bsp; He turned and marched out of the room. I could feel the trailer shudder under his feet.
“Think that means you’re supposed to follow him,” Waylay said.
“Right. Okay. Just hang tight. I’ll be back in a second.”
I found him outside, hands on hips and staring at the gravel.
“Is there a problem?”
“You two aren’t fucking staying here.”
Suddenly too tired to function, I collapsed against the trailer’s aluminum siding. “Look, Knox. My bones are tired. I’ve been up for a million hours straight. I’m in a strange place in a stranger situation. And there’s a little girl in there who needs someone. Unfortunately for her, that someone is me. You made up for the asshole routine with the chauffeur routine. You can just stop with the macho inconvenienced thing. I didn’t ask you for help. So you’re free to go. I need to start cleaning this mess up.”
Literally and figuratively.
“About done?” he asked.
I was too tired to be infuriated. “Yeah. About.”
“Good. Then get your ass in the truck. You’re not staying here.”
“Are you serious right now?”
“You two aren’t staying in a motel with cardboard doors or a health violation of a trailer that’s been broken into. Besides…” He paused his tirade to rip the eviction notice off the door. “This place ain’t Tina’s anymore. Legally you can’t crash here. Morally I can’t let you try. Got it?”
It was the longest speech he’d made in my presence, and I honestly didn’t have the energy for a reply.
But he wasn’t looking for one.
“So you’re going to get your ass in the truck.”
“And then what, Knox?” I pushed away from the trailer and threw my hands up. “What’s next? Do you know? Because I haven’t got a clue, and that scares the hell out of me.”
“I know a place you can stay. Safer than the motel. Cleaner than this fuckin’ mess.”
“Knox, I’ve got no wallet. No checkbook. No phone or laptop. As of yesterday, I’ve got no job to go back to. How am I supposed to pay for…” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. Exhaustion and despair overwhelmed me.
He swore and shoved a hand through his hair. “You’re asleep on your feet.”
“So?” I said sullenly.
He stared at me hard for a long beat. “Daisy, just get in the truck.”
“I need to help Waylay pack,” I argued. “And I need to go through the trash in there in case there’s any important paperwork. Insurance, birth certificate, school records.”
He stepped forward, and I moved back. He kept advancing on me until my back met his pickup. He opened the passenger door. “Gibbons will let you know if he finds anything important.”
“But shouldn’t I talk to him?”
“Already did. This ain’t his first rodeo, and he’s not a bad guy. He keeps important shit tenants leave behind and knows what to keep a lookout for. He’ll call me if he finds something. Now. Get. In. The. Truck.”
I climbed up on the seat and tried to think of other things that I needed to do.
“Way,” Knox barked.
“Geez. Keep your pants on!” Waylay appeared in the doorway wearing a backpack and holding two garbage bags.
My heart shivered. Her life, all her treasured possessions, fit into two trash bags. And not even the good kind with drawstrings.