WE ought to kill her,” Taylor was saying. He and Tucker were sitting on the back porch of their father’s house smoking and drinking Cokes and eating Nacho Cheese Flavored Doritos for breakfast. Taylor was in the swing with a wireless phone he had stolen from Wal-Mart putting in calls to their friends in Fort Smith. He was getting ready to call his old girlfriend when Georgia called looking for their daddy. “We don’t know where he is,” Taylor told her. “We don’t know when he’s getting back.”
“Do you think they’re going to get married?” Tucker asked. “I don’t think they’re going to. I don’t think he really likes her.”
“We could blow up her car. It’s easy to do. All you do is put a bomb in the motor and when she turns it on, shazammm. I hate her so much. That dyed hair and all that crap she’s always talking about the culture. Who gives a damn? We could do something to her car. But it’s Dad’s car. He gave her the convertible to drive as long as she wants to.”
“He won’t marry her. Mom says he’ll never be able to live with anybody. He’s too messy.”
“He’s got us. He wants us to live here. If we stay here, he won’t marry her because he’ll have us.”
“What about Mom? She wouldn’t have anyone with her.”
“Yeah.”
“We don’t want to stay here, Taylor. He can’t even cook. I hate it when he cooks.”
“He takes us out.”
“So does she. Besides, I don’t want to change schools. Maybe he and Mom will get married again. They were nice to each other last night.”
“If she calls back, I’m telling her he’s gone out with Mom.” Taylor reached down into the sack and took out a handful of Doritos and munched them up. “There’s some light beer in the refrigerator. You want to drink one? We can split it.”
“Okay. You get it.”
The phone rang. Taylor grimaced, let it ring twice, then answered it. They knew it was Georgia. She always called two or three times in a row when she was looking for their dad. “He’s not here,” Taylor said. “He took Mom out to breakfast. We ate up everything in the house last night because Mom’s staying here with us. Yeah, I’ll tell him. We’re going to barbecue for dinner tonight. You ought to come over. Okay, I’ll tell him you called.” He hung up the phone, laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. He staggered over to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer and opened it and handed it to his brother. “You should have heard her. She was going crazy. Where is Mom, by the way? Where’d she go?”
“Out to the mall. She’s coming back here before she leaves. You shouldn’t have done that, Taylor.”
“Why not? It’s true. She did stay here.”
“He let her because she’s broke. He was just being polite. She told me she appreciated him being polite. Now you got him in trouble.”
“I wish she’d drive off the road. If he marries her I’ll never speak to her again. Oh, oh, there he is.” They heard the motor being turned off in Zach’s ancient Land Rover. Heard the front door slam. They made no effort to hide the beer.
“Hello, Dad,” they said together when he came in. “We opened a beer. Don’t worry. We only took a sip. We didn’t drink it.”
“Did Georgia call?” he asked. “Did the phone ring?”
“I don’t know,” Taylor answered. “We saw a snake out in the backyard. I think it’s a garter snake but I’m not sure. Have you got a snake book? We want to look him up. It might be poisonous but I don’t think so.”
Zach snapped to attention. If there was one thing he liked to do, it was look things up in reference books. He embraced his sons. He ran for the encyclopedia. He sang through the house.
“She’ll call back,” Tucker said.
“Not while I’m on the phone.” Taylor dialed a number. A reservations clerk at Delta Airlines came on the phone and Taylor walked back out to the porch and sat down on the swing and began to ask for information about flights to Berlin and Moscow and Hawaii.
Zach came tearing back into the kitchen, his arms full of encyclopedias and nature books. “Where did you see it?” he was asking. “How big around was it? What were the markings? Was it orange and black?”
Georgia hung up the phone from talking to Taylor. She pulled on some slacks and sat down on the unmade bed to tie her running shoes. Good, she decided. Perfect. He has to have a mommie. If I quit on him he goes out and finds a substitute. Dallas Anne shows up to see the boys. Be my mommie, he screams in pain. Sure, she says, and moves in. Might as well manipulate him a little if there’s nothing else left to do, no Sufi dancing classes, no white witch covens, no belly-dancing classes, tai chi, left-wing causes to espouse, why not hang around and fuck up Zach’s head. Help the boys steal something, maybe. Jesus Fucking H. Christ, I have to go back to Memphis and get to work. I have to leave this swamp. Why did I ever get involved with him to begin with? To hell with it, I’m going to The Shak and get some breakfast.
Well, it’s because he’s powerless, she decided, driving to The Shak. He hasn’t even got the power to keep her from staying at his house. I can’t live with a man who can’t handle power. What in the name of shit am I doing in this crazy country? I’m the one who’s mad. I’ve gone completely mad. I will not call him back. I will not call him back.
She parked the car and went into The Shak and ordered breakfast. When the waitress brought the plate, she thanked her and asked, “Where do people go around here at night? Where do they go to meet other people or to dance?”
“At the Teepee,” the waitress ordered. “It’s on Sequoyah Street. They play music there. They have bands. There’s a really good one there tonight. The Vidalias from Broken Arrow. They’re real good.”
“What time does it open?”
“The music starts at nine. But it’s open all day.”
“Thanks,” Georgia said. “I’ll be there tonight. Come and sit with me. I’m looking for a boyfriend. If Olivia comes in, tell her I’m on the rampage. Tell her to come and find me.”