by Jae Hood
“You know, Ruby,” he said, picking up the gun and sliding his thumb over the safety, “you hear just about everything living in a small town. It’s hard to figure out what’s real and what’s not sometimes.
“You see old Toby over there?” Amos nodded across the yard where the old, red barn stood.
Amos’ old Bluetick hound lounged under a tall, ancient oak tree. The lower branches sagged down close to the earth and swayed in the warm, gentle breeze. Toby’s ears perked up at the sound of his name leaving Amos’ dry, chapped lips, but his head never left the dirt.
Toby had wandered onto Amos’ property many years ago as a young dog. He’d been skittish and preferred to sleep in the old saw mill on the edge of the property. When someone would come near him he’d dart off. Amos slowly built his trust by feeding him every day at the mill. He’d bring the bowl of food closer and closer to his house each day until Toby was comfortable enough to approach the house. Toby had obviously been beaten by his previous owners because when someone raised their arm for any reason the poor dog would immediately hit the ground. Toby learned to love Amos, riding in the bed of his pickup truck wherever he went, including to our family meals.
“There’s no telling how many hundreds or thousands of hours I spent training old Toby to tree coons.” Amos smiled, a nostalgic, far away expression on his face. “He’s been like a best friend to me. Hell, he’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a kid besides you and Lucy. I’ve carried him hunting and fishing throughout the years. But he’s old now. He sleeps a lot and won’t tree a coon for shit.
“A few days ago I noticed he started snapping at the neighbor kids when they got off the bus. He’s turned into a traitor, Ruby. Do you understand? Do you know what happens to traitors?”
“Please don’t,” I whispered.
Amos gave me a menacing grin as he turned, whistled for his trusty sidekick, and cocked the gun. The dog raised his head with his ears still perked. Toby struggled to his feet, limping across the yard. Arthritis had set in over the years and his bones and joints frequently bothered him. He only made it a few steps when Amos pointed the gun and squeezed the trigger.
I screamed as the gun went off in Amos’ hand and the poor dog hit the ground. Tears welled up in my eyes as Toby’s sorrowful howls broke through the stifling heat. Pressing my hand over my mouth, I tried to mute out the choking sobs that threatened to escape as the poor dog didn’t immediately die. Toby’s legs twitched and he moaned as his paws dug into the wet ground, struggling to make his way to his best friend, his master. Even at the brink of death, Toby desired nothing but the love of the man who would eventually kill him.
“He’ll suffer for a while before he dies.” Amos tucked the gun back in the waistband of his pants. “Maybe he’ll spend what little time he has left remembering the fun the two of us had together over the years. Maybe he’ll wonder what he did to deserve his death. Maybe he’ll think about snapping at those kids. Maybe he won’t. It doesn’t matter either way. He’ll eventually die, Ruby. Because that’s what happens to traitors. They die.”
I sat at the picnic table in stunned silence and trembled. Tears streamed down my face. The sound of the gunshot lured my family out the back door and onto the wraparound porch. Wiping the tears from my cheeks, I slid off the bench. Amos watched my every movement. My family gazed at where poor Toby lay dying near the barn. My sister and Josie descended the faded white, wooden steps of the porch and jogged over to us.
“What happened?” Lucy licked her bottom lip. “What happened to Toby?”
“He was used to prove a point,” I muttered, dropping my voice as Amos joined us.
“You’d never betray your family, would you, Lucy?” Amos asked in a kind voice, ruffling my sister’s hair.
“No, sir.”
“That’s a good girl,” Amos cooed as though she were a small child. “Well, don’t just stand there like a knot on a log, Ruby. Let’s get some grub before the boys eat it all up. Brodie! Bury that mutt before he starts to stink.”
“Yes, sir,” Brodie called out from the porch in a bitter voice.
Brodie covered his disturbed expression quickly enough and lumbered away. I followed my uncle onto the porch. I cast one last look over my shoulder as Brodie dragged Toby to the woods lining our grandmother’s property.
I filled my plate with potato salad, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and fried chicken, but I’d long since lost my appetite. I just shoved my food around my plate and avoided the stares Josie, Lucy, Brodie, and Peyton shot my way. There was no way in hell the boys would keep what happened at the train station a secret from our uncles. Had they already told them everything that took place?
As soon as the dishes were clean and the men were gathered around the television watching some alligator hunting show, I discreetly gestured for my cousins to join me outside. Darkness had set in. It was a cloudy night and the moon was invisible in the sky. Not a star twinkled. Death hung heavy in the air.
“Did someone tell him that Tanner was looking for me?”
Brodie, Peyton, Josie, and Lucy all shook their heads slowly and solemnly. I gazed at each one of them, searching for any hint of deceit but found none. My shoulders slumped in relief and I tugged on a long, twisted strand of hair.
“Please, can we keep this to ourselves?”
Peyton gritted his teeth. “Why should we? Why should we protect the Montgomerys? Drew Kingsley said Tanner Montgomery has ‘dishonorable intentions’ with you. If he means what I think he means …”
Neither of them had seen Tanner drag me behind the old train station. For all they knew, Tanner wasn’t ever there the night of the fight. And I wanted to keep it that way.
“Look, Drew is nothing but a troublemaker. What if he was in town just to stir up trouble? Maybe he’s got some vendetta against the Montgomerys. Who knows? Why should we start a war with the Montgomerys over something some asshole said that probably wasn’t the truth to begin with?”
“I don’t know, Rue.” Brodie glanced at the door behind us. “Uncle Amos is a psychopath. If he finds out Tanner Montgomery has some sick obsession with you and we didn’t tell him, he’ll kill us like he killed that damned old dog!”
“Rue’s right.” Josie thrust her chin in the air. “Like Nana says, ‘Least said is the easiest mended.’ I’ll tell Amos that Drew was at the train station running his mouth. I’ll leave out the part about the Montgomerys. Hell, we sort of owe them, don’t we? They’ve had the past two years to come over here and infringe on our family’s stupid drug business, but they haven’t!”
“Fine.” Brodie pointed his finger in Josie’s defiant face. “You spin whatever tale you want, but let me make one thing clear. I don’t owe the Montgomerys a damn thing, and if I find out y’all are messing around with them, I swear you’ll regret it for the rest of your lives. Do y’all hear me?”
We all nodded solemnly. Josie hatched a story to feed Amos in case he brought up the night of the fight once more. Brodie and Peyton griped and complained about lying to our family.
When the details of the lie were hashed out, the boys walked inside. Josie and Lucy stood on the rickety porch burning holes in my head with their stern stares.
“What?” I huffed, frowning at them.
“This is too much, Rue,” Josie said in a firm voice. “We can’t keep secrets from Brodie and Peyton forever. Avoid Tanner. Okay? And I’ll avoid Bryce.”
“Fine,” I said.
Lucy and Josie entered the house, leaving me alone, anxious, and worried. As I grabbed the door behind them, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. No one was around, so I shut the door and removed the phone from my pocket. The message that flashed across the screen warmed my traitorous heart.
I want to see you.
When?
Tonight. Alone.
Alone? How can I trust you?
The only way to learn trust is to offer it.
The consequence of broken trust between our families is death.
> Barely a second passed before he responded.
You’re worth the risk.
I felt dizzy. When I was a small child, I’d stare up at the blue sky and spin in circles over and over. I’d fall in the deep, green grass with my head happily swimming, feeling giddy, alive, and free. Although I hadn’t felt that much freedom since I was a small girl, I felt it at that moment. It was exactly how Tanner’s text made me feel. But my heartfelt devotion to him was fool’s logic. Protecting myself, which in essence meant protecting my sister, stood out in the forefront of my mind. With a laden heart, I texted him one last time.
Save your gifts and poetic notions for someone else. Stay away from Mayhaw.
After several heart-churning seconds, the bright screen faded to black, and I slipped the phone inside my pocket. Only later, when I’d stepped back inside Nana’s house, did he text me one last time.
Can’t stay away. I never really left.
Chapter 9
“What does he mean, I never really left?” Lucy asked. Drumming her fingernails on her bare leg, she laid her head on the headrest of my Jeep as I drove us home. Auburn wisps of hair danced around her face and clung to one corner of her mouth, but she made no move to push them aside.
“I don’t know,” I responded. “I texted him back and asked him, but he hasn’t replied.”
I half expected Tanner’s restored Mustang to be idling in the driveway as I pulled in, but the busted concrete drive was bare of any vehicles. Mutual relief and disappointment cut through my system, leaving my mind in a jumbled mess of conflict.
“You shoulda been more firm,” Lucy said, “and not stared at him the way you did.”
“Stared at him like what?”
Lucy grabbed the door handle, pausing before popping it open. “Like you’d lost all your pride.”
The slam of the door behind her shook me from the dumbfounded state her words had caused. What she said was the truth. Whenever Tanner was around I found myself in a graceless state, the strength I’d always been proud to carry around nonexistent. And I hated it. I hated the weakness in my knees, the yearning inside my chest, the desire to forget all the deaths and betrayal and heartache his family brought onto mine.
And I craved it.
I craved the unrepentant attention in the burning torch he claimed to carry for me, the swell of my sputtering heart, the dampness of my palms, the twist of my stomach whenever he smiled.
“You’re a fool, Rue,” I muttered to myself. “Don’t you see it’s all an act? He’ll be the one laughing, and you, you’ll be left dead on the stage.”
Thumping my forehead against the steering wheel, I groaned and wondered, Would I be the next Monroe to die, or maybe Josie? Lucy …
Troubled by my thoughts, I climbed out of the Jeep and wrapped my arms around my torso. The temperature had dropped, bringing an odd coolness to the air. Storm clouds snuffed out the half-moon perched overhead. I rushed forward, a strange current of foreboding creeping into my system.
Staring down at my cell, I read Tanner’s words over and over until my eyes were a blurry, painful mess. Before ducking into the shower, I found myself standing on the balcony peering up the dark, winding drive, finding nothing out of the ordinary.
Hot water cascaded from the showerhead, working the tension from my muscles. Wishing it also washed the anxiety from my mind, I turned off the water. Coolness filled the bathroom as the air unit kicked on. I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me, still attempting to shake the nerves from my bones. Only one thing will relax me, I thought, forcing what little of a smile I could muster and grabbing my one-hitter.
With trembling fingers, I lit the pipe, inhaling the potent weed I’d begged off Peyton a couple weeks ago.
“Got this off a guy from Oxford,” he’d said. “Thirty-seven percent THC.”
“There’s no such thing as that much THC in a strain. Maybe twenty-four or twenty-five. Thirty-seven is unheard of.”
“Whatever you wanna believe, cuz,” Peyton had said. “This guy knows how to grow weed. Works on the weed farm on the Ole Miss campus. He’s a weed expert.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you’re supposed to tell me that.” I had laughed, smirking at his free-flowing smile.
“Meh, I trust you, Ruby Red.” Peyton had picked at a small, red bump on his face. His cheeks were hollowing out, sallow. “We’re family. And if you ever wanna try something stronger … I’ve got some stuff that will take you to another galaxy, but it’s not weed. Weed is kids’ stuff, a thing of the past.”
“Rue.” Lucy banged on the door, rattling it on its hinges.
Leaning against the wall, I sank to the floor, my towel untucking itself from between my breasts. “Go away, I’m tired.” Fingering the clumps of hair drying on my head, I took a deep breath, feeling as though the room were distorted, warped, collapsing, and sucking into my lungs. Peyton’s weed was much stronger than I’d allowed myself to believe. I blew out a breath and curled in a ball on the floor, the air pricking my naked skin. The bare floor felt nice against my face. I stared at the slit of light shining from the hallway under the door. Lucy’s feet were two dark shadows, shifting with each bang against the heavy wood.
“Are you smoking without me? God, I hate you. Unbelievable. Olivia’s picking me up. I’m out.” Grumbling, she padded away, slamming a door behind her.
I stared at the untroubled light until my lids were heavy and the spinning floor beneath me melted away. The one-hitter slipped from my fingers. I was a whirling mess of frizzy hair, damp skin, and thoughts of him. I fell asleep on the bedroom floor, too numb to crawl to my bed.
Something startled me awake later in the night. Invisible hands of alarm grasped my shoulders, shaking me alive. Sitting up, I noticed I was alone and still naked, my face and body sore from passing out on the floor. Through weed-laced eyes, I found the ribbon Tanner had given me years ago hanging from the open drawer of my desk, dancing in the air blowing from the ceiling vent. Standing on wobbly legs, I shook my head, gathering my bearings. The thin tank top and boxers I sometimes wore to bed sat atop my desk in a wad of wrinkled cotton. I threw them on and tied up my hair with the ribbon. My fingers jerked at the silk when patterns of light danced across my bedroom wall.
The growling of an engine ripped its way up my drive. The lights cut out, leaving nothing but the familiar whine of a car trembling outside. Seconds later, the night air was still, dead, aside from the croak of frogs and the chorus of crickets. I pressed myself against the wall, fumbling feet traveling the floor and sweaty palms flat against the glass balcony doors.
“Please God,” I begged, uncertain of what I was begging for—an absence of death, a brand new life. Both seemed probable.
The door fogged up with each breath and I wiped it away, desperate not to lose sight of his car. Tinted windows hid him from the outside world, but I could feel him, the same way I’d felt his presence the night at the train station.
Completely dishonorable intentions.
You keep pushing and I’ll keep pulling.
A soft glow of light and the shrill ring of my cell caused me to lose my footing and stumble across the room, half-blind from my earlier activities. Dragging in a deep breath, I silently answered the phone. Returning to the glass doors, I stared into the darkness.
“Rue? I know you’re there. I hear you breathing.” A dark chuckle and the creak of a door sounded. His interior light didn’t turn on as he swung the door open and stood, his lanky body outlined by the moonlight overhead. “Come outside.”
“No way. Why are you here? How did you find my house?” My incisors sank into my bottom lip with each step he took toward the house until the porch light cast a warm glow over his body. I found the handle to the door and pulled it to the side, cringing at the sound of metal dragging against metal.
“You know why I’m here.” His voice was low, quiet, heartbreaking in its plea. “Come downstairs and talk to me.”
I dragged my free hand across the metal
railing, collecting the late night dew on my fingertips. Truth was, Tanner frightened me, but for a Monroe to admit fear of a Montgomery was the worst kind of failure.
“You’re bold, Tanner Montgomery, showing up here in the middle of the night. Either you’re really brave or really stupid. How do you know I haven’t already called the cops?”
Tanner snorted. “Because if you’d called the cops they’d be here by now.” He raised his eyebrows in sureness, a wicked smirk on his lips. “Besides, what are they gonna do, arrest me?”
“Maybe.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Tanner shrugged, the confident smile on his face untouched.
“Sounds like you don’t mind being locked up in a cell with other men.” I tried to fight the smile threatening to erupt on my face, but I couldn’t hold back. “Perhaps I misunderstood Drew’s dishonorable intentions comment.”
Tanner’s eyebrows puckered together in confusion. “Dishonorable intentions?”
“Mmm. He said your intentions with me are completely dishonorable, but have nothing to do with hurting me.”
Tanner’s sinful grin returned, flipping my stomach and doing silly things inside my chest. “Guess I haven’t kept my affections hidden very well, have I?”
“He could be lying, of course.” I tilted my head, studying the curve of his face, the coarseness of the shadow running along his jaw.
“You still think I wanna hurt you?” Tanner stepped closer to the porch, the toe of his boots hitting the bottom step.
“Maybe,” I whispered. “And why wouldn’t you? Your family has been hurting mine for years.”
“And vice versa.” A deep sigh resounded through the phone. I leaned over the rail as he sat on the porch steps, his shoulders slumped. “I didn’t come here to argue over the past. I came to talk about the future. All I’m asking for is a chance to prove myself to you.”
I propped my elbows on the railing. He made me feverish, that boy. My skin was hot and uncomfortable. The dewy wetness of the metal railing didn’t cool it a bit. “What you’re asking for is impossible.”