Again Pud said, 'SueSue.'
And in a voice without inflection and barely above a whisper SueSue said, 'Help us.'
The confiscated guns were heavy in my pockets. I took them out.
'Ever shoot one of these?' I said to Pud.
'No.'
'Okay, this isn't the time to learn,' I said.
I put the guns on the floor. And drew my own.
'Take one hand of each woman,' I said. 'You in the middle. We're going out of here at a run. Anyone tries to stop us, I'll deal with it. You keep them moving toward the car.'
'What's wrong with them?' Pud said.
'I don't know,' I said. 'Get hold of them, now.'
Pud hesitated another couple of seconds, then took a big inhale and went forward to the two women. He got each of them by the hand. They were childlike, putting their hands out for him to hold. I went down the stairs ahead of them, Pud behind me with the sisters.
Shoney was back on his feet when we went out the front door. He and Brill were looking a little aimless and uncertain as we passed them. They had no guns, and I had mine, so they made no move to stop us. We ran straight across the lawn, through the sprinkler mist, to my car, the women stumbling a little in bare feet.
'Put them in the backseat and down out of sight.'
I went around to the driver's side and was in with the motor running when Pud joined me in the front. The Clive girls were lying in the backseat, SueSue above Stonie. I went into gear and we squealed away from the curb and out onto the street. As we turned the first corner, two Security South cars went bucketing past us, their flashers on, riding to the rescue.
'Jesus H. Mahogany Christ,' Pud said.
He was still winded from running the sisters to the car. Breathing hard, he looked back at the two girls, still clinging to each other as if to keep each other from slipping away.
'Can they sit up?' Pud said between breaths.
'Sure,' I said.
'SueSue, you and Stonie sit up now,' Pud said.
Silently they did as he told them.
'You do this kind of thing often?' Pud said.
His respiration was normalizing.
'Usually before breakfast,' I said.
'Man!' Pud said.
We turned onto Main Street. There wasn't much traffic. We passed a young woman in blue sweatpants and a white halter top, walking a baby in a stroller. A golden retriever moseyed along beside them on a slack leash. Pud eyed her as we passed. The ghostly sisters sat bolt upright in the backseat, their shoulders touching, looking at nothing. Pud looked back. No sign of pursuit.
'We can't just ride around all day,' Pud said.
'True.'
'Where we going?' Pud said.
'To a gay bar.'
FORTY-EIGHT
'WHAT THE FUCK am I running here,' Tedy Sapp said when I sat down, 'a family crisis center?'
'You're my closest friend in Georgia,' I said.
We were at Sapp's table near the door. Pud was in the back room with Cord, and SueSue and Stonie.
'First, Cord Wyatt comes in here like an orphan in the storm and says you sent him. Then you show up with the rest of the fucking family. What do we do when Delroy finds out they're here?'
'Maybe he won't find out,' I said.
'I'm a bouncer, not a fucking commando. Delroy's got twelve, fifteen people he can put in here with automatic weapons. What's wrong with the Clive girls?'
'I don't know for sure. They've apparently been prisoners in the house since their father died. I don't know why. They're either traumatized or drugged or both, and it's like talking to a couple of shy children.'
'Nice haircuts,' Sapp said.
'You homosexuals are so fashion-conscious,' I said.
'Yeah. I wonder why they cut their hair that way?'
'Maybe it wasn't their idea,' I said. 'Or the white pajamas.'
