Chapter 16 #4
Jaden just rolls his eyes. “Whatevs. Point being, we’re already family.”
“Point being,” I interject. “My brother is straight.”
“Is he?” Jaden asks.
Pete is still staring at Jaden, dazed. “The things you did to that man’s backside. Maybelle ain’t even seen my asshole, and you were tongue-deep in his. Does it taste gross when you do it?”
“Not if they prep,” both Ez and Jay say, their eyes locking.
“This doesn’t make us friends,” Jay says to Ez, but I can tell he don’t mean it all that much.
I don’t know why they have to hate each other so much.
It ain’t like either of them have done anything heinous to the other.
I think Ez is still jealous of Jay’s bond with Bubba.
They’re going to have to get over it, if we ever hope to take this thing any further.
Jaden is Bubba’s son. He’s not going anywhere, and he’s a pretty awesome guy, minus the unrequested sex tape screening.
“Pete?”
Pete looks up at me, eyes still hazy, but I think the fog is lifting. “Yeah?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, because I love getting to see you, but why are you guys here?”
Pete’s still got a faraway look in his eyes, but my voice seems to pull him out of his haze. “Momma’s been having these really weird dreams.”
“About me? What kind of dreams?”
“She says someone’s been coming to her in them. Telling her all about an impossible home, and that one of us had to find it. She’s been having dreams for weeks, getting pictures of it, bit by bit. A tree. A trailer. A cabin. A pink flamingo.”
“And a gun, hidden beneath the water by an unruly blond boy with a strange connection with his father,” Momma adds.
She must mean that time Austin’s mom came here with a gun to win her husband back. Austin swam it out into the middle of the lake and buried it under the dirt before sending her on her way.
“That’s our house!” Ezra shouts excitedly, looking real proud of himself for putting two and two together.
“It sure is, Little Dick,” I say, kissing his forehead, because I’m kind of fuckin’ proud of him too.
“Obviously,” Jaden says. “It’s not as if Shanty-chic is all the rage.”
“You don’t have to be a jerk,” Ezra says, burying his face in my neck.
“Momma said it’s the prettiest house she’s ever seen.
” He grabs his backpack from beside the couch and unzips it.
His light-brown hair drops down over his eyes, and Jaden pushes it away for him.
There’s a shy smile on Pete’s face, and a faint blush running across his cheeks.
I ain’t seen him like this since Maybelle’s daddy accepted the dowry Daddy offered her family.
They got twenty of our hogs, two horses, the recipe for Momma's world-famous hot water cornbread, and twenty dollars Daddy saved up all year. Now, Pete’s acting like he’s willing to throw all that out the window for my god-nephew. Pete’s always been a stand-up guy.
Pete reaches into his backpack and pulls out a crudely drawn picture that kind of looks like our home. There’s a box I’m assuming is supposed to be the cabin. On top, a rectangle for the trailer, and off to the right, a big circle with rippling triangle waves. Below, Momma wrote Pathfinders Lake.
“She said a beautiful angel came to her,” Pete says.
“And she was holding these cards that looked like playing cards, but instead of hearts or spades, there were two naked guys on them, doing unthinkable things. Things she never saw no men doing before, even though she wouldn’t tell me what it was they were doing.
” He stares at Jaden, nuzzled up in his lap, resting his head on his chest and nods.
“The cards?” Ez asks, but the question is aimed at me. “How the hell does she know about the cards? Did Aussie have copies made so he could mail them to your family, because he’s a creepy exhibitionist?”
“You openly masturbate in front of everyone who lives here,” Jaden reminds him, and Ezra just scowls.
“It’s Dunsberry. The mail don’t go out that far.”
“I just said she saw them in a dream,” Pete says. “Did you drink gasoline as a kid like Maybelle’s baby brother? The boy ain’t been right ever since.”
“She’s in the room, you know.” Before Momma can get another word out, she holds her tummy. “Actually, I think that sixth and seventh monster just hit. Sorry, boys, I’ll be back in a jiffy.” As she heads upstairs, I turn my attention back to Pete.
“Momma said the angel kept calling herself some weird name I ain’t never heard before. Brenda? Maybe Carole? It was some stupid name like that. She also told Momma about a married couple down south that needed to be taught a lesson, but the angel wouldn’t tell her what lesson they needed to learn.”
“Who the hell is Brenda Carole?” I ask.
Ezra’s eyes are narrowed, like he’s putting a mental jigsaw puzzle together, but the pieces ain’t fitting. “Brenda? Do you mean Barbara?”
“That’s it! Barbara. What kind of a name is Barbara?”
Ezra shakes his head. “No. That’s just stupid. Barbara is mine. She has no other humans. Even if she did, she can’t go into anyone else’s dreams. I’ve asked her to project into Johnny’s at least a thousand times, and she never has.”
“You did?” I ask, blushing.
“Yes, but you can wipe that proud look off your face. I asked her to gather intel. Something so devious, Bubba would be forced to banish you from his life.”
“My life’s an open book, bro. I don’t keep secrets, especially from Bubba.”
“Yes. I’m well aware. God knows I’ve pulled your tarot cards enough times to know you’re squeaky clean.” He grins. “Thank goodness for that. It would’ve sucked if Bubba sent you away. I mean, I wouldn’t have cared back then, but I’d care now.”
“You would?”
It’s his turn to blush, and God, the color looks beautiful on his cheeks. “Yeah. A lot, actually. I’d miss you all day long.”
My heart flutters. “I’d miss you all day long too.”
“Who could blame you,” he says before focusing on Pete again, who is staring at us, baffled. “I’m lucky to even get a faint whisper when Barbara speaks to me. What makes your mother so fucking special?”
“She makes a damn-good sweet potato pie,” Pete says.
“The lady told Momma we needed to find this place, and that we didn’t have a moment to waste.
She said the lady wanted to check on her best friend’s future family, whatever that means.
She said he’d lead us to what we need, but she wouldn’t tell us what that is.
There are two people we’re supposed to find in Texas, too, but her friend is top priority. ”
“Best friend?” Ezra whispers, touching his heart. “Barbara really said that?”
“Fuck if I know,” Pete answers. “It wasn’t my dream.”
“Language,” Momma scolds Pete from behind me. I look over to find her leaning on the doorframe, watching us. I didn’t even hear her come back down the stairs. “False alarm, thankfully.” Her eyes focus on Little Dick. “Ezra, is it?”
Ezra nods. “Yes, ma’am.”
She walks across the room and kneels in front of him, taking his hand in hers. “You are a very special young man.”
“I am?”
“You are.” She kisses her finger and presses it to the tip of his nose the way she used to do with us after she told us our bedtime story.
“Gosh. She told me how adorable you are, but I didn’t realize just how cute you’d really be.
Every night, all she did was brag about what a sweet boy you were, and how you deserved the world.
She says I’m supposed to give it to you, but I told her the world ain’t mine to give. ”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about in the slightest,” Ezra says. “But please, do go on. What else did Babs say?”
“Well, she said you had really pretty eyes.” Momma stares into Ezra’s eyes. “She was right on the money. She also said you had the biggest heart she’s ever seen. ‘Course, I’m not really sure how or why she saw your heart, but she said it like it was true, and she hasn’t lied to me yet.”
“I have a very large heart,” Ezra says proudly.
“It’s just a shame it’s filled with so much hate,” Jaden says.
“Eat shit and die, trash.”
Jaden’s smile stretches ear to ear. “God, I like you.”
Ezra cocks an eyebrow. “The feeling isn’t mutual. Maybe one day it will be, but after forcing us to watch you perform anilingus like our living room is the Cannes Film Festival, I think we can safely say today is not that day.”
“Maybe tomorrow?” Jaden asks hopefully.
“’Kay.” He turns his focus back to Momma. “Continue.”
“Well,” Momma says. “She led us right to you, and right to our Johnny. Barbara told me you haven’t had the best life, and that your parents weren’t very much in the way of parents at all.
” She squeezes his knee. “Was she telling the truth about what they did? How they kicked you out when you were just a baby.”
“I was thirteen,” he says, and his voice is smaller than it should be, because he doesn’t have anything to be embarrassed about. He’s done nothing wrong.
Momma looks at me, then back at Ez. “She says you’ve recently met the love of your life. Is that true too?”
“She fucking said what?” Ezra growls.
I’m surprised when Momma don’t scold him for his language the way she always does with me and my brothers. Hell, she made Bubba eat a bar of homemade soap last time we went to visit, after he made the poor decision to announce, “A merry fuckin’ Christmas to all, and to all, a good cockfight.”
“There’s a lady present, Ez,” I warn him. “She’ll make you pull a switch from the tree out front and use it to tan your hide. I’ve seen her do it before, and she’s sure as hell sure to do it again.”
Momma shakes her head, but she doesn’t look away from Ezra. “Don’t listen to him. You talk however you want, baby. I don’t mind.”
“You don’t mind?” I ask, probably louder than I should considering we’re in such close quarters. “You don’t mind?”
“Thank you, Ms. Boyd,” Ezra says, cheesing at me. Asshole.
“You didn’t answer the question,” Momma says.
“Which question?”
“Are you falling in love?”