“That sheriff was in here asking questions again this morning,” my father says as he struggles to push himself into a more upright position in the bed with his busted hand.
“Here let me help you, old man,” I say as I tuck my arm under his and hoist him up.
“Less of the old. I’m in the prime of my life here.”
“Yeah, you look it,” I laugh as I sit back down.
“He’s itching to throw you in jail, son.”
“What did he say?”
“Asking me all kinds of questions about you. Why you don’t visit more often. What you do back in LA. Is it true that you and I don’t get along. Did I think you held a grudge for all my drinking and pushing your mom away.”
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him that I didn’t remember anything about the night of the attack, and that anything else was none of his goddamn business.”
His loyalty to me almost makes me choke up. “Do you remember anything?”
“I waited in the bar for thirty minutes. I saw a few faces I recognized and I said hi to Jimmy Bird. We spoke about some new mares he just bought. Then I figured the guy with the crib wasn’t showing and I left. I was walking to my truck and they came out of nowhere. They just started beating on me and telling me that you wanted me gone.”
“Can you describe any of them?”
He shakes his head sadly. “Not really, son. It was dark. I had my arms over my head, trying to protect myself. But you know, they never went for my head. Now ain’t that strange? They said you wanted me gone. And the easiest way to kill a man is a blow to the head. So, why not do that? You break a man’s arms and legs, well he’s gonna be in a whole lotta pain, but he’s not going to die.”
I nod my agreement. “You don’t think they wanted you dead then?”
“Nope. I think they wanted you in jail. Who the hell have you pissed off that much, son?” he asks, but he’s grinning at me.
“Way too many people to count, Dad,” I admit.
“You know, one of them had a red cap on with something on it, though. Motor Oil or something?” he squeezes his eyes shut as though he’s desperately trying to remember. “I’m sorry I’m not a lot of help.”
“Yeah, well I’m sorry I got you stuck in the middle of all this.”
He stares at me and sucks in a deep breath before he speaks. “I haven’t been a part of your life for such a long time.”
“I know…” I start to say but he holds up a hand and I stop talking. I got to say my piece to him and I suppose I should allow him the same.
“And I didn’t deserve to be, son…” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “But all I could think about when those assholes were beating the hell out of me, was that you never knew how truly sorry I was for everything. It is my greatest regret in life that I didn’t get sober for you and your mom. And now, I get to tell you to your face that I’m sorry.” He holds a hand over his heart. “That even though I have no right to be, I am so proud of the man you’ve become.”
“Thanks, Dad,” I whisper.
He nods his head and a tear rolls down his face. “I thought I’d never hear you call me that again. I’d let those punks kick my ass every damn day to hear you say that word.”
I don’t speak because I can’t. There is so much hurt and pain between us. So many things that have been left unsaid for too long. Right now, words aren’t needed. We both know.
So, we sit in silence, easy in each other’s company while we wait for Lucia and Matthias to return.
We left my father resting and with a supply of candy and comics that would keep a kindergarten class busy for a week. He loves comics. I didn’t know that about him, but Matthias did. He’s an amazing kid and the fact that he calls me Dad is a fucking honor. I see now why it means so much to my own father that I finally call him dad again. In my head, he’s always been Dad, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of saying it to his face for so long.
As we reach my truck, a huge SUV pulls up beside us. The window rolls down to reveal Alejandro’s face. I mean, of course he hired a giant black SUV. No truck for him.
“I have a lead, amigo,” he says and then he opens the door and climbs out.
“From the bar?”
“Hmm,” he flashes his eyebrows at me. “The owner was a little more receptive without his buddy, the sheriff around.”
“And your boot on his face,” Raoul adds as he climbs out of the back seat.
Alejandro shrugs before he stoops and picks up his grandson. “You want to go back to the house with your mom? I think that dog needs a walk. And Tomás and Dario are desperate for you to show them around the place.”
“Yeah,” Matthias agrees. “What about you, Papa?”
“I just got to go somewhere with your Dad, but we’ll be back before dinner. Okay?”
“Okay,” he agrees and then hands Matthias to Raoul, who straps him into the child seat in the back.
“Your mom is still looking into Ed back at the house, but she could use a little help,” he says to Lucia.
“I’d rather come help you two,” she says, popping an eyebrow.
“No, angel,” I say, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. “I need you and Matthias safe. Please go home.”
“We’re only going to scare a few red-necks, mija, we’ll be just fine,” her father assures her.
She rolls her eyes. “Please be careful. Both of you,” she hugs each of us in turn before she climbs into the back of the car with our son.
Alejandro and I watch the SUV pull out of the parking lot. “Am I gonna get my suit dirty in your beat up truck?” he asks me.
“Hey, Darlene might be old, but she’s clean,” I tell him.
“Darlene? You named your truck Darlene?”
“Yup.”
He frowns at me in disgust. “Who the fuck are you and what have you done with my best buddy?” he asks with a shake of his head as he starts walking toward the old Ford I drive when I’m down here. “I mean in LA you wear good suits and drive a fucking Goliath. I mean it’s a truck, but it’s a beast.”
“And your point is?” I ask as I open the driver door.
“Here you wear jeans and cowboy boots and drive an old jalopy that you’ve named Darlene.”
I laugh at the look of horror on his face, but before I can come up with a snappy comeback, the sound of someone shouting my name makes us both turn.
“Jackson,” she shouts again as she jogs across the parking lot.
“Who the fuck is that?” Alejandro snarls.
“Shannon.”
“Ah, I didn’t recognize her with her clothes on.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Just don’t.”
He holds his hands up in surrender.
“I’ve been wanting to speak to you,” she says, slightly out of breath when she reaches me.
“Here I am.”
“I kind of wanted to talk catch you on your own.” She looks over at Alejandro who crosses his arms over his chest and glares at her.
“There’s nothing you can’t say to me in front of him,” I tell her. It’s the truth, but also he would roast my balls on a skewer if I asked for a minute alone with her.
She licks her lips as she looks at him and then sighs. “I did something kind of stupid,” she finally says.
Well, now she has both of our attention. “How stupid?”
“Like, I may have gotten you into some trouble, stupid. I’m sorry, Jackson, you know how sometimes my mouth runs away with me.”
“What did you do, Shan?”
She chews on her bottom lip, looking up at me through her thick, dark lashes and I feel the anger radiating from Alejandro like the heat from an open fire.
“Shannon?” I snarl.
“I was talking to the sheriff. He came to the store asking about the ad your daddy placed, and then he was asking about the two of you…”
“And?”
“I kind of told him that you hate him and haven’t spoken to him properly in years,” she breathes.
“For fuck’s sake, Shan.”
“I know, Jackson,” she sniffs. “I’m so sorry. You know I’d never get you into trouble on purpose, I just didn’t think.”
“You have no right talking about me and my business to anyone.”
“I know,” she nods. “I’m so sorry. If there’s anything I can do to fix this, I will. I should have kept my big mouth shut, but then Ed was talking to the sheriff and they were talking about you and then they asked me…” she starts to babble.
“Ed was talking to the sheriff about me?”
“Well, they were talking about your daddy being in hospital is all. The whole town is talking about it.”
“Yeah,” I say with a frown.
This whole thing is fucked up and it’s driving me crazy. I feel like the answer is right in front of my face but I can’t connect the fucking dots right. I wonder if I should tell her about the photograph of the two of us. I hadn’t even considered that if she’s not involved in any of this, she’s as much a victim as the rest of us.
But, I don’t know that she’s not involved yet. And I definitely have a feeling in my gut about Ed. I’ve met him half a dozen times or so. He seems like a nice enough guy. She says he’s not the jealous type, but who really knows, right? If Lucia was friendly with a guy she used to fuck, I’d be pissed as hell and I’d be ready to slit his throat if he so much as smiled at her again.
The irony of that doesn’t escape me. Maybe it’s time to put an end to this friendship Shannon and I have too.
“Hey, we have somewhere to be,” Alejandro reminds me.
“Yeah, I gotta go, Shannon. Anyone else asks about me and my father, you tell them it’s none of their business. You got that?”
She looks down at the ground. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
I don’t say anything else. Instead, I climb into the truck, start the engine and drive away.
