The Word of a Liar (16 page)

Samantha was standing in the driveway near Spider and Dee Dee who stood by their motorcycle. Mason and Mad Dog straddled their bikes, helmets in hand, looking like Hollywood celebrities. The evening sun cast a bronze glow over their tanned skin. Muscled biceps flared beneath black T-shirts and denim cuts. The highlights in their dark hair caught the purple-pink hues of dusk. She stopped to catch her breath.  JD stumbled into her back.

“This is a wonderful surprise,” Ellen said as she walked over to Samantha.

Coming to her sister’s rescue, Samantha coaxed JD out from behind Ellen and held on to his shoulders.  “These are your mom’s friends, JD. Remember what we told you to do when you meet someone new?”

JD looked at the ground and didn’t respond.

Ellen cast a weak smile at her guests and took JD’s hand, leading him over to Mason’s Sportster. “JD, this is Mason Hackett. He’s the man I told you about earlier.”

She looked at Mason.  His bewildered expression and shocked eyes made sweat break out along the back of her neck. Ellen whispered in the boy’s ear. “What are you supposed to do, JD?”

“Hello, Mason Hackett. I am JD Abrams,” JD said too loudly and then looked down.

Mason swallowed hard. Tall, the boy looked much older than ten. His round, heavy-lashed eyes resembled Ellen’s. “Nice to meet you, bud.”

Mason kicked down the stand, slid his leg over the seat, and then held out his hand.

JD didn’t move.

“Shake his hand.” Ellen prodded.

Uneasy, Mason stepped back. “It’s okay, Ellen.”

He hung his helmet on the sissy bar and fumbled with a strap on his saddle bag. He knew she was waiting for him to kiss her or at least greet her in some way, but he couldn’t. Stymied by JD’s weird behavior, he wanted to flee—take back his promise to try and call off the whole affair, but something stopped him. 

Mad Dog broke the tension; grabbing Ellen in a bear hug, he lifted her off the ground. “How the hell you doin’, Ellen?”

Mad Dog smiled, twirling her around. “I’ve missed you, baby.” 

Ellen giggled. “I’m fine, now put me down before you throw out your back.”

He released her and then squatted to eye level with JD. “I’d be afraid to shake his hand, too, if I were you, JD. He’s a pretty ugly dude, isn’t he? But he has a damn cool motorcycle.”

JD shook his head in agreement, eyes on the bike.

“He might take you for a ride later.”

Mason resisted the urge to kick Mad Dog’s ass. No way did he want to ride this strange kid.

“We have to get him a helmet before I can ride him,” Mason hedged, but seeing Ellen’s look of disgust, he added, “But if you really want to go, I could take you around the block.”

“No!” JD cried, suddenly alarmed.

“Okay, buddy, no big deal,” Mad Dog said and smiled at Ellen. “I tried.”

Mad Dog kissed her on the cheek.

“JD, this is Mike O’Donnell. He’s the man who fixed my car. His nickname is Mad Dog. And this is Dee Dee and her husband Spider.

“Mommy, they have skeletons on their clothes. I have a four-foot tall skeleton in my TV room,” JD announced proudly. “I got him for Christmas last year.”

Ellen smiled. “Are you hungry? We were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers.”

“Don’t you bother with us,” Dee chimed in. “We had dinner. We went on a run to Crivitz today and stopped at a tavern on the way back. Rambo said he had to be here at five-thirty, but obviously we didn’t make it. I hope we aren’t barging in.”

Ellen glanced over at Mason. He smiled sheepishly.

“No. I’m glad you all came. You met my sister?”

“Yes, I introduced myself.”

“Well, then let’s go sit in the backyard.”

The group followed.

Everyone gathered on the patio except Mason, who stood near the garage with his arms folded across his chest. He watched JD get the hose and take it over to the birdbath in the center of the yard.

“What was going on in Crivitz?” Samantha asked.

“They’re having a Blue Grass Festival. We usually go every year and camp, but this year it was so close to the weekend of the Sons of  Thunder
rally we just went up for the day,” Dee Dee said as she pulled a pack of cigarettes from her jacket and lit one. Taking a long drag, she exhaled the smoke in a slow puff of air. JD ran up to her, hose in hand, with water running over the flagstone.

“Don’t you spray anyone with that, JD!” Ellen warned.

JD dropped the hose and stared as Dee took another drag. “You’re a smoker!”

Fascinated, he watched her exhale.

“I’m a smoker, but don’t you ever smoke. It’s a bad habit,” Dee Dee warned, scooting her chair back.

Ellen got up and pulled JD away. “Don’t stand so close.”

She flashed Dee an apologetic smile.

“Why?  Is it rude?” JD asked.

Mason didn’t doubt the sincerity of the boy’s question.
The kid’s ten and he doesn’t understand personal space?
Mason sighed.

“Yes. It’s rude to stand so close to someone like that,” Ellen admonished.

“It’s all right. He wasn’t hurting nothing. I didn’t want to burn him or blow smoke in his face,” Dee Dee said, looking flustered.

JD picked up the hose and then went back to the birdbath.

“He’s fascinated with smoke or anything that floats in the air,” Ellen said as she took her seat. Her bottom lip trembled like she might cry. Mason felt a twinge of guilt but stood against the garage, determined to stay put.

“Maybe I shouldn’t smoke around him.”

Ellen shook her head, casting her eyes on Mason. Her look unmistakable, it asked him what was wrong. He lowered his gaze.

“He must like the water, too,” Mad Dog remarked.

“He loves the water and can swim like a fish, but if he spills a drop of water on his clothes, he’s stripping them off like it’s burning his skin,” Samantha said and then grinned.

“Do you have any beer around here, Ellen? I sure could use a cold one. It’s damn hot,” Mad Dog said as he stretched out his legs.

A furtive glance to Mason, Ellen offered sodas and the whiskey Mason had left at her house.

“One bottle of whiskey isn’t enough for all of us. I’ll make a run to the liquor store,” Mad Dog offered.

“I’ll go,” Mason piped up, finally having an excuse to get away.

Mad Dog rose and stood in front of him. The dark look in his eyes left no question, the alpha male was giving a command.

“No!” Mad Dog said, his voice emphatic. “I’ll go. You need to stay here!”

Mad Dog turned and asked, “How about you come with me, Samantha?  You can hold the beverages.”

“I’d love to go. Let me grab my jacket.”

***

JD splashed water in the birdbath. Somehow Mason had gotten the responsibility of babysitting while Ellen showed off the house to Dee Dee and Spider. Jabbering to himself, JD played in another world. Mason didn’t try to engage the boy in conversation, only observed.
A handsome kid, too bad he is so strange
, Mason thought. He rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger. He wasn’t sure how was he ever going to relate to JD. He had to find a way. His relationship with Ellen depended upon it.

Guilt plagued him over the childish way he had acted that morning and his behavior now. He still felt like running, but his feelings for Ellen kept him there. He had missed her like crazy that day, and when he saw her in the driveway, he wanted to grab her, take her upstairs and make love until they fell into an exhausted sleep. But immediately his rapture had turned to dread when he spotted JD huddled into her back. Mason thought that if he were smart, he’d leave and forget all about Ellen Abrams and her kid. Deep down, he knew the relationship was a train wreck waiting to happen.

Elbow on knee, head in his hand, Mason sighed. A light, warm breeze cooled his skin. The sun, a reddish smudge in the horizon, marked time. Mad Dog should be back soon. Mason needed a drink. Remembering the whiskey he had brought over, he went in to get it.

He opened the cupboard where he’d left it. He heard Ellen and Dee Dee talking upstairs. He filled a glass with ice then grabbed the bottle of Jack Daniels. He walked back outside and sat down on a lawn chair. Water flushed over the sides of the birdbath. JD was no longer there.

“Fuck!” Mason gulped some of the whiskey, then got up and walked behind the garage. No JD. He checked if the gate was still locked.  JD must have gone out to the front yard. Rounding the house, Mason saw JD standing by his Sportster. Squatting, the boy inspected the chrome-plated pipes.

“Don’t touch those!” Mason barked. 

JD stood without registering Mason’s voice; he tried to kick the bike off its stand.

Mason sprinted, catching the motorcycle before it fell to the pavement.

“Rule number one, JD!” Mason scolded, as he righted the bike, breathing in short irritated puffs and shaking his finger. “Don’t ever touch a man’s motorcycle.”

JD ran up the porch steps, stopped, and turned to face Mason.  Arms up, JD twisted his hands side to side. “Are you mad at me?” he asked.

The look in his eyes reminded Mason of Ellen when he had approached her on the highway.

“No,” Mason said as he shook his head.

“Are you disappointed?”

Mason moved closer and sat down on the step in front of the boy. Resting his back up against the house, he looked at JD. “I’m not mad or disappointed. If the bike fell, it would hurt you, and those pipes are still hot.”

“Would I have to go to the emergency room?”

“Maybe.”

JD let out a loud, frustrated growl. Storming at emptiness, he yelled, “JD is unteachable!”

Mason didn’t know how to respond and feared JD would run away if he got any closer. Slowly, he rose and went to the motorcycle.  “Do you want to take a ride now?”

JD shook his head wildly.

“Want to sit on it? I’ll show you what all this stuff is.”

JD briefly made eye contact.

“Come on. It’s all right. I’ll stand here by you so it won’t fall over.” Mason patted the leather seat.

Cautiously, JD stepped off the porch. Mason felt a small grin move across his face. JD stood next to him but made no attempt to get on. Mason realized he didn’t know how.

“Stand like this, and swing your right leg over the seat.”

Mason demonstrated.

“You see the pegs there?” Mason asked, pointing. “Once you’re seated, put your feet there and hold on to the handle bars.”

JD flapped his hands, biting his bottom lip.

“Go on. It’s okay. I won’t let it fall.”

Awkwardly, JD swung his right leg over the seat. Mason steadied the bike until JD gripped the handlebars. “Is that the speedometer?” JD asked.

“Yes.”

“The speed limit is thirty-five miles an hour,” JD shouted. “Hey, lady, this ain’t a parade!”

Once again, JD lost himself in a world Mason couldn’t enter.

“I guess this is how it’s got to go for a while. Me on the outside, observing,” Mason spoke his thoughts aloud. “We’ll have to go slow, take it one step at a time.”

JD, obviously catching a part of what Mason said, eagerly looked up. “I want to go fast. Let’s go fast!”

Mason chuckled. “We can only go for a short ride. It’s getting dark. If you want to go for a ride tomorrow, I’ll take you.”

This time Mason meant it.

“I don’t think Dee will mind if we borrow this,” Mason said as he snatched Dee Dee’s helmet and adjusted it on JD.

“I want to ride around in a loop like Homer Simpson,” JD said and then smiled.

“We aren’t going to be making any loops yet. You want your mom to beat me? Scoot back, so I can get on.”

Mason took hold of the handlebars as JD moved to the back. He kicked it into neutral and backed the bike up with his feet.

“Hold on to me,” he shouted. JD obeyed, wrapping his arms around Mason’s waist. Mason kicked it into first gear, released the clutch and rolled the throttle. The bike thundered up the street.

***

“I still can’t believe Rambo bought you all these roses, Ellen,” Dee Dee remarked as they came down the stairs.

“No more surprised than me and I’ve been wondering how he afforded it all.”

“The paper mill pays well and he’s single with no kids. That’s how,” Dee Dee replied.

“All I can say is, he’s got it bad, that’s for sure,” Spider muttered, trailing the two women out to the porch. 

They caught site of the motorcycle as it climbed the hill past Ellen’s house. Apprehension choked her. “Mason should’ve asked me first. What if JD falls off?”

Unaware she spoke her fears loud enough to hear, Spider patted her shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Ellen. Rambo knows how to handle a bike. He probably took advantage of the moment and couldn’t ask you.”

Spider’s red handle bar mustache moved upward, exposing a warm smile. Ellen looked into his green, reassuring eyes.