Chapter 4
Georgie was pissed off. The phone number she had for the bitch was disconnected. She never would have thought she’d do something like that as she’d been calling her several times a day for nearly a month. Georgie thought that the woman was stupid for even answering her calls in the first place. After about a week of it, hell, a couple of days, she would have changed out her number then.
Samuel hadn’t been able to get her new number either. His buddies at the police station weren’t giving him shit anymore. Some bigwig had put the hammer down on him getting information. They were his kids by god, why didn’t he deserve to have someone checking up on them all the time? Georgie was still about four hours away from his brother and that Mandy person. She’d better be right at the house too, or there was going to be hell to pay.
She and Samuel were twins. They weren’t identical, she had to tell people, on account of her having black hair and him having red. She was also taller than him. But other than that, she supposed she could see where people would be confused. They were forever asking them if they were identical. Stupid people.
Georgie was smarter than her brother, too. He might be meaner than her, but that is where her smarts would come in. While she might well have killed Besty—stupid name if you asked her—but she’d been better at it in not getting caught. Like she would have killed her in her bed, not out in the kitchen where anyone could see them. Then she’d run off like she’d not been home. Stuff like he’d done would get you in prison.
Samuel also had tried to kill his sons. Nah, doing that would get you hate from everyone in the prison. Killing kids was a big fat no-no as far as she knew. While not being in prison like her brother had been, she’d been in a lot of jails lots of times. That’s where she got all her information about things like her brother was in right now.
In addition to killing Besty, he’d been caught wanting to kill the kids. Then there was the witnesses too. Not just the kids, if she were to beat them enough, they’d not say a word, but the aunt had been there too. Georgie had full intentions of getting her out of the way too. Without her testimony, there wasn’t going to be anything they could hold him on. They’d have to let him go. No witness, no prison. Everyone knew that.
Of course, she didn’t know about the police and what they’d seen. But she also knew that blackmail would get them to change their mind. Money, too, but she didn’t have much of that, so she was going to have to dig deep into their lives to figure out what they’d done before becoming a model citizen. Everyone had something in their past that she could get. And if they didn’t, then she’d make things up. She wasn’t above doing anything for her brother.
Getting off the highway to get some gas and something to eat, she pulled up to the gas line and waited her turn. She loved how people would look at her truck. It was so jacked up that if she wanted to, she could run right up and over the little cars in front of her if she’d had a mind to. As it was now, she could look down on anyone in line.
Her truck was shiny black with thirty-five-inch wheels and a lift suspension system that raised the body up about four feet, making her a god to the driving world. There were flood lights along the top of the front window, a special light in the roof that turned when she needed it to.
Gunning her engine a little, she was happy to see a couple in their tiny little car get finished up faster and on their way. Pulling to the fueling station, Georgie pulled out her little ladder and made her way down the steps. Yes, sir, she thought, she was a scary bitch when it came to her truck.
Of course, it had cost her everything she’d ever made, too. The lift kit alone had been nearly five grand. The tires were about twenty-five hundred a piece for five of them. Then there was the paint job. Christ, it was no small wonder that she had to sleep in her baby. She didn’t have money for anything else after getting it the way she wanted.
After getting gas and paying, Georgie picked up some chips and a six-pack of beer. It was the snack of champions, she told herself. And when she got out to her baby, she opened up the chips—nothing but spicy hot ones for her, she opened up a can of beer for the road. The entire six-pack wouldn’t be enough to get her drunk, but it was enough to give her a buzz. And that was all she wanted to have to deal with Mandy and the kids.
Georgie was on her way a few minutes after drinking her second beer and downing nearly half the bag of chips. Burping loudly, she pulled into traffic just as her cell phone rang. Looking at the face that came up, she was glad that she’d put the number in for her brother on his contact list the last time he’d been in jail. Saved her time in trying to figure out who was bothering her all the time.
“Speak.” Smiling, she knew that it would throw him off when she didn’t say hello. Just as she figured, he asked her to stop screaming in the phone and answer correctly. “Then don’t call me anymore if that’s the way that you feel. Whatcha want anyway?”
“I can’t get nothing from nobody around here. They’re all about as close-mouthed as I’ve ever seen. You almost here?” She told him that she only had about four hours to go. “Good. You come to the jailhouse when you get here. I’ve asked for Mandy to come and see me. I’m going to see if I can butter her biscuits to get some information from her. Maybe she’ll bring the kids with her. I hope so. I need to know what they been saying about me and shit.”
“If anything happens to you and you don’t get out right away, can you give me permission to live in that government house while I gots them? Might be better than all three of us living in my truck. Besides, I’d like to have a place to keep my beers cold. You need anything?” Her brother said he’d like to have a couple of beers himself; he was going through some terrible shakes. “I’ll grease a few palms to get you a couple in. You still drinking that cheap shit? You know that I won’t join you when we’re talking if you are. That shit is nasty. I’ll get us something to munch on, too, while we converse.”
She thought about the house that her brother had been living in with Besty. It had three big bedrooms and a nice-sized kitchen. She didn’t cook, that shit was for the birds but she could stock up a fridge really good with things that she liked. Then she thought of the kids.
“What do kids eat? I’ve never been around them much, you know?” He said they just ate regular food, like people ate. “I don’t know what that will mean. I tell you what, I’ll just play it by ear to see how much shit they’ll eat. But I draw the line at feeding them steaks and shit. You said there was a food card for them, didn’t you? I can get me some steaks and taters. I’ll love that.”
“They eat cereal too. I don’t buy it, of course, Betsy did the shopping, but I’ve seen them eat it. Hot dogs and pizza, too. They eat that crap up.” She asked about drinks. “I don’t know, Georgie. Just buy some water or give them some out of the sink. Christ, I didn’t hang around them all that much. They’re kids. Just tell them that they’re eating what you give them, and that’s the end of it.”
“All right, cool you engines. I can figure it out on my own. But I need you to tell someone that I’m going to be living in that house of yours. I have me some plans. Anyway, I’m going to go to that Mandy’s place in the morning, first thing. Well, when I get up. It might be later in the afternoon. I’m needing me some downtime before I’m around those kids. Another question I have for you. Are they brats? Am I going to have to show them who their boss is? I don’t mind that, I’m thinking I might enjoy it a bit, but you tell me what kind of brats they are.” Again, he told her that he didn’t know. “How can you be their daddy if you don’t know them at least a little bit? Damn it, Samuel, how am I supposed to be prepared for them? I don’t have a belt or anything to use on them. I guess I could use a switch, but that ain’t going to be the same thing. You remember how Daddy and Momma would beat us? The belt with a big buckle was the worst.”
“Yeah, I remember. I don’t think that Besty beat them at all, and you know that aunt of theirs is going to be the same way. Good Christ, it’s going to be hard to be around them all the time, I can tell you that.” Georgie asked if they had a back yard. “Yeah, there is one. A nice big one, but don’t put them there with a bowl of water and some crackers. I guess that’s against some kind of abuse rule you can’t do. I don’t understand why that’s a rule, they’re my fucking kids.”
“I’m not going to be asking permission to do anything to them, just so you know. If I have to be around them all the time, they’re going to do what I tell them, and that’s final.” She thought her brother said good luck with that, but wasn’t going to get into an argument with him. “I’m going to have to get off here if I’m going to have any minutes left before I get that money card from the government. I’m looking forward to having some cash on me all the time.”
“Don’t be spending it all up the first day. I mean, with me being in here, I won’t be able to get with my guy about buying out the rest of the food one for cash. And that shit comes in handy too.” She said she’d pace herself. “You’d better if you know what’s good for you. And take me some pictures, too, you can show me next time you come in. I wanna see what you do to Mandy about her taking my kids.”
She didn’t bother telling him yes or no. Her minutes were ticking down, and until she got to the house and got those cards, she was going to be in trouble. It was bad enough that she’d had to steal a card to come this far. Buying money for a phone card would alert the cashier that it wasn’t hers. She couldn’t figure out how long they’d been putting faces on the cards. Just getting the beer and chips had been scary, in getting caught.
It was nearly midnight when she pulled into the drive where her brother had lived. There was a large dumpster out front of it, but she didn’t pay it any mind. Instead, she got out her sleeping bag, laid it across the seats, and laid down. She’d get in tomorrow at least, but for now, she needed a little nap. Then she remembered that she was supposed to see Samuel. Getting up, she headed there now. Stupid fuckers, making it so she had to inconvenience herself to go to the jail to see him. It shouldn’t be a crime to her way of thinking to beat around your spouse. Okay, she told herself she’d killed her spouse, but like before, she’d make it so there were no witnesses.
They wouldn’t allow her to see him. It was too late, they told her, and Samuel hadn’t been a good boy today, so he’d lost his privileges of having company unless she was his attorney. Going back out to her truck, she was so pissed off that she wanted to run over every cruiser in the lot. She didn’t, of course, they’d catch her, but she was sorely tempted.
Going by the Dari Mart on her way back to the house, she picked her up some brews and hoped to Christ nobody said anything to her or they’d be picking up pieces of the person for a long time. She was just pissed enough to ram her little baby right up the ass of the place if they were to give her any shit about the card.
Getting back to the house, she looked in the dumpster to see if there was anything she could use. Since it was empty, she figured that someone was going to be doing some house cleaning. There was still yellow tape around the house, but she wasn’t concerned about that. Whatever mess was still in her house when she moved in, she’d make the brats clean it up. That’s about all they were good for, she knew.
It was just going on one in the morning when she was settling down in her makeshift bed. Tomorrow, she’d have a real bed under her and a shower, too, if she was inclined. While she didn’t know where she was going to pick up the cards from, she was going to make that a priority. Georgie had a fridge to fill up and she wasn’t going to waste any time in fucking around with people to get it, damn it.
Someone pounding on her window woke her up. Sitting up, burping some of the beer she’d drank last night she finally got out of the truck and asked the man what the fuck he wanted. He told her that she couldn’t park here.
“I’m going to be living here soon. My brother has this place.” Wiping the snot out of her eyes, she went to where the driveway ended and blew out the snot from her nose too. “He’s got himself nice digs, but I’m going to be moving into them until he gets himself out of jail.”
“You’re disgusting. And we’ve been told that the woman who lived here is gone, and her kids are with their aunt. You’ll need to move on.” She tried to tell him again that she was the owner of the place, but he told her that he’d have to call the police if she didn’t move on right now. “If you want to talk to someone about living here, you’ll have to go through the proper channels. I don’t know what they are. But we’ve been contracted to clean this place out as the family has gotten everything they want from here.”
“I’m going to be living here with that stuff. You just hold your horses. I’m gonna need that stuff with the kids.” He told her again to take it up with the proper channels. “I don’t have me a television, you idiot. What channel am I supposed to be watching?”
He just stared at her and walked away. She hated it when people did that. Damn it, she wanted answers. Getting back in the truck, she was tempted again to run some of the workers down, but she didn’t. Instead, she headed to the police station again to get in and see her brother. He’d better have some answers for her.
The station house was busy when she got there. Telling the man at the main desk she wanted to see her brother, they had to pat her down, they told her. So much for her sneaking Samuel in a beer, she thought when they took it from her. The chips didn’t get to go back with her either, as they’d been opened. Nobody could tell her why that was an issue. They’d just have to open them when she got back there. She hated people.
~*~
“She pulled into town about midnight and went to stay at the house where Besty lived.” Mandy asked where she was now. “You can’t miss her truck; it’s the biggest thing you’ve ever seen. Wherever it is, she’s there. But in answer to your question, she’s at the stationhouse with her brother.”
She’d been stopping off at one of the little shops in town to delay her going to see her brother. Glad for the network that the little town had going, she knew now that she didn’t want to go and see either of them. However, Shipley thought it was the perfect time to go and talk to them both at the same time. So here she was making her way to the stationhouse to see not just the man who killed her sister, but the woman who wanted to kill her to take the boys from her.
“Just tell them what you’ve been practicing. And remember, I’m with you as a witness.” She asked her why she thought that she needed a witness. “You always need a witness when idiots are concerned. They’re called idiots for a reason. Being in the service, I’ve been around the worst of them.”
She was taken back to his cell, where he was talking to Georgie. Letting the two of them get a good look at her, she had to tell them who she was. Samuel said that she was lying about who she was, and Georgie told her that she was a lot prettier than she remembered.
“Since I’ve never met you before, I don’t know how that would be an issue. I’ve come to tell you both that I’m not going to be threatened or hurt by either of you, or I’ll press charges against the two of you.” Georgie stood up from her chair and sat back down when Shipley put her hand on her gun. She was happy now that she’d brought her. Samuel asked her what her new phone number was. “I’m not going to give that to either of you. I like my quiet and not being bothered by the two of you. Also, you should know that I’m going to adopt Teddy and Martin.”
“Who’s that?” She then had to explain that they were the kids that he’d sired. “Well, why didn’t you say that in the first place. Damned kids. I knew I should have been around when she popped them out. I surely wouldn’t have named them that.”
“Be that as it may, they’re going to be mine in a few weeks, and there will be nothing you can do about it.” Georgie laughed and said they’d see about that. She might not want to get used to breathing when she came around. “Breathing? You mean you’re going to do something to me that keeps me from breathing?”
“You bet your sweet ass I am. I’m going to do to you what Samuel did to your sister. Beat the daylights out of you so I won’t be bothered by you.” She asked her why she’d want to kill her. “Because you’re in the way of me getting those kids and the shit that comes with raising them. I don’t know shit about them but you can bet that I’m going to be using their benefits all up. Then we’ll see if they live long enough for their daddy to get out of jail. They might get themselves dead before too much longer.”
“You know they record what is being said back here.” Georgie looked up at the camera that was pointed right at her and pointed her fingers at it like a gun and made a noise that she supposed was like a gunshot. “What is that supposed to mean? You think you’ll get a gun back here? You couldn’t even get a beer back here with some chips. What makes you think that a gun is going to be any easier?”
“I got my ways. You’d be surprised at how resourceful I am. Especially when it comes to family. Nah, you don’t have to worry your little head about cameras catching me. I’m above that.” Rolling her eyes, she realized that they really were idiots. “You’ll be waiting on me to come and get the kids, too. Nobody is going to be standing there holding a gun on me when I come for you, either.”
“Come on, Mandy, it’s time we left.” Nodding, the two of them backed themselves down the long hall back to the door. Once they were both on the other side of it, she looked in the window and saw that Georgie hadn’t moved, but that didn’t make her feel any safer. “You have to press charges against Georgie. All right? She threatened you and the boys. They’ll be able to hear it when they go over the recordings. Come on now, you’re all right. Just tell them what she said to you.”
“She really would kill me.” Shipley said she’d never get the chance. “You can’t be with me twenty-four seven. I have to go to work and take care of the boys.”
“You’d be surprised too with what we can do to keep you safe. I’m going to make a few phone calls and get us some help. That woman is worse than her brother. She’d kill someone for anything she deems against her. We’ll take care of her. You’ll see.”
She didn’t want anyone getting hurt protecting her. The boys, yes, but not her. Telling Shipley that they were standing in front of the captain when she nearly broke down. She might well die from just taking care of two little boys who meant the world to her.
“You have to protect the boys at all costs.” Shipley said that they’d do the same for her. “No, I want your promise that you’ll make sure that Teddy and Martin are your first priority. I promised Besty a long time ago to make sure they grew up to be fine men if she were to die, and I’m asking you for the same promise. Please? They have a life to live without fear of being killed.”
“I can’t make that promise, Mandy. You’ve come to mean a great deal to us, and I won’t allow her to take you from us.” She nodded and told her that she’d just ask Demi to do it. “I don’t think that you’re going to get any of us to make that kind of promise to you. Like I said, you’ve come to mean a great deal to us and the boys.”
After pressing charges against Georgie, she felt better knowing that she was going to be in a jail cell next to her brother. The courts didn’t have a judge all the time, so they’d only have until he came around again to hold her. Hopefully, she’d be in her cell as long as her brother was. Forever.
By the time she was in the car, she was shaking. Her entire body felt like she’d been run over a couple of times, then put out on the line to dry. Shivering, Shipley wrapped her up in a blanket and then drove. She didn’t care where they were going so long as it wasn’t home. The boys were there, and they’d ask questions she didn’t have an answer to.
When they pulled up in front of The Crockery Pot, she was never so glad to see Demi standing out there waiting for her in her life. As soon as she was in his arms, she broke down. It was talk to him or she’d be driving herself crazy trying to keep it all in. Babbling now, she told him what had been done to her this morning.
“I have you.” Nodding while he dragged her into the restaurant. “Come on now, I’ve got you. I have some things to tell you, too, about the Jameson people. They think that just because she’s come all this way to get the kids, she’s entitled to the money that Besty was getting. Not to mention the house and card that was used for gas for transportation.”
“How did you find that out?” He told her how Georgie had gone to the house last night and parked in the driveway. “So she wants the boys because of the money that he can get. I’m supposed to get a check each month for caring for them, but I was going to put that in the bank for them to use for college. It’s really not all that much. I think I was told that it would be twenty-five hundred a month.”
“Per child. And yes, you’ll get that. Zander is setting up things for you to get a food card and also money to get you a car. You might not need it, but it’s coming for the boys.” She nodded, thinking that whatever it was, she’d use it just on them. “Maybe you can get them some hot dogs once in a while.”
“I will not.” Demi laughed, and she smiled at him. “I can’t stand them. Hot dogs, I mean. When they want them as a dinner, I usually treat myself to a quart of ice cream to compensate for having to cook them. Gross.”
“I know you give in to them more than once a month, too. Teddy told me that you’ve even made them chili to go with them. You’re a good aunt to them.” She thanked him and then looked at him. Really looked hard at him. “What? Do I have spinach in my teeth? I’ve been trying some of the things that the new cook is making. You should have some, they’re really quite delicious.”
“I’m in love with you.” She wanted him to say something, but he just stared at her. “I’m sorry if that isn’t anything you want to hear, but I thought that if something happened to me, then you’d know.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to say to that.” She said that he didn’t have to say anything. “I like you. You’re a good mother to the boys, but I’m not looking for someone in my life right now. I have a lot going on and I don’t—”
She stood up and smiled at him. It was difficult to make her eyes say what she’d just said to him when her heart was shattered. Telling him that she needed to get home, that the boys would be waiting on her, she left without another word. Glad that he was being called away when she did, Mandy was afraid that she’d say something else to him that would have her in tears if he said anything more than he’d already said. As soon as she was in the car, she broke down in front of Shipley.
“You’re in love with him.” She nodded, not even able to keep that to herself. “I thought as much when I brought you here. What did he say to you that has you in tears?”
“He likes me all right.” She laughed. “I didn’t pour my heart out to him, tell him why I’ve fallen in love with him, but I did tell him that I was in love with him. He’ll more than likely want me to move out of his house now.”
“No, he’d not do that. He might avoid you more, but he’d also want to keep you safe.” Nodding, she asked if they could go home. “Yes, of course. But let’s get some lunch first. I’m starving and it’s past one now.”
“I’m not really hungry. But sure, I’ll go with you.” When they pulled out into traffic to go to the only other place to eat in town, they ended up at a pizza shop. The two of them were being seated when she thought of something. “Don’t tell anyone, please? I’m going to be…it’s going to be hard enough to be around him, much less the entire family if they find out. I don’t know that I could handle that.”
“All right. I don’t like it, but I understand. I’m a bit pissed off at Demi but that’s all on me.” She told Shipley that it wasn’t his fault that she’d fallen in love with him. “No. But he could have been nicer about it, other than saying that he liked you all right. That’s kind of mean if you ask me.”
After ordering a large pizza for the two of them, Shipley eyed the salad bar. Telling her to go for it, the other woman left her sitting there while she filled up a plate of mostly vegetables. Mandy didn’t think she could eat anything right now and wasn’t surprised when she was given a plate of carrots and dressing to munch on. After a couple of carrots, she did feel better. She looked at Shipley.
“Do you think I should have told him? I mean, my reasoning sounds kind of lame right now. ‘If anything happens to me, I wanted you to know.’ It sounds stupid when I say it to you. I could have gone my whole life without seeing the panic look in his eyes, you know.” She told her that he’d come around to her. “I don’t want him to settle with me. I want the passion that I see in your face when you look at Dusty. Or when Locke is asked about his own wife. His settling for me would be worse than having him say he loves me too when I know he doesn’t.”
“I’m sorry. I truly am.” She ate a couple of slices of pizza when it arrived, and she was happy that the subject was changed. Anything would be better than being turned away when you were a love-sick person.