BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. Acknowledgments
  40. Discover More
  41. About the Author
  42. Also by Richard Lange

“Is he gonna cause me trouble?”

“He’s nobody, I said.”

Another truck, as big as a couple of elephants, pulls into the lot. The whore’s eyes dart to it. “What kind of party you looking for?” she says to Jesse.

“It’s not for me,” Jesse says. “It’s for my brother.”

“He can’t do his own thing?”

“He’s slow.”

The whore makes a face. “I don’t mess with retards,” she says.

“I’ll pay extra.”

The whore glances at the truck again, thinking maybe that’d be easier money. She swats at a moth that bounces off her face.

“Where’s he at?” she says.

“Across the road, in the motel,” Jesse says.

“You have to give me ten to walk over, and I’m not promising anything until I see him,” the whore says.

Jesse takes the money out of his shirt pocket and hands it to her. He considers offering her some whiskey but doesn’t want her mouth on the bottle.

2

2

THE LITTLE DEVIL’S GOT A GROUCH ON KICKING AND CLAWING and screaming, Feed Me You Sonofabitch. I curl up on the bed lay on my front lay on my back but nothing helps. He keeps raging in the pit of my stomach a fat spiked toad with possum teeth and a snapping snake for a tongue. There’s nothing but black holes where his eyes should be but he can smell blood a mile off. His skin oozes poison that burns worse than fire.

Jesse brings a girl in. She’s got blond hair and skinny legs. She’s got torn blue jeans and a yellow shirt that shows her belly button. Her eyes are blue too but different blue from the jeans. Abby hisses and crawls under the bed. The girl says, Somebody doesn’t like me much. I say, She don’t take to strangers. The girl nods at the TV and says, What’re you watching? A story about a giant tarantula, I say. Truth is I ain’t been paying attention to the show. Been too busy rassling the Little Devil. He comes on fast and he comes on mean gnawing at my bones and itching me deeper than I can scratch.

This is Candy, Jesse says, get up and make your manners. I stand and stick out my hand and say, Pleased to make your acquaintance Miss Candy you sure are pretty. Candy says to Jesse, This is your brother? Looks more like your dad. Our daddy’s dead, I say, our mama too. My mom’s dead too, Candy says. Did you cry when she died? I say, I cried when my mama died. Candy smiles. One of her teeth is broke. Give me twenty more and I’ll take care of him, she says to Jesse.