AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, I remember you drunk as a skunk yelling across the practice field while we warmed up.”
“The damn coach wouldn’t let me talk to you,” Amstel said. “Ran me off and threatened to call the sheriff if I didn’t leave you alone.”
“I told him I didn’t want to see or talk to you.”
Amstel snorted. “Some star quarterback you turned out to be. How often did you get picked off by that Mexican safety? Three?”
“It was four,” Lio said dryly. “Most I had in one game.”
“Wait, you’re the Mexican?” Amstel asked.
Lio pinned my father with a dark glare. “My family emigrated from the Baroque region of Spain, but I’m a fourth-generation American.” Lio didn’t care what Amstel thought. He just liked being the most intelligent man in the room, and I loved that about him. Lio looked over at me again and smiled. “I remember the game well.”
That game had marked a significant shift in our heated rivalry but not for the reason anyone would guess. We’d managed to keep the game close, mainly because our defense had prevented Lio’s team from capitalizing on his interceptions, and I’d somehow extracted my head from my ass in the fourth quarter. We lost to Lio’s team by a field goal in overtime, and I was utterly dejected when I left the field. Amstel had gotten drunker and louder as the game had gone on. Things must’ve been different back then because I’d arrested people for similar stunts. Amstel had stood at the track fence, booing and jeering me.
My head coach had placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as he escorted me to the locker room. He’d told me to wait for him before heading out to my truck, but he’d gotten tied up with other players, and I didn’t expect Amstel to stick around. Leaving was what he did best. But he was all too happy to tell me how much I sucked.
“You think you’re so much better than me?” he’d asked, his breath reeking of cheap booze. “Is that it?”
“I know I am,” I’d replied.
Amstel had slapped my face, and before I could respond, Lio stepped between us, shoving my father back and shouting at him. My coach heard the commotion and ran out of the locker room, getting between Lio and my dad. I didn’t hear what they discussed because Lio grabbed my arm and tugged me around the side of the building. I’d leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, willing myself not to cry.
“Hey,” Lio had said softly. “No one’s around. Let it out.”
I’d opened my eyes and stared down at him. His kind expression was my undoing, and I let go. Scalding tears streamed down my face as I struggled to catch my breath. Lio hugged me then, shocking us both, and held on until I calmed down. I’d angrily wiped away the moisture from my face and said, “This doesn’t make us friends. It’s just a temporary cease-fire.”
Lio’s lips trembled as if he were fighting off a smile, and for the first time in my life, I’d wanted to kiss a boy. The realization had left me breathless until Lio spoke again. “Of course not,” he’d solemnly replied as he dropped his arms and stepped back. “I’ll see you again during basketball season.”
“Not if I see you first,” I’d yelled at his retreating back. Lio had laughed and waved while I’d mentally kicked myself in the ass for being so lame. By the time I’d rounded the corner with a wittier comeback, Amstel was gone, and Lio had rejoined his teammates, who were heading toward their bus.
“I bet you’re not stupid enough to taunt your son now, though, are you?” Lio asked. During my trip down memory lane, he’d stepped forward and engaged my dad. “He’s got five inches and about seventy pounds of muscle on you. Better yet, go ahead and poke the bear. You deserve the ass kicking you’ve got coming to you.”
“You’re a cocky little fucker, aren’t you?” Amstel said.
“Sounds to me like the chief is as dirty as that detective claims,” Vernon said, then spat tobacco juice at Lio’s feet. Rage arced through me at seeing the brown glob on the oak boards Earl had painstakingly maintained and Lucinda had kept polished to a shine.
“Told you he was crooked, Daddy,” Red said, stepping up beside Vernon. “He’s the one who busted me for possession years ago. Pulled me over for a supposed busted taillight and planted the crack in my car when he searched it.”
“Likely story, Red,” I said. “What about the other fifteen times you’ve been arrested for drug-related offenses? Is every cop in every county and jurisdiction the problem, or are you an addict who refuses to get help?”
Red ignored me and lasered in on Lio as well as his blown pupils allowed. “We’ll see what the public thinks when I tell my story to the press.” His lips made a cruel snarl, and he formed his thumb and forefinger into a gun. “You’ll get what you’ve got coming to you.” Red shifted his gaze to me. “Both of you will.” Merrill and Bobby stepped up beside Red, and I could tell they were spoiling for a fight.
“Get the fuck out of my cabin.” My voice was calm, deathly so. They could threaten me all they wanted, but no one fucked with Lio. “Earl had told me not to waste good intentions on any of you, and I should’ve listened.”
Jeremy stepped up beside Lio, and Allen moved up beside me.The fearsome foursome rides again.
“You heard the man,” Jeremy said.
Allen tilted his head to the left and right, stretching his neck muscles. “We can do this the easy way or the fun way, fellas. The easy way is you turning around and walking back out the cabin door. The fun way includes us kicking your asses and dragging you over the threshold by your hair. What’s it going to be?”
“We can take them,” Bobby said.
Allen rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation. “I’m pretty sure Earl would approve of the can of whoop ass I’m going to open up on these chumps.”
I laughed despite the thick tension filling the air. “Yeah, probably so.”
Amstel turned out to be the surprising voice of reason. “Come on, boys,” he said. “We’ll go honor the old coot at the tavern.”
