Micah (4 page)

“
Your mother is doing all
the work again.” Joey got up, but Micah stayed where he was.
Grandda sat in his chair and looked up at him when Micah didn’t say
anything. Joey shrugged and moved to help their mom plate up
dinner. Grandma was still setting the table when Grandda spoke to
Micah. “Son?”

Micah looked at Grandda with a glazed
over expression. Joey could see that even he was worried about
Micah, and when he put his hand on his shoulder, Micah flinched
away a little. Not a good sign at all.

“
I’m just…it’s been a long
week.” Grandda nodded and looked at him as Micah continued. “You
can stop looking for guidance, Grandda, I’m fine. Just had a weird
case and a rookie to work with too. Too many hours training idiots
that won’t last a month.”

“
You been getting a lot of
them lately.” Joey took the large pan of cornbread from his mom and
put it on the platter as he worked and talked. “Last month you told
them that you didn’t want any more of them. What the hell happened
to that?”

The pain in the back of his head had
him trying to remember what he’d said, and Joey looked at his mom
and winked. Gracie Bentley was in her mid-fifties, but didn’t look
a day over twenty-five. Even her dark hair looked gorgeous all
pulled up in a ponytail at the back of her head.

“
Watch it, young man. I’m
not too old to stand you in the corner after a trip to the wood
shed.” Joey nodded and kissed her on the cheek. “You’re getting too
full of yourself. All of you are. I’m still your
mother.”

“
Yes, you are.” Micah
stood up and swung their mom around the room before setting her
back on her feet. “And the most beautiful woman in the
world.”

After she smacked him on the shoulder,
she left them to their conversation. Joey loved his mom, all of
them did, and would do anything in the world for her. But there
wasn’t a day that went by that he wasn’t just a little afraid of
her. She had a temper that could peel your fur off your hide in a
second flat. He loved their grandparents too. Joey leaned against
the counter and looked at his brother as Micah pulled down a glass
from the cabinet. He was pouring a huge glass of tea when Grandda
spoke again.

“
I’m supposing that
they’re still trying to talk you into staying on.” Micah nodded as
he drank nearly half the glass. “And what are you still telling
them? No, I hope. You’ve been at it long enough. Quit while you’re
still upright. I’m lucky that I made it to retirement. Maybe
wouldn’t have if it had been now days. Things are a mite different
than they were in my day.”

Grandma got up and hugged Joey, then
Micah. After looking into his eyes for several seconds, she went to
kiss Grandda on the head and told him to behave, that they were all
grown men. They all watched her head to the dining room with a
large bowl of mashed potatoes.

“
I told the captain today
that I’d just as soon he not ask me again.” Grandda nodded, but
Joey waited. There was more; he’d bet his life on it. “They offered
it to me.”

No one said a word. He wanted to first
congratulate his brother, but at the same time he wanted to try and
convince him to say no. It was going to be hard enough just to be
happy for him either way. Being a homicide detective was all Micah
had ever wanted. And he’d been passed over enough times that it
seemed to Joey that they liked him being a beat cop more than they
wanted crimes solved.

“
You gonna take
it?”

Joey held his breath while Micah
didn’t answer their grandda. Micah sat back down before answering
him.

“
I’m not just getting the
job as a homicide detective, but head of the department. They told
me that they didn’t want to lose me to some other company.” Joey
sat down too. This would be harder for Micah to turn down. “I won’t
have to hit the streets anymore…one of the main reasons I was
leaving in the first place. And I’ll have a nine to fiver five days
a week. No overtime unless it’s something going on, as well as I’d
have a staff, two people working directly with me daily. A car, my
insurance paid up, as well as a fat raise and bonus.”

“
You took it, didn’t you?”
Grandda got up and started pacing the large room as he continued.
The curse words were said in a very low voice, but he was pretty
sure that Grandma could still hear them without any problems. “What
the hell are you thinking? You told me just a month ago that no
matter what shit they threw at you, you’d be telling them no.
Didn’t you learn a damned thing with your daddy? He was nearly
ready to retire when bam, some dick ass shot him coming out of the
post office. He wasn’t even on duty. I tell you right now, I’m not
going to bury one of my grandsons. Not like…you have any idea how
it hurts a man to bury his son? We’re not supposed to do that. You
hear me? I’ll quit you all if you make me do that
again.”

“
I turned them down,
Grandda.” That shut him up. Joey too. Micah stood up and hugged
Grandda to him. “I turned them down because I know how hurt you
were when dad was killed. I won’t do that to Mom or one of you
again.”

He left them both standing there by
going into the dining room. Joey looked at his grandda, who was
still standing there looking a little confused. Joey laughed and he
looked at him.

“
He didn’t take the job,
Grandda. He’s going to be safe.” Grandda nodded but still didn’t
say anything. “As soon as he leaves the business, we’re going to
have him work for us. My firm is looking forward to it. He’ll be
safe, I know it.”

Micah was going to consult for them.
The pay was much better, the hours were reasonable, and like the
other job, he’d be home a great deal more. Only difference was, no
one would be shooting at him daily and he’d be happier. Joey was
all for Micah being happy.

“
I can’t bury him.” Joey
nodded and patted his grandda on the back as they moved to the
dining room. “You’ll keep him off the streets? Just going after
them dumb women and men that want to divorce each
other?”

“
That’s the plan.” Joey
had already talked to Micah about his job duties and they’d both
agreed that he’d be a consultant on all types of cases that came
in. Joey handled all sorts of trials, but only a few divorces.
“We’d better get to the other room before Mom comes in here and
makes us clean up.”

They both looked at the perfectly
ordered room. His mom had always been a person who cleaned as she
worked, and the kitchen was no exception. It was what all of them
did in their own homes, those that no longer lived here. Just Tony
and Garth, the two youngest, were still at home.

Since him and the older ones had moved
out, they’d been meeting at their family home every Wednesday night
for dinner. It was a big loud affair with a great deal of food and
love. Mom cooked like they were starved, which was good because
there were never any leftovers. But tonight, this meal was special
and they all knew it.

As soon as they had all sat down—no
one ever taking their dad’s spot at the head of the table since his
death one year ago today—they stood and raised their glasses to his
empty place. Their dad had been one in a million and the best
father a boy to man could ever have. They each sat down and waited
for their mom to start passing the first platter.

“
I heard from that nice
girl Jamie.” No one said anything, but they all pretty much knew
what was coming next. “She has the prettiest little girl. Her
mother is so happy to be a grandmother. I told her you boys are
never going to find mates, not the way you work. She was so sad for
me.”

“
I could get you a puppy.”
Garth laughed when Mom growled at him. “The thing would hate you,
but I could get you one. You could call it your grand
dog.”

“
I’m going to keep your
dessert.”

Garth started to protest but shut up
when she gave him the look, the one that she’d perfected over the
years that said “think hard before you speak.” It worked every
time. “I’ll behave myself.”

By the time dinner was finished, Garth
had redeemed himself. He’d turned a business around, he’d told
them, as well as made the family more money. Not that any of them
needed any more than they had right now, but their mom was their
first priority and they wanted her to be financially secure. It
looked to him like she was.

Clean up was done by them. The boys,
as their mother continued to call them, cleared and washed up. Had
there been a dishwasher in the house, none of them would have dared
use it. Clean up time was for them, and Mom made sure they had all
the time they needed to talk while washing up.

At half past nine, Joey made his way
home. By ten he was in his bedroom stripping down to go on a run
with Tony. When they were finished, their bodies slick with sweat,
Joey invited his little brother to spend the night, and by
midnight, they were both in bed. Joey was thinking of all the cases
that he’d been working on the last week when he closed his eyes and
let sleep take him.

~~~

Reggie walked to work every day. It
wasn’t really something that she enjoyed so much as it was a
necessary evil. Frowning, she thought of how evil it was going to
be in a few months when there was a foot of snow on the ground.
Reggie tried to remember if her boots were still full of holes or
if she’d been able to get that fancy glue to close them up. Her
luck, it wouldn’t have worked. Reggie was five of the most unlucky
people she knew all rolled into one.

“
Hey, Regs.” She waved at
the man across the street from the house she lived in. “You gonna
go and save the world today?”

“
I am. One special at a
time.” He laughed as he did every time they said this to each
other, and she waved back as she moved on. Reggie had been working
at the diner for nearly five years, and in all that time, Pete had
said that to her every morning. By the time she got the door
unlocked then locked again, she was wishing that she’d worn
something warmer. The place was absolutely freezing
today.

At five minutes to five she had all
the bacon she’d need for the first wave of customers fried up. When
the timer sounded that the biscuits were done, Reggie pulled them
out of the oven and went to unlock the door. There were already
three people standing in line to get in. One she didn’t
know.

A very beautiful woman asked to be
seated in a booth. Reggie took her to the one furthest from the
door and handed her a menu. As she made her way to the back, the
waitress, Ruby Gold, came through the door telling everyone she was
sorry she’d been late. Reggie just wished one day the woman could
be there before her scheduled time and not over an hour late. The
extra help would have been really nice.

The diner, Mamma’s Home Cookin’, had
been in business since before Reggie had been born, over twenty-six
years ago. Her mother and father would bring her and Boyd in on
Saturday mornings to get pancakes and waffles. She loved waffles.
But those days, along with everything else, were long gone for
her.

The first two orders were her
regulars. An order of bacon with scrambled eggs, wheat toast, and
hash browns all mixed up on the plate…Davey. Mark’s order was
pancakes, four of them, fried ham with just a touch of onions,
three biscuits, and a side of gravy for dipping. Whatever that
meant. As soon as the strange order came up, she knew that the
woman had company. As she filled it, she wondered why on earth a
beautiful woman like her was in this dive.

The three eggs on the one plate were
over easy. Wheat toast, bacon, ham, and sausage, as well as fried
potatoes, were all put on an oval platter. The other order—two
scrambled with cheese and ham bits, white toast, and hash
browns—went on the other platter. She was just setting it up on the
window when another man came in. Reggie put down her spatula and
waited for him to either sit down or rob them. She knew it was
going to be the latter as soon as he moved to the bar where the
cash register was.

“
I need some money.” Ruby
nodded but didn’t move to open the register. Instead she looked at
Reggie before looking back at the man. “I know you don’t got a
phone up here, so either give me the money in the drawer or I kill
you.”

Reggie reached for the gun she had
brought in a few weeks ago. She was registered to use it, qualified
to have it on the premises. But that didn’t mean she wanted to kill
someone if she could avoid it. When he took out his own gun, Reggie
watched the man with the beautiful woman get up. Reggie didn’t want
anyone hurt and came out of the kitchen just as the man started
toward them.

“
You don’t want any of
this shit today.” The man pointed the gun at her, which she
supposed was what she’d wanted. “Just go sit down at the counter
and I’ll make you something to eat. If you still want to rob us
after I feed you, we’ll talk some more. Besides, in the event you
didn’t notice, there is not going to be much in the till this early
in the morning. No one has paid their checks, and since the
waitress was late again, she’s not even put the money in it from
the safe.”

“
Give me what’s in the
safe then.” She was shaking her head even as he continued talking.
“You will give me the money or I’ll kill everyone in
here.”