“I’m going to talk to Peter about having you stay with us while we’re here. That way, you don’t ever have to go back. Then when that meeting is over, you’re going to have to brace yourself. I have four more brothers at home and a grandpa of my own, as does Merce. You’re going to have so many relatives around you that you might wish you were back at the home.”
“Never.”
Del nodded at him, and they went back to their seats. His burger and fries were waiting for him as soon as he settled. Taking his first bite of a hot French fry he’d had in forever, it seemed, Todd hoped the man was right. He surely did. It would be nice to have a hot meal all the time again.
Chapter 8
Del didn’t so much as stretch as they stood on the front porch of the nice home. He had been warned, no less than ten times, that he was not to hit his cousin no matter how much he provoked him. No one, especially his mom, wanted to visit him in jail. Merce didn’t threaten him so much as she glared. He found that to be so much more telling than the threats his family had put on him.
Del wanted to stretch his neck. To feel the tension that was building up behind his eyes dissipate into the evening air with a loud pop. However, just as he was moving his shoulders to just relieve a little of it, he looked at his wife.
There was no mistaking the look she gave him. Merce could outstare his mom right now, he’d bet. Not only that, but he was more afraid of her than he was his mom. Del was terrified of her. So, instead of doing all the things he wanted to the man in this house for what he’d done to his own children, he pushed the doorbell. When it broke under his finger, he didn’t bother looking at the rest of them.
“It must have been very old.” No one said anything when he said that. He did hear Peter laugh, but it was cut short. He’d bet his last check that his mom had popped him a good one in the back of the head. It was her favorite thing to do when she was upset.
The door opened, and there stood James Pencil. Del wanted to point out that he looked just like his namesake. That his head was pointed at the top, with graying hair that looked like he’d styled it to be messy. Fucker. Putting out his hand, Del had an uncontrollable urge to kill James.
“What did you do?” He looked at Merce when she smacked him. “Del, I believe you were told several times to behave yourself.”
Not sure what she was talking about, he looked to where James had been standing, and he was gone. So gone, in fact, that one of his shoes was still where the man had been. Looking around for him, he saw the man lying on the floor across the room, not moving.
“How did he get there?” Del was smacked again, and that seemed to be all it took to loosen up some of his memories. “I did that.”
“Of course you did that, you fucker. You grabbed him around the throat, lifted him up, then tossed him across the room
. He flew like he had wings. What the hell is wrong with you?” He didn’t answer Merce. Not that he didn’t have one, but he didn’t think it would help matters if he admitted he enjoyed knowing he had tossed the man around a little. “I’ll deal with you in a bit. Christ, I hope he doesn’t remember how he got there. That way, you might not spend the next fifty or so years in prison.”
He didn’t follow her in but waited until his mom had passed him. Del was sure she had a grin on her face, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. It wasn’t until Peter stood in front of him that he was able to smile. Peter just shook his head.
“You beat me to it. And I don’t know if you noticed it or not, but Mom had a gun out at her side. Like her thought process was to shoot him right where he stood. So if you think about it, you probably saved his life and kept Mom from going to prison too.” Del asked his brother if he was sure it was a gun. “Yes. I’m sure. She not only put it in her purse, Del, but she took out the clip, the ammo in the chamber, as well as put the unspent bullet back in the clip. I had no idea she knew anything about guns. Did you?”
“No. But then she’s been a mystery to me all my life.” They both laughed as they entered the house. There was enough shrieking going on that he thought about putting his fingers in his ears. Whatever was going on had to do with the new wife and her husband laid out on the floor.
Peter put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Del had always been jealous of him being able to do that. However, today it didn’t seem to have the desired effect as it normally did. The arguing went on for a few more minutes until his mother pulled out the gun and fired it twice toward the windows just beyond them. That worked.
“Now, we’re going to have a nice conversation, and you will stop that caterwauling before I have to tape your mouth closed. Go into your dining room and sit down before I have to sit you down.” Mom looked at him. “Del, honey, get a bucket of water and dump it on this little shit to have him come around. I’m not sure how much time we have before the others arrive, but we really should be ready.”
“Mom, when did you get a gun? And learn how to fire it?” She just stared at him. “I think that’s a good question, don’t you?”
“I’ve had it for years. As for how to fire it? Honey, all you need to do is pull the trigger. That’s all it takes. Now get the shit up, and we’ll get this over with, so I can go home and spoil my grandchildren.”
When she walked away, he looked at Peter. He was staring at Mom like he’d never seen her before. Going to the kitchen, he was surprised to see it in such a mess. There didn’t seem to be any staff around, nor did it look as if they were in any way cleaning up after themselves.
Getting a large pot off the sink, he filled it with cold water. It had been tempting to use hot, but he thought he’d pushed enough buttons for today. Taking it to the front hall, he was disappointed to see that James had awakened on his own and was headed to the dining room.
Since the front door was open, Judge Middleton walked in with three other men. Two of them were officers, and the third one he didn’t know. Also, there were the children. It did his heart a world of good to see them smiling and giving him a hug. Putting down the pot of water, he got down on his knees and hugged all three of them. Brian was at a doctor’s appointment and would join them later. They entered the dining room just as Judge Middleton was talking about why they were there.
“We’re here to acknowledge that you are the biological father to these three children.” As the judge went over the reasons for this meeting, he asked James if he wanted an attorney. When he said yes, he was allotted ten minutes to call himself one and another thirty minutes to have him at the house. Otherwise, he was forfeiting his need for one. James asked if it was still his home. “For now. Your time is running out, young man. I suggest you get your butt in gear.”
Twenty-nine minutes had passed when his attorney showed up. He didn’t look any happier about it than James did. He must have been at a softball game too. The T-shirt he had on said he was a coach. When the judge brought him up to date on what was going on, Mr. Shadow looked at his client.
“I’m sorry. What does he mean, you gave your children up for adoption?” James told him he was beginning a new life. “Without your children? Do you have any idea the repercussions that could come with this?”
“So long as they’re no longer my problem, I don’t care.” Middleton handed some paperwork to Shadow. When he read it over, he looked shocked, more so than before. “You said you didn’t care what happened to them so long as they weren’t in your hair? How the hell do you think that is even remotely a good thing?”
James leaned over to Shadow and whispered loud enough for them all to hear his plan. “I’m not sure we’ve spoken about this, but my dead wife made it so only the kids could collect the money. However, if anything should happen to them that they’re no longer my children, the money would be given to charity. I’m working on this one thing at a time. After this, I’m going to declare she wasn’t of sound mind when she said that.”
Shadow looked at him, and Del spoke then. “I’m here to adopt the children so they won’t be in the system. I’m their blood relative through my mom. Her sister was James the dick’s mother.” Shadow looked at his mom before looking back at him. “Her name is Katherine Archer. You should have received information on her through an email that was sent out on Monday.”