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Baxter knew that he should wait, but the excitement that he had for new stuff made him less cautious than he normally would have been. He wished that he had someone to shop with him and decided that he was going to call his mom. She’d know what he needed, and she’d be excited for him that he’d got himself a house. He’d had the condo, of course, but it wasn’t the same thing as having a house. Calling his mom up, she was more than willing to go with him, and they decided to make a day of it.

“I was nearly shot at this morning.” After telling her the whole story, she said that he needed to have a better ending to his day. It was just like his mom to make something wonderful after something bad had happened, and he was thrilled that he’d asked her to go. As they pulled up in front of the first store, she hugged him.

“Not that I’m objecting, but what was that for?” She said it was for him asking her to come with him. “You’re my mom. I wanted good advice, and you’re the best at giving that that I know of.”

“Thank you, son. I love you as well.” As they entered the store, he knew they’d picked the right place. As soon as they started on the living room furniture, he also knew that he’d picked the right person to go with him. Baxter loved his mom.

Chapter 8

No matter how many times he told them that it had only been a joke, they wouldn’t allow him to get out of jail. And it wasn’t identity fraud if it was his sister like he’d been telling them. They did this sort of thing all the time and never had any trouble before.

“Well, she pressed charges against you, and we’re going to keep you until the judge comes through.” Phillip tried to tell them that he had a very wealthy brother now and they should go to him about bail. “There is no bail set for you because you’ve not seen the judge. Besides, York said he didn’t care if you rotted in here; he was not going to help you anymore.”

“He gave me two hundred dollars. That’s nothing to him.” The man huffed at him. “Did you know that it cost me more for a steak dinner than that money went for? Christ, he could eat out every night of his life and never have less money than he has right now.”

“Be that as it may, that’s not going to help you if he’s not willing to put up your bail when you get one told to you. York is a good man and well respected for what he and his family does for this town. You took advantage of him and your own sister.” He told the officer that she had it coming. “I’m sure you’d like to think so, but that’s not the way it’s going to happen. You’re going to sit your butt right here in this cell until you have a hearing and then maybe you’ll be able to get out.”

“This is just stupid.” The officer walked away and locked the door to the main offices behind him. “This is stupid. Did you hear me? All I wanted was a bigger house than they had and that stupid cow had to go and tell on me.”

He’d won the bid on the house and had felt pretty good about that. He didn’t know how he was going to furnish the place, but he’d won, and he was going to rub it in his sister’s face when he saw her again. Then the police had picked him up at his new house and told him that Rosie was pressing charges against him for using her name and address information to purchase the house and that he was also being arrested for identity fraud. That part he didn’t understand at all. What did it matter to them if she was going to be paying for the house in the first place?

He’d also gotten in trouble for resisting arrest. He’d seen the police coming toward him, and he ran. Just a normal reaction, he thought to anyone who saw the police where they were, but no. They said it was resisting, and they put that on his long list of things to bring up at court as well. Dirty bastards.

“What are you in for?” He ignored the man in the cell next to him, but that didn’t stop him from talking. “They got me on writing bad checks. I only wanted them to hold the check for a month, but for some reason that’s against the law.”

“So is using your sister’s information on a bank loan apparently.” He didn’t want to engage with the man, but there was nothing else for him to do. As he leaned back on his cot, he thought about Rosie. “She’s married to some rich dick that won’t even take care of his new brother. What kind of person is that?”

“I have to take care of my sister and her kids. They got no one else. I don’t know why they don’t hit up her husband for shit like food and shit, but he’s in prison, and they don’t get money for being in there.” He asked if he had to work. “Yes. He’s got to have a job so that he can stay out of trouble. Do you believe that shit? They got him working but not paying him anything but money in his account. If he’d just worked instead of knocking up my sister, then things would be better for all of us.”

“Does your sister have a job? Mine did until recently. Now it’s like she’s too good to have a job so that I can have a hit up once in a while.” The man asked what a hit up was. “You know, when you’re running short, you can hit her up for some cash. She was really good with it too until she married that bastard. Now because he has money, she’s suddenly tapped out. How’s a man supposed to make a living off of the rich if they keep their money to themselves?”

“You’re not making any sense.” He didn’t say that he was too, but ignored the man in favor of thinking of a plan to get to his sister. “You should knock her around a bit. That usually gets my sister going. Her damned husband would knock her around, then he’d knock her up when they made up. Disgusting if you ask me.”

“That is gross.” The man was making sense again, and Phillip was just bored enough to talk to him off and on again. “I hope my sister knows that she’s going to get herself a good beating when I get out. I used to knock her around all the time when we were kids, but I got in trouble with that and had to stop. It’s the only way that she’ll listen to me. I’m going to get into the habit again if she and that husband of hers don’t get with the program.”

The two of them talked about their sisters for the rest of the night. Even after the lights had been turned off, they still talked. It wasn’t allowed, talking after lights were out, but he didn’t care. He had himself a friend now, and he didn’t have too many of those around nowadays. He asked about the Malones.

“Your sister is married to one of them? You’d best stay away from them, boyo. They’re a mean bunch when you get on their bad side. I heard tell they were some kind of shifters. I ain’t never seen them shift into anything, but I guess they’re as old as dirt too.” He said again to stay away from them. “All six of them boys have good jobs, I heard tell, and they can knock a man out with one punch if you piss them off. You’d be better off leaving your sister alone rather than to tangle with one of them. Which one is it she’s supposed to be married to anyway?”

“York. Or Dork. I don’t know.” He loved his little joke and was going to start calling the man Dork from now on. “He’s not so bad. Looks like he’s about twelve years old if you ask me. You know him?”

“He’s the oldest of them all. And some kind of boss to them, I guess. They got themselves a mom too that sets an example to them all. I heard tell that the husband died sometime back and it was hard on the family.” The man in the cell got up and moved closer to the cell wall to talk quietly. “You’d be better off running with a pack of wolves than to mess with the Malone men. They got them some magic. I done never did see it but I hear tell that they can make a man wet his pants when they’re upset with him.”

“I’m not afraid of them.” He wasn’t either. He’d seen the oldest, and he didn’t look like he was anything. “He gets his muscles from a jar. Some of that protein stuff you hear about all the time. He might have the bulk that is needed to look strong, but he don’t have a clue on how to fight like a man. You watch me. I’m going to teach him a lesson he won’t soon forget when I’m out of here.”

“You mark my words, mister. He’s going to knock you around, and there won’t be a thing you can do about it.” He again said he wasn’t worried. He was a bigger man than Dork, and he’d make sure that he knew it too. “Okay then. It’s your funeral.”

They didn’t talk anymore after that. He didn’t know if the man had fallen asleep or if he was thinking that he was going to be in trouble with the cops. Just as he was dozing off himself, he thought of all the things that he wanted to do to the little Dork. First and foremost, he was going to get some money from him so that he could do the things that he wanted to do. He’d married Rosie, so he couldn’t be all that smart.

He thought about his sister then. The last time he’d seen her, he couldn’t believe how good she looked. She’d always been a scrawny thing. All that red hair and all made her look like a ghost. And in the summer months when it was hot, she’d be so red-faced and sunburnt looking that he didn’t want to have a thing to do with her. Not that he did anyway. But she’d been glowing the other day. In a good way too.

He wasn’t sure now if he’d say that to her. She’d been far prettier than she’d ever been in his life, and he wondered what the cause of that was. Unless she was drinking them protein shakes like her husband, and that was making her pretty. He’d never known anyone who would get pretty after doing it, but then he’d never really paid any attention to that sort of thing when he’d been around.

Closing his eyes, he decided that he needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a big day in that he was going to go before the judge. Once he explained everything to him, he’d be free. There was no way he could be in trouble for using Rosie’s shit for a loan. Being related voided that shit, and he knew it. Sometimes he thought he was smarter than the damned lawyers that would represent you when you had a court day.

Phillip thought that he’d only have to hit Rosie the one time to get her in line again. When they’d been kids, that’s all it would take for her to do what he wanted. Now that she was older and he was bigger than her, he should be able to keep her in line with just a threat. That’s what he was hoping for anyway. He didn’t want to hit her too much. That was taxing to him. Laughing at his own joke, he started to tell his roommate but decided he’d pull it on him tomorrow. He’d get it.

Waking up once when he had to go to the bathroom, he used his toilet and flushed. Not bothering with washing his hands, he slung them around until he thought they were clean and went back to bed. Phillip used to do all kinds of things like washing his hands after using the bathroom, but he was being a rebel. He was going to be his own man.