by William Bebb
*****
The gunshots first slowed then stopped altogether.
Josey heard the bus engine roaring followed by a distant crash.
Boris was still breathing and Billy looked up at him as he paused to consider his options. He looked at the dog and then again at the boy. Licking his parched lips he nervously peered around for any possible attackers. “Let's just get you back to your grandpa. I know he's plenty worried about you,” Josey said, and looked toward the trailer park's exit, unable to see what was going on and not very hopeful.
“I really thought we'd make it out of here. But then we met that dumb stupid snake. We would've made it too if it hadn't gotten in the way,” Billy muttered, as he trudged along behind the big man.
“For what it’s worth, kid, I think what you tried to do was as brave as it was stupid. So, I guess you've got a lot of guts.”
“Are you mad at me?” Billy asked, looking up at Josey.
Josey stopped in the sparse shade of a tall spindly tree and once more looked around for any sign of trouble.
Everything still seemed quiet as he set the dog down in the prairie grass and leaned back against the tree. Reaching into his coveralls pocket, he pulled out one of the colonel's borrowed cigarettes and lit it. Billy started to speak, but he held up a hand in a stop gesture and smoked in silence for nearly a minute. To the boy, the minute seemed like an hour.
Josey inhaled, stared at the blue sky and circling flock of black birds visible through the tree branches and appeared like he was deep in thought. He exhaled some smoke and spoke quietly. “Listen to me, Billy. This is important. I'm not mad at you for sneaking off and trying to go get help. Hell kid, I'm not even as mad as I was about you shooting off part of my ear.
I wasn't kidding about you having guts. Maybe it wasn't the world’s greatest plan, but you showed a lot of courage and determination and did what you thought was right,” Josey said. He looked around again as he finished smoking his cigarette, bent over to ruffle Billy's dirty hair and then picked up the dog again. “You did what you thought was the right thing. If you'd made it to the top of the valley and used my phone to call the police you'd probably be a hero, and just because your plan didn't work out that doesn't make you a bad kid. Hell, Billy, if I ever have a kid, I'd be proud to have one with half the guts you've shown,” Josey said, as he limped toward the colonel's trailer.
“So, even though my plan failed, I won't get in trouble?” Billy asked hopefully, as he walked beside the big man.
“Whoa, kid. I said I admired you for it. What your grandpa and mom might say or do about it... well let’s just say I bet you won't be able to sit on your butt in comfort for at least a week when they're done with you,” Josey said, as he limped into a drainage ditch that he knew passed by the colonel's trailer. He felt they'd been too lucky traveling out in the open for too long and didn't want to be spotted so close to home.
“That's what I was afraid of.” Billy said, looking down and shaking his head as he followed.