The Killing King of Gratis
Page 21
The last few weeks of tension left his body at just that moment. Things seemed like they might become normal again. The children might need more help, maybe some therapy, but only time would tell. Meg was a little quieter than usual, but that might be how any almost fourteen year old girl acts, for all Delroy knew.
Peck, on the other hand, was better than ever. He looked his uncle in the eye when he spoke, and Delroy could swear his voice was lower. When Anna told him Matthew would lose his leg he didn’t cry at all. He got her to take him to the hospital and slept on a second chair that Cozette insisted they bring into the room. When Matthew awoke after the operation, Peck was there. The two talked about the advantages of having one less leg in a cramped duck blind.
Delroy was worried about Terrence, but maybe things would work out there, too. Cozette was hard on Delroy about Althea, but she knew it wasn’t the child’s fault. Terrence trailed behind Cozette like a puppy when she came home from the store every day during that summer. She found that she enjoyed being a mother, even if she wouldn’t admit it. Amy got the juvenile judge to enter an emergency order granting Terrence’s temporary custody to Cozette. Delroy hoped it would grow into something more than temporary. He owed Terrence and he knew he always would. He was, after all, the boy’s attorney for life.
For now, though, Amy was motoring north and the roadway was starting to roll through the Georgia pines.
“Where are we going Amy? You gonna fill me in, or you gonna make me keep guessing?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Delroy?” Amy glanced at him. “I made sure your neighbor topped off the tank on the Lola. We’re going to have a nice dinner tonight at Crooked Creek. You’ve earned a little time away. Anyway, you and me, we have some unfinished business, yes we do. I believe you owe me at least one breakfast in bed, maybe a few.” She laughed and turned up the radio. “Statesboro Blues” wailed into the gathering dusk.
The Chevelle growled as they made their way north. Normal, he thought, things might get to be way better than normal. Things might just get to be all together pleasant around here. Delroy couldn’t stop smiling at the very notion. Hell, he wouldn’t if he could.
About the Author
Jay Jackson is a practicing attorney who lives with his wife and children in Atlanta, Georgia. He learns something new from them, and their two dogs, everyday.