Chris Whitaker - We Begin at the End

“He will come.”

“Who?” Hal said.

“Darke. You should know that he will come.”

“He won’t.”

“I’m Josey Wales and he’s a Union soldier. The bounty is my blood. He will come.”

“You still haven’t told me why you think he’s coming.”

“He thinks I wronged him.”

“Did you?”

“Yes.”

The old priest called communion and she watched the line form, so hungry for purgation they’d share cheap wine and spit.

“You want to go up?” Hal said, same every week.

“Do I want to contract herpes, Hal?”

He looked away and Duchess took that as a small victory. Robin lined up with the bigger boys. He wore an old Mississippi necktie they found in the attic and a panama hat at least seven sizes too big.

As they passed Robin turned to them. “John, Ralph and Danny are going up to take communion. I want to stay with them but I don’t want to contract herpes.”

Hal frowned at Duchess.

They stayed for cake. Duchess ate a slice of chocolate and a slice of lemon, made eyes at a slice of pear and date but an old lady took it before she committed. She had gained a little weight, enough to edge off the severity.

When they arrived back at the farmhouse Duchess saw the bicycle, old and shitty, laying in the dirt by the porch.

“It’s Thomas Noble,” Robin said, his face at the glass.

Thomas Noble stood at the bottom step, bad hand tucked into the pocket of green corduroys. He wore a smart green shirt and green jacket.

“Jesus. He looks like a fucking booger.”

They climbed from the car.

Duchess stood, hand on hip and scowling. “What are you doing here, Thomas Noble?”

He swallowed, looked at her dress then swallowed again.

“I hope you’re not checking me out. Hal will shoot you. Right, Hal?”

“Yes,” Hal said. Then he ushered Robin into the house, made a promise to let him drive the riding mower after he changed out of his church clothes.

“I … the math paper. I needed someone to—”

“Don’t even try that bullshit.”

“I just thought maybe we could hang out. Being as I live just over there.” He pointed with his good hand.

“I know Radley land, there’s no neighbor close. How long did you ride?”

Thomas Noble scratched his head. “Four miles. Maybe. Mom said I could do with the exercise.”

“You’re skinny to the point of malnourishment. She’d do better advising a change of diet.”

He smiled a simple smile.

“I’m not fixing you any lunch or even a drink. This isn’t the 1950s.”

“I know.”

“Well, I’m going to pull the weeds by the water. Work doesn’t stop just because you don’t have the good sense to call ahead.”

She went into the house, changed into her old jeans and shirt then found him still there, standing dumb and looking down at his sneakers.

“I suppose you can make yourself useful and help me.”

“Yes,” he said quick.

He trailed her down to the lake edge, knelt beside and pulled weeds she pointed at. She took a cigar from her pocket, stolen from Hal’s dresser.

“You can’t smoke that. You’ll catch the cancer.”

She flipped him off, then bit the top off the cigar and spit it into the dirt. “Jesse John Raymond held a smoke in his mouth when he slaughtered the coward Pat Buchanan.” She gripped the cigar in her teeth. “You got a light?”

“Do I look like the kind of boy that has a light?”

“Fair point. I could just chew it, like Billy Ross Clanton.”

“I think that’s a different type of tobacco.”

“You know nothing, Thomas Noble.” Duchess bit a large chunk off the cigar, chewed and tried mightily not to vomit.

Thomas Noble cleared his throat, then squinted up at her. “So … the reason I came. There’s this dance approaching us. The winter formal.”

“I hope you’re not working up the courage to ask me. Now of all times. When I’ve got a mouth full of tobacco.”

He shook his head quickly, then went back to the task.

“You should know that I don’t intend to marry. And I especially wouldn’t marry you … with the hand.”

“It’s not hereditary. I was an anomaly. Doctor Ramirez—”

“I’m an outlaw. I’m not going to take the word of a Mexican.”

He worked on in silence, then stopped to squint up at her again. “I’ll do your math homework for a month.”

“Alright.”

“Alright yes?”

“No. I still wouldn’t go with you. But I’ll permit you to do my math.”

“Is it because I’m black?”

“No, it’s because you’re a weakling asshole. I’m looking for bravery in a man.”

“But—”

“I’m a fucking outlaw. When you will realize that? I don’t dress up nice and date boys. I’ve got bigger things on.”

“Like what?”

“There’s a man after me,” she said, and he watched her carefully. “A man named Dickie Darke and he drives a black Escalade and he wants to kill me. So, you want to do something useful, you’ll keep an eye out for him.”

“Why does he want to kill you?”

“He thinks I wronged him.”

“Tell the cops. Or your grandfather.”

“I can’t tell anyone. If they find out what I did I’ll get in shit. They might take me away from Robin.”

“I’ll look out.”

“You ever done anything brave in your whole life?”

Another head scratch. “The tire-swing by Cally Creek.”

“That’s not brave.”

“You try it with one hand.”

She almost smiled.

“My mother birthed me without pain relief. Bravery is passed down, right?”

“Shit, Thomas Noble. You must’ve weighed a couple ounces when you were born. Probably shot out when she sneezed.”

He went back to pulling, squinting the whole time.

“Where are your glasses?”

“I don’t even need them.”

“You’re pulling the fucking bluebells. I happen to like bluebells.”

He gingerly lay the bluebell carcass back on the bank. “It’s not always easy to be brave, you know. I’m not like you. You see the kids laughing at me. They’re in a group, a head taller, bigger, they’ve got muscles.”

“It’s not about how big you are. It’s the way you sell it.”

He thought on that. “So I act like I can fight?”

“And then you don’t have to.”

“This man looking for you. Will it work on him?”

“No. You see him and you tell me right away.”

“Alright. But maybe you should be more worried about that kid you threatened. Tyler. He has an older brother and he’s looking for you.”

She waved a hand. “Fuck him and his family. Now pull that big weed and then be on your way. It’ll be dark by the time you make it home. And you can ill afford to get hit by a truck and lose use of another limb.”

He stood with reluctance.

She watched him walk, pick up his bicycle and set off toward the gate. She waited till he was out of sight before she spit out a mouthful of tobacco, shuddered, and scraped her tongue with her fingers.

24

THE IVER COUNTY PARADE.

Main bustled. A boy roping straw bale calves, cursing as he missed the top. Girls tossing bean bags into hoops. There was a stall selling hotdogs, a ramp for skateboards nothing more than ply resting on an upturned plant pot. Hal took Robin to get his face painted. Duchess sat on the sidewalk and watched the floats. Mount Call Insurance, Trailwest Bank. Little girls with tiaras, waving to the flash of a couple of cameras.

She saw Thomas Noble and his mother. Mrs. Noble. She was tall and striking, heads turned as she strolled. Beside was an old man, short and thin and white.

Thomas headed over.

“Your mother doing charity? Help the aged or something.”