AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Andy
I don’t get angry easily, and I don’t like to fight. I know some guys who do, or did when we was younger, but fighting don’t do anything for me. When some guy comes into the bar, full of piss and vinegar, I’m not going to go out of my way to catch his eye. There’s a guy that works for me by the name of Billy Pearson. Now, Billy has a volatile temper. I’ve known him for some thirty years, and I’ve seen him walk himself into one problem after another because he can’t control himself, and there are times when I feel sorry for him, but yeah, I judge him for it. Losing your temper seems to me to be a teenage kind of thing to do. It’s something you should grow out of, and if you don’t, it’s because you aren’t trying hard enough or because you have a weak character. Looking back, I can see that I was smug about my own cool head. They say that you can’t be considered brave unless you’ve had to overcome fear. In the same way, I don’t think you can take credit for a cool head unless you’ve felt rage enough to kill a man, and you’ve walked away.
When I saw the Jordans handing out hot dogs to searchers, like they was the hosts at some kind of fucking Fourth of July party, I got angry fast. People had been out looking for Nina all day. They was tired and hungry and, I’m sure, grateful to be handed something hot to eat. If it had been anyone else standing beside that barbecue, I would have been grateful too, but coming from the Jordans, it was such a fucking move that I lost it. They wasn’t even doing the cooking—they’d brought in a guy for that. A guy in a white chef’s hat—who wears a fucking chef’s hat to a barbecue? They was just standing to the side, in spotless white aprons, handing out hot dogs and burgers and sodas with smiles plastered across their faces, thanking people for coming out. I left Leanne and our small group behind and stalked over there. I could feel the heat rushing to my face. Jamie Jordan pretended not to see me. Rory turned a slick smile in my direction. If he’d offered me a burger I would have shoved it down his throat.
“You running for office, Rory?”
“Excuse me?”
“Your setup. It’s all pretty polished.” I glanced around. “I don’t see any babies.”
He looked at me blankly. He hadn’t shaved. His jacket and his boots looked brand new, but he hadn’t shaved, because why? He thought a little five o’clock shadow made him look like a guy who cared?
“I figured that you’d have some babies lined up and ready to kiss. Get some photos out there. Rory Jordan and family. Fine, upstanding citizens.”
Rory’s smile disappeared. I wasn’t making any effort to keep my voice down, and people were tuning in. I guess he didn’t like that.
“We’re just trying to help,” Jamie said. She took hold of Rory’s arm, gently. Not like she was trying to hold him back. It was more of a gesture of support. “It’s been a tough day for everyone. You and Leanne most of all, of course. We thought that this was the right thing to do.”
“Oh, sure.” I said. “Out of the goodness of your hearts.”
“You should go on home now, Andrew,” Rory said. “Better that you focus on your own family, rather than ours.”
“Focus on my family? Maybe if you’d spent some time with your son we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Rory said.
“You want me to say it again slower?”
I didn’t see it happen. I was so goddamn angry, and all I could see was Rory Jordan’s stupid smug face. My back was to Simon, so I missed it when Leanne hit the kid right in the face. Rory Jordan didn’t miss it. His attention was fixed on me right up until the last second, and then his focus shifted to something behind me, his mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened, and I heard the smack of fist hitting flesh. I turned on time to see Simon staggering backward, holding his face. Lee was still going after him, until Matthew Wright picked her up and started carrying her to the closest police car. I went after them, but Rory Jordan grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me around to face him, and I lost it. I grabbed him by the wrists, pulled his hands off me, and shoved him backward. He fell, landing on his ass in the dirt. He scrambled backward, trying to get up, his boots slipping on the grass. He got to his feet and waved a finger in my face. He was scared. It didn’t give me any pleasure to see it, but it didn’t make me respect him any either.
“You need to stay away from my family. You and your wife. Go home now. Get the hell out of here. And you tell Leanne that if she trespasses on our property again, if any of you set so much as a foot on our land, we will press charges.”
I walked away, but I was already too late. Wright was bundling Leanne into the back of his car. He saw me coming—he looked right at me as he pushed Lee into the back seat of his car and closed the door on her. I started running, but he climbed into the car and drove away. I stumbled to a stop and stood there in the driveway with my fists clenched. A hand landed on my shoulder. I was so fucking furious that I just about threw it off me, and turned, ready to swing, but it was my brother, Craig. He had the remains of a hot dog in one hand.
“What’s going on?”
“Lee punched Simon Jordan. Matthew Wright took her away.”
“Jesus. Why would she do that?”
“Why do you think?”
Craig had a sorry look on his face that was intensely aggravating. Everyone else was standing around in small groups, pretending they weren’t watching. Behind Craig, I saw the Jordans, standing together in a huddle. Simon was holding his face and Jamie was fussing over him. Rory was talking to a police officer and looking my way. I saw Grace. I’d forgotten about Grace. The Bradleys were trying to talk to her—Julie was patting her on the shoulder—but Grace wasn’t responding. She looked scared. Frozen in place.
“I guess Wright must be taking her to the station,” Craig was saying. “Do you want me to drive you?”
“No. Thanks, Craig.” I was already walking away, fishing my keys out of my pocket.
“Andy.” I heard Craig calling my name, but I didn’t stop. I was past the point of being able to tolerate anyone’s company, including my brother’s. Craig’s not a bad guy, but he’s not easy to be around at the best of times, and though I’d always denied it to Leanne, I was pretty sure he didn’t like her that much. I went to Grace and put my hand on her shoulder.
“It’s okay, honey.”
“It’s not. It’s really not.”
I took Grace to the car. When we passed Simon and his mother, Grace paused.
