9
Dr. Gideon Box.
Deputy Scooter Bing kicked the chair out from under me to start the hanging, but the beam couldn’t handle the weight, and broke. I fell to the ground. There was a split-second pause before the roof came crashing down.
It wasn’t much of a roof, but it was board and tin and heavy enough to kill me. I counted my blessings at having cheated death two times in the space of thirty seconds. As I pulled the rope off my neck, Trudy ran into the barn yelling, “What the hell happened? Is everyone okay?”
She saw me moving around and said, “Where’s Daddy?”
Turns out Deputy Bing was alive, but his right leg was trapped under one of the rafters. Trudy and I pulled it off him and found his leg was broken.
“Other than that, is he okay?” Trudy asks.
“Yeah, but we should get him to the hospital.”
“Daddy?” she says. “You got what you deserve for tryin’ to hang my boyfriend.”
She unhooks my cell phone from his belt and gives it to me.
“You’re not gonna leave me here, are you?” Scooter says.
“I’d take you to the hospital, but sure as shit you’d just wind up throwin’ poor Dr. Box in jail. So we’re gonna leave now. I’ll call an ambulance to take you to the county hospital. And tomorrow I’ll call to make sure you’re okay. But we’re gonna head out now.”
She looks at me and says, “Are you fit to walk?”
“I’d be fitter if he hadn’t kicked me in the nuts.”
Trudy said, “I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, sugar,” he says. “But I’m afraid you’ve got yourself a bad doctor.”
“Time will tell,” she says. “Let’s go, Doc.”
“It’s been a pleasure,” I say to Deputy Bing as I step over his body.
“She’s a good girl,” he says. “Don’t treat her badly.”
I wait till Trudy’s nearly out the barn before whispering, “Every time I fuck her I’ll think of you.”
I get about ten feet before he says, “I’ll be sure to tell Darrell you said that.”
I stop and turn. “Who’s Darrell?”
“You’ll see.”
10
When I exit what’s left of the barn I notice Trudy’s in the driver’s seat.
I open the passenger door and lean in.
“Not to be rude, but that man looks way too old to be your father.”
“He’s had a rough life.”
“How old is he?”
“You mean because he looks too old to be my Daddy?”
“Well, yes. To be frank about it.”
“He started another family before he met Mom. She was much younger.”
She looks at me, smiles, and says, “Guess she was a lot like me.”
“In what way?”
“Attracted to older men.”
I smile.
She says, “Aren’t you gettin’ in the car?”
“Who’s Darrell?”
She frowns. “Scooter told you about Darrell?”
“Just in passing. Who is he?”
“My brother.”
“Will he be mad at me, too?”
“I don’t know.”
“Should I be worried?”
“No, of course not, honey!”
“Where are we going?”
“Your place.”
“I haven’t booked a room yet.”
“No. I mean, your place. New York City.”
“This is a rental car.”
“I know. You got it in Nashville. At the airport.”
She can tell I’m puzzled, so she adds, “The rental agreement’s in the glove box. I read it while waitin’ for you. So anyway, I’ll drive us to Nashville, we’ll catch an early mornin’ flight, and be home by noon.”
“Home?”
“I’ve decided to move in with you.”
“Seriously?”
“How could I not? We’re practically engaged.”
I hold up a hand.
“What?” she says.
“First things first.”
I open the glove box, pop the trunk.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t leave him like this. He’s in pain.”
“The man tried to hang you.”
“Good point.”
“And anyway, we’re gonna call an ambulance from the highway, remember?”
“I know. But in the meantime, he could go into shock.”
“Is there something you can do to prevent that?”
“My medical bag’s in the wheel well, under the spare tire.”
“Okay, but let’s do this quickly, okay?”
“Why the rush?”
“I don’t expect you to understand, but I’ve tried to escape this town six times and never got past Starbucks. Somethin’ always happens at the last second.”
“You’ve got a Starbuck’s here in Clayton? No shit?”
“No, of course not. Starbucks is a town, twenty miles south of here.”
I grab my bag and a towel from my suit bag, and head back inside. Trudy’s a step behind saying, “Who packs a beach towel to go to Western Kentucky?”
“Believe it or not,” I say, “Clayton wasn’t my destination.”
“Where were you headed?”
“Ralston.”
“Why?”
“It’s personal.”
“Personal means a woman. It’s a woman, right?”
I sigh.
Trudy says, “Good thing you met me when you did.”
“Why’s that?”
“Whoever she is, I’m way more fun.”
