“You must be Rebel.” She said she was. “Rodney said you were on your way. That piece of shit out there is lucky that Sheila found him in the house before I did. I would have killed him where he stood.”
“You must be Harris.” She grinned like it was wonderful that she’d made such an impression. “Rodney said you’d find a way to kill Cort without it looking like anything but an accident.”
“I have before. Tell me what is yours in here, and we’ll get it on the truck. Wait, the truck isn’t back yet. I knew we should have rented a trailer. Oh well. Are we taking your things to the new home or to Rodney’s?” She stared at the other woman. “Okay, I’ll take that as a new home. Though I can tell you, we’ll just be moving you again soon. I’m pushy like that, just in the event you don’t know that yet.”
“To Rodney’s home.” Harris stared at her for several minutes before nodding once and told her she was a smart girl. “I don’t know about that, but he’s promised me I’m not going to be pushed into anything, and I believe him. You? Not so much. But I also know you’ll stay out of whatever is going on with us if asked. You will, won’t you?”
“To a point, yes.” She turned away to go into the next room but stopped just short of being out of her sight. “I don’t have to tell you not to hurt him, do I?”
“I have no intentions of hurting anyone. But, as I told him, I’m not going to be pushed into shit I don’t want either.” She nodded and left her there.
Going into the kitchen where she could hear Sheila, she was nearly taken to the floor when she leapt at her, laughing.
“They came through. Look at this. It’s the full amount. Harris said they’d had it ready to go for weeks but were lazy.” Sheila whispered in her ear, “I’m not sure, but I think she made them pay me. Oh, Rebel, I can afford to pay our bills now. And with giving my notice, I don’t have to fret as much about having to wait for my first check with you. I can still work for you, correct?”
“Yes. I need you there.” The check was for ten grand. It wasn’t much of a policy, she supposed, but it was enough to get her some cushion in the bank. “What happened with Cort? Did he hurt you?”
“No, that’s his blood. He used his key to come into the house, and I’d just gotten this check. Instead of begging him, like I think he wanted me to do, I offered to pay him everything we owed him. He grabbed me and tried to shove me against the wall before I could get away. I hit him and then kicked him in the nuts while he was down. Harris is the one that made him bleed. She’s kinda scary, isn’t she? But I’m happy now. So we’ll have to forget the little shitter and move into a better home.”
Harris was making notes when she caught up with her again. She asked her what she was doing, and when she told her, Rebel told her she could add to her list. The house was in poor repair, and the roof leaked like a sieve when it rained.
“I don’t think the furnace works either. The air doesn’t work at all, even though he told us it did. Also, if you’ve not made it to the upstairs bathroom, let me warn you now, don’t go in. It won’t hold your weight. The kids’ either, for that matter. I’m terrified that one night the tub is going to come down onto us while the kids are bathing.” Harris wrote it down. “Why are you doing this? I mean, we’re moving out—thank you for that, by the way—and he can’t bother us again.”
“He needs to have his ass kicked, is what he needs. These are terrible conditions here, and no one should have to put up with this. Sheila told me he just barges in when he wants to. That’s not right either. The fucker is on my shit list, and I’m going to take care of him.” Rebel didn’t tell her about her waking up with him standing over her. She figured the man wouldn’t make it to the hospital if she did. Harris was one intense person. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve made sure that there is food and supplies at the new house for your family. I had no idea that things were that bad for you guys. The insurance company is going to have to pay for that. There isn’t any reason for them to have held up the check for that long.”
“I was going to call them today, but then I had to go and see to my nephew.” She asked about the bully. “I don’t know a great deal about him as yet, but I will before too long. I think the kids have been keeping things from us because they know how bad things are here. Or how bad they were. I was really worried about what we were going to do when I didn’t have any more time coming to me from work.”
“I want to talk to you about that as well. Soon. There is no reason for that either. We’ve had some issues there for a little while, and I’ve had enough.” Rebel asked her if she took on problems like this often. “Yes. We work on things as a family usually, but I’ve decided I need
