Hellbender (Murder Ballads and Whiskey Book 2) (11 page)

I took my Leatherman’s Tool from my pocket and flipped out the long knife blade. I eyeballed the tires and hydraulic cables and brake lines and fuel lines I had easy access to. I jumped onto the bed, grabbed the pair of hydraulic cables that lead to the loader’s mechanical arm. I couldn’t cut his throat, but I could cut a lifeline.

The drive to Davis took us east on US Route 50, up from the Cheat River at Rowlesburg. But before we even got there, I took 7 through Kingwood and got a sudden urge for buckwheats. We dropped along Deckers Creek back down to Morgantown and went down 79 all the way to Elkins where we stopped for cherry-glazed chocolate donuts at a Sheetz, then finally 119 up to 50. It was a long day, but I didn’t know of any other way to lose Charlie Lewis and his guys. The bleached windmills dotting Backbone Mountain like antlers on a rutting buck let me know I was home. The white eyesores were like a picket fence around my front yard.

My very spacious front yard.

Alex said, “The other side of the windmills.” “What’s that mean?” I said, mildly offended.

“Nothing.” She smiled. “Well, that’s a lie. When I was little, my dad would say he’d send me to live on the other side of the windmills if I didn’t stop acting up.”

“And here you are.”

“Here I am.” She watched the giant blades spin as we passed beneath them. “Punishment catching up to me fifteen years after the fact.”

“Oh, yeah? What’d you do to deserve such harsh punishment?”

Realizing it was a joke, she smiled, but quickly looked away. “A lot of things, I guess.”

I slowed as we came through the village of Thomas. Old company stores hemmed us in on one side, the Blackwater River on the other. The Miners and Merchants Bank was the only non-tourism-related business left on the whole street. Exiting town took us up still higher, through white pines and past the ball field where I played Little League. A pair of doe ate at the clover in left field. Canaan Mountain loomed high in the background; the spruce trees along the top were visible even from here. We passed the entrance to Blackwater Falls State Park and a chill fell upon us. It was so cold Alex dug for my fleece in the back of the Jeep.

“Hungry?” I asked. But her reply didn’t matter. I was starving, and drifted to a stop in front of Sirianni’s. Almost like I’d followed the smell of garlic right to the front door.

The old pizza place was exactly like I’d left it. Cherubs stared from the thin screen door—the angels of Parmesan, patron saints of pizza, floating in hand- painted clouds and swirls, implying this food was heavenly nourishment. Tonight the windows were cracked open to the insectless May evening, a reminder that up here frost was still a possibility. Old bluegrass played on the jukebox. The smell of baking pizza crusts pulled us inside.

The low light kept visibility at a minimum, but there wasn’t much to see. A hodge-podge of memorabilia crowded the wooden walls: old ski team photos, the wooden plank with a donkey saying ‘No le hace’ in bold blue letters. There were whiskey ads, ski race posters, flyers for live music at the bars and resorts. An old heavy curtain was pulled shut across the other part of the dining room.

A girl came out of the kitchen, flipped her phone shut and grabbed two menus from the counter. “Two?” she asked without even looking.

“What the hell, Chloe?” I said.

My cousin shoved her phone into her back pocket and her face scrunched up a little. “Henry? Oh, my.” She dropped the menus on the counter and hugged me.

“You guys know each other?” Alex said with a tone just shy of rejection.

I led the way to the corner booth in the very back. “What? Don’t you remember her from the funeral? Katy’s sister. Rachael’s their mom.”

Alex nodded. As we sat down she said, “Sorry.”

Chloe was a few steps behind us with menus and silverware. “You know, everybody was mad you just left like that. Don’t even get Pap started. Him and Jamie were fixing to come looking for you, but Katy said you needed time to simmer. You heard about Katy, and Preston and all that, right? You missed a bunch of stuff. I mean, what would’ve happened if Gram got sick or something, or your dad needed you. He’s been in all kinds of trouble and everybody else has been bailing him out. And Ben really misses you. He just gets back from his deployment, then Jane…then you disappear.”

“Yeah, I get it, Chloe, I do. I just couldn’t be here after the funeral. Everybody should understand.” I flipped open my menu even though I knew what we were having.

“Does Mom even know you’re back?” She flipped open her cell phone like she’d find her answer faster there.

“No. Nobody does yet. I’m trying to keep it low-key.” Just then I scanned the room, like maybe I should still be hiding. “And I’m not staying long. I’m bolting out of here tomorrow so you don’t need to tell Rachael.”

Alex raised her eyebrow, like the comment hurt a bit.

“Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen. Do you want something to drink, or what?” She gave me a little glare. Probably a sign that she wasn’t entirely committed to laying on the same kind of guilt trip that Katy would’ve. “Henry.” She put her palms flat on the table and leaned over. “Why did you leave? Pap was afraid you were going to end up just like Janie.”

I looked at her and all of a sudden it was January again.

“Pitcher of iced tea. Make it half lemonade.” I flipped the menu shut.

“Wet iced tea. Okay.” She put the pen behind her ear. Her green
Make pizza, not war
t-shirt was way too small. Her pants were so tight you could almost make out the individual numbers on the buttons of her cell phone.

As she walked behind the counter that separated the kitchen from the dining room, I looked at Alex. She wouldn’t return my look so I didn’t say anything until Chloe came back. She plopped the pitcher on the table between us. “I suppose you want to eat?”

“Spinach salad, tomato for egg, extra garlic dressing on the side.” My usual order. “Do you want a pizza, Alex?”

She ignored me. Speaking directly to Chloe, she said, “Let’s try feta and roasted peppers, artichoke hearts on half, please.” Alex addressed her very politely. Maybe more delicately than politely.

“I was thinking pepperoni and onion.” I dreamt about this pizza for three months. Duff didn’t believe you could get a good pizza this far south. We spent many a night arguing about it.

Alex wouldn’t budge.

“Make it two smalls then. We’ll have pizza for breakfast.” Problem solved.

“Disgusting,” Chloe said before turning to Alex. “It was very nice to meet you. You’re too pretty for him.”

Chloe left to put our order in. The jukebox went through a pair of Loretta Lynn songs and Alex knew every word and quietly sang along. Chloe returned with our salad and set the bowl on the table as she finished a text with her free hand. Her other customers glared when she pulled up a chair and chatted while we ate. She filled Alex in on how she was the Winterfest Princess in Elkins in February and how she was probably going to be Homecoming Queen, too, how her friends were jealous at first, but now they weren’t. Then she casually mentioned her scholarship from Davis and Elkins, but she didn’t know if she’d take it or not because our Uncle Jamie, Ben’s dad, taught there. Besides, she said, she wanted to live in Morgantown.

When Chloe returned to the kitchen, Alex said, “I think somebody really missed you.”

“No. She had a crush on Ben. Everybody did. I was the dopey sidekick. But we were always on the same team. Katy, Chloe and me versus Ben and Janie. Boy, girl, boy, girl, plus it separated us by age. My aunt came up with it.” I took a bite of spinach, really just a charade to get more of the creamy garlic dressing into my system. “Hide and seek. Stuff like that. We never had enough people for kickball or anything. Ben taught Janie how to cheat.”

“Will I have a crush on Ben, too?” Alex tried to get back at me for my rudeness earlier.

“Better not,” I half-demanded, distracted by nostalgia. “But he falls in love real easy. Look here.”

I pointed to hundreds of initials scratched into the painted surface of the wooden table, now covered by Plexiglas. “There’s Jane and an old boyfriend. Steven. What an asshole. He started all the shit with Lucinda and Jane. He’s the reason they had a falling out. There’s me.”

“HR loves HC?” Alex traced the initials with her fingertip.

“Yeah, high school.”

“Here’s another one. HC plus LT.”

“Unpleasant,” I said before taking another bite. “But not me. Harry Clark plus Lucinda Tasso. We met Lucinda’s dad today with Charlie. She was Jane’s best friend all through school. She used to stay over and everything. Then she got a crush on Steven who really liked Jane and that was it. Janie and my dad did an awful lot for that girl. My dad even got Eddie Tasso extra shifts at the mine, like at Christmas and stuff. Lucinda used to come up on Fridays after a football game and stay until Monday morning because she hated her homelife so much.”

The reminder of today’s events knocked the smile right off Alex’s face. She forced it for a second, but it didn’t take long for it to disappear altogether.

“Sorry.” I tried to take her hand. “See if you can find me on this picture. Hey.”

But she wasn’t falling for my cheap distraction tactics.

“HC + SD.” She turned her attention back to the table.

“Ironically, that one isn’t mine, either.” I lied.

“To quote Chloe, ‘Whatever.’” She poured herself more tea, then said, “Now, what did you want me to see?”

“I’m in this picture. Jane is, too.” I reached behind her and tapped the glass in a frame that hung behind her head.

“Canaan Valley Ski Team. I see Jane in the bottom row. But I don’t see you.” She twisted her brow.

“Look again.”

“This kid here?” She feigned scrutiny.

“Yeah, that’s me, and that’s Ben next to me.” I tapped the glass with the handle of my fork.

“That is not a great picture. You can’t even see your faces.” Alex laughed, then returned to her salad.

“Yeah, Ben kept poking fun at the photographer’s accent. She was Finnish or something. We kept singing ‘Norwegian Wood.’”

Chloe snuck up on us and interrupted, “That’s not you.”

“Is too. And besides, how would you know? You were like, five or something.”

“Whatever. Here’s your food.” She pushed our salad bowls out of the way with all the grace of a drunken raccoon. “Is there anything else you need?”

But before I could reply she said, “I called Mom and told her you guys were here. She was pissed you didn’t call anybody, but said it didn’t matter. Just don’t make any plans for tomorrow night.”

“Don’t make plans? Is that an order?” I crossed my arms.

Chloe cut my snicker short. With her hands on her hips she said, “Seriously, you have to ask? Yeah, everyone’s coming over. And she said since I’m eighteen, I can drink a little. So don’t screw it up by running off again or anything.”

“Thanks for the warning. And the compassion.”

“I’m serious. I’m bringing my boyfriend and if something happens I won’t be able to see him until next weekend.” She pulled her pad out of her back pocket and flipped to our order. “Alex, would you like anything else?”

“I’m fine, thank you.” Alex smiled.

With that Chloe softened a little and returned Alex’s smile. I asked, “Can I get some napkins?”

She rolled her eyes, stuck her pen behind her ear then left us. As the jukebox changed CDs—Weezer, “Say It Ain’t So’—I could hear Chloe talking on her phone, “I told him he should’ve called… I told him… No, he’s with a girl… And you said that Scott could stay over… You promised… Okay… Okay… Love you, too… Bye-bye.”

Chloe bounded back up to the booth and dropped off the check. “No family discount?” I pushed the check back toward her.

“That’s it. I just added in what I thought you were going to tip me.” She pushed it back and set my cup on it.

“A little generous, don’t you think?” I picked it off the table and pretended to check the prices.

“I gave you the table you wanted, didn’t I? Even though it’s way out of my way.” She lowered her voice, then added, “And I lied when that girl over yonder asked if it was you she heard back here.”

“What girl?” I tried to peek around her.

“That Tasso girl. She’s paying now. With Darren Lewis.” “This is bad,” Alex said bluntly.

Darren Lewis had his shirt buttoned up to the top button. Purple bruises stuck out above his collar. He had his hat pulled low, but in the mirror over the counter I could see his black eye. He looked worse than when he left the bar last night. Like Charlie beat him with his pistol or something.

Auburn hair fell in a pair of braids down Lucinda’s back. When I saw her face reflected in the mirror behind the counter my blood boiled. Lucinda wasn’t just some girl. My family had treated her like one of our own. With all the charm of a November wind, she told Darren to go get the truck.

“Hey,” I hollered across the room. “What’s the fucking deal—”

She took a step toward us and mouthed a few words, mumbling syllables that meant nothing to me. I maintained eye contact. No part of me was ever going to back down from her again. When she spoke, her eyes fell shut, like she was in a trance. The room got hot. I started to sweat and the lights dimmed. I thought I was blacking out and grabbed for the edge of the table. Cicadas rushed through the open screen door and windows, buzzing and pulsing like speakers in a Walnut Street club back in Morgantown. When my head dipped, I caught a whiff of the rest of the food on the table. Acrid fumes that made me gag as the food blackened in accelerated decomposition.

Lucinda broke her trance and glared. Those brown eyes burned with a hatred I never thought possible in a person. Before vanishing into the glow of streetlights, she said, “You’ll either sink or float. We’ll find out. You want a witch hunt? We’ll give you a witch hunt.”

In my head I prepared an explanation for Alex, but wasn’t even sure what I saw, or if Alex even saw the same thing. When I looked at Alex, she was turning blue.

“Alex!” I leapt to her side of the table. Her hands flew to her purple lips.

I lifted her from her seat and clasped my fists below her sternum, preparing to squeeze breath back into her.

“That won’t help.” Chloe ran to my side and broke my hold on Alex’s chest. “Sit down.”