Dani jumped out of her seat and yanked the handset off the base. “Hello?” She smiled. “Brandon! It’s good to hear your voice. How are you?”
“Jesus,” said Stephanie as she watched Dani sit on one of the bar stools by the phone, her undivided attention locked onto the voice on the other end of the line. She turned to go back to her room. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
* * *
Two-and-a-half hours later, Dani finally hung up the phone. She rubbed the pain out of her left ear, then looked around the quiet house before walking into Stephanie’s room to find her asleep. She strolled back into the kitchen and over to the sink, where she noticed a note from her mother written on a small pad that read, “There’s some chicken in the fridge. Your father and I are going to stay in town tonight. Take good care of Steph. She doesn’t feel good. Love you, Mom.”
As she went back into the living room and sat down in the recliner, Dani realized she had two sets of emotions fiercely raging against each other. On one hand, she was more excited than she’d ever been in her life because Brandon had told her he missed her more than anything and he loved her but, on the other, even though Dani said that she loved him, too, she was aware of a deep sadness because she was planning on leaving the ranch and her family.
She tried to keep her mind on the upcoming weekend that would no doubt be the first of a lifetime of adventures, but couldn’t shake her gloomy thoughts because she still had no answer to what she would tell her parents when they found out she had left home. No matter how she tried, however, for the next hour or so, the feeling of sadness about leaving her family turned out to be more powerful than her prospects of the new life she had dreamed of for as long as she could remember.
Dani heard a vehicle coming down the road and walked into the kitchen to stare out the window as it approached. When the headlights drew close enough, she saw the vehicle was an older model Ford pickup truck, like the one Casey drove years before. Ironically, the distraction of the approaching truck at first caused Dani to get her mind off the gnawing feelings she had about her parents, but the sight of it as it moved by the house and continued down the road with one burned-out tail light brought forth a different display of thoughts and emotions much more sinister. Maybe it was because of the mood she was in, or maybe it was the make and model of the truck, or maybe both, but the illusion suddenly unlocked the door for multiple demons, long entombed in the back recesses of her heart, to rise up and cling to her spirit like ivy on a pine tree.
The vision of the old Ford fading away into the darkness dragged Dani with it into the shadows of the past. Suddenly, Father Time spun back the dial to a cold, snowy December night from five-and-a-half years before. At that time, Dani had stood in the same spot staring out the same window as she watched Casey and Trey wave at her as they drove by in the same Ford pickup model. The date was Friday, December 18th, 1970.
* * *
“You girls are going to have to wait for us here.” Trey pulled his Chevrolet Chevelle into the snow-covered driveway of the Wide River Ranch. After he drove around to the back door, he put the vehicle in park and added, “Me and Casey have a couple more things to do before the night’s over.”
Neither sister moved in the back seat, so he yelled, “Go on…get out! We’ll be back a little later.”
“Trey,” whined Dani, “why can’t we go with you?”
“’Cause we have guy stuff to do,” said Casey, turning in the front passenger seat to face the girls in the back. “There’s a couple of fellows over in Cee Vee that think they’re tough. Trey and I are going to go over there and whip their asses in football.”
“Can’t we come? Please?” pleaded Stephanie. “It’s too scary around here for us to stay by ourselves.”
Trey took an aggravated breath before he replied, “No, you can’t…but I’ll give you that one. Daddy did manage to scare us all to hell a few times with those Devil’s Creek Monster stories, but the answer’s no….you can’t come with us. It’s too cold outside for you two to stand around doing nothing.” He pointed at the house as he added emphatically, “You’ll be all right; we won’t be long. Now get out and go on inside.”
“Is this why you two didn’t want to drive around the strip anymore?” Dani asked Trey. “If you knew you were going to play football, why didn’t you leave us at Tripps? We could have gotten a ride home from there.”
“Because it’s windy, twenty-five degrees outside, and getting late,” Trey told them. “Look, the longer you two sit here arguing about it, the longer it will be before we get back. Now go on….get out.”
Stephanie and Dani glanced at each other and shrugged before Dani said, “How long will it be ’fore you guys get back? You know Stephanie and I hate staying out here by ourselves.”
“Two hours tops,” said Casey quickly.
Dani zipped up her jacket, reluctantly opened the door, and stepped out into the frosty air before she said with foggy breath, “Well, you two do what you need to do and get back here as fast as you can.”
“Yeah,” added Stephanie as she stepped out of the car. “It’s not very nice of you to leave us here by ourselves while you two go have fun,” she added before slamming the door shut.
Trey rolled down his window and said, “Y’all will be all right. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“You better!” yelled Dani. Turning, she ran across the fresh snow on the driveway. She glared at her brother once as she stopped to open the back door, then purposely slammed it shut behind her as she and Stephanie disappeared into the house.
“That went better than I expected,” Casey laughed.
“Yeah…I thought Dani would put up a lot bigger fight than that, too.” Trey put the Chevelle in gear and slowly drove out of the driveway.
Before Trey had a chance to turn right toward Cee Vee, Casey pointed the other direction and said, “We need to go to my house and get my truck before we do anything.”
“Why’s that?” asked Trey.
“Because after we beat the shit out of those guys in Cee Vee, I want to drive over to Northfield,” answered Casey. “I got a Christmas present for a guy I know over there.”
“And what’s that?” asked Trey, stopping at the end of the drive.
“I got a roll of a thousand firecrackers behind the seat of my truck.” Casey grinned and continued, “And I aim to set the whole thing off right next to his bedroom window.”
Trey laughed loudly before saying with a gleam in his eyes, “Do you plan on sticking around to see what he does about it?”
Casey answered enthusiastically, “Hell no! We’re going to light that son of a bitch and get the hell out of there. By the time they figure out what it is and where it’s coming from, we’ll be long gone. That’s why I told you earlier we couldn’t have the girls with us…they’d more than likely screw that up good.”
“You’re right about that!” Trey snickered as he turned left out of the driveway. As the Chevelle picked up speed, he added, “I like the way you think, buddy.”
Ten minutes later, Casey was behind the wheel of his white, 1966 Ford pickup, driving back by the Wide River Ranch as the boys made their way south down FM 94 toward Cee Vee. He pointed at the house as they passed. “Look, there’s Dani staring out the window at us…let’s wave.”
Both boys waved at Dani’s image in the window before Casey added, “They’ll be all right, won’t they?”
“Sure, they will,” answered Trey, chuckling. “The only thing is, though, just be prepared for a little bitchin’ when we get back. Those two really don’t like staying there by themselves after dark.”
“I can’t blame ’em for that!” replied Casey with a laugh. “I swear, I think your daddy at one time or another scared the hell out of just about everybody who ever stepped foot in that place. Even grown-ups.”
Trey snorted. “He still does. I don’t know who Stephanie and Dani are afraid of more, the Devil’s Creek Monster or Daddy.”
“Probably a toss-up, if you ask me,” said Casey.
As they drove down the blacktop, their thoughts soon turned to the upcoming game of two-on-two football.
“Why is this game so important to you?” asked Trey.
“Because I think Joe Neely and his stupid brother think way too much of themselves, that’s why.” Casey used the gear lever on the steering column to downshift into an icy turn. “Every time I see ’em, they give me a bunch of crap about how tough they are and how they’d make us cry like babies if we ever got up the nerve to go over there and settle things.” Casey glanced at Trey and added, “So tonight we’re going to settle things…once and for all.”
“Cry like babies, huh?” asked Trey as he set up in his seat, defiance in the set of his shoulders.
“Yep, that’s what they’ve been saying, all right,” Casey said.
“Well, I guess we need to hurry up and get this over with,” stated Trey, grit in his voice. “We need to remind them they said that after we whip their asses.”
“I like the way you think, too,” Casey agreed, and a mischievous smile spread across his face. Neither boy said a word for another five minutes until Casey pulled into the driveway of the Neely family farm. Casey drove around back and parked in front of the large, open barn that was brightly lit up inside. Two menacing, muscular farm boys, wearing boots, jeans, and tee shirts in the cold night air appeared in the open door, the biggest holding a football. Casey glanced at Trey as he opened the door. “We’ll leave our jackets here…come on; let’s go show these pantywaists how it’s done.”
* * *
An hour later, Casey and Trey sat in the truck, a slight fog coming off every inch of their overheated bodies. They breathed heavily as Casey turned the pickup out of the Neely driveway and headed north on FM 94 toward their second stop of the night in Northfield.
“You were awesome,” yelled Trey, as he excitedly gave Casey a high five. “We really gave those boys a beat down!”
“Yeah, we did,” roared Casey. He banged his fist on the steering wheel. “We really are something, aren’t we?”
“Damn straight, we are,” agreed Trey. “We stuck it to them.”
Casey laughed as he chimed in, “I’d say it was more like we beat the pants off them. And right now…” he added, pointing two fingers in the air, “I bet it’s tearing them up inside because they got beat by a couple of good-looking cowboys like us. It doesn’t get any more rodeo cool than that!”
“I’ll say,” Trey agreed, “we didn’t let them farm boys score a single touchdown, and how many did we score? Eight, maybe nine?”
“Something like that,” said Casey as he pounded the steering wheel once more. He laughed as he added, “I tell you, Trey, I haven’t had that much fun since I whipped that boy who told me he knew all about karate.”
“I remember that,” said Trey. “He asked me if I wanted to fight him, but I shrugged him off. I didn’t have nothing against him.”
“Yeah, but I did,” said Casey. “There he was, asking everybody outside the arena if they wanted to fight. He must have thought he was a real bad ass because no one wanted to call his bluff.” Casey looked at Trey and grinned as he finished his thought, “Until I told him I’d fight him. After that, I don’t think he told anybody ever again that he knew karate.”
“You know,” said Trey, staring out the window at the snow piled on the side of the road, “now that you mention it, tonight was a lot like that night. Those Neely boys were talking a lot of smack just like that karate guy did, but they got whipped, too.” He glanced at Casey. “It sure is fun to make arrogant sons of bitches take a fall when it’s coming to them, isn’t it?”
“Damn straight,” answered Casey. He reached over and opened the glove box. He pulled out a couple of cigars, held them in the air and asked, “I got more than just firecrackers in this truck.” He turned on the radio. It was tuned to an AM country station and added, “Let’s celebrate. Which one you want, the TV Crook or the Swisher Sweet?”
Trey paused for a second before saying, “I’ll take the Swisher Sweet. You can have the other one.”
“Suits me.” In a matter of seconds, both cigars were lit and filling the cab with smoke as they listened to “Chantilly Lace” by Jerry Lee Lewis. Both boys felt as if they owned the world.
Trey blew a smoke ring inside the truck, then said, “Hey, Casey.”
“What’s up?” Casey asked.
“I don’t think I ever asked this before, but I’ve always wanted to,” said Trey.
“Fire away,” said Casey, smiling as if he knew the question.
Trey blew out cigar smoke, then said, “Are you and Dani going to get hitched one of these days?”
Casey laughed loudly. “You know, Trey, I’ve always wondered when you’d ask me that question.”
“Well, are you?” Trey persisted.
Casey took a deep breath, then exhaled heavily, “Trey, I can’t think of anything I could ever want more. In fact, I think I’ve loved Dani my whole life.” He added with a smile, “Ever since I can remember, anyway.”
Trey chuckled as he said, “That’s good, Casey. That’s real good.”
“Looks like me and you are gonna be brothers our whole lives,” said Casey, reaching over and gently punching Trey in the shoulder.
“Yeah, I guess that’s right,” answered Trey as he turned to look out the passenger side window.
Casey suddenly put the cigar in his mouth. “Watch this,” he said. “I’ve been practicing.”
He steered the truck just off the right side of the road, then turned back toward the pavement and punched the gas as he turned the steering wheel to the right. The truck fishtailed and almost came up on two wheels before it straightened again.
Casey whooped, “Damn…I almost had it.”
“Jesus!” Trey yelled, “what the hell you trying to do?”
“I’m trying to learn how to drive this thing on two wheels,” answered Casey. He downshifted and approached a sharp left turn.
“You’re going to wreck this son of a bitch,” shouted Trey as he exhaled a puff of smoke.
Casey glanced at Trey and answered with a cocky smile, “What are you talking about? I’m a good driver, and I ain’t wrecked this son of a bitch yet.” The wide, confident grin was still on his face as he entered the turn. “Watch this.”
Once again, he drove slightly off the right shoulder, turned back to the left and hit the gas. Even though they were only traveling forty miles per hour, there was a steep decline in the road immediately after the turn and this time when the truck fishtailed, the back passenger tire hit a small mound of frozen dirt that caused the truck to flip over and land hard on its roof.
Neither boy was wearing a seatbelt. Trey suddenly found himself on all fours in the upside-down truck, watching a cascade of sparks light up the road behind them as the truck spun a full turn counterclockwise and screeched one hundred twenty-five feet down the asphalt road. His hands and knees were burning because the roof had gotten hot quickly from the friction of the asphalt. He frantically kicked his door open, then crawled out onto the cold, dark pavement.
Trey stood and yelled, “Damn it, Casey, I told you you were going to wreck this son of a bitch.” There was no answer from his friend. The two front wheels were spinning slowly as he yelled once more, “Casey, you okay?” Again, there was only silence.
Trey went around to the other side of the truck, but quickly came back around to the passenger side because the truck had twisted in such a way that he was not able to open Casey’s driver side door. He peered into the upside down, dark cab and got a partial glimpse of his friend.
“Damn it, Casey…I hope you’re just knocked out,” Trey said nervously as he surveyed the situation.
As it turned out, however, when the truck flipped and was thrown onto its back, Casey was catapulted up toward the roof, which was then crushed as the truck slammed upside down on the hard, unyielding pavement. The impact trapped Casey’s head
between the top of the vertical back rest and the collapsing roof, causing his neck to snap as his lower body was thrown about by the momentum of the crash. Even though Casey had been driving his own vehicle for the last three years and had never been involved in even the slightest fender bender, his second daredevil attempt at bringing the ’66 Ford up on two wheels killed him instantly.
“Come on, Casey, wake up!” shouted Trey as loudly as he could. Not sure what to do next, he looked up and down the empty, dark road. Still thinking Casey might only be unconscious, Trey made another unsuccessful attempt to extract his best friend from the vehicle before he crawled back out of the cab and stood up.
He took one last look at the surreal scene in front of him. At first glance, it appeared as if the truck only needed to be rolled back over onto its wheels and restarted so Trey and Casey could be back on their way. Even though the engine had stalled and the back of the cab was crumpled, the headlights still shone, all the dash lights were on, and Jerry Lee Lewis could still be faintly heard singing from the lone dash speaker “That wiggle in the walk, and giggle in the talk…”
Trey summoned all his strength and tried to push the truck over once, but quickly gave up because he only moved the vehicle half an inch or so. As he stepped back and tried to think, the only other sound in the cold, dark night besides the radio was the wind as it whipped loose snow into the looming black distance. Casey hadn’t moved or answered any of Trey’s repeated attempts to revive him. As panic, shock and helplessness set in, Trey once more looked up and down the dark, deserted road before buttoning up his coat. He decided to get help and started running back the way they came, covering two miles in the bitter cold before getting to the nearest house.
* * *
The phone rang twice before Dani was able to get to it, barely beating Stephanie to the handset. “Hello?” She listened for a moment, and her eyes went wide. “Momma…are you serious? Are you sure?” She listened again before she responded with an ashen face, “Yes…yes, we’ll stay right here.”
Roped & Tied Page 5
