“I’ve slipped up and called them both mom or dad once or twice.They’ve been better parents than our own had been.And even though dad never hit us, he made sure we understood that he could if he wanted to.Did you ever hear anything more from the prison?”He said that he’d not and figured that whatever he had with him when he died went with him in the grave.“That’s what I thought too.He was never one to hoard things anyway.I do remember that about him.If it didn’t mean anything to him, he’d toss it out.”
“Yeah, I got that too.”They talked around the table about what was going on in their lives and found out that his brothers were going to be buying a home soon.“The bank told you about two houses that are coming on the market?Well, that’s great.I didn’t know that the bank could do that.”
“They own the houses after foreclosure and can do with them what they want if they want to.”Wylie didn’t know that, but Ara seemed to know a great deal about them.He’d been the one who hadtold him that he’d been calling Alice mom.So he’d done it a couple of times just to test the waters.He didn’t have a problem with it, and neither did she.“I thought about buying one of them, but decided that I’m going to build.I’ve thought about it, and I want to have my own things in my first house.I think I’d enjoy picking out the cabinets too.”
School had started a couple of days ago, and the kids were off the streets now.He’d been seeing less and less of them over the past week.Getting ready, he supposed.But Kinsey had told him that football was starting and that the kids were practicing.He loved that time of year when he’d been a kid.He’d work out a little each day so that he could be in better shape before they started.But he was still huffing and puffing by the time the first time rolled around.That was one of his fondest memories of being a kid was the practice after school.
He had other memories of high school that were fond to him.His grandda and grannie going to every game they played in too.Wylie had been the only one who had been the quarterback because he’d been so tall.The others had played linebacker, and he loved that they were there for him every time he made a play.The Pennington boys had made their mark on the field and off it when they’d been playing.Grannie had made sure that they had plenty to eat, too, so that they’d not fall ill with all the workouts.
They talked about what they were going to be doing in the winter months.That used to be the time when they’d make sure that their equipment lasted for another spring to fall.Also, it would be the time that they’d harvest their garden.For the six of them, it was nice having a garden that they could use to supplement their food bills.
The six of them had joined up when they got out of high school.Kinsey, of course, had been first, and when he got out, he was right behind him in getting out, too.They’d each gotten an education by being in the service, and he knew that it helped their grannie when they’d send her their paycheck when they got it.They all had done something with their education, too.He and Kinsey had both made sure they knew how to take on tasks with the farm, and the others had done the same.Ara had gotten himself a journalist education, and he’d been able to help the farm by working for the local newspaper.He wished his grannie were alive to see how much things had come to fruition for them all.
They talked about her now and again.She was the biggest part of their lives after their mother had been killed.She never said a word about not being able to raise them, being as old as she and grandda had been, but gathered them up after the funeral and welcomed them to the farm.They would work hard for their daily bread, and Grannie always made sure that they had plenty to eat and wear when the time came for them to work the farm for her.Then grandda had died.He’d gotten a cold one fall day and had died the following winter.He’d been sorely missed since then, and he was glad that they’d had them both when they did.
During lunch, Kinsey passed around the seed catalog that he’d gotten in the mail.It was funny to them all to go over it the way that they did when they were struggling.Kinsey would do the final order, but he always asked for their input.It was the way he loved beets as much as he did because one year Kinsey had asked if they wanted anything different, and he’d suggested beets.Every year since then, it had been added to the garden just for him, as the others didn’t care for them.It was memories like that one that made him love his brothers so much.They’d really been together on things that had affected them, and he couldn’t have been happier with them.
After lunch, they decided to go to the meeting.It had started at one, and they were about twenty minutes late.He’d not told them about McGee and Rosie not liking him.He figured that he’d let them decide for themselves.It was unanimous by the time the meeting was over that, first of all, he was going to be the new chief of police, and that no one in his family liked him.
~*~
Rosie didn’t have to stay on and train the new man who was taking her place.She said she’d do it until he decided that he knew all there was to know.He had brought in new men to work for the department, which didn’t surprise her.But it was the way that he talked about layoffs that bothered her.After the second day of not doing anything, she decided that she’d had enough and told him tocall her if he had any questions.He told her that he had it all, and that was fine with her.She was going to go home, put her feet up, and not worry about the department anymore.They’d made their choice, and now they were going to have to live with it.
As she was making her way home with her box of things from her desk, she passed by a couple that she’d not met before.They said they were visiting their town and were into the baskets.She knew that they were famous for being the basket capital of the world, or so she’d been told, but she didn’t know how much of that was going on anymore.There were still shops, but not nearly as many as there used to be when the company was doing well.Wishing them luck, she was putting her things in her car when the man came back to her.
“I’ve heard that there are other baskets being made in town.Do you know anything about them?”She told him how to get to the new basket shop and thought that would be the end of it.“Can’t you just take us there?We’ve been walking all day, and our feet are killing us.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.I have to get home.It’s just down the block.”He seemed pissed off at her and told her that it would be the friendly thing to do.“I’m sorry, but no.I’ve got to get home.”
The slap to her face startled her, and she knew that he’d drawn blood.While she was trying to get her bearings, he opened her car door, putting her box on the ground, and shut the door.Like she was going to take him anywhere after that.Picking up her box of things, she put them in the trunk and made her way into the office again.She was just telling one of the officers what had happened when McGee showed up.
“They hit you?For no reason?”She had to explain how she’d told them that she wasn’t going to take them to the basket shop, and he seemed confused.“It’s not like you have a job or anything.Why didn’t you just take them?”
“Because I’ve got to get home.”He actually rolled his eyes at her, and she pulled out her cell phone.Calling Wylie, she told him what was going on.“So if you could come and get me and take me to the clinic or hospital, I’d like a record of the man hitting me.”
“I’ll be right there.Don’t kill anyone.”She thought that was sound advice if she still had her gun, but it was in her box of things to take home.“I love you, babe.”
Finally convincing the police that she was serious about pressing charges against the man, she was happy when someone went out and got them out of her car.They were bitching and cursing when they’d been brought in, and she couldn’t believe that they were blaming her for not taking them when she had a car right there to do so.People weren’t nice when they were in a touristy town, and she should have remembered that.
She not only pressed charges against the man, Mr.Manner of all things, but she’d also told them that since they’d hit her and taken her car, she wanted to press charges for that as well.McGee went to his office like he didn’t want to be associated with the deed, and she filled out the paperwork herself.The little shit was going to have to learn the laws if he was going to be able to take on this town.
Both of them were arrested, and that didn’t go over well with McGee.He wanted to have a nice, calm town and wasn’t sure why she was upsetting the apple cart so soon after he’d taken over her job.She’d been assaulted, and her car had been confiscated, and she wanted justice.Wylie showed up just as she was being looked at by the medic in town.She was going to the hospital so that there would be a record of what had happened in the event that it went to court.
“I’m going to have to kill that man, you know that, don’t you?”She asked him if he was kidding, and he didn’t even blink at her.“He hit you for no other reason than you told him no.I can’t believe that there are still people like that in the world.He should have been slapped around as well.And then there is McGee.The little shit is on my list now, and I have the power to get him into trouble.You’re well-liked in this town, and people are going to be up in arms about how you were treated.Not just by the Manners but also the chief.”
She had to get three stitches in her cheek and was surprised that they didn’t just tape it together.But they said that it would leave a nasty scar, and she didn’t need that.As soon as she was released, they got them some dinner as it was getting late.She wanted a burger and fries, and he wanted amilkshake.They were at the best little burger place in town when she heard from David.
“I heard that you’d been hurt.I wish you would have called me.”She told him that there hadn’t been any time, as she had been hurt and went to the hospital within an hour.“I still would have liked to have known.Next time, have Wylie call me first thing.I love you like a daughter, and I hate that I couldn’t be there for you when you might have needed me.”
“I’m going home soon.We decided to have some dinner out, and then I’m going home to be pampered.”He said that she deserved it more than most.“Thank you for that.I’m sure that Wylie will give me his best while I’m at home.I’m finished working for the department now, and I couldn’t be happier.”
“I don’t care for the little pisser.He was rude to me when I asked about what had happened to you.He told me that you were making it out to be something more than it was and that he was upset with you.He’s not the one who had to have stitches, so I will take care of him soon enough.”She asked him what he meant, hoping that he wasn’t going to confess to killing him, too.“I have the backing of a great deal of money.When I want something, I get it.And I want this little pisser out of office as of right now.”
“Just don’t do anything that will get you into trouble.You mean a great deal to me, and I’d hate to visit you in prison for something so trivial as me getting a few stitches.”She wondered how he’d found out and decided that she didn’t want to know.With money came power, and David seemed to have a great deal of both.“I’m not going to tell you not to worry because I can tell that you already are, but I’m fine.As soon as I get home, I’m going to really put my feet up and take a nap.I deserve it, I believe.”
“Yes, you do, honey.And if Wylie doesn’t pamper you enough, you know to call me.I’ll be there with a masseuse to do the job.”They both laughed, but she did wonder if he was serious.The man rarely joked about things, and she thought that he wasn’t kidding now.“All right, I’m going to let you go.The next time you want to take on a visitor to our town, give me a call.I’ll make sure he knows that you’re not to be messed with.”
“I will, I promise.”After putting her phone back in her pocket, she enjoyed the rest of her meal.The burger was perfect, and she loved the shoestring fries that she’d gotten to go with it.After taking a few sips of Wylie’s malt, she decided that she couldn’t eat another bite and pushed her plate away.She knew that she’d have to wait until she got home to nap, but she could curl up in the booth they were in and sleep for a month.The stress of the day made her exhausted again.“I’ve been doing so well at not sleeping as much, but today wore me out.First, dealing with the little pisser, and secondly, the Manners.Do you suppose they figured that their name gave them special privileges or something?I wouldn’t put it past them.I bet they’re just loved to pieces in their own town.To imagine that they’d think that was all right with a person to be slapped like they were nothing.”
