Dirty South Drug Wars

by Jae Hood

  Lucy was the only one who didn’t speak very much about that ill-fated night. She’d been quiet and withdrawn since meeting Chance once again. She did speak about him, just once. Lucy’d told Josie and me he wasn’t technically a Montgomery.

  Apparently, Graham and Melissa Montgomery, Tanner’s uncle and aunt whom he lived with, took Chance and his twin sister Shelby in to live with them when their parents passed away in a car accident. Their mother was Melissa’s sister.

  After hearing that story my perception of Graham changed, even if just a bit. He was still a Montgomery after all, and possibly my father’s killer. Amos had never elaborated on who he thought murdered my father but always hinted it was Graham.

  How Lucy found out about the Hayeses was beyond me. She was a chronic social media stalker, so maybe that was where she got her information.

  “Oh, dear Lord in heaven,” Josie exclaimed in exasperation.

  I dropped my bag of icing on the counter and wandered to Josie and Lucy. Beside the register on the counter lay a bouquet of fragrant, hand-picked wildflowers tied together with a red garbage bag tie. The bouquet was bursting with yellows, purples, and pinks.

  Lucy and Josie were holding a scrap of paper in their hands. Their heads were pressed together as they leaned over reading the note. Without making a sound, I reached out and snatched the note.

  “‘Roses are red, violets are blue, you lied about who you are, but I’d still bone you. Love, Bryce,’” I read aloud, snorting at the end. “Where did you get these?”

  “Some kid brought them in. He said some guy paid him to deliver them to me. You see what I have to deal with?” Josie huffed, grabbing the note from between my fingers. “An idiot. A deranged lunatic.”

  Josie pretended to be irritated by Bryce’s idiocy, but she failed to hide her smile. Very carefully, she folded the note into quarters and slid it in the back pocket of her frayed blue-jean shorts. I found an old mason jar in the kitchen and filled it with water. Josie begrudgingly placed the flowers in the jar and sat the bouquet in the room near the wedding cake we were working on. Wildflowers and buttercream icing scented the room and were a surprisingly wonderful duet.

  “Who’s Bryce?” Lucy dragged a stool beside us and plopped down.

  I said nothing as I decorated the cake, but I couldn’t hold back the frequent bursts of laughter that escaped my lips as I thought about that note. Was Bryce Montgomery really as goofy as Josie thought, or was it all just part of his silly charm?

  “He’s a Montgomery, that’s who.” Josie used a bag of icing to place a row of shells along the bottom tier of her cake.

  “Josie.” I shot Lucy a nervous look.

  “Oh, come on, Rue. We might as well tell her. Everything’s gone to hell in a handbasket anyway,” Josie said.

  “Tell me. I swear I’ll keep it a secret.” Lucy crossed her heart with her forefinger. Then she clasped her hands together in a gesture of plea while giving Josie those big, sad eyes.

  I was thankful our grandmother had taken the rest of the day off to cook for our monthly family gathering. If she heard the things Josie and I told Lucy she’d probably have fainted. We took turns talking about the night we met Tanner and Bryce at the party with Lucy listening in rapt attention. When we finished our tale, she took a deep breath and slumped on the steel counter by her side.

  “It’s like Romeo and Juliet,” Lucy whispered after a lengthy pause.

  “Yeah, and we all know how that love story ended,” Josie said.

  “It’s nothing like Romeo and Juliet.” I finished the tier I was working on and set the bag of icing on the counter. “They were careless with their love. Juliet didn’t fight to keep Romeo away. I’m doing what I have to do to keep Tanner away from me because I don’t want him to end up like Romeo. And I most certainly won’t end up like Juliet.”

  “It’s exactly like Romeo and Juliet.” Josie shot me a wicked grin. “They met once and it was love at first sight.”

  “Aw, you love him, don’t you, Rue?” Lucy asked in a snarky tone, studying my shameful face. “You do. You are so in love with Tanner Montgomery. You wanna have little Tanner and Rue babies with him.”

  She cackled, and I gave her a hard punch in the arm. My face reddened, causing an evil grin to spread across hers. I turned the tables on her.

  “What about Mr. Soul Mate?” I smiled as her bemusement faded. “Don’t think I didn’t hear you hollering out his name last night in your sleep.”

  “That was a low blow.”

  “Lucy, you have it made.” Josie groaned. “At least Chance’s not an official Montgomery. Date him all you want!”

  “He may as well be a Montgomery,” Lucy said.

  We stayed later than normal because of the extra work needed on the wedding cake. Nana wasn’t there to lend us a helping hand, so it was twilight before we completed the job. The sky was darkening outside and the small town was quiet as everyone gathered in their homes for suppertime. Little else was said among the three of us. We finished up for the day and officially closed shop.

  Lucy and I stepped outside and came to an abrupt stop. Standing outside the cake shop stood none other than Bryce Montgomery. Lucy stood beside me, frowning at my mouth parted in shock. Her eyes narrowed in on Bryce, who was a stranger to her. He leaned against Josie’s truck with a familiarity he shouldn’t possess. He had a lazy, amused smile on his face.

  Josie locked the shop door behind her. She held a box with a caramel cake I’d baked for our family gathering that night. She turned around, her body going stiff.

  The box slipped from her hands in what seemed like slow motion. The lid popped open mid-air, and the cake smashed to the concrete with the box falling by the wayside. Caramel and yellow cake covered the ground, and I almost whimpered over the loss.

  “I hope that cake wasn’t intended for someone important,” Bryce drawled.

  “Why are you here? This is Main Street, for Christ’s sake! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Are you crazy?” Josie asked, snapping out of her daze.

  “I’m crazy, all right.” Bryce gave her a lopsided smile. “Crazy for you. Did you get my flowers? I picked them myself.”

  “Yes, I got your stinking flowers. You couldn’t afford to buy me some real flowers?”

  “Why, Josie, I’m hurt.” Bryce placed a hand over his heart. “It’s the thought that counts. That gift was from the very depths of my soul.”

  “Get in your car, truck, whatever, and get the hell out of here before someone sees you!” Josie looked down the quiet street, her forehead lined with worry.

  “Darlin’, I’m not ashamed of our love. Why should you be?” Bryce pushed himself off Josie’s truck.

  “Because I don’t wanna end up dumped in the bottom of some lake wrapped up in a tarp.”

  “Baby, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Right. Where were you a few nights ago when your friends freaking kidnapped me?” Josie placed her hands on her hips and glared at Bryce’s casual grin.

  “I was left out of the loop on that one,” Bryce drawled with a smirk. “If I’d been there, I wouldn’t have let you go.”

  “You know, you’re one fry short of a Happy Meal,” she hollered, swinging at him.

  They continued to fuss, and Lucy and I stood there gaping at them like two idiots. Bryce stepped over the ruined cake on the sidewalk. He attempted to pull Josie into his arms, but she resisted. He held Josie’s arms at her sides and placed a desperate kiss on the side of her mouth as she tried to turn her face from side to side.

  “Call the police, Rue.” Josie weakly pushed against Bryce’s chest. “He’s trying to rape me on a public sidewalk!”

  “Should I really call the police?”

  I pulled my cell from my pocket and ran my finger against the smooth surface of the screen. Josie didn’t respond to my question, unless moaning and grunting counted as a response.

  Lucy held a horrified grimace on her face, and I gagged as Josie and Bryce
began making out in front of us. She pulled at Bryce’s auburn locks, and he groaned and palmed her breasts.

  Josie became aggressive and bit his lip, causing a yelp to burst from his mouth. He let out a low curse and pulled her face closer to his, looking as though he were trying to inhale it. The two stumbled on the sidewalk and Bryce’s boot slid in the caramel, sending them both crashing into one giant mess of arms and legs.

  “Bryce’s a love-sick fool, huh?” a familiar, smooth voice said.

  Sucking in a deep breath, I turned around. There he stood, snatching my cell from my fingers, a cocky grin on his face and a white baseball cap with a frayed bill on his head. There were dark shadows below his eyes, indicating he also may have had several sleepless nights. His stance was casual as though standing in the middle of Mayhaw next to his family’s archenemy was natural.

  “What are you doing?” I asked when his fingers flew over the screen of my phone.

  Tanner didn’t respond. A moment later his own phone rang in the pocket of his worn jeans.

  “You know, I lay in bed all night wondering what ringtone to use for when you call me,” he said.

  He held my phone up in front of him and took a snapshot of his grinning face. He held out the phone, and I snatched it from his hand with a huff.

  “I think I’ll use ‘Perfect Storm.’ What do you think?” He tugged the cap lower on his forehead, hiding his face from a passing car.

  I opened my mouth to argue but didn’t get a word out before he removed his own cell and snapped a photo of my stunned face. Tanner laughed at the screen and shook his head. My face burned when I heard Brad Paisley singing as Tanner programmed my ringtone.

  “What do I think? I think you’re as insane as these idiots.” I jerked my thumb in the direction of the two horny teenagers still making out behind me.

  “Insane? Possibly.” Smirking, he slid his phone back into his pocket. “But I prefer the term ‘persistent.’ The Montgomerys have always been persistent when we want something.”

  “And the Monroes are pretty stubborn when we don’t want something.” I gulped when he grinned and stepped forward.

  “You keep pushing and I’ll keep pulling.”

  “Back off.” Lucy wedged herself between the two of us. “Leave my sister alone. You and your filthy cousin get out of here before I call the cops.”

  “This is a public street.” Tanner shrugged, ignoring the rage on my sister’s face. “What can they arrest me for?”

  “From what I’ve heard, the last time Buck Bridges caught a Montgomery in Mayhaw, the man couldn’t walk for a year.” Lucy smiled, her lips twisted in a venomous sneer.

  “Yes, I know. That man was my father.”

  Everything grew quiet as Tanner and Lucy stood with matching glares on their faces. I was acutely aware that the panting and moaning behind me ceased. I swallowed the lump in my throat, humiliated that Lucy brought up Tanner’s deceased father in such a manner. Everyone knew Buck had once nearly beaten Tanner Senior to death, although it was never proven.

  “Lucy, I’m ashamed of you,” I told my sister quietly. She turned and gave me a look of pure astonishment. “How would you feel if someone said something like that to you about Daddy?”

  Lucy shook her head in disgust. She removed herself from between Tanner and me. She continued to shake her head as she waited on a couple of slow moving cars to creep down Main Street. Then Lucy stomped to where my Jeep sat next to a very familiar looking black car.

  “Don’t forget how the story ends, Rue,” she called in a sad voice.

  Lucy’s words and the broken and sad expression on her face made my body tremble. A thrill of panic shot through me. Frowning, she opened the door to the Jeep and climbed into the vehicle.

  I was unsure if her words were a simple statement or one of her terrifyingly accurate premonitions. I’d remain too terrified to ask.

  “I’m calling you tonight,” Tanner said.

  “I won’t answer,” I responded, crossing the street toward my vehicle.

  “Then I’ll text.” He followed, wrapping his fingers around my elbow and spinning me around.

  “No means no in all fifty states.” I wrenched my arm from the light grasp of his hand.

  “You’ve still got my father’s gun and I want it back.”

  Part of me had hoped stealing his gun would bring him back to me, although I’d never admit it to anyone. After returning home the night at the train station, I’d hidden it under my mattress.

  “Why should I give it back to you? So you can finish me off?” I snorted.

  Disappointment overshadowed his face. A strange heaviness invaded my chest. He cut his gaze and glanced down the road, pursing his lips.

  Something inside me shifted. “If you text me, I might respond.”

  A slow, dazzling grin replaced his weary, downtrodden expression. He squeezed my arm once before letting go and letting out a loud, impressive whistle. Bryce stopped arguing with Josie, nodding Tanner’s way. Bryce attempted to give Josie one last kiss. She pointed down at the smashed cake smeared over her bare legs below her shorts and then slapped him across the face. He let out a yelp before trotting across the street looking like a wounded dog.

  “You better watch out, cousin,” Bryce joked as he rubbed his sore, red cheek. “These Monroe girls can get a little rough.”

  “Yeah? Well, I like rough.” Tanner smirked at me.

  His words caused excitement and fear to bud in my chest. Tanner gave me one last grin before he and Bryce slid into the car and eased down the street, heading in the direction of Birchwood.

  Shaking my head, I tried to pull myself out of my Tanner-induced stupor. I turned to the Jeep and saw a box of Double Decker Moon Pies sitting on the driver’s seat. I picked the box up and frowned at it in confusion. A small smile spread across my face at the message written in black ink across the box. The scroll was wide and sloppy, all rushed boy.

  “‘For a moon goddess who tastes like candy and smells like cake. Tanner,’” I read aloud.

  “I don’t get it.” Lucy shrugged. “But I want one.”

  “Back off.” I clutched the box of marshmallowy goodness to my chest. “These are all mine.”

  “Whatever.” She waved her hand. “They’re probably laced with cyanide anyway.” She failed to hide the cynical scowl that crossed her delicate features.

  Neither one of us spoke again during the drive to Nana’s house.

  I didn’t mind the silence. My mind was too wrapped up in Tanner and fear. I was terrified of anyone else finding out about us. Tanner and Bryce were reckless with their actions. I wondered if they had made their family aware of their affections for Josie and me.

  Nana’s white, two-story farmhouse loomed in the distance as Lucy and I pulled into the long driveway. My tires splashed through the deep potholes full of muddy water. The sun was dipping beyond the trees behind the house, coating the sky in a brilliant, fiery-orange glow.

  Nana’s driveway was lined with the cars and trucks of our various family members. Some were parked in the front yard and I grumbled knowing the ground was still soft from the recent storm. Nana’s yard would be filled with ruts and upturned grass by the end of the night.

  With her nose turned skyward, Lucy disappeared inside the big house, and I wandered around to the backyard. I sat at one of the three picnic tables scattered in the yard. A rowdy game of horseshoes was taking place. My uncles and male cousins were laughing and hollering at one another. Josie made her way outside and joined them. A large pile of cash lay stacked on the picnic table where I sat as they began placing bets.

  The sight of Amos laughing and tossing horseshoes without a care in the world set me on edge. I was infuriated by the complicated mess he’d unknowingly made of my life. I blamed half of my troubles on my erratic, uncaring mother and the rest on Amos. How could he live with himself knowing he’d murdered a man in cold blood?

  What would happen if I let myself get closer to Tanner? Would
I eventually reveal what Amos had told me so long ago … that it wasn’t my father who’d murdered Tanner Senior, but Amos himself? I couldn’t imagine being in a relationship with someone and keeping a secret like that for very long, even if telling him would ultimately destroy the man I’d come to know as a second father.

  I scrolled through my phone until I found Tanner’s smiling, tired face grinning back at me. I couldn’t hold back the smile that crept across my face. For the first time in my life, I felt as though I truly belonged. Someone wanted me. Tanner wanted me.

  “What’s got you all lit up like the fourth of July?”

  I shoved the phone in my pocket and took a deep breath. Amos stood before me collecting his winnings. He grinned, looking so much like my father that it twisted my heart.

  “Got you a beau, Rue?”

  “Nah.” I shrugged, struggling to slow down my rapidly beating heart.

  Mosquitoes attacked my arms and I swatted them away. The rest of our family had gone inside to fill their plates with Nana’s good, Southern food. The backyard was silent aside from the crickets singing as Amos shoved his billfold in his back pocket.

  Amos stared at me like the snake he was: cold, dark, and unwavering. Eeriness washed over me.

  “Buck Bridges stopped by the job site today.” Amos lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. “He said a bunch of Birchwood kids were down at the old train station a few nights ago causing a ruckus.”

  I said nothing, swallowing the surprised gasp that threatened to escape my lips. Amos pulled his favorite pistol from the back waistband of his jeans and sat it beside me.

  “Yup. He said Levi was called down there. You remember Levi, don’t you? He’s turned into a fine young man. Working at the county Sheriff’s department. Levi told Buck everyone ran like a bunch of scalded dogs before he could find out what happened.”

  I nodded but remained silent. There was no reason for me to speak. I had a feeling Amos knew exactly what went down at the old train station, and maybe he knew Tanner was there looking for me as well.