hose and electric cord run out to my camper, so I guess I’ll hang around until my holding tanks are full.”
“Great. Where were you before you got here?"
"I swear, Stan, this kid’s trying to get rid of me," Uncle Billy said.
"No, sir, that ain't true. I just think it's cool that you can get in that motorhome of yours and travel wherever you want. Talk about a life of freedom."
"I gotta stay on the run, John Lee. That daughter of mine, Bella, if she ever catches up with me, she’s gonna stick me in one of them there assisted living facilities, as she calls them. Assisted living, my ass! I know all about those kinds of places. She took me to a place called Restful Ranch to ‘check it out’ she said. Place was full of geriatric old farts. Most of them didn’t have no teeth and couldn’t hear a word you said to them and was using walkers or in wheelchairs. That ain't for me."
"Restful Ranch. It does have a pretty ring to it," Mama Nell said.
"No, ma'am, it don't," Uncle Billy disagreed, shaking his head. “Sounds like a cemetery to me. They ought to call it Wrinkle Ranch. This old boy ain’t going down that road anytime soon if I can help it. That's why I keep on the move, John Lee."
“Hell, if they put you in a place like that, I’ll bust you out in a week," Paw Paw assured his friend.
“A week? You’d leave me in a joint like that for a week?"
"At our age, what’s the rush?"
"It’s not about any rush, Stan. It's about rust. A guy gets to be our age and he can’t sit still too long or he’ll begin to rust right up and he’ll be like those old junk cars I see in yards here in the South. He’ll never move again.”
“Well, I'll get me a can of WD-40 and make sure that don't happen," Maddy assured him.
"You know, girl, just the thought of you spraying me down makes my heart palpitate," Uncle Billy said. “But I’ve got to admit I do prefer Wesson oil.”
That comment had them all laughing around the table. Looking at his grandfather’s old friend, John Lee sure was glad Uncle Billy was in town. There was never a dull moment with him around.
Chapter 5
Driving back to Maddy’s house after dinner, she said, “I just love Uncle Billy. He’s such a riot to be around. I could never picture him in one of those places for old people. What did he call it, Wrinkle Ranch?”
“He’s a character, all right,” John Lee agreed. “And I have to admit that when he talks about traveling all over the country in that RV of his, I get jealous sometimes.”
“Jealous? Of Uncle Billy?”
“Yeah. I mean, what a life to be living. What was that he said? If he doesn’t like the neighbors, he just starts the engine and drives away. Haven’t you ever wanted to do that?”
“I did that, if you remember,” Maddy said. “Trust me, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”
“I get that. But imagine what it would be like to just go wherever you wanted, whenever you wanted, like Uncle Billy does? Feel like being in the mountains? You can go to the Smokies, or out west to the Rockies, wherever you want to be. Beaches, desert, New England, he can go anyplace he wants, anytime he wants.”
“Yeah, I guess that is different,” she agreed. “Are you getting wanderlust, John Lee? You’re not old enough to be having a midlife crisis, are you?”
“No, no crisis, midlife or any other way. I don’t know, I just sometimes wonder if there’s something besides all this.”
“All what, John Lee?”
“This,” he said, waving his hand at the darkness around them. “Something more than Somerton County.”
“Running away is not the answer,” she said. “When I left here, I never planned to come back. But here I am, and I can’t think of any other place I want to be at this point in my life.”
“Were you running away from something, Maddy, or to something?”
“Come on, John Lee. It’s okay to say it. We both know the answer to that. I was running away from you.”
“I’m sorry you felt you had to do that, Maddy. I really am.”
“That was then and this is now. And speaking of now, I’m finally getting my shit together. Don’t you get cold feet or itchy feet or whatever and disappear on me.”
“That’s never gonna happen,” he promised.
“Good, because I’d have to track you down and slap handcuffs on you and drag you right back here where we both belong.”
“Handcuffs? That sounds kinky, but I’ve got an open mind.”
She laughed and said, “Keep dreaming.”
“Oh, you have no idea, girl,” he told her.
She chuckled and then they were silent for a while, both absorbed in their own thoughts about where their rel
ationship might be headed. After a few minutes, John Lee looked at her across the cab of his pickup and asked, “Are you nervous about going back to work tomorrow?”
“Nervous and excited both,” she said.
“Don’t worry about it, Maddy. You’re going to be fine.”
“I hope so. My shrink says I’m ready, you and Beth Ann and Dixie keep telling me I’m ready, and D.W. didn’t hesitate for a minute when I talked to him today.”
“What about you, Maddy? Do you think you’re ready?”
“Honestly? I want to think I am, but I couldn’t one hundred percent swear I am. I’ve got to do it sooner or later, so I guess this is as good a time as any.”
He pulled into her driveway and shut the truck off. They sat there in the darkness a moment or two and Maddy said, “Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yeah. Let me walk you to the door.”
“It’s only a door, John Lee. I can open it myself.”
“I know you can. I was just…”
He could see her smiling at him in the moonlight and she asked, “You just what, John Lee?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. Were you hoping for a goodnight kiss like we’re a couple of school kids? Maybe even get to second base and cop a feel of my boobs, small as they are? I’ve got to tell you, you’re going to be disappointed there.”
“Disappointed in my chances or disappointed with what I might find?”
“Let’s just say I’ve seen fat old men on the beach with bigger boobs than mine.”
“Did you have to bring up Uncle Billy at a time like this?”
Maddy laughed out loud and slapped his arm. “You are so mean!”
“Who? Me? Never. I’m the sweetest man that ever lived.”
“I won’t argue with you about that,” she said, and slid across the seat close to him. “If we’re going to act like a couple of high school kids, shouldn’t we be making out in your truck, not just a kiss goodnight at the door?”
