Part 18 (1/2)

”s.h.i.+t.” Nick stubbed out his cigarette. ”Here I am getting the short end of the stick, and it used to be my stick.”

”Now come on.”

”Remember that? It used to be my f.u.c.king stick.”

”It's still your stick.”

”Sure it is.”

”It's both of our stick. Except it's bigger now. There's more stick to go around.”

”You can't prove that by me.” He looked down at the bar and then looked up again, square at Tom. ”Ever heard of dancing with what brung you?”

”I'm not much for dancing.”

”Like h.e.l.l you're not. Henri said you danced just fine up there in Montreal. He said your daddy danced even better than you.”

DeAlton.

SO DROP HIM. Cut him off.

Guys like that are a dime a dozen. The sooner you learn that, the better you'll do in this life.

I know, I know, but I don't care. He can't possibly have a line on every d.a.m.ned pot smoker in the county. n.o.body ever gave him sole rights to that information. n.o.body ever gave him this territory on an exclusive basis. You didn't. I sure as h.e.l.l didn't.

There's ways to find out. Use your head. It won't be a big deal.

You cut him off and get him out of the picture and the sooner you do it the better.

So what if he does? I a.s.sure you that Henri isn't going to start selling through the both of us. Who's got the money? You tell me that. Who's got the money?

That's right, we've got the money. Henri's a businessman and he's going to go with the people who've got the money. He can't afford to be sentimental. And he's sure as h.e.l.l no idiot.

If you won't cut him off I will.

That's right. He's just a little fish and I'll throw him back myself if you won't.

On second thought, no. You do it. Consider it part of growing up.

1990.

Donna.

ON HIS WAY HOME for lunch, Graham saw Donna's car turn up the dirt lane. He thought that with her as a buffer it might not be out of line to swing by, see how Audie was doing. So he touched the brakes and made the turn, switching on the air-conditioning and rolling up his windows rather than let the patrol car fill up with the dust that her car had raised. for lunch, Graham saw Donna's car turn up the dirt lane. He thought that with her as a buffer it might not be out of line to swing by, see how Audie was doing. So he touched the brakes and made the turn, switching on the air-conditioning and rolling up his windows rather than let the patrol car fill up with the dust that her car had raised.

He found them in the house. The temperature had gone up to well over ninety-five and the humidity was higher than that and there wasn't much air moving. The windows were open and the gray lace curtain poked through one of them like a tongue and hung listless against the gray sill and the gray clapboards. He didn't knock because they saw him on the porch and Donna opened the door. She was in her hospital greens and she hadn't sat down yet and she never sat down the whole time he was there. He figured he knew why.

Creed was the first to speak. ”You want one of them hamburgers, you go on help yourself.” Looking at Graham but pointing at an open sack that Donna had brought up from McDonald's in town. ”We already had our lunch and they won't keep too good.” Donna looked frustrated. Graham said thank you but he was due to make up a Rotary meeting out at the Homestead, so he couldn't stay long. Creed advised him to have the chicken and biscuits and he said he just might if they had it.

Audie had his mouth full of burger regardless of what he'd had to eat already, and he grinned at him around it.

”I just came out to see how you were doing,” Graham said.

Audie made some response through the burger and Creed said his brother was doing just fine now that he had two lunches in him. The one they already had and the second one their sister brought.

Donna asked if he was here with more questions for Audie and he told her no. He didn't have any questions for Audie other than how he'd been doing since they'd let him out of the hospital. ”That's all through,” he said. He put out his hand to Audie and Audie took it. ”I'm glad to see you're doing all right.” He gave Audie's hand a good hard squeeze and Audie squeezed back as if it were a compet.i.tion and Graham extracted himself. Then he stepped toward the door.

Donna followed him and opened it and said as they stepped out, ”He's still on medication right now. A sedative.”

”I wondered. It wasn't my business to ask.” He drew breath and looked back through the rusty screen at the two brothers making ready to come back out. ”It seems to be doing him good.”

”I think he has another day or two on it. We'll see.”

Graham lifted his damp s.h.i.+rt away from his skin. He looked around the porch and took note of the ashtray on the arm of the overstuffed chair that Vernon had always favored. There were some twists of something probably not quite tobacco in it still and he asked about them, pointing. ”You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?”

”I thought you didn't come here to ask questions.”

”I didn't. I just-”

”My brother had cancer. Marijuana gave him some comfort.”

”You know where he got it?”

”I'd tell you he grew it himself if you'd let it drop.”

”Is that so?”

”As far as anybody ever told me. They grow a lot of things around here.”

”Then I'll let it drop,” said Graham.

”Creed used to run a still up there in the woods,” she said. ”A little bit of marijuana isn't that big a reach.”

”No,” said Graham. ”I guess it isn't. Like I said, I'll let it drop. No harm done.” Then he tipped his flat-brimmed hat and left.

Del.

I WOULD HAVE LET IT GO WOULD HAVE LET IT GO. I meant to. Not just because of what the sister said, but because those two old men had endured enough. They'd endured enough and they were going to have to endure more before it was over, so there was no sense adding to it now. Another individual might have pursued it regardless and I might have been that other individual under different circ.u.mstances, but not under these.