by BT Urruela
Before I know what I’m doing, I snatch the phone from her hand and press ‘end.’ I hand it back to her without a word and then march straight over to Jack by the back door. He still has the phone to his ear.
“Hey, Jack. Can I talk to you a second?” He asks the caller to wait and drops the phone to his side.
“What’s going on, Xander?”
“I need you to end the call. There’s not much that’s going to come out of it anyways. I’m not going to press charges.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, looking confused.
I nod. “Yeah, positive.”
He lifts the phone again and I make my way back to Paige.
“Paige, I need you to take me to this dude’s house,” I say.
“Xander, no.” She wipes a hand across her cheeks and then against her tank top. “It’s not the first time he’s talked to me like that. It’s no big deal.”
“If it weren’t a big deal, you wouldn’t have had the reaction you did. I don’t care if it’s the first time or the fiftieth, he will not talk to you like that. No man should talk to a woman like that.”
She shakes her head and a look of acceptance creeps across her face. “Xander, please, let’s just forget it. You don’t want to get involved with the likes of him. He really doesn’t have a whole lot to lose.”
“And you think I do?” I snap, though I didn’t mean it to come out that harsh. “Sorry, I just could care less, to be honest. I won’t let him get away with this. If no one ever stands up to him, he’ll never learn. I’ll find the house myself if I have to. Hell, I’ll walk there. So please, either help me out here, or—” I stop, finding no good way to end the sentence.
“Okay, okay, no need to get grumpy. I’ll take you there. You just have to promise me you won’t do something stupid. Please, Xander. Promise?”
“I promise not to do anything stupid as long as he refrains from doing something stupid.”
She rolls her eyes but then heads toward the door just as Jack hangs up the phone and walks toward me. He looks back at Paige, confused, as she heads inside.
“Where’s she headed?” he asks, gesturing behind him.
“She’s going to get her car keys.”
He looks as if he already knows. “Going for a drive, are we?” he asks, though it comes off more like a statement. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“It’s not for me, Jack. I could give two shits about the flat tires. If he thinks I haven’t had worse…if he thinks something like that is going to get me going, well, he’s fucking wrong. People like him don’t phase me. What I won’t sit back and let happen is how he talked to Paige like she’s fucking garbage. I’ve never heard a man talk to a woman like that.”
I think about this lie for a moment. My dad used to talk to my mom like that all the time. But they didn’t really count.
“Be careful,” Jack says, “You want me to go with you?”
“No, Jack. Thank you, though. I can handle this.”
I pull the Chevelle up to the beaten-down trailer, one of many that tarnish the beautiful Missouri land that lies beyond the trailer park. Seeing this particular trailer again after so long sends a swift shudder down my spine. Xander must notice my unease because he places a hand on my knee and gently squeezes it, which relaxes me instantly.
“This it?” he asks. All I can do is nod.
“I want you to stay here. If anything crazy happens, I want you to call the cops. Don’t get out of the car.” His words are stern, and though my first reaction is to give him shit for the bossiness, I refrain. Right about now, the authority he’s exuding is getting me kind of hot. It’s how a man should be.
Xander climbs out of the car and shuts the door behind him. As if on cue, the rickety trailer door flies open, creaking at its joints. Cody stands in the doorway behind the screen door, his shirt off and basketball shorts hung low on his hips. He has a beer in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He glares at Xander first and then at me in the driver’s seat.
“What the fuck do you want?” Xander doesn’t flinch or back down in the slightest, even at the sight of the gun. He scans Cody, taking him in. “You hear me, boy?”
“Oh, I hear you, but you’re saying all the wrong words. What I want to hear is how sorry you are for the way you spoke to Paige earlier. What I want to hear is how you’ll never do it again. And I’ll tell you straight up, I wanna hear it real fucking quick.”
Cody shoves the screen door open and takes a step forward, blocking it from closing with his right hip. “And what the fuck are you gonna do if I don’t?” Cody snarls, spitting a wad of tobacco juice and spit on his porch floor.
“Oh, I can promise you,” Xander says with a smile, “this is no threat. At least for now. I have no intention of fighting you right now. I respect Paige too much for that. Respect, which you are noticeably lacking . What I can promise you is this… if it continues, I’ll beat your fucking skull in. I won’t even give you a chance to speak.”
Cody smirks, spitting again, and Xander continues, unimpressed by Cody’s tough guy act. This is an act that has scared the shit out of me time and time again.
“I’ll beat that silly smirk off your face,” Xander says. “I’ll make you swallow your own fucking teeth. If you think I’m kidding, please test me. You won’t speak right for the rest of your life,” he continues, so matter-of-fact you’d think he was giving a stranger driving directions.
Cody doesn’t take this well. He steps forward, letting the screen door slam behind him, and he handles the shotgun as if he’s about ready to use it.
Xander doesn’t seem to notice.
“You can act as tough as you want, country boy,” Xander says, his voice remaining calm but firm. “You can handle that shotgun. You can spit your dip. But at the end of the day, you’ve got no idea who the fuck I am. And I can promise you, you don’t want to know. The way I grew up, words mean nothing. How you handle your fists is the only language anyone understands. You following me?”
He waits for Cody to say something, but nothing comes out. If this were a cartoon, two billows of thick smoke would be pluming out of Cody’s nostrils. His hand clutches the beer so tightly that the can crumples between white knuckles. He drops it to the floor and kicks it at Xander, hitting him square in the chest.
Xander pays no mind. He still has yet to move. “You’ve owned this town for how long, Cody? You got that way through fear, am I right? Pouting and staring and crushing beer cans. Maybe flashing a shotgun here and there. And you scared a few people. Maybe you beat a few up real good. Word traveled fast and now here you are.” Xander finally does move taking a step forward. Cody stands just a little straighter; his chest just a little wider. “But at the end of the day, what is that, really? You may scare them, but you don’t fucking scare me. And you never will. You ought to get used to that.”
Cody grunts, taking two more steps forward. He sets the shotgun up against the porch railing and heads down the stairs, stopping right in front of Xander.
“And what the fuck are you gonna do about it?” Cody asks. It’s at this point that I open the car door and take one step out. Xander looks back at me and puts a finger up.
“Please, Paige, just stay in the car.” As I’m about to settle back into the Chevelle, I see Cody charge toward Xander with a raised fist.
I want to scream. I try my best to yell his name, but the words won’t come out. Xander turns around just in time to catch Cody’s fist in the jaw with a loud thud. Xander staggers back from the force, but otherwise looks unaffected. He steadies himself just as Cody comes at him again, ready to continue his attack.
I scramble from the car, not even sure what exactly I will do, but before I have a chance to do anything, Xander thrusts two fingers—and only two fingers—just below Cody’s sternum.
His eyes flash white and he crumples to the ground quicker than I can even process what I just saw. As Cody lies motionless, Xander turns, gives me a wink and walks back to the car. I try t
o turn and join him at the car, but I can’t move my legs. My focus is locked onto Cody’s crumpled body, comically positioned as if he were just hit by a semi.
“Babe, come on. He’ll be awake in a few.” Xander climbs in and shuts the door. Babe? Yeah, that’ll get my feet moving.
I join Xander in the car and start it up. Pulling out of the trailer park in a hurry, I’m still trying my best to wrap my brain around what just happened.
“What the hell was that?” I ask.
“Just a little trick I learned a while back.”
“Little trick? That was more than just a little trick. What, are you like CIA or something?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Soooo…..”
“I have Army buddies, remember? Some of them did some hardcore stuff overseas. They taught me a few things
“Again, what exactly did I just witness?”
“I hit him in the solar plexus. It’s a big bundle of nerves in the mid-torso. Knocks ‘em right out… as you just witnessed.”
“But you only hit him with two fingers.”
“Less surface area, so the force is stronger at my fingertips than it would be had I punched him there.”
“Remind me never to make you angry,” I joke, but at the same time I wonder so much more about this man. It seems as if I’ve only scratched the surface.
He looks at me, his face no longer playful but very serious. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about—ever. I don’t hit women. I never have, and I never will. You know that… or at least you should.”
“Oh, I know. But still, you keep those fingers away from me.” He chuckles, then puts a hand over his mouth. It looks like he’s ready to burst out in laughter. It takes me a minute to understand, but when I do, my face turns bright red. I swat his arm. “Context, damn it. Context!”
The alarm clock screams at me to get up far earlier than I’d like it to. Last night after work, Jack asked me to meet with him at six a.m. I’m hoping it’s not regarding the incident with Cody a few days ago. When Jack did ask me about it, I kind of just shrugged him off and made up a lie. He didn’t look like he believed me.
Regardless, there was never any police involvement after the fact. Not that I see that as a realistic course of action for a guy like Cody. Surprisingly, there’s been no repercussion at all yet. I’d be kidding myself if I thought it wasn’t coming. It’s only a matter of time.
Eyes closed, I swat a hand over the snooze button, and out of nowhere I feel Rowdy’s cold, wet nose meet the side of my cheek. He nuzzles into me as if bartering for my eyes to open and the food bowl to be filled, then he slathers the side of my face with saliva. I open my eyes and can’t help but laugh at his big brown eyes staring back at me. He lifts a paw and bats at my arm.
“Alright!”
After feeding Rowdy and letting him out to do his business, I make my way to the main house.
“Morning, buddy,” Jack says from the kitchen table as I come through the back door. A cup of coffee is cradled between his hands.
“Morning, Jack. The ladies gone already?” I pour my own cup of coffee and sip it, taking a seat across from him.
“Teresa is. Paige is getting cleaned up at the moment.”
“So, what’s on the agenda today?” I ask.
“I’ll actually need you to run up to St. Louis with Paige here in a little bit. Say around seven?” My ears perk up, my attention all his. That’s nearly a three-hour drive— just the two of us. This is not the conversation I thought I’d be having with him right now.
“No problem at all. What are we doing up there?”
“She’s gotta hit a big junkyard the ladies always go through for parts, and I’m going to have you hit the wine supply depot in Grafton while you’re at it. Paige knows where it’s at, and they know you’re coming. They’ll have everything ready for you once you get there. I’d have her do it all herself, but that’s a lot of lifting. Plus, there’s not an ice cube’s chance in hell anyone is driving my truck!” He lets out a hearty laugh and rises to his feet, then sets the cup in the sink.
“Oh, okay.” I stand, adding more coffee to my mug. “I’ve never been to St. Louis. It’ll be nice to see it.”
“It’s a real nice city, especially this time of year. Make sure you guys take some time to drive by the Arch. It’s definitely something to see. A drive-by is just fine though. You don’t wanna be getting into those tiny-ass elevators. It’s just asking for an anxiety attack.”
“Wait a second,” I say. “There’s an elevator in that thing?”
“Yeah, and if you have claustrophobia, you’re likely not to come back down conscious.” He shivers and then shakes the thought away. “Anyhow, I’m gonna go get changed. I’ll see you when y’all get back.”
“See you then.”
He heads upstairs and I take my coffee with me back to the guesthouse, my mind running a mile a minute. I’m both excited and nervous at the same time. Of course, I couldn’t be more thrilled to spend some time with Paige, just the two of us, but the more I let this girl in, the harder it is to keep myself from wanting her. I can’t want her. I can’t…but Lord knows I do.
I’ll stick to my guns, though. I will keep myself from ever being with her. There’s just too much to lose. What’s the point, anyway? My time here is fleeting. In three months or so, I’ll be back on the road, headed to Washington to see my little sister for the first time in twenty years—a sister who likely remembers nothing about me.
With the St. Louis Arch two hours in our rearview mirror, Paige and I are just an hour or so away from Truman Valley. The truck’s bed is filled to the brim, and my worried eyes have been cautiously checking it the entire ride. Most of our time together so far has been spent with the windows down and music blaring. Paige has somehow taken over my radio and forced country music onto my helpless eardrums. I don’t much mind though, because watching her belt out every tune is both hot as all hell and just a tad funny. She wasn’t lying… the girl really is tone deaf.
A road sign catches her attention and she abruptly turns the music down.
“Hey, so I almost forgot. I was hoping we could stop somewhere before we go back.”
“Sure. Where at?”
“Well, it’s my favorite place in the world. Somewhere my family and I always go. It’s just a few miles down the road off Exit 45. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” This girl could ask me to watch paint dry, and I’d be all for it.
A few minutes later, I see exit 45 and take it. There’s nothing except a plethora of trees and one old, abandoned gas station. Just as my doubts begin to rise, I notice a beautifully constructed wooden fence with a large sign atop it that reads: TWAIN LAKE. Paige points to a small dirt road just past the sign and I take it, careful not to spill anything out of the truck bed as I do.
We cruise down the road a mile or two, the woods around us thick with a richness in the leaves you only really see in the heart of spring. I notice an opening just in front of us and catch a peek of the lake and all its shimmering glory. The lake glints majestically from the midday sun and it beckons me toward it like a mirage.
Just before the lake, there’s a fork in the road. A few houses line the shore on all sides. Paige directs me to take a left, and I do so. The sprawling lake stretches into the horizon. As we pull down the road, she points to the first lake house we come across, and I see a dock jutting out from behind it.
“Here. Pull in here,” she says with a smile.
“Are we going to be trespassing? Because this looks like gun country.” She laughs and shakes her head as I park.
“We’re in Missouri. This whole state is gun country. But no, there’s no one here, and we definitely aren’t trespassing.”
“And how do you know?”
“You mean beyond the lack of any cars in the driveway? Because it’s ours.” She climbs out, shutting the door behind her, and I follow right after her.
“Wait, what?” She’s severa
l paces ahead of me, heading straight for the dock. “Hey lady, wait up!”
She turns her head without slowing and says, “Hey, mister. Keep up!”
I jog a little until I’m just beside her.
“So, this is your place?”
“Yeah. Well, my parents’. My dad and I come up here a few times a year to hunt hogs. And usually the whole family will take a trip here for spring break every year. Come sit on the dock with me.”
“Wait, so you hunt?” I ask, genuinely surprised. “I feel like there’s so much I don’t know about you.”
She pops off her shoes once she hits the dock and sits down, dipping her feet into the water. I take off my own shoes and settle down beside her.
“What, do I not look like a girl who knows how to shoot?” She glares at me. “I’ll have you know I’ve been shooting since about the time I started walking.”
“Well damn, color me impressed.” She smiles and scans the lake, her eyes squinting through the beaming sun.
“There’s quite a bit I don’t know about you too, you know.” She looks at me with mischief written all over her face. I’m afraid of what’s to come. “That changes right now.” The joy she’s getting out of this is far from subtle.
“Oh, does it now? Am I going to regret coming here?”
“Probably,” she says with a devilish smile.
“Another game of twenty questions?”
“It was three questions, mister, not twenty. This is more like one question and one request.”
“Oh God.” I roll my eyes. “Yep, I’m definitely going to regret this.”
“Don’t be such a downer. There’s a lot I want to know about you, and I hope there’s a lot you want to know about me too. We don’t have a whole lot of time here, so you just let me do what I want. Mkay?”
“I feel like I should’ve taken shots before this.” I think about the fifth in the glove compartment. I wonder how I could grab a few shots without being figured out. I come to terms with the improbability of it, but the urge is so strong I can nearly taste the bourbon.
