vapros
Verified Member
Tom John – part four
I didn't want to be in a rush to see the sheriff, I wanted to act a little more independent than that. Better he should wait a bit for me to show up than me to wait on him. There is a little store where Prosperity Road hits the highway, and I could see Tig Gentile and another guy sitting on the edge of the porch drinking a beer, so I pulled into the lot and joined them. The porch of the store is just high enough that you can sit on the edge of it and your feet will reach the ground. It's the same porch where Heavy Torres sat drinking beer with some guys about two years ago. Jerry Pine's youngest boy crawled under the porch and screamed and grabbed Heavy by his ankle, causing Heavy to moisten his dungarees so bad he had to go home and change. Since then, we always check under the porch before we sit down.
It was a few minutes until the sheriff's big car went by, and I pretended not to notice, but I wondered why he was so far behind me. Did he hang around my place for some reason after I was gone? I finished my beer and went on into town and stopped by his office. He was in the front waiting for me, and I followed him on back to his office.
“Do you know why you're here, Mr. Deakin?”
“Yep, it's because of something Lily Rose told you yesterday, far as I know.”
“She said you had told her that Tom John was missing because you done him something.”
“Well, Lily Rose and me have been doing him something for a while, sheriff, but that ain't why he's missing. Lily Rose is pissed at me and she lied to you about that. She's been at my place for a few weeks and not a word ain't been said about Tom John until yesterday. I would never tell her anything such as that. You know that. You don't tell secrets to a woman, and 'specially not to a woman like Lily Rose. The short answer is that I ain't told her nothing about him at all.”
“But you could if you wanted to, couldn't you?”
“Hell no. You and her think you know something about me, but you don't know nothing, either of you, and I'm tired of hearing about it. You sent two yoyos out to ask me about it, and then you sent the two yoyos and a cowboy, and you finally came your own self, all with the same question. Where's Tom John? Well, I'm telling you what I told them. I can't help you and I prolly wouldn't help you if I could. If I had shot him and left him in the road, it might take your crew a week to find him.”
“The more you talk about it, the more I believe you're lying to me about it.”
“Okay.”
“You're pissing me off, Mr. Deakin.”
“Yeah, well that gives you and Lily Rose something else in common. She left my place looking for a place to live, and then come straight to you, trying to stir up something bad for me. You called me in here for nothing because you ain't got nothing. I'm going home.” And that's what I did. What the hell was he expecting?
Well, things went along for a while after I seen the sheriff. I caught some fish and picked up a couple small jobs for my little dozer and twice I took it over to Bonham to do some stuff around my property and to check on the new guy cutting firewood on halves. Maybe you think it must be pretty lonesome around my little place without Lily Rose, but it's not that way at all. My house was gettin' to feel smaller and smaller with the two of us in there, and I never did like to be crowded. My sunny disposition is just now coming back.
I don't know where Lily Rose landed, but it wasn't too far, because she would turn up in Cutman now and then. I won't say I don't care what happened to her, because I do, but I'm glad she's gone. I liked her better when she was living over in Bonham with Tom John and sneaking out to see me once or twice a week. That was what you might call recreational sex, and that's the kind I'm best at. I still miss her for a hour or so, maybe every other day, but I'm glad she's gone. When I spot her little red Toyota in town I make sure to go the other way. No doubt she has located another house and another man. She needs to make her a good connection before she gets much older. She needs to remember that her goods are perishable.
I didn't want to be in a rush to see the sheriff, I wanted to act a little more independent than that. Better he should wait a bit for me to show up than me to wait on him. There is a little store where Prosperity Road hits the highway, and I could see Tig Gentile and another guy sitting on the edge of the porch drinking a beer, so I pulled into the lot and joined them. The porch of the store is just high enough that you can sit on the edge of it and your feet will reach the ground. It's the same porch where Heavy Torres sat drinking beer with some guys about two years ago. Jerry Pine's youngest boy crawled under the porch and screamed and grabbed Heavy by his ankle, causing Heavy to moisten his dungarees so bad he had to go home and change. Since then, we always check under the porch before we sit down.
It was a few minutes until the sheriff's big car went by, and I pretended not to notice, but I wondered why he was so far behind me. Did he hang around my place for some reason after I was gone? I finished my beer and went on into town and stopped by his office. He was in the front waiting for me, and I followed him on back to his office.
“Do you know why you're here, Mr. Deakin?”
“Yep, it's because of something Lily Rose told you yesterday, far as I know.”
“She said you had told her that Tom John was missing because you done him something.”
“Well, Lily Rose and me have been doing him something for a while, sheriff, but that ain't why he's missing. Lily Rose is pissed at me and she lied to you about that. She's been at my place for a few weeks and not a word ain't been said about Tom John until yesterday. I would never tell her anything such as that. You know that. You don't tell secrets to a woman, and 'specially not to a woman like Lily Rose. The short answer is that I ain't told her nothing about him at all.”
“But you could if you wanted to, couldn't you?”
“Hell no. You and her think you know something about me, but you don't know nothing, either of you, and I'm tired of hearing about it. You sent two yoyos out to ask me about it, and then you sent the two yoyos and a cowboy, and you finally came your own self, all with the same question. Where's Tom John? Well, I'm telling you what I told them. I can't help you and I prolly wouldn't help you if I could. If I had shot him and left him in the road, it might take your crew a week to find him.”
“The more you talk about it, the more I believe you're lying to me about it.”
“Okay.”
“You're pissing me off, Mr. Deakin.”
“Yeah, well that gives you and Lily Rose something else in common. She left my place looking for a place to live, and then come straight to you, trying to stir up something bad for me. You called me in here for nothing because you ain't got nothing. I'm going home.” And that's what I did. What the hell was he expecting?
Well, things went along for a while after I seen the sheriff. I caught some fish and picked up a couple small jobs for my little dozer and twice I took it over to Bonham to do some stuff around my property and to check on the new guy cutting firewood on halves. Maybe you think it must be pretty lonesome around my little place without Lily Rose, but it's not that way at all. My house was gettin' to feel smaller and smaller with the two of us in there, and I never did like to be crowded. My sunny disposition is just now coming back.
I don't know where Lily Rose landed, but it wasn't too far, because she would turn up in Cutman now and then. I won't say I don't care what happened to her, because I do, but I'm glad she's gone. I liked her better when she was living over in Bonham with Tom John and sneaking out to see me once or twice a week. That was what you might call recreational sex, and that's the kind I'm best at. I still miss her for a hour or so, maybe every other day, but I'm glad she's gone. When I spot her little red Toyota in town I make sure to go the other way. No doubt she has located another house and another man. She needs to make her a good connection before she gets much older. She needs to remember that her goods are perishable.