Dirty South Drug Wars (9 page)

Josie leaned back in the chair and nodded. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone and placed it back on its cradle. We stared at it, expecting it to ring again. The room was silent until a loud banging against the office door caused us to yelp in shock.

“What are y’all doing?” an angry voice yelled. “Y’all best
not
expect me to clean shop while you hang out in Nana’s office gossiping. I’m going on a date tonight, and I need to get home.”

We closed shop and parted ways. Josie headed out to meet her friends and do God knew what all night. Feeling bad about my grandmother having a cold, I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some items I needed to make her homemade chicken soup.

Lucy grumbled and moaned the entire time I scoped the aisles for ingredients. According to her, I was interrupting her beauty regimen. She huffed, standing behind me at the cash register, flipping the pages of a celebrity gossip magazine. Phone in hand, I tapped away while the cashier scanned my items. I was busy pulling up my checking account app on my phone when I paused and furrowed my brow. The amount of money in the bank was immensely lower than it should have been.

“Lucy, did you take any money out of our joint account?”

Lucy shoved the magazine back in the rack. She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at me while I handed the cashier my debit card.

“I’d never take money out of our account anymore without asking first.” She huffed. “I learned my lesson. The last time I did that was two years ago, and that’s about how long you’ve griped about it.”

Lucy shoved past me and grabbed the bag of groceries from the pimple-faced bag boy who stumbled and stuttered in surprise. The cashier handed me a receipt with an apologetic smile. I gave a brief smile in return and walked out of the store, scrolling through the draft information under my account.

“No wonder it’s so short.” I pocketed my phone and climbed behind the wheel of the Jeep. Lucy continued to glare at me from the passenger seat. “They haven’t deposited our monthly checks in there.”

Lucy and I received Social Security due to the death of our father. The power bill was just one of a multitude of bills due in the next couple of days, and a wave of panic washed over me. Late fees would accumulate if I was unable to pay the bills on time. Those late fees really added up.

“Maybe it’ll come through in a couple days.” Lucy shrugged. “If not, then just call Monday and get everything cleared up. Or call Mama. She’ll loan us some money. I’ll bet she’s making boatloads of money in Birmingham.”

Shaking my head, I almost laughed at the thought of asking our mother for money. Mama hadn’t stopped in for one of her sporadic visits in nearly a month, and she never volunteered to help pay the bills anymore. The last time I spoke to her concerning money she’d kicked up a fuss. Our jobs at the bakery and monthly Social Security deposit should be enough, she’d said.

My mind was consumed with worry as we arrived home. I started on the chicken soup and Lucy disappeared upstairs, spending hours beautifying herself in our tiny bathroom. Once the soup was finished I poured myself a small bowl. Taking a tentative bite, I nearly choked on a piece of chicken as I spotted Lucy descending the stairs.

Lucy wore a light pink and white corset with small, lacy white ruffles running along the bust. Skin tight dark jeans graced her legs. They were shredded from the knees all the way to the top of her thighs. A pair of matching pink cowboy boots trailed up her calves, ending at the knees. The corset and jeans gave the illusion of a larger bust and tapered waist. The poor fellow she was meeting didn’t stand a chance with little Lucy dressed like that. I didn’t plan on him having a chance to begin with.

“Lucy, you’re not leaving the house looking like that.”

Placing one hand on her hip, she said, “Don’t tell me what to do, Rue Monroe. You’re not my mother.”

I washed my hands in the sink and dried them on a threadbare hand towel hanging from a drawer pull. “No, I’m not Mama. She’s living in Birmingham without a care in the world. She’s certainly not standing in this kitchen worrying about who you’re going out with or what you’re wearing tonight.”

Lucy opened her mouth to argue but was interrupted by the sound of someone blowing their horn. I glanced through the kitchen window. A tall, dark-haired boy sat in a car way too small for his large frame.

“Looks like my ride is here.”

Lucy grabbed her small purse from the counter and fluttered to where I stood. She kissed me on the cheek and darted off before I had a chance to argue.

I watched her through the window with a frown. Hopping inside the car, she gave the guy a flirty smile. The couple peeled off, leaving me standing alone in the kitchen scowling at their departure.

With a Tupperware container full of soup and pan of cornbread in hand, I headed out to pay Nana a visit. She lived in the same old, two-story, white clapboard house surrounded by pastures and woods where she’d raised all her children. Flowers bloomed everywhere, splashing the countryside with vibrant hues. My grandmother’s love of gardening was evident to anyone who drove by.

Wicker rockers sat stone still on Nana’s wrap-around porch. I placed the cornbread and soup on the seat of one rocker and pulled open the screen door. After a lengthy amount of time banging on the wooden door without a response, I twisted the doorknob. The door opened with a heavy creaking sound.

“Nana?”

The smell of apples and cinnamon invaded my senses. A low moan drifted from the living room. The soup and cornbread were forgotten on the front porch. Nana lay in Papa Monroe’s worn, blue recliner, wrapped in an old quilt. Moaning and groaning, her pale forehead was beaded with sweat. There was no makeup on her face and her hair was matted up and flattened against her head in a disheveled mess.

“Nana,” I said, aggravated by her stubbornness. “Why didn’t you tell me you were so sick?”

She groaned in response, and guilt consumed me for being angry. Stubbornness ran deep in our family, and it quite possibly stemmed from the miserable woman who lay in front of me. Nana never wanted to burden anyone and was always putting everyone else first, leaving herself for last. I pressed the back of my hand against her sweaty forehead to find her skin burning hot.

“What symptoms are you having?”

Nana peered up at me through squinted, glassy eyes. Her glasses were missing from her face. I spied them sitting on the small table which held the lamp, remote control, and cordless phone.

She wiggled on the recliner, discomfort obvious in her restless limbs. “Fever, chills, nausea, back pain.”

Sighing, I yanked the old patchwork quilt from her protesting hands. “Okay, we’re going to the doctor. Get your tail in gear.”

“I’m not going to the doctor. I’ve got a cold.” Nana rubbed her clammy forehead and cringed. The small gold wedding band she still wore flashed in the light of the lamp. “Besides, the clinic is closed for the day.”

I mulled over her words for a second, pulling on a lock of my hair. She was right; the one clinic in our small town closed around four o’clock. One solution came to mind, a solution I dreaded.

“We’ll go to the hospital in Birchwood.” I grabbed the wooden handle on the side of the recliner and pulled it, causing the footrest to fall and my grandmother’s limp body to awkwardly pop up.

“Ruby Red Monroe, I’m not going to Birchwood. End of discussion.”

“You’re going whether you want to or not, so stop your whining.”

“You know we ain’t allowed over there.”

“Nana, don’t try fooling me. I know you’re not worried about Monroe and Montgomery territory lines. You just want to wallow around in your own misery, trying to cure your ailments by drinking corn whiskey. You’ve had about a dozen kidney infections over the years. Dr. Williams told you how dangerous it is to put off a kidney infection. Do you want to get septic and die?”

“Lord have mercy, child. I’m dying a little every day,” she said, standing unsteadily.

Thankfully, she was fully dressed and it didn’t take much more prodding to get her outside to my Jeep. That was when she started talking her crazy talk.

“Go to my bedroom and look in the back of the closet,” she instructed, panting as I lifted her into the passenger side of the Jeep. “There’s a safe in there. Take it and put in the back of your Jeep.”

“Why do you want me to get your safe, Nana?” Praying for patience, I was unsure if the rambling was related to her fever or from her usual hysterics.

“Because, honey, I think I’m gonna die.” Tears sprang to her eyes. I cocked an eyebrow as she began fanning herself dramatically. “That safe is crammed full of everything you need in case I die. My mother passed away at my age and now I’m gonna die.”

“Nana, Granny died from a bad heart.” My voice drifted away once she grabbed the keys from the ignition and shoved them in the pocket of her khaki pants. “What are you doing?”

“Go get the damn safe or we’re not leaving this driveway. Do you understand me, Ruby Red Monroe?” Nana grabbed my bright pink shirt and wrenched me forward, her eyes wild.

I nodded, slightly terrified of my grandmother at that point.

Leaving her sitting in my Jeep, I ran back to the house. I stopped to grab the supper I’d cooked for her and shoved it in her refrigerator. Muttering to myself, I treaded up the steep wooden stairway to the second floor, making my way to her bedroom.

Nana’s closet door stood halfway open. I searched around in the dark for the cord hanging down from a single light bulb situated at the top of the closet. Soft, yellow light flooded the closet once I gave it a firm tug. I fell on my knees, my clumsy fingers drifting around in the dim glow through the stacks of shoes lining the floor. Something cool and metal touched my skin and I smiled.

The safe was small, but heavy. Around a foot and a half tall and a foot wide, the weight more than made up for its lack of size. With breathless determination, I somehow managed to drag the safe to the stairway. Pausing, I debated how I would manage to lug it downstairs.

Muttering and cussing below my breath, I manned up and slowly backed down the stairs, pulling the safe as I went. It bumped loudly against each step. I eventually made it to the bottom and somehow outside. My arms were like two limp noodles by the time it was deposited in the back of my Jeep. There was an old, dirty yellow hoodie stuffed under the passenger seat, the fabric abandoned long ago by my spastic sister. I tossed it over the safe, hiding it from the view of anyone in the parking garage at the hospital.

I pulled the Jeep out of the drive. “What’s in that safe, anyhow?”

She didn’t immediately respond. The air was filled with the sounds of the rattling of the Jeep and the wind whipping in through the soft top. We headed out of town, the swooping bridge coming into view. My thoughts turned to Tanner, the tall bridge evoking skin-tingling memories of the previous night.

“Lots of things.” Nana’s gaze was occupied by a forlorn barge that traveled in the distance down the muddy river. “You’ll need that safe someday, sweetheart. It’s full of all kinds of secrets. Don’t tell anyone you have it. Do you understand me, Ruby? Don’t you dare tell
anyone
you have that safe. Hide it somewhere no one will find it.”

Nana no longer focused on the barge. Instead, she stared at me with an intensity I’d never seen before. Chills raked my body and I nodded, creeped out by her endless stare. Maybe it was the fever talking and not my actual grandmother, but the expression on her face and her solemn voice terrified me. Thoughts of Tanner dwindled away, no longer dwelling in the forefront of my mind.

Unbeknownst to me, the contents inside Nana’s safe would change not only my life, but the lives of those I loved the most, forever.

As it turned out, Nana did have a kidney infection. We left the emergency room with a handful of written prescriptions and strict instructions for her to drink plenty of water.

Franklin Pharmacy, the only pharmacy in Mayhaw, stayed open pretty late, so I didn’t have to stop anywhere in Birchwood to have Nana’s prescriptions filled. The thought of spending too much time in enemy territory terrified me. As we crossed the big bridge over the muddy water back into my hometown, I breathed a massive sigh of relief.

I drove Nana home, helped her into the house, and back into the recliner. After popping open the bottles, I handed her two pills and a bottle of water. I gave her strict instructions to follow the doctor’s directions to a T. Nana was the type to start feeling better and ditch the medication. She’d done it plenty of times before. My grandmother didn’t like drugs in any shape or form, even prescription drugs. She had her children to thank for that frame of mind.

She agreed to my demands, avoiding my critical stare. Scowling, I picked up her cordless phone and called Aunt Maggie. After a rundown of Nana’s condition and listening to her complain about Nana’s stubbornness, Aunt Maggie agreed to check in on her later in the night. We ended the call and I sat on the nearby plaid couch. Chills raked over Nana’s body once more.

Nana pulled the quilt up to her chin and met my gaze. She huffed and pulled her glasses from her face. She deposited them on the little table by her side, leaned the recliner back, and closed her eyes.

“Are you in your right mind now?” I raised an eyebrow. “What’s with the safe? Do you even remember watching me struggle to shove it inside my Jeep?”

“Yes, Rue, I remember,” she said. “You’re the only one I trust with that safe. And you should do as I said. Hide it where no one will find it.”

You’re the only one I trust.

Those solemn words could move mountains, in my opinion. She joked and carried on with the lot of us, promising each of us were her favorite grandchildren, but I always knew she meant those words when it came to me. Nana was a feisty, smart-mouthed woman with a heart of gold. I loved her more than anyone else on the planet.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s in the safe?”

“It’s not important right now, honey child. You won’t need it until I’m dead and gone.”

I shivered at her words, unable to imagine a life without my grandmother in it. She began snoring lightly and I stood, tucking her quilt around her before I crept from the house.

Jumping in my Jeep, I shot one last curious stare at the backseat where the safe sat. The dirty yellow hoodie was halfway hanging from the metal box. There was a lock on the door and I chuckled, realizing my crazy grandmother hadn’t even given me the combination. I couldn’t get into the blasted thing even if I tried.

After making my way home, I crashed on the couch, stuffing my face with pita chips and salsa. Through the sliding glass doors, the sky began to darken and the moon appeared, casting a white light over the dark lake below. The moon and stars and the mythology of the constellations fascinated me, and now they also reminded me of Tanner. Something told me for the rest of my life, every time I’d stare into the night sky, I’d be reminded of him, just as I was every time I glanced down at my lily tattoo.

It wasn’t normal, these feelings I had for this guy I’d met twice in my lifetime. I’d read about things like that in the cheesy romance novels I’d learned to love over the years. The dog-eared books were hidden underneath my bed in an attempt to cover up my Harlequin romance addiction from my little sister. Her teasing and pestering was the last thing I needed on top of everything else piled onto my miserable existence.

If only there were some way I could let go of these feelings for Tanner. I racked my brain waiting for some brilliant idea to materialize, but there was none. Lost deep in my own thoughts, I lay on the couch, pulling a blanket from where it had been folded across the back and tucking it around me. I stared at the television until the movie went off, the screen eventually going black, unsure of what I’d even watched. Tossing and turning after thinking about Tanner and his lips upon mine, I drifted into a deep sleep, my dreams filled with his touch.

When I woke up, it was late Sunday morning. I’d missed church, and my sister was still not home.

It wasn’t the first time Lucy hadn’t returned from a hot date, but I was worried about the company she kept. She’d told me the guy was some random person she’d met online, which wasn’t a new thing either, but just as scary in my opinion.

I scowled as her cell went directly to voicemail, the call either rejected or the phone dead. After shooting her a rude text, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning house and attempting to contact the Social Security office about our missing money, only to remember it was Sunday and they were, of course, closed. Remembering Lucy’s words, my fingers scrolled down the face of my cell phone, my thumb hovering over my mother’s name. Snickering, I tossed the phone on the couch without another thought of calling my practically non-existent parent. If only Daddy were here, this messy life of mine wouldn’t exist.

As evening approached, my worry over Lucy increased. The last time she’d disappeared, she didn’t come home for two days. It was the longest she’d ever been away. When she
did
arrive back home, she wasn’t in the best frame of mind. She’d been strung out on God knew what, high as a kite, rambling about leprechauns and Cheetos. The guy who dropped her off had burned rubber in our driveway once he saw me step out onto the deck with my daddy’s old sawed-off shotgun. The boy never showed his face around me or my sister again.

Lucy had stayed messed up for three days, wide awake and muttering below her breath about the weirdest things. With her eyes fixed and unseeing, she’d lain on her back, laughing at nothing at all. She’d stared at the blades on the fan hanging above her bed, her eyes swooping around in time as it spun. She had refused medical treatment, attacking the paramedic who’d tried to strap her to a stretcher.

Josie’s voice sounded far away and hollow through my cell. “She’ll come home. Lucy always comes home eventually. If she’s not back by tonight, call me and I’ll help you find her.”

I agreed, ended the call, and rested back in my chair on the front deck. Worrying about Lucy did help with one thing. I hadn’t thought of Tanner once the entire day.

As it turned out, I didn’t have to call Josie again. She showed up on her own. She jumped out of her huge truck wearing fitted, ripped jeans and a too-small black shirt. Josie had a figure to die for, and no one knew it like she did.

She ran up the drive and across the path leading to the deck, bending over with her hands on her knees, ignoring me as she tried to breathe. “I found Lucy.”

“Jesus, Josie. Where is she?”

“Sorry,” she said. Straightening, she pulled her phone from her back pocket. “I really need to lay off the weed for a while. It’s gonna kick my ass when I start running track again. Anyway, someone posted an IG pic of Lucy online. Turns out she’s at some random party in Oak Bluff.”

“How does she leave on a date and end up at a party the next night?” I twirled a lock of hair around my finger in thought. Oak Bluff was a town a few miles south of Mayhaw where Josie and I sometimes partied together.

Josie shrugged, scrolling through her phone as I tried to call Lucy one last time. Again, it went straight to her voicemail.

Irate, I shoved my cell in the back pocket of my shorts. “Okay, that’s it. Let’s ride to Oak Bluff and grab Lucy. If she’s in one of her crazy spells, everyone in Mayhaw’s gonna know it by tomorrow. Nana’s sick, and all she needs is to worry about Lucy more than she already does.”

Josie fired up the truck and headed out of town. Ten minutes later, we passed a reflective green sign announcing our entrance into Oak Bluff before finding our way to the party.

The driveway and both sides of the small country road were packed with vehicles. The music from the modest, split-level home blared, rattling the windows. Hordes of people, some teenagers, some in their early twenties, stood outside smoking, drinking, and laughing. Josie and I pushed our way through a crowd at the door, me mumbling apologies and Josie scowling.

We searched high and low for Lucy, even using Josie’s driver’s license to break into the one room that was locked—a room which was occupied by two very disgruntled, very naked people.

“My bad,” Josie said, pulling the door shut and drowning out their screams. “I’m guessing we need to check the basement.”

She linked her arm with mine, and we marched to the basement door. The stairway was narrow, but we made our way into the basement, which was set up like an actual strip club. A stripper pole and small stage sat near the far end of the room, a silver disco ball slowly twisting above, any nearby light reflecting off the tiny mirrors and scattering across the patrons in the room. There was no one straddling the pole, thank God.

Small, round wooden tables and cushy chairs surrounded the stage. The air was thick with the smell of weed and sex. The basement was large, running the length of the house. Josie and I pushed past the crowds of people as we searched for Lucy. I averted my gaze from a group of guys surrounding a girl bent over a nearby couch, an older man grasping her hips from behind.

“And you call me a whore,” Josie yelled over the hip hop music thumping from the speakers nearby. “I have enough self-respect to do my business in private.”

“I think she’s baked.”

Josie hummed in agreement. We continued our search for Lucy, passing a huge bar where a familiar face helped himself to a bottle of liquor sitting on a shelf.

“Peyton, what in the hell are you doing here?” Josie slapped our cousin on the back of his head. “I’ve been calling you all day looking for Lucy. Why didn’t you answer?”

“I’ve been busy,” he said, shrugging. “I’m working for Uncle Amos now, so I had to make some runs today. And if the two of you were smart, you’d be working for him too, making some real bank. Especially you, Rue. Unless working at the cake shop for the rest of your life is what you really wanna do.”

I glared at my very blunt cousin, who gave me a lazy smirk and took another swig from the bottle. It was no secret to anyone I was going nowhere in life, not while Lucy needed my care and Nana required my help at the cake shop. But I’d be damned if I ever stooped so low to sell drugs for my uncle.

“Where’s Lucy?” I asked.

He grinned and nodded to the far corner of the room. “She’s been talking to a plant for an hour. I think I saw her making out with it once.”

Josie screamed at our cousin, but I abandoned the two of them and headed in the direction Peyton had nodded.

There sat my baby sister, curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, her face resting against the tall potted plant beside her. Her hair hung in limp, lifeless curls, flowing around her shoulders with several strands hanging across her face. Lucy’s funky, glittery eyeshadow was smeared across her face, as was her thick, black eyeliner.

“Lucy.” I grabbed her shoulders and gave her a firm shake. Moaning, her head lolled to one side. “Lucy, wake up. Party’s over. It’s time to go.”

Josie’s skinny legs appeared by my side. She heaved a sigh and stooped over, bending down to place her mouth right against my sister’s ear. “Get up, Lucy! The building’s on fire.”

Lucy’s eyes sprang open and darted around in confusion.

“There’s no fire,” I said, shooting a smirking Josie a dirty look. “But it is time to go home. Where’s your purse?”

“Jay’s car.” She pointed into the dense crowd.

I followed the direction she pointed and found the same guy who’d picked her up for their date the previous night. He stood among the group of guys cheering on the live porn.

Furious he’d left my sister alone, drunk in the corner of what seemed like the basement from hell, I stomped across the room and grabbed him by his arm. He swung around, beer in hand, looking surprised and peeved at the sudden interruption.

“I need Lucy’s purse. I’m her sister.”

There were a million other things I wanted to say, but Jay had something belonging to my sister. Insulting him probably wouldn’t help.

The peeved look left his face and was replaced by a flirtatious grin. I frowned at his audacity.

Placing my hands on my hips, I gave him an adamant, “No.”

A look of confusion spread across his face. “No, what?”

“To whatever it is running through your head. Now where’s my sister’s purse? I’d like to get out of this stink-hole as soon as possible.”

Jay gave me a long, hard look, his face reddening at my words.

Placing a beer up to his lips, he shrugged and said, “I’d like to help you, really I would. But as you see, I’m a little busy.” With that he turned away. Snickering to himself, he focused on the girl who had since changed positions.

Ready to give up and get the hell out of Dodge, I couldn’t care less if Lucy ever saw her purse, cell phone, or whatever else she carried on her ever again. It was time to roll out because I couldn’t stand one more second in the Den of Sex. After walking back over to Josie, I told her it was time to bounce.

She nodded, and the two of us hoisted Lucy up on her feet, pulling her arms over each of our shoulders. Lucy teetered a bit on her boots and stumbled against us as we dragged her across the room.