Hugging her and rubbing her ears, Olivia says, “Aww, that fat fuckin’ degenerate. How could he mistreat such a pretty bitch?” As she is rubbing Ruby’s sagging jowlss, it hits Olivia. “Wait. What the shit you doing back already?”

“Handed Ox his ass for mistreating Ruby.”

Reaching for Hunter’s busted-knuckle hand, she says, “Lost your fuckin’ job for a dog?”

“Ain’t just a dog. She’s purebred. Worth every bit of a grand. Comes from a champion bloodline of coonhounds.” Olivia rolls her blue eyes. Hunter tells her, “Look, animals don’t deserve to be mistreated no more than a woman needs to be abused. You know my rules. So did Ox. They only know what we teach them.” He hesitates. “The dogs know what we teach them—not the women.”

Reaching back down, running Ruby’s velvety hanging ears between her fingers, Olivia shakes her head, asks, “So now you’re gonna be a goddamned coon hunter?”

“Look, I can get a job at the feed store. Go back to doing bike work on my own from here. Makes no difference to me. The whole Ox gig was wearing on me. Lost sight of why I’s even working there. He was cutting into more and more of what I was earning any damn way. I got money put back. And you got your tattoo studio. We’re good. I’m kinda at a crossroads.”

He walks away from Olivia, up the sidewalk and into the house, Olivia and Ruby following behind.

“Where’s the bitch gonna sleep?”

“With us. And she’s housebroken. Just need to get her some kibble. Oh, and I need to call Itch and Nugget, get them to give me a hand unloading the toolbox. ’Bout broke my dick with Slade’s wormy little ass and us two muscling that damn thing into the truck. Easier with a third set of hands.”

Hunter’s booted feet clomp over the scuffed pine floor to the marred black leather couch, where he drops down, grabs the cordless phone from the coffee table, where motorcycle magazines lie scattered. Picking up the phone, he asks Olivia, “Where’s David’s number? I don’t got my cell on me.”

“On the board in the kitchen. I’ll read it off to you.”

Hunter eyes Ruby, pats the leather space beside him. Ruby is all feet and uncoordinated happiness, but she curls up beside him, warms his thigh with her head. Exhales through her nose and makes slopping sounds with her tongue and loose jowls. Olivia yells David’s phone number from the kitchen; Hunter thumbs the digits on the phone and presses Talk. Listens to the ring tone until someone picks up.

“Uncle David?”

“Hunter? It’s about your dad.”

Jokingly, Hunter asks, “What’s the old man gone and done now?”