Chapter 17
Three months later…
Ali sat at a round table with an orange crayon in her hand. Red, blue, and purple sat still beside the coloring book she was using, while a yellow crayon had rolled to the floor. She was touching up her sun and sky, being as specific with the colors as possible. Only half the sun was showing, the other half hidden under the drawn ground.
She had spent most of her free time coloring at the rehabilitation facility in Tyler. She had enrolled in a 90-day program shortly after her father’s death. At first, she stayed strong, spending most of her time consoling her son, who was truly devastated. Not only did he lose his grandfather, but his father and uncle as well. But once the weight of the world on her shoulders had broken her resolve, she ran back to her former home and found Clint’s stash of drugs. Wishing to escape her painful emotions, she used Clint’s rarely used heroin syringe kit. Worried after not seeing his mother for almost a day, Austin called the police to search for Ali. After a quick search, they found her comatose and with a barely beating heart. She was quickly raced to the emergency room, where her body recovered, but her clear penchant of turning to drugs was not as easily vanquished.
Somehow conscious and stable after taking three gunshot wounds, after hearing the news from his hospital bed, Ben suggested that she go to an inpatient rehab facility to avoid a possession charge. Before she departed, she attended her father’s funeral. It was set in a small church in Adrienne, though barely anyone attended. Ali, Austin, Taylor and her two children, some of the officers at the APD, his boss and coworkers at the mechanic shop, Grace and her new boyfriend, Old Day and a few others were all that showed up. The sermon was short, with the topic about finding forgiveness. After all, the ballistics at the crime scene at Lake Fork confirmed that Owen was the killer of Scar and Clint Grayson. The town and surrounding areas were also abuzz by the reveal of Roy Grayson’s bones, who was still officially considered missing for all these years. Ben, during a past visit a few weeks back, stated that the doctor believed that the gunshot would likely not have killed a healthy human if treated. But Owen’s wound, with his cirrhosis and effects, didn’t clot like it should have, therefore leading to his eventual death. One thing that gave her some sort of solace was that her father passed with a smile on his face at the gravesite of her mother. She was happy that he finally visited her, though he did it too late. Ali now had to live with the fact that she was 23 and had lost both her parents. That thought depressed her, almost to the point of suicide. But one thing kept her going. The last positive memory that they experienced; the picture that was taken before Owen left.
The picture saved on her cell phone that was printed out for viewing at the rehab clinic simultaneously elated her and saddened her. She was proud that Austin had such a wonderful grandfather who filled his young days with happiness. He hopefully would cherish those memories and keep them close whenever he faced tough times in life. She, on the other hand, regretted not forgiving him earlier. She never bothered to see his side and to understand how much he truly cared and loved her mother. What made her feel worse was that despite all the hateful things she said to him, his love for his daughter never waned. Ali spent many nights crying into her pillow in her room, chastising herself for being so ungrateful. No matter all of the shady things he did, he still raised her with nothing but unconditional love. What did she do to reciprocate his affection? Fucking Clint Grayson just to piss him off. She wouldn’t have Austin if she hadn’t fornicated with that sleazy piece of shit, but she wished she could have had him another way.
Austin gave her strength too. When she agreed to do the rehab, she said a hasty goodbye to her son. She didn’t want him to see her like this. She also asked Taylor, who volunteered to watch Austin while she was away, not to bring him to visit. Her reasoning was that he would forget the vices and problems of his old mother, and when she came back, she would be a clean and completely different mother to him. The picture helped her through these torturous three months. But today, as she touched up her sun with a little more yellow, was her last day.
Other rehab patients performed various tasks in the activity room. Ali hadn’t exactly made friends here. Her sole focus was getting out of here and to not be influenced by the demons of her past. None of her so-called friends visited her to offer their support. She was glad, however. They were horrible influences and the type of crowd she wished to avoid once she was out. The only visitor she ever received was Ben, who was sincere in his want for her to recover. He really was a good guy. Just like her father.
All she was waiting for now was the discharge papers to be signed. All her belongings were packed up. She was in the clothes she wore on her intake, thigh high black cotton shorts and a red t-shirt that said ‘LOVE’ across the breasts in a fancy font. She figured she would spend her last moments here doing what she did best. She put the finishing touches on her picture when she was called into the main office. There, she signed her papers and was given an information packet. Ali doubted she would ever take another look at it. Her desire for drugs was almost nonexistent. All she remembered was how it felt. It was a delightful feeling, but all that truly mattered now was raising her son the correct way. She considered going to church more, eating healthy and working out to relieve any frustrations from her past, all in the hopes of making her life better. Once out the door of the office, she saw her uncle, clad in his officer uniform.
“Ali.”
“Uncle Ben.”
The two hugged. Ben pulled away to look at his niece. “I’m proud of you. I really am.”
“Thanks. Really, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. How about we get the hell out of here?”
“You ain’t gotta tell me twice.”
Ben smiled and opened the door for her as they walked out of the facility. She was outdoors plenty during her time at rehab, but the warmth of the sun felt different now that she knew she was finally a free woman again. The bright and shiny rays felt cleansing on her skin, the air felt cleaner and her overall view of the world was more positive once truly on the outside. Her uncle was polite enough to open the passenger side door of his squad car. Once she was buckled in, Ben took off toward their fair burg of Adrienne.
“So how you feeling?” Ben asked. “You glad to be out of there?”
“I just want to get back to Austin. I want to show him that his mother has changed.”
“I hope this don’t sound too rude, but have you?”
Ali took a respite before replying. “I think so. Clint isn’t here anymore to force drugs on me, but I still have to say no myself. That’s what the rehab mainly taught me. It all starts with me.”
“That’s good to hear. Does that mean you’re going to stop drinking too?”
Ali smiled widely. “Uh, no. God, I’ve needed some whiskey in my life. But I plan to slow down. I don’t want what Dad had.”
The mood took a somber turn. “Yeah…I’ve slowed down too. Honestly, a couple of nights ago was the first time I’ve had a drink since before all the shit went down.”
“Yeah. I forgot to ask how you were doing. You’re not limping as much, I noticed.”
“Well shit, it don’t take me long to recover,” confidently bragged Ben. “But still, taking three shots, especially one that damn near hit my heart, it puts shit into perspective, you know?”
“And how’s Taylor doing? She getting better?”
Ben said nothing while he was merging onto the interstate, but when he felt comfortable and not concentrating so hard on the traffic, he resumed speaking. “She’s getting better. Her burns have mostly healed, but the whole killing a guy that was going to rape her thing kinda fucked with her head. She wakes up screaming all the time. She’s been getting some counseling to try to cope with it, but it’s tough. Adam wake up with nightmares too. Rainey watched everything happen from behind a tree. It was traumatic for everyone. Moving on hasn’t been the easiest, but we’ll manage. We face our problems head on. Family mot
herfuckin’ motto.”
“Ugh, you won’t believe how many times Dad said that growing up. If I had a problem with a teacher at school, face it head on. When I got pissed at my coach, face it head on. Shit, he even told me to face him head on when I get pissed at him. He was a damn character.”
“He stayed loyal to who he was. Never wavered. And because of him, he gave you a new crack at life without Grayson interference.”
“Oh, I have every intention of changing Austin’s last name. Is he doing okay?”
Ben scratched at his nose and cleared his throat. “Yeah, he is. I told you before, he was really confused after it all. The boy’s never experienced death before, and for two of his idols to die, especially one of them killing the other, it really confused him.”
“Two?”
“He didn’t seem too heartbroken about Clint.”
Ali bit her lip. “Makes sense. I don’t think he made one fatherly gesture toward Austin. I think he just gave up on him being his father. He saw Dad as an actual father. Scar was something close.”
“There’s still a couple things that are a little sketchy about the whole case. From what we gathered, Scar forced Owen to dig up the body. Then Owen somehow took Scar by surprise and lit him up. I’m guessing Clint shot Owen when he had his back turned, but the amount of casings in the area showed that Clint took a lot of shots, but only hit him once.”
“He always was a horrible shot,” quipped Ali.
“Things got weird from there. Judging by the bodies, Clint and Owen got in a physical fight. Pretty sure Clint got the best of him. But at some point, Owen got him in the back of the head with his gun. That one doesn’t make a lot of sense. Just by the angles and the blood, I don’t know how Owen shot him. Plus, there was an anonymous call at a payphone in Emory about some gunshots over by the Lake. Owen wouldn’t have went that way. Woods County Sheriff got the call. I’ve helped him out with a few things, so once he told me who the bodies were, I got to help out on the case. Eventually, he just turned it over to me since, well, the sheriff is fat and lazy over there and didn’t want two strange murders on his hands.”
“What are you saying?”
“I think someone else was there at the time. I’d bet my life it was Nicky. But the one thing I just can’t wrap my head around. If Nicky was there with Scar, if Owen shot at Scar, you’d think Nicky would retaliate? I don’t know. I’ve tried to get a hold of Nicky. I went by his house and it looks like he packed shit and ran with his family. Not sure why. You know, unless he had something to hide. And there’s the whole attack on me and my family, which seemed premeditated. I don’t know, Ali. There’s too much. I just want to put it all behind me.”
“So have things gotten better since…Scar and Clint are gone?”
“Ha!” Ben sarcastically chuckled. “I thought it would too. But now the remaining Graysons, if they ain’t fighting with each other, are fighting against others who are trying to move in on the trade. This place has no shortage of rednecks looking to take over, I tell ya. We seen some boys from Mineola, some Mexicans out of Tyler, even some hillbillies near Lake Tawakoni. We’ve been bringing in lots of ‘em, but we don’t have enough cells to hold them all at our town jail. It’s stressing me out. FBI’s been helping, though they’ve spent most of their time looking for Scar’s money.”
“Did they find it?”
“As far as I know, no. He didn’t launder it, didn’t spend it. They ain’t going to find it if he didn’t want them to. But they’ve been helping. Keeping me posted on the Roaring 20’s. I expected a changing of the guard with Scar gone. Figured it get passed down to Nicky, but he ain’t around. Instead, nothing’s happened. They haven’t done shit. It’s like they just abandoned Adrienne. If that’s the case and I can sort my mess out here, I might finally be able to clean up this town.”
“Just like you always wanted.”
“Oh yeah. Clean this shit up and get my relaxation on. I’m ready to cash in on all that vacation time I have just sitting there and waiting to be used. My family and I need to get the hell out of this town for a while.”
Ali meekly looked out the window. She was actually glad to be back. The rehab facility and its structure with day-to-day activities got on her nerves. She doubted that she’d ever mentally improve from the stress from her confined daily life. But now she was out, the sweet country air filled her lungs and made her content again. She liked to see other states and even the world, but this was her home, a place with too many memories, good and bad, to leave behind.
The rest of the ride was filled with small chit-chat with pauses in between. She had a chance to look at her cell phone which hadn’t been accessed in her stay at Tyler. No texts from any so-called friends. No big deal. She didn’t need them. Looking up local news, she noticed a few things while looking for her father’s obituary. Doug Polster and Grace Toler to wed. Fuck her. Ernest Lancaster arrested for selling alcohol to minors. Aw, come on. Now what will I do for late night booze? Texas Rangers lose seventh game in a row. I’m sure Austin’s disappointed. New Orleans millionaire advertising and real estate mogul remains found in a dumpster. Ew.
When her eyes looked up and noticed the Adrienne city limits signed stuck firmly in the grass on the side of the road, tons of emotions caused her throat to close. Months away had kept her memories at bay, but once back in town, the reality of her father’s death and being away from her son for three months slapped her right across the cheek. She looked at her uncle, who despite being shot three times and dealing with his newly mentally troubled family, stayed strong. His masculine features were dominant and his eyes stayed focus on the road ahead. Ben lived the family motto. He never let his problems affect him. He powered through, just like his older brother. Just thinking about her father saddened her, but it also gave her a shot of vigor. Owen stood his ground and did what he said he was going to do. Scar and Clint were now dead. Unfortunately, he was too. But she was finally a free woman. Free from the constant terror of Clint attacking her, free from the drugs and free from Scar. Even after all the time to reflect, she still didn’t understand Scar’s motives. Was all that he really wanted was a family to call his own? It was a useless question to ask now.
Rubbing her nose gently, something crossed her mind. “Hey, Ben?”
“What’s up?”
“Is it possible for you to drop me off by Dad’s house and you go bring back Austin?”
“I guess. What for?”
Ali gazed out the window to see a man outside, building a large wooden swing set while his young raven haired daughter bounced up and down, uncontrollably excited for her father to complete his work. “I just haven’t had a chance to really be alone.”
Ben paused. Ali bet that he was thinking about her relapsing. There wouldn’t be any other reason for him to formulate a response to such a simple question. “Yeah. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Thank you.”
There was silence until they arrived at the house. Both stepped out of the car, Ben holding the luggage she was allowed to bring to the facility. “I’ve only been back here once,” noted Ben.
Ali nodded her head mindlessly. Nerves were getting the best of her. The house was empty, but she was scared, as if ghosts inside were prepped to haunt her once she set foot into the home. It was true, in a sense. The ghosts were guilt, sadness, and anger. Taking a deep breath, she waited for Ben to unlock the door. Once open, Ben motioned her in. He didn’t want to enter either.
“Alright, I’m off to get Austin. You won’t believe how excited he is for this day. He’s been bouncing off the walls.”
A genuine smile made its presence known on Ali’s face. “I’m excited too.”
Ben stepped into his car and drove off, leaving her alone. After some debating whether she really wanted to, she stepped foot into the house. She later deemed her indecisiveness as moot; she planned to live here. The inside was dark, though enough light crept in for her to maneuver. After turning on a light, she placed her
bag down to the carpeted floor and checked out Austin’s bedroom. The window that had been shot up and any bullet holes in the walls had been fixed and patched. The baseball themed bedspread was perfectly made on his bed, and all the sports memorabilia on his dressers and walls were all neatly placed. It was like nothing ever happened in this room. Ben must have did a lot in his one time here. She went across the hall into the bedroom she grew up in. She decided to forever live here. It just wouldn’t be right to take her father’s room.
She ventured that way, but veered toward the kitchen. There wasn’t anything worth seeing in his room anyway. On the kitchen table was the bottle of Maker’s Mark she used in her efforts of keeping Owen from going to the lake with Scar. Now, all that remained was just a touch over half a bottle. It looked mighty tempting, but right now was not the time. Even after her conversation with Ben about slowing down, it still had been three months since she had a drink. She was only human. Needing just a sip, she poured herself a drink in a plastic Dickey’s Barbecue cup. Putting it to her lips, a sip was all she took. It was a calming presence in her body, allowing her to relax and take a seat at the wooden dining table. Here, she reminisced about her last days with her father. She truly realized how wrong she was for acting so irresponsibly. It amazed her how in just a span of a few hours, enmity turned to love. She laughed inside, but her lips stayed poised. It was still too early to laugh back at the good times. Her heart was still in the process of being repaired.
Considering taking another sip, she heard footsteps coming up the front porch. Her eyebrows twitched as she slowly put the drink down. It hadn’t been enough time for Ben to return with Austin. She felt apprehensive. Her eyes darted to her father’s room. She was positive there would be a gun or two in his closet. He did have quite the selection. After all that culminated between the Tomkins and Graysons, could another member of the family be seeking vengeance? She jumped when she heard knocking on the door. The sound was a heavy thud, one that meant business. She no longer felt safe. Quietly, but quickly, she ran into her father’s room and turned the light on. It was a mess, completely untouched by Ben. The closet door was already open. Rushing in and parting the hanging shirts on the upper rod, she found a small silver revolver in a shoebox. It was exactly what she needed. Checking the cylinder, it only had three bullets. That was fine with her. She hoped she wouldn’t have to use it.
Comin' Home to You Page 38
