Chapter 16 #2
Rock glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah. Your ass is hard-headed so I know you’re gonna sit in here another hour or so trying to come up with a different plan before you decide to just do what the hell I told you. So, I’m getting out of your way while you do that.”
My frown increased as I watched him leave, hating that he was right.
Ulysses Ruthers, or Crabtree as we’d known him since we were kids, walked toward me about two minutes after I stepped into the Lakeside Restaurant.
His purposeful stride was hampered by a slight favoring to his left leg.
But his gaze was set on me, his intention clearly to get something off his chest.
I guess I should’ve expected this since Serra is his only granddaughter and I knew she’d told him that she spent Saturday night at my place.
The fact that she hadn’t blinked at announcing whatever we were doing to her grandfather should’ve made me feel good, but it only added to the anxiety I was feeling about tonight.
“Good evening. The dining room is closed for the night, but you’re welcome to have a seat at the bar.”
The woman’s words caught my attention, and I turned slightly to see her standing behind the hostess stand. She hadn’t been there when I came in, which could’ve been another reason why Crabtree was approaching.
“No, thanks. I’m just picking up,” I told her.
“Oh. Okay. Do you have your order number? To Go service is located at the side of the building, but I’ll run over and grab it for you.
” She was pretty enough, eager enough and when she stepped from around the stand, I could see she was also curvy enough.
But she wasn’t Serra and that’s who I was here for tonight.
“I’ll take care of him,” Crabtree said coming up on my left. “C’mon with me, son.”
That was it by way of greeting and I didn’t think I should’ve expected more. No doubt, Crabtree knew exactly who I was and my reputation. If I were a father or grandfather, I wouldn’t want me sniffing around any daughter or grandchild of mine either. So I followed him silently.
We walked the length of the now empty dining room.
This part of the restaurant closed at ten while the bar and the To Go areas stayed open until midnight.
Crabtree continued on until we arrived at the double set of glass doors that opened out onto the patio where there was additional seating.
I stepped outside into the still balmy night air behind him.
The older man spun around so quick I almost knocked him over.
His long finger pressed into the center of my chest as his rheumy eyes stared up at mine.
He was about four or five inches shorter than me, and I had him by probably thirty to forty pounds, but there was nothing frail about Ulysses Ruthers.
“I know who you are.” That’s how he started what I was sure would be a memorable conversation.
Whether it was going to be a good memory or not, the jury was still out on that one. “Yes, sir. I remember who you are as well.”
My use of good manners didn’t have him blinking an eye or stepping back from my personal space.
There wasn’t a time I ever allowed another man to roll up on me like this, not when I was a kid and certainly not as an adult.
But I told myself it was best that I stand here and take whatever was necessary if for no other reason than I respected Serra too much to punch her grandfather in the face.
“And I know all that shit they used to say about you boys when you were comin’ up.
I used to tell Smitty he was a racist bastard for talking about arresting children and sending them away for the rest of their lives the way he did.
Then his ornery ass dies and his oldest boy steps right up to take his place.
But things have changed now,” Crabtree said.
I wasn’t sure what to say next and apparently that was okay because the man wasn’t finished.
“Now, you’re keeping my grandbaby out all night.”
It was a statement not a question, so I remained silent.
There was a second when I thought I should feel like a bitch for not speaking up, but that came and went in the short span of time Crabtree was silent before continuing.
“And before I get to that—” He didn’t finish that sentence, but gave my chest one last poke before he took a couple steps back. When he gripped the back of the chair closest to him, I made a move to go to him, but he waved me off. “Don’t need your help. Got shit to say to you, boy.”
I didn’t like him, or anybody for that matter, calling me boy. Folding my arms over my chest was the best I could do to keep from telling him so.
“You and your friends shot out of here like the law was chasing you the minute you got out of high school. And those buzzards around town just about rejoiced. The Pattersons walked around here like nothing happened. Like they hadn’t shipped their boy, Rock, off to that group home for who even knew what reason.
” With his free hand, he scratched a spot just above his ear.
“And you know, poor Roxanne, she was suffering for so long after Jiles died. They say the cancer took her, but I say her heart was just too broken to fight it anymore.”
A punch of sadness hit me at hearing about Del and Lance’s mother. I didn’t really get to know the twins until after their mother had passed and they were sent to the House, but I knew how it felt to lose a mother.
“Ethan’s drunk ass daddy wasn’t nevah shit anyways. I heard Jeret’s parents were good, though they were all about the military. His aunt and uncle were pure trash though.”
I had no clue where this walk down memory lane featuring all of our parents was going. My plan was to scoop Serra up after she finished helping out here tonight and take her somewhere we could talk. This guy apparently had a different plan.
“They all shoulda did better by you boys.”
That statement stopped the train of thought on how I could get out of this conversation.
I could only stare at the man who was staring right back at me.
Growing up, we never had any run-ins with Crabtree.
At one point, we’d even seen him at the House talking to Ms. Janie, one of the therapists, about possibly giving us jobs bussing tables at the restaurant and helping with stock.
I was optimistic about being able to make some money that would assist in me getting the hell out of town sooner, but something happened and that fell through.
But here he was now, all these years later, saying in so many words that he always believed in us.
“Mr. Ruthers,” I began because I was raised to always use handles when speaking to my elders, unless they gave me permission to do otherwise. Of course, when the guys talked about him, we referred to him as Crabtree, but never to his face. “I’m just here to pick up Serra.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know it. She said you would be picking her up tonight and I figured that meant you would take her back to your place again. That’s why I been watching the door for the last half hour. Wanted to get to you first.”
“I see.” I nodded and let my arms fall to my sides again. “If this is your warning—”
“It is,” he said, cutting me off. “And you’re gonna stand there and listen to it.
” He cleared his throat. “I trust you to watch out for her. I know what you did for your mama and kept tabs on you boys when you left here. You were like the surrogate grandsons I always wanted. Nothing like those uppity kiss-asses my daughter raised with that evil ass husband of hers.”
“No doubt,” I said. “She’s safe with me, sir.
And, uh, thank you for agreeing to let us use your place for the field day.
” I was so caught up listening to what he was saying, preparing myself for something negative to spew from his lips about me being with his granddaughter, that I’d completely forgotten Serra calling me Sunday night to say that her grandfather agreed to the use of his land.
Waving a hand, he shook his head. “Don’t thank me for doing what’s right and what I wanna do with my own property.
People ‘round here got their heads so far up their asses they can’t see when something good is tryin’ to grow.
But I see it and we need more of it around here.
So, you come on out there tomorrow. Serra was too upset on Monday after one of them calls from her daddy that she cancelled the landscaper. ”
She told me the landscaper had cancelled. “Her father called her?” I asked.
“Uh huh. They’ll try to get to her every chance they get. Try to make her do things their way. She’s smart, always has been. And she’s wiser now, braver, I think. But it’ll be good to know you’ve got her back when they do try to get at her.”
“I’ll always have her back,” I said, knowing that I’d never let her father and brothers demand she walk away from me again.