Endless Night (18 page)

“Call me Willy, Jack. But not Wee Willy—I hate that.”

Jody and Andy looked at each other. Andy swung his eyes toward the ceiling. Jody shook her head. They followed the two men, keeping a distance.

“Wee Willy,” Wilson said. “That’s what they always called me. I bet you got a lot of that yourself.”

“Wee Willy?” Dad sounded confused. “Me?”

“Ha! No! Wells Fargo. Didn’t they always call you Wells Fargo? Or maybe Stagecoach? Or maybe Banker? Or Piggy-bank?”

Jody elbowed Andy. Andy looked as if he was pained by the notion of being related to such a man.

“They never called me anything like that,” Dad said.

“Well, I can’t understand why not, with a name like Fargo.”

“Maybe they didn’t figure it’d be
safe.”

“Safe! Ho! Very good.”

Jody took hold of Andy’s arm. She stopped walking, and halted him beside her. “Hey Dad, if you don’t need us right now, would it be all right if we leave?”

“Fine,” he called back. “Just remember what I said about windows.”

“Okay,” she called to him. Then she pulled Andy after her. “Let’s get out of here.”

Side by side, they limped to her bedroom. She led him in, then shut the door. She pressed her back to it. “I don’t want to speak ill of your relatives, Andy, but that guy ...”

“You oughta be glad he didn’t do this to you.” Andy caught her cheek between his thumb and the side of his forefinger. Then he squeezed it and shook it.

“Hey.” She knocked his hand away. “What is he again? Your mother’s sister’s husband.”

“Right.”

“Good. That’s lucky for you. He’s not a
blood
relation, so there’s no chance your kids might turn out like him.”

“No way.”

“Thank God.”

Andy leaned in toward her. “What’s your big interest in how my kids’ll turn out?”

“Oh, give me a break.”

“Huh?” He pushed his hands against the door on both sides of her head, then leaned even closer. His head was tilted back so he could look her in the eyes. “Do
you
have any weird relatives?”

“No Wee Willy.”

“Then we don’t have to worry, do we?”

“Worry?”

He winked at her twice with his right eye. “About our kids being freako nerds.”

“Our kids? You’re twelve years old, hot shot.”

“I won’t always be.”

“Don’t count on it.”

The wild silly gleam vanished suddenly from his eyes.

“Hey,” Jody said. “I’m sorry. I was just kidding around. You won’t always be twelve.”

“I might be. They might kill me before my birthday.”

“Nobody’s gonna kill you.”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad,” he muttered.

“What? Being killed? Don’t count on it. For one thing, it’s gotta hurt.”

“Maybe for a while. Then it’d be over, though. You know? And then nothing would hurt anymore. Not ever.”

“Hey, cut it out.”

“And I’d be with Mom and Dad and Evelyn.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” She put a hand behind his head and eased his face toward her. His forehead pushed lightly against the tip of her nose. His breath felt hot on her throat. “Do you know what happened to my mother?”

“Just... you know ... that she’s dead.”

“She got killed when I was in second grade.”

“Was she murdered?”

“She got run over by a car.”

“Yuck.”

“It was so weird. It was all because she went to a place called the Longlife Health and Nutrition Center. She was a real health nut, and this was where she always bought all her special vitamins. She came out with a whole bagful of stuff. But she must’ve wondered about something, because they said she was reading the label on a bottle of pills when she stepped off the curb. The heel of her shoe got hung up and she tripped. She stumbled past where our car was parked and ... She ended up falling flat right in front of a moving car. That’s how she got killed.”

“That’s awful,” Andy said in a small voice.

“Yeah.”

“Were you there? Did you see it?”

“No. I was in school.”

“Oh, man.”

“I just wanted you to know. Things happen, you know? Really bad things. But ... like ... I still miss her and everything, but not all the time. Things’ll get better for you, Andy. It won’t always be this bad. So don’t talk about crazy stuff, okay? You don’t want to die. I don’t want you to die. It’d wreck me.”

He raised his face, looked her in the eyes, blinked. “It would?”

“Sure.”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“You do love me, don’t you?”

She thought about it for a moment, then answered, “Sure I do. Now, let’s get out of here before you start in on kids again. Because I’m not having kids with you, so you might as well forget it.”

“If you say so.” He made a sad attempt at a smile. “You can always change your mind, though. Know what I mean?”

“Don’t hold your breath. Come on, let’s see how Dad’s coming with the burgers.”

Chapter Seventeen

Dad used the back yard barbecue, after all. He and Andy’s uncle were both outside, but soon came in with a platter full of hamburgers. Dad carried the platter and a Pepsi can. Willy had a glass containing a crushed wedge of lime and the remains of several ice cubes.

“Can I get you a refill?” Dad asked.

Good idea, Jody thought. Get him plowed, so then maybe they’ll have to stay.

Not that she wanted Willy to stay.

She just didn’t want Andy to go.

“Don’t believe so, Jacko. Thanks all the same, but I’ve got a mighty big drive ahead of me. I believe I’ll have a soda, instead.”

“Pepsi okay?” Dad asked.

“Would you have any sort of a diet cola?”

“I’m afraid not.” Dad gave the man an odd look. With good reason, Jody thought. Diet cola? The guy was as skinny as a worm.

“Well, I don’t suppose one
real
soda will kill me.” He bobbed his head a few times and winked. “Just don’t tell the wife. She’s after me to trim down, you know.”

“Mum’s the word,” Dad said.

They sat around the dining room table, each with a hamburger and potato chips on a plate, and either a can or a glassful of Pepsi. For a while, nobody spoke as they customized their burgers with various combinations of mustard, mayonnaise, lettuce, freshly sliced tomatoes, pickles and thick slabs of onion.

“Mmm, good,” Willy said after his first bite. “Abso-tivly posa-lutely delicious. My compliments to the chef.”

Quickly, before a conversation could get a chance to start, Jody asked, “Do you think you’ll be able to let Andy come and visit us?”

He tilted his head sideways. “Why, we aren’t even out the door yet, and you already want him back! Jacko, you’d better watch out! I think your little lady might have her
eyes
on young Andy here.”

“She could do worse, I guess.”

“Dad!
It’s nothing like that, and you know it.”

“Oh, I know. The thing is, Wilson, they went through a lot together last night. Looks to me like it turned them into a team—and when you’re on a good team, you don’t like to break it up.”

“Yeah,” Andy pitched in. “It’s like we’re partners.” He frowned at his uncle. “So you’ve
gotta
let me come back and see her.”

“Now, don’t go aiming gottas at me, Andy. I don’t respond well to gottas. However, I imagine we’ll be able to arrange something along the lines of a visit. After you’ve settled in, and your aunt’s had time to accustom herself to the situation.”

“He’s welcome any time,” Dad said.

“Splendid. Of course, any consideration of a visit will absolutely have to wait until the culprits have been apprehended.”

“But Uncle ... !”

“Annndrewww?” Willy tipped back his head as if hoping to make his point by showing Andy the interiors of his nostrils. “We don’t argue.”

“What if they never catch those guys?”

Jody opened her mouth, but a quick look from her father stopped her from speaking.

“This is not a safe place,” Willy explained. “I left my job at eleven o’clock this morning and spent my entire day on the road to come here and take you away because you’re in danger here. In fact, it’s gone against my better judgment even to stay for supper—which puts us both in needless jeopardy.” He smiled and bobbed vigorously at Dad. “Not that it isn’t a luscious supper, because it most certainly is. But you tell him, Jacko.”

Dad rubbed his left cheek and settled his gaze on Andy. “You’ll be a lot safer in Arizona, that’s for sure.”

“That’s coming from a police officer,” Willy pointed out.

Jody felt as if she might explode. “Dad! What if the guys don’t ever get caught? Does that mean Andy and I never ever get to see each other again in our whole lives?
That
isn’t fair.”

Even before she’d finished, her father had begun to pat at the air with his open hand. When her last word was out, he said, “Settle down, honey. I’m not saying that. What we’ll do is play it by ear. We can ask Andy to come for a visit as soon as things look stable around here.” He faced the boy. “How does that sound?”

“Okay, I guess.”

“And I’ll call you on the phone tomorrow,” Jody told him.

“Will you give them your number, Uncle Willy?”

“We’ve already got it,” Dad explained.

Not much was said during the rest of the meal. Jody worked on her hamburger. She supposed there was nothing wrong with it—that it was probably as tender and juicy and tasty as Dad’s barbecued burgers always were—but it filled her mouth with heavy, dry lumps that were hard to swallow. After eating less than half of it, she gave up. She nibbled a few potato chips and sipped her Pepsi.

Andy seemed to be having trouble with his burger, too. He didn’t quit, though. He never set it down, but held it over his plate with both hands and stared at it and every so often took a small bite.

He’s trying to make it last, Jody thought. He knows he’ll have to leave when we’re done eating.

Just as Andy finished his burger, Dad asked, “Would anyone like some ice cream?”

“Sure!” Andy blurted. A reprieve.

“I’m afraid we’d better pass on that, Jacko. Much obliged, anyhow. I’m afraid we’ve already dallied way too long. We’ve got that big drive ahead of us.” He winked at Andy. “Don’t we, young fellow?”

“I guess so.”

“You’re planning to drive all the way through?” Dad asked.

“That’s the thing about me, I never do anything halfway. It’s whole hog or nothing. I believe if you’re going for it, you should go full steam ahead, come hell or high water, torpedoes be damned!”

“Give me liberty,” Jody muttered, “or give me death.”

Her father and Andy both looked stunned: Dad shocked by her rudeness, Andy delighted.

But Wilson Spaulding bobbed his head at her, shook a crooked finger, and blurted, “Abso-tivly! Preeeeci-sely! Give me liberty or give me death! That’s the sort of gung-ho spirit we like to see. Damn the torpedoes!” He turned to Dad. “You’ve sure got yourself a charmer, here.”

“Or something,” Dad muttered.

Andy laughed, but Willy didn’t seem to notice him. “We should take her with us. By force, if necess ry! How would you like that, young lady?”

The eagerness that suddenly brightened Andy’s face killed her urge to make a crack. “Thank you for asking, Mr. Spaulding. I can’t, though. I’ve gotta stay here with my dad.”

You didn’t mean it, anyway, you jerk! You got
Andy’s
hopes up for no good reason at
all.

“I’m sorry,” she told Andy.

“It’s okay. I know you can’t come.”

Her throat tightened. “I think you oughta have some ice cream.” To Willy, she said, “We can make up some cones, and both of you can take them with you. We’ve got chocolate chip, and Ben & Jerry’s Heath ...”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Willy said. “Cones can be so messy, and .. ”

Her chair crashed to the floor as she sprang up.

“You ignorant son-of-a-bitch! His whole family’s been wiped out and you’re not gonna let him have a goddamn ice cream cone? What the hell is the matter with you!”

Even as she yelled, a small voice in Jody’s mind was warning, “My God, listen to you! You’ve lost it! You’ve flipped out!”

In spite of the small voice, she blurted it all out, shouting it at the man, spit flying from her lips, tears pouring down her cheeks.

Andy looked shocked, at first. Then he was crying, too.

Willy sat very stiff and still in his seat and blinked at her.

Dad lunged up, rushed around the table, took Jody by the arm and towed her into the hallway. There, away from the others, he hugged her and stroked her hair. “Oh, honey,” he whispered. “Oh, honey.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.”

“I just wanted him to get his ice cream,” she blubbered.

“He’ll get it, he’ll get it. Jesus, honey. Are you okay?”

“No.”

“I know, I know.”

“He’s an awful man.”

“He’s just odd, that’s all. He means well.”

“He does not. He’s a creep. Oh, Dad. Can’t we do something ? Can’t we stop him from taking Andy?”

“Andy’ll be fine with him.”

“No, he won’t.”

“Honey, honey. They’re his relatives. They’ll take good care of him. I know you’ll miss him, but ...”

“GOODBYE!” Andy yelled. “GOODBYE,
JODY!”

“What the ... ?” Dad suddenly muttered.

“DON’T FORGET TO...”

“Come on.” Uncle Willy’s voice, quick and harsh.

“Andy!” Jody shouted.

And heard a door smack shut.

“Dad, we’ve gotta ...”

“Shhhh.” He stood rigid, holding her tightly.

He’s listening.

Oh my God, he’s listening for gunshots!

“Dad!”

“Shhhh.”

When the noise came, she flinched. Dad didn’t. He stood solid and whispered, “Just the car door.” Moments later, a second thud came. An engine whinnied. “They’re in. They should be all right.”

The sound of the engine faded. “Dad, they’re leaving!”

“They’re past the risky part.” He talked in a whisper, almost as if thinking out loud. “I’d planned to have Wilson pull his car into the garage so Andy wouldn’t be exposed. Never expected he’d run off like that.”