“Son—”

“I can’t let him kill her, Mama,” I gripped a handful of covers until it made my knuckles swell, “it’s my fault she’s down there. I shouldn’t’ve never let Marshall talk me into stealing that money. I gotta go get her out.”

Mama sighed.

“Don’t try and talk me out of it.”

Mama took my chin and made me look at her. “You hush and let me talk now. Your Uncle Arlo got himself into a situation one time where your deddy did everything he could to get him out of it. You know how I feel about Arlo Burke, and I told your deddy not to do none of what he was thinking. He would’ve listened to me, too, but it would’ve eat him up on the inside. Arlo is his best friend, and your deddy couldn’t not help him. I ended up telling your deddy to do what needed doing but not to get himself hurt. Told him if he did, I’d make sure it was me who put him out of his misery.”

“What’re you saying, Mama?”

“You know what I’m saying, Mackenzie.”

5.

Marshall shook me awake late that afternoon. Outside there was an orange tint to the sky, and it looked like Albermarle Mountain was on fire. Falling asleep wasn’t part of the plan. I needed a car, and figuring that out is what put me to sleep.

“Hey, Coy, why don’t you come down and have a beer with us? Peanut’s got some steaks on the grill and everything.”

I pushed myself out of bed and stretched my back. “I think I’m good to stay here and nap. Don’t really feel like being ’round nobody.”

“C’mon, Coy, one beer. Come down and say hey to everybody and then you can come back up here and go back to sleep.”

“Nah, I’m good. I just ain’t got it in me to be ’round nobody right now.”

Marshall stood and cussed. “What the hell, Coy? I ain’t asking you to come down and make yourself the center of attention. Just say hey and have a beer. Let people know you’re alive.”

Marshall clenched his jaw and jut his chin out. He turned for the door, and I thought he was leaving, but he closed it.

“You’re making this real goddamn hard on me, Mack.”

My brother never called me by anything but the nickname Deddy gave me when I was little. It was such a seldom occurrence for my given name to come out of Marshall’s mouth that I sometimes wondered if he even knew it. Hearing it now made me all kinds of curious.

“What the hell’s so hard about all this, Marshall?”

“Coy, we got a chance here to get back in good with some people that could help us for a long time. We could be right up there with the Bohannons in making decisions about Tugalo County.”

I sat back down on my bed and said, “Marshall, you’ve eaten every ounce of bullshit Peanut’s fed you.”