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“I guess it’s my turn to ask if that’s a threat,” I say. “Don’t forget that half of your enterprises are currently being investigated by the SEC. I don’t think it’s a healthy approach for you to threaten the Sheriff. As a matter of fact, it’s illegal to threaten a law enforcement officer and I could arrest you right here, right now.”
Dad takes a step forward, his jaw fiercely clenched as he points an angry finger at me. “I don’t think it’s a healthy approach for you to think you can beat us at our own game. We’ve been doing this long before you were born, son, and we will preserve our family’s name and fortune even when our own children fail in their duties.”
“I’m quivering with fear,” I mutter and wave them both away. “Happy Holidays.”
“You’ll regret this!” my mother yelps.
I can’t be bothered to even look at them anymore. I know what this is about. They realize I’m getting closer, and after an entire year of complete silence, the two of them have finally decided to approach me. I’m not sure what they hoped to accomplish, exactly. Were they aiming to scare me away, to get me to back down? Surely, they know I would never do that. They know better than anyone else that I am relentless, they’re the ones that taught me. They’re mad because I’m not being relentless with them in criminal activities.
I watch them get in the back of the town car but not before each of them give me one last glare. There was a time when I would’ve been hurt by their words, when I would’ve done anything to prove my worth to them. But a parent is supposed to already know and nurture their child’s worth.
Mom and Dad’s problem is that I know how to beat them at their own game. And I’ve got my brother’s support in doing it. Once the town car leaves the parking lot, I breathe a sigh of relief, well aware that this is not the last I’ll be hearing from them. But I will be ready. And I will have the law in my hands and on my side, the very law they have been skirting with blatant impropriety.
A car pulls into the parking lot, a familiar-looking sedan.
I stand by my driver’s door for about a minute, watching the vehicle and memorizing the details, a professional habit, I suppose. I recognize the car, though. My brother fixed it not that long ago. I remember the old, faded stickers by the gas cap. Randy gets out, sporting a woolen hat over his bleached-blonde hair and a thick jean jacket with a plush inner lining. The dark circles under his brown eyes tell me he hasn’t slept much lately.
“Good morning, Sheriff,” he greets me with a warm smile.
“Good morning, Randy. I see you’re still in town.”
“Yeah, I’m trying to get my feet back on the ground, but I’m not having as much luck with the classifieds as I had hoped,” he replies with his Southern twang. “How’ve you been, sir?”
“Good, busy with work, mostly. I like to keep busy. What brings you here, then?”
Randy sighs deeply and walks over, his shoulders hunched in a pitiful manner. He looks as though the whole world is bearing down on him. “Sir, I actually wanted to ask you if you’re hiring here at the station,” he says. “I’m no lawman, but I can clean, I can change a lightbulb, I can fix any faulty wiring before you’d have to call in a certified electrician. I know a little bit about everything, just enough to tell you with a hand on my heart that I’d be an asset here.”
“I’m sorry, Randy, but we’re not hiring. We’re happy with our custodial and maintenance staff, and we’re not looking for anyone else.”
He lowers his gaze in what I can only describe as genuine disappointment. “Oh. That’s okay. It’s just… I can’t get a job. I ain’t got no money, I’m struggling, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. I got enough change in my pocket to maybe buy myself a warm soup at the diner down the road, but I don’t know what the hell I’m gonna do tomorrow.”
“That bad, huh?” I can’t help but feel sorry for the guy.
Thankfully I’ve never found myself in such a situation before, but I do understand the plight and the desperation. I’ve seen my Aunt Helen pull herself out of the gutter after my parents destroyed her family and her career, and she was lucky to have Fallon and me by her side. Randy looks lonely and hopeless. I can’t even imagine what he’s going through. No man should ever suffer like this.
“Yeah, I don’t know. Is there anywhere that you know where I might apply for a job? I tried the diner, too, but them waitresses over there told me to scram unless I’m a paying customer,” he says. “I just wanna work for my money, sir, I ain’t no criminal.”
“Listen, I’ll tell you what. I can’t promise anything, but I will talk to my brother and see if he’s got an opening at his garage. There have been instances where he needed a second pair of hands in there,” I tell him. “Again, I repeat, I am not promising anything here.”
Randy lights up like the sun, his eyes wide and luminous with hope. “For real? You’re gonna do that for me? Sir, you’re too kind!”
“I’ll ask. I can’t guarantee a job, though.”
“Oh, thank you, sir, thank you ever so much!”
“We try to look out for each other however we can.”
“Still, sir, you’re too kind, I can’t thank you enough!”
“I’d rather see you working than having to pick you up off the streets or out of a 7/11 mugging,” I reply with a casual shrug.
“Oh, no, I told you. I’m a good man, Sheriff. I don’t hurt folks, I don’t steal, I barely ever told a lie my whole life. Maybe that’s why I’m in the gutter, now. Maybe I’ve been too soft and kind to others. I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to regret being a good person,” I tell him. “I’ll see you around.”
“Can I give you my number, just in case your brother says he’ll hire me?”
“Of course.”
