Last of the Dixie Heroes (10 page)

Then Rhett added, “Lucky for him.”

Roy just stood there.

“Have you read the parents handbook, Mr. Hill?” said Ms. Steinwasser.

“Parents handbook?”

“A copy is sent home with every student. The policy is very clear. No weapons of any kind. No knives. No guns.” She held up the oxidized bullet. “No ammunition.”

“But—”

“Must we bring the police into this?”

Rhett got a one-week suspension. Roy drove him to Marcia’s in silence. Rhett took out his key, unlocked the door. No one home. Roy got some ice cubes, wrapped them in a dish towel. “Here.”

They sat at the card table, much like the one at his father’s, but clean. The piles—dirt in the backyard, mail on the table—had grown. Rhett held the dish towel to his lip, gazed at nothing. Roy watched him.

“You could have put his eye out,” he said.

“You’re just like all the others,” Rhett said. “Taking his side.”

“I’m not taking his side. You could have put his eye out.”

“Good.”

Roy made a decision, made it, he realized, on the basis of his vision, on how he saw the future, the way Carol said to do it: he would ask Marcia to move back in right away. Rhett could then return to his old school, never face the other boy again, get back on track. What better time? She’d understand.

“When’s your ma coming home?”

“Who gives a shit?”

Roy laid his hand on the table. “Don’t you speak like that about your mother.”

Rhett muttered something into the dish towel.

“What was that?” Roy said. He reached across the table, pulled the towel away, not roughly, but he pulled it away. “What was that?”

“Those stupid lips of hers,” Rhett said, almost inaudible.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t understand.”

Rhett looked up, met Roy’s eye; yes, fierce, defiant. This was new. Roy had no idea how to handle it.

“You can go,” Rhett said.

“I’m staying.”

They sat. The bleeding stopped. Rhett left the room and didn’t come back.

Roy heard a car, went to the front door, looked out: not Marcia in a taxi, but Barry in his Benz with the BARRY plate. Roy took out the inhaler, sprayed it down his throat.

ELEVEN

Barry came into the kitchen.

”Moving in?” he said.

”You know why I’m here,” Roy said, standing by the table, wishing some sarcastic put-down had come to mind.

Barry dropped his briefcase, loosened his tie, shrugged off his suit jacket—there were sweat stains under both arms of his striped shirt—and hung it on a chair. “Bail the kid out already?”

“His name is Rhett.”

“Super,” said Barry, opening the fridge. Roy saw what he’d seen before—Absolut, yogurt, lemons—plus a few cartons of Chinese food. Barry removed one, sat at the table, began eating from it—round balls, possibly chicken, in a congealed orange sauce—with chopsticks. His soft, pudgy fingers handled the chopsticks with a skill that took Roy by surprise; he himself had tried chopsticks once or twice, out on a date in high school or college, but never actually learned to use them. Barry steered several of the little balls quickly into his mouth, suddenly looked up.

“You’re with Globax, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Anything unusual going on there?”

“Unusual?”

“Here, sit down. Something to eat?”

“No.”

“You could throw it in the microwave.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“How about a drink?”

“A little early for me,” Roy said.

“Yeah? Woulda taken you for a bit of a shooter.”

“Shooter?”

“You know, guy who throws back a few, knows how to have a little fun.”

“No one’s stopping you.”

“Drinking alone’s not me. I’m a social animal.”

Don’t I know.

Barry plucked another chicken ball, started talking again before it reached his mouth. “You were some kind of football hero? Played for Tech?”

“Georgia,” Roy said.

“What position?”

“Tight end.”

“Yeah? You weren’t on the small side?”

“That’s the way it turned out.”

“Played high school myself,” Barry said. “Offensive tackle. Screwed up my knee or I would have gone a lot farther.”

Roy said nothing. Barry popped the chicken ball in his mouth, reached for another.

“So now we have something in common, what’s the story at Globax?” he said.

“Story?”

“Stock’s been behaving strangely the past week, ten days.”

“In what way?”

“Some big blocks changed hands, bing bang bing, in the millions—starting to make a move, right? So I took a position, and when I take a position I don’t dick around. Then what happens? Poof, it all goes soft.”

Roy didn’t really know what he was talking about.

“Something’s going on, I got it from several sources.” He waited for Roy to tell him what it was.

“They changed the name from Chemerica,” Roy said; he couldn’t think of anything else.

Barry gazed at him. “Hard to get, huh?” He kept chewing, but slower, more thoughtful. “Suppose I made it worth your while. Say some little nugget of information came your way, why couldn’t we work out a mutually beneficial arrangement, you and I?”

“About what?”

“I don’t blame you for being careful. Total discretion guaranteed, up front. I’ve got an offshore setup, if that eases your mind.”

Roy missed the significance of that. “What kind of information?”

“Could be anything—anything that’ll let me know what’s going down. It’s all about knowing the future today.”

“That’s what Carol says.”

Barry stopped chewing. “Who’s Carol?”

“No one you know.”

“She wouldn’t be on the financial side, by any chance?”

“Financial side?”

“At Globax. That would be sweet, a contact on the financial side.”

Roy shook his head. They watched each other. Roy had no idea what Barry was thinking. He himself was having a thought he knew was arrogant and unworthy, but couldn’t help: I can see why she’s coming back to me.

“When do you expect Marcia?” he said.

Barry finished eating, pushed the carton aside, leaned back, clasped his hands behind his head; the sweat stains had spread. “Familiar with the term
POV
?”

“No.”

“Point of view. I only know it from my Hollywood connections. Why I bring it up is I’m starting to see things from your POV.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Just that now she’s diddling me,” Barry said, “the way she diddled you.”

That sent a jolt through Roy. Had Marcia told Barry that she and Roy had slept with each other again, that they were getting back together? Roy could think of no other explanation, but why would she do that? A horrible possibility struck Roy: to make Barry jealous. Why make someone jealous unless you were still interested? Roy ruled it out. The man across the table wasn’t jealous. Neither was he angry, bewildered, humiliated, crushed: none of the things Roy had been when he’d found out about Barry. So Barry didn’t know Marcia was leaving him, at most had sensed something and was fishing for information.

“Where are you from, Barry?”

“What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Because where I come from we wouldn’t be talking about her like that.”

“Yeah?” said Barry. “Where would a place like that be, exactly?” He went to the fridge, took out another carton.

“I’ll just have a word with Rhett,” Roy said.

“Be my guest.”

Roy went upstairs. Rhett was playing a video game in his bedroom, back to the door, tuft of hair sticking up on his head.

“Why’nt you come on home with me for now?” Roy said. “Till your ma gets back.”

“I’m all set,” Rhett said, not turning.

“What are you going to eat for supper? There’s nothing in the fridge.”

“There’s Chinese.”

“It’s old.”

“I’m not hungry.” Rhett hunched closer to the screen.

Roy watched him play the game. “Got to keep up with your studies even when you’re not there,” he said. “Can’t fall behind.”

No answer. On the screen, a pumped-up warrior ran down a dark tunnel.

Roy drove home. He checked the messages, none, and the mail, bills, then went downstairs and worked on the shelves until they were done. He carried them up to Rhett’s old room—Rhett’s room, period—set them up, tried a few books here and there. He remembered Rhett’s Pop Warner trophy—every kid got one—and his Pop Warner highlight tape, found them in the closet, put them on the top shelf. The setting sun, reflecting off someone’s windshield on the street, glowed on the cheaply plated trophy figure, a hard-charging boy with a football tucked under one arm. Roy stood there until the light faded; probably only a moment or two.

Roy switched on the kitchen lights, sat down with a Coke, a pencil, a blank sheet of paper. He wrote three headings:
House Projects
,
Budget (w/new salary)
,
Managerial Skills
. Under
House Projects
he wrote
bathroom
. Marcia had always hated the bathroom. Maybe start by ripping out the linoleum, laying those tiles that looked like marble, then hanging a bigger mirror, framed by little makeup lightbulbs, and—

The buzzer. Marcia didn’t like that either, Roy remembered as he went to answer it. She wanted chimes. He opened the front door.

Gordo. Gordo in muddy uniform, eyes blurry, propped up by a boy—no, it was Lee, not in uniform, wearing a denim jacket and jeans, which was probably why Roy didn’t recognize him right away. Gordo swayed back on the stoop and Lee, so much smaller, almost lost him. Roy grabbed Gordo’s arm. Gordo tilted forward, his eyes making an exaggerated attempt to bring Roy into focus.

“Hi, good buddy,” he said.

Roy pulled him inside. “You all right?” he said.

“I hear the rolling thunder.”

Roy got him in the living room, laid him on the couch.

“Puke city,” Gordo said.

Roy sat him up.

“Roy has a secret life,” Gordo said. He turned green.

“I’ll get some water,” Lee said, going into the kitchen.

“What’s my secret life?” Roy said.

“Listenin’ to gospel. Don’t you worry none. I’ll take it to my grave.” Gordo’s arm shot out abruptly, jerked Roy down beside him on the couch. “Tell you something confidential, good buddy.” Roy smelled alcohol in several states, from raw to almost completely digested. “He’s not gay.”

“Who?” Roy asked.

A mistake, asking a question, because Gordo put his lips to Roy’s ear to answer. His breath was hot, his lips wet. “Lee. Thought he was gay, but he’s not. You think he was gay?”

“No,” Roy said; but he remembered the feeling of Lee’s hand on his back as they posed by the cannon.

“Could have taken advantage of me out there, couldn’t he of?” Gordo said. “If he’d of been—”

Lee returned with a glass of water.

“Not thirsty,” Gordo said.

“Drink,” Lee said.

Gordo stopped shaking his head. “Is that an order, Corporal?”

“Yes.”

Gordo drank, but the green tinge on his cheeks and upper lip didn’t go away.

“Where’s my canteen?” he said. He felt along his belt, patting frantically with both hands. “Lost my canteen.” He started to cry.

“Canteen’s in the car,” Lee said. “All your gear’s in your car, right outside.”

“Think I care about that goddamn car?” He turned to Roy. “Know my plan for that piece of shit?”

“No,” Roy said.

Gordo wiped away tears with the back of his sleeve, muddying his face. “Think of China,” he said.

“China?”

“Boom,” said Gordo.

“What does that mean?”

“If you don’t know, who does? Big bang, good buddy.”

“He wants to blow up his car?” Lee said.

Gordo put his lips to Roy’s ear again. “Ammonium nitrate in the trunk, in the back, under the hood, everywhere. Sublevel five. Boom.” The words buzzed through Roy’s auditory tubes and into his brain.

He got up, moved away. “Better sleep it off, Gordo.”

“I might lie down,” said Gordo, lying down, “but you can forget about the sleeping part. Think I trust anybody now and forevermore?” His eyes closed. “Boom,” he said, and then went silent.

Roy and Lee gazed down at him. He twitched once or twice. The corners of his lips curved down. Can you look unhappy, anxious, troubled with your eyes closed, and drunk? Gordo did.

“Hope you’re not angry,” Lee said.

“About what?”

“Bringing him here. He didn’t want to go home. He wanted to be here.”

“What about Brenda?”

“I called her.”

“And?”

Lee glanced at Roy. Roy couldn’t tell how old he was. From the face alone, the skin poreless, the features small and precise, Roy would have guessed about nineteen or twenty. But the eyes were at least ten years older than that, and so was the way he talked, the way he carried himself.

“She’s upset. Didn’t really want him home—”

“Until he sobered up.” Roy finished the sentence for him. Not something he usually did, if ever, but he’d known what Lee was going to say and it had just popped out.

Their eyes met. “Which could be some time,” Lee said.

Gordo twitched suddenly, as though he knew they were discussing him and didn’t like it. They both gazed down at him.

“Lucky you were there,” Roy said.

“Where?”

“At that camp of yours.”

“I wasn’t. Satchmo boards close by.”

Satchmo? Roy didn’t get it at first. Then images from the dream of the smudged-faced horseman came streaming back to him, as clear as when he’d dreamed them.

“They’ve got stables out there?” Roy said.

Lee nodded. “I saw Gordo’s car in the lot on my way up.”

Gordo groaned.

“So you need a drive back?” Roy said.

“It’s not necessary.”

“Going to saddle up instead?”

Lee smiled. “Would if I could.”

They got in Gordo’s Altima, just like Roy’s but newer and smelling of booze. Lee drove, Roy sat in the passenger seat. He heard empty beer cans rattling in the back as they turned onto Virginia, headed for the highway.

“Hope we don’t get stopped,” he said.

“I never do.”

But Roy didn’t know why. Once they were up on the connector, Lee drove fast, weaving in and out of the passing lane, hitting eighty-five, ninety, more. The funny thing was it didn’t feel like going fast. It felt just right, smooth, effortless, safe. Lee’s hands—not big, but strong looking and finely shaped—held the wheel in proper ten-to-two position, relaxed; his eyes gazed straight ahead in that steady way of his, without concern. Roy even wondered if he was thinking of something else. They blew past a Corvette, hit ninety-five.

“You’ve done some driving,” Roy said.

“A little.”

“I meant the competitive kind.”

Lee nodded, or made a slight motion that might have been a nod. “The guys are pretty jacked about you,” he said.

“I don’t understand.”

“What with this connection. It’s like you’re history, walking and talking.”

“Because I have the same name as this great-great whatever he was?”

“That,” said Lee, “and the fact that he was in the regiment, and”—Lee shot him a quick glance; Roy’s foot stomped a brake that wasn’t there—“you look the part.”

Roy remembered what Gordo had said, but also remembered the touch of Lee’s hand again, felt a little uncomfortable. Lee’s eyes were back on the road.

“What did you think of the bio?” he said.

“Bio?”

“I thought Jesse put together a bio.”

“I haven’t had a chance to read it yet,” Roy said, not even sure where it was.

“Did you get my message about black powder shooting?”

“I haven’t had much time lately.”

“Work.”

“Yeah.”

“Poor Gordo.”

Twenty, the perimeter, Bankhead: record time. As they crossed the river, Roy had an idea. “What about Earl?”

“What about him?” said Lee, suddenly decelerating. A few seconds later they cruised lawfully past a patrol car hidden by trees at the side of the road. Roy checked to see whether Gordo had installed a radar detector; he had not.

“I hear he’s got a lot of things going. Maybe there’d be a job for Gordo.”

“I wouldn’t know about that,” Lee said. “Or business in general.” He sped up without a glance back in the mirror. Traffic was lighter now, the night darker. The needle touched one hundred. “There was heavy skirmishing right around here,” Lee said.