Chapter 5
Dylan lit a second cigarette, but the sounds from inside were quieting down. Tinah stepped out and sat beside him.
“Mama’s gone again. Slipped into that void of confusion.”
Dylan looked at her, his brow knitted. “What was all of that?”
Tinah sighed and lit her own cigarette. “Mostly it was the truth. At least as much as we know it. The Coates were always secretive, even with us. As far as the history mom gave us…” her voice trailed off and she shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. How much is fact and how much is fiction? Most of it’s the same I’ve heard all my life. All I know is that Homer wanted you in that house before he died. Your mother wouldn’t let us tell you anything and swore to kill us all if we gave him any information about you or how to reach you.”
Dylan shook his head. “Why? What did he do?”
Tinah shrugged and took a long drag from her cigarette. “Honestly? Nothing, as far as I know. But she went a little crazy after Anthony died. Not that I blame her for that. They were madly in love.”
Dylan stared at her. “What are you not telling me? I know there’s something you’re leaving out.”
Tinah wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Ask her. She’ll have to be the one to tell you that.”
He sat there, staring down the hill that made up his grandmother’s front yard. A gentle breeze blew. Hours seemed to pass, but Dylan knew it was more likely minutes before his mother joined them outside, a vacant stare on her face.
“I got mom to lie down. She said Homer told her that Dylan had to take her to that house. To save her.”
Tinah arched an eyebrow. “So, you’re not keeping secrets anymore?”
Merrin shrugged. “Doesn’t look like it’s done me any good.”
Tinah nodded slowly. “Don’t you think it’s time you tell him everything? I couldn’t—and not just because I never understood any of it. He already thinks we’re crazy, so I think hearing it from you might soften the blow.”
Merrin stared into the distance. Dylan tried to follow her gaze but couldn’t find what had captured her attention. “Anthony didn’t die in an accident . I don’t know what happened, but I know the car they were supposedly driving when they crashed didn’t have a scratch on it. I gave him a chance to tell me the truth, but he wouldn’t. He just said I wouldn’t understand.”
Dylan stared at his mother. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to yell at her or cry. He sighed and forced his voice to remain even. “Well, Tinah said we might find some answers in his house. Mamaw seems to think something will help her there, though I doubt it. Maybe we’ll find something to tell us what happened to Dad. If it is mine now, that is. Not sure I want to get arrested by one of Tinah’s exes for breaking into it.”
She turned her head to meet his gaze. “I don’t want you anywhere near that house.”
Tinah’s phone rang. She stared at the screen with a puzzled look. “Merrin, are you still not answering your damn phone?”
His mother shook her head. “Turned it off. No need to talk to anyone.”
Tinah rolled her eyes and took the call. She lit another cigarette and stepped around the corner. Dylan wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but it seemed like she wanted privacy. He turned to face his mother.
“I know you don’t. But if it means we get some answers…” he shrugged. “Besides, if it is mine, that might solve some of the fear we both have about my situation—and don’t even try to tell me you’re not worried.”
She looked as if she were trying to hide it, but he caught the faint grin that appeared at the corners of her mouth. “You sound like your father.”
He smiled. “Maybe we’ll find some pictures of him, you know. Homer pretty much raised him, right? I vaguely recall something about that.”
The faint grin vanished. “Yeah. But I don’t remember ever telling you anything about that.”
He shrugged again. “Maybe Dad told me when I was little. You know how some things like that just stick in your mind. Maybe it was something he said the day he took me to Homer’s house.”
“Dylan, you were three.”
He scowled. In his mind, he could hear his dad’s voice as clearly as if he were sitting beside him in his old pickup. “It’s not a clear memory, just vague words. Besides, don’t you want to know what happened?”
He watched his mother, who stood glaring at him. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down. “Not really. It’s not going to change the fact that he’s gone.”
“Mom. What if I want to know? Even if everything mamaw told us is bullshit passed down through superstitious generations with overactive imaginations that they’re predicting the future…”
“Hey now.” Tinah’s voice cut through him like a razor as she stepped back into view from the side of the house.
“I’m not saying that’s the case Tinah, just saying even if . We might find out what really happened to dad.”
Merrin narrowed her eyes and stared at him, then looked at Tinah. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know… and honestly, that terrifies me. Maybe we should listen to him and mom. That was David again. He said that old man Miller wants Dylan in his office as soon as he can get into town, and it’s important. Said he’s already hounding the chief to notify you of Homer’s death and tell you to come see him or give him your number.”
Dylan’s face twisted. “Who the hell is he?”
Merrin said, “He’s a lawyer. I’m guessing he’s got Homer’s will. They were old army buddies or something like that. I think he’s the only person in town who actually liked the old bastard.”
“Which one?”
To his surprise, Merrin cracked a smile. “Either. Those two were like peas in a pod.
Tinah looked from Dylan to Merrin and back. “Are you going to go?”
Dylan answered before his mother could speak. “I am, even if I have to go by myself to get this shit figured out.” He opened his cigarette pack, looking at the dwindling number. “I need to go to the store first. Then we go talk to this lawyer.”