by Ed Robinson
“Woohoo,” I exclaimed. “You shoulda seen the look on your face.”
“Fuck you, Breeze,” Banner said. “I oughta beat the snot out of you.”
“I was just having a little fun,” I said. “No harm done.”
“Except for Cody’s pride,” said Zane. “How’d you let him sneak up on you like that?”
“I didn’t figure my friends would do such a thing,” Banner said.
“Don’t let your feelings get all hurt,” I said. “Go ahead and beat the snot out of me if you want to.”
“Come on now,” said Rob. “Let’s all get another beer.”
Banner gave me a death stare as we walked back to the fire pit. Jake tossed me a beer and gave me a nod of approval for putting Banner in his place.
“That was a bullshit move, Breeze,” Banner said. “Don’t pull nothing like that again.”
“At least I let you take your leak first,” I said. “Otherwise you’d have pissed your pants.”
Jake, Rob, and Zane howled with laughter at Banner’s expense. I gathered they weren’t used to anyone challenging the big dog, but they liked it. My mission for the night was accomplished. I had two more beers and managed to sneak off without saying goodbye. I’d exhibited some skills that should worry Banner. I’d certainly gotten under his skin.
Back at the cabin Brody and I made sure we were locked up tight. We loaded both rifles and both handguns and kept them at the ready. I didn’t think Banner would try anything that night. He’d been drinking hard and suffered one humiliation already, but we decided to be prepared just in case. We’d stay prepared until this thing was over.
We heard several shots throughout the next day. Banner and his boys were taking deer, bucks or not. Later that afternoon Jake, Rob, and Zane pulled down the drive. They had three nice does in the bed of a truck.
“At least we got some meat to take home to our wives,” said Jake.
“Where’s Banner?” I asked.
“He’s hanging up the buck he got today,” he said. “Not as big as yours but a nice one.”
“Sounds like everyone had a good day,” I said.
Brody came out to exchange pleasantries with the boys. The last time they’d seen her, she was in hunting clothes and smattered with blood. This time she looked quite nice. Banner’s friends were eyeing her like a shiny new pickup.
“Sorry to intrude, ma’am,” said Jake. “We just stopped by to show off the fruits of our labors.”
“Any time, fellows,” she said politely.
“Mind if we drink a few beers?” he asked.
“Not as long as I can have one too,” she said.
We were all standing around the tailgate drinking beer and swapping stories when Banner pulled down the drive. Zane tossed him a beer as soon as he got out of his truck.
“Heard you got a nice buck,” I said.
“I think these three shooting up the hillside drove him out of hiding,” he said. “Cold weather coming next week will get more of them moving.”
“We’ll be up there trying to get Brody a shot,” I said. “Wear your orange, in case one of us gets trigger happy.”
The veins in Banner’s temples bulged and his face got red. I saw him clenching his fists at his side. He took a step towards me and pointed a finger in my face. He was trying to provoke me to throw a punch, but I didn’t take the bait. I did not want to fight the man face to face. My prospects weren’t good in a fair fight.
“I won’t be challenged on my own damn mountain,” he said. “Who do you think you are?”
“I own a good part of this mountain,” I said. “My granddaddy didn’t buy it for me either.”
“Okay asshole, but I’m drawing the line,” he said. “Don’t step foot off of your own land. Don’t track a deer onto my property or you’ll pay the price.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked. “Shoot me?”
“Go up into no man’s land at your own risk too,” he said. “I ain’t playing around with you anymore.”
“You’ve got no say over land that isn’t yours,” I said. “If I need to go up there, I will.”
“You’ll be making a big mistake,” he said.
“Come on now, guys. Take it easy,” said Jake. “The mountain is big enough for both of you.”
“Breeze has just as much right as we do up above the ridge,” said Rob.
“Shut up,” Banner said, practically spitting. “Go on home. Take your meat and get out of here.”
“This is our place,” Brody said. “You men are welcome to stay as long as you want.”
“I think we’ll be getting along,” said Jake. “You can’t talk to him when he gets like this.”
“Thanks for the beer,” she said. “Don’t be strangers.”
The three of them piled into the truck, taking one more beer for the road. Banner did the same. Both trucks drove up the lane towards the blacktop road.
“That was rather unpleasant,” Brody said. “You did a fine job of kicking the hornet’s nest.”
“You heard them,” I said. “You can’t talk to him when he gets like that. His temper gets the best of him. That’s when he gets into trouble. He’ll make a mistake. Do something stupid.”
“I thought he was about to kick the crap out of you,” she said.
“If we were at his place he probably would have,” I said. “But I’ve been showing him that I’m not afraid of him, and this is my home turf.”
“Toxic masculinity,” she said. “I’ll need to wash off all the testosterone.”
“He’d walk all over me if I let him,” I said. “You too. You see how the others defer to him.”
“He’s been the big dog around here for a long time,” she said. “You know what they say. If you challenge the leader of the pack you better win.”
“We need to stay on our toes,” I said. “Be ready for anything.”
“You still want to keep hunting?”
“If we don’t go up there he’ll know we’re cowards,” I said.
“One might call it good judgement,” she replied. “Better part of valor and all that.”
“One might,” I said. “But I’m not. I won’t back down now.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I don’t think his buddies will be back anytime soon,” I said. “He’ll be up there alone.”
“We can’t just track him down and kill him,” she said.
“We can give him the opportunity to lose his cool,” I said. “Tempt him into a tantrum. Use his anger against him.”
“How exactly?”
“I’ll know when I see it,” I said. “One false move will give me justification.”
“Justified,” she said. “That’s what we used to call a righteous shooting.”
“To justify is to declare righteous, to make one right with God,” I said. “Don’t remember which chapter and verse that came from.”
“Did you just quote scripture?” she asked.
“Best I could remember,” I said. “It’s been a long time since I went to church.”
“I’m not sure killing Banner is something God would approve of,” she said.
“Pop Sutton would approve,” I said. “That will have to be good enough.”
Sixteen
We rebuilt the deer stand below the plateau on Sunday. It was a lot of work just hiking up there and back. I thought we could hunker down in Pop’s cave some nights to save us the trip, but Brody didn’t like the idea one bit.
“We’ve got a nice cabin with all the comforts,” she said. “It would be silly to sleep in the woods.”
“Have it your way,” I said. “Just trying to save you some effort.”
“I’m getting much better at this shit,” she said. “I’ll hike back down gladly.”
Both of us had gotten better at climbing. Our legs had strengthened considerably. We went up the mountain several days a week, trying to get Brody a buck. We didn’t need the meat bad enough to kill a doe. The grocery s
tore was only four miles away. The momma and her two yearlings had come back down the mountain and were feasting beneath our apple trees daily. If we were desperate for food, we could have shot them from the porch.
I tried to work with Brody on the ability to heighten her senses while in the woods. She’d always been aware, as a product of her training, but that something extra that I possessed eluded her. I think my time around Pop had made the difference. She’d never gotten to meet the mysterious mountain man. I was a total greenhorn when I stumbled onto him. He’d snuck up on me like it was child’s play. I was embarrassed by how easily he’d bettered me in the woods, but it made me determined to learn his craft. Teaching it to Brody proved to be more of a challenge.
Soon it would be time to harvest the weed, and I didn’t have any ideas on what to do about it. Banner was constantly on the mountain. He could cut them down and haul them out at any time. His friends didn’t seem to know about them. Would he recruit them to help with the harvest? If I confronted the four of them, would they side with Banner? I was running out of time on that front.
I thought about harvesting the plants out from under him, just for spite. But what would I do with the crop? I didn’t know anyone to sell it to. I didn’t have those types of connections in North Carolina. It would, however, give me some satisfaction if I could keep it away from Banner. Once upon a time, I’d happened upon a good supply of dope down in Florida. I’d been able to donate it to a veteran’s group that used it to treat chronic pain and PTSD. I could probably still get in touch with them if necessary, but that meant returning to Florida, something I was loathe to do. I brought the issue up with Brody.
“What about the sister?” she asked. “She has the connection. Just tell her to keep all the money this time.”
“That’s brilliant,” I said. “Who is she and how do we get in touch?”
“I don’t think Bowdich wants to help us on this anymore,” she said. “Maybe just ask the Banner Elk PD?”
“I don’t see what harm it will do,” I said. “I’ll tell them I have some of his belongings.”
The police chief told us that Sky Sutton lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of Banner Elk. She made a meager living as an artist, attending all the local festivals and selling her wares out of her house. She had a sign on the door that read “Open when I’m here. Closed when I’m not.” We paid her a visit.
“Sorry to bother you,” I started. “But I’m a friend of your brothers.”
“I doubt my brother had any friends,” she said. “Popcorn Sutton’s daughter is not a tourist attraction.”
I had to put my foot in the door to keep her from closing it.
“I’m hardly a tourist,” I said. “I knew your brother well.”
Brody handed her the plastic tote with Pop’s books in it, minus his journal.
“We know where he lived,” I said. “And what he did for a living.”
“Who are you?” she asked. “And what do you want from me?”
“My name is Breeze,” I said. “This is Brody. We live up on McGuire Mountain.”
“How do you know my brother?”
“I was hiking up above our property when he stuck a gun to my head,” I said. “I accidentally stumbled upon his enterprise up there.”
“What’s that got to do with me?” she asked.
“It’s about time to harvest his crop,” I said. “We thought you may be interested.”
“In what?” she asked. “Taking it to market for you? Pop’s long dead.”
“We want you to have it,” Brody said. “We don’t have any way to get rid of it. Be a shame to let it go to waste.”
“What do you mean, you want me to have it?”
“We’ll cut it down, and bag it up so you can come get it,” I said. “You sell it and keep all the proceeds.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Can we come in?” I asked. “There’s more to tell you.”
She let us enter and offered us a seat. She obviously didn’t trust us, and I couldn’t blame her. Brody tried to reassure her that we meant no harm.
“We are here to offer you help,” she said. “Maybe in more ways than one.”
“Why you want to help me?”
“We know who killed your brother,” Brody said. “We plan to settle that score. Meanwhile, we have this crop that we want to keep away from his killer.”
“Back up just a damn minute,” she said. “If you know who killed him, why haven’t you told the authorities?”
“We have,” I said. “We’ve beaten our heads against a wall trying to get them to do something.”
“It’s Cody Banner, isn’t it?” she said. “That boy ain’t never been right in the head. I told my brother to watch out for him, but he didn’t pay me any mind. He picked the wrong mountain to grow his weed on.”
“Your intuition was right,” Brody said. “We bought a place up there. Now we’re going to take care of Banner.”
“But first we want to get that pot to you,” I said. “Before Banner can harvest it.”
“Don’t know that I want to be a part of crossing Cody Banner,” she said. “My life is more valuable than a few grand worth of weed.”
“If things work out right,” I said. “Banner won’t be a problem for you.”
“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts,” she said. “We’d all have a merry Christmas.”
“I understand,” I said. “You don’t know us, but we’re capable and we’re trying to help you.”
“Is your grandfather the grand poobah of western North Carolina?” she asked. “Is your daddy the godfather of Banner Elk?”
“We think our connections at the FBI will come in handy if necessary,” I said. “If you don’t want the dope then we’ll burn it in the backyard.”
“Let’s not get hasty,” she said. “You really think you can pull this off?”
“Wouldn’t come here if we didn’t,” I said.
“Banner won’t be looking for me?”
“No, he won’t,” I said. “You won’t have any trouble. Make your deal and keep the money.”
“Well this is an odd turn of events,” she said. “Me and Marvin were never really close. Neither one of us was close to daddy, but I saw my brother in a dream just last night. He was holding out his hand to me, but I was afraid to take it. I dismissed it until just now.”
“You’re the only one that should benefit from Pop’s crop,” I told her. “It doesn’t belong to Banner.”
“Long as you can assure my safety,” she said. “You call me when you got it bagged and ready to pick up.”
She handed Brody a business card for Sky’s Creations. We thanked her for her time and left.
“How are we going to get the weed down the mountain without Banner knowing about it?” Brody asked.
“Do it while he’s at work,” I said. “We know where he lives and what he drives. He can’t stay up here hunting forever.”
“What if he cuts it down before we get to it?”
“Then we take it from him,” I said. “By whatever means necessary.”
“Between the hunting rights and the weed, there’s bound to be a confrontation somewhere along the line,” she said. “That’s what you’re trying to set up.”
“If he forces my hand, I won’t pass up the opportunity.”
“It’s a dangerous game,” she said.
“You still in?”
“Can’t quit now.”
We stalked the mountain every day, using Brody’s buck quest as our excuse. Once she got settled in a stand I ventured off to track Banner’s movements. If I didn’t hear him or otherwise sense his presence I spied on his hunting shack. If the truck was there then so was he. He didn’t know that I was keeping an eye on him. I moved like smoke, undetected through the forest. I heard him whether he coughed, sneezed or farted. I was the mist in the trees, a shadow behind a rock.
I checked on the pot plants almost daily, without leaving a trace. They w
ere full of thick buds and ready to harvest. A cold front was on its way. They needed to be cut down before the first frost, but we couldn’t risk taking them with Banner still around. We hadn’t seen anything bigger than a button buck, but the does were plentiful. I debated whether or not Brody should go ahead and take a big female. Any reasonable hunter would want some meat in exchange for all that time on the mountain.
Banner was staying well away from our hunting grounds. He’d taken several does and dragged them back to his shack. The meat was more important to him than it was to us. When he was stalking a deer, he moved quietly or remained perfectly still, but he was loud and easy to tail when he carried his kill back down the mountain. I’d been all over his property in order to keep track of his movements. If he was aware of my presence, he didn’t let on.
Several times I lined him up in my scope. I put the crosshairs on his chest and wondered if I could pull the trigger when the time came. It didn’t feel right. He didn’t deserve to live, but playing sniper gave me pause. I’d had to summon the will to kill that big buck. How was I going to shoot a man? I shook it off and continued my surveillance. I kept telling myself what a piece of shit this man was. I kept reminding myself that he’d killed my friend. I played an imaginary video of Pop going down after being shot, Banner, standing over his dead body afterward. I convinced myself that Brody and I had done everything within our power to get the police involved. As I watched him through the scope, I couldn’t rightfully say whether I could pull the trigger or not. I’d decide when the moment of truth arrived.
I lowered the rifle and snuck back to meet Brody. A quick whistle let her know it was me. She acknowledged me with a nod. We met below her stand and spoke in whispers.
“No movement on the farm,” she said. “Nothing but small does on the paths.”
“Banner’s skinning deer and drinking beer,” I said. “I expect he’ll leave soon to take his meat home or to a butcher.”
“Are we ready to move on the crop?”
“We need bags and the machete,” I said. “We’ll have to work quickly once we start.”
“Let’s get ready in case he leaves tonight.”