Lester held both beers by the necks, neither of them cold. Nadine took one, pulling her feet under the chair so he could scoot on past her.
“He’ll be here in a couple days, if he makes it at all.” Lester sank into his rocker and took out a cigarette, lighting it up and tossing the match off the porch into the dirt. “It’s a different situation this time,” he said. “This Otis Dell character is bad news. I want you to stay clear of him.”
Nadine tipped the bottle to her mouth, took a full drink before answering. “If he’s so bad, why is he coming here?”
“I can handle him.”
The chickens were acting up behind them; something was likely lurking near the hen house, a raccoon probably, or a coyote. Nadine had secured the pen, so she knew it was tight as a drum.
“Should I expect something out of him?” she asked. “Maybe keep a knife on me or something?”
Lester pushed air through his teeth. “He ain’t like that,” he said. “He’s an asshole and a liar. He might put his hands on you if you let him, but it’s nothing a good knee to his balls wouldn’t take care of.”
Nadine took another drink and stood up from her chair, taking the four steps down to the dirt. She stood there for a good minute or two, watching the branches of the far pines dip and spring back, a gray sparrow darting in and out of the grove, hopping from one tree to the next.
“I don’t need this kind of headache, Lester. This is turning out to be as far from simple as it gets.”
“Jesus Christ, lady.” He snapped his cigarette butt onto the ground near her. “I’m not wagging my tail at the thought of him here, either. But it won’t do either of us any good if I turn him away.”
“What do you mean by that, Won’t do us any good?” She never saw Lester as a man who did anything he didn’t want to do.
He shook his head at her. “It ain’t gonna be more than a few days at best. I promise.”
She felt her body sink, the weight of defeat sliding down her bones. “Should I even bother asking anything more?”
“The less you know, baby.” He raised his bottle to her. She could use another one of those, warm or not.
“I guess I’ll make up the sofa, then,” she said.
“No.” Lester swung open the screen door and held it there. He turned and looked back to Nadine, letting his gaze fell over her for as long as he’d ever done, until Nadine couldn’t take it anymore and looked away. “There’s a mattress in the back of the Dodge,” he finally said. “Put some blankets in there for him.”
“That old van?”
“I don’t want that sonofabitch setting one foot in my house.” Then Lester went inside, letting the screen slam hard behind him.