A Better Life, page 3
He nodded.
He knew, alright.
Then Lisa was by their side, holding out a glass of water to Jess. She accepted it gratefully and drank the full glass down in one go. “Better,” she gasped. “Thank you, Lisa.”
“Anytime, darlin’.”
“So,” Pete asked, reaching for another beer. “We going to do this fucking thing, or what?”
4
Jess kissed Curt as he stepped from the porch and onto the lawn, making once more for the van, with Pete in tow.
Together, the two men silently entered the old run-down vehicle, slammed their doors shut and got the engine running. It sounded deafeningly loud amidst the uncanny silence of the desert, where only the droning mantra of nestling Mormon crickets cut through the eerie silence. There was a second when Jess was sure the van’s engine wouldn’t turn over. She watched intently, waiting for the cliché, but it never came.
It wouldn’t have mattered a great deal anyway; Lisa had arrived much earlier in the day to set things up for little Emily and had her Jeep parked out back and out of sight. There was little chance they’d find themselves stranded out there in the Mojave wilds, regardless of the van’s less-than-confidence inspiring condition.
She watched it pull away, kicking up plumes of dirt in its wake as it disappeared into the gathering dusk.
She was startled when Lisa appeared at her side, as if from nowhere. “Jesus, Lisa! You half scared me to death!”
“Sorry, darlin’. Is that those two off to make a buck?”
“Yeah…” Her own voice sounded distant in her ears.
Lisa rested a heavy hand on Jess’ shoulder, squeezing. “Don’t you worry about Curt, Jess. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, that one. And he loves you mightily. There’s no fire that man wouldn’t walk through, just to set you straight and see you right. Just keep that in mind and trust in his judgement.”
“I do.”
“You should. That man has a love for you that most of us gals only ever dream of finding. Before you came along…” Lisa paused.
“What?”
“Before you came along, I worried for him. I mean really worried for him. You know how we lost our mother, right?”
“He’s told me all of it. The breakdown, the depression…”
“It hit him hard when she began to go downhill. I’m guessing he didn’t up and tell you the part I played in all of it?”
Jess frowned. “No.”
Lisa sighed. “That’s because I didn’t play a part in it, Jess. I was drinking myself to death, lost in the bottle, when our mother took ill. I wasn’t there for her. I wasn’t there for him.”
“I’m sure you did your best.”
“I’d like to think so. I’d like to tell myself that I did, but that’s horseshit. I should have been there for them both. My mother died without her daughter by her side. And Curt, he needed his sister. He needed me and I was swimming at the bottom of a glass of gin. There was no one else to help him handle her death. And it was a slow death, Jess. Slow and painful. Curt watched our momma rot away to nothing before the good lord took her. He was too young to carry that burden alone, but when he needed me the most…”
“Curt loves you, Lisa. He really does.”
“I know he does…I know it, but I also know I don’t deserve it.” Lisa stared off towards the road. Far off in the distance, a thin plume of dust kicked up…the men, gradually vanishing from sight.
Jess felt cold as she followed Lisa’s eyes down the long road. “We all make mistakes,” she said.
“Not like mine, we don’t. Curt acts strong. He does his best, but he was always a fragile boy and it only got worse after nine months of sitting by our mother’s bedside while she wasted away. It broke him, Jess. It broke my brother and that’s on me.”
The van having finally faded from sight, Lisa turned to Jess. “I’m getting off track. What I mean to say is that he was lost until the day he found you. You brought him hope, honey. All the therapy in the world couldn’t have put Curt back together again after he laid our mom in her grave. But you could. And you did. You’re his life, Jess. His whole life. And that…” she said, injecting a forced lightness into her voice, “is why you needn’t worry your pretty head about Curt. You know how smart he is, not to mention how focused he is on this thing we’re doing, because he’s doing it for you. I promise, this’ll all be fine.”
“And what about Pete?”
“Huh?”
“Can we rely on Pete?”
Lisa huffed. “Well, that’s a different story, but he looks up to Curt. He’d rather eat shit than admit it, but he does. And Pete’s not all bad. He pays his alimony and he sees little Billy whenever he can. He’s had a shitty life and its hardened his heart, but he means well. It was Pete who approached Curt with this whole idea, don’t forget. Without Pete, none of this would be happening. He did a good thing, Jess.”
“He wasn’t doing it for Curt or for me, though, was he? Pete is in this for himself.”
“The man simply saw an opportunity and he took it, darlin’. Pete needs the money, too. Maybe not as much as you guys need it…going through what you’re going through and all…but, between you and me, he’s in real deep with some real mean bastards back in Vegas and this is his ticket out of a six-by-four hole in the desert. Fear is a powerful catalyst for action, little sister. It’ll keep him on the straight and narrow while he needs to be.”
Jess thought of the beers she’d watched him chug down, the smell of liquor on his breath. “I hope so.”
“Trust me…there’s nothing that scares that man more than those hoodlums back in the city. He fucks this up, he’s in serious trouble and he knows it. The only thing that jackass fears more than that Pete-size hole in the desert, is spiders.”
Taken aback, Jess laughed. It felt fine to release the tension. “Spiders?”
“Yup. Big ones, little ones…doesn’t matter. If it has eight legs and crawls on a wall, he’s terrified of it. Hell, back when we were living together, if he saw one of those devils in the house, he’d be out the door and in the yard, dancing the jitterbug and yelling like a frightened kid for me to kill the damn thing and save his ass.”
Jess giggled, thinking of Pete’s hard exterior, brought to heel by a harmless spider.
“And you know what else…? After I’d gone and killed whichever little thing had put the shits on him, he’d spend the rest of the day or night hunting for more. He’d sit there on our couch and scan the walls like a soldier in a trench scanning for the Viet-cong. Never saw anything like it in my life! Damned near drove me crazy, watching his head darting around like a startled bird’s. I never knew – men being what they are – that they could concentrate that long on one thing, besides what’s between a lady’s legs, a’course. But he’d stare at those walls for hours, Jess. Hours…”
Both women were laughing now, the tension subsiding. Jess felt a powerful surge of love for her sister-in-law. The big woman, for all her sharp edges, sure had a way about her.
When the mutual laughter finally subsided, Lisa sighed. “So…as you can assuredly now see, when it comes to protecting his own ass, Pete can be one driven son of a bitch. Try not to worry too much.”
Jess looked out across the vast expanse of sand and grit, imagining Curt out there with that sleaze, alone with him. Lisa had muted her apprehension some, but a coward and a gambling man was one to be watched and an animal cornered, the most dangerous kind.
With her stomach tight, and her nerves taut, she voiced her real fear. “I feel like he uses Curt to fix all his own problems, Lisa. Like he’s exploited Curt’s nature and heart to get what he needs, you know?”
“And he has, Jess…he has. There ain’t no denying it. But that’s how the world works, sometimes. There are those exploiting and those being exploited. Most of the time, those being exploited don’t see hide nor hair of a happy ending, but you and Curt…you both get to come out of this on top. He uses you and you use him. Everyone’s happy.”
“And what about you, Lisa?”
Lisa laughed. “Me? Curt’s my brother, darlin’. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to see him happy. And…” She squeezed Jess tighter still. “I’ve grown kind of fond of having you around, too.”
Jess leaned her head back, resting it on the buxom woman’s ample bosom as she watched the sun sink over the mountains, feeling much like a child herself. “Thanks, Mama.”
Lisa stroked Jess’ soft brown hair with a tenderness Jess’ own mother had never expressed. “You’re welcome. But don’t you be calling me ‘Mama’. I may look like roadkill, but I’m younger than you might think. Any more of that ‘n’ I’ll have you up and into your bed without no supper!”
“Which reminds me…”
“Gotta feed the little one,” Lisa finished for her. “How is she?”
Jess thought for a moment before answering. “She’s fine, I think. She doesn’t seem phased at all by any of this. She knows what’s going on, or at least I think she does, but she’s taking it all in her stride. It’s a little disconcerting to be honest.”
“Well, it shouldn’t be. She’s relaxed because she has you here, honey. We both knew this whole thing wouldn’t work unless you were here to keep the girl mellow. You got a comforting way with you, sweetheart. It makes my heart break, when I think of you and Curt, not having a little one of your own and all.”
“Thank you,” Jess replied, cutting the big woman off, wary to hear it, to dredge up old hurt.
Lisa changed the conversation. “Well…what I mean to say is, that little girl will be fine. She’ll get through all this, because she’ll have you to lead her through it.”
Jess watched the last rays of the sun fall over the desert horizon, washing the mountains in a near-black shadow that made them look almost unreal; a hallucinogenic vision without the psychedelics. She let her gaze lift from the fiery halo that ringed the world and up into the purple, cloudless skies above her head. There was a chill in the air that seemed to seep through her skin and cling to her bones; the Mojave whispering sweet nothings to the day, as it bid it goodnight.
“This is wrong, though. You know that, right, Lisa?”
“Snatching an innocent little girl off the street from the arms of her nanny and scurrying off with the poor kid to hold her ransom? Now how could that ever be wrong?”
Jess laughed, but it rang hollow. “If we get caught…”
“We won’t get caught. You saw what happened. Pete may be a pussycat, but he looks damn near lethal and he can play ‘mean’ better than most. Most likely because he would be the meanest bastard in the state of Nevada, if he wasn’t such a giant pussy. After a dose of his grisly face, that nanny will be straight back home and relaying his orders just as precise as you like. You can believe there’ll be no cops involved. It’ll be a simple trade-off. The senator’s daughter for the three million. Done and dusted.
“What if he does go to the cops?”
“Her daddy?”
“Yeah.”
“He won’t.”
“But what if…?”
“You really see that happening, Jess?”
“Maybe…I mean, it’s possible. He’ll be scared, Lisa. He might act irrationally.”
“It won’t happen, darlin’.”
“How can you be so sure, though?”
“Jess…that girl’s father is as corrupt as the day is long. How in the hell do you think a snake like Pete ever learned what he learned about the man? All politicians are sons of bitches, flashing their dicks around the internet, stealing from the working classes, cuddling up to lobbyists ‘n’ those fucks on television that call themselves journalists. They’re all sociopaths, but that guy, he takes the cake. He’ll not want the law involved in all this. He probably has more skeletons in his closet than he has over-expensive suits. He’ll do as he’s asked and he’ll say no more on the matter. Really. You and Curt will be over the state line and making for Mexico before anyone knows a darn thing. And me, I can go back to my boy and my life, knowing I did a good thing for two people I love very much…”
“And for one asshole.”
Lisa nodded stoically. “And for one asshole.”
Jess chuckled. “Look on the bright side….at least your Billy will still have his dad around him and not murdered and buried out there somewhere by gangsters.” She waved her hand towards the endless desert.
“You say that like it’s a good thing.” Lisa rued. “Come on back inside. Let’s get that beautiful little girl fed and watered. It’s going to be a long night for the poor thing.”
“You really think they’ll be okay?”
“Course they will! The payphone is only fifty or so miles out east. They’ll be back before you know it. Just a few hours at the very most. Now come on, I’m freezing my boobs off out here and they’re about the only bait I got left when I go fishing for a strong hard man to keep me warm!”
“Lisa!”
“Come on, Miss Scawllet,” the big woman drawled, feigning the familiar southern cadence of the famous, if somewhat racially provocative, nanny from Gone with the Wind. “Lessa git you inside afore y’all’s catch ya death’a’cold, now! Laws, yes!”
“You’re terrible!”
“’Terrible’ is subjective,” Lisa said. “Now get moving, before we both get our delicious asses bitten by rattlers!”
5
Curt’s eyes followed the old dusty road. He focused all his attention on the sparse illumination the van’s headlights cast on the deserted two-lane. With his window rolled down, he let himself enjoy the cool night air wafting in as it blew his hair back, caressing his face, filling his lungs.
In the passenger seat, Pete sat quietly. He rested his tattooed arm on the sill and blew smoke out into the night, chasing each exhalation with a fresh sip of beer.
How many was that he’d sunk back now? Three? Four?
Curt knew the man could handle his drink. Pete couldn’t handle much else in this life, but he could hold his alcohol. What was the old saying?
The blacksmith’s dog…so used to the embers it never gets burnt.
That was Pete. He drank like he lived…carelessly and with no thought for consequences.
He’s still functioning. Just let it go for now.
He’s an idiot, but he’s dangerous. Mean as a rattler. Do you really want to start something with the guy when there’s no need?
No need yet…
Cross that bridge when you come to it.
Also, he didn’t want to appear ungrateful after Pete had given he and Jess an ‘out’ from their dire predicament.
You’re not about to let things go south, either, despite what he brought to the table. There are limits to gratitude.
I’ll have a word, soon, he decided.
Doing his best to remain calm, he followed the road as it crept on and on into the night. He may not have uttered a single word the whole journey, were it not for Pete, who tossed another empty bottle out into the roadside, belched, and said, “So how do you think it’ll go down?”
Curt paused to think of the right response. “It’ll go down just as we figured, Pete. We get to the payphone and they’ll be waiting for our call. What time is it?”
Pete studied his wristwatch. “Coming up on ten-to-nine. Don’t worry. We’ll be there on time.”
“I know.”
“Even if we’re a little late, something tells me the kid’s parents will wait.”
“I said I know. It’s going to be fine. We’re…what…five minutes out? That’ll give us time to get there, compose ourselves and make the call.”
“And you’ll do the talking?”
Curt gave Pete a withering look. “Yeah, Pete. I’ll do the talking. Charm isn’t one of your finer points.”
Pete grunted as he stretched low to the van’s floor, found an unopened bottle down there and rose back up, satisfied with his haul.
This is getting ridiculous.
Can’t he lay off the booze for one goddam night!?
“Do me a favor, Pete…go slow on that, okay? We don’t make the drop-off until dawn. It’d be nice if you weren’t wasted, or hungover, when the time comes.”
Pete saluted. “Last one. Scout’s honor.”
“So,” Curt asked, letting the matter go for now. “What do you think of the girl?”
Pete popped the bottle-top. “Tell you the truth, the little shit creeps me out, man. She was calm as Keanu Reeves back there on the ride up to the house. What kind of fucking kid gets snatched out of an adult’s arms, loaded into a van and carted off to who-knows-where without breaking a sweat? Not one fucking teardrop, did she shed, Curt. Not one.”
“Maybe she’s in shock,” Curt said, worried.
“Yeah, maybe. Or maybe she’s a little fucking freak.”
Curt tried to keep his voice even. “She’s just a little kid, Pete. How about you go easy on the name-calling?”
“Whatever, man. I’m telling you, the kid’s not right.”
Not right, Curt mused. You’d know all about that, wouldn’t you, buddy?
Ahead, the road turned a wide left. Not long now till they’d arrive at the payphone. Pete had gone ahead days earlier to make sure the damn thing worked, and it had, but Curt remained on edge.
This whole thing felt so wrong.
How had it come to this?
How did a man go from being a simple mechanic to a child-abductor in the space of a few days?
In his mind, Jess’ face flashed like distant lightning. He felt a great swelling of love. With it came pain. He knew, as he always had, the answer to this and all questions.
It’s for her, Curt. It’s always been for her.
And it always will be.
“Okay,” Pete said, dragging him from his thoughts. “Slow down. The pay-phone is on the left-hand side, just over there.”
Curt hit the brakes, slowing the van to a gradual stop just in front of the old phone. It stood alone, looking alien amidst the endless nothingness of the desert, a construct of man’s ingenuity in a terrain where ‘man’ had no God-given right to build anything. He was glad of it, though. It sure as hell made their job much easier.
