He kicked a rusted wash basin off the step, then opened the torn screen door and walked into the trailer.
“There’s my boy.” Wanda sat on a ripped recliner. She was skinny as a rail and oxygen ran from her nose to the tank behind her chair. “Clear those papers off the couch and have a seat. I haven’t had the strength to clean, and that lazy-ass sister of yours is always whoring around instead of helping me out.” She wheezed and broke into a coughing fit. Jerry watched her as she wiped the spittle from her lips. “What have you been up to?”
“Nothing.” He walked over and dropped seven one-hundred-dollar bills in her lap. “I gave you extra to buy groceries. I shoulda bought them, though. I’m pretty damned sure you’re gonna use the money for crank.”
“I told you, I stopped using. I’m clean.” She smoothed out her floral housecoat.
“Bullshit. All the sores on your pasty face tell me otherwise.” He shook his head, glancing at the dirty dishes piled in the sink. Wanda was definitely using again. “Why did you let Josie go? I paid her to come and clean this place once a week. She told me you fired her. What the fuck?”
“She was taking your money and not doing shit. She was stealing from me too.”
“Josie wasn’t stealing from you. Your addiction’s got you all messed up in the head. Anyway, she refuses to come back. She told me you were always yelling at her and calling her a slut.”
“Well, isn’t she? Isn’t she one of those who spreads her legs at your biker club?”
“Whatever. Where’s Kelsey?”
“Whoring around. She’s always at Brian’s trailer. She thinks he’s the best thing around. I told her nothing good comes outta trusting a man. All the men I’ve ever had in my life knocked me up and left me with no money. Good-for-nothing motherfuckers.” The excitement brought on another coughing fit, and Jerry stood up and walked over to her.
“You want some water?” he asked.
She nodded and he went to the kitchen, cussing as he tried to find a clean glass. He opened the refrigerator to see if there was any bottled water, and saw nothing in it but beer, olives, pickles, and orange juice. He slammed it shut, washed out a glass, and brought the water to his mother. After she took a large gulp, she placed the glass on the tray next to her. He picked up the money from her lap and took out two hundred dollars.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she cackled.
“Buying groceries for you and Kelsey. I’ll be back later. I’m also getting someone over here to clean this goddamned pigsty, and if you don’t like it, I’ll fucking disappear. Not that you’d miss me, but the money goes too.”
The screen door groaned when he slammed it, Wanda’s curses bouncing off his back. Jerry walked over to one of the nearby trailers when he spotted his sister’s Honda Civic. He pounded on the door and a burly man in his late forties opened it, a scowl on his face. “What the fuck do you want?”
Jerry pushed him aside and entered the trailer. It was neat and a breath of fresh air from the dirtiness inside his mom’s place. “Where’s Kelsey?”
“Who?”
Jerry loomed over Brian, his face inches from the older man’s. “I’m in a fuckin’ pissed-off mood, so you don’t want to mess with me. Get my fuckin’ sister now, and I better not find out you’ve been banging her.”
The man moved away from the biker. “Kelsey. Your brother’s here.”
A girl of eighteen bounced out of one of the rooms, tugging down her tight T-shirt. She wore Daisy Dukes and flip-flops, her brown hair cascading down her back. “Jerry.” She ran over and hugged him. “It’s good to see you.” She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “Did you bring me any money? Mom never gives me any. She takes everything you give her and uses it just for her.”
“What the fuck are you doing here with a guy who’s older than Wanda?”
“Talking.”
“And playing a video game,” the man added.
Jerry turned to him and pointed his finger in his face. “You. Shut the fuck up. Kelsey?”
“I already answered. I like it here because it’s clean and Mom’s not around hacking her brains out or yelling at me.”
“Come on.” He grabbed her wrist and yanked her to him, dragging her out of the trailer.
“Stop. Jerry, stop! You’re not my fucking father.”
He plopped her down in front of Wanda’s residence. “Why the hell aren’t you in school? If you don’t want to go, then get a damn job. I don’t like you hanging out with that fucker.”
“You mean Brian? He’s nice. He buys me stuff and takes me to Burger King and Royal Inn. Have you been there? It’s all you can eat for fifteen bucks. Sometimes he takes Mom with us. He’s really nice.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “He’s too old for you. Have you fucked him?”
