I thought of Indy and our fight. “No. I’m just tired is all.”
She let it go. But not before she raised her eyebrow and gave me a knowing look.
While she went next door to play chess with Lady, she had our babysitter come and stay. Her name was Cilla and she was married to someone in the club. We loved it when Cilla came and sat with us because she always brought brownies and ice cream. But tonight, instead of sitting up with her and my brothers, I went to my bedroom and sat in the darkness, hugging my knees to my chest and feeling angry. I watched Indy’s window, waiting for the light to come on. When it did, I turned my light on, too, and we both stared angrily at each other.
Finally, Indy stomped toward her window and slammed it down. Well, it was more an attempt at a slam because it got stuck a couple of times and she really had to force it down. To show her I was just as mad, I did the same thing, I slammed it down so hard the glass rattled in the pane. Indy crossed her arms and poked her tongue out at me, so I crossed my arms, too, and pulled a face. She stormed off in a huff, and I saw the main light of her room snap off. So, I turned mine off, too.
But I didn’t go to bed. I sat at my window and stared up at the full moon. I thought about climbing out and sitting on one of the branches of the sycamore tree, but I didn’t want Indy to think I wasn’t mad at her anymore. And, boy, was I mad. I didn’t want her coming out to see what I was up to and make me forget about our argument and want to make up. Because then she would think she had won.
I shoved my arms across my chest again and set my mouth.
She would have to apologize first.
A sudden band of light appeared in Indy’s room and I realized someone had opened her bedroom door. From where I stood, I could make out a silhouette. It was her Uncle Calvin.
Panic suddenly flared in my stomach.
“Turn and walk away,” I whispered, untangling my arms from my chest and pressing my fingers to the window glass. “Turn and walk away. Turn and walk away.”
My heartbeat picked up when he didn’t. Instead, he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.
Instantly, I knew Indy was in trouble.
I didn’t wait. I climbed out the window and raced across the lawn, and around the side of Indy’s house. I knew my mama would be playing chess out on the patio with Lady. When Daddy and Jackie Parrish were away on rides, Mama and Lady spent a lot of time on the Parrish patio playing chess and drinking from fancy glasses.
Feeling my heart pounding I unlatched the gate and ran through to the side garden until I reached the tiled patio. My mama and Lady were laughing but when they saw me, their smiles faded.
“Cade—”
“It’s Indy!” I said, panicking. “He’s in her room!”
Lady stood up quickly. “Who’s in her room?”
“What are you talking about, son?” Mama asked.
I heaved the words out, “Uncle Calvin.”
Mama looked at Lady, then a strange look came across Lady’s face and she raced inside with me and my mama close behind.
Twenty minutes later, I sat on the front porch watching them load Indy’s Uncle Calvin into an ambulance. He was moaning and demanding they give him something for the pain.
Sheriff Elton was talking to his deputy. Like Indy, Deputy Buckman was new to town. He was younger than Sheriff Elton but he had a beard and it was already turning grey.
“Christ, her father made a mess out of him,” Buckman said to Elton as they walked toward the police cruiser.
Sheriff Elton stopped walking and looked at him.
“The father didn’t do that to him,” he said. “The mother did. Lady Parrish.”
Buckman baulked. “She did that to him?”
From what I could figure out, Uncle Calvin was really messed up. Black eyes. Lots of broken bones, including his nose and his jaw. I overheard the EMT say something about busted ribs. He was probably right. I remember hearing them crack when Lady hit him with the baseball bat.
“You don’t fuck with the women of the MC,” Elton said.
“Where is the father?” Buckman asked.
“Out of town.” He gave Buckman a serious look. “If Jackie Parrish had been home, Calvin Winter would be leaving here in a body bag.”
“And that would be a problem?” Buckman asked. “Seems to me, anyone goes around hurting little girls gets what’s coming to them.”
Elton nodded. “Oh, it’s coming to him. Believe me. The MC have a special kind of justice for people who hurt kids. Don’t worry, you’ll learn to turn a blind eye.”