by Kathi Barton
“You knew what was going on.” Dad looked at Hank and Lulu. She did too. “You told him what was going on. Thank you for that. I don’t care for Phoenix or Mom, but it must have been hard on you to have gone to Dad with this information.”
“I hired a man to take the pictures. It was easy. The only issue I ran into was finding a night to pick from. Since the invitations went out, there had been an orgy of sorts going on here nightly.” Hank handed her another scone, which she declined. “I didn’t want another family hurt by them. What it came down to was them or us. We’re too old to be cleaning up a room four times a day after the two of them had their friends over. Here, you’ve lost some weight you can ill afford, young lady. Eat.”
“I have lost some weight, but I’m not worried about putting it back on, thanks. At least while I’m here.” She winked at Lulu when she huffed at her. “I’m headed out again soon, so getting the weight on right now isn’t a priority. I need to be able to get in and out of places, and being the size of one of the elephants I’m working with won’t be a good thing.”
“What do you do?” She looked at her dad. “I know so very little about you that I’m ashamed of myself. I don’t even remember the last time you and I had a conversation. It’s totally my fault, I’m aware of that. But I just realized there is no relationship between the two of us.”
“It is your fault, but it’s all water under the bridge now. I mean, it’s much too late for us to have you come to my art exhibits, or any of the other million and one things I was in while living here, with Phoenix and Mom always taking up your time.” Amy knew she’d hurt him, but it wasn’t in her to be lovey-dovey with him anymore. “I’m a photographer. I’ve been one since I graduated from college a few years ago. In the event you tell me you don’t remember paying for it, you didn’t. I paid my way—”
“That’s enough, Amy. You’ve proven your point quite well, I think.” She looked at Hank when he spoke to her. “I know you’re hurt, but there is no reason whatsoever for your father to be made a target. You know it isn’t entirely his fault that you stayed away.”
“What do you mean?” She just looked at the plate in front of her without answering her dad. “Amy? What’s Hank talking about? Tell me, please, why you stayed away for so long. I’m begging you.”
“The missus and your other daughter made her life a living hell while here.” Lulu took her hand into hers as she continued. “If she wasn’t being ambushed and beaten by one or both of them while living here, it became a nightmare for Amy to even be in the same room with them. Several times I had to care for Amy when they poisoned her food. Food that I cooked, mind you. There were credit cards taken out in her name that she had to go to court over. Clothing of Amy’s was torn to shreds, shoes filled with unspeakable things. Once there was a scorpion put in Amy’s bed. If not for her spending the night in the hospital that night, she would have been killed, I think.”
“Why wasn’t I informed of any of this?” He looked at her, and Amy saw the exact moment he understood. “You did come to me, didn’t you? You tried several times to tell me what was going on, and I shoved you away.”
Dad stood up, and so did she. When he hugged her, then left the room, she sat back down. Not saying a word to either of the two people that had practically raised her when her mom and dad didn’t, Amy got up and left the same way she’d come in.
Once she was in her car, she drove out the front drive and onto the main street. Once there, with nowhere to go, she decided to take a little time for herself. Finding herself a hotel with a pool, Amy opted for two nights and pulled her luggage from the trunk, full of clothing that was going to need to be washed before she could wear any of it. But instead of doing any of those things, she laid out on the bed and cried. Cried until her heart felt like it would never mend.
Waking when her phone rang, she didn’t bother picking it up to see who it was. Instead, she staggered to the bathroom and turned on the water to take a bath. It had been literally years since she’d been able to soak in a tub.
The phone rang several more times while she lay there in the too-warm water. Amy tried to think of anything other than what was going on with her family for a while. Just as she was thinking there would be nothing to take her pain away, she remembered her good friend Booker Wilkerson. It only then occurred to her that he was more than likely related to whoever had asked for their paintings to be cleaned.
They’d been in a couple of classes together. Hitting it off as well as they did, they would go on shoots together during her assignments or when she was helping him study for this or that. Afterward, they’d go out to someplace fancy, always his treat as she was dead broke all the time, and then hang out at his place.
Unable to recall even a short conversation with him, Amy did wonder how welcome a call from her would be. Finding his phone number proved to be a tad more difficult than she thought it should have been. But once she found it, calling him was easy.
Getting a busy signal, Amy opted for not leaving a message. It was silly anyway, wanting to get in touch with someone from years ago. Putting her phone back on the nightstand, Amy pulled out her clothes to sort out. When her phone rang again, she saw the face of Booker. Wondering how much the man had changed over the years, she answered the phone with a smile.
“Amy Hamilton, how the fuck are you?” Amy laughed and cried as she told him she’d just gotten to town. “I’m going to pick you up, take you to dinner, then we’ll go over all the shit that has happened since I spoke to you last. It’s been far too long if you ask me.”
“For me as well. I’m only home for a couple of days. I’m thinking I’m here to assess your family pictures. I’m staying in a hotel.” After giving him the name of the place she was staying, he told her he was leaving now. He also told her that Mars, one of the cousins she never met, was the one with the paintings. “I’m going to talk to him soon, just not today. I spoke to my dad earlier today. I don’t think I’m any more a family member than I was before. How is your family?”
“Too much to tell you over the phone. I’ll be there in about ten minutes. I’ve missed you so much.” Amy said she’d missed him too. Very much so. “All right, dear. You wait for me in the lobby, and I’ll come in and get you. Remember what I’ve always told you, love.”
“I remember. You told me that you are the only man in the world I needed. I don’t know how true that is anymore. Do you?” He said he didn’t know, but would be there soon. “I’ll be in the lobby. I can’t wait to see you.”
When he came in the front doors of the hotel a few minutes later, Amy went to him, sobbing about how much she’d missed him. As they hugged, talking over one another, she knew she’d made a good decision in calling him. If nothing else, she knew she’d feel better just hanging out with him for a while.
Chapter 2
North walked around the downtown house several times before he decided it was going to make a good place for him to have his new offices. His dad was walking around in another part of the home that would serve as both their offices soon. Dad asked him what he had in mind when he entered the room he was in.
“I love this place better than the last three. How about you? This place is homey and not too overdone. I think we’ll have to have it redecorated, but other than that, it seems pretty sturdy.” He didn’t know shit about houses other than the information that Mars had given him yesterday on what to look for in a place he intended to buy. “I was thinking the furniture we intend to use should blend into this place rather than try and upstage the fact that we’re wanting a place that isn’t too sterile.”
“I think a couple of pieces Mars is getting rid of might do until we find something else. Like that old desk of mine. I think I’d like to have that if the offer is still open for me to take what I want.” North told his dad that Mars wasn’t keeping any of the office furniture. “Good. I’ll talk to him later about it. I’m all in for
this place. I think we can do some good working from here. There is enough room that we can go about our day and not disturb one another too.”
He and his dad were trying to get to know each other again. Since his mom was killed, North had been seeing his dad in a different light than he had before. The trial for the others, all his aunts, was being held soon, and he’d already decided not to have a thing to do with any of it. When his dad said his name, North smiled at him.
“You’re all right with working with me here?” North said he was. “I’m still having trouble wrapping my mind around some of the things coming to light. I don’t watch the news anymore either, as you suggested.”
“I don’t even subscribe to the newspaper anymore. I had no idea a paper could subsist on just one story. The fact that my mom was a horrific person seems to be breaking news daily.” Dad nodded but didn’t say anything. “Dad, we have to be honest with each other every time we talk about them. If not, we might as well just forget the entire thing about us making a new life with each other.”
“I know. I understand that. But in my heart, I’m still having a hard time wondering when they’ll stop finding more and more things she’s done to people. Did I tell you Mars gave them permission to look around the back yard of the property? And the foundation under the swimming pool? Having found out about three people that disappeared while on the family land has taken a lot out of me.” North told his dad it had him too. “On a better note, did you see how much work they’ve done on the kitchen? My goodness, having something redone in a place sure does make you realize how behind the times it really was.”
Mars and Abby, two of the nicest people he knew, were living in a condo next to where he was currently living. He’d purchased a house, but it needed some work done on it, mostly painting and redoing some floors. Just yesterday he’d had dinner with them, and found out about the stash his mother had in her room to get away if need be. Each of the women in his family had the same thing—running money, they called it. Also, they found a list in each of their handwriting on things they’d done to people around the town. But the worst of it was what they’d done to Holly, Mars’s mother, and Mars himself.
His mother and his aunts, all wives of brothers to Holly, had done some horrific things to the youngest Wilkerson. Holly had been kidnapped and raped over several days, and then when she was able to escape, the women talked the head of the family, North’s grandfather, into turning her out. Mars then became a target of their hate, which drove a deep wedge between all the cousins and their fathers. North was trying his best to make headway into getting to know his father now. So, as far as he could see, were the other cousins and uncles.
“Your phone is ringing, North.”
Pulling it out of his pocket, he answered with his last name. He was taking a month off after quitting the firm he’d been working for, and was, so far, enjoying himself. Dad walked into the other part of the house as he listened to his cousin Booker on the other end.
“I’m having a little car trouble. Can you come and take me and an old friend to the restaurant?” North told him he could do that. “I’m sorry to have interrupted your office looking, but I’ve not seen Amy in a while, and I was really looking forward to this.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Booker told him where he was. “Do you mind if we join you? You can say no, but Dad and I were going to grab some dinner anyway. I don’t want to be a fifth wheel when you talk to your friend.”
“That would be great. I told her so much about you when we were in college together that I’m sure she knows more about you than most.” Booker laughed. “She’s with me now—a great person. But I guess her home life wasn’t all that great either. Her mother and sister were real bitches.”
“Seems to be going around a lot. We found a building we’re going to buy. I think it’ll be perfect after we get it cleaned up and furniture in it.” North told his dad where they were going, and they both headed out to his car. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes, Booker. I told you to get a new car, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. But I can’t seem to part with old George yet. He’s gotten me through a lot of shit over the years. I was thinking about the times when he got me to Aunt Holly’s home when the weather was so bad. I’m surprised every time I think about it that I made it there in one piece.”
It took them less time than he’d said to get to where Booker and his date were standing. The car, more than twenty years old, had taken its last breath, it seemed. Booker was waving goodbye to it as the tow truck took it away. Amy, the girl that Booker talked about all the time, shook hands with him and his father. Once they were in the car again, Dad rode up front with him and Booker and Amy in the back seat.
The restaurant was accommodating about adding two more chairs to the reservation. Once they were seated, North sat across from Amy. Dad and Booker were talking about new cars as Amy looked around the restaurant. Trying to bring her into the conversation, North asked her what she drove around.
“Motorbike when the weather is good. I have an old beater for when I’m home for more than a few days. I don’t use much in the way of vehicles when I’m working.” He asked her what she did. “I’m a photographer. I take pictures in the wild. Most recently, I was in the Amazon for a month. I have some nice pictures of the wildlife there.”
They talked about what they did for a living until their orders were taken. Amy didn’t say much. North didn’t know her but thought she looked sad. That something had happened recently, and she wasn’t over it. He looked at Booker when he started talking about the pictures Amy had taken a few months back.
“You should have seen them. Or you will see most of them, I guess. She was assigned to take pictures of an ant colony. You’d think that would be boring, but it wasn’t. The way the pictures made you feel like you were a part of the colony could only come from her. I was telling her about Abby.”
Dad asked Amy if she knew Abby. When she told him, no, she didn’t, he told her about the wedding pictures she was supposed to have taken.
“What a small world. Phoenix is my sister, Fran, my mother. I was surprised as hell to find out when I got back here that there hadn’t been a wedding.” Dad looked at North like he was afraid he’d done something terrible by bringing it up. Amy must have noticed his look too. “It’s all right, Mr. Wilkerson. I’m not close to my family at all. Phoenix didn’t even want me at her wedding, much less to be a part of it. My mom is just as bad as, if not worse than, my sister. Dad is currently divorcing Fran, and I’ve not heard where my sister is living yet.”
“She’s currently living at a hotel with her mother.” North asked his dad how he knew that. “I’m friends with Shelton, Amy’s father. If she’d not mentioned Phoenix just now, I wouldn’t have put them together. My goodness, your father must be thrilled to death to have them out of his hair.”
“I guess he is. I don’t know.” North had a feeling they were zeroing in on what would be the topic of conversation she and Booker were going to have. “I was summoned home and found out that way. As I said, I don’t have a great deal of closeness with my family anymore.”
Salads were brought, and he noticed that Amy ate around her tomatoes. When he put out his plate for them, she didn’t even hesitate and put them in his salad. As soon as he put his plate back in front of him to eat, his dad laughed.
“That’s a first.” North asked his dad what he meant. “You and a stranger sharing a salad like an old married couple. Are you sure you two don’t know each other? Perhaps in another lifetime?”
Amy laughed. “I have no idea why I thought that was what he wanted. I can’t stand tomatoes on a salad. Something about their texture makes me push them aside. But if they were grilled? Now that I could make a meal out of.” North told her he’d never had them grilled. “Oh, they’re so good with a thick steak. It’s like a pop of sweetness with the meat. I also like them crumbled up on my
omelets.”
“I’ve known Amy for a very long time. Twenty years at least. She’s also not a delicate eater.” Dad asked Booker what he meant. “You know, North. The kind of woman you take out and regret her buying something on the menu because she isn’t that hungry? Christ, I hate that kind of date. I want someone that orders what they want and eats the damned thing.”
“He means me.” Amy laughed again. “We went to a Mexican restaurant once, and I was able to handle the heat much better than he was. To this day, whenever I show up there, they look for the sin calor americano.”
Dad laughed so hard he nearly knocked over his drink. North was able to speak Spanish too, but it took him longer to translate what Booker had been called than it had his dad.
“No heat American.” Amy nodded at him while Dad teased Booker. “So I take it you enjoy your Mexican fare hot.”
“I do. It’s not worth eating if you can breathe around each bite. I love spicy food. Not so much in the way of sweets. I detest chocolate too.” North laughed with her. “Once, when I was seeing this guy, he was forever buying me chocolate. No matter how many times I told him I didn’t care for the treat, he’d buy it anyway. So one night, when he showed up at my door after a particularly loud argument, I took them into the kitchen and microwaved the entire box. Taking it back to the door, I slammed it in his face and tossed hot chocolate bombs at him until he got the hell out of my life. I think to this day, he still has a chocolate covered almond burn on his cheek.”
