Dirty South Drug Wars

by Jae Hood

  “Because, Rue, that’s how things work around here. I’ll keep your secret, but my silence comes with a price. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to collect.”

  Levi shoved himself away, forcing my belly against the front of the Jeep. Panic ensnared my chest. I sucked in a deep, shaky breath and turned around, removing my burning skin from the Jeep. Levi strolled away without a second look in my direction.

  He passed Josie, shoving his gun back in place and nodding at her as he went. One broad shoulder bumped her thin one. Josie stumbled from the force of the blow. Levi slid his shades down over his nose and chuckled as Josie cursed his retreating figure.

  Levi slid into the car and made a U-turn in the middle of the highway, tossing us a grin and a cocky wave while easing down the road. We all stood, rooted in place, until his taillights disappeared over a hill.

  “What just happened?” Lucy asked. “What did he say to you, Rue? What’s going on?”

  “Just … get in the Jeep.” I retrieved my flip-flops and shoved my feet inside. “I’ll tell you on our way to the beach.”

  “On our way to the beach?” Josie threw her hands up in exasperation. “We’re not going to the beach! Not after what just happened! Levi Bridges just manhandled you and pointed a gun at my face. You think we’re gonna carry on like that didn’t just go down?”

  “Yes.” I climbed into the Jeep and slammed the door. “That’s exactly what we’re gonna do. Get in here and I’ll explain everything, okay?”

  Josie and Lucy exchanged anxious glances. Josie grumbled and complained, but she hopped into the backseat. Lucy gnawed on an acrylic nail as she sat beside me. I pulled the Jeep back onto the highway. The three of us were silent. I should have called Tanner once Levi was safely away from my Jeep. I should have called him and told him everything that happened, but I was numb. There wasn’t a time in my life I’d felt so utterly violated, dirty, and ashamed.

  I must have been in some state of shock. The depth of what happened didn’t sink in for about ten more miles. Then it hit me; it hit me like a hurricane, leaving nothing but nausea, rage, and fear in its wake. Josie noticed my panicked breaths, heaving chest, and fingers trembling on the steering wheel. She demanded I pull over, and for once I agreed with her.

  “Lucy, backseat,” Josie said. “And, you”—she pointed a finger at my face—“get in the passenger seat. I’m driving. You’re gonna start talking.”

  I gave a shaky nod. Lucy slid in the backseat and I took her place. Josie jerked the Jeep from the side of the road, slinging gravel along the way.

  “Start talking,” Josie demanded as the hill we climbed took a sudden dip, carrying my stomach along with it.

  “Okay, okay.”

  I told them everything. I explained how I never kept my promise to stay away from Tanner. I revealed my night at the Montgomery household, the family dinner, and Graham’s accusation of my father’s murderer. Once I started talking I couldn’t seem to quit. I mentioned the pleasantness of Melissa’s voice, Tanner’s college acceptance letters. The only thing I held back was the fact that Tanner and the boys were waiting for us somewhere at that blasted lake. I babbled away for the next several miles until Josie interrupted me.

  “You’ve been sneaking around behind our backs?” she asked with an incredulous stare. “Thinking with your vagina instead of using your brain?”

  “Josie.” I threw my hands up in frustration as she hit the turn signal. “I just told you Uncle Amos more than likely murdered my dad, and you’re talking about my vagina?”

  “What do you expect from me, Rue? Shock and awe?” Josie scowled, pulling onto an asphalt road, passing a wooden sign announcing the lake lay two miles ahead. “We all know Uncle Amos is a psychopath. So excuse me for not being surprised to find out our murderous uncle is, well, a murderer.”

  Josie was right, I supposed. Rumors of Amos’ involvement in disappearances and homicides drifted in and out of the mouths of gossiping Southerners like dry, cracked leaves fluttering in the wind.

  Lucy was quiet, and I turned in my seat just as we pulled on the off-road leading to the lake. Lucy held a blank expression, from what little I could tell behind the large sunshades perched upon her teeny nose. I snapped my fingers and called her name a couple times, but she never flinched.

  Snatching the shades from her face, I shook my head at her dilated pupils. They were so huge they made her eyes look like two big, black marbles. Josie stopped the Jeep as I gazed at my sister in concern. An elderly woman’s voice echoed from inside the small wooden building near the entrance to the lake.

  Momentarily distracted by her voice, I dug six crumpled, slightly sweaty bucks from the pocket of my shorts and handed them to Josie, who threw in her money as well. The lady handed us our receipt to enter the public lake, and Josie stuck it to the inside of the windshield. We veered away from the building and I turned my attention back to Lucy. She still hadn’t moved.

  I clasped my hand on her shoulder, giving her a good shake. “Lucy, what’s wrong with you?”

  Lucy’s head bobbed for a moment. The blankness melted away and was replaced with a huge, goofy grin. Eyes blinking rapidly, she spoke gibberish, snickering and sputtering out incoherent words.

  “Oh, sweet baby Jesus.” Josie shook her head. “Check her shorts, Rue. What you wanna bet she ate that whole bag of weed?”

  I patted my sister down, searching for the baggie full of dank, but found nothing. “Lucy, you didn’t.”

  Lucy giggled while my fingers probed her pockets. The road dipped down to the parking lot and Lucy squealed in childlike wonder. The smell of sand, fish, smuggled beer, and youthful bliss hung thick in the air, but I ignored it. I was transfixed on the tiny pieces of green stuck between my sister’s teeth.

  “She’s fine.” Josie waved her hand at Lucy in a dismissive manner. “You can’t kill that girl.”

  “Hoopy melf?” Lucy asked Josie, coughing. “I mean, who me?”

  Josie cut the engine. “Shut up, Lucy, and get out of the Jeep.”

  Lucy nodded, dug around in her ear with her chipped nail for a moment, retrieved her sunglasses, and shoved them upside down on her face. She wobbled as she stood, and before I could stand to help her, she tumbled backward, landing in a heap on the backseat, giggling profusely.

  “Um, yeah. I think a trip to the hospital is in order,” I said.

  “So she can attack the staff again? You want them asking questions about where your mom is? They could call Social Services, you know. Besides,” Josie said, “she didn’t eat enough to harm her. Trust me. I’m a weed expert.”

  Josie pulled two bottles of water from the red cooler on the back of the Jeep. She forced Lucy to slowly drink them both, and we waited for her to come to her senses a bit before Josie and I gathered the cooler, beach bags, and towels. We trekked across the hot asphalt with Lucy stumbling behind us.

  We kicked our shoes off as we stepped onto the sand and headed to our regular spot. I smiled at the children darting across the sand, despite Levi putting a damper on my day.

  Josie and I spread out three beach towels while Lucy teetered on her feet. Lucy attempted to yank her tank top over her head but got her arms tangled in the shirt. It became wrapped around her face with her arms hanging out above her head.

  “Lucy,” I whispered. “Stop acting so stupid. People are staring.”

  I fought her like a wildcat, yanking the tank from her body. One of her tiny boobs was partially exposed, and Josie snorted as I helped Lucy adjust her top.

  “I thought I was gonna die. I was lost in a sea of darkness.”

  “You’re always lost in a sea of darkness.” Josie snickered, shoving the umbrella deep in the sand near the end of Lucy’s Hello Kitty beach towel.

  “Get in the shade and drink some more water,” I said.

  Lucy waved me away and crawled across the sand on her hands and knees. When she made it to the towel she collapsed, landing on her side underneath the umbrella.

&
nbsp; “Did Uncle Amos really kill Daddy?” she asked.

  I tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “I think so, Sissy. I’m not sure, but I think so. We’re going to find out, okay? I promise.”

  Lucy nodded but said nothing. I dug around in her beach bag until I found the spray-on sunscreen. I sprayed what little of her exposed skin I could reach then demanded she roll over. She groggily complied, and I sprayed the rest of her body.

  Josie shook her head in amusement. She tossed her tank and shorts in her beach bag, revealing her white bikini. “Always looking out for little sis, huh?”

  Instead of responding, I sprayed myself with sunscreen and scanned the beach for any sign of Tanner. Josie coated herself in baby oil and stretched out on her towel, basking in the sun. The minutes crawled by and I grew more and more anxious.

  I watched a volleyball game in the distance absently for a moment until the familiar frame of a lanky guy loomed into view. I probably would have recognized him sooner, but I’d never seen him shirtless, wearing nothing but yellow board shorts.

  The sight of him put a smile on my face. He was handsome with an unruly smile. A tattoo ran the length of his inner right forearm. As the boy grew closer, he slowed his pace. Josie yawned and flopped on her belly, asking me to rub oil on her back.

  Bryce pressed his finger against his grinning lips, pointed to the oil, and pointed to himself. Handing him the bottle, I watched in mischievous glee as he knelt beside my cousin. Josie’s arms were folded across one another and her chin rested against them.

  After fumbling with the top, Bryce drizzled oil along her back. Shooting me one last wicked grin, he began massaging it into her skin.

  “Hot damn, girl.” Josie shuddered. “You need to moisturize those hands. When you finally get the balls to grab Tanner’s junk, I hope you don’t use those cheese-graters to do it with.”

  Bryce snickered, ducking his head at Josie’s words before giving me a knowing smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him like the two-year-old I was.

  Once he composed himself, he ran his hands lower down her back, dipping his thumbs under the edge of her bikini bottom. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing as Josie’s body stiffened. His thumbs drifted a little further south.

  “Uh, Rue, what are you doing?”

  “What’s wrong? You never heard of keeping it in the family?” I struggled to keep the laughter out of my voice. “You know what they say: closer kin, deeper in.”

  “What the …” Josie jerked away from Bryce’s hands, turning over to stare at me. When she saw me smothering my laughter with my hand, she turned farther on her side.

  Bryce grinned back at her instantly furious face, holding his oily hands up in surrender.

  “You son of a …” She pushed herself up off the towel. “How many times do I have to tell you to leave me alone? And stop trying to friend me on Facebook. I’m not your damn friend! And who is that girl standing beside you in your profile picture, anyway? Looks like some random party skank to me.”

  Bryce’s laughter died away with her words. The two of them clambered to their feet.

  “That’s my sister,” he said. “Insult me all you want, but don’t you ever talk about my sister.”

  Lucy snorted, awakening from her drug-induced trance. She began giggling hysterically in a soft, quiet kind of way. Josie glowered and scolded her for being rude.

  Josie gummed her lips at Bryce, looking a bit remorseful. “I’m sorry, okay?” She sounded angry yet regretful at the same time. “I didn’t know it was your sister.”

  Bryce studied her face before giving her a slow, lazy smile. Josie’s brow wrinkled in confusion at his broad, toothy grin.

  He stepped closer, planting his hands on either side of Josie’s waist. “I was just messin’ with you. I don’t even have a sister.”

  “Well, who’s the girl in the picture?” Josie unsuccessfully tried to shove him away. Her hands lingered a bit longer than they should on the lean muscles of his torso.

  “Some random party skank.” He laughed, wincing as Josie composed herself and punched him in the stomach.

  I expected Josie to continue to beat the hell out of him, but she didn’t. She simply turned, knelt down, and dug around in her bag as Bryce stared down at her warily. I didn’t blame him. There was no telling what was in Josie’s bag. My cousin could have a gun in there and it wouldn’t shock me. When she withdrew her fisted hand, there was no gun clutched between her fingers, just a bunch of wrinkled dollar bills.

  “Do y’all want a snow cone?” Josie asked my sister and me.

  Her eyes were hidden behind her shades, but I could almost swear I saw tears in them. Her voice quivered as she spoke. I shook my head. Lucy begged her for a cotton candy-flavored snow cone.

  Josie nodded, stood to her full height, and shrugged off a concerned-looking Bryce who reached out, touching her shoulder. She sauntered across the beach with her head held high.

  A group of shirtless, tan, tatted guys whistled and cat-called as she passed by. Bryce let out a low growl, and I found myself reaching out to stop him as he took a step forward. Josie never turned their way.

  “I keep messin’ everything up,” Bryce grumbled. “All I want is for her to pay me a little attention.”

  “Just be yourself, Bryce,” I said. “Be yourself, but don’t try making her jealous or anything. If you have a crush on a girl, you don’t try friending her on Facebook with a profile pic of you and some random girl at a party. Josie’s a confident person most of the time, but at the end of the day she’s still just a girl. Even the most confident of us feel jabs at our self-esteem from time to time.”

  “You’re right.” He stared across the stretch of beach at the small white building with the giant, brightly-colored snow cones painted across the old, cracked wood. “I should go tell her that the girl in the picture is really just Shelby.”

  He trudged through the sand, scowling at the group of guys who had whistled at Josie. Shaking my head, I jumped at the sound of an incoming text message. I fell to my knees and dug through my beach bag while Lucy quietly snored under the shade of the umbrella.

  Meet me in the woods past the volleyball pit.

  I did a little happy dance. A tiny boy building a sloppy, wet sand castle nearby stared at me dumbly. I ignored his appraising look and nudged my sister who still looked baked from the weed.

  “What?”

  “Are you okay alone for a while?” I felt slightly guilty for abandoning my high little sister. “I’m meeting Tanner by the volleyball area. I’m texting Josie now to let her know where I’m going, okay?”

  “Whatever.” She shoved herself up in a sitting position and yawned.

  Flip-flops in hand, the hot sand burned the soles of my feet but I paid little attention to the pain. I passed the same group of rough-looking guys who’d called out to Josie, who called out to me now as well. As my feet hit the sidewalk running the length of the beach and ending near the volleyball pit, I tossed my flip-flops on the ground and slid my feet into them. I trudged up a steep hill and passed the volleyball net where a game was in full swing.

  The forest awaited me and I happily darted past the tree line. Bracken slipped between my flip-flops and bare feet as I entered the wooded area. The only sounds in the forest were the snap of twigs beneath my feet, the distant laughter and shouting of excited teenagers, and the occasional birdsong. The sensation of being watched washed over me, sending goose bumps along my skin.

  “I know you’re out here,” I said.

  A low, familiar chuckle sounded nearby, and I turned. Stepping past a large, black gum tree, I looked for him but only saw trees. My fingers trailed against the ridged bark as I crept by.

  Suddenly, a pair of warm, strong arms wrapped themselves smooth and sweet around my waist. A short, surprised gasp escaped my lips. Tanner pulled me behind the tree, leaning his back against it with my body pressed fluidly to his. I pretended to pout over his sneak attack, but the lazy grin and hapha
zard, windblown hair did me in. I gave up my pathetic attempt of being angry and lost myself in a sweet kiss.

  “I’ve missed you,” he whispered against my lips.

  A ridiculous, emotional lump formed inside my throat. “I’ve missed you too.”

  Fisting one hand in his white tee and the other in his hair, I drew his head closer, deepening the kiss. Tanner moaned against my mouth, cupping my cheeks in each hand. The kiss became frantic and desperate before slowing down, languid and lazy, teasing and promising, ending sooner than I hoped.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you,” he said, smiling.

  Guilt burrowed inside my chest. The thought of ruining his good mood by bringing up Levi made me breathless. “What is it?”

  Tanner smirked. “Well, it’s more of a surprise for Josie than anyone else, but we’re all gonna benefit from my cousin’s idiocy. Bryce brought his pontoon. He’s convinced he’ll win Josie over with his Party Barge.”

  Thoughts of Levi were momentarily forgotten. I burst into laughter at Bryce’s vain assumption about my cousin. He thought he’d capture Josie’s heart with a floating piece of metal, wood, and green AstroTurf. The funny thing about his idea was that it just might work.

  Tanner’s smirk softened into a thoughtful grin. “I like seeing you smile. And hearing you laugh. I love it when you laugh. Your eyes light up and you have a tiny little dimple that shows.”

  “I don’t have a dimple.”

  He brushed his thumb near the right corner of my mouth. “Yes, you do. It’s small, but it’s there. I love that little dimple. I love everything about you.”

  I kissed him in response, desiring nothing but to tell him I loved him as well. I wanted to tell him so terribly bad, but the words wouldn’t come out of my mouth. They screamed over and over in my brain, but never made it past my lips.

  We stayed in the woods for a while, kissing and touching one another behind that old gum tree. Tanner’s cell vibrated constantly in the deep pocket of his red board shorts.

  “Whoever it is, they’re persistent,” I said.

  Tanner groaned and pulled the cell from his shorts. Bryce’s face lit the screen. He answered with a gruff greeting, his voice going quiet and his body going rigid. Only a few words were spoken. By the end of the conversation, I knew I was in trouble.