Adrift: The Complete Novel (3 page)

Before I could ask another question, a horn honked out front. Hollie stood and pulled the lace fringed curtains aside. “Speak of the devil. It’s Max Laney.”

Chapter 5

“You stay here. I’ll take care of him,” Hollie said, already headed to the door. “Don’t come outside.”

+++

“What can I do for you, Max?”

Max Laney, standing in the shade of the porch, wiping his brow with a monogrammed handkerchief, motioned to his grandson who waited near the Lexus SUV.

“I heard you’re harboring a fugitive, Hollie. Doesn’t sound like you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I have a friend staying with me, but he’s no fugitive.”

Laney shook his head sadly. “That’s not what I heard. Look at my grandson, got busted up pretty good the other night. Says it was your guest who did it.”

“I don’t know anything about that. Did Johnny tell you he was trespassing with three of his cousins yesterday morning, threatening me and my houseguest?”

Laney’s eyes narrowed, and he threw a glare at his grandson, who cowered slightly.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you about that? Maybe I should be calling the cops?”

Laney raised his hands. “Now, Hollie, there’s no need for that. Sounds like a couple kids having a toss. I seem to remember us doing the same thing a few years back.”

Hollie grinned. “You never could take me, even with your posse.”

Laney shrugged, no longer concerned. “I suggest you tell your
guest
to get out of Defuniak as soon as he can. Don’t know what might happen if he gets caught in town. It’s out of my hands.”

+++

I heard the entire conversation, surprised that Hollie lied for me. He didn’t have to do that. Why trust me?

A moment later, the Laneys left in a trail of dust. I heard the front door close, and went to meet Hollie at the stairs.

“You hear all that?” he asked.

“I did.”

“I can’t stand that son-of-a-bitch.” Hollie shook his head, then changed the subject. “I’ve got some work to do. You okay to help me out?”

+++

“Let me come back tonight and drag him out of the house, granddad. I can take care of it.”

Max Laney kept his focus on the road, scheming as he drove. He’d wanted control of the Herndon land for over thirty years. Every other property surrounding Hollie’s three hundred acres belonged to Max Laney in one way or another. Maybe he could use the situation as leverage…

“You won’t do a damn thing until I tell you to, you hear me?”

Johnny nodded, smiling. It was the first time his grandfather had mentioned taking action. He could wait. Knowing his grandfather, it wouldn’t be long.

+++

We spent the day touring the fields, taking soil samples, measuring moisture, inspecting the irrigation ditches. Hollie’s land was fed by a decent sized lake and several underground springs. “It’s why Laney wants it so bad. I’m one of the only self-sustaining plots of land in the area. He controls the water everywhere else. It’s how he got his hands on the others. Control the water, control the land.”

“How does he get away with it?” I asked, a complete novice to farming and land.

“It’s all just enough within the law. Of course, no one would ever say Max Laney applied any extra pressure. He’s an upstanding businessman, a man of the people. Doesn’t ask for much publicly, but if you want anything done in Defuniak Springs, you’d better believe Laney knows about it, and, more than likely, gets a piece of the pie.”

It sounded like the old west or the mafia to me. Maybe I was naive in the ways of modern business, but I couldn’t believe it could happen in the current age.

+++

Johnny pulled into Pappy’s Honkey Tonk gravel parking lot, next to four late model vehicles, taking the handicap spot. Chugging the last gulp of the Budweiser, he crumpled the can, threw it on the ground and opened the door to the bar.

It was smoky inside despite only two patrons sitting on stools, hunched over their drinks. A fat man behind the bar looked up at the sound of the door opening.

“Hey, Johnny. What can I get for ya?”

“Kelly in?”

The owner hesitated, assessing Johnny mood.

“She’s in the back.”

“Get me a shot of Jack and a Bud, then go get her.”

The owner put down the dish towel and moved to fill the order, Johnny taking a seat in the middle of the bar, keeping his gaze on the obese bartender.

“You know, you really should lose some weight, Wally,” Johnny jabbed. One of the other patrons snickered.

The owner’s face colored, but he chuckled nervously. “I know, I know. The wife’s been telling me that for years.” He set the shot glass in front of Johnny who took it and drank it, slamming the tiny glass down. “I, uh, maybe I should get back into the gym. Remember those days? You and me on the football field?” He handed the beer bottle to Johnny, hand shaking slightly.

“That was a long time ago, Wally. What’d you play anyway? Towel boy?” Another snicker from the drunk patron.

“Nah, hell. I was on the O-line with you, remember?”

Johnny nodded, sipping his beer. “Why don’t you go get Kelly?”

A minute later, a skinny girl with sun-streaked hair, jean shorts hugging her slight form, walked in from the kitchen. “Hey, Johnny,” she said tentatively, avoiding his eyes and the bandage on his nose.

“I need to have a word with you out back,” Johnny said, pointing his bottle at the young girl who looked no more than twenty years old.

“Uh, I’ve got prep work to do in the kitchen. Let me ask…”

“Don’t worry about Wally.” Johnny smiled. “It’ll just take a minute.”

Kelly looked around for support. Wally had stayed in the kitchen. The customers pretended not to listen. She was all alone.

“O—kay.”

Johnny pounded the rest of the beer and tossed the bottle behind the bar. “Next round’s on me, fellas,” he said to the others, one who looked asleep, but grinned at the offer.

Johnny led the way and opened the back door for Kelly, patting her rear as she passed. She knew better than to flinch. 

Chapter 6

After helping Hollie dispose of the dead coyotes and various random farm chores, I showered and headed to the kitchen for dinner.

Fried chicken, greasy and steaming, sat waiting expectantly. “Dig in,” said Hollie, still tending the stove. “I’ve got collards coming too.”

I didn’t wait, starved. I’d polished off two succulent thighs before Hollie sat down, bringing the ham hock seasoned collard greens with him. As before, we closed our eyes for a quick blessing.

“You know, I really should be paying you for helping me out,” Hollie remarked, taking his first bite of chicken.

“I think I’m the one who owes you. How about we call it even?”

Hollie nodded, not saying anything while we devoured a good portion of the food. “How long are you planning on staying? I mean, I’m not saying you have to leave, just curious.”

I’d been thinking the same thing. It wasn’t fair taking advantage of his hospitality. “Not long. I’ve got some places to visit.”

“Home?”

I shrugged, not wanting to think about visiting family. That could wait, despite my mother’s pleas. She wanted me home. I wanted to be anywhere but.

“Do you think it would be okay if I borrowed your truck after dinner? I wanted to drive over to the bar and apologize.”

“Sure, but you think that’s a good idea? Might run into the Laneys again.”

“I’ll take my chances to make things right. Can you give me directions?”

+++

After helping with the dishes, I climbed into Hollie’s pickup and headed out to the main drag. It took me just under ten minutes to get there. There weren’t many cars in the lot as I pulled in, taking a moment to do a quick appraisal of the area.

Nothing looked familiar when I stepped into the bar. I must’ve been really drunk that first night. The bar stools were nearly full, but only one of the twenty odd tables held customers. No one looked up as I approached.

“Excuse me, is the owner in?” I said to the girl behind the counter, who was turned away from the bar, grabbing a handful of beers.

She swiveled around carefully, somehow holding six beer bottles in her tiny hands. Her eyes met mine, and she startled, almost dropping everything. “It’s…it’s you,” she said, almost in a whisper averting her eyes, one of which I noticed was ringed in red and purple. A new injury.

“I’m sorry, have we met?” I asked.

Before she could answer, someone called out from the kitchen, “Kelly, get on back here and pick up this food.”

She looked at me furtively, purposefully trying to hide her black eye with her streaked hair. “I’ll tell Wally you’re here.”

I nodded and took a seat.

+++

“Why didn’t you follow him?”

“You told me to stay put, Johnny.”

Johnny fumed. His idiot cousin didn’t know how to take a shit without permission.

“You sure it was him?”

“Yeah. Blonde hair. Same guy.”

“Which way did he go?”

“Headed towards highway ninety.”

Johnny pictured the roadways in his mind, ruling out destinations. “Was Hollie with him?”

“No.”

“There aren’t many places he could’ve gone. Call me if he comes back.”

Johnny put his truck in reverse, squealing out of the drive.

+++

A man emerged from the back, wearing a grease-stained white apron. He scanned the dimly lit bar, his eyes finally settling on me. They went wide.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.

“I don’t mean any trouble. I just wanted to stop by and apologize for the other night and see if there was any damage I could pay for.”

The owner looked at me, deciding which way to take it. On one hand, I was offering him money, something a bar owner never said no to. On the other, he was probably risking the wrath of the town’s thugs.

He pointed to the opposite end of the building where a jukebox pumped out an old Johnny Cash hit. I followed him over.

“You seem like a good kid, kinda drunk the other night, but you stuck up for Kelly…”

I put up a hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to interrupt, but my memory’s a little hazy. Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

He looked shocked, but only for a moment. “Didn’t think you were that drunk.” He shook his head. “It went down like this: Johnny Laney was in his usually seat,” he pointed to a table near the bar. “He’d been drinking most of the afternoon. You came in at some point, don’t remember exactly when, sat at the bar and ordered a drink. Whisky, right?”

I nodded.

“Anyway, a little time goes by and Johnny and his cousin start getting loud, singing along with the music. No big deal. Happens all the time. Well, Kelly brings them a new pitcher of beer, and Johnny accidentally knocks it off the table. Kelly knows better than to piss him off, so she goes to grab a mop to clean it up. Johnny gets mad. Wants another beer right then. Kelly tells him she had to clean it or someone will slip. He doesn’t care. That’s what she told me. I was behind the bar.”

A faint trace of recognition. Nothing concrete, just a shadow of a memory.

He continued, “Once Kelly got them more beer and finished cleaning up the mess, things went back to normal. That was, until Johnny asks Kelly to sit in his lap. She’s a pretty little thing, I get it, but she’s a good girl. She says no. Johnny didn’t like that. He grabs her by the backside and puts her on his leg. Somehow she gets away, Johnny and his cousin laugh as she makes it back to the bar. I tell her I’ll take care of their orders for the rest of the night.

“A couple minutes later, Johnny yells for more beer. I take them another pitcher and he asks where Kelly is. I tell him she’s busy tending the bar. He doesn’t listen. Johnny gets up, marches over to the bar, and points his finger in Kelly’s face, telling her she better get over there and serve them. She was scared. I try to calm him down, but he’s pissed. That’s when you stepped in.”

I felt my blood rising as he continued the story.

“You tell Johnny to leave her alone. He doesn’t like that one bit. Walks over and stands right in your face. You don’t move. The whole place is watching Johnny stare you down, screaming at you. You’re like a statue, looked right back in his eyes. Then you say, I’ll never forget this, “Are you finished?” It was like you put a red hot poker in his backside. He loses it, shoving his head right into yours, pushing you back over the bar. I grab the phone, ready to call the cops, but don’t get there. You push him back and jackhammer him with your forehead. I see his nose squash, and Johnny goes straight down to the floor.”