The Devil's Beating His Wife (19 page)

He shook his head. His eyebrows rose as he stared down his nose. "I thought we were talking about tacos."

"No, we're talking about killing men."

Baxter continued to stare at Abby. "Maybe we should talk about tacos."

"Of course you would want to talk about that." I smiled at Abby. "I bet that's good."

"Tacos or the killing?" Baxter asked, confused.

This time I shrugged. "Both."

"Why?"

I didn't have an answer to that. Abby was watching us as her mother made her a plate of food. The girl's eyes darted back and forth between us. Her father chewed his food as he watched his daughter watching us.

"What is it, baby girl?" Ronnie asked.

His question startled the child. She hopped in her seat. Her mother stiffened in her chair.

"Damn. You two are so gosh darn jumpy," Ronnie said, taking another bite. He continued to eat as he waited for Abby to answer his question.

Abby glanced towards her mother. The expression on the girl's face seemed to scream for her mother to intervene, but Lily didn't. She sat with her head lowered and her eyes downcast. Her breathing was quick and shallow.

"Mama—" Abby began.

Lily's head snapped up. "Answer your father." There was a plea in her eyes.

Abby pushed her plate away and sat back, crossing her arms. She reminded me of a smaller, girlish version of Baxter.

"Abby, tell him there's a fly around," Baxter ordered.

The girl glanced in Baxter's direction. Automatically, she responded, "There's a fly."

Ronnie relaxed into his chair as he began to scan the air around the room. "Where?"

"It's gone now." Abby grabbed her glass of water and took a sip. She seemed annoyed by her father's questions. Lily, as usual, looked terrified.

"I didn't see a fly," Ronnie said.

Baxter turned his head towards Abby. "He wasn't looking for it."

"You weren't looking for it," repeated Abby.

Ronnie cleared his throat and pushed his plate away. "There wasn't a fly."

"Yes, there was," said Baxter.

"There was," repeated Abby.

Lily finally went into motion, trying to protect her child. "This place is full of flies, Ronnie. I had to put flypaper up in the bathroom, there was so many. There was probably a fly swarming over the food."

Ronnie's head was low. His tone was brisk and biting. "There wasn't a fly."

"There was," said Abby.

Ronnie slammed his fist down onto the table, causing the plates and glasses to jump. Lily's boldness withered. Abby grew more confident.

"Now it's flying near your head," she said.

"Abby," I warned.

The child stared back at her father. Her comments were obvious lies.

"She's a child with a vivid imagination, Ronnie," the woman said.

Ronnie launched from his seat and went to grab at the child. Baxter stood and pushed the table towards Ronnie's stomach. Greasy meat and hardening cheese flopped into Ronnie's lap. Ronnie hissed and lowered himself back into his chair. His eyes were locked in Baxter's direction, but he couldn't see the ghost.

"You think you are so smart," he said.

I wasn't sure who he was talking to. I turned to Baxter and placed my hand over his clenched fist. "Stop provoking him. Stop using Abby."

Baxter pulled his hand away. "I should have killed Charlie that night. If I had, he wouldn't have had this sorry piece of shit." He sat back in his chair and glared at me. Then his eyes fell away as he stared down at the floor. His body vibrated with tightly controlled violence.

"Abby, go on to your room now, chil'," I ordered.

Abby didn't think twice. She pushed her chair away from the table and darted towards her room. Ronnie surged from his seat, making to follow the child.

Baxter moved to stand between the advancing Ronnie and the fleeing Abby. But then Lily appeared, standing right in front of Baxter. Shielding her daughter.

"Leave her alone, Ronnie."

"Your daughter has a smart mouth," Ronnie seethed. His eyes cut towards Lily. "She takes after her mother." He stared down into Lily's face. Her eyes were focused on the floor. "You want your daughter talking to her father like that?" he said, the words hissing through his teeth.

"No," was Lily's curt reply.

"She deserves to be punished," he said.

Lily's eyes rose to stare into her husband's eyes. "No."

Ronnie pushed her away and strode through Baxter towards Abby's room. Baxter cursed under his breath and followed him.

"Abby, get under the bed," I yelled.

Ronnie barreled through the door just as Abby scrambled under the bed. He got down on the floor and began pulling at her legs. Abby kicked at her father, trying to push him away.

Lily appeared in the doorway. She screamed, "Don't you touch her! You leave her alone, you hear me! You leave my baby alone!" Weeping, she slammed herself onto Ronnie's back. She tore at his clothing. Scratched his skin with her nails. Pulled at his hair.

Ronnie pulled his arm back and slammed his elbow into Lily's head. The impact knocked her senseless. He pushed her away, and she rolled limply to the side.

Baxter raged throughout the bedroom. He threw the small nightstand against the wall, shattering it. He pushed the dresser away from the wall. Grabbing Abby's toys, he threw them in Ronnie's direction.

Ronnie stood and stared at the chaos. Then he laughed and turned around in a circle. "You can't touch me, can you? You can toss around all the shit you want, but you can't touch me." Ronnie grinned evilly and looked down at Abby's bed. "I got an idea. Why don't you flip this bed? Like this," he said as he grabbed the edge of the bedframe and tossed it onto its side.

Abby screamed and crawled towards me. I crouched down over the child, wanting my body to protect her, but knowing it wouldn't. I stood helplessly as Ronnie stalked towards us.

Then the bed came scooting across the floor, slamming into Ronnie's back. Ronnie stumbled forward. Abby ran through the door and into the bathroom. Baxter had given her enough time to escape.

I crossed the room to Lily. I tried to touch her, to shake her, but I couldn't. I kept repeating her name. "Lily. Lily." She wasn't going to wake anytime soon.

"We have to do something," Baxter said as we listened to Ronnie pound the bathroom door. The child had locked the door, but Ronnie was in a rage. He was bound to break the door down.

"What can we do? Throw more things? I don't think that's going to work this time. We need to get her up," I said, pointing down at Lily.

"She ain't gonna do anything to stop him," Baxter said, a touch of disgust in his voice.

"She will."

"She's not going to protect Abby. Not this time," he said sharply.

The sound of wood breaking caused us to turn and leave the room. Ronnie was kicking through the door. His mind was completely gone. He didn't care that it was his frightened child in the other room. I could hear Abby screaming for me.

"Oh, God," I whimpered. I turned and pushed at Baxter. "Do something!"

"What?" he asked. Then he stiffened and grasped my shoulders. "Do you trust me, Spicey?"

"Baxter, why are you asking me that?"

"Do you trust me?" he repeated softly.

This was the man that had terrorized me. He had stood silently as my brother was hanged. He had brought the gun that had killed us both. After a long hesitation, I said, "Yes."

Baxter wrapped me in his embrace. The feeling was indescribable. I felt like I was swallowed up by a great block of ice. The room around me faded into blackness. I struggled to get my bearings as the floor fell away.

Stop fighting me and trust me, Spicey
, Baxter thought.

It was his thought. But I had heard it. Or not really heard it. It just formed in my mind, and I knew what he was saying to me. I had sensed it.

Yet, I felt senseless. Actually senseless with no ability to talk or see or hear. I felt like I just existed.

In my mind, I wanted to walk away. I no longer had the will to control my leg. I felt like a great wave had come through and swept my feet out from under me as I struggled against the tide. Then everything merged together and I could feel myself inside my body again.

My hand struck out and righted my balance. I stared down at the hand, recognizing it as not my own. The skin was pale and pink with an abundance of fine, blond hairs.
Trust me
, Baxter thought again.

I stopped struggling and when I did, the strangeness settled. Baxter and I had managed to come together. I could feel him all around me.

Ronnie continued to kick at the door. Abby continued to scream. Lily was beginning to wake, but her movements were labored. As she rolled onto her back, she stared up at us, a look of pure shock and horror on her face.

I didn't know what we looked like. I swung around towards the mirror, expecting to see a half-white man and half-black woman type of creature. Instead, I saw Baxter's solid body.

Lily scrambled back towards the bed. I reached out to her. Baxter tried to talk, but the sound that came from our mouth reminded me of a low-pitched bellow, much like a bullfrog.

I wanted to talk to her, comfort her. Baxter wanted to hurl curses. We struggled for control. My spirit was concentrating so hard on trying to form words that Baxter was able to gain control of his body. He moved towards Ronnie, but I tried to pull us towards Lily. He gained control again and we staggered towards the bathroom.

We crept up on the prowling Ronnie. Inhaling deeply, another croak emanated from our throat. Ronnie's back stiffened as he realized he was no longer alone. He turned around with a smile on his face, as if expecting Lily to be standing there.

When he caught sight of us, his mouth opened wide. The color drained from his face. He stepped away for a moment before regaining his rage. "Who the fuck are you?"

Both Baxter and I tried to speak. Another croak came out. I tried to pull us backwards as Baxter moved forwards. Our movements were jerky as we advanced towards Ronnie. Ronnie stood there, shocked at what must have looked like a drunken fool.

"Get out of my house," Ronnie said, stepping towards us. He lifted his hands and pushed against our chest. We stumbled backwards, against the wall.

Dammit, Spicey, let me lead
, Baxter thought.

In my mind, I screamed,
You will kill him!

If there's anyone who deserves it, it's him
, he thought. Before I could form another thought, Baxter added,
What about Abby?

And with those words, I relinquished control to Baxter. He took over, slamming his fist into Ronnie's face. Ronnie's head snapped back. A surprised look crossed his face as blood trickled from his nose.

Ronnie then lowered his head and ran towards us. But Baxter anticipated his move. As Ronnie came towards us, Baxter stepped to the side and raised his knee, knocking Ronnie off balance. Baxter then swooped down and wrapped his arm around Ronnie's throat. Locking his long legs around Ronnie's struggling body, Baxter held on.

Ronnie slapped at Baxter, but his grip only tightened. As Baxter's attention focused on his stranglehold, I managed to gain control of our voice. Instead of Baxter's deep, male voice, my high-pitched voice rang out into the room, "Die, you goddamned peckerwood!"

"Spicey," yelled Abby through the door.

It took a few minutes, but Ronnie's arms stopped flopping. He still breathed, but his eyes were closed and his awareness was gone. Lily stood over us, watching the life leaving her husband. Then Baxter took a deep breath and released Ronnie.

"Is he dead?" I asked aloud.

Lily looked repulsed.

No. Just asleep
, was Baxter's response.

Abby unlocked the broken door and pulled it open. Her face was bright red. Tear stains marked her shirt. She came out of the bathroom and stared around the room. We watched as Abby noticed her mother staring at us.

"You finally see them?" Abby asked her.

Lily shook her head and then turned towards Abby. "You know him?"

Abby looked around the room again. Her nose wrinkled as she said, "Where's Spicey?"

"I'm right here, chil'" I answered, using my own voice. Lily's eyes widened again as she stared at Baxter's big body. The sound of my obviously female voice shook her for some reason.

Abby appeared confused for a moment and then she seemed to brighten. She came rushing towards us, landing against us. Baxter lowered us so we could finally embrace the child. "Spicey, what are you doing in Baxter?"

"Saving your hide, that's what," I answered.

Would you stop
, Baxter whined.

"No," I answered.

"What?" asked Abby.

"Who is Spicey and Baxter?" Lily asked.

Abby pointed towards us. "Them."

"You're Baxter?" Lily asked.

"And Spicey," I answered.

Lily fainted.

The word "useless" tumbled from our mouth.

"That was Baxter," I said to Abby.

Spicey, let me talk. You're making things a hell of a lot worse
, Baxter argued.

"You were right to not kill him in front of Abby, Baxter. Good thinking," I said in a low voice.

Baxter groaned inwardly. I felt it.
That's not why I didn't kill him.

"Why, then?"

Think about it. We died here and we're stuck here. Do you want him haunting this place with us?

"Shit," I said, realizing the truth in his words. As much as I would have liked to remove him from Abby's life, we couldn't have him dying here.

"Come away from that man," Lily said, grabbing Abby by her pants. She pulled the girl into her embrace.

That annoyed Baxter. The strength of his anger allowed Baxter to take control of our voice. "So now you're being protective."

"Shut up, Baxter," I snapped back.

Lily's eyes widened as she watched us bicker with ourselves, flipping from female voice to male voice. She stood up and stared at us, dumbfounded.

"Why didn't you leave?" Baxter accused.

That question finally knocked Lily out of her fright. She grew furious. For a moment, I thought she was about to tear our head off. "I tried," Lily said.