 
King Warren the Moron

Published by Alison Fish at Smashwords

Copyright 1997 by Alison Fish

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Chapter 51

Chapter 52

Chapter 53

Chapter 54

Chapter 55

Chapter 56

Chapter One

"Warren!" The insistent screech blared forth from the snaggletooth mouth of the obese middle-aged woman in her faded cotton shift and filthy pink scuffs who stood menacingly behind the ragged screen door at the back of the rundown colonial style house. The screen door opened out over an empty beer keg and a couple of cinder blocks, which served as makeshift steps where a wooden porch formerly stood. The porch had rotted away from the century old house many years earlier and twenty years ago Ruby's husband finally removed what remained of it. Dead for more than fifteen years, he never got around to replacing the porch even though Ruby had mercilessly nagged him almost daily since he pulled the remnants of the old porch away. The best she could get from him was the beer keg and cinder block replacement she was now in the habit of using. She would never have considered repairing the porch herself, as Ruby's life was one of leisure and amusement. She collected social security, which barely covered her expenses. However, it was enough of an income to fund her life of watching television, drinking beer, eating, and smoking cigarettes. When she wasn't occupied with any of these activities, she would take some time out of her day to emotionally abuse her family who consisted of her twins; a son Warren and daughter Alice, her daughter-in-law Darlene and her two grandchildren, Michael and Michelle.

The view of the back yard beyond the beer keg and cinder block porch would overwhelm the town's spring clean-up crew if the family ever decided to move even half of the junk out to the curb. Fortunately for them, neither Ruby nor anyone in her family had the desire or the motivation to clean up the yard. Among the inanimate lawn inhabitants were a couple of junk cars. One car was a blue 1972 Plymouth Duster that had been dead in the yard for twenty years. Every fender on that car had a dent of some size in it. The front grill had a hole knocked out of it and one of the headlights was hanging by a coat hanger like an eyeball hanging out of its socket. The other car was a powder blue 1976 Ford Pinto that looked as though it had been beaten with a sledgehammer. That particular car had a dent not only on the fenders, but all over-even the roof. The windows were smashed out and all the lights were beaten in. In 1989 after the car had been sitting in the yard for a few years, Warren had a drunken brainstorm. He and his buddy, Ron, were remembering the Pinto defect in which when the cars were involved in a rear-end collision, the gas tank was likely to explode. That's where the sledgehammer came in. Warren and Ron tried to simulate a rear-end collision by beating the rear end of the Pinto with a sledgehammer. In their drunken enthusiasm to make the car explode, they beat the entire car as well as the rear end. The cops stopped them when they came to investigate the neighbors' complaints about the noise and put an end to Warren and Ron's Pinto bashing party.

A lot of the junk in the yard was partially hidden by overgrown grass and weeds. In rare, empty spots the grass was lying flat and matted because it hadn't been mown in so long that it was too tall to stand up by itself. It stood about knee-high where it grew around larger pieces of junk that were able to support it, like an old refrigerator and a couple of crippled lawn chairs. In order to keep from tripping over any hidden trash in the grass, everyone pretty much kept to the dirt path that went from Ruby's back door to the old shed in the back yard. The shed was in the back corner of the property about fifty feet away from the main house. The shed was where Warren, his wife and two kids were living and toward which Ruby was screeching.

"I know you can hear me, Warren!" Ruby persisted.

Suddenly, the weather worn plank door of the shed flew open, slamming against the outside of the shed and bouncing and wobbling on its rusty hinges.

"What now?" Warren came barging out of the shed slightly agitated, "I just sat down." He had on blue jeans that were mostly brown with dirt, old sneakers without laces, an old pocket tee shirt without the pocket, and a half-burned cigarette in his mouth. His wild, black curly hair stood out all over his head as though it had never been combed, topping off his equally scraggly beard. His mustache hung so low over his top lip that it seemed that if his cigarette burnt any lower the mustache would burn as well.

"Give me a cigarette!" Ruby squawked from her self-imposed control tower. Ever since Ruby had banished Warren and his family from the house, she barked commands and criticisms from her back door like a queen issuing commands from her throne.

"Smoke your own!"

"I don't have any, you moron. You were supposed to get me some when you went out."

"I didn't go out yet, damn it!" He tramped and stumbled down the footpath to give his mother a cigarette.

"What do you mean? When are you going?" She opened the screen door enough to stick her flabby arm out and take a cigarette from Warren's hand, and let it slam shut, narrowly missing Warren's fingers in the door.

"Whenever Darlene gets back with the car, that's when. I told you she had to run an errand for her father."

"That was an hour ago. She should be back by now." Ruby, glowering at Warren, lit the cigarette and blew a cloud of smoke from her mouth and nose.

"No shit. She probably stopped to get something for my dinner."

"Bullshit, she's probably got a boyfriend!"

"She better not! I'll kick her ass. She should be home cooking me some supper." Warren flicked his cigarette out into the yard where it will never be found.

"You're damn right, sonny. Don't you forget it. Go get me my smokes as soon as she gets back. I've gotta go, you're making me miss Jerry Springer." She left the doorway to return to her even more frequented spot at the end of the couch.

"Toothless old hag likes Jerry Springer better than her own son," Warren muttered as he started back up to the shed, his laceless sneakers flopping around on and off his grimy, sockless feet.

Ever since Ruby evicted Warren from the house a few weeks earlier after his drinking had gotten out of hand, Warren was nurturing a grudge against his mother, although he would never be angry enough to move away from her. These past few weeks living in the shed were the only time in his thirty-three years he had not been in the same house as Ruby.

He stopped walking and looked toward the driveway when he heard the distant roar of the faulty exhaust system of his '72 Maverick and knew Darlene was almost home. A few seconds later, the dirt driveway became clouded over in dust as the bald tires of the Maverick spun the car up the hill to the rear of the house.

"Did you cash your check?" Warren asked still standing in the same spot.

"Yeah," Darlene got out of the car with a cigarette in her mouth and a large brown grocery bag in her arms. "You want to help me with this bag, or you just going to stand there asking questions?"

Warren took the bag from her, "You don't have to be such a bitch."

"Well it's your beer."

"Did you get any ice?" He was following her up the path to the shed.

"Does it look like it?" She opened the door.

"Well, you better get your ass back to the store and get some. I ain't drinking warm beer."

"Don't tell me what to do! Get it yourself," she let the shed door slam behind her leaving him outside holding the bag.

"Warren," screeched Ruby from behind the screen door," I heard the car. Go get my smokes."

"OK, OK," Warren carried his beer into the shed. He dropped it on the floor next to the cooler. Darlene was sitting in a beat up old armchair in the corner. It was dark but Warren could see her lit cigarette glowing. As his eyes became accustomed to the dark, he saw her flip her wavy long brown hair back behind her shoulders and give him an angry look, "I gotta go get Ma her Goddamn cigarettes. Give me some money and I'll get some ice too."

Darlene put the cigarette in her mouth and got up to dig into the front pocket of her jeans for some money. She slapped it into Warren's open hand and plopped back down into the chair.

"Start supper while I'm gone. I'll only be a minute," Warren let the door slam behind him and Darlene heard the roar of the old green Maverick.

Darlene and Warren met in high school when Darlene was a freshman and Warren was a sophomore. In the 70's students were appointed an area off the cafeteria where they were allowed to smoke. This kept the restrooms clean for non-smokers and freed the teachers from having to chase smoking students out of the restrooms and into the office where they received a detention for each offense. The smoking area also became a place for socializing at the school where many relationships bloomed, grew, faded and died.

However, Darlene and Warren's togetherness increased until they excluded their friends altogether and happily traveled the high school halls hand in hand and arm in arm. They were social outcasts who had found love. Both having always been in the classes for students who needed extra help in learning the basics, they shared the same intellectual abilities and suffered similar levels of parental neglect at home.

Darlene was an only child whose parents drank every day; her father drank his beer in front of the television while her mother preferred the neighborhood bar. When Darlene was twelve, her mother ran away with another man and never contacted Darlene again. Her father only sought out Darlene's company when he wanted her to do some household chore or run an errand for him. Therefore, Darlene was thrilled with the attention she received from Warren. He was the first person who every showed her any affection at all.

Warren's parents were more interested in their beer and television than they were with parental obligations, but unlike Darlene's parents, Ruby and Roger Kennedy were accustomed to each other's company and spent every evening together in front of the television. Ruby criticized and belittled Warren while Roger ignored the situation. Alice, Warren's twin sister, was Roger's little girl and while he was around, he wouldn't allow Ruby to emotionally abuse her the way she did Warren. The kids were a nuisance for Ruby as they interfered with her personal priorities of watching TV and drinking beer, so she bullied them for her own entertainment. She needed to find a use for them and, in her opinion they weren't good for anything except being targets for her abuse. Roger, for the most part, allowed Ruby to raise the twins her own way without much interference. In an attempt to avoid confrontation, Roger had convinced himself that Ruby knew what was best for the kids. When Warren and Alice were eighteen and seniors in high school, Roger had a heart attack and died. The family, including Darlene who had moved in by then, were grief stricken and Darlene had secretly wished that Ruby had died instead of Roger. After her father's funeral, Alice refused to leave the house, Warren dropped out of school in order to reluctantly find a job to support the family and Darlene became pregnant.

Warren and Darlene's relationship became strained as Warren realized the difficult responsibility of being a husband and father without any education or skills. Darlene's growing resentment toward Ruby's criticism and her own realization of her claustrophobic existence due to her financial dependence on Warren and Warren's reluctance to improve their living conditions put a damper on their love life. Darlene's father, on learning Darlene was pregnant, told her she would never be allowed to move back to his house. He refused to have any screaming babies in his house again. One was more than enough. Therefore, Darlene kept her blissful memories fresh and hoped that someday she would be as happy again with Warren as they were in high school. However, being evicted from Ruby's house and resorting to life in the shed caused Darlene's hope to diminish drastically. She accepted Warren's strong emotional attachment to his mother even though she resented it, especially since Warren would subject his family to the discomfort of living in the shed rather than move off of his mother's property.

Darlene finished her cigarette and flicked the butt out the door. Then she went out. About ten feet from the door was a dead campfire. She began gathering sticks and old pieces of newspaper from around the yard dropping them into the round fireplace. She arranged all of the sticks on top of the balled-up paper and lit the fire. She grabbed a few larger sticks and branches from a leftover fire from the day before and set them on top once she had the fire burning. Just then the kids came home looking even dirtier than when they had left that morning.

Michelle was fourteen years old, skinny with greasy bushy brown hair and crooked teeth. She had a sort of ground-into the skin grubby look and always looked grim. Michael was fifteen and had a crew cut and acne. He was also skinny and grubby like his sister and had a front tooth missing.

Frowning, Darlene looked up from her campfire and greeted her kids, "Where the hell have you two been? School let out hours ago."

"Just hanging out," Michael grinned, "Is supper ready?"

"Not till you cook it," Darlene took a hot stick out of the fire to light her cigarette, then threw it back in, "grab yourselves a couple of sticks."

"Oh, no," Michael lost his grin and whined, "hot dogs again."

Michelle and Michael headed toward the trees in the back of the shed and came back with a branch each. Michael returned to his mother by the fire while Michelle went into the shed for the hotdogs. These actions were sadly becoming routine for the family.

"Can't we ever have something besides hot dogs? I'm sick of them," Michelle said this as she came out of the shed with a package of hot dogs in one hand and her stick in the other.

"Yeah, maybe when your bum of a father gets himself a job and we can get an apartment-one with a stove and a refrigerator." Darlene got herself a stick and took the remaining hotdogs from Michelle and passed one to Michael.

"Wow," Michael grinned, "just like Grandma. That would be cool."

"Why can't we keep some stuff in Grandma's refrigerator?" Michelle whined as she held her hot dog over the fire.

"You know the last time, she ate everything we had in there. I don't have enough food stamps to feed her too. She eats like a pig!" She accented each of the last three words with a whack on one of the fireplace rocks with her hotdog stick. The last whack knocked the hot dog off the stick and into the fire, "Shit!"

"Here's another one, Ma," Michael held the package out to her and she snatched it from his hand.

The roar of the Maverick could be heard approaching the house and within moments it was spinning up the dirt driveway creating a dust cloud that slowly rose over the trees. As soon as the engine was off, they heard Ruby:

"Warren! You better have my smokes."

"Yeah, yeah," He got out of the car and handed her a pack of cigarettes. The screen door slammed shut and Ruby returned to her television.

Warren trudged up the path with his bag of ice and observed his family sitting around the fire getting ready to eat, "You couldn't wait five minutes for me to get home before you ate?" He dropped the bag of ice on the ground and went into the shed to get the cooler and his beer.

"Here you go," Darlene handed him a blackened hot dog in a squashed bun.

"That's more like it," Warren took the dog, "A wife should always have her man's dinner waiting for him when he gets home."

Darlene and Michelle rolled their eyes, Michael grinned and Warren devoured his dinner with satisfaction.
Chapter 2

Ruby sat on her ratty old overstuffed couch, which sagged miserably on the end where she spent her days and most evenings. Next to the couch was a small end table where she kept her ashtray, lighter, cigarettes, and drinking cup. "Alice," screeched Ruby without taking her gaze from the TV screen, "where's my sandwich?"

Alice came scurrying into the room with a plate in one hand a can of beer in the other. In her usual determined and purposeful manner she set the two down on the end table and rushed back to the kitchen to clean up her mess.

Alice had long black hair with streaks of gray that she always wore in a single braid. Growing up, Alice received a lot of attention from her father and he protected her from Ruby's jealous criticism and ridicule. When Roger died from a heart attack as a garbage truck driver for the town, Alice was the most heartbroken, although Ruby suffered the loss as well. Warren and Darlene also mourned the loss of their small buffer between themselves and Ruby, but there wasn't the love loss that Alice and Ruby felt. After her father died, Alice dropped out of school. Losing the only person who had ever loved and accepted her drove Alice to suffer a lengthy mourning period from which she never fully recovered. Ruby took advantage of the situation by reminding her daughter that she had no one to take care of her now and if she didn't be careful, Ruby would have to ask her to leave. Chronic fear and anxiety over being at the mercy of her capricious mother's will, Alice became unable to leave the house for fear that she wouldn't be allowed to return. She hadn't left the house in fifteen years. Every time she would try to leave the house, she would get short of breath and dizzy and would rush back inside. Eventually, she gave up trying. To justify her existence, Ruby insisted Alice wait on her and do all the housework. Since Alice was terrified of being evicted, she became compulsively neat. She was always busily scrubbing something or tidying up. She would empty and polish Ruby's ashtray after Ruby had stubbed out each cigarette.

Ruby didn't own a washing machine or clothes dryer, so Alice would wash their clothes upstairs in the bathtub and hang them to dry on the clothesline she had tied from one end of the hallway to the other.

"Alice!" Ruby screeched over her shoulder toward the kitchen, "get me another beer."

Alice, who was kneeling on the floor sweeping up plaster dust from the crumbling walls about ten feet behind Ruby said, "OK, Ma." She got up and hurried to the kitchen, returning with a fresh can of beer and a clean ashtray. She replaced the empty beer can with a full one and a clean ashtray for the dirty one, which contained only one butt, and hurried back to the kitchen.

As Alice returned to her sweeping, Ruby said sarcastically, "Oh, look, Alice. Wheel of Fortune is coming from Hawaii this week. Wouldn't you like to go there?"

"No way," Alice continued cleaning without looking up at the television.

"Ha, ha," Ruby laughed and slapped her knees, pleased with herself for teasing her daughter about her phobia.

Just then the back door swung open and Warren came in, "Hey, Ma."

"What the hell do you want?" Ruby turned to see Warren coming toward the couch.

"Can I borrow a couple of bucks?" he plopped down on the couch next to her.

"Get the hell out of my house," Ruby screeched at Warren," you don't even have a job. How will you pay me back?"

"Oh, come on Ma," Warren whined, "I went and got your cigarettes for you."

"No," Ruby pointed to the TV " you're making me miss my show."

Warren got up and stomped to the door, "Every show is your show."

"That's right, now get lost," She had her eyes back to the TV.

"Well," Warren turned back toward her "can I bum a couple of cigarettes. I ran out."

"Go bum them off your wife—she's used to it."

"Damn it!" Warren slammed the door behind him.

Alice stooped down with the broom and dustpan and swept the floor where Warren had walked.

Suddenly the screen door opened again. Alice looked up to see Warren stick his head back in and let out a long belch. She yelled, "Asshole!" as the door slammed shut as Warren retreated again. She ran to the kitchen and returned with a can of aerosol air freshener and sprayed the air near the door where Warren burped.

Warren went mumbling and stumbling up the path toward the campfire when he heard someone behind him.

"Hey, Warren," His childhood friend and drinking buddy, Ron, was coming up behind him.

"Hey, Ron," Warren stopped and waited for him, "give me a cigarette."

Ron took a cigarette out of his pack and handed it to Warren.

"Thanks, man," Warren said as he lit up, "you're a lifesaver."

"Why don't you get a job, man?" Ron put his cigarette pack back into his shirt pocket.

"I got a bad back. You know that."

"You strained your back five years ago. You can work now. Shit, I've seen you push your car a hundred times since then."

"I don't know, man." Warren shook his head in uncertainty as he continued up the path toward the campfire.

"I bet I can get you in where I work. My boss is so desperate for help; I bet you could start tomorrow. And I'll get a fifty dollar bonus for finding him someone."

"Yeah, I'll think about it," By this time they reached the campfire and the cooler, "Want a beer?"

Darlene and the kids were sitting around the fire. They stayed outside at night until bedtime because there wasn't any light in the shed.

"Darlene," Warren opened the cooler to get a couple of cans of beer, "please buy me a pack of cigarettes."

"Kiss my ass," Darlene poked the fire with her stick, "I already told you no."

"Come on," he whined, "I don't have any."

"Get a fucking job," She took out one of her own cigarettes and lit it, "I already bought your goddamn beer."

"You're drinking it too." Warren pointed out, "So don't give me that 'you're beer' shit."

"I just offered to get Warren a job where I work," Ron sat down on an old empty beer keg to drink his beer.

"You still have that job at the redemption center?" Darlene stared at Ron in amazement, "You don't usually keep a job for more than a month."

"Yeah. That's why I've got cigarettes and Warren don't!" Ron laughed as he opened his beer and Warren scowled at his friend as he opened his own can.

"All right, all right," Warren slobbered beer into his beard, "if I get a job with Ron, will you buy me a pack of cigarettes?"

"Yeah, but you have to promise to go tomorrow," Darlene got up and put her stick down to dig into her jeans for money.

"OK, I promise," Warren held his hand out.

"Hey," Michael spoke up, "then can we get a nice place to live like Grandma's?"

"One thing at a time, pal," Warren started down the path, "Grandma's lucky. She's on a fixed income. I don't know if I can ever be that lucky."

"Yeah," Darlene said, "let's just get you making enough to buy your own cigarettes and beer, then we'll work on getting a place to live."

"Why don't you get off your lazy ass and get a job yourself?" Warren was still holding the cigarette money in his hand.

"I get a check every month like always and food stamps!"

"And what are you going to do in a few years when the kids are both eighteen?"

"By then, you'll have a job," Darlene lit another cigarette, "you've been living off of me for years. You can support me for once."

"I'm going to get my cigarettes, bitch," Warren stumbled down the path into the growing darkness.
Chapter 3

Warren, with painful reluctance, slowly woke up to the sound of someone pounding on the door of the shed. The door didn't shut tightly, so when someone knocked on it, it bounced open and closed against the doorframe creating a double knock and releasing dirt and dust into the dark, musty air of the shed.

Darlene was at the door yelling at the knocker to stop banging. She flung the door open, "What the hell do you want?"

Ron was standing outside the door with his fist up as though he were about to knock again.

"I came to pick up Warren for work," he put his hand down.

"Oh, yeah," Darlene turned toward Warren who was lying on the old ratty couch, "Warren! Get your lazy smelly ass up."

"Oh, no," he groaned and the odor of his breath spread throughout the interior of the shed like a thick fog mixing with the dust from the door, "Do I have to? I'm tired. I don't feel good."

"Stop whining," Darlene handed him a cigarette, "Your nasty breath is stinking up the shed."

He struggled to sit up and held his hand out to Darlene who was handing him a lighter. After lighting the cigarette, he felt around on the floor until he found his half empty can of beer from the previous night and took a gulp.

"Hey, man," Ron looked alarmed, "you can't go into work with beer on your breath."

"I'll smoke a couple of cigarettes to hide the smell. Don't worry, I just gotta kill this hangover." He finished off the beer and threw the can into the corner.

"You ain't never gonna make it through the day, never mind find us a place to live," Darlene went outside in disgust.

"What!" Warren stood up and followed with Ron right behind him, "What do you call this? We have a place to live."

"I don't want to spend the winter in this shed with no heat, Warren!" Darlene was screaming at him, "We don't have enough trees and shit to burn around here to keep us warm all winter."

Warren put the cigarette in his mouth and turned toward the trees behind the shed to take a leak. His pee ran straight down the slope between his feet and got his sneakers wet.

"Now look what you're doing, you moron!" Darlene started angrily collecting sticks and branches to use for the dinner fire for later.

"Shit!" Warren zipped his fly and began stamping his feet in the dirt and ashes from the previous night's campfire. The dust flew up around his feet and ankles covering his already cruddy sneakers. "There. That'll cover the wet spots."

"Cool," Ron seemed satisfied, "Let's go."

Spotting the cooler, Warren said, "Let me get some water from the cooler to rinse off my shoes."

"You can't," Darlene broke in, "the kids already used it to wash up before school."

"Damn it," Warren walked toward a tuft of grass to wipe his feet and get some of the ashes off, " I am the man of this shed and I should have first priority around here. Those kids shouldn't have used that cooler water without asking me first."

"Come on, man," Ron was fidgeting, "we're gonna be late."

"OK, OK," Warren started down the path behind Ron, "Have my supper ready when I get home, Darlene. And it better not be hot dogs again!"

"Kiss my ass," Darlene muttered as she stacked the wood that remained from the previous evening's fire.

When she had a good-sized pile of wood next to the fireplace, she sat on an old beer keg and lit a cigarette. She began to dream of having an apartment with a stove and refrigerator and even better-television! She would be wanting for nothing in that situation. She would have it all.

Only that stupid Warren! He didn't want to leave his mother's house. He'd rather live in a shed than find a place of their own. Darlene couldn't figure out why Warren wouldn't leave his mother's property. His mother wouldn't even let him live in the house because he was such a drunken barbaric slob.

They had lived with Ruby in the house where Warren and Alice grew up in since high school. When Warren went out on comp from his painter/cleaner job at EB, he began to drink more heavily than his usual weekend binge. His drinking had recently become out of control and this spring, Ruby threw all four of them out of the house after Warren drank a half pint of whiskey and a case of beer, and decided the walk to the bathroom was too difficult and began pissing in the kitchen sink. Alice began to scream when she saw what he was doing. Turning toward her as she screamed, Warren peed all over the floor as well, and then fell on the kitchen floor in a drunken stupor.

Alice wouldn't stop screaming, which forced Ruby's attention away from the TV and into the kitchen. She was screaming at Alice to shut up until she saw Warren lying on the floor in a pool of piss. Then she started screaming at Warren. When she finally realized he wasn't going to get up on his own, she began to drag him toward the back door. Of course, Ruby was screeching at Alice to shut up and give her a hand. They rolled him out the door and that's how Darlene found him when she got home from a meeting at the school regarding Michael's poor grades. He was face down in the dirt with his foot still stuck in the door and his dick hanging out of his fly.

After almost four weeks living in the shed, Ruby showed no sign of allowing the family back into the house and Warren showed no sign of helping Darlene find a place of their own.

Darlene rose from the beer keg, grabbed a couple of duffle bags full of dirty clothes and carried them to the car. The door squeaked and groaned as she opened it. She stuffed the laundry into the back seat and got into the car. The Maverick came alive with a blast of exhaust and blew out a huge black cloud of smoke. Even though the muffler was almost rotted off, Darlene could still hear Ruby screeching, "Darlene!"

However, Darlene pretended she didn't hear her mother-in-law and spun the bald tires in the dirt mixing the brown dirt of the driveway into the oil-black exhaust cloud as the Maverick roared out of the yard toward the local laundromat. Darlene was angry that Ruby threw them out of the house but still expected them to run errands for her. Maybe Warren was stupid enough to do it, but Darlene wasn't. Ruby could walk to the corner store and get her own beer and cigarettes.

The laundromat was almost empty when Darlene dragged her two bags in. Cathy, an acquaintance of Darlene's was stuffing her laundry into a washer when Darlene entered. "Hey, woman," Darlene dragged her bags over to the machine next to Cathy's.

"Hey, Darlene," Cathy closed the lid and looked at Darlene who she had known since sixth grade, "How's it going?"

"Not too bad," Darlene began stuffing her laundry into on of the machines, "Warren went to work with Ron today, can you believe it?"

"I thought he was out on comp or something?" Cathy casually remarked.

"No," Darlene sighed, "that ran out years ago when he blew off the hearing for an extension. He was afraid if he went for the mandatory doctor's evaluation, he would have to go back to work."

Cathy looked as though Darlene was crazy. "Well, that's great that he finally got a job again, Darlene," she dropped her money into the washer and lit a cigarette, "How'd you get him to go to work? Did you threaten to leave him?"

"No," Darlene started her washer and began stuffing clothes into the next machine in line, "I wouldn't buy him a pack of cigarettes last night and he was bumming them off Ron. I guess he got sick of not having his own cigarettes."

"That's cool," Cathy dug into her pocket and pulled out some money, "wanna go next door and have a beer while we wait?"

"You need to ask?" Darlene started up her third machine, "Oh, I have to wait till the machine fills up first, OK?"

"Whatever." Cathy sat down in the waiting area and picked up an old magazine off a small table.

When the first machine filled up, Darlene opened the lid and pulled a bottle of shampoo out of one of the duffle bags. Then she leaned over the machine and washed her hair in the washer using an old donut shop coffee cup from the trash to get the water from the machine.

When she finished, she wrung as much of the water out of her hair as she could, but it was still dripping and got the shoulders of her jacket wet, "That's it, I'm getting my hair cut off. I can't take care of this hair living in a shed."

"Yeah, right. Why don't you just get yourself a better husband?" Cathy got up, "It would save you the humiliation of washing your hair in public. Are you ready for a beer now?"

"Let's go." Darlene combed her fingers through her refreshingly clean hair as she followed her friend.

They got comfortable at the bar and ordered a couple of beers. They took a sip of their beer and lit a cigarette. Darlene said, "I can't stand living in that shed for much longer. Warren better keep this job for a while."

"Well, if he doesn't, I think you should find yourself another guy," Cathy flipped her bleach blonde hair with her pudgy fingers, "I wouldn't live like that."

"What!" Darlene was shocked, "I've been with Warren for sixteen years. I wouldn't think of leaving."

"Yeah?" Cathy looked disgusted, "I can't imagine being with anyone for that long. You must be weird or something. Don't you ever get sick of him?"

"Well," Darlene pondered, "I never thought of it. We've been together since high school and I never imagined not being together."

"Wow, I can't stay with anyone for more than two years. They just get on my nerves."

"Well, if you know you'll be dumping them in two years, why do you bother getting married?"

"Because of the financial benefits," Cathy pointed to her temple indicating herself to be a good thinker, "when I get to divorce court, I try to get as much alimony as possible. I couldn't get alimony if I didn't marry them."

"Oh, yeah," Darlene was impressed, "that's pretty smart." Cathy's economic plan didn't pertain to Darlene, so Darlene quickly disregarded her friend's advice.

"Are you going to marry Ray?" Darlene asked her friend about her current boyfriend, "You're living together, right?"

"Not unless he gets a better job!" Cathy exclaimed, "I wouldn't get as much money from him as I'm getting from Art. Plus he has seven more years of child support till his youngest turns eighteen and he's off the hook."

"Then why do you stay with him?'

Cathy chuckled, "Cause, I haven't found anyone better."

Darlene nodded in confused incomprehension trying to act as though she understood and agreed with Cathy, but she didn't. Although Darlene craved an income that would provide herself and her family with a home of their own, she needed emotional security even more. She wanted Warren to provide her with a decent home out of his love and respect for her. Unfortunately for Darlene, Warren wanted the same needs met for himself from Ruby who delighted in her son's emotional deprivation. While Cathy considered a husband nothing more than a means of financial security, Darlene looked to her husband for emotional security.

"Damn right," Cathy sighed and looked at the clock behind the bar, "our wash is probably done."

"Yeah," Darlene slid off the barstool and grabbed her cigarettes and lighter off the bar, "I better get going. Warren wants something besides hot dogs for supper and I have no idea what to have."

"Have some macaroni and cheese," Cathy followed Darlene back to the laundromat next door, "it's cheap and easy."

"I don't think so," Darlene shook her head, "there's only so many things you can cook on the end of a stick."

She was still pondering the dilemma when she roared the Maverick back up the driveway. As she struggled to get the bags of wet clothes out of the back seat, Ruby appeared at the back door screeching: "Why didn't you tell me you were going out?"

"I don't have to tell you nothing!" Darlene slammed the car door and began dragging the bags up the hill.

"Don't you talk to me like that! I threw you out of my house, I can throw you out of my shed and out of my yard too!" Ruby stood red-faced and threateningly in her frayed and faded housedress from behind the screen door.

"Get off my back, Ruby," Darlene kept plodding.

"Are you going back out again?" Ruby was toning down her screech.

"I don't know." Darlene decided to take one heavy wet bag up the hill at a time and left one on the path behind her.

"Well, let me know if you do. I need a couple of things at the store. I tried calling you before you left last time, but you couldn't hear me over that loud piece of shit you drive."

"Maybe," by then Darlene was almost up to the shed and Ruby's imposing figure disappeared from the screen door, greatly improving the appearance of the back of the peeling, neglected house.

Darlene began taking wet clothes out of the bags and draping them over all the branches and bushes to dry. When she finished she tossed the empty laundry bags into the shed and sat on her beer keg to smoke a cigarette. She thought really hard about cooking something besides hot dogs for supper. They'd been eating hot dogs every day for the past three weeks. No pans, no plates made meal choices very limited.

She grabbed the food stamps out of the shed and headed toward the grocery store, once again pretending not to hear the angry shrieks of Ruby as she drove out of the yard.

Warren came home from his first day of work to find the kids and Darlene seated around the fire surrounded by the clean laundry still strewn along the bushes and branches.

"Hey, Warren," Darlene had her fire poking stick in her hand and cigarette hanging out of her mouth, "how did work go?"

"Can we move yet?" asked Michael.

"Not on one day's pay, stupid!" Michelle sneered.

"It sucked," Warren stood over the fire with his hands on his hips, "where's my supper?"

"Surprise!" Darlene pulled out a brown grocery bag that was flattened to serve as a plate. On the bag were half a dozen cooked Italian sausages.

"Surprise, my ass!" Warren looked from the sausage to Darlene, "I told you no hot dogs tonight."

"These aren't hot dogs, you moron," Darlene picked one up, "they're sausages. Here, have one."

Warren grabbed one and took a bite, "Well, they look like hot dogs."

Darlene gave one to each of the kids then sat down to eat hers.

"How was your first day at work?" Darlene munched her sausage, "We waited till you got home to eat."

"Where's my beer?" Warren looked around for the cooler. He found it under Michael, "get your ass off my beer, Michael."

Michael got up so Warren could get a beer. Then he sat back down.

"Give me one too," Darlene said to Michael.

Michael stood up and got Darlene a beer. Then he sat back down and resumed eating.

Darlene added, "I got you both a can of soda to spit. It's in the cooler."

Michael got up and opened the cooler again to get the soda.

"Hey!" Warren hollered at Michael, "don't keep opening that cooler. The beer will get warm."

Warren drank his beer and took a second sausage, "These hot dogs are different than the other ones we usually have."

Michelle rolled her eyes. Michael agreed with his father.

Warren finished his supper and asked Darlene for a cigarette.

"You worked today," she took the pack out of her shirt pocket, "don't you have your own?"

"I worked," he said, "but I didn't get paid yet. I don't get paid till Friday."

"Oh," Darlene tossed him a cigarette.

"You probably wouldn't know that since you've never worked a day in your life."

"Bullshit, Warren," Darlene put another log on the fire, "I work my ass off taking care of the three of you especially now that we live in this stupid shed!"

"You know," Warren sat down on an old toilet, "I'm a working man now with a lot of stress and I don't need to listen to your shit."

"Warren!" Ruby screeched from the screen door of the house.

"Now you can listen to her shit," Darlene motioned toward the house.

"What do you want?" Warren hollered toward the house, "I just got home from work!'

"I don't care if you just climbed up from hell!" Ruby screamed, "Get down here and never yell at me like that again!"

"Why don't the whole lot of you go to hell" came a woman's voice from the other side of the shed. A surprised and puzzled look came over the faces of the Kennedy's when they heard the unfamiliar voice.

"Who is that, Warren?" Ruby opened the screen door and carefully climbed down the beer keg porch and cinder block steps. As she stepped down, she held up her tattered duster so she wouldn't trip on the hem. Attempting to step to the ground, her slipper fell off and landed upside-down in the dirt, "Goddamn it," Ruby muttered in her squeaky voice as she tried to flip it back over with her toe. It didn't work so she had to get her sock dirty by stepping onto the dirt and bending over to pick up the slipper. Slipper back on her foot, Ruby started trudging up the path.

"Who the hell is swearing at me in my own yard?" Ruby demanded between huffs and puffs as she climbed the gradual slope toward the shed.

Darlene laughed, "It wasn't me."

"Not me," Michelle stifled a laugh.

Warren looked completely perplexed, scratching his head while still sitting on the toilet looking around.

"Over here," said the voice. Warren stood up and looked behind him just like the rest of the family, to see who was talking, "it was me, your new neighbor."

Chapter 4

The Kennedys all looked toward the back of the shed where the mysterious voice had come from and could hear someone making their way through the tangled underbrush and umbrella-like sumac trees that surrounded and overgrew the shed. Finally, they saw the intruding woman who claimed to be their new neighbor. She was about six feet tall and three feet wide. Her build was large yet muscular, not fat. Her black hair was curly and long and fell softly around her fierce looking face. She stood at the edge of the overgrowth with her hands on her hips and looked at the family as though they were something she had scraped off the bottom of her large shoe. "I came over to tell you that I'm going to have a stockade fence put in this week."

"And to tell us all to go to hell," Ruby, her breath recovered, angrily screeched.

"But, now that I see your yard up close, I see you're already in hell," the neighbor laughed.

"Who the hell are you to make fun of my yard?" Ruby had her hands on her hips as well as she challenged her new neighbor who had to look down at Ruby.

"I bought my house for peanuts because of you people," she gloated, "the previous owners couldn't wait to get away from you."

"Oh well, excuse us for living," Ruby said, "I'm glad you're putting up a fence. Then we don't have to look at you whatever your name is."

"Oh," the neighbor grimaced with sarcasm, "let me introduce myself properly. I'm Linda Madison. And now I'm going home and hopefully won't ever be talking to any of you again."

She started back toward her yard and Ruby said, "Hold it there, Sasquatch! No one comes into my yard, insults me and gets away with it!"

"There's a first time for everything, lady," Linda said without stopping.

"Oh yeah?" Ruby picked up an empty beer can and threw it at Linda's back. Even though she used all her strength and showed her hairy armpits with the wide arc of her swing, the can only traveled a few feet before landing in the knee-high grass. By now Linda was out of sight.

Ruby looked at Warren, "Can you believe that bitch! Why didn't you say something? What a spineless wimp you are!"

"Hey, wait a minute," Warren looked at Ruby, "I worked hard all day. I'm tired, I don't have the energy to be fighting with a woman."

"That's a first," Darlene added, "you always have enough energy to give me a hard time."

"You deserve it," Ruby said to Darlene, "If you weren't such a rotten wife, he wouldn't give you a hard time."

"Kiss my ass!" Darlene threw down her stick and stomped into the shed and slammed the door.

Michael and Michelle began fighting over Darlene's fire poking stick.

"Now look," Ruby talking to Warren, gestured toward the kids, "your teenage kids are fighting over a stick!" She turned and walked back down the path.

"You know, Warren," she paused and turned back to look at her son, "that neighbor bitch wouldn't need to build a fence if you weren't living in the shed. You're making the property value of my house go down by being outside all the time where everyone can see you." She continued to her house, climbed up the cinder blocks and beer keg and let the screen door slam behind her as she went into the house.

Warren got a beer from the cooler and said to himself, "Bitches, all of them," Just as he raised the can of beer to his lips, the fire stick smacked it out of his hands and the can of beer landed in the fire. Michael and Michelle didn't notice how their wild behavior caused their father to lose his can of beer and continued to fight over the stick. Warren looked surprised and then angry. He got up and the kids stopped fighting when they saw the rage on his face.

"You kids put my full beer in the fire!" Warren hollered, "You wasted one of my precious fucking beers!" The kids cowered as though he would hit them. "I don't care how you do it, but get it out of there right now. I don't care if you burn your fucking hands off doing it, you useless little losers."

Michael and Michelle looked at each other in distress and with many whines and nudges at each other over whose fault it was and who should make the risky rescue, slowly walked to the side of the fireplace where the fallen beer lay.

"Do it now, Goddamn it!" Warren bellowed and as he yelled, saliva flew from his angry lips into his beard and mustache. The teenagers stood looking from the fire to each other not knowing how to get the beer away from the hot log it had fallen against. Flames licked around the side of the can as they watched.

"Get it! It's getting warm in there." Warren screamed impatiently.

Michael stood wringing his hands in distress and Michelle began looking for the fire stick again to use as a tool to remove the can from the fire without getting burned.

Warren shoved them both out of the way. "Get the hell out of my way. You two aren't good for anything but causing me trouble. I'll get it myself." he knelt down in front of the fire, which was burning pretty low by now. He reached in and quickly grabbed the can, "Shit!" He yelled as he pulled the can from the fire and quickly set it on the ground away from the heat. "Now, was that so fucking hard to do?" He shoved his hot hand into the cooler for relief as well as to get a fresh beer to drink while the rescued can cooled off enough to hold.

Michelle looked angry and Michael looked ashamed as they watched their father open the fresh beer and start guzzling it.

"Warren!" Ruby was calling from behind her screen door again.

Warren said, "Now that's your lesson for the day," and he gulped the can dry, threw it on the ground, and headed to where his mother waited for his reply.

"I don't know why he treats us like that, do you?" Michael asked his sister.

"I can see why he treats you like that," she looked at him in disgust and picked up the fire stick.

"Why?" Michael was genuinely interested.

Michelle rolled her eyes, "Because you're a toothless idiot, that's why."

"I only lost one tooth, not all of them."

"Give it time," Michelle stirred the fire with the stick.

"I try and try to do things so Dad will be nice to me, but no matter what I do, he's still mean," Michael sat on the cooler.

"Because he's an asshole," Michelle replied matter-of-factly.

"You shouldn't say that about our father."

"Why not? Mom does."

"That's different."

"How? Grandma and Aunt Alice say so too," Michelle sat on the empty beer keg, "It's unanimous."

"Maybe things will be better now that he's got a job," Michael looked for a positive response from his sister, "We can get a place of our own now."

"I doubt it. Dad likes living in the shed. I don't think he wants to move," Michelle poked at the fire and threw another log on.

"But Mom wants to move," Michael added.

"She won't if he won't," Michelle looked at Michael, "I think the only way we'll have our own place is if you and me move out together."

"How can we do that?"

"We can get jobs and save up for our own apartment."

"We're too young to get a job."

"Legal ones," Michelle looked slyly at her brother.

Chapter 5

Today Darlene happened to be the one to wake up to Ron's knocking on the door. Her neck was stiff from sleeping on the floor with nothing but an old pair of jeans for a pillow.

"Warren," she moaned as she struggled to get to her feet, "it's time to go to work."

Warren responded with a snore. He was sleeping on the old torn up couch again. The morning sunlight blared through a lone vertical crack in the wall behind him like a bold intruder who was undeterred by its obvious contrast to the environment. Warren didn't respond to Darlene's voice or the sunlight shining across his face.

"Alright, alright," Darlene had made it to her feet and was stiffly hobbling toward the door, "Stop banging on the Goddamn door!"

"Well," Ron called from behind the door, "it's time for Warren and me to go to work."

Darlene opened the door and let Ron in. A big blast of sunlight flew in before Ron and landed right on Warren's sleeping face. He sat up shielding his eyes, "Who turned that light on?" He was more asleep than awake. "Turn off that light! It's the middle of the night, damn it."

"It's the sun, you idiot!" Darlene yelled at Warren and yanked his hand away from his face, "It's time to get up and go to work."

Warren squinted at Darlene then saw Ron standing in the open doorway, framed by sunlight as he tried to decide whether he was awake or just having a bad dream.

"Hi, Warren" Ron smiled his dumb smile. He had teeth missing in the front and the remaining ones were crooked and discolored, "Let's go, I don't want to be late."

"It sucks working every day," Warren forced himself up into a sitting position as he slowly swung his feet to the floor, "I'm tired." He put his head in his hands and looked down at the shoes he never took off before going to bed.

Darlene rolled her eyes as she lit up a cigarette, "Warren," she said while blowing out smoke, "This is only your second day of work. The reason you're tired is because you're not used to working all day. Once you get used to it, it'll be easy."

"Oh, and how the hell would you know anything about it?" Warren stood up and rubbed his back, "you've never worked a day in your life."

Darlene warned, "Now, don't you start that shit again. Taking care of you and the kids is hard work."

"Yeah, right," Warren said as he headed toward the door, "give me some cigarettes. I've got to go."

Darlene, clearly annoyed, emptied half her pack and gave Warren what was left. He stuffed it in his tee shirt pocket and walked toward the door. Before he reached the door though, the pack of cigarettes fell through the bottom of the torn pocket and fell on the floor. He stepped on them before he realized they had fallen.

"Shit," he said as he bent over to pick them up. He turned back toward Darlene holding out the flattened pack, "give me those, you take these."

"Like hell," Darlene held her cigarettes behind her back.

"Come on" Warren whined, "I can't take these squished cigarettes to work. Everyone will laugh at me."

"Well, you're not switching with me. I'm not the asshole that stepped on them," Darlene stood firm on the issue.

"Come on, man," Ron motioned to Warren that they needed to get moving.

Warren said to Darlene, "You're a bitch," and went out the door slamming it so hard that it bounced open and closed twice.

"Well, you're an asshole," Darlene smiled as she flopped onto the couch admiring her straight, round cigarettes.

Darlene's gloating was soon interrupted by the screech of her mother-in-law, "Darlene!" Then after a pause that gave Darlene just enough time to roll her eyes and stuff her cigarettes into her pocketbook, "Darlene I know you're in there!"

Darlene reluctantly exited the shed, "Yeah, what do you want?" She hollered back.

"Are you going out today? I need some smokes," Ruby stood in the screen doorway with her hands on her extra-wide hips.

"I was just going to walk to Johnson's," she hollered, "all I need is cigarettes." Johnson's was the neighborhood convenience store.

"Why don't you go the grocery store?"

"I don't need to," she really did need to, but she knew Ruby would give her a long list of things to pick up for her.

"Then you'll have to let me use your car, because I need some things," Ruby said matter-of-factly.

"Why should I let you use my car? What have you ever done for me?" Darlene walked down the path to Ruby.

"Well, Ruby looked skyward for a moment as she retrieved her mental list of wonderful deeds she did for Darlene in the past-all at amazing personal sacrifice. When she had her list in mind, which only took about five seconds, she looked down from her screen door at Darlene.

"I allowed you to raise your kids in my house, I let you live with my son ever since you found out you were pregnant with Michael. You probably got pregnant on purpose to trap my Warren --" she held up a finger as though she remembered another reason why Darlene owed her so much when Darlene interrupted.

"OK, OK," she surrendered and dug into her jeans pocket for the car keys, "If you'll just shut up, I'll let you take the car. Just don't be gone all day."

Ruby opened the screen door with her left hand and reached for the keys with her right. As Darlene held them up to her she snatched them from her and let the screen door slam as she went back into the house.

"Bitch!" Darlene said under her breath as she turned to walk back to the shed. She planned to take in all the laundry from yesterday, but when she got to the campfire area, she realized that a lot of the clothes were missing. After close scrutiny she realized only Michael and Michelle's clothes were missing. She snatched the remaining clothes up and brought them into the shed where she piled them on top of a bunch of junk that was heaped onto an old workbench at the far side of the room. Why would the kids need all of their clothes at school today? She wondered as she lit a cigarette. She didn't remember hearing them leave for school this morning, but that wasn't unusual. Darlene decided to ask them when they came home this afternoon. And they'd better have their clothes with them.

Ron dropped Warren off at 2:30 and Warren trudged up the hill yelling, "Darlene, where's my beer?" He got to the shed and noticed the beer cooler was empty. He barged through the shed door, "Darlene!" Darlene was dozing on the couch.

"Tell me again how hard you work," Warren stood over her as she sat up slowly, "Where's my beer?"

"I was waiting for Ruby to come back with the car and I must have dozed off," Darlene yawned and lit a cigarette, "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get me a beer. I've been working hard all day and I want my beer and my supper," Warren lit a cigarette, "and I'm almost out of cigarettes. I would be out already if I hadn't bummed them all day."

"Well, I'm going to have to walk to the corner," Darlene was standing outside the shed looking toward the house, "Ruby isn't back yet."

"Where the hell'd she go?" Warren followed her outside.

"How the hell do I know," Darlene began digging through her pockets looking for cash.

"You should have gone to get beer and cigarettes before she left."

"Why didn't you get them on your way home?" She was counting her money with the cigarette hanging out of her mouth.

"I don't have any money yet. How many times do I have to tell you that?" Warren sat on the empty beer keg by the fire, "Give me that money, I'll go myself." He snatched the cash from Darlene's hand and trudged down the hill.

"Get me some cigarettes, too." Darlene called after him.

Warren kept walking, "Such a lazy bitch. I have to walk to the store after working all day and she sleeps on the couch instead of getting my beer." He had almost reached the street when he heard the steady roar of the nearly absent exhaust system of his Maverick. He stood back as his mother careened into the driveway, saw him and screeched, "Get the hell out of my way, Warren!" as she gunned it up the driveway. The bald tires began spinning up the hill showering Warren in dust and dirt.

"Hey, hey!" Warren hollered as he shielded his face and eyes from the filthy onslaught. He got dirt in his mouth and spit and sputtered his way back up the driveway to where Ruby parked the car.

She was getting out when he caught up, "What is your problem? You got dirt all over me."

She closed the car door, "Well, why don't you get some new tires on your car and they won't spin like that."

"You know I can't do that right now. Maybe when I get a paycheck, he followed Ruby to the house, "can I have the keys back?"

"Sure," Ruby turned around and handed them to him, "I don't think I need to go anywhere else today."

"Where'd you go anyway," Warren asked "Darlene said she's been waiting all afternoon for you to come back so she could get to the store for my beer."

"Bullshit," Ruby opened the screen door, "I only left an hour ago." She lied hoping to start a fight between Warren and Darlene.

Warren looked confused so he ignored what she said. He watched the screen door slam behind her then he turned to get into the car. When he opened the door, the handle broke off in his hand, "Shit," he muttered as he carelessly tossed the handle over his shoulder into the yard behind him. There was a clunk as it bounced off the Pinto. He rolled the window down when he got in, which took a couple of minutes because the handle for the window had been gone for years.

While he was gone, Darlene started the fire. She was sitting on the keg tending it when the Maverick came spinning and sputtering up the driveway.

Warren trudged up the hill carrying his beer, a bag of ice and a small grocery bag. He got his beer and ice safely packed into the cooler and tossed Darlene her cigarettes.

"What else did you get?" she asked.

"We're going to have something different for once. I didn't get more Goddamn hotdogs." Warren opened the grocery bag and pulled out a box of frozen sandwich steaks.

"How the hell are we going to cook those, you idiot?" Darlene stood up in amazement.

"I just had to get something besides hot dogs, Darlene," Warren whined as he set the box down on the beer keg.

"I only buy hot dogs because it's the only thing we can afford that we can cook on a stick! Besides, we didn't have hotdogs last night, we had sausages," Darlene paced back and forth by the fire waving her stick as she spoke, "you are such a fucking moron! I can't believe you. You know we don't have a pan. How are we going to cook these?"

"Well excuse the hell out of me for trying to do something good," Warren yelled at Darlene from across the fire.

"You probably used the last of the food stamps on them too, didn't you?" Darlene picked them up and held them as she sat back down on the keg, fire stick in one hand, sandwich steaks in the other.

"No," Warren said in a condescending tone, "I used the cash."

"Cash!" Darlene stared at him, "Now we don't have any cigarette money, but we've got sandwich steaks that we can't cook."

"You can go out and collect cans tomorrow."

"And you can kiss my ass," She stared into the fire in anger.

"If you don't want to cook them I'll do it," Warren snatched the box away from Darlene and tore it open, "Shit, they're wrapped in plastic on the inside."

"Oh, yeah," Darlene sputtered sarcastically, "We don't have a knife either."

"Don't worry, I'll open it," Warren began rooting around the tall grass looking for something to cut the plastic with. Every so often he'd try tearing it with the few teeth he had left, but to no avail. After a few minutes, he exclaimed, "I found something." He reached down and picked up a rusty old hacksaw blade he found embedded in the ground.

"That thing's filthy," Darlene called to him.

"I'll clean it," Warren gave it a couple of wipes on his dirty pant leg and began sawing away at the plastic. "Damn it, it keeps slipping," He sat on the cooler and held the steaks between his knees so both hands were free to work the dull, rusty, dirty blade against the plastic. Finally, perseverance paid off and the package was open far enough to get at the processed sandwich steaks.

"What are you going to do now?" Darlene asked, "find an old frying pan in the yard somewhere?"

Warren's eyes lit up as he said, "Hey, there could be one in the yard somewhere."

"What an idiot," Darlene shook her head and put more wood on the fire. He flung the saw back on the ground and began his search for a pan.

"I got something," he announced a little while later. He picked up something made of thin metal and banged it against the shed a few times to knock the dirt off of it. He walked over to the fire holding an old mangled tray from a TV table.

"What the hell is that?" Darlene questioned.

"It's the TV table my father ate his supper on every night after work." He held it up proudly, "If it was good enough for my father, it's good enough for me."

"I'm not eating off of that rusty, filthy thing." Darlene looked disgusted.

"All the more for me then!" Warren took his sweaty tee shirt off and began cleaning the TV table with it, "you can go hungry if you don't like it."

Warren began lining up the sandwich steaks on the old TV tray, "This is going to be the best supper we've had in a month. You can't say I don't take care of my family," He looked at Darlene and asked, "Where are the kids anyway?"

Chapter 6

"I'm hungry," Michael held his stomach as he followed Michelle into an alley off Bank Street in New London, "when are we going to get an apartment?"

"Stop complaining," Michelle stopped to look at her brother, "I told you first we have to become rich drug dealers before we can get an apartment or any other luxuries."

"I'm tired," Michael sat on a garbage can—one of a few that still had a lid, "we've been walking all day carrying all these clothes."

"OK," Michelle found a can to sit on, "we can rest for a little while. I don't think the drug dealers come out until dark anyway."

It had taken most of the day to walk the fifteen miles they had covered since earlier that morning. They were too young to find themselves conventional jobs; therefore, Michelle decided that they should become drug dealers. Michael suggested that they join the circus like many television characters consider, but Michelle pointed out the impracticalities of that option. First of all, they knew there weren't any circuses currently in the area. Second, they also knew from TV that circus performers don't get paid very much and they are nomadic. Michelle and Michael yearned for a home of their own and needed to earn the money that would provide for a stable home. They knew drug dealers make a lot of money and that they were in the vicinity. They simply had to acquaint themselves with one and start earning an income.

"How are you going to tell the drug dealers from the regular people?"

"You'll see," Michelle assured her brother, "the drug dealers are all black guys with a lot of gold jewelry and nice cars. They wear sunglasses twenty four hours a day, too." She became impatient as her brother continued to look at her with a bewildered expression, "You've seen them on all those cop shows we used to watch with Grandma."

"Oh," Michael looked as though he understood, "Grandma likes cop shows."

"They'll be hanging out at the train station waiting for the big shipments from New York City," Michelle gestured toward the far end of the alley, "and that's where we're going. We're only a block away from our new jobs."

"Can we get something to eat while we wait for night time?" Michael asked.

"Sure," Michelle said, "I'll find you something to eat." Now that they were on their own, Michelle felt a slight maternal obligation toward her less intelligent older brother. At home he was an annoyance to her as she had to explain every simple procedure and process to him, but now that they had teamed up to improve their lives and had left their family behind, she felt dependent on him for companionship and lost the ability to take him completely for granted.

Michael followed her to the end of the alley and across Bank Street to another alley. The alley ended in a parking lot behind a restaurant where Michelle went directly to an open dumpster around which seagulls were swarming and diving at the contents. She successfully shooed them away with little difficulty and peered into the dumpster.

"Here hold my clothes," She handed Michael her balled and knotted tangle of jeans and tee shirts to hold along with his own. Then she boosted herself up and over the top of the green dinner wagon, "I should be making you do this. You'll do it next time."

"Don't step on anything good, Michael called in after her. Just then seeing a young man in a dirty white apron hurriedly carrying a box toward the dumpster, Michael walked away and tried to look casual. He tossed the box of garbage in without looking and quickly returned to the back door of the restaurant.

Michael eagerly ran back over to the dumpster and peered in to see Michelle covered in table scraps, pulling lettuce and jumbo shrimp shells out of her hair.

"Why didn't you tell me someone was coming?" She threw the wilted lettuce leaves at Michael who ducked to avoid them.

"I didn't see him until he was already here. Stop playing with your hair. Did you find anything good?"

"Wait a minute I'm looking," Michelle renewed her search, "Yeah, take this."

"Cool, a hamburger," Michael eagerly snatched it. He gave it an inspection, "Hey, he said, "there's big bites taken out of it."

"What do you want for free? Service on a silver platter?" Michelle kept looking.

"Yeah, you're right," he hesitated at first then he gulped every bit of it.

Michelle found some chunks of steak to gnaw on and then scraped them both up a few fries. She climbed out of the dumpster, took her clothes from Michael and they walked to the river and sat on the pier to wait for the night. They listened to the seagulls crying and the water lapping against the pier. Boats were beginning to come up the river for the night. A few people strolled the piers, some walking dogs. The smell of the river and the boat exhaust mingled with the luxurious aromas wafting from the nearby restaurants.

Michael was happy, but tired, "I think I'm going to like being on our own. That supper was the best food I've had in a long time."

"Yeah," Michelle agreed, "we don't ever have to eat hot dogs again."

The air began to cool and streetlights gradually came on as the activity on the river slowed.

"Let's go over to the train station now. It's starting to get dark," Michelle got up and picked up her bundle of clothes.

Michael got up to follow her, "I wonder if Mom and Dad noticed we're gone yet."

"Probably," Michelle led Michael toward the train station, "but they don't care. I bet they won't even look for us."

"Yeah," Michael trudged along behind his sister, "they probably ate all the hotdogs and drank most of the beer by now."

"Yeah," Michelle cheered up, "they're happy and pretty soon we will be too."

"Do you really think they're happy?" Michael asked with much uncertainty.

Michelle said, "Yeah, they must be. They're doing what they want to do, aren't they?"

"I guess."

They entered the train station looking forward to their new career as rich drug dealers and having a real apartment. There were a few people waiting around, but they didn't fit Michelle's drug dealer description. They decided to find a seat and wait for the next train to come in.

Eventually a train arrived and the weary looking passengers began to disembark. Michael and Michelle excitedly jumped out of their seats and ran to the door where the passengers entered the train station. A young black man got off the train and the two siblings accosted him as he entered the station. He looked surprised and backed off when the kids eagerly asked him, "Are you a drug dealer? Can we have a job? We want to be rich drug dealers too!"

"What the hell are you talking about? The man hurried to escape, "I think you two have already done too many drugs," he said as he rushed away into the station.

Michael and Michelle were disappointed, "I guess he doesn't need any help," Michael said with a shrug.

"Maybe he wasn't a drug dealer. He didn't have sunglasses on, or very much gold jewelry," Michelle reasoned and then grabbed Michael's arm, "There's another one!"

Another young black man was getting off the train. Once again, they attacked the man, "Can we have a job? We want to be rich drug dealers too!"

"Is this a joke?" The man looked at the two in confusion, "Is there a hidden camera around here?" He began poking at Michelle's bundle of clothes until she pulled them away.

"Get away from me you couple of freaks!" He walked toward the counter.

The passengers were all off the train and the train was getting ready to pull away from the station.

Michael stood with his mouth open looking at a frustrated Michelle, "he called us freaks."

"Yeah," she retorted sarcastically, "like that was a first for you."

Tired and disappointed, they sat back down and Michelle tried to figure out what to do next, "This is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I can't believe there were no drug dealers on that train. I guess we'll have to find one on the street."

"Oh, no," Michael whined, "my feet are tired. Can't we sleep here and go looking for drug dealers in the morning?"

"They aren't out on the street in the morning, you idiot." Michelle grabbed her bundle of clothes and stood up, "come on, we have to go."

Just then a cop came up behind Michelle, "Do you kids have business here? An employee here says you two were harassing the passengers coming into the station."

"We're looking for someone," Michelle answered.

"A passenger complained to the clerk that you called him a drug dealer," the tall cop looked annoyed as though he were wasting his time and had better things to do.

"Yeah, I made a mistake," Michelle looked up at the young blonde cop.

"Hey," Michael looked like he had a great idea, "you probably know lots of drug dealers, don't you?"

"Too many," said the cop shifting his gaze to Michael.

"Well," Michael was excited, "could you bring us to one," Michelle made noises and glared at Michael so he would shut up, but he didn't notice, "we're trying to find a rich drug dealer, so he can show us how to become one too."

"Do your parents know you're here? Asked the cop incredulously, "do you even have parents?"

"Of course we do," Michelle was insulted, "and no they don't know where we are and we like it that way."

"When did you leave home?" The cop knew it wasn't very long ago— They were too stupid to survive on their own.

"What are your names? I'd better call your parents. I'm sure they're worried about you."

"They probably haven't even noticed we're gone yet," Michelle was almost correct, "we don't have a phone anyway."

"Yeah," the cop was getting irritated, "I've heard that story before from you runaways."

"Runaways!" Michael's mouth dropped open in surprise, "we aren't runaways. We were just trying to start a new career and get an apartment of our own."

"Yeah," Michelle agreed, "do runaways have their own apartment?"

"Do you?" the cop was tired of arguing, "give me your number or I'll throw you in jail."

"Jail!" they both said.

"I can't leave you out on the street on your own to harass innocent citizens."

Michelle and Michael looked at each other and Michelle said, "I can give you my grandmother's number. She has a phone."

The cop took the name and number from Michelle and called Ruby.

"Hello," the cop could hear the television blaring in the background when Ruby picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Ruby Kennedy, this is Officer Johnson of the New London police department. I have your two kids here with me. You might have been wondering where they were."

"No you don't," Ruby argued, "one of my kids is scrubbing my floor here and the other one is drunk in the shed."

"Your grandchildren are here," the officer corrected himself.

"My grandchildren!" Ruby said, "How did they get to New London? What the hell are they doing there? Hold on a minute," Ruby put the phone on the couch and went to the screen door, "Warren!" she screeched louder than usual.

Officer Johnson held the phone away from his ear. The screech was as loud as if she had yelled into the phone.

Michelle and Michael also heard Ruby, "That's our dad," Michelle explained to the officer who had a pained and annoyed look on his face.

"Oh," he said in disgust, "so he must be the one who is drunk in the shed."

"Yeah, that's him," said Michael, "he probably won't hear Grandma calling."

"But Mom will," added Michelle, "she's probably out in the yard taking care of the fire."

"Taking care of the what?" Officer Johnson couldn't believe what he was hearing, "did you say fire?"

"Yeah," Michelle said, "that's how she cooks our supper every night."

"Oh," the officer assumed she was talking about an outdoor grill, "yeah, it's that time of year."

Michael and Michelle gave each other a confused look. They never heard of a season for having to live in the back yard and cook over a campfire.

"Darlene!" Even though the cop was holding the phone down at his side, the three of them clearly heard Ruby screeching for her daughter-in-law.

"That your mother?" Officer Johnson asked.

The kids nodded.

They couldn't hear Darlene answer, but knew that she must have because Ruby was yelling to her that she had a phone call.

"Get your ass down here," Ruby bellowed. Ed McMann could be trying to call me right now and you're tying up my phone line."

Darlene picked up the phone, "Hello?" she said nervously because she very rarely got phone calls.

"Hello, Mrs. Kennedy. This is Officer Johnson with the New London Police department. I have your two kids here with me and I need you to come down and pick them up."

"Is that where they went off to?" Darlene was aggravated, "I'll come get them all right. They better have all those clothes they took out of the yard too."

"We're at the train station right now, but I'm going to take them to the police station. Just check at the front desk when you get there."

"I can't believe how ungrateful my kids are," Darlene complained to the phone. Ruby turned up the volume on the TV and Alice stopped scrubbing to hear what Darlene was saying, "I keep their clothes clean and feed them a hot meal every day and this is the thanks I get. Now I have to drive all the way to New London to pick them up. Can't you put them on the bus?"

"No, ma'am,' the officer looked at the kids with pity, "I need a parent to come down and pick them up personally or I have to get the state involved."

"OK," Darlene said, "I'll be down there to personally pick them up—and they better have those clothes with them."

Officer Johnson hung up the phone and motioned for the kids to follow him. He opened the back door of the police car for them to enter then closed it behind them. He got into the driver's seat and said, "I hope this is the only time you sit in the back seat of a police car."

"Why," smiled Michael, "it's kind of cool in here."

Michelle rolled her eyes, "He means don't get in trouble, idiot."

Office Johnson shook his head as he drove a few blocks over to the police station. He escorted them into the building and showed them where to sit to wait for Darlene. "Now, stay out of trouble. Finish school and don't run away from home again," Although he didn't blame them from doing so after speaking with two of their relatives.

"OK," Michael said as they watched Officer Johnson leave the building.

"What are we going to tell Mom when she gets here? Michael asked.

"I don't know. I'll think of something," Michelle didn't want to think about that then. She was busy looking around the police station, "you know what?" she asked Michael.

"What?" Michael asked reluctantly. He could tell by the expression on Michelle's face that she had another idea.

"I bet these cops know where all the drug dealers hang out around here. I could ask them. Then we can go straight to them without having to hang out on the street all night looking for one."

"Yeah, but Officer Johnson told us not to get in trouble again. I don't want to go to jail," Michael looked worried.

"You won't go to jail," Michelle started to get up, "and so what if we do. We'll get three meals a day and get to sleep in a bed. What's so bad about that?"

"I guess it doesn't sound too bad."

Michelle asked the cop who was working at the desk closest to them, "you must know all the drug dealers around here, huh?"

"Oh, yeah," he looked up from his work, "I know them all."

Michelle thought she hit the information jackpot, "Can you tell me who they are and where they hang out?"

"Sure," the officer looked at the wide-eyed teenager, "they're the scum of the earth and they hang out all over the place."

The officer's sarcasm was lost on Michelle, "Can't you give me more exact things like their names and addresses?"

"It's really not a good idea asking a cop for this information. You do know that buying and selling narcotics on the street is illegal?"

"Of course I do," Michelle sounded insulted.

"You can find all the drug dealers you want up at the Montville prison. There's plenty of their customers up there, too."

"So, they can keep their business running even though they're in jail?" Michelle looked encouraged.

"No, they don't, the officer lied, "with any luck, a little time in jail will discourage them from being involved in drugs and they'll straighten themselves out."

"Oh," Michelle returned to the bench and sat next to Michael again.

"Did you find anything out?" Michael wanted to know.

"No," Michelle sighed.

After a while the door of the police station swung open and Darlene came storming in, walking right past her kids to the desk. Her black hair, tangled and matted from gathering and stacking wood all day, clung to the shoulders of her dingy white pocket tee shirt that smelled of body odor and smoke, and dirt clung to the seat of her jeans.

The cop asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for my two ungrateful kids," she lit a cigarette she took out of the pocket of her tee shirt to attempt to mask the smell of alcohol on her breath.

"Please don't smoke in here, ma'am," the cop looked toward the bench, "are those your kids?"

She turned and saw Michael and Michelle who were getting up and getting their clothes, "All of those clothes better be there. I just washed all of those," she pointed at them with her cigarette between her fingers.

"Ma'am," said the officer with a little more intensity, "I said there's no smoking in here."

"We're leaving, we're leaving," she hustled the kids toward the door.

The cop sat back down and shook his head as they left the building.

When they got outside Darlene said, "What the hell do you two think you're doing?"

"We just wanted to come down here and try to get an apartment," Michelle didn't know what else to say to her mother.

"How were you planning to do that? You aren't old enough to get jobs. You know you have to pay rent for an apartment," Darlene explained as she smoked her cigarette.

"I don't know," Michelle looked at the ground, angry that her plan had been ruined by that cop and her mother. Now she would have to start planning all over again.

"Me either," Michael copied his sister's actions and also looked at the ground.

"So," Darlene tapped her foot and crossed her arms. "You thought you could just take your clean clothes off the bushes and go off on your own?"

The kids continued to look at the ground, Michelle frustrated and resentful and Michael genuinely ashamed.

"I give you a hot meal every day. You have a roof over your head at night and clean clothes to wear. What more do you want?"

"A bed," Michael suggested sheepishly.

"You kids are so spoiled, nothing's ever good enough for you. No matter what you have, you always want more."

"We used to have a bed when we lived in Grandma's house," Michael argued.

"So," Darlene motioned for the kids to follow her to the next block where the car was parked, " you thought you could get an apartment all by yourselves and afford a bed? She opened the car door and waved them into the back seat. Michael got in first, brushing beer cans and cigarette butts onto the floor so he could sit down, "Your father can't even get us an apartment, but you thought you two kids could do it?"

"Well," Michelle spoke up, "we wanted to try. We're the only family in town, maybe anywhere that lives in a shed. Everyone else manages to have a house or apartment or a trailer—or something!"

"Don't you back-talk me, little girl," Darlene pointed at Michelle as she stepped and slipped all over the beer cans that Michael had pushed onto the floor of the car," your father and I work hard to take care of the two of you."

Michelle was smart enough to know not to return any more remarks to her mother or it would escalate into a huge fight that she would never win. Michael was too dumb to even consider what another remark would be. He was already looking out the window waiting for his mother to drive them home to their grandmother's backyard.

Chapter 7

"Darlene!" Warren fell out of the shed and lay on the ground, "Get me another beer." He lay there a few more minutes with growing annoyance as his call continued to go unanswered. He pulled himself up to his feet without bothering to brush the dirt off the front of his tee shirt and jeans.

"Darlene!" he yelled again even though he finally realized she wasn't home. He stumbled to the cooler and got himself another beer, "I work all day long to make a living for my wife and kids and I have to get my own beer. I get no respect around here. I deserve respect and I get shit around here." He felt his shirt pocket and realized he was out of cigarettes. He moaned and got off the cooler and stumbled down the path toward the house, "Ma," he whined at the back door.

After a few minutes Ruby came to the door. "What took you so long, "Warren whined, "I'm dying for a cigarette. Can I have one of yours until Darlene gets back?"

"She isn't back yet?" Ruby leaned out the door handing Warren a cigarette, "she left hours ago, " she exaggerated, "why didn't you go with her? Didn't she tell you she was leaving?"

"Where did she go?" Warren asked as he blew out smoke.

"I can't believe the little witch didn't tell you," Ruby shook her head in false disgust as she used her knowledge as a convenient way to cause trouble in her son's marriage, "You have a right to know, since you're the father of those kids. She has no right to take matters into her own hands without your consent."

"Are you going to tell me where she went or not?" Warren was losing patience.

"Some New London cop called and said he had your kids at the police station." She took a gloating drag off her own cigarette. Happy to be able to give Warren bad news, she greedily waited for his reaction.

"What!" Warren staggered as he spoke, "why were my kids at the cop station in New London?"

"I don't know, but Darlene went to pick them up."

"What time did she leave?"

"Let me see," Ruby thought for a minute, "what show did that phone call interrupt? I guess it was around eight o'clock."

"What time is it now?"

"It's five after nine and I'm missing Three's Company," Ruby, satisfied that she upset Warren, chuckled to herself and disappeared from the doorway leaving Warren standing outside trying to figure out how long Darlene had been gone and how long a round-trip drive to New London would take. While he was still figuring, he heard the Maverick in the distance. It sounded even louder than usual. He hadn't finished his cigarette yet and was still drinking his beer when the Maverick came spinning up the driveway leaving its usual cloud of dust and smoke in its wake.

Darlene got out and left the door open for the kids to exit as soon as they were finished slipping and crunching over all the beer cans on the floor.

"Where you been?" Warren began to interrogate Darlene until he heard the crunching of the beer cans, "Hey, don't dent those cans, I won't get the deposit back!"

"If you weren't drunk and passed out when I left, you would know," Darlene walked past him toward the shed.

Warren followed along with the kids behind him, "I wasn't passed out. I was taking a nap after my long day at work. I woke up and you were gone."

"Well," Darlene was already working on lighting the fire that had died in her absence, "excuse me, your highness, but the New London cops called and had your kids down there waiting to be picked up."

"What?" Warren looked at the kids who had just come out of the shed after putting their clothes away," You don't go to school in New London. What were you doing there? Did you get on the wrong school bus or something? Jesus Christ, school is almost over for the summer and you still don't know what bus to get on?"

"No," Darlene answered for them, "they were hunting for their own apartment and the cops found them wandering around and picked them up."

"Why would you want to do something like that for?" Warren was annoyed. He threw his empty beer can on the ground and got a fresh one out of the cooler, "what's wrong with the home you've got. You have a roof over your head, clean clothes, and a hot meal every day."

"That's what I told them," Darlene interjected.

"Why would you want to leave your family?" Warren was hurt, "I work hard every day to give you a good life and your mother takes care of you. Why would you leave us without saying a word?"

Michael looked guilty and ashamed as he stared at the growing fire in the fireplace, "We just wanted a place of our own with maybe a bed in it," he answered timidly.

"Yeah," Michelle agreed without the shame and timidity of her brother, "we just wanted a real home like when we lived in Grandma's house."

"Oh," Warren was insulted," so I don't provide you with a fancy enough house, do I?" He paced back and forth between the kids and the fire," you kids are just ungrateful, that's all. I been doing the best I can. You kids just got spoiled living at your Grandma's. There's a lot of kids in the world today that have a lot less than you two. You want a house with a bed, huh? I suppose you greedy kids were probably planning on two beds, huh-one for each of you? Weren't you?"

Michael looked at the ground and nodded while Michelle glared defiantly at her drunk and filthy father.

"You should be ashamed of your greed and selfishness," Warren turned toward Darlene, "what do you think their punishment should be, Darlene? Maybe we should take some of these luxuries away to show them just how much they have here. What do you think?"

Darlene was tired of listening to her husband's ridiculous ranting and wanted Warren to shut up without her having to tell him so. She knew from experience that telling him to shut up would cause him to direct a fresh angry tirade toward her that would include even more pacing and bitching than she was already enduring. Therefore, she responded to Warren's lecturing by shrugging her shoulders and vigorously poking at the fire.

"OK," Warren looked like he got a good idea, "Yeah, OK," he decided, "no hotdogs for either one of you for a week."

The kids just looked at each other and ran down the hill laughing.

"No respect," Warren turned back to Darlene, "now they'll see how good they've got it when they see me eating their hotdogs."

Chapter 8

"Alice!" Ruby screeched from her seat on the couch.

Alice came running down the stairs where she was doing laundry in the bathtub. She was drying her hands on her apron, "Yeah, Ma."

"It's supper time, you know. I'm hungry," Ruby's attention never left the TV as she spoke. She lit a cigarette and waited for her supper, "Make a couple of boxes of that macaroni and cheese and get me a beer while you're waiting for the water to boil."

Alice brought Ruby her beer and went back to the kitchen. She looked out the window over the sink and saw her brother staggering down the path. She located her can of spray deodorizer, but put it back when she realized he was going to the car and not coming to the house. She watched him almost fall into the car as he leaned into the back seat obviously searching for something. After a few minutes of groping with one arm while holding himself up with the other as he leaned through the window, he emerged with a grocery bag with contents Alice couldn't distinguish through the white plastic. Alice lost interest as her water for the macaroni began to boil and she returned her attention to making supper.

"Alice!" Ruby called, "come here and see this."

Alice jumped and ran to the living room because whenever Ruby called her to look at something on TV, the scene would change by the time she got to the room.

"Look," Ruby pointed at the TV, "look at those people laying on the beach in Mexico. Wouldn't that be a nice place to go? I bet they have little Mexican boys bring you drinks all day on the beach."

Disappointed, Alice asked, "Why do you have to be so mean to me, Ma?"

"Mean to you!" Ruby screeched making Alice flinch," what are you talking about?"

"You keep making me look at places I'll never be able to go to, that's what."

"I only show you those places, hoping that maybe one will make you want to leave the house and go somewhere. I'm only trying to help."

"Well, stop helping me," Alice went back to the kitchen

Ruby laughed as she reached for her can of beer. If she could get Alice to leave the house, she would never have to get off the couch again. Alice could run all the errands and do the shopping along with all the housework. Ruby would really have it made then. She dreamed about it as she sipped her beer and waited for the commercial break to end.

Alice returned to the kitchen to find the macaroni water rapidly boiling. She dumped the macaroni into the pan and stirred it angrily. She was feeling trapped since Warren and Darlene moved into the shed. Ruby had several people to boss around when the whole family lived in the house. Now there was only Alice left for her to boss around and torment.

Once again Alice found herself gazing out the kitchen window into the moonlit back yard. She was repulsed by the junk and garbage strewn about the place, but there was nothing she could do about it. While she was trapped inside, at least she could keep the inside of the house clean. She could barely see Warren and Darlene through the trees and brush that led to the shed. If her moron brother could leave the house, why couldn't she? She slowly turned her head to look at the back door, but she began to tremble and looked away. Not today, she decided.

Chapter 9

Michael and Michelle stopped running when they got to the street, but they didn't stop laughing.

"Dad doesn't know when he punished us, he helped us out!" Michael laughed.

"Yeah," Michelle agreed, "that was no punishment, that was a favor!"

"We know where to get a good meal now," Michael stopped laughing to think, "are there any restaurants near here?"

They both laughed again and headed for the main road.

"I have a new plan to become rich drug dealers," Michelle announced, "it will take too long to find one in New London so we'll get the name of one from someone up here."

"How?" Michael was perplexed.

"We talk to some of the drug dealers at school and get them to tell us where they get the drugs from. The dealers at school probably are working for the rich drug dealers."

"Do you think so?" Michael wasn't convinced.

"Yes," Michelle explained, "where do you think they get their drugs from?"

"Oh," Michael was starting to understand, "I don't know, I never thought about it."

"Of course you didn't," Michelle agreed, "because you're a dumbass."

"Well, that's what Dad says," Michael agreed.

"Yeah, because it's true," Michelle teased.

"Eat me!" Michael was insulted.

"I can't," Michelle replied, "Dad said no more hotdogs for me this week."

"You're sick. Well, then I guess I can't help you become a rich drug dealer either!"

"I don't need your help, but you can help if you want too."

Michael looked at his sister, "I'll think about it."

"Good," Michelle walked ahead of her brother, "we'll start first thing in the morning at school. Now, let's find us something to eat."

Chapter 10

"Where did those kids go now?" Warren sat on the cooler, "maybe I should have made them stay in the yard for a week."

"How do I know," Darlene was adding wood to the fire, "I've been busy with this fire. I can't do everything at once."

"Yeah, yeah," Warren took a swig of his beer, "I gotta do everything around here. Work all day long, keep an eye on the kids."

"Oh yeah, Warren," Darlene raised her voice, "Your sorry ass has to do everything around here. Like get home from work and order me around, get drunk, pass out, wake up and order me around some more. You've got it really rough."

"You forgot to mention getting up at the crack of dawn and going to work for eight hours, come home and have all your family disrespect you," He got up from the cooler, burped, threw his empty beer can down and got a fresh one.

"Oh yeah," Darlene added, "I forgot to mention getting drunk and getting us thrown out of the house we've lived in for the last sixteen years. That was a really good job. You couldn't even put your dick back into your pants first before you passed out."

"OK, OK," Warren interrupted, "that's enough of that. Why don't you go see where the kids are. They might run away again, you know."

"Yeah, well next time you can drive down to New London in that piece of shit and pick them up," Darlene got off her beer keg seat and stood over Warren, "get me another beer, will ya?"

"Jesus Christ," Warren got off the cooler with great effort, "why didn't you get one a minute ago when I was getting myself one?"

"I didn't need one then," she motioned to Warren to get up and get moving.

He handed her a beer and sat back down, "Give me a cigarette," he took the cigarette she held out to him, "By the way, that's a good car. It's not a piece of shit."

"I guess you didn't notice the whole exhaust system is gone now," she lit a cigarette of her own and sat back on the empty keg with her beer in one hand, cigarette in the other, "I had to park two blocks away from the police station to pick the kids up so the cops wouldn't notice the noise and tow it." She took a drag off her cigarette, a swig of her beer, then blew out the smoke, "It still had part of the exhaust system on until we were coming home and the last pipe started dragging on Route 32. I had to pull over and make Michael crawl his dumb ass under the car and yank it off the rest of the way."

"That's bullshit!" Warren hollered, "he would have burned his fucking fingers off. You're saying he climbed under the car and pulled a hot pipe off the car, but he couldn't even get my beer out of the fire the other night?"

"He didn't use his bare hand, you asshole. There was a couple of rags in the back seat he used."

Warren jumped up, "What kind of rags?"

"I don't know," Darlene looked puzzled at Warren's alarm, " a couple of tee shirts I think."

"Oh, no," Warren got a pained look on his face.

"What are you, constipated or something?" Darlene couldn't understand his reaction.

"Those weren't rags, you shit-for-brains!" Warren began pacing in front of the fire, "those were my lucky tee shirts. I take them with me when I buy my lottery tickets."

"Well," Darlene deduced, "they aren't working-we haven't won anything. Besides it was lucky we had them or we would have had to leave the car. So, I guess they are lucky shirts."

"Did you put them back in the car?"

"No, they were greasy, so Michael left them on the side of the road with the pipe."

"Thanks a lot, Darlene," Warren returned to his seat, "now someone else is going to take them home and be lucky."

"The lucky bastards!" Darlene was sarcastic as she drank her beer, "you're lucky you got a job because you need to buy an exhaust system for that car."

"What!" Warren yelled, "everyone's spending my paycheck for me. I'm the one working my ass off going to work, but everybody else wants to spend my check."

"What are you talking about?"

"You want me to buy an exhaust system and Ma wants me to buy tires."

"Well, what were you planning to spend it on?"

"A new cooler, some beer and cigarettes." Warren said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, is that so?" Darlene was annoyed, "and I don't suppose you planned on setting any of it aside for an apartment for us to live in?"

"What the hell for?" Warren was defensive, "First the kids and now you! I can't understand why you hate living here. You have a roof over your head. What more could you want? Besides, pretty soon Ma will let us move back into the house. She won't make us live out here forever."

"You really think she's going to let us back in the house? She loves seeing us suffer out here," Darlene stood up and stood over her husband, "I want to be able to sleep in a bed and cook in a kitchen with a stove and a refrigerator. I'd like to be able to sit on a couch or a chair and eat a meal that doesn't need to be cooked on a stick! More than all that, though, I want a bathroom!"

"I can't believe how thankless you are to me! I'm talking about all three of you. I work hard every day and provide you with a roof over your head, clothes to wear, food to eat and all you can do is complain about not having more," Warren began staggering around the campfire with his beer in his hand mimicking is wife, "I want a bed, I want a table and a couch. I'm tired of cooking on a stick," He stopped mimicking and pointed at Darlene as he spoke in an all-knowing manner, "you know what would happened if you had all those things? You'd start complaining again. Only then you'd want even fancier unnecessary stuff. You'd whine, 'I want more Warren' Pretty soon you'd want a phone and a dishwasher, a clothes washer, just like all those fancy office people at work."

Darlene was shaking her head.

"I'm telling you, Darlene, the more you have, the more you want. We have everything we need here so you should be happy."

"But when winter comes, we won't have everything we need here," Darlene argued, "that shed doesn't have heat or a stove in it. Even if it did have a stove, we won't have enough firewood for the winter. What are we going to do then?"

"You can start collecting wood to store up for winter instead of only collecting what you need for the day. I'll figure some way to heat the shed. How do you think people lived before stoves were invented?" Warren challenged.

"They were miserable, dumbass! That's why they invented stoves and plumbing and electricity," Darlene lit a cigarette in exasperation. Just then Michael and Michelle appeared on the path.

"Where the hell have you two been?" Warren demanded, "I was just going to send your mother out to look for you. We don't want you getting lost again and ending up even further away. We don't want to have to go to Groton or Cape Cod or somewheres to pick you up."

Darlene looked at Warren like she couldn't believe how stupid he was while the kids frowned and took their seats at the fire.

"I'm going to be putting the fire out early from now on," Darlene announced to the kids, "your father just told me how happy we should all be about living here in this shed with no heat, plumbing, or lights. He also says we'll be staying here for the winter too."

Michael and Michelle's mouths dropped open in astonishment at the idea that they would be spending the winter in the shed.

"We can't live here in the winter," Michelle angrily exclaimed to her father, "we'll freeze to death!"

"Michael and me are going to build a stove or a fireplace inside the shed to use in the winter. You and your mother can clear a spot for it."

"Yeah," Darlene added, "we'll use all the junk we clear out for firewood."

"Shut up and stop being a smartass," Warren looked at Darlene, "I'm making important plans here."

"Why don't we just get an apartment for the winter?" Michelle asked, "Why can't we be like normal people?"

"Oh," Warren threw up his hands, "there you go with the whining and complaining again. There is nothing wrong with where we're living and we don't need to go broke paying rent somewhere."

"There's everything wrong with where we live, Dad. Why do you think we ran away?" Michelle ran into the shed and slammed the door.

"Just like a woman," Warren shook his had, "always crying and slamming doors." He called to Michelle inside the shed, "I know why you ran away. Because you're a couple of spoiled ungrateful brats, that's why," He looked at Michael who was staring at the ground, "isn't that right?" He asked his son in a challenging tone. When Michael slightly raised his eyes toward his father, then looked back at the ground, Warren repeated, "Isn't that right?" and kicked some dirt at Michael's feet. Michael looked angry and hurt and went into the shed with his sister.

Warren called after him, "Don't you walk away from me! I asked you a question," getting no response from Michael, he turned to Darlene, "give me a cigarette." She tossed him one and as he lit it he said, "see what I've been saying? I get no respect around here."

Darlene began putting the fire out by letting it burn down and stirring the ashes, "I better put out the fire early from now on so I can conserve wood."

"Yeah, you better," Warren looked as though a great idea occurred to him, "hey, now all I have to do is piss you off so you'll go in the shed too an I'll have all the beer to myself."

Darlene took the final swig off the can she had been drinking and set the empty can down next to her, "Too late. I just finished the last can and you're the moron who gave it to me."

Chapter 11

"Come in, Ron," Darlene called after his knocking on the shed door woke her up. She was getting used to being awakened by Ron's relentless knocking every morning. Ron threw the door open and released sunlight into the shed like a swarm of bees.

"Jesus Christ," Darlene shaded her eyes with one hand as she looked up from her bed on the floor and fumbled in her shirt pocket for a cigarette.

"Turn off the light," Warren mumbled from his place on the couch.

"What's going on? What time is it?" Michelle moaned from her place on the floor near her brother who still slept soundly.

"Shit," Darlene noticed the kids were still there, "you two are late for school. You better get going."

"It's Friday!" Ron exclaimed with his mostly toothless smile, "Today's payday."

Warren and Darlene suddenly became awake and alert when they heard that.

Darlene jumped up and reached down to smack Warren on the top of his head with the back of her hand, "Get up, Warren," He was already trying to move off of the couch, "I'm going, I'm going," he mumbled.

Darlene was so excited about Warren getting a paycheck that she took two cigarettes out of her pack and gave him what was left.

"Now I'm getting some respect," Warren walked a cocky stagger to the door in his filthy jeans and smelly rumpled tee shirt, his hair sticking out in every direction, matching his wild beard.

As Ron and Warren left the shed, Warren stopped by the corner of the shed to take a leak. Then he lit a cigarette and the two men continued toward Ron's car. Ron had an '85 Oldsmobile Cutlass, which was the most luxurious car Warren had ever been in. There was barely any rust on it at all—just a little below the molding on the passenger's side. He got in the passenger seat and hung his elbow out of the open window.

Alice watched from the kitchen window. She also thought Ron had a nice car. Except for the cars she'd seen on TV, it was the nicest car she'd ever seen. She was making coffee a few minutes later when she saw Michelle dragging Michael out of the shed to go to school. She admired the kids' bravery to run away from home like they did. Too bad they got caught and had to come back. Alice helped raise the kids since they were born and was sorry they had to live in a shed because of her loser brother. Michelle was always independent, but Michael had allowed his aunt to baby him. She felt lonely without the kids in the house.

"Alice, where's my coffee?" Ruby called from the couch.

Alice felt the familiar dread when she heard Ruby call her name. It was a reflex reaction-the feeling that her stomach had dropped into her pelvis. Alice was getting tired of feeling dreadful.

"Coming Ma," she grabbed a cup of coffee and scurried into the living room.

As she set the cup on Ruby's end table there was a knock on the front door.

"Get that, will you?" Ruby said and looked at Alice in amusement as she stood gaping at the door, "Oh yeah. I forgot you won't go near the door." Ruby started to heave herself up off the couch when there were more knocks on the door, " Jesus Christ!" Ruby hollered, "I haven't even had my first coffee yet."

In this amount of time, Alice had edged toward the door and with her hands shaking and heart pounding. When she had managed to get less than a foot from the door, she reached out her trembling hand to turn the knob and stopped.

"Well," Ruby screeched, "are you going to open it or are you going to get the hell out of my way?"

Alice pulled her hand away from the knob and scurried back to the kitchen.

Ruby yanked the rotting peeling front door open to find the new neighbor, Linda Madison, standing on the step. Unlike the back door, the front door still had a cement step leading up to it. The screen door had been missing for years though. All that was left were the two rusty mangled hinges from which a door used to hang before it was violently torn from the house during a windstorm. The door slammed repeatedly against the house until it finally was ripped from the hinges while Ruby, Darlene, and Warren all argued over who would go out and secure it to the house.

"Oh," Ruby looked annoyed, "what do you want?"

"Well, I didn't come over for coffee," Linda replied, "I just wanted to let you know that the workmen will be starting to put up my new stockade fence today. So, if you see anyone near your yard, that's who it will be."

"Well," Ruby put her hands on her oversized hips, "I hope they don't make too much noise."

"Don't you have volume control on your TV?"

"I hope it turns up loud enough!"

"You seem like a troublemaker to me," Linda pointed at Ruby as she spoke, "don't cause any trouble or give my workmen a hard time."

"Oh, yeah," Ruby stuck out her many chins, put her hands on her hips, and stood with her fat legs apart trying to appear intimidating, "you can't tell me what to do in my own yard."

"Well," Linda nodded at Ruby, "I try to be a good neighbor and this is what I get."

"A good neighbor!" Ruby's voice was elevated to screeching level, "you came over here and told us the first thing you were going to do was put up a high fence because you couldn't stand the sight of us and our yard."

"Me and the rest of the world!"

"You're new here. You don't know what you're talking about."

Linda started to walk away, "just don't keep the workmen from doing their jobs."

"As long as they keep the noise down and don't leave a mess in my yard!"

"Anything could only be an improvement!" Linda was about twenty feet from the house, just stepping onto the sidewalk that ran along the front.

"Dyke!" Ruby muttered under her breath.

Linda stopped in her tracks, "What did you call me?" She slowly turned back toward Ruby, her dark eyes even darker with anger.

Ruby didn't think Linda would hear her and was surprised and unable to think of anything to say as she stood in the doorway with her mouth hanging just like very other part of her body, "Nothing, I didn't say anything." She said when she finally found her voice.

Linda was still coming toward her, "Don't you ever call me that again, you fat hag! Just because I prefer to live alone doesn't make me a lesbian!"

Ruby slammed the door closed and locked it.

"I could say the same about you!" Linda yelled through the closed door. Then she walked away again.

"Wow," Ruby sat down in her spot on the couch to catch her breath, "Crazy dyke!" After a minute she lit a cigarette and called Alice.

"My coffee's cold now. Heat it up, will you?" She sat back and smoked and picked up the TV guide to plan her day.

Alice ran to the kitchen with Ruby's cold coffee and returned with a hot cup, "Ma," she said as she set the cup on the end table. "Did you see that I almost opened the door by myself?" She looked expectantly at her mother, hoping for a glimmer of support. Her hope was as wasted as Warren's hope that Ruby would allow him to live in her house again.

"Yeah," Ruby didn't look away from the TV guide, "What were you trying to prove, anyway?"

"Nothing," Alice deflated from her mother's reaction, "Why do you think I was trying to prove anything? I was just trying to do something that I haven't been able to do. I was trying to make myself better."

Ruby tossed the TV guide onto the coffee table, picked up her coffee cup and put her feet up on the coffee table, "Let me tell you something, girly. You're about as good as you'll ever get, so I wouldn't bother wasting your time trying to be better."

"How do you know?" Alice was clearly hurt.

"Because I'm your mother and that's what I say. I know you better than anyone else."

"You could try to help me, you know. That's what mothers are for."

"You are watching too much Oprah! From now on, I'm not going to watch that show," Ruby said emphatically, "that's the only help you'll get from me. I raised you, what more do you want?"

Disappointed, Alice sulkily returned to the kitchen to gaze out the window. She could see Darlene moving around the campfire area, but because of the overgrowth she couldn't see exactly what she was doing. A few minutes later Darlene appeared on the path with several plastic bags that the ice for the cooler had come in stuffed with empty beer cans. Alice surmised that Darlene was planning to redeem her returnables. She tossed them into the back seat spilling a few from the bags. When she tried to start the Maverick, the engine played dead. "Come on!" Darlene pounded on the steering wheel in frustration and lit the cigarette she had been dangling from her lips since before she picked up all the can-filled bags. She tried again but the engine stubbornly wouldn't start. She pounded the wheel again, got out of the car and looked all around the yard.

She walked through the tall grass in the yard looking down at the ground as though searching for something. Finally, she picked something up from the other side of the Duster. It was a dirty old umbrella stroller matted with old brown and new green grass. She brushed it off and pulling the grass off of it and tried to unfold it. The hinges were rusty so she held one end with her hand and tried to pry it open with her foot without success. She then wedged one end of the stroller under the bumper of the Duster and gradually succeeded in pulling it open.

She carried it to the Maverick and began loading the ice bags of empty beer cans into the stroller. The top bag kept tumbling down and spilling out the cans. Darlene was losing patience. She wandered the yard again until she found an old bicycle tire tube and wrapped it around the loaded stroller to keep the beer cans in place.

She picked up the stroller laden with beer cans and carried it out of the grass and set it down in the driveway. She tried pushing it as the wobbly wheels jammed and stopped in the rocky driveway. She finally got it rolling along the driveway until one of the front wheels fell off.

Aggravated, she threw her cigarette onto the ground and picked the wheel up to inspect it. It looked like a post that slipped into the stroller frame. She lifted the stroller slightly and slipped the wheel back into place. She continued to the end of the driveway.

Along the quarter mile walk to the package store to redeem her cans, she found a few more returnable bottles and cans to add to her collection. When she got to the store, she lifted the stroller up the two steps to the doorway and managed to hold the door open wide enough to awkwardly drag the stroller inside. The wheel fell off again, but now Darlene was expert at repairing it having had to do so many times along the way.

"Hey!" said the clerk, "it's just like old times except instead of a baby you have beer cans in your stroller."

"Yeah," replied Darlene as she wheeled the stroller to the counter, "if it wasn't for drinking all the beer, I wouldn't have had a baby!"

"I know what you mean," the clerk laughed. Darlene knew Ralph Gore the package store clerk from high school. He still looked like the same fat loser he was in high school with his holey tee shirt and jeans that didn't completely cover his fat ass except now he had a few less teeth and a few gray hairs. He was married to Donna Lewis another hometown girl until she left him six years ago for a sailor and took their two boys and everything in the apartment to Norfolk, Virginia. "Getting drunk not only helped me to have two kids, but I must have been really shit-faced to get married in the first place," Ralph wasn't laughing anymore, "especially to that cheating, two-faced slut!"

Darlene changed the subject, "Let's cash in the empties, Ralph, I have to get Warren his beer and cigarettes, you know."

"Now that's a good wife, Darlene," Ralph began counting the empty cans, "I should have married someone like you instead of Donna, " when he said his ex-wife's name he clumsily knocked all the empty cans onto the floor, "Shit!" He bent over to pick them up giving Darlene a view of two thirds of his ass. She stared in disgust at the two big, hairy butt cheeks before she bent over to help pick up the cans. When the cans were all counted, she had enough cash for a pack of cigarettes, which she stuffed into her jeans pocket.

"Can I use the restroom?" Darlene asked.

"Sure," Ralph motioned toward the back. Then he busied himself by carrying Darlene's empties to the storage area.

Darlene locked herself into the dusty, dark, cramped restroom and ran the hot water into the rust-stained porcelain sink. She was hoping for the liquid soap to wash her hair, but there was only a bar of soap. She stripped off her shirt and pulled a shaver from her jeans pocket-but not the same pocket where she kept her cigarettes. She lathered up her hands and wiped the soap on her armpits. She shaved the half-inch long growth as best as she could and rinsed off. Next, she put her head in the sink and washed her hair with the bar of soap. She rinsed and squeezed as much water out of her hair as possible. She dried off with some paper towels from a roll standing on the windowsill. She pulled her shirt back on and turned off the water.

She didn't have to use the toilet, but she did anyway. She didn't know when she'd have another chance to use a real toilet. One use of a real toilet was one less squat behind the shed. Realizing she didn't have a comb or brush with her, she combed her dripping wet hair as best as she could with her fingers and left the old rundown restroom floor sopping wet.

Ralph was back behind the counter when she came out, "What did you do, fall in?"

"Yeah," Darlene laughed, "don't I look it?"

Confused at her reaction and the sight of her dripping hair, he stared blankly at her and said, "No."

Darlene grabbed the old stroller as she headed toward the door, "See you, Ralph."

"Hey," He acted as if he just remembered something, "you still living with Warren's family?"

"No," Darlene stopped smiling.

"Oh, you don't?" He hesitated before he asked, "Does Alice still live with her mother in the old house?"

"She hasn't been out of it in sixteen years," Darlene was trying to open the pack of cigarettes, "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, just curious, " Ralph was blushing, "I just haven't seen her around lately—I mean I haven't heard anyone mention her lately."

"What's to mention?" Darlene left the store with the old stroller in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Out on the sidewalk she lit up and started walking back home.

Darlene entered the back yard to see workmen measuring for the new fence installation. They didn't interest her at all as she carried the stroller up to the shed to keep for future use. She was planning to start collecting firewood and stacking it up before Warren came home and accused her of not doing anything all day. She was leaning the stroller against the side of the shed when she heard: "Darlene!" Ruby screeched from her screen door.

"What!" Darlene rolled her eyes and screamed back annoyed that Ruby didn't call to her when she was closer to the house.

"Are you going to the store today?"

"I just got back."

"Liar!" The workmen stopped to follow the conversation," I didn't hear that piece of shit."

"That's because the piece of shit wouldn't start."

"Are you going back out later?"

"Yeah, I have to get beer."

"When you go, get me some cigarettes," Ruby was gone from the screen door before Darlene could answer.

"Yes, your majesty," Darlene sneered under her breath, "fat lazy bitch."

The workmen looked at each other, laughed and muttered something Darlene couldn't hear, shrugged their shoulders and went back to work.

Alice was watching out the kitchen window as Darlene pushed her way through the brush to gather firewood. When she was no longer able to see Darlene through the trees, she moved to a different window to watch the workmen. Every so often one of them would trip on something covered by the over grown lawn. After they tripped, they'd pick up the offending object and toss it further back, into Ruby's yard. So far, Alice saw them trip over and toss a carburetor, a paint can, an old cracked plastic dishpan, a three tier wire hanging basket, a telephone and a toaster. They still had a good hundred feet left to measure.

"Alice!" Ruby called from the couch. Alice left the window and hurried to the living room.

"What, Ma," she stood next to Ruby instead of in front of her being careful not to block Ruby's view of the TV.

"Run out and get me some smokes, will ya?" Ruby sneered.

Alice was panicked and confused. Ruby knew that favor would be impossible, so why ask? She panicked because this was the only thing Ruby asked her to do that she couldn't even attempt. The ever-present fear of eviction rushed to Alice's consciousness.

"Oh, yeah, you can't leave the house," Ruby reminded herself. Then she laughed.

Feeling humiliated and inadequate, Alice retreated to the kitchen. Suddenly, she decided to wash all of the windows in the house. She grabbed some rags and the bottle of glass cleaner and went upstairs. Opening the windows to clean them would be a big step toward leaving the house for Alice. It would be the first time in sixteen years she would feel fresh air other than the draft from someone opening a door during the winter. She hoped that if she could handle standing in front of an open window, she could try to stand in front of an open door.

She started upstairs where Ruby wouldn't know what she was doing and, therefore, wouldn't ridicule and criticize her into giving up. She started in her bedroom because she felt the most security and privacy in her own room. She stood on a chair to take the curtains down getting them out of the way. With hands shaking in nervous apprehension, she cleaned the inside of the window.

The house didn't have any storm windows so the double-hung wooden windows were the only barriers between Alice and the outside world.

Chapter 12

"You know, War," Ron said to Warren as they sorted bottles and cans to be recycled, "Now that I have a job and my own place, I've been thinking about getting me a woman and settling down."

"Yeah," said Warren who was sweating and smelling like roadkill," You should have done that a long time ago."

"Why? I wasn't ready then," Ron was concerned as he always took Warren's advice seriously. Ron had a steady girlfriend for a year after high school, but not since then. He spent all his free time drinking beer with Warren and considered Warren to be an experienced family man.

"Because that's just what you do, man. You grow up, get married and have kids. That's what life is," Warren began working again. He couldn't work and talk at the same time, so he had to stop working every time he spoke.

"How do you know?"

"I just do," Warren sorted a few more bottles, "my kids are almost grown up and ready to move out. Hell, they tried moving out already, but they're too young. They have to learn how to take care of themselves first."

Ron never stopped working when he talked, but he occasionally threw the bottles and cans into the wrong bins, "Yeah, they had it pretty good till you got them thrown out of the house and moved into the shed."

Warren stopped working again and glared at Ron, "What the fuck, man? I can't believe you said that!"

"What?" Ron was confused, "what did I say?"

"You're telling me I'm not a good provider for my family, that's what."

"Well, that's why you wanted to work, right?" Ron was still confused but wanted to appease Warren's anger by pointing out his excellent parental skills, "So you could move your family into a nice place, right?"

"Maybe you shouldn't start a family, man," Warren went back to sorting bottles, "you'll just let them run your life and tell you what to do."

"Why?" Ron couldn't figure out Warren's logic, "What do you mean?"

"My family doesn't know how good they've got it. All they do is complain. They want plumbing and electricity and stuff like that."

"Well, don't you?"

"I have everything I need."

"Then what are you going to do with your paycheck?"

"Buy more beer and cigarettes," Warren said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Because those are the things I'm always running out of."

"You're nuts," Ron finished his bottles and began helping Warren with his.

Just then one of the young ladies from the office came by and Ron said hello. She came closer to chat, but started choking when she smelled Warren. Ron was disappointed when she made a quick exit. He continued sorting and Warren said, "You shouldn't be talking to those office girls. They're all stuck up and want rich guys."

"How do you know?" Ron was a little insulted, "she seemed glad to see me."

"Oh, sure," Warren stopped working to talk again, "I noticed she went running away as soon as she got a good look at you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"When she saw you up close, she probably noticed that big hole in your mouth and realized you can't afford to have your teeth fixed, so you probably can't afford to take her out on a date either."

"You're nuts. I've talked to her before, so she knows what my teeth look like."

"Sure," Warren put on his expert attitude, "I know what these girls want. They want to be taken out to fancy restaurants and theaters and boring shit like that."

"I can afford that," Ron was getting defensive.

"Yeah, but would you like going to those places? She'd want to go all the time, you know."

"I don't know," Ron was curious, "I've never been to any of those places."

"That's because you're a regular guy. You don't want to go to those stuck-up places, even if it does get you laid. You'd rather hang out in the back yard leaning on a car drinking beer.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "maybe she would too."

"Oh, yeah, right," Warren chuckled, "in her theater-going dress and fancy jewelry?"

Ron sighed, "I don't know, man. Maybe you're right. I need to find a less expensive girl."

"Now you're making sense." Warren patted Ron on the back, "let's go out for a smoke."

"OK."

"Can I have one?" Warren followed Ron out, "I'm all out, man."

Chapter 13

Michael and Michelle were supposed to be in the cafeteria eating their lunch, but instead they were out at the baseball field behind the dugout. They believed this was the best spot to find a teenage drug dealer at school since it was a well-known smoking spot. Sure enough there was a group of kids hanging out smoking cigarettes behind the dugout.

"Hey!" Michelle greeted the group with a smile as Michael followed her with a dumb grin on his face.

The group of four boys and three girls stopped talking and looked at the intruding siblings with a mixture of disgust, annoyance and curiosity.

"What do you want, Skank?" one of the girls asked Michelle who didn't stop smiling.

"You guys know where we can get some good drugs?" Michelle was hopeful. Michael grinned and nodded.

"Get lost," said another girl.

"Are you fucking nuts?" asked one of the boys, "How the hell would we know?"

"I think all that grease in your hair is affecting what you have for a brain!" said another girl and they all snickered.

"We're just looking for a drug dealer. There must be plenty of them around here," Michelle's smile was fading.

"Yeah, you could use some good drugs," the first girl said, "anything would be an improvement!"

"Yeah," one of the boys made a successful joke at Michael's expense, "He probably needs some Viagra just so he can jerk off."

"Well, tell us where to get them then. We're interested in self-improvement," Michelle said.

"I don't know if you'll be able to buy any smart pills," one of the boys said to Michael. All the kids were laughing now, "but I'm sure some old grandpa can get you that Viagra."

Michelle turned to her brother and said, "We got better treatment from the cops. Let's go."

A slimy, pimply mean looking kid with dirty-blonde hair and squinty, glassy eyes came around the side of the dugout almost walking into Michelle, "Watch where the fuck you're going," he pushed past her and Michael and stopped to light a cigarette.

Michelle whispered to Michael that they should ask him, but after the abuse from the others Michael didn't look hopeful. As usual, he let Michelle do the talking. She turned and timidly walked toward the rude kid, "I'm sorry to bother you, " she said as he turned in an impatient, annoyed manner, "But do you know where we could find any drugs?"

He looked the two of them up and down and took a drag off his cigarette, "What kind?"

"Expensive ones," Michelle figured that she would get rich quicker by selling a lot of expensive drugs.

"I might be able to help you out—for a price, that is," he squinted at Michelle.

"How much?" Michelle asked while Michael looked discouraged because they didn't have any money.

"How much you got?"

"Well, actually," Michelle glanced at Michael, "we're really looking for a job."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the kid was getting annoyed, "you just asked about buying drugs."

"Yeah, well, we want a job selling drugs. That's why we're trying to find a drug dealer. So he can help us get a job as a drug dealer too."

"Is this a joke?" Or are you two just fucking nuts?" The kid flicked his cigarette butt past Michael's head making him duck out of the way, "you better not be working for the cops."

"No way!" Michelle was adamant while Michael vigorously shook his head.

"I might be able to help you out after all." The kid looked at his two new friends and stroked the pathetic down that grew on his zitty chin.

Chapter 14

"Alice!" she almost dropped the window on the floor at the startling screech of her mother's command. Her hands were already shaky with nerves as she removed the window from the frame. She quickly set it on the floor and leaned it against the windowsill.

"Coming," she called as she scurried out of the room and down the stairs.

"What the hell are you doing up there?" Ruby asked when Alice entered the room.

"Cleaning," Alice wrung her hands.

"Get me a fresh cup of coffee," Ruby nodded toward her cup on the table, "this one got cold. I hate cold coffee."

Alice grabbed the cup, but her hands were still shaky from being so close to the open window and the coffee slipped out of the cup into Ruby's lap.

"Son of a bitch!" Ruby screamed as she pushed herself up from the couch. Alice jumped back in fear, "What the hell are you trying to do, drowned me?"

"I'm sorry, Ma," Alice held the cup in one hand and tried to brush the coffee off of her mother with the other, "it was an accident. I'll go get you a clean dress and a towel."

"You'd better," Ruby screeched, "and do it fast before I catch pneumonia or something." Alice rushed away to fetch the dress and towel while Ruby called after her, "Get me the blue dress and try not to screw that up too!"

"OK, Ma!" Alice's voice faded as she ran up the stairs.

Instead of helping herself, Ruby stood in the same place in front of the couch and screeched," Alice, you can't do anything right, Goddamn it! You're thirty-three years old and you still can't do anything without screwing it up! I'm glad your father isn't alive to see what a rotten loser you grew up to be!"

Alice had heard this motherly speech many times over the last sixteen years, but it still hurt every time—almost as though it were the first time. On one hand, she knew deep down that she wasn't a loser, but on the other hand, she didn't have any accomplishments to prove otherwise. She never even finished high school because she wouldn't leave the house after her father died. Working to prevent Ruby from screaming, insulting, and evicting her was her whole life, but no matter how well she served her mother, Ruby always found a way to criticize and insult her. She didn't know any other way of life. She was trapped in her mother's house as her slave and her verbal punching bag.

Ruby now stood at the foot of the stairs screaming at Alice to hurry up with the towel and the blue dress. Alice frantically dug through Ruby's bureau drawers searching for the blue dress, but with no success. She scurried to her own room hoping that when she put the clean laundry away she had inadvertently put the blue dress in one of her drawers.

"What are you doing walking around up there?" Ruby saw Alice run from room to room, "Get back to my room and get the blue dress, you moron! I'm cold and wet. It'll be your fault if I catch pneumonia!" Ruby went on with her orders and insults while Alice made a mess of her bureau searching for the blue dress. It wasn't in her room either.

"Well, what's the hold up, Mrs. Clean," Ruby nagged relentlessly.

Alice didn't know where else to look and Ruby wasn't going to stop tormenting her. She turned to go back to Ruby's room again, then decided against it knowing the dress wouldn't be there. She paced frantically to the sound of Ruby hollering—first out her bedroom door, then back in. Still no new clues came to her to help her find the blue dress. There was no hope of solving this problem. She turned and paced, turned and paced, and turned and paced. On the last pace she didn't turn. She dove out her open window.

Chapter 15

Ruby was halfway up the stairs to the second floor to find out what was taking Alice so long when she heard voices and commotion in the back yard. She couldn't find Alice in either bedroom but noticed Alice's open window, "Alice, where the hell are you with my blue dress?" she yelled as she neared the open window, "what the hell is this window out for?" She leaned out to see what the commotion was about and she saw Linda's workmen gathered over something on the ground under the window.

"Hey," Ruby screeched angrily, "what are you people doing nosing around on my property?"

Darlene came out of the woods and hearing Ruby's voice dropped her armload of sticks and rushed toward the house to see what was going on. She could see the three workers gathered around Alice and Ruby screeching out the upstairs window in her wet dress and knew something was happening, but she assumed Ruby was amusing herself by harassing the workmen.

One of the workers called to Ruby to dial 911 for help, "What's going on?" She yelled to Darlene who had almost reached the workmen.

"Holy shit!" Darlene exclaimed when she saw Alice unconscious on the ground, "How did she get out here?"

One of the workmen answered, "I think she fell out that window," and gestured toward the window where Ruby stood.

"Alice!" Ruby called, "is that Alice down there?"

"Yes," Darlene yelled back, "call 911 fast, Ruby. I think she's dead!"

Ruby's attitude suddenly changed from anger to fear as she responded to Darlene's expression of shock and grief, "Oh my God!" Ruby kept saying over and over until she reached the phone downstairs and called in the emergency. Within minutes an ambulance made its way up the driveway. The paramedics jumped out and grabbed a stretcher. They tried to run, but the junk in the yard slowed them down. It was like a mysterious obstacle course or a track meet with lots of hidden hurdles to jump or avoid. One paramedic tripped over an electric can opener covered by tall grass, while the other stumbled over an old AM radio and sprained his ankle.

Ruby came storming out the back door as urgently as she could without falling off the cinder block step. With a cigarette hanging out of her mouth and her hair flying behind her still wearing her wet dress and slippers, she demanded to know what was wrong with Alice.

As the paramedics checked her vital signs and prepared to lift her onto the stretcher, the one without the sprained ankle answered, "These three gentlemen here say she fell out the window."

"What!" Ruby screeched at him and looked at the workmen, "How could she fall out the window while she was looking for my blue housedress?"

"I don't know," said one of the men, "I just happened to be looking in that direction and I saw her flying head first out the window."

The paramedic commented, "She must have been flying to land way over here. If she had simply fallen out of the window, she would be closer to the house."

"Is she going to be alright?" Ruby blew smoke on everyone.

"All we can tell you is that she's alive and it doesn't look like she has any broken bones, but she's in shock, "they lifted the stretcher on which Alice was secured, "they'll do more tests at the hospital to find out what treatment she'll need."

Ruby followed the stretcher, "I'm going with you."

The paramedics exchanged a quick look of distaste, "We'd prefer if you'd follow in your own car. She isn't conscious and won't know whether or not you're with her anyway."

"I don't have a car. The piece of shit won't start unless my dumb daughter-in-law here is lying, like usual," Ruby climbed into the ambulance after the paramedics while Darlene ran up behind.

She stuck her head inside and told the paramedic closest to her, "She's bullshitting the two of you. That Maverick right there is her car and it runs fine. She's just too cheap to put gas in it. She'll bum a ride off anyone, even an ambulance driver."

"We'll have to ask you to get out of the ambulance, ma'am," the paramedic held out his hand to help Ruby out of the vehicle.

As she stepped down to the ground, she screeched at Darlene, "You lying little bitch!" Darlene stood grinning in triumph. The ambulance drove off leaving them all standing in the yard. The guys went back to their work talking amongst themselves about the unbelievably strange and shocking event they had just witnessed while Ruby and Darlene stood glaring at each other.

"I can't believe you could be such a cold bitch!" Ruby screeched in Darlene's smirking face, "To keep a mother from her daughter in her time of need. I'm just trying to be a good mother," She glanced over to make sure the workmen heard what she was saying.

"You're so full of shit!" Darlene yelled back at Ruby, "You don't know the first thing about being a good mother. You're the one who threw your son and his family out of the house. We have to live in a shed and cook over a campfire. And Alice was your slave. I wouldn't be surprised if you pushed her out the window!"

"You've lost your fucking mind, girly," Ruby marched back to the house, "tell Warren I want to see him when he gets home."

"I'm not doing you any favors," Darlene headed back to the shed to wonder about Alice and continue her wood gathering while the workmen stood in amazement at the scene they had just witnessed between the two hostile women as they retreated in opposite directions.

Chapter 16

Arriving home from work with his newfound self-esteem that he acquired within the envelope, which also contained his paycheck, Warren jumped out of Ron's car, "Darlene!" he called toward the shed. Then he leaned into the back seat and pulled out a case of beer and two bags of ice; but not before he tucked a carton of cigarettes under his arm. He headed up the path with his treasures, "Come on up and have a beer on me, Ron," Warren called behind him.

"Sure," Ron grinned.

"Darlene!" Warren called again when he reached the fireplace, "Jesus Christ. I figured she'd be all over me today looking for my paycheck."

"Just like a woman. Only wants you for your money," Ron said as he cracked open a beer.

"You got that right," Warren began dumping beer and ice into the cooler.

"Warren!" Ruby screamed as she made her way out of the house and headed up the path.

"Now, I know she's coming for my check," Warren popped open a beer and took a drink.

Just then Darlene came out of the woods with another armload of wood, "Oh, Warren, you're home," she seemed surprised at how late it was and anxiously dropped the wood and rushed to fill him in about his sister's accident.

"Just like I expected," Warren nodded his head at Ron," both women after my money."

"Get your head out of your ass, Warren," Ruby huffed and puffed as she reached the fireplace, "Your sister's in the hospital."

"What?" he looked back and forth between the two concerned women.

"She jumped out the fucking window, man," Darlene said in amazement as she lit a cigarette.

"What are you talking about?" he asked Darlene, then looked at Ruby, "she won't leave the house. How could she jump out a window? Are you trying to trick me into giving you my money?"

"No, you moron," Ruby said, "she was upstairs cleaning the window and I asked her to get me something and she jumped out the window."

"Son of a bitch!" Warren was stupefied.

"Anyways," Ruby continued, "I want to go see how she is, but your piece of shit car won't start."

"Why won't it?" Warren looked accusingly at Darlene.

"Because it's a piece of shit!" Darlene explained, "I had to walk to turn in the cans to get my fucking cigarettes this morning."

"Oh, bullshit!" Warren lit a cigarette, "there's nothing wrong with that car. You women just don't know how to drive."

"Well then you go start it, smartass," Darlene opened a beer and took a swig.

"OK, I will," Warren stomped down the hill with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and a beer in his hand. Ron followed along behind and Ruby close behind them both.

Darlene stood for a moment admiring the full cooler of beer she finished packing for Warren and the carton of cigarettes on the ground next to the cooler. She stuffed a pack of the cigarettes in the pocket of her jeans and started down the path toward the Maverick.

Warren got behind the wheel and turned the key, which was still in the ignition. The engine wouldn't turn over for him either.

"I told you it wouldn't start," Darlene said as she caught up to them

"Shut up," Warren got out and opened the hood, "I'm not finished yet," He poked around under the hood for a minute and tried again. It still didn't start.

"I told you the car needs new tires," Ruby screeched and bummed a cigarette from Darlene who rolled her eyes at her mother-in-law.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Darlene flicked her cigarette butt into the yard.

"That's why it won't start," Ruby said as though the answer was obvious.

"Why?" Darlene was puzzled.

"Because the piece of shit needs new tires!" Ruby lost her patience.

"I can't believe anyone could be as stupid as you," Darlene muttered.

"Who's living in a house, and who's living in a shed, stupid," Ruby gloated.

"All right, that's enough ladies," Warren said as Darlene opened her mouth to speak. He got out to check under the hood again," Darlene, don't be so mean to my mother."

Now Darlene's mouth was open to reply to Warren's unfair treatment when Ron remarked, "Wouldn't it be funny if you were just out of gas?"

Warren and Darlene looked at each other and then at Ruby who only smiled. Sure enough the gas gauge read empty, "Darlene!" Warren slammed the hood closed, "why did you let the car run out of gas?"

"It had plenty when I got home from New London the other day with the kids," Darlene argued, "when I tried to start it this morning, it wouldn't start."

"Someone must be stealing your gas," Ron grinned with his skinny chest out as though he'd enlightened everyone with his wisdom.

"Or our car," Darlene directed the remark to Ruby.

"Oh, yeah," Ruby grinned, "I forgot to tell you I went out last night after you two passed out."

"Son of a bitch," Darlene exclaimed and looked at Ruby, "Or should I just say 'bitch.'"

"You watch your mouth, girly," Ruby warned.

"Why? What are you going to do? Throw me out of the house? Too late. Already done."

"You're still living on my property. That shed you're living in is mine, too," Ruby waved her floppy arm toward the shed as though she were surveying her expansive estate, "I can evict you from there, too."

"OK, OK," Warren interrupted the squabbling, "Darlene, stop picking on my mother." Ruby gloated at the sour-pussed Darlene, " and Mom, if you're going to drive my car, please put some gas in it."

Ruby's toothless gloating grin disappeared to Darlene's satisfaction. Warren dug in his pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill, "Here Darlene," he held it toward her, "grab a jug and run down to the gas station for some gas."

"Like hell I will!" Darlene exploded, "Ruby left it empty. Make her go!"

"I'm not going anywhere!" Ruby went back to the house calling behind her, "let me know when you're ready to take me to the hospital. You better hurry because visiting hours don't last that long."

"Come on, Darlene," Warren still held out the five dollar bill toward his wife, "I've been working all day. I'd like to enjoy my beer. It's Friday night."

"Fuck you, Warren," Darlene was furious, I've been in the woods dragging firewood down all fucking day. I'm not walking to the fucking gas station. When I used the car, I left gas in it. Why should I suffer because your mother's a cheap, lazy bitch?"

"Well, thanks for nothing, Darlene," Warren put the money back in his pocket, "my sister's in the hospital and my mother needs me to drive her there, and you can't even help out a little bit."

"Hey, man," Ron decided to pay attention to the conversation, "I can give you a ride to the gas station."

"What?" Warren looked behind him, "Oh, yeah, I fucking forgot you were here, man. You were being so quiet. Hey, thanks a lot, man."

Warren found an old plastic gallon milk jug in the yard and got into Ron's car. They drove out of the yard as Darlene angrily walked back up to the campfire.

Ruby laughed as she stood in the doorway and watched Darlene stomp up the hill and angrily stack all of the wood she dragged home during the day.

Ruby was still snickering when she saw Michael and Michelle walking up the driveway. She called from behind the screen door, "Michelle!"

The kids stood outside by the back door in expectant dread. Ruby usually only paid attention to them to criticize or scold them.

"Your Aunt Alice is in the hospital. She fell out the window today."

The kids looked surprised and confused but didn't say anything.

"I can use some help around here until she comes home, so I thought you'd like to stay in the house here with me until she gets out of the hospital." Ruby acted as though she were offering the chance of a lifetime.

"I don't know, Grandma," Michelle looked at her brother who was still looking at Ruby in confusion trying to comprehend Alice's situation without having to ask questions and risk being called stupid by his grandma.

"I'm afraid my parents would get mad at me for leaving them."

"So, what do you care? You were running away yesterday anyway. You can sleep in a bed and take showers and eat something besides hotdogs."

"If it's OK with my parents, I will, OK?" Michelle liked the idea of sleeping in a bed.

"Alright, but let me know today, because it's a limited one-time offer," Ruby pressured her granddaughter, "Alice probably won't be in the hospital that long."

"OK, Grandma," the kids turned to walk away, "I'll let you know."

"Good," Ruby said to herself as she watched them walk up the hill, "those dirty dishes are piling up and I'm not washing them."

Chapter 17

Ron and Warren stopped for gas at a small privately owned gas station across the street from the package store where Darlene had been that morning. Ron drove up to the single-island pump where Warren got out of the car with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth and his empty milk jug in his hand. He removed the gas nozzle from the pump and set the jug on the ground by his feet. Just as he was about to begin filling the jug, he heard:

"Hey, hey! You can't get gas in that!" the owner of the station, Wally Green, came rushing toward Warren, "and put that cigarette out, Warren."

Wally and Warren had known each other for years. Warren bought all of his cars from Wally who always kept a couple of used cars for sale on the lot. Warren and Darlene bought all of their gas at Wally's too.

"Why?" Warren asked with the nozzle still in his hand.

"Because you're going to get us blown up, you idiot!" Wally snatched the nozzle from Warren and placed it back on the pump. Then he snatched the cigarette out of Warren's mouth and stomped it out on the sidewalk.

"Hey!" Warren felt violated and degraded, "don't go treating me like some little fucking kid. I know what I'm doing."

"Oh," Wally said sarcastically, "does that mean you came here to blow up me and my gas station?"

"No," Warren responded defensively, "I came here to get a gallon of gas because my car ran out, but instead I get abused."

"Sorry, but I can't sell you gas unless you put it in a regular gas can. I have one inside you can borrow." He went back inside to get it.

"Now you're making sense," Warren's ego was appeased by what Warren considered Wally's desire to please him. Instead of remaining angry with Wally, he appreciated Wally's customer service skills.

Warren paid for the gas and Wally reminded him to bring the gas can back. Of course, Warren assured him that he would without comprehending what he had promised. He completely forgot about Wally as soon as Ron drove away from the pump.

When they got back to the house, Michelle and Darlene were arguing so loudly that they could be heard as soon as the car entered the driveway.

"Somebody's pissed," Ron commented as he parked next to the Maverick.

"Oh, you know women. It ain't anything important; they just have to scream about everything," Warren got out of the car and carried the gas can to the Maverick and began filling the tank. He became interested in the argument in progress when he heard Darlene say, "A bed! You want to sleep in a bed that bad, then go ahead. Sell your freedom for a bed!"

He finished putting gas in the car and tossed Wally's gas can aside on the ground, where weeds would eventually engulf it, "What's that all about?" He wondered to Ron.

"I don't know."

"Let's get a beer and find out. It sounds like the kids are acting spoiled again."

As they approached the shed, the battle continued. Warren took a beer from the cooler for Ron and himself and lit a cigarette.

"What the hell is going on up here? We could hear you from the street."

Michelle and Darlene glared at Warren for a second and continued fighting.

"I said what's going on? What are you fighting about?" Warren was getting irritated at their lack of interest in his presence, "As usual, I get no respect." He remarked to Ron who leisurely smoked a cigarette while drinking his beer.

Finally Darlene turned her attention to Warren as Michelle stood with her arms crossed and her lower lip drooping, "Ruby asked Michelle to stay with her until Alice comes home from the hospital."

"What!" Warren was appalled, "If we all can't stay in the house together, then none of us will go."

"Dad!" Michelle unfolded her arms and looked pleadingly at her father, "it's only for a couple of days."

"I don't give a shit!" Warren sprayed Michelle with beer filled saliva, "she threw us all out. If you go back in here, you'd be a traitor."

"Your father is right," Darlene stood by Warren and Warren's chest puffed out under his sweaty hole-filled tee shirt.

"Well I want to go!" Michelle wouldn't back down from her decision, "I just want to take a couple of showers and sleep in a real bed for a couple of nights."

"OK," Warren waved his dismissal because he really wanted to drink his beer in peace, "go take your shower and sleep in your bed, but in two days you'll be back in the shed with the rest of us."

"Not for long," Michelle muttered as she grabbed a pile of clothes and stomped down the path.

"Why did you change your mind?" Darlene followed Warren to the cooler.

"I didn't feel like arguing anymore," he took a seat on the old toilet and motioned for Ron to have a seat on the cooler, "I got beer to drink and cigarettes to smoke. Life is too short to spend arguing with a know-nothing teenager."

"Yeah," Darlene sneered as she got herself a beer from the cooler, "and she's the smart one," she nodded her head toward the shed where Michael had retreated during the argument.

"So," Darlene started getting her wood ready for the dinner fire, "how much was your paycheck."

"Here we go," Warren looked at Ron who hadn't noticed Warren's invitation to sit and was still standing, "what did I tell you? She only cares about my hard earned money."

"I just wanted to know, Warren," Darlene straightened up from the fireplace, "I was just curious."

"That's my business," Warren drank his beer, "you don't need to know. You'll only want to spend it on stupid shit."

"Oh right. Like getting the car fixed."

"Yeah," he showed his rotten black teeth as he smiled, "stupid shit like that."

"What are you going to do?" Darlene set her beer down and got herself a cigarette, "drive it from now on with no exhaust system at all on it?"

"If you want that car fixed, you better start collecting a lot more cans to cash in."

"You're such an asshole," Darlene picked up her beer, "did you bother picking up something for supper, or do I have to go to the store now?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did," Warren looked very proud of himself as he dug to the bottom of the cooler and pulled out a steak, "I guess you didn't notice it when you put the beer in the cooler."

"Wow," Darlene's eyes lit up, "not bad. Did you get a knife too?"

At Warren's cue Ron whipped a jack knife out of his pocket and held it up for Darlene to see.

"Cool. I'll start the fire!" Darlene began her evening ritual with enthusiasm that night, "You actually put that brain cell to work for once."

After the fire got going, she hung the steak on a strong stick and Michael came out of the shed to help her cook. They took turns holding the awkward steak over the flames until it was cooked.

Darlene tore apart the cardboard package the case of beer came in to use as plates. They cut the steak into four pieces with Ron's knife and were each finding themselves a seat when Ruby could be heard from her screen door, "Warren!"

"Shit," Warren almost had his piece of steak to his mouth, "what the hell does she want?"

Darlene had already torn a piece of hers into her mouth and was chewing, "She probably wants to go to the hospital now."

"Oh," Warren had finally torn a bite size piece of meat without having to use his very few front teeth, "I forgot about that."

"I love flamed-broiled steak," Ron remarked. He thought eating around a campfire was great fun.

"At least it's not hotdogs!" Michael was eagerly chewing his steak.

"Hey," Warren slapped the steak out of Michael's hand.

Michael looked sad and confused as he looked at his empty hand and then at his father and then at his steak in the dirt on the ground a few feet away.

"You aren't supposed to be eating that," Warren said with his mouth full, "You're being punished, remember?"

"Yeah, but you said no hotdogs. I wasn't eating a hotdog!" Michael got up to pick his steak up out of the dirt.

"Don't you dare touch that meat!" Warren warned.

Michael looked at Darlene, "Ma?"

Darlene stopped chewing and looked at Warren who was giving her a threatening stare.

"Do what your father says, Michael," She continued chewing and drinking her beer.

"Warren!" Ruby screeched louder, "I know you're up there!"

"Son of a bitch!" Warren got up and stalked down the path.

Michael was still looking at his mother with a pleading, hurt look.

"Go for it," Darlene told her son so she could enjoy her dinner without feeling the guilt of depriving her son his hot meal.

Michael dove for the steak and examined its condition. Dirt covered one side of it.

Darlene suggested cleaning it off in the cooler on the ice, which was the closest thing to water that they had. He opened the cooler and rolled the chunk of meat over and over in the ice. When as much dirt as possible was cleaned off, he wiped it on his shirt and put it on a stick to reheat. He didn't hold it over the fire very long, though, for fear Warren would return and take it away again. He pulled it off the stick and ate it in two bites.

Warren was halfway down the path when Ruby screeched, "What took you so long? Didn't you hear me calling?"

"Yeah," Warren reached the beer keg porch, "I was having my fucking dinner."

"Don't use that language with me, sonny boy!" Ruby opened the door, her big brown overstuffed pocketbook hung over one elbow. The vinyl was ripped in places and the thin foam rubber-type stuffing was showing that once gave the purse a quilted look, "Drive me to the hospital before we miss visiting hours."

"Let me finish my dinner first," Warren whined.

"I don't want to miss visiting hours and I need to see how Alice is," Ruby stepped off the beer keg and down to the cinder block and now stood face to face with Warren, "don't you care about your sister?"

"Not really," Warren lit a cigarette, "what did she ever do for me?"

"She cleaned up after you and your family for the past sixteen years, isn't that something?"

"Hey, I didn't ask her to," indignant, Warren blew out a puff of cigarette smoke, "the last thing I remember her doing was helping you drag my ass out of the house and I've been living in the shed ever since."

"Listen," Ruby held her hand out, "if you don't want to go, give me the car keys and I'll go by myself."

"Don't you have a set of your own? You didn't have to ask us for the keys when you borrowed the car last night."

"Why are you such a fucking pain in the ass, Warren?" Ruby walked toward the car, "I ask you to do me one little favor and you have to give me a hard time."

"I been working hard all week and now that it's Friday, I want to relax and eat my steak dinner and have a couple of beers. I deserve it," Warren stomped out his cigarette.

"You deserve a swift kick in the ass, Warren," Ruby stood facing him with the car door open, "You haven't even been working for a week for Christ's sake. The first time in how many years? You've been drinking beer and eating dinner all your life!" Ruby threw her pocketbook onto the passengers side of the front seat before she heaved herself into the drivers seat, "Who knows what's going on with Alice? She jumped out a fucking window and you don't even care! If we don't go see her, she might not come back home." She slammed the door shut not really believing that Alice wouldn't come home.

"You just like her better than me!" Warren whined.

Ruby started the Maverick. Exhaust blew up from under the car and enveloped Warren and the car in a dark gray cloud. He choked on the smoke and covered his ears, but couldn't do anything about the vibration in what was left of his teeth from the noise.

"Fix this Goddamn car!" Ruby yelled out the window as she put the car in drive, stepped on the gas and drove down the driveway.

Everyone looked at Warren as he returned to the campfire and resumed eating his steak and drinking his beer. When he noticed everyone watching he stopped and defensively asked, "What?"

Darlene said, "You are such an idiot."

"What the hell is your problem?" Warren continued to eat, "first my mother and now you. Is that all you women are good for, bitching and complaining?"

"Don't forget pointing out how stupid you are," Darlene finished off her beer and lit a cigarette, "Ruby doesn't give a shit about Alice anymore than she gives a shit about you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Warren stuffed the last of his steak into his mouth.

"I heard what she said to you about caring about Alice," Darlene went to the cooler for a fresh beer, "she's just afraid Alice won't come home and be her slave anymore. Then she'd have to do everything for herself."

Warren looked thoughtful for a moment rubbing his chin and in doing so, smeared the grease from his steak all through his wild and filthy beard, "You could be right, but I doubt it. You're never right about anything. I'm the brains around here."

"Yeah, you're pretty smart, War," Ron agreed as he got himself a fresh beer.

"Said one moron to the other," Darlene muttered shaking her head.

Michael laughed and Warren angrily threw an empty can at him. Michael stopped laughing and ran down the path toward the house.

Chapter 18

Michelle was lounging on the couch eating in front of the TV when Michael tapped on the back door. She jumped up in anticipation and rushed to the door. When she realized it was Michael, she opened the door in disappointment.

"What's the matter," Michael asked.

"I have a date with that kid, remember?" Michelle led Michael to the couch. At least I'll actually be at the house when he comes. When I gave him our address, I was too embarrassed to tell him to come out back to the shed. I just planned on being out front on the sidewalk waiting for him."

"Oh, yeah," Michael sat on the ratty old couch and looking around the shabby room sighed, "I can't wait until we're living this good again."

"Yeah, me too," Michelle sat down next to her brother, "furniture, food, and TV. What more could you want?"

"A car would be cool," Michael suggested enthusiastically.

"Oh, yeah," Michelle nodded in agreement, "a car would be really cool."

"You look different," Michael couldn't figure out the change in his sister since this afternoon.

"I took a shower," Michelle flipped her long clean black hair around.

"Oh, yeah," Michael said, "you don't stink so bad as usual either."

"Isn't it cool?" Michelle nervously looked toward the front door, "Did you hear a knock at the door?"

"No," Michael stared at the TV.

"When he gets here, I want you to leave."

"Why?" Michael whined, "I want to be a drug dealer too."

"You will," Michelle said impatiently, "but I just want to see him alone first, OK?"

"Well, OK," Michael reluctantly agreed, "but we're in this together remember."

"I know."

"What did you and Grandma have for supper? Michael looked around for leftovers.

"Oh, one of those frozen meals. I think it was supposed to be lasagna, " Michelle picked up the remote and channel surfed as she spoke, "I had to cook it too. But at least I got to eat something besides hotdogs or garbage and I got to use silverware and a plate."

"Yeah, but then I bet you had to wash them too," Michael grinned as though he made out better than his sister because he didn't have to wash dishes.

"Should I ask what you had?" Michelle asked sarcastically, "Oh yeah, no hotdogs for you for a week!" she laughed.

"You won't believe this. Dad got paid today and bought us a steak."

"No way!" Michelle was shocked.

"Yes!"

"And he let you eat some?" She stopped channel surfing and sat sideways on the couch to better see her brother.

"Well, at first he gave me some, but then when he remembered the no-hotdog thing he threw my steak on the ground."

"What an asshole!"

"Yeah, but when Grandma called him down here, Mom let me clean it off and eat it."

"He didn't find out?" Michelle smiled at the idea of her father being duped.

"By the time he came back up he was so pissed at Grandma that I think he forgot about it."

"That's cool," Michelle turned back to surfing the channels.

"You think Aunt Alice will be OK?" Michael changed the subject, "did Grandma say anything?"

"No. All she did was bitch about Dad not coming down as soon as he got home to take her to the hospital," Michelle paused her channel surfing when she found a Baywatch rerun.

"I don't know why she would jump out a window. That's nuts," Michael's eyes were glued to the TV, "she had it made here."

"Yeah, I know," Michelle looked thoughtful, "maybe she didn't jump-maybe Grandma pushed her!"

They both laughed nervously at the idea, each wondering to themselves if it were true.

There was a knock on the door and Michelle jumped up, dropped the remote on the coffee table and said, "OK, remember, you're leaving, right?"

"What's the rush?" Michael didn't move from his seat, "I can stay for a minute."

"Just for a minute," Michelle went to the door. She swung it open to find Linda Madison standing there.

"Hey kid. You clean up pretty good," she half smiled at Michelle who was clearly disappointed.

"Grandma's not home," Michelle stared apathetically at Linda.

"My workmen got quite a bit of work done measuring for my new fence. Was she gone all day?"

Michelle sighed in annoyance because Linda was already staying way too long for her liking, "No."

"Let her know that they won't be back until Monday, so she can go nuts for a couple of days. I mean she can be herself for the weekend, but Monday she has to be a good girl again and not interfere with my workers," she turned to leave.

Michelle rolled her eyes and said, "Whatever."

"You know," Linda turned back toward Michelle, "you need a lot of work on your people skills. Obviously, you won't be getting any help from your family. If you need any help, come see me."

"Yeah, right, " Michelle slammed the door shut and rolled her eyes again as she returned to the couch.

"It was that lesbo next door," Michelle sulked on the couch, disappointed that it wasn't her date at the door.

"All she cares about is that fence," Michael added, "ever since she moved in she keeps coming over and talking about her fence."

"I don't see what the big deal is about a fence," Michelle whined.

"Maybe so we don't see her girlfriends going in and out of the house," Michael grinned.

"How do you know she has girlfiends?" Michelle was curious about what her dumbass brother could know that she didn't.

"Because she's a dyke!"

"How do you know?"

"Because Dad says so," He was annoyed by all of her questions.

"But he's an asshole," Michelle laughed.

"If you hate him so much, why don't you move out?" Michael suggested.

"Duh!" Michelle was once again amazed at her brother's idiocy, "We tried to, remember? The cops caught us."

"Oh," Michael pouted, "oh, yeah."

"I don't know why I even bother with you," Michelle was exasperated.

"Cos' I'm the only friend you've got," her brother gave her a cold stare.

"Fuck you!"

"It's true!"

"After tonight when we become drug dealers, we'll have lots of friends."

"How come?" Michael stood up.

"Because everyone will want our drugs and money, moron," Michelle stood up as well.

"Oh, yeah," Michael walked toward the back door to leave.

"I thought you wanted to be here when that kid comes over," Michelle followed him.

"That's OK," he opened the door and stepped one foot onto the beer keg, "I'll let you handle the talking. You're better at it than me."

"Cool."

Michelle didn't get to sit back down because there was a knock on the front door just as Michael made his exit out the back. Nervous and smiling like a girl being picked up for the prom, Michelle flung open the front door. Standing there framed by the twisted hinged ghost of the screen door was the kid she'd been waiting for. He had an angry yet bored expression as he rudely blew cigarette smoke into the house.

"You ready?" He asked as he flicked his cigarette butt into the overgrowth of the front yard.

"You wanna come in for a minute first?" Michelle smiled eagerly.

"Who's here?"

"Just me," she gestured for him to enter.

As he passed by her, she took a deep breath to enjoy his scent of cigarettes and the leather jacket he wore. There was also the fragrance of dryer sheets, which never having used them, she couldn't recognize. She thought he had put on cologne for the occasion to impress her. She didn't notice his blemished skin or oily hair at all.

He had a seat on the couch as though it was his own living room. The old worn curtains on the windows, the permanently stained throw rugs, the plaster falling off the walls and ceiling and the sagging couch all seemed normal to him as he put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Got any beer?" he asked with a sidelong glance at Michelle who had perched next to him.

"Sure," she ran to the kitchen and returned with one of Ruby's beer. She opened it and handed it to him, "What's your name anyway?"

"Kyle," he took a long swallow of the beer.

"I'm Michelle."

"No shit," He set the beer on the coffee table and lit another cigarette.

"So what's it like being a drug dealer," Michelle asked enthusiastically, "are you rich?"

"Who the hell said I was a drug dealer?"

"You're not?" She was confused and disappointed.

"Hell, no," he guzzled the rest of the beer and threw the can on the floor, "drug dealing is too risky and there's too much competition."

"Why the hell did you come here then?" Michelle was annoyed. She thought she'd be a drug dealer by the end of the night.

"You said you needed a job," Kyle lit a cigarette.

"Yeah, as a drug dealer," Michelle enunciated rudely, "I don't think you can help me. You're only wasting my time."

"Well, if you're going to act like a little bitch, I'm not going to help you. Just shut up and listen."

"OK," she sat angrily with her arms folded, "I'm listening."

"I know how we can make money," Kyle finished smoking his cigarette and stubbed the butt halfway out in the ashtray, leaving a small stream of smoke coming off of it which directed itself straight to Michelle's face. Michelle waved the smoke away but it returned to her when she stopped waving. Kyle didn't notice.

"How?" Instead of putting the cigarette completely out to make it stop smoking, Michelle picked up the TV guide and fanned the smoke away from her face.

"By stealing shit and then selling it."

"What kind of shit?"

"You know like shit out of peoples' houses and cars," Kyle waited for Michelle's reaction but she just looked serious like she was thinking about it as she waved the TV guide.

"I think it would be easier to be a drug dealer than a thief and I'd get richer."

"Drug dealing is too risky," Kyle argued, "you can get a lot of jail time for that."

"Only if you get caught," Michelle countered, "and even if you get caught, you can still run your business from your jail cell."

"You think you're real smart, don't you? You got it all figured out," Kyle challenged, "How are you going to get money to buy the drugs you'll need to sell? You have to have cash up front, you know, no dealer's going to front you a huge amount of drugs like that."

"I have some money."

"How much?"

"Twenty bucks."

Kyle laughed, "Twenty bucks? You're not gonna get anything with that!"

"Stop laughing at me," Michelle was angry and threw the TV guide at Kyle who only laughed harder, "you're an asshole."

"At least I'm not a dumbass!" Kyle got up and walked toward the door still chuckling, "if you're looking for a job, you have my offer. You better think about it, because I don't think you're smart enough to do anything else."

"Fuck you," Michelle followed him to the door, "I want to be a rich drug dealer, not a thief!"

"We'll see," Kyle arrogantly said as he went out the door, "I'll be waiting for you. I know you'll realize I'm right. You'll be begging me to help you."

"Asshole!" Michelle slammed the door behind him.

Chapter 19

Michelle was angry and disappointed that not only did Kyle end up not even being a drug dealer, but instead laughed at her dream and called her dumb. Her hope of becoming a rich drug dealer by the end of the night was gone as well as her image of Kyle as the person who could help deliver her and Michael from poor homeless kids to rich, successful self-sufficient drug dealers. Her image of Kyle changed, not because she had the ability to judge people for who they were, but because he couldn't provide her with what she needed. How could a low-life loser like him insult and humiliate her that way? She went to the coffee table and flipped it over in anger sending the full ashtray flying. Cigarette butts and ashes sailed through the room landing all over the couch and floor. Ruby's TV guide and tabloid papers went flying like a flock of drunken birds awkwardly attempting a mad escape from a rampaging predator. She grabbed the lamp from the end table and threw it through a window, alarming Michael who had been sitting on the hood of the Duster in the yard. He ran into the house fearing that Kyle was getting rough with his sister. Instead, he saw Michelle enraged and red-eyed from crying with the end table held over her head about to be slammed to the floor.

"Do we start drug dealing tonight?" Michael asked as his curious wide eyes searched the room for Kyle.

"No!" Michelle screamed as she slammed the table to the floor.

"Where's that kid?" Michael peeked over the back of the couch to see if he was there.

"That useless piece of shit left!" Michelle sat down on the filthy couch to catch her breath. Just then the horribly offensive sound of the Maverick came roaring into the back yard.

"Grandma's back," Michael casually mentioned.

"Oh shit!" Michelle jumped up, "help me clean this mess!"

Michael surveyed the upside-down coffee table, the upside-down end table and the broken window and didn't know where to start.

Michelle up-righted the table and was trying to upright the coffee table when Ruby entered the house.

Ruby waddled into the room and dropped her pocketbook on the floor, her eyes bugged out of her fat face in surprise and anger as she screeched, "Michelle!"

Michelle looked fearfully at her Grandma and set the coffee table down.

"See what happens when you let low-lifes into the house?"

Michelle wondered, how did Grandma know Kyle had been there?

Ruby looked at Michael and then at Michelle and screamed, "I didn't say you could let your brother in while I wasn't home."

Both Michael and Michelle's mouths dropped open in surprise as they realized that Ruby assumed Michael had made the mess.

"But Grandma," Michelle tried to defend her brother.

"I don't want to hear any sorry excuses," Ruby went to the refrigerator and got a beer. She did a double take and said, "I have a can of beer missing! You drank my beer and trashed my house. Get out of here, Michael. Go back to the shed with your loser parents." She popped open the can and sat on the couch.

"But Grandma," both kids pleaded together.

"Shut up the both of you. Michelle, you clean up this mess and Michael, get the hell out," she glanced at the TV and began looking for the remote, "Michelle, find my remote!"

Michael hung his head in distress as he left by the back door while Michelle scrambled around on the floor frantically looking for the remote. She handed it to Ruby, then Ruby sent her to get the pack of cigarettes and lighter from her pocketbook, which was still on the floor.

She snatched the cigarettes from Michelle and lit up. "Get the broom and sweep up this mess," she waved her hand to indicate where cigarette butts and ashes were all over the floor.

"OK," Michelle scrambled to the kitchen to get the broom and dustpan and almost dropped them as she entered the living room and Ruby asked, "Where's my lamp?"

Michelle was about to make up a story about having used it in another room and forgetting to return it when Ruby noticed the broken window. The dingy old orange drape that was six inches too short to cover the whole window was fluttering through the broken pane. "Who broke my window?" She screeched as she worked her huge butt to the edge of the couch and pushed herself to her feet. She went to inspect the window and saw her lamp out in the weeds.

"There's my Goddamn lamp!" Ruby turned to Michelle, "I never want your rotten brother in my house again. He's just like his father. Nothing but a loser."

Michelle realized that her grandmother's mind was made up and she'd never convince her that Michael was innocent. She swept up the mess that seemed to cover the entire room. Then she had to follow Ruby with the broom and dustpan to catch all the ashes and cigarette butts that were falling from the back of her dress.

Ruby returned to her seat to drink her beer and inform Michelle of all the spots on the floor she had missed with the broom.

"How's Aunt Alice?" Michelle asked as she swept.

"She didn't break any bones so I think she'll be home pretty soon."

"Oh," Michelle moved to re-sweep another spot that Ruby pointed at with her beer holding hand, "Did she say why she jumped out the window?"

"She didn't jump," Ruby sounded annoyed, "She was washing the window and fell out. Who told you she jumped?"

"Mom and Dad."

"You're going to believe those two morons over me?" Ruby said with her cigarette hanging out of her mouth and the beer in one hand, the remote in the other.

"They might be morons, but they're all I got."

"That ain't saying much," Ruby clicked on one of her shows and put the remote down. She took the cigarette out of her mouth and said, "You can put the broom away now. Find my ashtray for me."

Michelle sighed and rolled her eyes as she trudged into the kitchen with the broom. She was beginning to wonder if being her grandma's slave was worth a bed and a shower. All Grandma did was boss her around and insult her family. Not to mention falsely accuse her brother.

Michelle got a clean ashtray from the kitchen, since she had already put the dirty one that was so violently emptied into the sink, and set it on the end table near where Ruby had set down her beer can, "Goodbye, Grandma."

"Where the hell are you going?" Ruby turned her head toward Michelle, but her eyes were still watching TV.

"I'm going back to the shed with my brother," Michelle walked toward the back door.

Ruby stood up and faced her grand daughter, "Like hell you are! I need you here until Alice gets back."

"Maybe Aunt Alice is your slave, but I'm not," Michelle opened the door.

"I let you into my house and got you out of that shed and this is the thanks I get?"

Ruby followed her to the door as Michelle jumped off the empty beer keg.

"Sorry Grandma," Michelle called over her shoulder, "living in your house is too much work." After her bitter disappointment when she realized that Kyle couldn't make her a drug dealer, Michelle wasn't about to put up with anymore of her grandmother's bossiness and criticism. Her fantasy of escaping her grandmother's rule and her parents' incompetence was going to take longer to fulfill than she had hoped.

Ruby screeched to her from the doorway, "You'll be back! No one can stand to live out in a filthy shed. You wait and see if you don't come back!" She slammed the door shut as Michelle walked up the path and out of view.

When she got to the shed, she found her parents and Ron in their usual places around the campfire with their beer and cigarettes. Warren was laughing his mostly toothless laugh and slapping his thigh with his cigarette holding hand.

"Couldn't handle it, could you?" He laughed at Michelle from the old toilet he was using as a chair.

"Told you so," Darlene remarked as she poked at the fire, "the lazy bitch only wanted you to be her fill-in slave while Alice is laid up."

"Hey watch your mouth," Warren stopped laughing, "that's my mother you're talking about."

"No shit," Darlene stopped poking.

"Takes one to know one," Warren tormented, "talk about a lazy bitch."

"Fuck you," Darlene swigged her beer. Ron ignored both of them and lit a cigarette.

"Where's Michael?" Michelle asked her mother.

"Don't know, haven't seen him," Darlene wasn't concerned.

"Didn't I ground that kid?" Warren was getting angry.

"I know he isn't allowed to eat, but I don't think you grounded him," Michelle argued.

"Well if I didn't, I should have!" Warren was laughing again," you didn't sneak him any food at the house, did you?"

"No, he said he ate here," she taunted.

"No, he didn't. I took care of that. When I say no food, I mean no food."

"Actually, you said no hotdogs."

"Well, we hardly never eat anything else, so that's the same as saying no food. Now stop arguing and giving me a hard time."

"I'll find him," Michelle started back down the path.

Michelle found Michael sitting in the yard with his back against the Duster.

"Didn't you see me go up the hill before?" she asked her brother.

"Yeah"

"Well, why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"I don't know." Michael was still distressed that his grandmother believed he was a loser.

"You want to walk to the corner in front of the bar and try to find a drug dealer there?"

"OK," Michael got up and followed his sister, "why not."

It was getting dark as they reached the bar and the light from inside spilled out onto the sidewalk from the storefront window. The siblings stood leaning against the front of the building just past the window where colorful neon beer signs beckoned to many of the blue-collar workers in the neighborhood. A blue Chevy pickup truck pulled up to the curb in front of the kids. The driver opened the door and empty beer cans fell out clanking on the road. He slammed the door shut, kicked the cans under the truck, and walked into the bar.

"Ten cents!" Michael called and dove under the truck to retrieve the cans. He got up and shoved a can in each pocket of his jean jacket and took his place against the wall.

"We're going to need a lot more money than that to start our business," Michelle remarked, "that asshole Kyle said twenty bucks isn't enough to buy drugs—unless he was lying."

"We'll just find more cans," Michael was feeling more optimistic with the acquisition of his ten-cent cans.

"That's what Mom does and you never see her getting rich, do you?" Michelle looked disgusted.

"No, but she gives all the can money to Dad or she buys beer and cigarettes with it."

"At least we don't waste our money on that stuff," Michelle nodded and pat her jeans pocket where she kept the twenty dollars.

"Yeah," Michael grinned, "we're going to buy a lot of drugs!"

"Keep looking for someone who might be a drug dealer," Michelle glanced at the cars parked in front of the bar and decided they weren't expensive enough to be driven by a drug dealer.

"Why didn't you ask that guy I got the cans from?" Michael inquired.

"Duh!" Michelle looked at her brother, "a drug dealer wouldn't be driving a pick up truck full of empty beer cans.

"Oh, yeah," Michael realized Michelle was right.

"Check this one out," Michelle watched a Cadillac park behind the pick-up truck. A bleach blonde woman in her forties got out and went into the bar.

"Why didn't you ask her?" Michael asked, "She had a nice car. Maybe she's a drug dealer."

"Duh again," Michelle was getting annoyed, "women aren't drug dealers."

"Well, you want to be."

"Well, I'll be the first."

"Maybe drug dealers don't go to this bar," Michael suggested.

"They have to," explained Michelle, "that's where they drum up all of their business."

"Then why did we have to run away to New London to become drug dealers, when we can be drug dealers at home?"

"Don't you remember?" Michelle looked at her brother's perplexed face, "I wanted to meet a really rich drug dealer who will hire us. There aren't any really big ones here. The ones around here work for the really big ones. But now we have to meet a small one who will hook us up with a big one. Do you get it?"

"I think so."

"Good, because I'm not going to explain it again," Michelle went back to watching for potential drug dealers.

A few minutes later a big car pulled up in front of the bar. The driver turned off the engine and seemed to be organizing something in his lap. When he finally emerged from the car Michelle's eyes lit up. Here was a black man driving a big fancy car preparing to enter the bar. He must be a drug dealer!

Michelle was there to greet him as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Michael caught up to her a second later, a big grin on his face.

"Excuse me," Michelle said eagerly.

The man looked at Michelle, "Can I help you?"

"Are you a drug dealer?" Michael blurted out.

"Am I a what?" the man looked incredulously at the two kids.

"A drug dealer," Michael was still grinning.

"No," the man knew these kids must have been inexperienced with drugs or they would know who the drug dealers were, "why are you looking for a drug dealer?"

"So we can work for him and be rich so we can get our own apartment," Michael grinned.

"Why do you need your own apartment?" The man believed the kids must be slightly retarded, "Don't you have parents?"

"Yeah, but we don't want to live with them anymore," Michael's grin disappeared.

"Why? Are they abusive to you?"

"They don't hit us or anything."

"Then my advice to you is to finish school, get a job and then get your own apartment," he began walking toward the bar and stopped to add, "go home and stay away from drug dealers."

"I think your advice sucks," Michelle remarked with a defiant look on her face.

"I'm just trying to keep the prison population down because that's where drug dealers end up."

"How do you know?" Michelle asked angrily.

"I'm a cop," the man went into the bar.

Michelle paced in frustration while Michael watched, "We're just wasting our time here."

"Why?"

"Because, you idiot, no drug dealers are going into this bar to do business now that there's a cop inside.

"Maybe they won't know he's a cop either."

"Drug dealers know who all the cops are. They have to so they don't get caught," She walked toward home and said, "Come on, let's go home and think of a new plan. Mom and Dad are probably passed out by now."

Chapter 20

"Warren!" Ruby screeched out the back door into the dark. She could see the campfire burning near the shed as it glowed and twinkled through the overgrowth like a fallen star struggling to survive. Ruby reasoned that Warren and Darlene would still be awake with the fire raging like that.

She called again and Warren came into view staggering toward the light of the house. "What do you want?" He slurred up at his mother, squinting from the light that glowed from within the house.

"I need you to run to the store and get me some cigarettes."

"Oh what the fuck," Warren was irritated, "Didn't you go out before?"

"Yes," Ruby put her hands on her hips, "and you didn't even ask me how your sister is."

"Why didn't you get cigarettes when you were out?"

"Because I didn't need any then."

"So you figured you'd just get me to go out later."

"It's the least you could do, since you wouldn't go to the hospital to see your sister."

"All right," Warren gave in, "give me the money."

"Why?" Ruby flipped her raggedy hair out of her face, "you got paid today."

Warren threw his hands up and let them fall against his thighs as he turned away from Ruby, "Jesus Christ!" I not only have to run your errands but I have to buy too?"

"Just hurry back," Ruby went back to her TV leaving Warren to find his way in the dark.

Stumbling over junk in the yard and over his own uncoordinated feet, Warren mumbled incoherent complaints brought on by the difficulties he was having walking through the yard. Warren took a shortcut through Linda Madison's yard. Linda heard the mumbling as she got ready for bed and looked out the window. She was opening her mouth to yell at him to get out of her yard when Warren stopped staggering to urinate on one of her shrubs. She was so disgusted she had to move away from the window, "I'll be glad when my yard is fenced in to keep those animals out," she said to herself as she pulled down her shade.

After relieving himself and managing to zip his fly up halfway he found his way to the sidewalk in front of Linda's house and continued his stumble toward the store. The light from the bar shone out onto the sidewalk and onto the cars parked in front. He stood outside the plate glass window and curiously peered inside to see who was at the bar. When he recognized Ralph Gore, he tripped up the step and entered the building.

"Hey, buddy, how's it going?" Warren almost fell into Ralph as he spoke.

Ralph turned to see Warren's remaining black and brownish yellow teeth as he grinned through his scruffy facial hair.

"Hey, Warren," Ralph reluctantly responded, "I haven't seen you in here in years, "What's going on?"

"Not much, man. Just working and spending time with the family, you know." Warren stuck out his chest proudly and lit a cigarette. He blew smoke directly into Ralph's face, "Yeah, I'm a real family man."

"Darlene came into the store today."

"She did?" Warren said suspiciously.

"Yeah, just to turn in some cans, that's all," Then Ralph remembered her coming out of the restroom soaking wet, "you guys still live in your Mom's house?"

"Hell no," Warren said proudly, "we got our own place now. It's still close to Mom though. She's getting kinda old and needs us close by in case she breaks a hip or something."

"That's cool," Ralph took a swig of his beer, "So, how's your sister?"

"I don't know," Warren spit as he spoke, "I forgot to ask."

"Huh?" Ralph looked confused, "I thought she still lived with your mother."

"Yeah, but she fell out the window and she's in the hospital now," Warren tried to lean on the bar but his arm only hit the edge and slid off causing him to lose his balance.

Ralph caught him before he fell, but the incident got the bartender's attention. He was a middle-aged man with a shaved head and tattoos on both arms. He had thick black eyebrows that met in the middle. He took a closer look at Warren, "Hey," he walked over to him, "what's your name, buddy?"

"What's it to you?" Warren sprayed the bar with spit.

"You look familiar," the bartender chewed his gum and stared at Warren.

"Warren Kennedy. You probably seen me around. I've lived here all my life," he slurred as he spoke.

"Yeah, yeah, now I remember," the bartender checked something next to the cash register and came back to Warren, "that's what I thought. You were banned from this place three years ago, pal. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Why? I didn't do anything!" Warren had a glassy wide-eyed guilty look as he defended himself, "What did I do?"

"You got in a fight and tried to beat up some guy you were playing pool with. Then you tried beating up everybody who tried to make you stop. Then you puked all over the pool table."

"I don't remember that. I think you got me mixed up with somebody else," Knowing he was guilty, Warren looked nervously around and started backing toward the door.

"Yeah? Well maybe you remember getting up off the sidewalk after being thrown out and then pissing all over the front door!"

"OK, OK," Warren turned, stumbled toward the door, "I'm leaving," Warren staggered up the sidewalk toward the convenience store muttering, "Asshole! I'd piss on your door again except I don't have to go."

He tripped up the step into the convenience store. The clerk, a fifty-year-old bleach blonde wearing heavy makeup was visibly disgusted as she recognized Warren and experienced Warren's lack of personal hygiene.

"Can I help you?" she asked reluctantly.

"Yeah, gimme a pack of those menthol 100's"

She nearly gagged when she caught a whiff of Warren's breath. She hurriedly grabbed the cigarettes and tossed them onto the counter.

Warren tossed four soggy crumpled dollars onto the counter, but the clerk wouldn't take them. "Have a good night," she tried to rush Warren out of the store before he stayed long enough to have his stench linger all night.

"Where's my change," Warren slobbered at her with his grimy hand out.

"Oh, yeah," she hurriedly opened the cash drawer and slid the change across the counter, snatching her hand back before there was any chance of touching him as he reached for it.

"Good help is hard to find these days," he muttered shaking his head as he exited the store.

"Warren," Ruby screeched from the front door this time, knowing Warren must be on his way back from the store.

"Wait a Goddamn minute!" Warren bellowed as he passed by the bar he had just been removed from. The plain clothes cop that Michael and Michelle and encountered the previous evening was just coming out of the door.

"Who are you screaming at, pal?" He asked with an air of authority.

"None of your Goddamn business," Warren kept staggering toward home.

"Warren," Ruby screeched again.

"Hold your fucking shirt on, Ma!" Warren hollered, "I went and got 'em. I paid for 'em, now you can wait a fucking minute for me to give 'em to you!"

"Listen, pal, " the officer warned, " you keep your voice and your profanity down or I'm going to have to arrest you."

"Who the fuck are you?" Warren stopped walking and turned to the cop, "Get the hell out of my face!" he turned and started tripping his way home again.

"Warren!" Ruby screeched for the third time.

"Jesus Christ, Ma!" Warren yelled, "I'm coming. I'd be there a lot sooner if this fucking guy would leave me the fuck alone!"

"All right, buddy, that's enough," the policeman took a pair of handcuffs out of his briefcase and went after Warren who was standing on the sidewalk looking confused at the cop, " I warned you."

"Who the hell are you?" Warren resisted having his hands cuffed.

"I'm Officer Wilson and you're under arrest for breach of peace," He guided Warren toward his car after cuffing him.

"No, man," Warren tried to explain what he was doing and not understanding why he was being arrested, "I was just going home with my mother's cigarettes. She sent me to get them."

The officer radioed for a patrol car to pick up Warren. Ruby in her housedress and slippers arrived on the scene just as the patrol car arrived with its lights flashing.

The bar patrons began spilling out onto the sidewalk to see what was going on while others looked out the window.

The patrolman got out of the car to take Warren into custody.

Warren looked back and forth between the cops and his mother saying, "I don't know what I did. Why am I being arrested? I left when the bartender told me to. I didn't even ask for a beer."

"Where the hell are my cigarettes?" Ruby asked Warren.

"That cop emptied my pockets. They're over on the hood of his car," Warren nodded toward Officer Wilson's car.

Ruby pushed her way over to the car and grabbed the pack of cigarettes. The patrolman saw her and said, "Excuse me ma'am, but what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting my cigarettes," she tore open the pack and took one out," my son here was bringing these to me when you arrested him."

"I guess that's OK," Officer Wilson said.

The patrolman took custody of Warren, explained to Warren his rights and why he was being arrested, and guided him to the back seat of the patrol car.

Ruby walked home in the soothing moonlight smoking her cigarette without a backward glance, as Warren called to her, pleading for her help from the back of the patrol car.

Chapter 21

"I wonder where Warren is?" Darlene said as she cracked open the last can of beer and sat back down in front of her dying fire. She was glad when he left, inadvertently leaving her with the rest of the beer to herself. However, as she opened the last can, she became concerned by his long absence.

"He probably stopped at the bar," Ron laughed as he finished his last beer and got up to leave for the night.

"He's banned from there, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Ron turned around and tripped over the cooler, "Whoa!"

"Did you have a nice trip, Ron?" Darlene slurred.

"Fuck you!" Ron staggered on his way to his car while Darlene sat laughing at him from across her campfire.

She smoked another cigarette and finished off the beer before she thought of Warren again. Since the kids had been in bed for a while Darlene didn't give them a thought. She staggered over to the path and could still see a light on in the house and made her way down the path to the back door. After a couple of knocks, Ruby returned to her lofty position at the screen door.

"What the hell do you want? It's pretty late to be knocking on someone's door, isn't it?" She glared down at Darlene with a smirk of domination and superiority.

"Where's Warren?" Darlene, like Warren, squinted at the light from the living room and swayed as she looked up at Ruby.

"Oh, he's with the cops," she flipped her raggedy hair back in a gesture to flaunt her superiority over Darlene because she had the information Darlene needed.

"The cops!" What's he doing with them?"

"I don't know. They arrested him for something. I don't know what," Ruby made Darlene suffer by making her work to get Ruby to release the coveted details of Warren's situation.

"Well, why the hell didn't you tell me before? What did he get arrested for?" Darlene stumbled trying to keep her balance as she continued looking up at Ruby.

"Are you deaf and drunk?" Ruby raised her raspy voice, "I just said I don't know."

"Well, then how do you know he got arrested?"

"I went to see what was taking him so long to get my cigarettes, and the cops were taking him away."

"I better go to the police station and find out what's going on," she started to fumble around trying to get her car keys out of her pocket.

"Just give it a rest Darlene, or you'll end up arrested too. I'm sure we'll find out in the morning." Ruby didn't want both Warren and Darlene in jail. She didn't want to have to take the kids back into the house without Alice there to take care of them.

"No, I better go down there, Ruby."

"Suit yourself, but don't call me to bail your loser ass out of jail, especially after keeping me out of the ambulance with Alice."

"Because I want Alice to get better and she won't get better around you. You probably shoved her out that window," Darlene tried to pull a cigarette out of her pack and dropped it in the grass. When she bent down to pick it up, she stumbled and stepped on it. After inspecting it by holding it up to catch the light from Ruby's open door, she decided it was still smokeable, yet bent, and put it in her mouth.

Ron climbed out from behind the Maverick, took his lighter out of his pants pocket and lit Darlene's bent cigarette for her.

"Where the hell did you come from," Ruby asked Ron in surprise.

"Yeah, I thought you left," Darlene looked around the yard and noticed Ron's car was still there next to the Maverick. She had walked past it on her way to see Ruby but didn't notice it.

"I had to take a leak and I guess I passed out over there."

"Well now that you're awake you can drive me to the police station."

"Are you out of your fucking mind!" Ron lit himself a cigarette, "I'm fucking shit-faced. I'm not going anywhere near the cops."

"I'll have to go myself then" once again Darlene began searching her pockets for the keys to the Maverick.

"Do yourself a favor and stay home, man" Ron shook his head, "you're crazy. Why do you want to go there anyway?"

"That's where Warren is."

"How the fuck did he get there?"

"Hey, in as much as I'm loving your stupid drunken conversation, a rerun of the Loveboat is on that I haven't seen yet. It's one of the older ones when Vicky was little and cute. She sucked as a teenager. So don't bother me anymore. Do whatever you want to do about Warren." Ruby slammed the door leaving Ron and Darlene outside in the dark.

Darlene explained to Ron what Ruby had described earlier, "That's why I have to go down there."

"No, no," Ron shook his head, "they're probably just going to have him spend the night and sober up. If you go down there, they'll arrest you too because you're just as drunk as he is. Only you'll get DWI on top of being drunk in public. Now, do you want to go up to the shed and get some sleep and pick Warren up in the morning or do you want to go down to the police station now and get thrown in jail for the night? You'll wake up in some nasty jail cell with a nasty hangover with some big nasty bitch as a roommate."

"I guess you're right. I'll wait until morning and go down to pick him up."

"That's a good choice, Darlene," Ron started walking toward his car, "sometimes it's better to think of your own well-being first."

"I guess," Darlene didn't sound completely convinced, but she went back up the path to the shed. It was always strange to her how Ron always seemed to be so smart when he was drunk. When he was sober, he was just another goofy moron like Michael or Warren.

Chapter 22

Darlene woke up to the sound of the Maverick being started. She was sleeping on the couch in the shed having a dream that a plane was about to crash into the shed, but it was just the roaring sound of the Maverick. She knew it had to be Ruby and was angry. Why was Ruby taking off in her car without asking permission when she knew Darlene would be anxious to pick Warren up from jail this morning? Then she realized that that was probably where Ruby was going herself.

She looked around the shed where the sunlight shone through the gaps between the wallboards and saw that the kids were still asleep. They could sleep through any degree of noise, just like their father. She slowly sat up grimacing at the hangover she'd been accustomed to having every morning. "You kids better wake up and get ready for school It must be late," she lit a cigarette.

Michelle rolled over to look at her mother," Ma, today is Saturday and not only that, yesterday was the last day of school."

"Already?" Darlene was surprised, "Did you pass?'

"Yes, barely," Michelle fanned the plumes of smoke from her mother's cigarette away from her face.

"How about your brother?" Darlene took a drag off her cigarette.

"He has to go to summer school for English."

"At least he passed everything else. When does summer school start?"

"Next Monday," Michelle noticed Warren was missing. She was curious, but unconcerned—not really caring if she ever saw him again "Where's Dad?"

"He'll be here pretty soon. Grandma went to get him."

"Where is he?"

"At the police station."

Michelle rolled her eyes, "What did he do? I know he didn't run away to find an apartment like we did."

"I don't know, I wasn't there when he got in trouble. He went to get Grandma a pack of cigarettes and never came back. Grandma went looking for her cigarettes and found him in front of the bar being arrested."

"Probably for trespassing since he's not supposed to go in the bar."

"I don't know," Darlene stamped her cigarette butt out on the floor and stood up, "Since you're out of school for the summer, you can go with me to the laundromat today."

"Oh, great," Michelle whined sarcastically, "then can we walk around town collecting cans? That's so embarrassing. Why can't you just get a job like all the other parents in town?"

"Don't get smart with me. You have a roof over your head and meal every day," Darlene walked around the cramped shed picking up clothes and piling them on the couch, "Not to mention clothes to wear. There's a lot of kids who don't have it half as good as you."

"Name one," Michelle dared.

Avoiding Michelle's challenge Darlene said, "I don't like your attitude, girly," She sat on the couch and held her pounding head, "you could have stayed at Grandma's, but you wanted to come back here so it can't be all that bad."

"Grandma treated me like a slave!"

"I told you she would."

"No wonder Aunt Alice jumped out the window."

"Yeah," Darlene smirked, "what took her so long?"

"How come Dad won't move away from Grandma? She threw him out of the house and he still lives in the yard. Why doesn't he want to have his own house?"

"I wish I knew. All I can think is that he's such a Goddamn Momma's boy that he's afraid to move away from her."

"Does that mean Michael will be the same way with you?"

"Like hell he will!" Darlene lifted her head, "When he's eighteen, he's out of here!"

Michelle handed her mother the old duffel bag she used for laundry. Darlene began stuffing all of the dirty clothes into the bag. They only own two sets of clothes each, so laundry had to be done frequently. Then she yanked a pair of jeans Michael was using for a pillow out from under his sleeping head.

"Ow," he whined in his sleep, "I didn't do anything, Dad."

Michelle and Darlene looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then Darlene had to sit down and hold her throbbing head. She set the duffel bag full of dirty laundry down on the floor and it fell over onto Michael's head.

"Get off of me, Dad," Michael mumbled, dreaming that his father was hitting him.

Michelle picked the bag up and leaned it against the door laughing at her brother, "Why don't you wake up so 'Dad' will leave you alone?" She nudged him with her foot.

"What?" Michael sat up on the floor, "Is it time for school already?"

"Not yet, Mr. Flunked out of English," Darlene looked down at him through her hung over dark circled-eyes.

His eyes opened wide in a panic, "How do you know about that?"

"I just know about these things. It'll be good for you to go to summer school. It'll keep you out of trouble," Darlene stood up and searched her pockets for money to do laundry, "Shit! What happened to my laundry money?"

"You don't have it?" Michael asked innocently.

"Obviously not," Michelle answered.

"Well, we just can't go to the laundromat then," Darlene picked up the duffel bag and opened the door. She turned back to the kids, "Come on, I need your help."

Michael lazily pushed himself to his feet, "Where are we going?"

"For a little walk. Here," she shoved the duffel bag at him, "carry this."

"Oh," he groaned as he slung the bag over his shoulder hitting Michelle in the head with it.

She fell backwards onto the couch, "Hey, watch it, moron!"

"Sorry," he turned to help his sister off the couch with his free hand.

"Stop screwing around and get moving," Darlene called from outside.

When they came out, Darlene had the old baby stroller unfolded, "Here, Michael, you can put that in here. It'll be easier to get it back home again. Michelle, grab the bottle of laundry soap, will ya?"

Michelle rolled her eyes and with a sigh of annoyance went back into the shed coming out seconds later with the bottle of detergent, "I left Grandma because I couldn't stand her bossing me around and now I have you bossing me around."

"How are we going to wash clothes with no money?" Michael asked.

"We're going down to the river where we go fishing," Darlene started down the path. The kids followed with the laundry and detergent stuffed into the baby stroller.

"Oh my God!" Michelle exclaimed in embarrassment, "you're not serious."

"Do you want clean clothes?" Darlene glared at Michelle.

"OK," Michelle sulked, "Let's go."

"Should I try to catch a fish while we're there?" Michael wanted to help.

"The fish won't come near us while we're doing laundry, stupid," Darlene bumped the stroller toward the driveway and a wheel fell off, "Shit," she stopped to fix it. After standing up too fast her head pounded worse and she closed her eyes for a second while the kids stood waiting.

"Thanks for coming to fucking get me, Darlene." Warren was walking up the driveway. Darlene's eyes popped open, "Thanks a lot for the fucking ride home."

"Warren!" Darlene was confused.

"Yeah, what did you forget all about me or what?"

"When I heard the car start this morning I thought Ruby had gone to get you."

"Well, guess what? I don't know where the hell she went, but she didn't come to the police station," Warren held his hand out, "Give me a cigarette."

"What happened anyway?" Darlene handed him a cigarette, "Ruby said the cops took you away when you went to get her cigarettes."

"I was creating a disturbance so the cops took me to jail to sleep it off."

"Did they arrest you?"

"No," Warren, acting as though he had put one over on the cops, chuckled showing his mouth full of missing teeth, "They were going to but they ended up giving me a warning."

"What were you doing that caused a disturbance?"

"What is this, a million questions or what?" Warren waved his hand with the cigarette up and down and explained to Darlene as though he were repeating himself the hundredth time, even though this was the first explanation he had given of his adventure, "I was coming back from buying my mother's cigarettes when I guess I was taking too long. She started calling me from the front of the house. I started answering her back, but she still kept calling, so I kept answering. It just so happened that a plain clothes cop was standing outside the bar for some reason and he had me taken away."

"I wonder why a cop was at the bar," Darlene asked.

"I don't know, but it would have been nice if someone had come down to get me."

"I wanted to last night but Ron and Ruby said I was too drunk to drive and I'd end up in jail too."

"Ma could've come to get me last night and she didn't and she could've come to get me this morning and she didn't," Warren was annoyed as he took a long drag from his cigarette.

"Yeah," Darlene laughed, "she shoves Alice out the window and gets you hauled off to jail. That's our Ruby!"

"Don't badmouth my mother like that!"

"Well, excuse us," Darlene began struggling down the rocky driveway pushing the old stroller and kids following along, "We're going to do the wash."

"Hey," Warren called after them, "what about my breakfast!"

"We didn't have any, why should you?" Darlene hollered as she stopped to put the wheel back on the stroller again.

"Michael," Warren yelled, "try and catch us some breakfast while you're down there."

Darlene and Michelle rolled their eyes at this suggestion, "Like father, like son," Darlene said.

After a moment, Michael asked, "Mom, do you really think I'm like Dad?"

"Yeah, only younger."

Michael sulked and Michelle smirked.

When they got to the cement bridge that carried the road over the river, Michael helped Darlene carry the stroller and its contents down the steep embankment to the water. Michelle following behind ran down the embankment and stood under the bridge at the edge of the water hoping nobody saw her.

"Help me get all the clothes wet," Darlene instructed as she emptied the duffle bag on the shore, "then I'll use the big rock here to scrub the clothes on."

Michael and Michelle went to where Darlene dumped out the clothes and began picking them up. One by one Michelle and Darlene saturated each piece of clothing and Darlene used the detergent and the large smooth rock to scrub them.

"Michael," Darlene threw a pair of jeans at him, "You can help with the rinsing. Make sure all the soap is out of the clothes so we don't get a rash. Ever since we've been living in the shed, your father's had a rash between his legs. He says it's my fault for not rinsing the clothes good enough."

"Oh my God," Michelle remarked in disgust, "did he ever think maybe his rash is from never taking a shower?"

"No," Darlene answered as she worked, "that would make it his fault. Nothing is ever his fault, is it?" She began throwing soapy clothes at Michael faster than he could rinse them, "Michelle, help your brother."

"OK, but I'm taking them under the bridge so nobody sees me doing it," she grabbed a few things and took them under the bridge, "and I'm not doing Dad's underwear, or anyone else's. And, by the way, everything is Dad's fault and yours too."

"I don't know what you're so embarrassed about," Darlene hollered over to her as she worked, "The people who see us should feel like stupidasses when they see how much money we're saving by not going to the laundromat."

"Yeah," Michael grinned as he worked, "and how much money they save by not buying their own washing machine."

"That's right," Darlene agreed.

"We're not doing it to save money," Michelle argued, "we're doing it because we don't have any money."

"Hey, at least we're doing it," Darlene answered proudly, "there are some people who don't know enough to wash their clothes."

"Yeah, they have enough money to throw their clothes away and get new ones," Michelle sulked as she wallowed in her feelings of deprivation.

"You have a bad attitude, Michelle, a bad fucking attitude," Darlene stated sadly, "it's only going to make you miserable."

"Make me miserable!" she stuffed the clean wet clothes into the duffle bag, "I'm already miserable."

"Well, you've got to adjust that attitude and you'll be happy."

"I'll never be happy living in a shed, eating hotdogs every night, and washing clothes in the river."

"Well, just be that way then," Darlene dismissed her.

"Hey, look over there!" Michael pointed to something under the water, "it's a bike!"

Michelle went closer to see for herself, "That's not a bike, it's a moped."

"Really?" Michael was excited over his find, "I'm taking it home."

"What the hell for? It obviously won't work," Darlene was wringing water out of a pair of jeans.

"I bet I can get it to run," Michael said confidently.

"Sure, why not? What's another piece of junk in the yard? I need you to help me push this wet laundry home first," Darlene struggled to fit all the wet clothes back into the duffle bag while Michelle remained partway under the bridge in concealment, "These aren't going to fit now that they're clean. I wonder why, you'd think they'd fit better now that all of the dirt is out of them," she had Michael hoist the bag into the stroller and then she piled the remaining clothes on top.

"Probably because now they're full of water," Michelle explained in a tone that revealed how stupid she believed her mother to be.

"Oh, yeah, smartass," Darlene retorted, "you can carry the detergent home," she turned the stroller backwards and started pulling it up the embankment to the road, "Michael, help me get this up the hill."

Michael pushed while Darlene pulled and they got the heavy, awkward load to the street. Michelle, consumed with misery, followed behind with the detergent.

Chapter 23

Michael pushed the stroller up the rocky driveway, while Darlene replaced the loose wheel about six times along the way. The Maverick was back in the yard, but neither Ruby nor Warren were outside. They got the stroller with the heavy wet clothes up the path to the shed and Darlene sat down on her beer keg to catch her breath and have a cigarette.

"Can I go get my moped now?" Michael asked eagerly.

"Yeah," Darlene waved him away, "I don't need you for anything else."

Michael started down the path when he heard his father come out of the shed, "Michael. Where are you going?"

"Mom said I can bring home a moped I found in the river. I think I can get it running."

"A moped, huh?" Warren seemed interested, "I'll give you a ride over."

"OK," Michael was excited that his father was taking an interest in him. He ran down the path and jumped into the passenger seat of the Maverick.

"Where abouts is it?" Warren asked as he got in and started the car.

Michael had to yell to be heard over the loud car. When Warren stepped on the gas, Michael could feel the vibration go through his body and inhaled the exhaust that seeped into the car.

When they got to the bridge, Warren parked the car in the grass at the side of the road. They made their way down the embankment to the river's edge where Michael had found the moped.

"Let's see what else is down here," Warren walked along the water's edge peering into the water.

"I thought you were going to help me get my moped," Michael whined.

"I will, but first I wanna see what else we can get," Warren was intently peering into the water to see if anything was on the bottom.

"Look at this!" Warren almost fell into the water he was bent over so far.

"What," Michael was slightly interested. He walked over to Warren.

"It's a whole couch!" Warren exclaimed, "we could use this so Mom doesn't have to sleep on the floor anymore."

"So, how are we going to get this stuff home?" Michael wrinkled his brow as though he was thinking, but he wasn't.

"I have some rope in the trunk," Warren said, "go and get it."

"I need the key," Michael held his hand out toward his father.

"No you don't," Warren explained in a know-all tone, "just stick your fingers in the hole where the lock used to be and lift open the trunk."

"Where the trunk lock used to be?"

"No, where the roof lock used to be," Warren put his hands on his hips and called after Michael, "what are you, some kind of moron? What other lock would I be talking about when we're talking about the trunk? Jesus Christ, I can't believe you go to school every day and you're still as dumb as a stump. These schools are just no good. They don't teach you nothing. I can see I didn't miss anything by quitting school. I'm glad I didn't waste my time."

Michael returned with the rope and Warren snatched it out of his hand, "Go tie this around the couch while I move the car."

"What about my moped?"

"Don't worry, we'll get that too," Warren jumped into the car and backed it as close to the edge of the embankment as he could. He ran back down to where Michael was still tying the rope. He was in the waist deep water wrapping the rope around the width of the couch. When he finished, he didn't have enough left to tie a knot.

"Not like that!" Warren yelled impatiently, "Unwrap that."

Michael unwrapped the couch and stood waiting for instructions.

"Now, you gotta tie it around from underneath," Warren pointed at the couch, "Now get under water and feed the rope under the couch."

Michael looked reluctant and stood with the wet rope in his hands examining the couch. He dove underwater to feed the rope under the couch, but came up a moment later with the rope still loose in his hand.

"What's the problem?" Warren called.

"The couch is all sunk into the mud. How am I going to get the rope through there?"

"Oh for Christ's sake," Warren sat on a rock, "just move your hand under the couch through the mud, or try to lift the end of the couch and get the rope underneath."

Michael went underwater again and was able to stuff the rope partway through. He came up for air and went to the back of the couch to pull the rope through.

Warren remained seated and smoked a cigarette. "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah, I think so," Michael climbed out of the water, his clothes dripping and clinging to him.

"OK," Warren stood up and flicked his cigarette butt into the water and climbed the embankment once more, "Now you stay down there and guide the couch while I pull it up the hill with the car."

"How are you going to do that?" Michael asked, "The couch isn't attached to the car."

"Well, attach it to the car with the rope."

Michael grabbed the free end of the rope and climbed the embankment and began to loop the rope around the bumper of the Maverick. Just then Warren started the car sending a thundercloud of smoke into Michael's face.

"Oh," Michael coughed and gasped.

"Are you ready?" Warren called out the window, "Get back down there with the couch."

Michael took his position behind the couch. Warren gave the car a little gas to try to ease the couch up the embankment, but the car wasn't moving. He gave the car a little more gas and still it wouldn't pull the heavy, wet couch up the hill. He lost his patience and floored the car. It sounded like a loud endless clap of thunder without an exhaust system, but it finally moved. It moved so sharply that Michael fell flat as the couch was yanked out from under his hands. He got up with dirt and leaves and cigarette butts stuck to the front of his wet clothes just in time to see the Maverick move away from view and the couch zooming up the embankment, the legs of the couch leaving deep ruts in the ground.

He ran up the embankment to see the Maverick with the couch behind it heading for the corner. The lack of exhaust system made the air so full of noise that no one could hear the awful scraping of the couch legs as they were wildly dragged down the street and around the corner. Warren had the sense to drive slowly and traffic was light. The rope was too long for the car to pull the couch around the corner at the intersection. Warren had to pull over and push the couch around the corner, while screaming at Michael to catch up. He had the same problem when he got to the driveway. He drove the car into the driveway, and then had to get out and push the couch so it was directly behind the car or he would have dragged it through the brush and garbage of the curbside in front of the house. When he had the couch lined up with the driveway, he drove up into the yard, couch still in tow.

"Darlene!" He called as he got out of the car. He went to the back of the car to untie the rope just as Michael, tired and out of breath, came running up the driveway. "Help me untie this, Michael."

"What about my moped?" He panted from running all the way back from the river, soaking wet.

"Don't worry," Warren couldn't untie the knot because pulling the couch with the car made it too tight to loosen, "We'll go get it."

Darlene came down the path and Ruby came to the door to see what was going on. "What do you want?" Darlene walked to the back of the car, "where'd you get the couch?

"Well," Warren straightened up from working on the knot, "it's soaking wet. Where do you think we got it?"

"You pulled it out of the river?" she wasn't impressed.

"Yeah," Warren acted like he brought her home an expensive gift, "I got it for you. Don't you like it?"

"Well," Darlene thought a few seconds, "I guess it'll be OK when it's dry. How long does it take to dry?"

"I don't know," Warren said sarcastically, "I didn't read the instructions."

"Why do you have to be such a smartass?" Darlene raised her voice.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch?" Warren lit a cigarette and then used Ron's pocketknife he borrowed to cut his steak the previous evening to cut through the rope leaving the knot and a foot length of rope hanging from the car. "Why can't you just be grateful for everything I provide you with? I bring you home some furniture so you don't have to sleep on the floor anymore and you don't even thank me." He cut the other end of the rope where it was slung around the couch.

"Yeah, well I'll still be sleeping in a shed!" Darlene stomped back up the path.

"How are you going to get it up the path?" Michael asked.

"Me and you are going to carry it, but we'll leave it down here to dry first."

"You think you're going to leave that piece of garbage laying around in my yard!" Ruby interjected from the doorway.

"But you don't mind being seen around town driving in my piece of shit car do you?" Warren walked closer to the door to yell at Ruby.

"Don't you yell at me, Sonny" Ruby stood defiantly with her chubby hands on her enormous hips.

"Because of you, I had to walk home from the police station this morning. I'll yell at you if I want. I have every right," Warren stood his ground.

"I thought Darlene went to pick you up last night," Ruby faked surprise, "I thought you were already home or I would have picked you up."

"Bullshit!" Warren spit, "Darlene said you talked her out of driving because she was drunk."

"Well, there you go," Ruby shook her head in sympathy for her son, "Darlene is telling you lies again."

"What?" Warren was confused.

"Oh, yeah," Ruby admitted, "I heard that car start up last night. You can't help but hear it, it's so loud. I did try to talk her out of driving, but I thought she went anyway."

"I don't know," Warren was uncertain whom to believe.

"I went to visit your poor sister this morning," Ruby sighed.

"How is she?" Warren asked while Michael was impatiently waiting for him.

"Not very good," Ruby sighed and shook her head, "she still hasn't said anything since she went out that window. I don't even think she recognizes me. You should go see her Warren. Maybe it would help her to see you since you're twins."

"I don't know," Warren looked contemplative and stroked his beard, "I hate hospitals. I don't think us being twins makes any difference."

"She just lays there looking at the ceiling," Ruby whined with concern, "she doesn't even watch TV."

"No?" Warren looked incredulous, "that's bad, maybe I'll go see her."

"Maybe she'll recognize you."

"Can't I just wait until she comes home?"

"She can't come home if she doesn't get better," Ruby was beginning to get annoyed at Warren's reluctance to do what she asked, "what good would she be laying in bed staring at the ceiling for the rest of her life?"

"I don't know," Warren thought a minute, "She wasn't any use to me when she was here before."

"Warren!" Ruby scolded, "She's your sister, so do as I say and go visit her. Help her get better so she can come home and get back to normal."

"OK, OK," Warren relented, "I'll go see her today. It'll take up a big chunk of my weekend though. I mean I work hard all week long, I should be able to relax and enjoy my weekend."

"Make sure you get to the hospital today," Ruby ordered and turned away from the door. She turned back to add, "and get that piece of shit couch out of my driveway."

"Jesus Christ, she expects me to do everything!" Warren walked back over to the couch where Michael was waiting and playing with the knife Warren used to cut the rope.

"Put that knife down and help me move this couch," Warren stood ready to lift one end.

Michael stooped over the other end, "It's heavy."

"Don't be a wimp," Warren tried to lift his end with little success, "it's heavy because it's wet."

"Oh," Michael said, "how are we going to move it?"

"I know how we can get it partway up the hill. Then after it's dried out we can carry it the rest of the way," Warren jumped back into the car and started it blowing a cloud of black smoke around the car, the couch, and Michael. He pulled the car forward so he could back up and get the car behind the couch. He gently pushed the couch into the yard with the car. He turned the wheel and pushed it a few feet onto the path and considered it a job well done.

"Now can we go get my moped?" Michael asked as Warren parked the car.

"Yeah," Warren seemed put out, "grab the rope and get in the car."

Ruby returned to her vantage point behind the screen door, "Warren! Get that car out of the yard! I can't hear my TV and you're filling my house with exhaust fumes."

"You wanted the couch out of the driveway, didn't you? This is the only way I can move it. The fucking thing weighs too much to carry until it dries out," Warren backed the car out of the yard and into the driveway, "Come on, Michael, let's go."

"Get me some cigarettes while you're out," Ruby called after them.

"Like hell I will!" Warren yelled out the window, "that's how I ended up in jail last night! Why the fuck didn't you get any when you were out this morning leaving me to fucking walk home from the police station?"

"I didn't know I needed any," Ruby gave Warren a sheepish look, "please, Warren. I would do it for you."

"OK, OK," Warren gave in just like Ruby knew he would, "We'll be back in a few."

"Warren," Ruby added sweetly, "remember to get the 100's. Last night you only got me the regulars."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Warren gunned the Maverick and threw rocks from under the car's bald tires as he left the driveway.

They went back to their treasure spot by the river. Warren remembered to tie the rope to the bumper before he climbed down the embankment. Michael waded into the river once again and smiling dragged the moped up onto the grass.

"Here," Warren held out the other end of the rope to Michael, "tie it on good."

"Aren't we going to just tie it into the trunk? We can't drag it like the couch. It'll get ruined."

"We're not going to drag it unless you fall over."

"I have to run along side holding it up?"

"No, moron," Warren raised his impatient voice, "You're going to steer it while I pull you with the car."

"Oh, cool!" Michael began happily tying the rope to the handlebars, "I'm ready."

Michael hopped onto the seat and grabbed the handlebars while Warren climbed the embankment and got into the car. When the car started moving, Michael lifted his feet and put them on the pedals. He couldn't keep his balance on the slow upgrade, though, so he had to put both feet down desperately trying not to fall over while screaming for help to Warren who couldn't hear him over the loud car. The moped tipped from one side to the other as Michael hopped from side to side wobbling the front wheel in an attempt to keep his balance and stay upright.

It was much easier to balance the moped once Warren pulled him up onto the road. That was when Michael noticed that both tires were flat making it difficult to steer. They needed to take a sharp right turn at the intersection they were approaching. Michael was preparing to make the turn when the light turned red. That was when he discovered that the brakes didn't work. Warren stopped the car and Michael couldn't stop the moped. He slammed into the back of the Maverick and landed on the trunk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Warren yelled out the window, "Didn't you see the light turning red?"

Michael's heart was racing, but other than that he wasn't injured. He climbed off the car and picked up the moped. The light turned green and Warren gunned the Maverick just as Michael climbed back on. He was still shaky but breathed a sigh of relief when he managed to steer safely around the corner. Warren slowed down as they neared the driveway. This time Michael was prepared not to run into the back of the Maverick. He guided the moped toward the passenger side of the car. A car was coming from the opposite direction and Warren had to stop to wait for it to pass. Michael steered to the right of the Maverick avoiding it and almost passing it until the rope pulled taut and he flew off of the moped and tumbled over the guardrail leaving the moped on the road still attached to the Maverick.

Warren didn't see any part of what happened to his son because he was watching for the other car to pass to make the left-hand turn into the driveway. When it did, he drove into the driveway dragging the moped behind him. Michael was sitting up next to the guardrail calling to his father who couldn't hear him over the loud roar of the car.

Bruised, dirty, wet and disappointed, Michael trudged up the driveway to inspect what was left of his moped.

"Where the hell were you?" Warren asked him as he cut the rope from the moped, "why'd you let go of it. It's probably no good now."

"The brakes didn't work and I fell off when you stopped. He picked up the moped and stood it up on the kickstand.

"Maybe you can get the rusty piece of shit to run. You never know," Warren walked up the path to get a beer.

"Warren!" Ruby called from the doorway.

Warren stopped in his tracks and whined, "Oh, shit, I forgot her cigarettes.'

"Where are my cigarettes?" she asked in a demanding tone.

Warren walked over to where Michael was examining the moped, threw some money at him and ordered, "Go get your grandma her cigarettes."

"But I'm not old enough to buy cigarettes. You have to be sixteen, "he held the money out in his hand as though he were afraid to touch it.

Warren snatched the money from Michael's hand and said, "I have to do everything myself. You useless people couldn't survive without me." He stomped down the rocky driveway mumbling and slipping on stones all the way down to the sidewalk.

Michael stood pouting next to his moped.

"What the hell is that?" Michelle came down the path to where her brother stood, "Is that your new moped?"

"Yeah," Michael whined, "it was a lot nicer until Dad dragged it up the driveway with the car."

"What did he do that for?"

"Because he's an asshole. Did you forget? You're the one who's always telling me that."

"I knew you'd wise up one of these days," Michelle smacked Michael on the back, "How'd you get it home?" Did Dad drag it all the way from the river?"

"No, he tied it to the car and made me ride it home," Michael rubbed his leg as though he were rubbing bruises, "the brakes don't work so I fell off a couple of times."

"No way."

"Way!"

"So, what are you going to do with it? Do you think you can get it running?"

"Yeah, I'm going to try real hard," Michael leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Then when we run away to get our own place again we won't have to walk."

"Yeah, and we can sell a lot more drugs if we have transportation," Michelle was getting enthusiastic, "we can deliver."

Chapter 24

Warren muttered to himself as he walked to the little country style convenience store he had visited the previous night. A bell on the top of the door jingled as he entered. This time there was a short old man behind the counter reading the newspaper. He looked up in tolerant recognition when Warren entered and approached the counter. He had heard the whole story about the cops taking Warren away the night before, but was too polite to mention it. He didn't want to embarrass Warren.

The man had owned the store for decades and knew everyone in the neighborhood by name, "Good morning, Warren. What can I get for you today?" He treated all of his customers equally well no matter how unpleasant they were. Everyone called him Pops.

"My mother's out of cigarettes again, Pops." Warren complained.

Pops knew what brand Ruby smoked and laid a pack on the counter, "Can I get you anything else?" Pops never showed any expression of repulsion toward Warren's filthy appearance or foul odor. He had known Ruby since she moved to the neighborhood and knew she had never been very strict about personal hygiene herself. Pops would have been surprised to find Warren's habits any different from his mother's, especially since Warren was always so devoted to her.

"How much is that sliced bologna," Warren waved his grubby hand toward the deli case.

"It's a dollar fifty a pound. Can I get you a pound?" Pops prepared to pick up the stick of bologna.

"Is that all?" Warren was surprised at the bargain, "give me two pounds. We can make two meals out of it."

"It would taste good on some bread, you know," Pop suggested as he sliced the meat.

"I only got one paycheck. I'm not made out of money," Warren grumbled.

"Oh," Pop was pleasantly surprised, "you're working? Where at?"

"At the redemption center," Warren said proudly.

"Oh, very good," Pops wrapped the meat, "what do you do there?"

"Sort shit," Warren dug in his pocket for some money as Pop rang up the two items.

"I was just reading in the paper that they're going to have a job fair at that new Indian casino. Maybe you and Darlene would be interested in that."

"Oh, yeah," Warren sounded slightly interested, "when is it?"

Warren handed Pop the money while Pop checked the newspaper for more information. "Here," Pop handed Warren the page with the ad, "you take it home and look it over. Maybe Darlene would also be interested."

"OK, but I doubt if my wife would be interested. She's allergic to work," Warren picked up his purchases and the newspaper page grinning his almost toothless grin, "as long as I bring home the paycheck, she's happy."

Pop shook his head after Warren left the store. Over the years he'd see Darlene with a trash bag, or shopping cart or baby stroller picking up cans along the side of the road. He knew which family member was allergic to work, and it wasn't Darlene.

Since the package store was next door to the convenience store, Warren decided to get his beer and ice for the day so he wouldn't have to go out later. He didn't sleep very well at the police station and needed a nap before he started drinking for the day.

"Hey, man, long time no see!" Warren greeted Ralph who was at his usual place behind the register, "How's it going, man?"

"About the same as when I saw you last night, Warren," Ralph backed off when he caught a whiff of Warren's stench that seemed to have worsened since the previous night, "Hey, Warren, you want to use the restroom like Darlene did the other day?"

"No, I'm all dehydrated from last night. I don't need to go," he walked to the back of the store and grabbed a case of the cheap beer and a bag of ice, "I'll take a raincheck on the offer though," he smiled gesturing toward the beer.

Ralph rang up the purchases and took the money from Warren, "I saw the cops take you away last night. Rumor has it that they arrested you for pushing Alice out the window."

Warren's smile faded to a scowl, "Bullshit! I was at work when she fell out the fucking window."

Ralph held up his open hands, "OK, OK, don't get pissed at me. I was just passing along the rumor."

"Well, don't pass it to anyone else because it's bullshit," Warren stuffed the cigarettes in his jeans pocket, put the bologna under his armpit, and carried the case of beer and the ice in each hand, and stormed angrily out of the store.

"Un-fucking-believable," Warren muttered as he stalked down the sidewalk toward home. He didn't notice a car pull up alongside of him on the other side of the road.

"Hey Warren!" It was Ron who had pulled over to the side.

"What?" Warren looked around and saw Ron sitting there in his car, "Oh, what are you doing scaring me like that?" Warren was afraid the police wanted him again, especially after hearing Ralph's rumor.

"I stopped to see if you want a ride. I'm going to your house anyway," Ron called.

"Thanks, man," Warren crossed the street and loaded his goods into Ron's car and sat down, slamming the door behind him.

"Hey, man, don't shatter my window," Ron pulled away from the curb and headed to Warren's place, which was only about one hundred feet up the road.

"I need some sleep, man," Warren yawned, "I couldn't sleep good at the police station. I gotta take a nap before we start drinking."

"I wasn't coming over to drink," Ron smiled, "I'm taking Ruby to the hospital to visit Alice. I'll drink some beer after I get back."

"Why are you taking her? I have a car," Warren felt slighted, "and she's my sister. Besides, she just went to visit her this morning."

"She asked me to drive her because your Maverick is too loud," Ron drove up the driveway and parked next to the Maverick like he always did.

Warren picked up the bologna from the pile he had on the floor between his legs and stuffed it back under his arm. Then he grabbed the beer and the ice, "Wanna come up to the shed and have lunch with us?"

Ron glanced at the deli package sticking out from Warren's armpit and said, "Oh, no thanks, man. I already ate."

"OK then, more for me," Warren climbed out of the car, "Hey," he threw the pack of Ruby's cigarettes to him, "you wanna give these to my mother for me?"

"Sure," Ron headed toward the house and Warren went up the hill.

Warren was carefully filling the cooler with beer between layers of ice when he heard Ron and Ruby leaving, "Hey, it's lunchtime!" he called. No one seemed to be around. Michael and Michelle came out from behind the Pinto where they were working on the moped. Darlene came out of the woods with an armload of firewood and dropped it onto the growing pile.

"You better stack that better, or it's all going to fall down," Warren suggested.

"Kiss my ass," Darlene was annoyed, "why don't you stack it yourself if you don't like the way I do it."

"I'm not going to do everything around here," Warren asserted, "I already got lunch."

"What did you get?" Darlene looked around until she saw the deli wrapper on top of the cooler.

"That's right," Warren smiled proudly with his chest out, "I got us enough bologna to last us two meals."

"Bologna?" Darlene had her hands on her hips.

"Yeah," Michelle rolled her eyes, "flat hotdogs."

"Go ahead and take some, everybody," Warren picked up the package and unwrapped it, "we'll have the rest for supper."

"Ew," Michelle sneered, "that's all we're eating all day?"

"If you don't want it," Warren stated, " more for me. I try to get us something different and you complain about it. Next time I'll just bring the Goddamn hotdogs home."

"No, not more hotdogs," Michelle protested, "I'll eat the bologna."

"I'll eat it too," Darlene tried unenthusiastically to make Warren feel appreciated as though she was obligated to make him feel worthwhile, "it was nice of you to try to get something different for a change."

"See," Warren addressed the kids pointing a thumb at Darlene, "that's the attitude you should have." Then he peeled off a few slices of bologna with his grubby hands leaving black fingerprints on the slices that he touched and held out the package for his family to take their share.

"I bet we could eat this whole thing for one meal," Michael said as he ate with enthusiasm.

"But we won't," Warren glared threateningly at Michael who chewed slower and stopped smiling.

"It tastes like a flat hotdog," Michelle complained as she ate.

"Then roll the Goddamn thing up and be grateful for what you've got." Warren shoved his bologna into his mouth and wiped his damp fingers across the front of his shirt.

"I'm just glad I didn't have to cook the shit," Darlene finished her bologna and sat on the beer keg to smoke a cigarette.

"Put the rest of this bologna in the cooler and get me a beer," Warren held out the package for Darlene to take.

She looked at him like he was insane, blew out some smoke and said, "Do it yourself. I'm not your fucking slave."

"Now that I'm the breadwinner around here, you better show me some respect and do what I tell you," He still held the package toward Darlene.

"Yeah right," she remained seated and took another drag of her cigarette, "Warren, if you don't get that bologna out of my face, I'm going to slap it out of your hand so it lands in the dirt."

"Like hell you will," he still held out the bologna.

"Yes, I will," Darlene wouldn't concede, "You're not my boss. I don't have to do anything you say."

"Oh yes you do. I'm bringing in the money, so I'm making all of the decisions."

"The last five years you haven't been working. We've been living off what I get from the state welfare. It's about time you went to work."

"Well now I'm back to work and I'm in charge."

"In charge, my ass!" Darlene scoffed.

"I'm telling you things are going to change around here."

"Or what? You'll throw me out of the shed?"

"Fuck you, you lazy bitch, Darlene," Warren turned around and set the bologna in the cooler and took out a can of beer. He sat on the cooler and popped open the can taking a long drink. It was a warm sunny day and they both sat there soaking up the sun. After Warren finished his beer and smoked a couple of cigarettes, he went into the shed to sleep. The kids were intently working on the moped and Darlene returned to her wood gathering.

Chapter 25

Ron was anxious to visit Alice because he'd known her and Warren since they were kids and he had sympathy for her situation. Ruby, on the other hand, was in no hurry and had Ron stop at the grocery store for her scratch-off lottery tickets. She spent about twenty dollars a week on the scratch-offs and another four or five dollars on the lotto. She also bought a pack of cigarettes while she was at the counter and stuffed all of her purchases into her tattered handbag. While she was busy with her self-important business, Ron picked out a small vase of flowers to bring to Alice.

He was next in line at the checkout in the express aisle when Ruby caught up to him and waited at the end of the checkout area.

"Come on, Ron," Ruby called, "let's go before visiting hours are over."

"I'll only be a minute, Ruby," Ron called over the head of the guy in front of him who was being checked out.

"Hey," Ruby pointed her long finger at the items passing down the belt, "that's more than twelve items. You're not supposed to have more than twelve items in this line."

"Are you the store manager here?" the man asked Ruby as the teenage cashier continued to scan his items. The young blonde man cashiering didn't look up at the budding confrontation, but blushing to his ears, remained intent upon his work.

"No," Ruby had her hands on her hips, "but I can read and I know how to count to twelve. My daughter's laying in the hospital waiting for me and you're holding me up and disappointing my daughter."

The cashier announced the total and had the man's items contained in two bags.

The man paid for his groceries and picked up his bags. As he walked past Ruby he said, "I think you should get a room at the hospital too, in the psychiatric ward!"

"You can't talk to me like that," Ruby screeched after him and now had the attention of everyone in the front of the store, "You're the one that's screwing up and making the rest of us suffer because of it!"

By this time the man was long gone and Ron was checked out and walking toward the exit with his newly purchased flowers and vase. He pretended not to know Ruby as he rushed out the door with her following behind.

"Ron," Ruby called as she left the store.

He was already crossing the traffic lane to the parking lot, "What?" He stopped and turned toward her.

"I'll wait here for you to pick me up," Ruby sat on a bench meant for people who were waiting for the bus.

"OK," Ron got in the car and drove around to the front of the store where Ruby waited with her long cigarette hanging from her lips. Ron felt the car lower from the weight of his hefty passenger. It took her almost five minutes just to seat herself comfortably and close the door, "You could have come around and helped me," she squawked at Ron, "Let's get going before we miss visiting hours."

Ron decided this was the last time he went anywhere with Ruby. She could risk getting a ticket for driving the Maverick without an exhaust system. How could Alice stay in the house for twenty-four hours a day with her? Maybe that's what drove her to dive head first from a second story window.

Ruby criticized Ron's driving all the way to the hospital. Then in the hospital parking lot, she tried directing him as to where he should park after dropping her at the door. He met her on the sidewalk in front of the hospital where they both smoked a quick cigarette before entering.

"I hope she's awake this time," Ruby complained, "It's stupid to come see her if she doesn't even know we're here.

"She was sleeping the whole time you were here this morning?"

"Yeah, if you want to call it that. Her eyes were open. I only stayed a few minutes. I had other things to do."

They entered the building and stood at the desk waiting for service. A pleasant middle-aged woman smiled and asked what they needed.

"I'm here to visit my daughter, Alice Kennedy," Ruby pointed her thumb behind her toward Ron, "he's with me too."

"OK," the woman looked up the room number and gave them directions to find it.

Ron thanked the woman as he walked away with the vase of flowers in his hand. Ruby didn't say anything to the woman. She turned to Ron, "Now don't walk too fast. I want to keep up with you."

"First you tell me to hurry up before visiting hours are over and now you tell me to go slow," Ron stayed by Ruby's side to make sure he wasn't walking too fast, "A person can't do anything right, can they?"

"If everyone just did what I told them to do and did it the way I told them, everything would be fine," Ruby pouted, "There's the elevator."

They waited for the elevator to open and they stepped inside, Ruby in the lead. There was an angry looking man in a wheelchair with an aide behind the wheelchair and a nervous woman standing next to him. Ruby told Ron to press the button for the third floor and the doors closed.

The woman next to the man in the wheelchair stood clutching her handbag and looking distraught. She spoke to the sloppy looking man in the wheelchair whose angry eyes glared straight ahead and wouldn't acknowledge the woman.

"You didn't tell me which shoes to bring you," she pleaded meekly on the verge of tears, "I thought that pair would be easier for you to walk in," she fidgeted with the strap of her handbag while the man stared icily ahead.

Ron acted as though he didn't notice the other people in the elevator while Ruby looked at the couple in disgust. As soon as the elevator stopped at the third floor, Ruby said, "What the hell is your problem lady?"

Ron, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment, tried to guide Ruby out of the elevator and away from the scene she was about to make, but Ruby pulled her arm away from Ron.

She still looked at the woman who was looking at the floor, "Wake up and smell the coffee! This ungrateful bastard doesn't deserve any favors from you and you're apologizing for doing him a favor."

The woman looked up at Ruby with huge terrified eyes as the man ground his teeth in anger.

"Come on Ruby," Ron urged as he stepped out of the elevator and held the door open.

The man in the wheelchair turned his hateful gaze toward Ruby, "Mind your own fucking business," he sneered through his teeth.

"You can kiss my ass, pal, and you ought to be kissing this nice lady's ass too," Ruby stepped out of the elevator as the man tried to rise out of the wheelchair and the two ladies held him down. As the door closed, Ron and Ruby could hear the man yelling, "See, that was all your fault for opening your big fucking, stupid mouth in front of strangers!"

Ron and Ruby walked down the corridor to find Alice's room and Ron said, "That guy wanted to kill you."

"I'd like to see him try. I'd kill the no good bastard."

"If that's your attitude, I can see why you never have a boyfriend."

"Are you really that stupid?" Ruby slowed down to read the numbers on the doors, which were getting closer to Alice's room number, "I'd rather not have a boyfriend than be with an abusive bastard like that guy."

"How can you say he's abusive? You don't know that," Ron defended the guy.

"By the mean pissed-off way he talked to her about something as insignificant as which shoes she brought him. Then, the scared way she answered him. I bet he'll be beating the crap out of her as soon as he gets out of the wheelchair."

"I still don't believe it. I didn't see him take a swing at her and he didn't threaten to either."

"Fine," Ruby stopped in front of Alice's room, "If you want to be a dumbass all your life, go right ahead. Let's go in."

When they entered the quiet, dimly lit room where Alice rested, they found a nurse checking on her condition.

"She's unconscious again?" Ruby whined, "hasn't she woken up yet?"

The nurse looked away from Alice and turned to Ruby, "She woke up and had a severe panic attack, so she's under sedation right now."

"Well, what are you going to do? Keep her sedated in this bed for the rest of her life?" Ruby got in the nurse's face while Ron stood back holding his vase of flowers, "you told me this morning that nothing is broken and she would be fine. I thought she'd be awake by now. Her eyes were open this morning, but she just stared at the ceiling."

"She needs to rest and wake up slowly. She'll be pretty groggy when she wakes up," the nurse made some notes and asked Ruby, "do you have any idea what would bring on such panic in her?"

"Well, it might be that this is the first time she's been out of the house in sixteen years," Ruby said as though the nurse should have known.

"Do you mean the first time she's been in the hospital?" the nurse was unclear.

"No, lady," Ruby rose her voice losing her patience, "I mean she has not walked out the door of my house for sixteen years."

"Why?" The nurse was completely confused.

"Jesus Christ! For a nurse you sure don't know much, do you?"

"Well, every case is different."

"This isn't a case. This is my daughter and I say she's been sleeping long enough so let's wake her up because I need her at home."

"So, maybe you don't allow her to leave the house?"

"Now you're talking out of your ass!" Ruby had lost what little patience she had, "She wouldn't leave the house for sixteen years since her father died. I wished she would because then she could go out to the store for me and I wouldn't miss any of my shows."

The nurse looked at Ruby incredulously and walked toward the door, "I think you need to take a look at your priorities, ma'am. You should have gotten your daughter some help sixteen years ago and not have waited until she jumped out a window."

"Yeah, well I don't really care what you think," Ruby watched the nurse leave the room and picked up Alice's hand and patted and shook it, "Alice, wake up!"

"Maybe we should let her sleep, like the nurse said," Ron moved timidly toward the bed.

"Put the flowers down and help me wake her up," Ruby was shaking Alice's arm, but there was no response.

"But she looks so comfortable," Ron gazed admiringly at Alice. She slept with her long black and silver hair all around her. It was the first time Ron had ever seen her hair out of her daily braid. Her face was calm and smooth instead of anxious and tense as she looked when she scurried around doing all of her chores, "She looks like Sleeping Beauty."

"Sleeping Beauty," Ruby snarled, "that doesn't do me any good. I need her back at the house doing my laundry! Cinderella is what I need."

"I think we should let her rest, she hasn't had any rest in years," Ron defended Alice, "Let's go outside for a cigarette and maybe she'll be awake when we get back."

"I can't hang around here all day. I have things to do," Ruby stopped shaking Alice's arm and put her pocketbook on the end table to have the use of both hands.

"What are you going to do?" Ron set the vase down next to Ruby's pocketbook.

"I'm going to wake her up, damn it," Ruby grabbed Alice by both shoulders and began shaking her, "Wake up Alice, wake up!" She screeched while Ron stood by looking concerned.

The tired, irritated nurse came breezing back in when she heard Ruby screeching, "What do you think you're doing?" she stormed to the bed when she saw Ruby shaking Alice.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ruby asked the nurse, "you put so many drugs in her, she's in a coma."

"She's not in a coma," the nurse straightened the bedding around Alice, "she needs her rest. She'll probably wake up later tonight or tomorrow. She's exhausted."

"I'll be back tomorrow to pick her up then," Ruby gathered up her pocketbook.

"That's up to Dr. Bennett to decide when Alice is ready to go home," the nurse took a small notebook and wrote something, then tore the sheet off and gave it to Ruby, "This is Dr. Bennett's phone number. Call him when you get home and ask his opinion." "I'll call him all right, but I couldn't give a shit about his opinion. I know what's best for my own daughter," Ruby put the notepaper into her pocketbook, "Come on, Ron, let's go home," she gave the nurse an angry look as she stomped past her and out of the room.

Ron walked along side Ruby slowing down so Ruby could catch her breath, "I need a cigarette," she groaned as they reached the elevator, "doctors and hospitals really piss me off," she stabbed her long finger out impatiently pushing both of the elevator buttons.

"Well, maybe after you talk to the doctor, you'll agree with what they're doing to her, "Ron tried to calm Ruby down.

One of the two elevators opened and they stepped inside and Ruby pushed the ground floor button. They were alone in the elevator this time to Ron's relief. "I doubt it," Ruby said as she dug through her pocketbook for her cigarettes.

"You can't smoke in here," Ron reminded her as she pulled out one of her long cigarettes and stuck it in her mouth.

"I know that. I'm just getting ready. We'll be outside in a minute," Just then the elevator stopped and they passed through the open doors and out of the hospital into the warm June afternoon. Ruby lit her cigarette and stood on the sidewalk smoking until Ron came around with the car and picked her up.

Chapter 26

Michael and Michelle were taking apart the moped with some old rusty tools they found in the shed. Michael was planning to take it apart and put it back together in an attempt to restore the bike. The result would hopefully be a running, ride-able moped. After working quietly together for some time, Michael asked, "Why did you get so mad and call that drug dealer kid a useless piece of shit anyway? You never told me."

"Yeah, I'd like to forget about it," Michelle was still disappointed, "he doesn't sell drugs and doesn't want to either."

"What is he, stupid?" Michael asked incredulously.

"Yeah, he is stupid. You know what he wanted me to do instead?"

"What?" Michael stopped working and looked at his sister.

"He wanted me to become a thief!" Michelle said incredulously, "Can you believe it. He wanted me to break into cars and houses and steal shit so we could sell it."

"How are we supposed to sell it?" Michael was curious.

"I don't know," Michelle answered, "but I'm not doing it."

"I don't know either," Michael examined the useless brakes he just removed from the moped.

"I know one thing, though," Michelle said certainly, "we need more than twenty dollars to buy enough drugs to sell."

"We do?" Michael was surprised, "How much money do we need? I didn't know drugs were so expensive."

"I don't know exactly how much, but when we finally meet a drug dealer, it better be our first question."

"We should go out by the bar again tonight to look for a drug dealer. I bet they'll be out tonight because it's Saturday night."

"OK," Michelle agreed, "since I don't know exactly where we'll find one. For all the drug addicts there are, it sure is hard finding someone to sell us some drugs."

"Yeah," Michael continued to take the moped apart," too bad they don't sell drugs in a store like how Mom and Dad get their beer."

"You dumbass!" Michelle continued to take the moped apart, "if they sold it in the store, we wouldn't be able to be drug dealers."

"Yeah, but it would be easier for us to buy some!" Michael yelled back.

"What the hell are you two yelling about?" Darlene had just dropped another load of wood on the woodpile by the shed.

"Nothing!" They said together.

Darlene, like most mothers, knew that when they said "nothing" it really meant "something"; however unlike most mothers, she couldn't be bothered. Instead she took a beer from the cooler, lit a cigarette, and sat on her keg for a break.

"Just forget about it and do what I tell you," Michelle angrily spoke through her yellow teeth to Michael. Michael didn't respond as he angrily continued to work on the moped.

Michelle didn't want Michael to be mad at her. He was the only friend she had since her best friend Dianna moved away. In fact, she couldn't stand the sight of her brother before Dianna moved. She and Dianna had been best friends since fifth grade and they thought they would be together forever until Dianna's parents got a divorce a year ago and Dianna went to live in Groton with her mother at her grandparent's house. Suddenly Michelle found a new appreciation for Michael and found that it wasn't so bad to have a brother, even if he was an ugly pimply moron.

Michael, on the other hand, had a few friends at school. They were outsider kids meaning that they weren't jocks or druggies or in the band or the drama club. They didn't belong to any club or participate in any extracurricular activities. They just seemed to take up space and went unnoticed, even by bullies, as long as they didn't do anything to draw attention to themselves. The other kids were vaguely aware of their existence but ignored them as though they were invisible.

Michelle didn't mind hanging around with these kids because at least she wasn't alone, but she didn't feel as though she belonged with them. They seemed to be drifting through life taking the easiest courses to pass and had no plans for the future. None of them had any idea what they wanted to do after high school except that none of them were interested in college.

Michelle never considered college as an option and didn't know if her parents would allow her to finish high school. She assumed they would send her to work full-time when she turned sixteen. She also assumed they would have the same plan for Michael as well. They wanted him to move out as soon as he was eighteen and she guessed the same plan was set for her as well.

Of course they both wanted to move out now, not when they turn eighteen, but Warren and Darlene obviously wouldn't let them go until they reached the legal age. If they could become rich drug dealers, they could afford to move out to wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted and never see their parents again.

"Come on, Michael," Michelle whined, "don't be pissed."

Michael gave her an angry glance and continued working.

"When we get our own apartment, I'll let you have the biggest bedroom," Michelle bribed him for forgiveness.

Michael stopped working, looked at Michelle and asked hopefully, "Do you think we'll be able to afford an apartment with two bedrooms?"

"Yeah, we're gonna be rich, remember?" Michelle tried not to lose patience with him, "we'll be able to afford three bedrooms if you want."

"Cool," Michael exclaimed as he imagined living in a real home again.

Ron and Ruby returned from the hospital and Ruby had the car door opened before Ron could fully park.

"Jesus Christ!" he said as he hit the brake, "what are you trying to do, get killed?"

"Well, if you drove a little faster, I wouldn't have to be in such a rush to get out because we'd be here already," Ruby swung the door wide open and heaved herself out of the car.

"Warren!" Ruby called as she walked over to the newly acquired couch. She sat on it to catch her breath and immediately jumped up when the water quickly seeped through her clothes, "Son of a bitch! I forgot that thing was wet."

Ron called, "Tell Warren I'll be over later."

"Yeah, right," Ruby had no intention of relaying the message. She was trying to pull her wet, clingy housedress off of her wide behind.

"Warren," Ruby called again.

"He's sleeping, Grandma," Michelle came down the path.

"Well, wake his lazy ass up. I need him to help me. It's an emergency, thanks to you," Ruby pointed an accusing finger at Michelle.

"What did I do?" Michelle asked defiantly.

"You ran out on me, that's what. Now go get your lazy-ass father," Ruby took a cigarette and lighter from her pocketbook and lit up.

Michelle angrily stomped back up the path to the shed.

Darlene was finishing off her beer when she saw her scowling daughter stamping toward the shed.

"Where are you going?" Darlene stood with her hands on her hips.

"Grandma wants Dad right now," Michelle stood with her arms crossed at the door of the shed.

"Well, go tell Grandma he's sleeping because she was too fucking lazy to go pick him up at the police station last night."

Michelle dropped her arms in anguish and stomped back down the path. Ruby was already in the house changing out of her wet clothes.

"Grandma!" Michelle called from outside.

Ruby stuck her head out the window wearing only a bra from what Michelle could see. She wondered how Ruby could tolerate wearing a bra that was so tight the straps sunk into her flabby shoulders a half inch. "What? Where's your father?"

"Mom wouldn't let me. She said he's sleeping because you were too fucking lazy to pick him up last night."

"Don't you use that language when you're talking to me, girly!" Ruby scolded.

"I'm just telling you what she said, "Michelle explained casually.

"Until yesterday when you blew me off, I thought you were the only one in the family who might be good for something. But now I see you're just as much of a loser as the other three," Ruby's head went back in through the window.

Michelle picked up an old olive green desktop dial phone from the grass near her foot and angrily hurled it at the house narrowly missing the window she had thrown the lamp through the previous day.

Ruby flung open the back door and screeched, "Don't you ever throw anything at my house again or I'll throw you out of my shed," Ruby threatened.

"Go ahead, Grandma, I don't care," Michelle had her hands on her hips, "I already tried running away."

"Too bad that cop found you," Ruby screeched back, also with hands on hips, "He didn't do me any favors!"

"Hey!" Darlene came storming down the path, "What the hell is going on here?"

"I was just giving Grandma your message," Michelle stood between Darlene and Ruby who was behind the screen door with her fists on her hips.

"No thanks to the two of you, I'll have to wake my son's lazy ass up myself," Ruby held the screen door open to navigate herself down the beer keg and cinder blocks in her sleeveless housedress and pink slippers. As she held her arms out, one to hold the door open and one to keep her balance, her flabby triceps swung and jiggled like two big fleshy hammocks.

"He wouldn't be sleeping if you'd have gone to pick him up last night," Darlene accused.

Ruby was on level ground when she explained, "Fantasy Island was on. I couldn't miss that."

"Why, you already live on Fantasy Island," Darlene muttered, "Thinking everyone is your slave."

"It's better than living in a shed," Ruby sneered as she passed Darlene and Michelle.

"Well," Darlene followed Ruby up the path leaving Michelle standing in the yard, "You're going to be living in hell after you die."

"Don't talk that religious crap to me, Darlene, I don't believe any of it," Ruby and Darlene entered the shed as Michelle stood in the tall grass by the house seething with anger at her grandmother.

In the shed Warren lay sprawled on the couch snoring. It was afternoon and the sun was going down making it dark even with the window and the cracks in the rotted wooden walls letting any available light leak in. Ruby and Darlene stood over him. Ruby's expression was one of aggravation and contempt for her son. Darlene was almost expressionless in submission as she waited for Ruby to wake Warren up against her wishes. Warren was going to be in a miserable mood for having his nap disturbed.

"Warren!" Ruby screeched again, "Alice needs your help, wake up!"

"What?" Darlene looked perplexed, "What the hell can Warren do for Alice?"

"She needs him, that's all," Ruby used a tone of finality and returned her attention to Warren who was beginning to show signs of waking.

Warren mumbled something unintelligible and put his arm across his face. Ruby lifted his arm from across his eyes and screeched again, "Warren!"

"What the fuck?" Warren mumbled as he squinted at Ruby. He snatched his arm from her hand and rolled over to face their knees, "What the hell is your problem?"

"You can't sleep all day!" Ruby put her fists on her hips.

"Why not, it's my day off and because of you I didn't get any sleep last night," Warren slowly sat up and reached for his pack of cigarettes which were on the floor partially under Ruby's pink slipper, "Do you mind?" Warren yanked them out from under her and lit one.

"I went to see Alice in the hospital and it's terrible," Ruby shook her head and her double chin wagged in the opposite direction of her head.

"Is she gonna die?" Warren and Darlene both looked alarmed waiting for the answer.

"I don't think so, but there's a nurse and a doctor I'd like to see drop dead."

"Then what the hell's the emergency?" Warren sat on the edge of the couch smoking.

"They've got her so drugged up, she won't wake up," Ruby ran her hands through her wild hair.

"So?"

"I need her to come home, Warren," Ruby stuck out her bottom lip, "I miss her."

"Oh yeah," Darlene snickered, "you miss her doing all your housework and taking care of you."

"Shut up," Ruby screeched at Darlene, "She's my daughter and I miss her. I'm all by myself now."

"We can move back in," Warren suggested.

"No you can't," Ruby was adamant, "but you can help me get Alice back."

"What are you going to do, kidnap her?" Darlene said as she lit a cigarette of her own.

"If I have to!" Ruby stuck out her chins and tossed back her hair defiantly.

"You can't kidnap your own kid," Warren said as he stomped out his cigarette on the floor.

"She's not a kid. She's a grown up," Darlene blew smoke in Ruby's face.

"Just go to the hospital and see if you can wake her up and get her to come home, OK?" Ruby pleaded with her son.

"What's in it for me?" Warren looked up at Ruby.

"We'll have Alice home, that's what."

"So?"

"You'd be doing me a really big favor."

Warren sighed and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands, "I guess I could take some time out of my busy schedule to visit my sister."

"Good," Ruby was satisfied for the moment, "Just go to the front desk and ask for her room number because I can't remember what it is."

"Yeah, yeah," Warren stood up and stretched, "I'll go now. The sooner I get back, the sooner I can start drinking my beer."

"There you go," Ruby went to the door and pushed it open, "You can go too Darlene, if you want."

"Gee thanks," Darlene answered sarcastically as she smoked her cigarette.

"You can even bring the kids if you want. That way they won't be causing any trouble around here."

The sound of glass being smashed caught their attention. They all looked at each other in bewilderment. They heard more glass smashing.

"Where the hell is that noise coming from?" Warren went toward the door where Ruby was standing.

"I don't know," Darlene suggested, "it must be next door at that new lady's house."

They went outside and looked around until they heard the noise again.

"I don't think it's next door," Darlene realized, "I think it's coming from the house."

The glass breaking took Michael's attention away from this moped, "What's that noise?" He rushed over to his parents and grandma who were still listening and looking at each other.

"What the hell do you think it is?" Ruby raised her voice to a tone that showed her dislike for her grandson, "How dumb can you be?"

"But it sounds like it's coming from your house, Grandma," Michael tried to ignore her remarks because he'd heard them from her every day of his life.

They all decided they better have a look at the house, hoping that it was coming from somewhere else. They reached the end of the path and Warren said, "Look, your living room window is broken!"

"Michael broke that last night when he trashed my house," Ruby said between coughing and trying to catch her breath. They heard another smash coming from the front of the house.

"Where's Michelle?" Michael asked even though after her tantrum of the night before he was sure that his sister was the one smashing all of the glass.

"Now's not the time to be worrying about your sister," Warren scolded, "We gotta find out what all that glass breaking noise was."

"Maybe it was coming from next door," Michael did his best to distract Warren from his Grandma's house.

"Well, we'll find out," Ruby walked huffing and puffing behind Warren around the corner of the house. When they struggled through the over grown sumac that grew along that side of the house, they saw that the two downstairs windows on that side were broken, "Son of a bitch!" Ruby screeched in a hoarse, raspy voice, "Warren, go get whoever is wrecking my house and hold him till I get there," She bent over with her hands on her knees trying to catch her breath.

Warren rushed through the sumac and around the next corner of the house with Michael and Darlene close behind. Sumac branches whipped Michael in the face and he said, "Ow," each time Warren let the branches fling back behind him into Michael's face as he passed through. Finally, around the corner to the front of the house they were clear of the sumac and just had to be careful not to trip on any bottles or cans that might be hiding in the tall grass of the small front yard.

"Holy shit!" Warren said as he noticed all the windows in the front of the house were also smashed. He heard another smash around the last side of the house as he picked up his pace to catch up to find the vandal.

As the three of them rounded the final corner, they saw Michelle standing there with a cast iron skillet in both hands. She was holding it over her head about to fling it through the only window on the lower floor that was still intact.

As Darlene said, "Michelle!" She let it fly and stood there staring at the broken window with tears streaming down her filthy cheeks. When the others ran up to her, she turned to face them.

"Your brother put you up to this, didn't he?" Warren hollered and Michael's mouth dropped open in astonishment.

"No," Michelle sneered at her father, "Why do you blame him for everything bad around here. I did it all on my own."

Michael's eyes jumped back and forth between his parents' faces to read their reaction. He was relieved when Darlene asked, "Why?"

"Yeah," Warren was perplexed, "this isn't like you. This is something he would do." He pointed at Michael without bothering to look at him.

Michelle's expression changed from relief that they were finally listening to her and believing her instead of feeling resentment because her parents didn't know her or her brother at all.

Ruby came around the corner and leaned one hand against the house and laid the other on her chest as she wheezed and struggled for air, "So," she said in her raspy whisper, "who did it?"

"It was Michael," Warren said knowingly as though it was typical to expect Michael as the culprit.

"He was with us, you ass!" Ruby was catching her breath, "why are you lying?"

Darlene and the kids looked at Warren as the idiot they knew him to be.

"Well," Warren confusedly shifted from foot to foot, "who else could it be?"

"Yeah," Ruby agreed in puzzlement, "who the hell could it be?"

"Michelle," Ruby had pretty much caught her breath by now, "did you see the asshole who broke my windows?"

"No, I didn't," she wasn't lying.

"Well, then, who broke my windows?"

"You know," Michelle said as though she suddenly remembered, "It was a young black guy with a ski cap and a white long tee shirt and khaki workpants."

"What!" Ruby was still slightly winded, "We all know you did it," she looked at Darlene sternly, "Don't we, Darlene?"

"Yeah," Darlene admitted, "don't try to blame anyone else, Michelle. We know it was you. We saw you."

Warren was frantically looking back and forth at each of them, "Michael must have made her do it. What the hell are you all talking about?"

"About Michelle and her violent tantrums, you idiot. Take your head out of your ass, Warren," Ruby reached into her housedress pocket and took out her cigarettes and lighter. That action gave Warren and Darlene the idea to also smoke a cigarette.

"She's been having these temper tantrums since she was a baby. She just does a lot more damage now that she's older," Darlene explained to Warren, "I can't believe you're so stupid that you don't know what we're talking about."

"You told me Michael was causing all the damage," Warren looked accusingly at Ruby.

"Yeah," Ruby took a drag off her cigarette and starting chuckling, which made her start coughing. When she recovered she continued, "I did because he's an idiot who can't defend himself and you're an idiot who'll believe anything I say."

"You are such a fucking bitch!" Darlene sneered at her mother-in-law.

Ruby calmly smoked her cigarette and replied, "Takes one to know one, shed girl."

Michael and Michelle both stared in horror at their grandmother who smugly smoked her cigarette. They knew she was selfish and liked to use people, but they never knew how cruel she could be until now. These past few months they've been blaming their father's lack of resources, lack of common sense, and alcoholism for their current living conditions. Now they could transfer some of that anger and resentment to Ruby who obviously took a lot of pleasure evicting her family from the house.

The kids were still staring, horrified as Darlene looked at Ruby with hatred and contempt and Warren looked confused, "What do you mean I'll believe anything you say?"

"Because you will," Ruby squawked.

"How can I believe anything you say now when you admitted to lying in the past?" Warren ran his grubby hand through his thick, dirty hair.

"Because you're my son and you'll believe everything I say," Ruby dropped her cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

"Did you push Alice out the window?"

"No!" Ruby screeched, "I did not!"

"I think I believe you," Warren was convinced.

Michael, Michelle, and Darlene looked at him incredulously. They all believed that Ruby had pushed Alice out the window, but Warren would never believe Ruby could be so cruel.

"So, what are you going to do about my broken windows?" Ruby looked at Warren with her hands on her hips.

"I didn't break them!" Warren retorted.

"Well, your daughter did and you're responsible for her."

"I didn't even know she would do something like that! You told me it was Michael."

"Well, you're responsible for him too."

"But he didn't do it," Warren thought he won the argument.

"No shit, Sherlock," Ruby was losing her patience.

"Look," Darlene spoke and everyone gave her their attention, "I'll tell you what we'll do about your windows," she picked up the nearest thing to her, which was an old Teflon skillet that had worn out years ago. She held it by the handle and sailed it upward to smash through one of the second story windows.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Ruby walked over to Darlene as the kids snickered and Warren looked horrified.

Warren, not knowing how to rectify the situation, turned and stalked toward the shed.

"See how bad you are for my son!" Ruby turned and screeched at Darlene, "And if you were a better mother, your son wouldn't be the village idiot and your daughter a psycho. But I guess I couldn't expect much else."

Michael's feelings hurt, he hung his head and trudged after his father, leaving his mother and his sister standing, staring in anger and contempt at Ruby.

"If they have any bad traits, they got them from you, not me," Darlene pointed at Ruby as she spoke, "and I don't ever want to hear you call my kids names again. Warren and me have raised them the best we know how and it's a lot better than you could have done."

"Get the hell out of my way," Ruby tried to push past Darlene, but Darlene grabbed her arm, "I'm going to get you back, you rotten bitch."

"Get your fucking hands off me," Ruby growled at Darlene who pushed Ruby away as she let go of her arm, "Now, both of you get out of my sight before I throw you all off of the property."

"Oh yeah," Darlene sneered, "every time you don't want to hear the rotten truth about yourself, you threaten to evict us."

"I'm going inside," Ruby walked toward the back of the house, "I expect one of you here in the morning to fix all of my broken windows."

"Fuck you," Michelle piped in and held a metal milk crate over her head, "I'll just break the rest of them for you."

"See how your daughter talks to me," Ruby said to Darlene, "You and your kids have no respect for me. You have no respect for me, the woman who raised the man who became your husband."

"Yeah, and you have so much respect for us, you threw us out of the house!"

"Well, I can't help it if my son grew up to be a drunk like his father," Ruby got defensive, "I did the best that I could on a tenth grade education."

"Bullshit," Darlene replied, disgusted with her mother-in-law, "Come on, Michelle. Put down the milk crate and let's go." They both walked up the hill to the shed. They heard the screen door slam as Ruby went into the house. She opened the door again to holler, "When you come down tomorrow to fix my windows, you're going to clean up this glass on the inside too!"

"I'm not fixing her windows," Michelle said definitively "Like I said, I'll break the rest of them."

"Yeah," Darlene agreed, "and I'll help you."

"OK, let's do it!" Michelle was enthusiastic about finishing her task of destruction.

"No," Darlene sounded disappointed, "I have to really stock up on firewood if we're going to spend the winter in that shed. Besides, your father will drink all the beer himself if I leave him alone with it and I won't get any."

Michelle ignored the remark about the beer, "Living here in the winter is really gonna suck," Michelle whined, "I don't even like living here in the good weather."

"No shit," Darlene agreed as they reached the cold fireplace. Darlene took a beer from the cooler and sat on her beer keg to smoke a cigarette. Michelle went into the shed to look for Michael.

Warren was lying on his back on the couch smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer when Michelle entered. Warren didn't pay any attention to her.

"Have you seen Michael?" Michelle stood over her father.

"No," Warren turned his head to look at her, "last I knew he was with you."

"No," Michelle stood with her hands on her hips, "after Grandma called him the village idiot, he came up this way."

"She called him the village idiot?" Warren asked with a chuckle, which started his coughing.

"He came up this way, but I can't find him," Michelle headed toward the door again, "maybe he's back to work on his moped."

Warren sat up as he coughed, "The village idiot. That's funny."

Michelle rolled her eyes as she left the shed, "Ma, did you see Michael?"

Darlene took her mind off of her beer and cigarette, looked around without getting off the keg and answered without concern, "No."

"I know he must be upset after Grandma called him the village idiot," Michelle walked in the direction of the moped.

"Yeah, the bitch pisses me off too," Darlene said as Michelle walked past her.

She saw the moped in pieces just the way Michael had left it, but Michael was nowhere near it, "Michael!" she called and looked around in all directions. Then she remembered finding him sitting behind the old Duster before and tripped through the debris filled yard to get to the old junk car.

He was there all right, but Michelle became alarmed when she said, "Oh, there you are," and got no response. He was sitting up against the far side of the car, but his head was hanging down and still.

She knelt down into something wet and realized it was Michael's blood. She saw blood draining from his wrists and in one hand still rested the piece of windowpane he used to slice them with. Michelle stared in horror and panic for what seemed like an eternity before she began screaming for help. She tore off her tee shirt and tied it tightly around one wrist in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Still screaming for help, she frantically crawled around the car looking for something to tie around the other wrist. Finally, she found an old filthy pair of jockey shorts under the car. She stretched the weathered dirt-covered underwear enough to be able to tie a tight bandage on Michael's right wrist.

Darlene appeared over the two of them and stared in horror and disgust at her two children. Michelle was bloody, sobbing and topless while tying a pair of underwear around Michael's arm and Michael wasn't moving at all.

Darlene quickly turned and ran toward the house, "Ruby! Dial 911!" She barged into the house while Ruby was struggling to push herself up off of the couch, "Hurry, Ruby. Where's the phone?" Darlene was frantically running from the kitchen to the living room, but not really seeing anything.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked sleepily, "I was just watching one of my shows. What are you doing in my house? I didn't say you could come in unless you're here to fix my windows!"

"Stop bitching and dial the fucking phone before Michael bleeds to death! He might be dead already."

"OK," Ruby became alarmed and rushed to the table by the stairs where the phone was and dialed 911, "This is the second time this week an ambulance has come to this house, they better know how to get here in about ten seconds," she said to the emergency operator.

"Are they sending an ambulance?" Darlene was frantically pacing back and forth in front of Ruby, "yeah, they're sending an ambulance. Why don't you go outside and wait for it and get the hell out of my face!"

Darlene ran out the back door to wait for the ambulance while Ruby stayed on the phone to give the only details she had. She told the operator that her stupid grandson was in the back yard bleeding to death.

"What the fuck is going on over here?" Warren came trudging across the yard toward Darlene and Michelle, "I been working hard all week, spent last night in jail and had to walk home because no one would come pick me up. I'd like to get a little rest on my day off," he looked at the blood smeared on the front of Michelle, "breaking those windows cut you up, huh?"

Michelle was kneeling next to her brother begging him to hang on until the ambulance arrived and begging him not to leave her while Darlene paced back and forth in front of the car smoking and complaining about the ambulance taking so long.

"Warren!" Ruby was making her way out the back door and down to the ground, "Darlene says Michael is bleeding to death and all you care about is your fucking nap!"

Warren ran to the other side of the car where Michelle was kneeling on the ground crying covered in blood and Michael was leaning against the side of the car unconscious. The ambulance came up the driveway and parked next to the Maverick, "What's happening? What's the matter with Michael?"

Ruby directed the emergency crew to where they would find the victim, "Don't worry about it, Warren. The ambulance will take care of your son so you can go back to your little nap."

Ruby's mouth dropped open in surprise when Warren yelled, "Kiss my ass, Ma. I want to know what's the matter with my son." He stepped back allowing the ambulance crew to reach Michael. Michelle, still sobbing, got up and moved out of the way. Her hair was wet with tears and stuck to her cheeks with the blood and dirt from her hands. She had completely forgotten she was topless.

Warren paid no attention to his topless daughter as he leaned over the technicians while they efficiently examined Michael, "What happened to him? What's going on?"

"It looks like a suicide attempt," the technicians moved Michael onto a stretcher and carried him to the ambulance.

"Suicide!" Warren and Darlene were shocked into silence as they stood looking at each other with their mouths hanging open.

Michelle ran alongside the technicians as they made their way across the debris-strewn lawn to the ambulance. She wanted to go along, but the technicians advised that she put a shirt on and follow in the car.

"Please take care of my brother," she pleaded as they swung the doors closed and prepared to depart.

Michelle tripped back to where her parents still stood frozen in shock and said, "Somebody take me to the hospital. Don't you want to be with Michael?"

"Suicide," Warren uttered as he focused his gaze on Michelle, "why would he do that?"

"Do you think it was because of having to go to summer school?" Darlene asked without looking at anyone.

"Well," Ruby headed back to the house, "let me know what happens. It doesn't surprise me at all. Killing yourself is about the dumbest thing a person can do and he is the dumbest person around here."

"Yeah," Darlene not hearing Ruby nodded her head slightly, "I bet it was the summer school thing."

Michelle was shivering with fear, "Doesn't anybody want to know if he's going to be OK?"

"Is he?" Darlene asked Michelle.

"I don't know!" Michelle cried, "We have to go to the hospital to find out!"

"Oh yeah," Warren realized, "we better go." He reached into his pocket for the car keys.

"Yeah, let's go," Darlene agreed.

"I have to grab a shirt," Michelle ran to the shed, put on a shirt, and still got in the car before her dazed parents. Darlene and Warren were just starting to walk across the yard toward the car, not quite comprehending what was going on.

Just before Warren started the car, Ruby was screeching out the screen door, "Warren, don't forget to see Alice while you're there."

None of them noticed Ruby's command.

Chapter 27

They drove to the hospital without speaking. Michelle had never seen her parents spend ten minutes together without talking. They sat like zombies except to smoke—smoking zombies. Darlene didn't even criticize Warren's driving skills. She just looked out the window smoking her cigarette. Warren stared straight ahead as he drove. Michelle sat in the back seat amongst the empty beer cans and crumpled cigarette packs hoping her brother wasn't dead.

Warren parked the car in the hospital parking lot near the emergency room relieving their ears when he turned off the motor. Warren and Darlene got out of the car, stiff and expressionless, while Michelle pushed past her mother and rushed into the emergency room. Warren and Darlene followed, picking up speed as they got closer to the door.

Michelle ran up to the far row of cubicles and demanded from the woman in the first occupied cubicle, "Where's my brother? The ambulance just brought him in. He cut his wrists."

"Miss," the woman replied, "you have to take a number and wait until you're called."

By this time Warren and Darlene had caught up and were behind Michelle, "What do you mean take a number and wait?" Warren raised his voice, "my son was brought in an ambulance and he was half dead then. He could be all dead by now. I'm not taking a number and waiting anywhere."

"Oh, that's different," the woman in the cubical relented, "have a seat, sir, and I'll get his insurance information from you."

"Are you fucking crazy, lady?" Warren sprayed the woman's desk with saliva as he spoke, "I'm not giving you anything until you show me where my kid is."

"This is standard operating procedure, sir," the woman was undeterred by Warren's lack of personal hygiene or his vocabulary, "Everyone has to go through this."

"Well I don't have insurance, but my wife does, so she can talk to you while I check on the kid," Warren and Michelle went to look for Michael.

The woman motioned for Darlene to have a seat, "We'll get this over as soon as possible," she assured Darlene, "do you have your insurance card?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Darlene angrily pulled her wallet out of her jeans pocket and pulled out her state aid card.

The woman looked down her nose at Darlene from over her reading glasses as she read the card. She typed the information she read from the card into her computer and slid the card across her desk back to Darlene. Without looking away from her computer screen, she asked, "It's your son who needs the emergency service?"

"Yeah, my husband just told you that," Darlene snatched her card off the desk and impatiently stuffed it back into her wallet and stuffed the wallet into her jeans pocket.

"His name?" the lady asked still staring at the screen.

"Michael Kennedy," Darlene rolled her eyes and tapped her foot.

"OK, we're all finished here. You can have a seat in the waiting room and the doctor will let you know the status of your son."

"Bullshit! I'll find him myself. I'm not sitting in the waiting room all night," Darlene stormed out of the admitting area and set off to find the rest of her family. It didn't take her long to find them because they were in the waiting room just outside of the admitting area.

"What the hell are you doing out here? Where's Michael?" Darlene demanded to know.

"They threw us out," Warren and Michelle were both angrily pacing back and forth when Darlene entered, "they didn't even let us see the dumbass."

"Hey," Michelle defended her brother, "don't call him names when he might be dying."

"He's too stupid to die," Warren replied, "and no daughter of mine tells me what to do. I'll call him whatever I want, girly."

"Well, did they even tell you how he is?" Darlene was annoyed with both of them.

"They said they would let us know," Warren sat down in an orange plastic chair, then got up again.

"When the hell is that going to be?" Darlene waved her arm toward the emergency door. "I want to know what's going on."

"I'm beginning to wonder why the hell we even came down here," Warren sat down again, "he's the one who needs a doctor, not us."

"Then why don't you go home!" Michelle suggested in a smartass tone of voice.

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Warren stood up again, "I'll send you home instead."

"What are you going to do, punish me by making me sleep in the shed tonight?" Michelle used an even snottier tone of voice.

Other people in the waiting room were forgetting about their own afflictions momentarily distracted by the Kennedys. A tall middle-aged man stood on the opposite side of the room holding a towel against his face to catch the blood seeping from his nose said, "Why don't all of you go home, or at least take it outside."

"Why don't you mind your own fucking business!" Warren yelled back.

The people in the room became alarmed at Warren's response. Some of them changed seats to move away from the Kennedys and a few went outside. One of them went to the nurses' desk to report them and their disturbing behavior.

"I could make you sleep outside, you know," Warren lowered his voice a little, "you think sleeping in the shed is bad. At least you have protection from animals and rain in the shed."

"Warren," Darlene tried to distract him, "why don't we go outside for a cigarette and leave the little bitch here by herself."

"She's only fourteen," Warren whined to Darlene, "she can't talk to me like that."

Michelle glared at her father as Darlene led him out the door. The other people in the waiting room looked at Michelle with expressions of disapproval, fear, and sympathy for a moment and then went back to their own problems. Consumed with her own emotions Michelle didn't seem to notice the attention she was getting and angrily plopped down in one of the many orange plastic chairs to wait for any news about her brother.

A few minutes later Warren and Darlene returned with stale cigarette smoke trailing behind them.

"Did anyone come out yet?" Warren stood over Michelle.

"No," Michelle stared straight ahead.

"Well, this is bullshit," Darlene turned and stormed over to the nurses' station with her black hair flying and her clothes smelling like campfire smoke, cigarette smoke and stale beer. She leaned over the counter pounding on it with her arm. The nurse at the desk looked up at her.

"My son was brought in here twenty minutes ago. He was half dead. I want to know what's going on," Darlene glared at the nurse.

"What is his name?"

"Michael Kennedy. He tried to kill himself and I want to know if he's going to be OK."

"If they had any news, someone would come out and let you know," the nurse tried to get back to her work.

"Are these doctors here as stupid as my son or what? They better know something. All I want is for someone to give me an update, since no one will let me in there with him."

"OK," the nurse got up, "I'll go see how he's doing," she disappeared into the emergency treatment area.

"It's about Goddamn time," Darlene backed away from the desk.

"These people are fucking lazy, ain't they?" Warren stood behind Darlene shaking his head in disbelief.

"You just have to know how to talk to them," Darlene scowled at her husband.

"Is she going to find out about Michael?" Michelle asked her mother.

"She fucking better be, I'll tell you that right now," Darlene's fist hit the desk.

"Here she comes," Michelle's eyes grew wide with hope and expectation.

"Well, what did you find out?" Darlene demanded.

"They've stopped the bleeding, but he's lost a lot of blood," She sat back in her chair behind the desk.

"So what does that mean?" Darlene acted as thought the nurse's information was useless.

"He may need a transfusion. That's what the doctor is trying to determine now. The important thing and the good news is, he's not going to die."

"Oh, yes!" Michelle cried in relief.

"Either way, he'll probably spend the night here."

"Why can't we see him?" Michelle asked hoping the nurse would let her see him.

"He's very, very weak and the doctor is still monitoring him," the nurse attempted to go back to work, "they'll get him a room in the psychiatric wing and you'll be able to visit him there."

"The psychiatric wing!" Warren exclaimed in surprise, "why is he going to the nuthouse?"

"He tried to kill himself," the nurse was amazed at Warren's stupidity and disgusted by his total lack of hygiene.

"He's not crazy, he's just stupid," Warren couldn't understand, "do you have a wing for sane but really stupid people?"

"I can't say that we do," the nurse wasn't very surprised at Warren's ignorance. She met a lot of filthy uneducated people in the emergency room, "I told the doctor that you're waiting and he'll be out shortly to talk to you."

They moved back away from the desk and returned to the orange chairs, "I wonder when this doctor is coming out," Warren fidgeted in the chair between Darlene and Michelle, "I think we should just leave. Michael ain't going to die and that's all we really needed to know."

"No!" Michelle replied to her father's heartlessness, "we have to hear what the doctor says. We might have to donate blood for Michael's transfusion."

"What!" Warren almost jumped out of his chair, "they're not taking any of my blood. I need all of it."

"Wouldn't you rather give Michael some of ours instead of a strangers?"

"No," Warren responded, "that's what they have blood banks for."

"Yeah, but you never know what he might be getting," Michelle lowered her voice, "he might get AIDS or something."

"Now, how the hell can he get AIDS?" Warren talked to Michelle as though she were stupid, "you can only get AIDS if you're a faggot. It's a faggot disease."

"Michael isn't a faggot, is he?" Darlene was concerned, "I was hoping to have grandkids some day."

Michelle rolled her eyes at her parents, "He's not a faggot, but you can get AIDS from blood transfusions."

"How is that Miss Know-it-all?" Warren challenged.

"Because faggots donate their bad blood, that's how," Michelle spoke with certainty.

"That's gross, man," Warren screwed up his filthy face, "I wouldn't want any fag blood in me."

"Well, do you want it in Michael?" Michelle asked.

"Better him than in me," Warren pointed at his chest with his grubby thumb.

"Let's ask the doctor when he ever gets his ass out here," Darlene tapped her foot impatiently.

"If he's not out here in five minutes, I'm leaving. You two can hitchhike home for all I care," Warren crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Darlene commented.

"Or the last," Warren added.

After three minutes passed, the doctor finally came looking for them. When the doctor asked for Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy, the three Kennedys eagerly gathered around the doctor.

"It's about time somebody came out to see us," Warren sprayed the doctor with saliva.

"Your son is receiving the best care possible, Mr. Kennedy," the doctor tried to calm Warren's anger.

"Is he all right now? Can we see him," Michelle asked hopefully.

"Who the hell said you could talk," Warren griped to Michelle causing her to grimly shut her mouth and take a step back.

"If you'll just give me a minute, I'll be able to answer your question," the doctor took control of the conversation. When he was sure he wouldn't be interrupted again he said, "Your son is going to be all right physically, but he's going to need some emotional treatment."

"What's that?" Darlene was confused.

"First of all, we'll keep him overnight in the psychiatric wing so we can observe him for twenty four hours," he tried to be reassuring.

"Why?" Darlene asked again.

"Well, if you'd shut up, he'd tell you why," Warren scolded Darlene then gave his attention back to the doctor who was repelled by Warren's poor treatment to his family as well as his absence of personal hygiene.

"People who fail at suicide attempts are very likely to try it again." The doctor continued.

"He's a bigger dumbass than I thought," Warren interrupted.

"Now you're the one being told to shut up," Darlene looked like she wanted to punch Warren.

He gave her an angry look before giving his attention back to the doctor.

The doctor continued, "He needs to be treated for the mental illness that caused him to attempt suicide."

Warren had lost all of his patience raised his voice, "I'll tell you what he needs. He needs a good kick in the ass is all he needs."

The doctor stepped back because Warren spit as he spoke and was shaking his fist toward the doctor, "Your son has a mental illness that needs to be treated by a doctor. If you'd really like to help your son, you can be supportive of his treatment and encourage him to come. Do you know why he tried to kill himself?"

"Because he's a dumbass! That's the only reason I can think of," Warren shuffled from one foot to the other, "I'm a hardworking man who takes care of his family. There's no reason for him to want to die."

Darlene and Michelle exchanged knowing looks after hearing this response both trying not to laugh. The doctor noticed this and realized he was talking to the wrong relative. If Michael were going to receive any emotional support, it most likely would come from his mother and sister.

"Mrs. Kennedy, do you know why your son tried to kill himself?" The doctor waited hoping for some help.

"Well, yeah, I can think of a lot of reasons, but I doubt it was any of those," Darlene looked at her husband's dirty face, "I have to agree with my husband and say it's because he's a dumbass."

The doctor's hope was lost at that response and with no hope at all, looked at Michelle.

"Sure," Michelle answered the question before it was asked, "I think I know exactly why he tried to kill himself."

"You do?" the doctor regained some hope.

"Probably because of our rotten living conditions," she looked accusingly at her father.

"What do you mean?" the doctor inquired.

"Oh, you know these teenagers," Warren interrupted, "no matter what you sacrifice for them no matter where they live or what you give them, it's never enough. As soon as they see somebody with a bigger house or a newer car than theirs, they have to start complaining."

"I suppose, for the most part, you could be right," the doctor studied the family's appearance again and realized Warren was the only one of the three who was filthy, displaying a total lack of hygiene.

"Your son will have an evaluation in the morning and will be advised a treatment plan. When you come back in the morning, one of our professionals will consult with you about your son's treatment needs," the doctor began to turn toward the examining area, "you should go home and get some rest and tomorrow you'll be able to see your son," He walked away leaving the Kennedy's standing there. Michelle was delighted that her brother was alive, Darlene looked at Warren who was still looking at the spot where the doctor had been standing.

Warren looked at Darlene and griped, "Why do they need all these professionals? I told him all that dumbass needs is a good kick in the ass. That will straighten him out."

"I guess they won't listen to you because you're not a professional," Darlene began to walk toward the door with the other two following. As soon as they got out the door, both parents lit a cigarette before they continued toward the car.

They all got into the car as Darlene screamed a reminder to Michelle not to step on and crush any of the empty cans on the floor in the back. Michelle ended up swinging herself onto the seat without touching her feet to the floor. She coughed from the smoke when Darlene and Warren got in.

Warren started the car and within a minute a cloud of smoke enveloped the loud car. A group of people outside the emergency room stopped talking and smoking long enough to look toward the car with absolutely no exhaust system attached. The cloud of smoke was barely noticed by the people because the loud rumble of the car far outweighed the significance of the smoke erupting from underneath.

"It's a good thing there's no cops around here," Darlene remarked.

"Why?" Warren gunned the engine causing even more noise as he pulled out of the parking lot onto the street.

"Because this car is illegal with no exhaust system," she yelled over the noise. Michelle sat in the back with her hands over her ears.

"Shit," Warren remarked, "there's more things around here that are illegal than aren't illegal."

"No shit," Darlene retorted, "you got beer cans in the back seat, no emissions sticker and you don't have a drivers license."

"Bullshit I don't have a license," Warren hollered as he drove, "I have a license."

"Yeah, but it's not valid."

"It's not what?" Warren couldn't hear Darlene over the roar of the Maverick.

"Valid, valid," Darlene screamed.

"I got it suspended for a year and that was two or three years ago," Warren beat the steering wheel with one hand to emphasize his point.

"Well, you never went to the DMV to have it reinstated."

"Oh, yeah," Warren said facetiously, "like I have time for that bullshit. I have to work everyday, you know."

"You've only been working for four days!" Darlene screamed at Warren, "you've had two years to go down to the DMV."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Warren yelled because he didn't know what else to say.

"OK, Warren," Darlene was hurt and knew he was going to say whatever he had to put the blame anywhere else but on himself," I don't know what I'm talking about," she agreed knowing that she was right, but he would never admit it.

"How could you?" He asked matter-of-factly, "You never do."

Darlene was angry as well as hurt at this point. She turned her entire body to face him as he turned his head to see what she was doing, "Fuck you, Warren!" Darlene screamed at her husband, "You're a fucking asshole!'

"Can you two fight at home? We're almost there," Michelle leaned forward and yelled above the roar of the car. Then she sat back and covered her ears again.

"Shut up!" they both turned around to holler at Michelle.

When Warren turned to yell at Michelle, he also turned the wheel. The three of them were bounced up off their seat as the right side of the Maverick jumped the curb and rolled along the cracked and broken sidewalk. Warren panicked and quickly turned the wheel to the left overcompensating and almost struck an oncoming vehicle.

"Warren!" Darlene clutched the dashboard with both hands as she yelled, "watch the road before you kill us."

Michelle didn't say a word, fearing her father would crash the car telling her to shut up.

Suddenly, the car behind them began flashing its lights revealing itself as a police car.

"Fuck!" Warren spat on the windshield as he swore.

"Well," Darlene was still shaking from the short ride the took on the sidewalk, "you better pull over."

"Like hell I will!" Warren put the accelerator to the floor and the Maverick roared to its loudest possible pitch.

"What are you doing?" Darlene panicked as she got a tighter grip on the dashboard.

"I can't afford to get pulled over. They'll throw me in jail," Warren screamed as he maneuvered the car around a few curves that brought them even closer to home. Now they were only a few hundred feet from the driveway. As they neared the driveway, Warren slammed on the brakes, but the car didn't stop until it was twenty feet past it.

"Shit!" Warren slammed the car in reverse, and backing up with a hard turn, backed up the driveway. The police car sped by with the lights still flashing.

Warren slapped the steering wheel, "I can't believe I lost them!" He continued to back up the driveway until he was parked in his regular place behind the house. The yard filled with dust from the enormous cloud Warren created as he forced the old Maverick with its bald tires to back up the dry dirt driveway.

Ruby stood at the screen door coughing and when Warren tuned off the engine, she wheezed, "Warren, what the hell are you doing?"

Warren jumped out of the drivers seat, triumphantly raising his arm and whooping in delight, "you should have seen it, Ma," he rushed toward Ruby as Michelle and Darlene got out of the car.

"I heard it and I'm choking on it. I don't need to see it too," Ruby coughed and clutched her chest.

"The cops were after me and I lost them!" Warren grinned his semi-toothless grin and stood proudly like a schoolboy waiting for his mother to pat him on the head and reward him with love and acceptance.

"In that?" Ruby pointed at the Maverick, "are you kidding?"

"No, I did, Ma," Warren was still standing tall, "you should have seen my driving skills."

"Which way did you come from?" Ruby inquired.

"From that way," Warren gestured to his left.

"And the cop didn't stop you?"

"No, he couldn't," Warren was excitedly telling the story, "I backed up the driveway just when he caught up and he didn't see me go up the driveway, so he just kept going. He's probably two miles away still looking for me."

"You're a dumbass and the town's oldest retard," Ruby screeched, "that cop wasn't even after you. There's something going on at the gas station. That's where he was going. There's been fire trucks and cops going by for the last twenty minutes."

"Aren't you even going to ask about Michael?" Darlene stood scowling beside Warren who was deflated and looking at the ground.

"Well, I know he ain't dead," Ruby said with certainty, "so when's he coming home. Or should I say, when's he coming shed?" Ruby chuckled which brought on more coughing.

"No he isn't dead," Darlene still scowled as Warren turned and went up the path toward the shed.

"I knew it," Ruby gloated as she stood looking down at Darlene and Michelle, "that dumbass can't do anything right. Not even kill himself."

"Why are you always so mean to him?" Michelle stood up for her brother, "he's in the hospital and almost died and you're still ranking on him just as bad as always."

"He's just like his father, that's why."

Darlene and Michelle both rolled their eyes and looked at each other, "You should be trying to help him, not make him feel worse," Michelle scolded her grandmother.

"Yeah, OK," Ruby wanted to change the subject, "Did you guys see Alice?"

"We were so worried about Michael that we forgot about everything else," Darlene explained.

"Bullshit!" Ruby stomped her slippered foot, "you just don't care if I ever get her back. She might as well be dead."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Darlene backed away from the house, "we are leaving," she turned to Michelle, "Come on."

"Gladly," Michelle gave Ruby a disgusted look and started up the path with her mother.

"Michelle," Ruby called, "if you ever need a shower or something to eat, you can cook for me anytime."

Chapter 28

Warren was inspecting the contents of the cooler when Michelle and Darlene caught up to him, "It's suppertime, Darlene, start the fire."

"What the hell for?" She stood in front of him, "I ain't cooking bologna."

"Because you always have a fire at suppertime," Warren lit a cigarette and sat on the cooler.

"Because we need to cook hotdogs, but today we're having bologna," Darlene also lit a cigarette, "I'll light one later before it gets dark."

"I'm not gonna argue with you, Darlene, I'm too fucking tired," He hung his head as he blew smoke.

"Tired!" Darlene sat on her keg, "from what? You didn't do anything but sleep today. I've been up in the woods hauling firewood all day and you're fucking tired!"

Michelle rolled her eyes, annoyed with her parents bickering and went down the path unnoticed. She wanted to run away and never go back, but she didn't want to go without her brother. She was relieved that Michael wasn't going to die, but she remembered the doctor's warning that suicide victims would make a second attempt. She would just have to make sure it didn't happen. She sat on the sidewalk in front of the house to contemplate her next plan.

She was interrupted by Ruby yelling out of a broken window in the front of the house," Instead of sitting there on your ass, you should be in here fixing my windows, girly."

"You're lucky I don't come over there and break the rest of them," Michelle called back without turning around.

"No, you're lucky I didn't have you arrested," Ruby screeched and shook her finger out the broken pane. She went back to her television and cigarettes.

Michelle became more determined than ever to become a rich drug dealer. The only way she could prevent Michael from attempting to kill himself again would be to get enough money to move out of the shed and away from Ruby and her parents. She was going to take Kyle's advice and steal something to make some money, but she wasn't going to work with him. She would initiate a sole proprietorship. The only partner she would consider would be Michael, not Kyle. Maybe she wouldn't even have to sell what she stole. Maybe she could trade it for drugs and then sell the drugs. She'd make more money selling drugs than stolen goods. She decided to hunt in the back yard for anything she might be able to trade for drugs.

She walked slowly back and forth through the yard partly not to trip over anything that might be under the grass and partly so she wouldn't miss seeing anything that might be of resale value, "Nobody would want any of this shit," she muttered as she kicked an old radiator. Michelle walked over to an old tire with the rim still attached and sat down with her chin in her hands and her elbows on her legs and began to think some more. She was facing the direction of Linda Madison's house and got an idea. Linda Madison went to work everyday, so she must have a lot of things worth trading for drugs. Unfortunately, it was Saturday and she'd have to wait until Monday while she was at work to break into her house. At least she could go to the hospital tomorrow and tell Michael her plan and that would raise his hopes so he wouldn't try to kill himself again.

Chapter 29

Ron drove up and parked in his regular spot next to the Maverick. He carried his Saturday night cooler of beer up the path to drink with Warren as he'd done every Saturday night for the past twenty years. He didn't even notice Michelle sitting in the yard and probably would have ignored her anyway even if he'd seen her. Ron didn't have any interest in kids. All he cared about was his beer and his lifelong pursuit of beer drinking; therefore, he had no opinion about kids as long as they didn't hinder his beer drinking in any way.

When Ron reached the campfire area, he set his cooler down next to Warren's, "What the hell are you doing?" He chuckled as he watched Warren clumsily lighting the campfire. He was straddling the pit and stacking kindling between his feet. He stood up when he heard Ron, "I'm lighting a fucking fire," he answered angrily, "What the fuck does it look like?" He began to search his jeans pockets for a lighter.

"Here," Ron tossed him his lighter.

Still straddling the pit, Warren bent over again to light the kindling, "There it goes," he said with satisfaction as the flame caught and began to spread through the small twigs and the cardboard from his most recent case of beer.

"Don't you think you should get out of there now?" Ron asked as he got himself a beer from his cooler and looked for a place to sit.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of hot," Warren tried to step out of the fire pit and tripped. His arms flailed as he fought to regain his balance.

"Warren!" Darlene appeared from behind the shed, "get away from there!"

Still struggling to get his balance he turned toward Darlene and put his right foot down in the center of the fire, "AAAAH," he howled as he jumped away from the fire and began stomping in the dirt with his smoking foot.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Darlene stared at Warren.

"I was starting a fire because you were not doing your job," He stopped stomping his foot and headed for the cooler.

"I said I would do it later," she picked up her fire poker and began to nurse the fire.

"Well if you had done it five minutes sooner I wouldn't have started my fucking foot on fire," Warren opened a beer and lit a cigarette.

"So, Ron," Darlene ignored Warren, "how was Alice when you went to see her?"

"Sleeping," Ron took a swig of his beer.

"Yeah, what did the doctor say?"

"The doctor wasn't there, but the nurse said "Ruby, get out.'" He laughed.

"No shit," Darlene looked up from the fire, "they really threw her out?"

"Ruby was shaking Alice, trying to get her to wake up and they threw her out."

"That must have pissed her off," Warren chuckled.

"Yeah," Ron lit a cigarette, "she was pissed."

"Because she's just been through a bad experience and they wanted her to sleep." Darlene presumed.

"What are you, a fucking doctor now?" Warren laughed, "you spend an hour in the waiting room this afternoon and you think you're a doctor?"

"Fuck you, shithead," Darlene pulled the cigarette from Warren's hand and dropped it into his beer can.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, bitch?" Warren looked at her incredulously.

"You stopped laughing, didn't you?" Smugly Darlene returned her attention to the fire.

"Jesus Christ," Warren looked at Ron, "can you believe that shit?"

Ron kept drinking without any remark. He shook his head and was glad it happened to Warren and not to him.

"I just opened this can," Warren looked at Darlene, "I ought to make you drink it."

"Fine," Darlene lit a cigarette.

"You would drink this beer with a cigarette butt in it?" Warren dared her.

"Yeah, why not? It sunk to the bottom by now anyway."

"OK," Warren held the can out to her, "let's see you do it."

Darlene took the can and took a big drink, holding the cigarette butt in the can with her teeth like a dam, as Warren stood with his hands on his hips watching her. Having had a lot of experience at drinking beer, she emptied the can in a few minutes and handed it back to Warren.

"That is fucking nasty, man," Warren told her as he shook the can to make sure the cigarette butt was still in there.

"So, Ron," Darlene got another beer from the cooler, "when did they say Alice can come home?"

"I don't know," he reached into his cooler for a fresh beer, "I guess they have to wait for her to wake up and then they'll decide."

"Ron," Ruby screeched as she stepped out the back door with her raggedy pocketbook hanging from her arm.

"What the hell is she calling me for?" Ron looked at Warren and Darlene who looked just as surprised.

"Probably because she knows I'm still pissed off at her from this afternoon when she called me all those names," Warren sulked angrily as he swilled his beer.

"Yeah, right, Warren," Darlene rolled her eyes, "she forgot all about that by now, because she doesn't care if she pisses you off."

"Oh, no," Warren nodded his head for emphasis, "She knows, she knows."

"Ron!" Ruby screeched again, "I know you're up there."

Ron reluctantly left the campfire and the cooler to answer Ruby's call.

When he got halfway down the path Ruby said, "Put the beer down, Ron, we're going to get Alice."

"What?" he put the beer down on the hood of the Maverick, "We were just there today. Did she wake up?"

"That's what they told me," Ruby confirmed, "she's awake and they're releasing her."

"Are they giving her some pills or something?" Ron seemed confused, "How come they're letting her go already?"

"How the hell should I know," Ruby opened Ron's car door and spoke to him over the roof, "I just got a phone call to go get her."

"OK, well, I gotta do something first, I'll be right back," Ron, only concerned that someone might drink his beer in his absence, forgot all about his recent trip to the hospital with Ruby and his decision to never drive her there again, went back up to the campfire.

"Hurry up, Ron!" Ruby screeched from the front seat.

"Hey, man," Ron said as he reached his cooler, "I'm taking Ruby to the hospital to pick up Alice."

"Already?" Darlene said.

"That's what Ruby says," Ron picked up his cooler and started down the path, "I'll be back in a while."

"You can leave your cooler here, Ron," Warren said.

"That's OK," Ron carried his precious beer down the path to his car.

"Hey," Darlene jumped up from her keg, "if you're going to the hospital, I'll catch a ride with you to see Michael."

"Sure," Ron said over his shoulder, "no problem."

Chapter 30

Michelle stood behind the Duster watching Ruby, Ron and Darlene get into Ron's car. The anger and resentment she felt toward them made her physically sick. Her arms and legs trembled and her chest was tense as she stood scowling after the departing car. She was angry with her grandmother for treating her and her family as her personal abuse targets. She was angry with her mother for spending her welfare check on beer instead of more important things like rent. She resented Ron because he was a drunk like her parents and was always here encouraging her parents to maintain their beer-obsessed existence. She hated them all, especially her father. He would rather live in a shed and be abused by Ruby than quit drinking and get a real job to take care of his family. She especially hated them for abusing Michael so bad that he tried to kill himself.

It dawned on Michelle that their trip to the hospital would take a little while and there was nothing keeping her from going in to have something to eat and maybe a shower. The back door was locked so she found a rock and broke the glass to be able to reach inside and turn the knob. Walking over the broken glass on the floor, she began to inspect the contents of the kitchen. She found a TV dinner and put it in the oven. With dinner heating up, she went upstairs to take a shower. She couldn't help grinning at all the broken glass on the floor in almost every room from her recent act of destruction. Her grandma was such an asshole, the biggest one in the family and the whole family were assholes in their own way. Michael was the only one she cared about and he almost escaped the family without her. That was pretty selfish of him, but she could understand his desperation after that last dose of abuse administered by Ruby. She was just relieved that he didn't die and she would see to it that he never attempted suicide again.

The hot shower was a luxury that Michelle savored. She turned around slowly feeling the massaging sensation of the water beating down on her shoulders and then on her chest. Ruby always bought the extra cheap soap that didn't lather up at all unlike the liquid soaps in the girls room at school, but it was better than nothing. Wanting to be out of the house before Ruby returned home, Michelle got dressed, grabbed a fork and took her TV dinner outside.

Chapter 31

"Alice!" Ruby screeched causing Ron to cringe as they entered Alice's room and found her bed empty. "Where the hell is she?" Ruby stalked over to the chair by Alice's bed and dropped her shabby pocketbook into it and put her hands on her hips.

"She's in the bathroom," said a woman propped up in the next bed watching TV. Her bright red hair contrasted with her black roots and black eyebrows. Her pudgy middle-aged cheeks and sagging throat jiggled when she spoke and her eyelids fluttered in a condescending way.

"What the hell are you?" Ruby looked at the patient with disdain, her fat fists still planted on her huge hips. Ron was still standing motionless in the doorway having recovered from his cringing reaction to Ruby's screech.

"I could ask you the same question, but I'm missing "Supermarket Sweep," she returned her gaze to the TV.

"There are more important things than TV, you know," Ruby scolded the woman and walked over to the bathroom, "Alice, are you in there?"

Alice didn't answer, but Ruby could hear her shuffling around.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you, young lady!" Ruby tried the door but it was locked, "the doctor told me to come take you home so you better be getting dressed in there."

Alice felt her heart begin to race as she heard her mother's voice. She had been sitting on the toilet to tie her shoes after dressing when she heard her mother calling to her in her usual overbearing manner. She didn't want to see Ruby, much less go home with her. She didn't care where she went, but she couldn't return to that house. She stood up in a panic and she almost stumbled as she experienced a sudden dizziness.

"Go away," she moaned as she closed her eyes and held her head with her hands.

Ruby looked questioningly at Ron who was still standing like a statue by the door, "Did she say something?" Ron gave her a blank look and thought about his cooler of beer waiting for him in the car. He wanted to get back to it. Then he stopped closer to the bathroom door, "Hey Alice, since you are out of the house now, you want to drink some beer with us at the campfire?"

"Make her go away," Alice spoke through the door to Ron who looked confused because he didn't know if Alice was referring to Ruby or her roommate.

"Who?" he asked glancing at Ruby who rolled her eyes and turned to the roommate.

"Hey," Ruby said to the roommate, "would you mind leaving the room so she'll come out of that bathroom and we can get the hell out of here."

"Kiss my ass, lady," the roommate glared at Ruby, "this is my room and I ain't leaving unless the place is on fire."

"I want my mother to leave," Alice called through the door, "not my roommate."

Ron's jaw dropped open as he met Ruby's astonished gaze, "I guess you better go Ruby, or she won't come out."

"Like hell I will," Ruby turned back to the bathroom door, "Now you listen to me, girly. Either you get your sorry ass out here right now or you're not coming back to my house."

"I know I'm not going back home," Alice's heart was pounding and her hands were sweating. Her voice began to quiver as though she were about to cry, "I can't go back there anymore. I jumped out a second story window for Christ's sake. Do you think I'd want to just go back to normal after that?"

"You been a lot of things, but normal ain't one of them," Ruby looked at Ron who looked sympathetic to Alice's situation.

"Come on, Ruby," he tried to guide her out of the room, but she defiantly jerked her cellulite ridden arm away from his grasp.

"Get your fucking hands off me, asshole."

"Hey, don't make me call security," the roommate warned angrily, "just leave the poor girl alone."

"Who the hell asked for your opinion?" Ruby said as she picked her handbag up from the chair and went back to the bathroom door, "I know you'll come home Alice because you don't have anywhere else to go. You've never lived anywhere but with me. You might not want to come home, but you'll have no choice and I'll be there waiting," She held her head high looking straight ahead as she left the room.

"I hope she's gone for good," the roommate commented to Ron, "you better help Alice stay away from her. I'd jump out a window too if I had to live with her."

Ron's face was red with anger after Ruby was so abusive to him. He nodded in agreement and tentatively stepped closer to the bathroom door. He stood there a few seconds as if he might knock, but didn't quite know what he was supposed to do.

The roommate was watching him until she lost patience and called, "It's OK to come out, Alice, she's gone."

The doorknob turned and Ron took a step back. Slowly, the door opened and Alice cautiously peeked out the crack and then when she realized Ruby was truly gone, she stepped through the doorway and stood awkwardly in front of Ron. She was dressed in her regular baggy sweat suit only her thick salt and pepper hair was hanging loose over her shoulders and down her back.

"Hi, Alice," Ron said shyly, "I can't believe you jumped out a fucking window."

Alice tensed up and looked like she was either getting ready to cry or to scream so Ron said, "No, I mean, I probably would have done the same thing if I were you."

"You would?" Alice looked hopeful that someone would understand how she felt. No one at the hospital seemed to care about anything except that she didn't have any medical insurance, "I just had to get out of that house and away from her."

"Why didn't you just go out the door?"

Disappointed, Alice looked down at the floor, "Because I had to get out fast. She was driving me crazy ordering me around and treating me like a slave. I couldn't find her blue dress" she looked back up at Ron, "What am I going to do now? I can't go back there and I haven't been anywhere else since high school."

"I don't know," Ron was anxious to leave the hospital and get back to his beer. He knew his ice would be melting by this time, "Why don't you live in the shed with Warren and Darlene? Warren hasn't lived anywhere except with Ruby since high school either."

"Oh my God!" Alice looked disgusted, "that place is filthy and there's not even any running water," she changed her opinion when she realized she didn't have any other options, "but I did live with them all those years before they got thrown out. I guess it'll be OK."

"There's no TV though," Ron picked up the rose he brought her and with the other hand guided her out into the corridor, "that's what really sucks."

Chapter 32

Alice timidly followed Ron down the corridor toward the elevator avoiding the gaze of everyone they passed. They were all threatening to Alice as though they disapproved of her somehow and would begin ridiculing and belittling her if she happened to make eye contact with them. Her breathes came in short rapid gasps so that by the time they stopped onto the elevator she was dizzy and grabbed onto Ron's sleeve to keep from falling forward.

"You still with me?" Ron smiled his smile of missing teeth.

"I'm here," she answered shakily.

"Hospitals always make me nervous," Ron pressed the bottom for the ground floor, "I always feel better when I leave."

"Maybe that will happen with me," Alice didn't sound hopeful though.

Ron was nervous now that they would meet with Ruby in the parking lot and she would cause a scene. But they moved from the building to the car without any incidents. He unlocked the passenger side door for Alice and helped her into the car. He got into the driver seat and started the car. Alice jumped when the engine started because she hadn't been in a car in sixteen years not counting the ambulance ride to the hospital, since she was unconscious at the time. She rode with both hands holding the dashboard and jumped and gasped every time they stopped at a stoplight and every time another car pulled out in front of them.

Ron noticed this and said, "You jumped out a second story window and didn't even get hurt. A car ride isn't going to kill you."

"We're going too fast," was Alice's wide-eyed reply. She never took her eyes from the road. "Watch out for those two ladies on the side of the road," Alice became even more wide-eyed and leaned to the left, as though her leaning would pull the car in that direction.

Ron laughed and blew the horn as he swerved to avoid Ruby and Darlene hitchhiking home from the hospital. Ruby tried to make him stop by holding up both arms as they passed. Her pocketbook hanging from her elbow, Ron could see her lips moving and her angry expression when she realized he wasn't going to stop to pick them up.

Darlene looked resolute in her anger and misery. Not only was she still unable to see Michael, but now she also had to hitchhike home with Ruby while Warren was home with all the beer to himself. With only another mile or so to walk, she chain-smoked and resisted the temptation to push her mother-in-law out in front of every passing car. When she had met up with Ruby in front of the hospital, Ruby told Darlene that Ron had left without them in the hope that Darlene would pay for a cab. After seeing Ron drive by, she realized Ruby had lied to her again and berated herself for falling for another one of her mother-in-law's lies.

At this point, Darlene couldn't stand the sight of her mother-in-law. She'd been taking years of abuse from her and endured her abuse of her husband and children. But Warren was her husband and he refused to leave his mother, no matter how badly she treated him or his family, so Darlene felt that she had no choice but to tolerate Ruby's presence. She made sure she stayed a few feet ahead of Ruby to avoid eye contact and also to continue to resist the growing urge to push her into the path of an oncoming car. It was bad enough she had to listen to her complaining about having to walk home between gasps for air. Maybe she wouldn't be able to catch her breath and die.

"I don't know why you didn't just call us a cab," Ruby criticized Darlene as she tried to keep up with her, "you get a check every month from the state, plus food stamps. And now with Warren working you should be doing pretty good."

"You get a check every month too," Darlene kept walking as she spoke, "why didn't you get yourself a cab so I could walk in peace?"

"My check goes to taking care of my house, girlie. It ain't cheap being a homeowner, but you wouldn't know anything about that, living in my shed on my property," Ruby had to stop and lean forward with her hands on her legs just above her knees until she caught her breath. When she could breath again, Darlene was about a block ahead of her. Knowing she couldn't possibly catch up to her now, she gave up trying, sat on a low stone wall that ran along the side of the road and stuck out her thumb.

Chapter 33

"Warren, you better not have drank all the fucking beer while I was gone," Darlene called as she stomped up the path toward the shed.

"What the fuck?" Warren got up from his seat on the beer keg where Darlene usually sits while she tends the fire, "is that any way to greet your husband?"

"It's how I greet mine," she took a beer from the cooler, cracked it open and guzzled half the can before she looked at the fire which was almost dead, "what happened to the fire?"

"Don't you have anything nice to say?" Warren lit a cigarette, "you haven't stopped bitching since you came home."

"I have a good reason to bitch," she said as she sat on her keg, "they still wouldn't let me see Michael, then I had to fucking walk home because your fucking mother told me that Ron went home without us. Then I had to listen to that lying bitch give me a hard time because I wouldn't call a cab."

"I told you not to talk about my mother like that," Warren leaned forward with his filthy finger pointing in Darlene's face, "if you don't stop calling my mother names, then you can't have anymore of my beer."

"What!" Darlene stood up, "who's beer?"

"It's my beer, Darlene," he walked over to the cooler, "it was my hard earned money that paid for it."

"And who bought all the beer you've been drinking up to now, asshole?" Darlene raised her voice.

"I got that beer courtesy of the state of Connecticut," Warren answered with a smirk that revealed his self-appreciation. He was practically patting himself on the back as he strutted from the cooler to the fire and back.

"You got that beer courtesy of me and don't you forget it," Darlene looked at the fire, which was now growing in intensity as she rearranged the wood and the coals with her stick, "I was supposed to be paying for rent and household stuff with that money. Maybe I should have used that money for what it was supposed to be used for. Then we wouldn't be living in this piece-of-shit shed."

"I am so fucking sick and tired of all of you complaining about living in the fucking shed," Warren threw his empty beer can to the ground, "If you hate living here so much, why don't you fucking go live somewhere else."

Darlene looked at Warren in anger and confusion, "What is your problem?" She looked at him as he got a fresh beer from the cooler, "I can't understand why living here is okay with you. How many other people do you know that live in a fucking shed in their mother's back yard?"

"Now there you go again," he shook his head, "what difference does it make how other people live? This is my home. I've lived here all my life. Why should I go somewhere else?"

"Because your mother threw you out, that's why," Darlene lit a cigarette, "when you get thrown out of one place, you find another place. You don't just live in the yard of the place you got thrown out of."

"Why not?" Warren lit his own cigarette, "you're talking about other people again. I'm not other people. I've never been like other people."

"You got that right anyway," Darlene poked at the fire.

"Like I said, this is my home and I'm staying. If you want to go somewhere else, then go right ahead, cause I'm not going anywhere."

"You're an asshole."

"Yeah, that's another thing I'm sick of. I don't get no respect around here," Warren took a drag off his cigarette, "I'm the head of this family and I don't get one bit of respect. My wife calls me an asshole, my kids run away and then my oldest kid tries to kill himself. I deserve some respect."

"For what?" Darlene stared incredulously at him, "for getting us thrown out of the house and making us live in the shed?"

"No, for being the head of this family and the man of the house, that's what."

"And just for being a man is supposed to get you all this respect? You're supposed to earn respect, not just have it handed to you."

"You don't understand because you're a woman. Women don't know nothing about being a man." Warren got up off the cooler and peered down the path, "Ron would understand because he's a man. I thought you said he passed you when you were walking. Where the hell is he?"

"I don't know. He had Alice with him. Maybe they stopped somewhere on the way."

"Where the hell would he go with her? She never goes anywhere."

"Maybe she's so glad to be out of the house for once that she doesn't want to come back."

Chapter 34

Darlene was beginning to wonder where Michelle was since she hadn't seen her since before her wasted trip to the hospital. She went to the cooler and got a fresh beer, "Where's Michelle?" she asked Warren who was by the side of the shed taking a leak.

"How the hell should I know," Warren went to the cooler for a beer, "I haven't seen her sorry ass since before you left."

"She can't be too far away anyway since she's all alone," Darlene put another log on the fire and sat on her keg, "let's eat the rest of the bologna."

Warren was savoring the beer and bologna after he let Darlene take her share. She wouldn't let him put his filthy hands on her bologna. It was dark out now and the fire was hot and bright. It was quiet, except for the crackle of the fire and an occasional passing car, when there was a sudden gravelly scream that made Warren almost choke on his bologna, "What the fuck?" he exclaimed as he stood up from the old toilet he was sitting on and washed the bologna down with some beer.

Darlene looked up from her fire almost holding her breath waiting to hear something else to explain what that awful noise was. It sounded like a cat in heat only louder and sharper, not so long and drawn out. The scream came again with an additional sob and a cry for help. It was coming from the house.

"That's Mom!" Warren ran down the path to rescue his mother leaving Darlene standing in alarm by the fire with her stick in one hand and her beer in the other. She wanted to find out the cause of the scream, but she didn't want to leave the fire unattended. She heard Warren yell, "I'm coming, Ma," as he stumbled down the path in the dark and drunk. The screen door slammed as Warren entered the house and then Ruby's rough screechy voice could be heard even though none of the words were discernable. Darlene sat back down with her beer and her fire and wondered what was going on. She hoped it was something really bad.

"Warren!" Ruby screamed when he entered the house. She was standing in the middle of her living room staring wild-eyed at the empty space on her TV stand. Her TV was gone. She stared at the rectangular spot on the stand that was dust-free. Then she looked at Warren squinting angrily, "Did you take my fucking TV while I was gone?"

"No, Ma," Warren was clearly hurt and insulted, "what would I do with your TV?"

"Darlene got home before me. I bet she took it."

"No, she didn't. She came straight up to the shed bitching at me all the way. She didn't take it."

"Well, then who did?" Ruby put her pocketbook down on the couch and held her open hand out to Warren like he was supposed to know what she wanted. When he didn't respond, she impatiently snapped the fingers of the outstretched hand, "Give me a cigarette."

Warren gave her a cigarette from the crumpled pack he carried rolled up on the sleeve of his tee shirt, "Maybe you should call the cops."

"You can bet your ass I'm calling the cops," Ruby marched to the phone with her cigarette dangling from between her lips, "See, this is what happens when Alice isn't here. Your delinquent kid smashed out all of my windows, then somebody steals my fucking TV." She punched 911 into the phone and asked Warren, "Where the hell is Alice anyway. I'm going to give her hell for not having Ron pick me up. I had to walk from the hospital and they drove right by without stopping to give me a ride." By that time someone answered the emergency line and Ruby made them wait until she finished her comments to Warren who was shrugging his shoulders to indicate he knew nothing about Alice's whereabouts.

Ruby turned her attention back to the phone, "Yeah, I just got home and somebody stole my TV." She listened to the person on the other end of the line and screeched, "This is an emergency. Somebody stole my TV and it's the only one I had." Another pause and, "No, nobody's in danger of being hurt or killed, but my fucking TV is gone."

"OK, give me the number," Ruby wrote down a number on the back of a losing lottery ticket that happened to be on the phone table and hung up. She set her cigarette down in an ashtray and looked at Warren, "can you believe this shit? They said it wasn't an emergency and I should call the police myself."

"What!" Warren looked indignant, "they can't treat you like that."

"No shit. And you can bet I'm going to complain about it," Ruby dialed the number muttering, "not an emergency my ass."

"Yeah," Ruby got someone on the line, "I just called 911 to report my television being stolen and they told me to call you."

"OK," said the person on the other end of the line, "give me your address and we'll send someone over to take your report."

"How long is it going to take for them to get here?"

"Not long, ma'am."

"This is an emergency," Ruby's voice was rising, "someone stole my fucking TV."

"Ma'am, please watch your language. We'll send an officer right over."

"My address is 102 Elm Street. Tell them to hurry up," Ruby hung up and stood there smoking her cigarette, "what am I going to do now?"

Chapter 35

Warren stood looking helplessly at his mother as she paced back and forth along the length of the couch glancing periodically at the empty metal TV stand, "Are you sure that's where you left it?" he asked in desperation to say something to make her feel better.

"That's the stupidest thing you've ever said," Ruby cast him an angry glance as she paced in her worn down slippers and her cigarette smoke trailing behind her, "I've had that TV for ten years and it's been in that spot for ten years." She pointed at the empty spot with her hand that held the cigarette, emphasizing the words ten years with a bounce of her arm at each word that left her flabby upper arm jiggling and swinging.

"I was just trying to help," Warren hung his head in disappointment.

"Warren," Ruby resumed pacing and smoking, "if you find my TV and it still works, I'll let you and your family move back into the house."

He looked up in hopeful jubilation when he heard those words he had longed to hear ever since he was evicted. There was actually a chance Ruby would allow him back into her house. Now he could believe that he wasn't exiled forever and there really was a chance that he'd be living back in his rightful place under his mother's roof as man of the house again, "OK, Ma," Warren started toward the back door, "I'll find it for you, Ma. You can depend on me." As he reached for the knob there was a knock on the screen door and he looked back at Ruby.

"Well," she said impatiently, "open the damn door, Warren. It's probably the cop," She stopped pacing and stood with her hands on her hips gazing expectantly toward the door as she waited for Warren to open it.

Warren pulled open the door to find a young male cop looking sternly at him and Michelle standing next to him with Ruby's TV at her feet. Warren looked past the cop at the TV and became excited, "Ma, here's your TV. You must have left it outside. I found it, I found it."

Ruby came rushing to the door, pushing Warren out of the way as the cop looked incredulously at Warren while Michelle looked apprehensively yet angrily at Ruby.

The cop looked at Ruby now who was breathing heavily standing with a hand on each side of the doorway, "Is this your TV, Ma'am?"

"Yes, it is," Ruby turned to Warren, "bring it in the house for me, will you?"

He did as he was told and almost lost his balance carrying it from the cinder block to the keg when the keg shifted slightly. He got it into the house and was returning it to its place when the cop asked Ruby "Does this mean you aren't pressing charges?"

"Do you know who stole it?" She finally noticed Michelle standing next to the cop and became enraged, "You stole my fucking TV?"

The cop stepped in front of Michelle as a barrier against Ruby's growing wrath. Her eyes bulged and her face turned red, "You trashed my fucking house, but that wasn't enough for you was it?"

"You made my brother try to kill himself."

"Whoa, whoa," the cop made lowering motions with his hands, "there's a lot more to this story than just a stolen TV."

"No shit, Sherlock," Ruby screamed at the cop, "I should have called you after she busted out all of my windows, but being my granddaughter I wanted to give her a break. This is the thanks I get for giving her a break. She steals my fucking TV."

"Wait a minute," Warren returned to stand by his mother, "she didn't steal your TV. It was right there on the ground."

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Oh shut up, dickhead!"

"Ma'am," the cop was making the same lowering motions with his hands, "please calm down so we can get this straightened out."

"There's nothing to straighten out," Ruby folded her arms, "I want her arrested."

Michelle's jaw dropped in surprise, "Arrested!"

"What's going on here?" Darlene was coming down the path. She heard the yelling and saw the police car in the driveway and decided to leave the fire unattended. She had to find out what was going on.

The cop turned to take a look at the latest addition to the commotion, "Who are you?"

"I'm her mother," Darlene swayed slightly as she stood behind Michelle, "what's the problem here?"

"I'll tell you what the problem is," Ruby put her hands on her hips, "your daughter stole my TV."

Darlene laughed out loud, "Is that what happened? Good one, Michelle."

Michelle looked uncomfortable and embarrassed as she looked at the cop who was examining Darlene as though she were an alien, but he probably was only grimacing at the odor.

"OK," The cop looked at Warren, "and who are you, sir."

"Sir?" Darlene began to laugh again.

Warren gave his wife an angry look and stuck his chin up and his chest out, "I'm Warren Kennedy, her husband," he pointed at Darlene.

"Now I know you," the cop pointed at Warren, "you're the one we arrested last night in front of the bar."

"Oh yeah?" Warren pointed back at the cop, "well I don't remember you."

"No, I wouldn't think so. You were pretty drunk."

"Ma," Warren looked at Ruby who was impatiently tapping her foot, "are you going to let him talk to me like that?"

"Like what?" Ruby stopped tapping and asked the cop, "are we going to get back to my TV or what?"

"Of course," the cop looked at Michelle then at Ruby, "are you planning to file charges?"

"You bet your ass I am," Ruby glared at Michelle.

"For what?" asked Warren.

"You don't know she took it," Darlene lit a cigarette and pointed at Ruby with the cigarette hand, "you're just pissed off about your windows, so you're blaming this on Michelle."

"If I'd called the cops about my windows, she wouldn't have been here to steal my TV."

"The evidence is very incriminating," the cop explained to Darlene, "I found your daughter standing in front of the bar with the TV trying to sell it."

"What?" Warren didn't understand, "then how did the TV end up on the ground right there?"

"Because that's where I put it when I brought Michelle home," the cop explained.

"I don't get it," Warren gave up and lit a cigarette.

"I should press charges," Ruby wagged her nicotine stained finger at Michelle, "but I'll make you a deal instead. Since I got my TV back right away, you can do some chores around the house for me for a couple of weeks instead."

"You just want her to be your slave," Darlene accused.

"Would you rather see her go to jail for who knows how long? I could just press charges," Ruby stood with her hands on her hips looking from Darlene to Michelle.

"Yeah," Darlene submitted, "I guess it's a good deal," she looked at Michelle, "what do you think?"

"I guess I have no choice," she looked angrily at Ruby.

Ruby nodded her head smugly, "I'll work out the details and get back to you."

The cop said, "Well, I guess I'm finished here, "Don't drink too much, Warren," he called into the house and departed.

Chapter 36

"Michelle!" Michelle groaned and rolled over on the floor of the shed trying to go back to sleep and ignore her grandmother. She knew that last night she enjoyed her last hours of freedom and today she would become Ruby's slave. Maybe jail would have been better than slavery, but she chose the familiar alternative rather than the unknown option. She had never been to jail and never knew anyone who had been and didn't want to find out what it was like. Darlene had actually felt sorry for Michelle last night and offered her a beer and a cigarette, which she promptly declined. She saw what too much beer and cigarettes had done to her parents and definitely didn't want to become drunken bums like them. The air in the shed was hot and musty and smelled like stale beer and cigarettes from her parents who were still sound asleep. She could see the dust particles floating in the sunlight that shone through the single window of the shed. She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to go back to sleep.

"Michelle!" came Ruby's screech again, a little more demanding this time.

"Leave me alone, Ma," Warren mumbled in his usual morning hangover stupor.

"She's not calling you, she's calling Michelle," Darlene mumbled from her place on the floor, "Michelle, go see your grandmother so she'll shut up."

"Are you going to see Michael today?" She asked as she sat up.

"They better let me in to see him today or I'll be raising holy hell down there at that hospital," Darlene lit a cigarette without getting up. The smoke mixed with the dust in the sunlight and Michelle got up to open the door for some air, "Can I go with you when you go?"

"That depends on if your slave driver will let you leave the house."

"If she doesn't, "I'll just jump out a window," and Michelle left the shed to begin her term of enslavement at Ruby's.

The door slammed behind Michelle and Darlene wondered where Alice was. Ron never came back last night so they must still be together. She didn't wonder if Alice was all right or if she was scared or angry or homesick. She lay on the floor of the shed and wondered if Alice got laid last night. Then she wondered if it were the first time Alice had been laid. Then she imagined having sex with Ron and was repulsed, but not as repulsed as she was at imagining having sex with Warren. She decided to think about something else to get her mind off of sex. She planned her day, which didn't take long. She needed to see Michael today and see for herself that he was all right. Then she needed to get more hotdogs. Of course, she needed more firewood. It seemed as though most of her time was spent gathering firewood. Realizing she only had three things to do today, she rolled over and went back to sleep. There was no hurry to get started on her day.

Michelle stood in the middle of Ruby's living room with her arms folded across her chest as she fixed her eyes on the ceiling and tapped her foot in anger.

"After you make my coffee and cook my breakfast," Ruby sat on the couch making a list of chores for Michelle to complete, "you will clean up all of these busted-up window panes from the floor."

"And then what?" Michelle looked down at her grandmother.

"I'll let you know. I haven't decided yet."

"Mom is going to see Michael today and I want to go too," Michelle tried not to look as angry, but it didn't work. Her face was pale and the skin was sweaty.

"Oh, boo hoo," Ruby howled in mock sympathy for her granddaughter, "how does it feel to want?" she asked with a chuckle.

Enraged, Michelle stomped into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast. She had plenty of experience from when she lived in the house before Warren got them evicted. Darlene showed Michelle how to cook and wash dishes before she was ten years old. That way, she could nurse her hangover while Michelle did the housework. Alice would hover around her while she worked and cleaned anything Michelle might have missed. Alice also showed Michelle her way of putting the dishes away so each cup, plate, saucer, and piece of silverware was returned to its proper location.

Today the sink was already full of dirty dishes before Michelle even started cooking. Ruby had, obviously, cooked for herself but didn't clean up afterwards. She had to wash a pan before she could start cooking. She scrubbed the cast iron frying pan violently as she thought about how much she hated her grandmother. When they lived in the house with her, she was always critical and belittling, but after the family was evicted and moved into the shed, she became absolutely cruel. Michelle wished that instead of jumping out the window herself, Alice had pushed Ruby out. That big tub of lard probably would have died hitting the ground from two stories high. Now that she was Ruby's slave, she wouldn't have time or opportunity to become a drug dealer. If only someone had bought that TV last night before the cop came by. Then she would have had some money to get some drugs to sell and she wouldn't be in this present situation and Ruby would be suffering badly without her precious television.

Just as Michelle was about to turn away from the sink to the stove, she heard a light tap at the window over the sink and recognized her father's grubby hand at the window. Then his hand disappeared and his head appeared. He had dragged Ruby's beer keg that served as a step up to the back door over to the window.

"What?" Michelle asked in annoyance.

"Can you cook me some breakfast too?" He asked hopefully as he teetered on the keg.

"Are you crazy?" she asked glancing back toward the living room to make sure Ruby didn't hear her. Then she realized how angry Ruby would be if she found out Michelle was giving her food to Warren and she said, "Sure, wait there while I cook some eggs."

Warren got so excited he teetered too far and fell onto this back as the keg tilted over and out from under his feet. Michelle rolled her eyes as she went to the stove and began breakfast.

Ruby called, "What's the hold up in there? I don't smell anything cooking, not even my coffee."

"It's coming, it's coming," Michelle called back. She could barely contain her anger enough to be civil to her grandmother, but snickered as she cracked some extra eggs into the pan for her parents. She only hoped that Warren would give Darlene some breakfast and not eat it all himself. It's not like she felt any obligation to feed her parents. They certainly didn't put any effort into feeding her and Michael. At least when school was in session they got three meals a day. Now that it's summer, they were lucky to get their dinner hotdog. And Warren acted as though he were doing them a great favor at that. Michelle just loved putting one over on her grandmother. That was the only reason she was feeding her parents, for her own personal amusement.

She cooked scrambled eggs and toast for everyone and nice, rich hot coffee to go with it. Ruby was enjoying every inhaled bite and enjoying her coffee with a cigarette while Michelle washed the dishes and waited for her parents to return their dirty dishes through the window. What a joke! Michelle got to have a decent breakfast for herself, even if she had to prepare it herself and wash up afterwards, and she put a pretty good one over on her grandmother. She would wait a while before she broke the news to Ruby that she was already low on bread and eggs.

Chapter 37

Alice woke up in a panic. Her heart was pounding, her eyes were wide as she gasped for air. Where was she? Frantically she looked around the dark musty room and recognized Ron sprawled on the bed and remembered where she was. Ron had brought her to his basement apartment after leaving the hospital. He had planned to go back to Warren's, but Alice was afraid of seeing Ruby so he drank his beer in front of the TV instead of in front of Darlene's fire. Alice sat beside him on the couch feeling restless and nervous. She wasn't used to simply sitting and watching TV. She was used to making herself useful by constantly doing housework. When she tried to empty Ron's ashtray and pick up his empty beer cans, he got annoyed and told her to sit down and relax. When his beer was gone, he flopped himself onto the bed and Alice stiffly stretched out on the couch.

She sat up and felt as though she should be doing something, mostly because she couldn't tolerate just sitting around being a useless burden. She very quietly gathered the beer cans together and packed them all into one of the many beer cases Ron had stacked by the refrigerator in his little one room apartment. Then she emptied the ashtray into the trash and would have cooked breakfast except there was nothing to cook. The only thing Ron had in his refrigerator was a loaf of bread and some barbeque sauce. There were a few moldy spots on the bottom shelf, but nothing else. The freezer held only an empty ice cube tray. She didn't look in the cupboards because she felt as though she were invading his privacy, so she returned to her seat on the couch to wait for Ron to wake up.

Alice sat rocking herself back and forth on the couch as she panicked over her uncertain future. What would she do now? She couldn't stay with Ron forever and she couldn't go home to Ruby. She felt that she would go crazy if she tried to live with Ruby again, listening to all of her orders and criticisms night and day. She feared that Ruby would bully her into moving back into her house even though she didn't want to. But where else could she go? The shed was the only place she could think of. Of course, being shut in the house for sixteen years, she didn't have any knowledge of how the outside world operated. No one in her family had had a permanent, job except for her father, unless she counted the few years that Warren worked at Electric Boat. Then she remembered Warren had just started a new job sorting bottles and cans at the redemption center with Ron. Maybe they could give her some advice on working. She didn't even know how to apply for a job or where to start looking.

She was so afraid of not knowing what was going to become of her. She rocked and rocked and tried not to cry. She hadn't cried since her father died and she wouldn't cry now. Ruby had made fun of her for crying. She called her names and laughed at her weakness. She couldn't be weak anymore because now she had to take care of herself for the first time in her life. How was she going to take care of herself?

Chapter 38

"That girl is a pretty good cook," Warren licked his fingers and lit a cigarette as Darlene came back from returning the dishes to Michelle.

"We could eat like that all the time if you'd get us an apartment," Darlene lit a cigarette of her own.

"Why does everything come back to me?" Warren sat on the cooler with his hands on his knees, "I can't make any kind of remark-good or bad-and you turn it into something bad about how I take care of my family."

"I just like to keep reminding you about how miserable we are because of you, that's all."

"And you do a really good fucking job of it too."

"Thank you," Darlene sat on her keg in front of the cold dead fireplace, "are you going to take me to the hospital to see Michael or am I going alone?"

"That's kind of a cold question, isn't it?" Warren gave her an accusatory glare, "don't you think I want to see my own kid? Besides, maybe they'll let us bring him home today. They let Alice out after one day, why not Michael?"

"Do you think the shrinks are done with him yet?" Darlene took a long drag of her cigarette, "that doctor said they were going to evaluate him and suggest a treatment plan."

"Is that what he said?" Warren scratched his head, "I was so pissed off I don't remember what he said."

"Why don't you take a fucking bath, Warren," Darlene looked at him in disgust as he continued to scratch his head, "I don't know how you can stand to be so filthy."

"Now I'm not only a bad provider but I'm dirty too," Warren flicked his cigarette butt into the fireplace.

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Darlene said casually, "but all you have to do is take a bath and you'd only have one bad characteristic instead of two."

"You're really funny," Warren got up from the cooler, "where do you suggest I take a bath anyway?"

"Go down to the river or use the bathroom at the liquor store."

"Are you crazy?"

"Come on," Darlene flicked her butt into the fireplace, "you go fishing for furniture in the river but you won't bathe in it?"

"It's right out in the open," Warren whined, "what if someone sees me."

"It might gross them out for a while but screw them. You need to take a bath, Warren," Darlene got up and started straightening up her wood pile, "Hide under the bridge and do it."

"If I take a bath, will you give me a little?" Warren leered at Darlene as she straightened back up from her firewood.

"No way," she turned to glare at him, which changed his leering expression to a frown, "I told you that when you got us thrown out of the house. You don't get any until we're living in a decent house or apartment again."

"That's no fair. Why should I be punished?"

"Because it's your fault!"

"You know you're the one in the wrong here. You have a wifely duty to give me sex when I want it," Warren pointed at her.

"Yeah, right," Darlene wasn't intimidated, "and you have a husbandly duty to give me a place to live.

"I got you this shed to live in," he spread his arms out as he faced the shed as though he were a model on a game show displaying a grand prize, "it's got four walls and a roof. I consider that a place to live since we've been living here for months."

"Yeah and I can't believe I've been living here for months. And I can't believe you expect to live here all winter too," Darlene lit another cigarette.

"I told you I'm going to put a stove or a fireplace in the shed and I already got you that couch. As soon as it dries out, you'll have that to sleep on instead of the floor. In the winter you can buy different kinds of food too because you can keep it outside and it won't go bad. We won't need a cooler anymore."

"I ain't staying here in the winter! I don't care what you say."

"Well, then don't," Warren sat back down on the cooler, "I told you if you don't want to stay here, you can leave. I'm not going anywhere."

"Even Alice left this place," Darlene pointed out, "She was even living in the house and she couldn't stand it anymore. I wonder where she is anyway."

"I don't know," Warren didn't really care where she was, "maybe Ron got lucky last night."

"With Alice?" Darlene seemed skeptical, "She's afraid of her own shadow. I think she'd be afraid to get laid too."

"Ron's a pretty charming guy, you know," Warren winked at her, "I bet he could talk her into giving it up."

"Well, whatever," Darlene rolled her eyes, "I really don't care. All I care about is _she_ got the hell away from here and I'm still here."

"Well, that's your fault, Darlene," Warren smiled his dirty, toothless grin, "you just have to be where I am. You'd be lost without me."

"Go take a bath, Warren," frustrated and angry that Warren didn't seem to care about her at all, Darlene entered the woods to continue her perpetual search for firewood.

"I wonder what Michelle's making for lunch," Warren got up from the cooler and headed toward the river.

Chapter 39

Alice stopped rocking and sat up straight when she heard Ron waking up. His bed was about ten feet from the couch with the headboard against the wall. Ron had a view of his entire basement apartment from his bed. Alice, feeling self-conscious, being in the same room as Ron as he woke up, kept her eyes fixed on the gray indoor/outdoor carpeting under her feet as she sat with her hands folded in her lap. Her heart was pounding and her head was dizzy, but her body was as still as a statue.

Ron rolled over and released some pent up gas for a few minutes and muttered, "Fucking cheap beer," Without opening his eyes he groped for his cigarettes and lighter, which lay on an old wooden footstool he kept next to the bed as a night stand. He partially sat up and lit a cigarette. Then he noticed Alice sitting perfectly still on the couch, "Jesus Christ, Alice," he blew out smoke, "is that how you sat all night?"

Alice experienced an adrenaline rush when Ron spoke and her hands trembled as she answered, "What?"

"Didn't you sleep last night?" Ron sat up and leaned his back against the headboard.

Alice was afraid to look at Ron in bed without a shirt on, even though she had known him for years. He was Warren's friend and never really paid much attention to Alice, "I guess I did," Alice answered as she continued to look at the floor.

"You could have slept over here in the bed with me, you know," Ron patted the bed next to him with the cigarette in his hand. By now Alice could smell the cigarette smoke mingling with the oppressive odor of stale beer that seems to ooze from the pores of hung over drunks. Ron didn't notice his smell because it was normal for him to smell like a tobacco-smoking hangover. Now he realized that he had a girl in his room that he didn't have to pay for. Last night he was drinking his beer that he had been deprived of in the early part of the evening. Therefore, being absorbed in the drinking, he still thought of Alice as a fixture at Ruby's house rather than the woman he saw now. He couldn't begin to understand the torment Alice was suffering over her recent mental trauma. Ron thought that enough beer could fix any ailment. If there was a problem, he could drink enough to forget the problem or drink long enough until either someone else solved the problem for him or the problem lost its urgency by being replaced with a new problem.

"That's OK," Alice was now visibly tense.

"You need to relax," Ron put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the stool, "you should drink some beer. That'll relax you."

"I don't drink," Alice looked toward the opposite wall as Ron got out of bed and pulled on his jeans.

"Yeah, I know," he said, "you should start."

"Oh," Alice muttered and looked back at the floor.

"So where do you want me to take you?"

Ron grabbed his lighter and cigarettes and sat next to Alice on the couch. He lit another cigarette and turned on the TV.

"To the shed, I guess," Alice's eyes moved to the TV even though she was too nervous to comprehend what was on the screen.

"You shouldn't let Ruby know you're there," Ron held the remote control and cigarette in the same hand. Alice noticed his ability to smoke and change channels at the same time. Ruby always set her cigarette in the ashtray while she changed channels.

"How will I do that?"

"I don't know," Ron continued to change channels while Alice tried to discreetly move out of the way of the ribbon of smoke traveling from the end of Ron's cigarette directly to her face, "we'll think of something. What do you think?"

Alice, her brain spinning wildly inside her head like the globe she used to spin in her third grade classroom, wasn't able to think of anything except to wonder whether she would fall on her face if she attempted to get up off Ron's couch. "I don't know," she answered as she gasped for air.

Ron took her breathlessness for sexual excitement instead of panic and anxiety. He moved closer to her, "We don't have to leave right away, you know," he smiled and Alice almost gagged when the odor of his breath mingled with the odor of his hangover, "we could stay here another twenty minutes or so if you want."

Alice's hands and legs began to tremble even more and the tears she had so valiantly tried to hold back over flowed onto her cheeks. She put her face in her hands and looked away from Ron. Ron looked confused and embarrassed as he moved away from her and smoked his cigarette, while looking down at his feet with his forearms resting on his thighs, "It's OK, Alice," he mumbled, "I can take you home now if you want."

"I'm sorry," Alice sobbed.

"Why are you sorry?" Ron put out his cigarette and reached for a clean tee shirt.

"For being a cry baby."

"I guess you got a reason to cry," Ron didn't have any tissue, so he handed her a roll of toilet paper to wipe her eyes and her nose, "you just got out of the hospital and you can't go home because your mother's a bitch."

"Yeah," Alice blew her nose and tore off another strip of paper.

"I think you'd be happy about finally getting out of the house though," Ron sat next to Alice, "I couldn't stay in a house for sixteen years, especially with Ruby."

"I guess I couldn't take it anymore," Alice dried her eyes, "But now I don't know what I'm going to do."

"I guess you can live with Warren and Darlene," Ron lit another cigarette, "they owe it to you anyway after you cooked for them and everything for the last sixteen years."

"I guess I'll have to," Alice looked at Ron, "but how will I stay there without my mother finding out?"

"I don't know," Ron scratched his head, "we'll have to figure something out. I could roll you up in a rug and carry you up the hill over my shoulder."

Alice agreed, but seemed reluctant.

"Yeah, you might be heavy and awkward rolled up in a rug. I wouldn't want to hit your head on the ground or the car door, " Ron resumed his head scratching. "You wouldn't fit inside a beer keg or my little washing machine."

Alice was beginning to feel even more afraid.

"Maybe I can just sneak up there after dark," she cautiously suggested.

"Oh yeah," Ron's eyes got wide with acceptance, "and you can wear a blonde wig or something. Ruby will just think I have a date with me."

"OK," Alice's look of fear decreased to one of worry, "What if she asks you where I am?"

"I don't know. I'll just tell her I dropped you off at the homeless shelter or something."

"There's a homeless shelter around here?" Alice seemed confused.

"Yeah, in Norwich somewhere. Why? Would you rather go there?" Ron looked confused now, "you'll get molested by old drunks while you're sleeping and all your stuff gets stolen.

"Really?" Alice's confusion disappeared, "that must be why Darlene and the kids don't go there."

"Yeah," Ron knowingly replied, "that and because they have the shed to live in."

"But that's not a home," Alice pointed out, "there's no electricity or anything. You can't even wash dishes or take a shower in the shed."

"It's home to Warren," Ron shook his head, "he's happy there."

"Warren's crazy," Alice went to the trash can to throw out her used tissues.

Chapter 40

"Warren," Darlene frowned as she stood by the shed watching Warren trudge up the path from his trip to the river. His sopping wet clothes clung to him and water dripped from the bottoms of his jeans, which were now muddy, "didn't you bring clean clothes to change into after your bath?"

"No," He stopped walking as he reached her, "I didn't take any soap with me either."

"Well, why the hell not? What's the sense of taking a bath with no soap and no clean clothes to change into?" She had just added wood to the stack and sat on her beer keg for a cigarette break.

"What do you care?" Warren put his hand out to her to get a cigarette too, "you're not putting out. I didn't have any motivation. Besides that, I wasn't about to take off my clothes outside to take a bath in the fucking river."

"I still don't want to have to smell you and look at you all dirty," She handed him a cigarette and offered the lighter to him, "What happened to your pack of cigarettes?"

"I dropped them in the fucking river, that's what," he lit his cigarette and handed the lighter back to Darlene.

"Be more careful."

"There you go ragging on me again," Warren sat on the empty cooler, "'Be more careful,' 'take a bath with soap,' 'put clean clothes on.'"

"You shouldn't need someone to have to tell you those things," Darlene remonstrated.

"Then fucking don't!" Warren sat on the empty beer keg to smoke his cigarette. Water dripped from his jeans forming mud around his feet.

"Can we go see Michael now?" Darlene glanced at Warren as she squinted from the sun.

"Don't you want me to change my clothes first?"

"I don't care what you do. Go like that for all I care," Darlene gestured toward his dripping hair and clothes.

"All right then, I'm ready," Warren got up and flicked his cigarette butt into the cold campfire.

Darlene rinsed her hands in the cooler and wiped them on her jeans and followed Warren down the path to the Maverick. As Warren climbed into the drivers seat Darlene called, "I'm going to see if Michelle is going with us," and continued to the back door of the house.

Michelle answered her mother's knock at the door, "Are you going to the hospital now?" she asked before Darlene had a chance to speak.

"Yeah, you coming or is the master keeping you here?" Darlene gestured toward Ruby who was in her usual seat in front of the TV.

"Grandma," Michelle yelled toward Ruby, "I'm going to the hospital to see Michael now."

"What!" Ruby struggled to turn around and looking angrily and incredulously at Michelle, "like hell you are! You have all that window glass to clean up little missy. You ain't going anywhere," she turned back to the television.

Darlene looked sympathetically at Michelle, "I guess I'll tell Michael you wanted to come, but couldn't. I'll tell him you said 'hi.'"

Michelle was so furious at Ruby that she couldn't speak for a second because her teeth were so tightly clenched that she couldn't open her mouth. Eventually, she said, "I should just go anyway, screw her," she jerked her head in Ruby's direction.

"You go and your ass will be in jail within an hour," Ruby warned from the couch.

Darlene said, "I guess you better stay. It's not worth going to jail. I'll tell Michael you said 'Hi.'"

"OK," Michelle pouted angrily as she slammed the door closed. She stood at the kitchen window watching Darlene get into the car. The Maverick roared to life and Ruby complained about the noise drowning out her TV. Michelle watched her parents drive out of the yard and down the driveway. After that she couldn't see the car anymore, but could hear it as it traveled further and further away from her and closer to her brother.

She felt more trapped at that moment than she had felt during her experience of being caught with Ruby's stolen TV. Her parents were free to travel to the hospital while Michelle was trapped in Ruby's house for fear of being sent to jail. She wanted to see her brother more than anything and was helpless to do so. The doctor's warning about more suicide attempts lingered in her mind. She had to convince Michael to stay alive. He was the only friend she had and couldn't stand the thought of losing him. Somehow she had to find a way to convince Michael that his life was worth living.

Chapter 41

Darlene and Warren stood outside the main entrance of the hospital smoking before they entered.

"How the hell are we going to find him?" Warren blew smoke toward his wife.

"We're going to ask at the front desk like everybody else," Darlene accommodated Warren's rudeness by stepping out of the path of his smoke.

"What if they don't let us see him again?" Warren took another drag of his cigarette.

"Then we'll try something else, what do you think we'll do?" Darlene annoyed by his questions stepped back to her original spot to avoid Warren's new cloud of exhaled smoke aimed in her direction.

They threw their cigarettes, still burning, onto the sidewalk and entered the hospital. Their unkempt appearances got the attention of the few people who were in the lobby, but were immediately forgotten as soon as they were past. The woman at the front desk gave them Michael's room number and gave them directions on finding the room.

As they walked toward Michael's room Darlene told Warren, "Don't start yelling at him right away until he explains why he did it."

"Don't tell me how to treat my own kid," Warren raised his voice, "I told you before, all he needs is a good kick in the ass. I'll put him back in line."

Darlene noticed other people in the hallway looking incredulously and disgustedly at Warren as they passed, "you want to get us thrown out?"

"Fuck that," Warren lowered his voice slightly, "I have a right to see my kid."

"They threw your mother out, they'll throw you out too."

"My mother is misunderstood by everyone who doesn't know her."

"And hated by everyone who does," Darlene slowed her pace realizing they were close to Michael's room.

"Don't start that shit again, Darlene," Warren warned, "why are you going so slow?"

"Because the room is right around here somewhere," Darlene read the numbers next to the doorway of each room, "OK, it must be that next room there," She stopped and blocked Warren's way causing him to stop too, "Remember what the doctor said last night: He could try to kill himself again, so don't go in there yelling at him."

"Oh," Warren became indignant, "so you're saying it's my fault that he tried to kill himself?"

"No, just be careful what you say until we know why he did it. Then we can go back to normal after that."

"I guess I can live with that," Warren pouted and followed Darlene into the room.

They didn't see anyone at first because the first bed in the double room was empty and the curtain was drawn around the other bed. The room was quiet and still.

"Where the hell is he?" Warren looked at Darlene, "That lady gave us the wrong room number."

"Look behind the curtain," Darlene whispered, "He has to be here because his name is on the door."

Warren yanked the curtain open to reveal an empty and stripped bed, "what the fuck is going on here?" Warren was losing his short temper.

Darlene looked confused, "Let's go find somebody who knows something around here. Aren't there supposed to be nurses around here somewhere?"

"I'm going back to that desk and ask where my kid is," Warren started toward the door, "she obviously was talking out of her ass when she gave us this room number."

"But his name's on the door."

"I don't give a shit, they must have put him in another room," Warren stared at Darlene, "are you coming or are you just going to stand there?"

"Wait, Warren," Darlene was looking at a door inside the room, "What's this?"

"I don't know," Warren walked back to her, "probably the bathroom."

"But look," Darlene put her hand on the handle, which had a sheet tied onto it and the sheet was tightly pulled up and over the top of the door.

"Look at what?" Warren squirmed, "we don't have time for this shit, Darlene, we gotta find Michael."

Darlene began to tremble as she leaned against the door to push it open. Slipping inside, she sternly but with a trembling voice called "Warren, untie the sheet from the door knob."

Warren saw the tightly strung sheet slacken slightly and Darlene scream, "Hurry up, asshole!"

Warren fumbled with the knot, "It's too fucking tight, Darlene," he called.

"Use your lighter and burn the fucking thing off then," Darlene screamed, "Michael's in here."

Warren pulled the lighter out of his pocket and dropped it on the floor. He remembered having a jackknife in his pocket and used that to cut the sheet loose from the door handle while Darlene stood under Michael to support his weight. When the sheet was cut free, Michael and Darlene landed in a heap on the floor in the bathroom, the sheet still tied around Michael's neck.

Warren tried to push the door open, but Darlene screamed at him to get help. Warren frantically hopped from one foot to the other waving his hands with the knife still open, "Is he dead, is he dead?"

"I don't fucking know, asshole," Darlene screamed from under Michael's weight, "go get a fucking doctor before he dies because you're standing there with your thumb up your ass!"

Warren raced out of the room and into the hallway screaming for help, his arms flying over his head and still holding the red handle jackknife in his right hand. People who saw Warren ran in all directions to escape the dirty madman with the wild hair and a knife.

He reached the nurses' station where two nurses cowered together in shock staring wide-eyed at Warren, "You gotta help me!" He screamed at them with wild eyes as they stared at him in disbelief, "my kid hung himself in his room," he noticed the knife in his hand and quickly put it away. The nurses sprang into action when they comprehended Warren's words. Soon the hallway was a flurry of controlled chaos as emergency personnel and police flowed to and from Michael's room.

The police were investigating a report of a crazy man running down the hall waving a knife at everyone. The nurses and Darlene managed to explain the misunderstanding to the police since Warren was no use at all. Security personnel had Warren confined to a chair in the hallway while the medical team took care of Michael. Warren was frantically interfering in their attempts to treat Michael with his demands for answers about Michael's condition.

Darlene stood still with her hands to her face while the nurses and other medical personnel rushed to Michael's rescue. They had pulled him off of her and into the hospital room where they had room to work on him. According to the people who attended Michael, he must have hung himself mere seconds before Darlene and Warren entered the room. Michael had tied one end of the sheet to the door handle, flung the other end over the top of the door, tied the loose end around his neck and pulled his feet up off the floor. His doctor imagined this feat couldn't have been easy since his wrists were still painful from the previous day's attempt.

"What the fuck is wrong with that kid?" Warren asked when Michael was newly settled and restrained in his bed. The doctor spoke to Warren and Darlene in the hall:

"I thought maybe you could tell me, Mr. Kennedy," the doctor frowned at Warren, "Michael wouldn't speak to me at all."

"Well, isn't it your job to tell me what's wrong with him? How the hell should I know what his problem is?" Warren was standing and moving from one foot to the other, "Yesterday everything was fine. We went and got him a new moped together and all of a sudden his sister finds him with his wrists slit open."

Darlene looked at Warren in anger and disgust, "I know what's wrong with him," she looked at the doctor, "it's my mother-in-law."

Warren stopped moving and stared at Darlene in amazement, "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes I do!" she looked back at the doctor, "my mother-in-law called him stupid and worthless and that he'd never amount to anything except the village idiot."

The doctor's eyebrows raised in understanding while Warren objected, "She's been telling him that all his life, just like she tells me and he never tried anything like this before."

"Everyone has their limit, Mr. Kennedy," the doctor looked disapprovingly at Warren, "It's your job as a parent to protect him from emotional abuse," he looked at Darlene, "yours too."

"Hey," Darlene defended herself, "I don't need any lectures from some stuck up doctor like you."

"I'm only speaking in the best interest of your son, Mrs. Kennedy, I'm not judging you or your husband," the doctor made some notes before speaking again, "I'm going to have to report this to the department of family services since this is a reaction to emotional abuse."

"You bitch!" Warren turned to Darlene, "why did you tell him he tried to kill himself because of my mother? Now the state's going to take him away from us and it's all your fucking fault."

Darlene stared angrily at Warren as he accused her and was about to speak when the doctor interrupted, "Mr. Kennedy, if you don't calm down, I'll have to call security and have you removed from the hospital. Your wife seems to be the only one who cares anything about the health of your son."

"My son has excellent health," Warren was insulted, "how can you accuse me of not caring about his health. He never gets sick, not even a cold."

"Oh really?" the doctor felt the need to educate Warren, "do you think trying to commit suicide twice within a twenty four hour period is healthy?"

"That's killing himself," Warren clarified, "what does that have to do with his health?"

"There's mental health and physical health, Mr. Kennedy," the doctor condescended to Warren in order to maintain a patient attitude, "you need one to have the other."

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'd like to ask a question. Why wasn't anyone watching my kid? Did you put him in that room last night and forget about him or what?"

"I'd like the answer to that question too," Darlene interjected, "why was he able to take his sheet off his bed and hang himself with it without anyone noticing?"

"For one thing," the doctor was losing his patience, "we don't have enough staff to watch every patient every minute."

"But you don't need to watch all of them," Darlene interrupted, "last night we were told that suicide patients usually try to kill themselves again and nobody was watching him."

"I'm gonna sue!" Warren announced, "you didn't keep my kid from trying to kill himself and now you want to have him taken away from us."

"We should be taking him away from you," Warren turned to Darlene, "Let's get him out of here." Then turning back to the doctor, "we're taking him home with us."

"That's impossible, Mr. Kennedy," the doctor was exasperated with Warren's ignorance and insensitivity, "If you take him out of here against my orders, the state will definitely intervene."

"What!" Darlene said, "who died and made you boss? Your orders don't mean shit to me. That's my kid in there. I had him and I raised him. Who are you to say I can't take my own kid home?"

"You just admitted to me that your mother-in-law is the cause of your son's distress. Obviously, his environment at home is not conducive to his recovery. You do want him to recover, don't you? If you take him home and he makes another attempt to kill himself, it would be your fault for denying him treatment. Do you want that on your conscience for the rest of your life?"

"Well, no," Darlene relented, "I guess if you keep those straps on him, so he can't move he should be OK."

"What!" Warren was appalled, "I can't believe you're caving in like that, Darlene. Don't you care about what happens to Michael?"

"More than you do," Darlene gave Warren a look of defiance, "I'm the one who fed him and keeps his clothes clean and gets him to school in the morning. What did you ever do for him?"

"Let's not get into this same old shit again here," Warren said through clenched teeth, "Let's just get out of here."

Darlene calmly turned to the doctor, "when will we be able to visit Michael?"

"You can visit him anytime between noon and 8:30 p.m." the doctor answered relieved that the situation was back under control.

"Thanks, doctor, I'll talk to you later," Darlene took Warren's arm and tried to lead him down the hall toward the exit. He wrenched his arm from her grip and said, "Yeah, thanks for nothing, doctor."

Chapter 42

Michelle found an empty garbage can outside and brought it inside to put the broken glass into. She decided to start her work upstairs where she would be as far away from Ruby as possible. She grabbed the broom and dustpan and carried them up the stairs inside the garbage can. She stopped in Alice's room and looked out the window from where Alice made her desperate escape.

Michelle could hardly imagine her aunt having the balls to jump from that window. Aunt Alice had always been so passive and precise about her routine. Everything in the house had to be in its place or she would become agitated. When the whole family still lived in the house, they would all move things around just to see Alice get nervous and rush around to set things right. Alice was always in the house so they couldn't attempt a big trick like moving furniture into different rooms or anything like that. They had to amuse themselves with small things like rearranging the kitchen cupboards or relocating ashtrays. Alice had certain ashtrays on certain tables. She went around the house emptying them in a particular order. She would get annoyed if she emptied them out of order because somebody switched the end table ashtray with the coffee table ashtray.

Michelle surmised that Ruby must have pushed Alice over the limit to make her desperate enough to jump out the window. She didn't believe that Alice was simply tired of living and tried to kill herself. Alice was too passive and timid to take control of her life so aggressively, even by ending it. Alice needed to escape from her mother and couldn't reach the door. Michelle didn't know what Ruby could have done to chase Alice away, but she could imagine. She wanted to get away from her beer drinking parents too, but she wouldn't risk killing herself to escape. Somehow she would find a way out.

Michelle picked up the glass and tossed the pieces into the can. She used the broom and dustpan to sweep up the small pieces and when she was finished, reluctantly carried her work downstairs. She had done a lot more damage downstairs where the windows were easier to break with flying debris. This would require a lot more work and having to endure the critical supervision of Ruby as well.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard the Maverick approaching and became anxious for news of Michael's condition. Ruby complained about the noise drowning the sound on her TV and ordered Michelle to get her a beer. Michelle watched for the Maverick entering the yard at the kitchen window. She saw right away that Michael wasn't with them. She ran to the back door and called to her mother, "Did you see Michael?"

"Forget about Michael and bring me my beer," Ruby screeched from the couch.

Michelle ignored Ruby while she waited for her parents to walk to the house. She tried to read their expressions for an answer to her question, but saw nothing except their natural countenances, which were neutral to grim.

"Well, did you?" She asked as they approached.

"We saw him all right," Warren lit a cigarette, "we saw that quack doctor of his too."

"Well," Michelle looked questioningly and hopeful.

"Are you getting my beer or going to jail?" Ruby gave Michelle an ultimatum.

Michelle ran to the refrigerator, grabbed a can of beer and ran to the living room and slammed the can down next to the overflowing ashtray on the end table.

"You need to empty this ashtray too," Ruby opened the can of beer.

Michelle ignored Ruby and anxiously returned to hear what news her parents had, "So?"

"It's not good," Darlene looked sympathetically at her daughter who was so hopeful. Warren looked down at the ground as he smoked his cigarette.

Ruby overheard Darlene mention that the news wasn't good and eagerly hoisted herself from the couch to stand beside Michelle to hear the bad news.

"I see you didn't bring him with you," Ruby gloatingly observed.

Darlene ignored Ruby and told Michelle that Michael had made another suicide attempt. Michelle's mouth dropped open in disbelief and then in anguish, "Oh, no, no, no! I was afraid that would happen. The doctor said he might do it again. Is he OK?"

"He's OK now," Darlene reassured Michelle as she tried to ignore Ruby who was smirking and drinking her beer, "They have him strapped down so he can't do anything."

"Are they going to leave him like that forever?" Michelle wondered, "How long can they keep him like that?"

"I don't know. I guess the shrinks have to work on him some more," Darlene lit a cigarette, "The doctor said we can go back later."

"Did you get to talk to him?" Michelle wanted to know.

"No, they had him knocked out," Darlene didn't want to tell Michelle how they found Michael hanging from a bed sheet from the bathroom door. It was hard enough telling her about the second suicide attempt.

"He's even dumber than I thought," Ruby remarked as she sat back down in front of her television, "he couldn't do it right the second time either. How'd he try to do it, Darlene? Did he try to smother himself on his pillow or something? Maybe the third time will be the charm."

"You are such a fucking bitch!" Darlene said between clenched teeth.

Warren looked angrily at Darlene, "You can't talk to my mother like that. Don't you think you've done enough damage already?" Warren referred to Darlene's admission at the hospital of Ruby's abuse, "now we're going to have the state snooping around here."

Warren's scolding gave Ruby great amusement, "Listen to your husband, Darlene. Show your mother-in-law the respect she deserves."

"That's what I was doing," Darlene replied.

"And what do you mean the state will be snooping around here?" Ruby asked Warren.

Warren stalked up the path to the shed, "I don't have to listen to this," he muttered, "I'll talk to you later, Ma."

"How did he do it this time?" Michelle was curious but also afraid to hear the reply.

"He tried to hang himself with a bed sheet," Darlene hoped Michelle would be satisfied and not ask for any further details.

"Oh," Michelle looked at the floor and tears began rolling down her cheeks. After a few seconds she whispered, "I really have to go see him."

"We're going back later if you want to come," Darlene turned and followed the path toward the shed.

"You better get back to work, Michelle," Ruby warned from the couch, "if you want to go see your brother later."

"You heard us?" Michelle didn't think Ruby was able to hear her over the blaring television.

"I'm not deaf, I can hear," Ruby said, "you can bring me back more funny stories about Michael failing at suicide."

"How can you be so mean? He's your own grandson and he keeps trying to kill himself," Michelle stood in front of Ruby, "Don't you even wonder why he's so miserable that he wants to die?"

"No. I'd want to die too, if I was him. Now get back to work."

"It's no wonder your kids turned out to be such losers with you as a mother," Michelle went back to picking up the glass.

"My kids didn't turn out to be as bad as my grandkids," Ruby screeched, "now shut up and do your chores," Ruby lit a cigarette, "and empty this ashtray!"

Chapter 43

The sound of the Maverick starting drowned out the sound on Ruby's television, "Son of a bitch," Ruby complained to Michelle, "I wish your good-for-nothing father would get that car fixed."

Michelle who was on her hands and knees picking up broken glass sarcastically replied, "Then he would be good for something, wouldn't he?"

"Go out there and tell whichever one of them that is to get me some cigarettes while they're out," she fumbled around in her torn pocketbook and pulled out a crumpled five dollar bill, "Here's the money."

Michelle, reluctantly and angrily, got up and snatched the money from Ruby and left the house. She got to the car just as Darlene was putting it into drive, "Ma, Grandma wants you to get her some cigarettes while you're out."

"That pain in the ass," Darlene yelled over the noise of the Maverick," every time I leave the house she has an errand for me to do for her. She wants everyone to be her fucking slave. The lazy bitch."

"Are you going to get them or not?" Michelle still held the five in her hand. She pushed it in the car window toward her mother.

"Yeah, yeah," Darlene grabbed the money in disgust and drove away.

"I wish I was driving away from here right now," Michelle watched the Maverick roll down the driveway and out of sight before returning to her work.

As Michelle entered the house Ruby called, "Before you get back to cleaning your glass mess, make me something to eat."

"What do you want?" Michelle asked while rolling her eyes.

"You know, you really ought to change that bad attitude of yours, girlie. You should be thankful and grateful to me," Ruby sipped the last of her beer.

"What the hell for?" Michelle was astonished.

"For not sending you to prison for stealing my TV for one thing," Ruby gloated.

"Yeah, right," Michelle stomped into the kitchen and started slamming cupboard doors while looking for something to cook.

"Yeah," Ruby continued, "you should be thankful for that and for letting you live here all your life."

"It's not like I have a choice," Michelle found a large can of beef stew and fought with the electric can opener. The can opener kept dropping the can after only cutting a quarter inch length of the lid. She supported the large can with the palm of her hand and finally had the can open, "If I could live anywhere else, I would."

"You could be living in jail right now," Ruby remarked, "Maybe I should call that cop and tell him I changed my mind and want you arrested after all."

"How long are you going to threaten me with that anyway?" Michelle flopped the stew into a saucepan and put it on the stove.

"For as long as I need to," Ruby admitted, "who knows when Alice will be back. Maybe she'll never be back."

"You don't even care, do you?" Michelle challenged Ruby, "all you care about is free maid service."

"Hey, you all have to make yourselves useful somehow," Ruby lit a cigarette, "I can't support a bunch of freeloaders. I'm on a fixed income, you know."

Michelle angrily stirred the stew. Ruby could keep her as a slave for the rest of her life. At least Ruby's life would be cut short from smoking and drinking. She would only be freed if Alice returned and she didn't expect that Alice would be back. She'd have to be crazy to come back after jumping out a second story window to escape. How many years would smoking cut off Ruby's life anyway? Not enough.

"I'm going to visit Michael this afternoon," Michelle declared resolutely.

"I don't know if I'll be able to spare you this afternoon, " Ruby answered matter-of-factly, "I have a lot of dirty laundry for you to do."

"I need to see Michael and convince him not to kill himself."

"Don't worry about it," Ruby answered, "he'll just screw it up again anyway. That jackass can't do anything right."

"How can you talk that way about your own grandson?" Michelle said through clenched teeth.

"It's easy," Ruby smirked, "and I've had years of practice."

Michelle poured the hot stew into a bowl and slammed the empty pan into the sink.

"Hey, careful in there with my pans," Ruby scolded, "Now you'll have to scrub that pan and do laundry this afternoon. So you don't have any time to go to the hospital to visit dumbass junior. The kid who's so stupid he can't even end his own pathetic life," Ruby chuckled, which brought on a cough. Then she added, "Bring me that stew you cooked. It smells good."

Michelle carried the bowl of hot stew in one hand and grabbed a piece of the broken window glass out of the trash as she passed the trashcan. She stood behind Ruby as she set the bowl on the table next to the full ashtray and the empty beer can.

"And get me another beer," Ruby added as she reached for the stew, "and I'm not going to tell you again to empty this fucking ashtray!"

As Ruby's hands reached for the bowl Michelle grabbed her grandmother's chin from behind and pulled her head against the back of the couch and with her right hand jammed the broken glass into the left side of Ruby's throat. Ruby's eyes bulged in surprise and Michelle, digging in deeply, pulled the glass across Ruby's throat feeling it catch on her windpipe before pulling free through the other side. Blood gushed and sprayed from Ruby's neck as Michelle attempted to repeat the procedure. When she was pretty certain she had cut through to the bony vertebra of Ruby's neck, Michelle became relieved and satisfied that Ruby would no longer be the emotional abuser of the family.

Michelle, in shock from committing such a brutal murder, dropped the bloody glass in the trash and gradually felt pain in her hand. The blood on her hand was not only Ruby's but also her own as the glass had made a deep cut along the palm of her hand and the joints of her fingers. She tore off her tee shirt and wrapped her bleeding hand the same way she had wrapped Michael's bleeding wrists the day before.

She looked at Ruby's still and bloody body on the couch with the head dropped to the chest in an unnatural position. The bowl of stew still steamed on the end table and blood dripped down the television screen and onto the TV cart. Ruby was missing "The Loveboat."

"Shit," Michelle complained as she observed the situation, "now I have another mess to clean up."

Snatching Ruby's lighter from the end table, Michelle rushed out the back door and up the path to the campfire and quickly built a fire. Returning to the house, she ran up stairs and took the stained, frayed blanket from Ruby's bed and spread it on the floor between the couch and the back door where it wouldn't be dragged through blood.

It took a lot of exertion, but frightened and determined, Michelle struggled to put Ruby's body onto the blanket. Eyes still wide and skin still warm, Ruby's head flopped crazily as Michelle managed to position the two hundred plus pound body on the blanket. She then began to drag the blanket carrying Ruby's body to the back door, "Shit," Michelle tried to catch her breath, "She's still bleeding. How am I going to clean all this up before Mom gets home?" Since the back step dropped off with only a beer keg and a couple of cinder blocks leading to the ground, there was no neat and easy way for Michelle to ease the body to the ground.

When Michelle pulled the blanket out the door, Ruby flopped and rolled as Michelle quickly stepped back out of the way. She laid the bloody blanket on the ground and rolled Ruby back onto it. By pulling the blanket with the body on it, Michelle got as far as Darlene's wet couch when the blanket began slipping out from under Ruby. Michelle turned around so she was facing uphill and put each of Ruby's still slippered feet under each arm and began dragging her body up the hill without the blanket.

The skin on the backs of Ruby's bare arms was scraped as it slid along the dirt path up the hill. The arms spread out to the sides as the body was dragged uphill one step at a time. Ruby's scraggily hair was full of blood and dirt as it trailed behind. Michelle had to drop the feet in order to use both hands to free Ruby's hand from a tangle of weeds along the side of the path. She grunted and perspired as she got the ankles back up under her arms and continued her desperate struggle up the hill. She had to hurry before Darlene came home and Warren showed up. Michelle assumed that Warren was napping in the shed while Darlene did her daily shopping.

Finally reaching the campfire, Michelle dropped Ruby's legs and added more wood to the fire. The flames rose and embraced the new wood, eager to devour it. Michelle gathered Ruby's arms and pulled them to turn Ruby around so that her head lay nearest to the fire. However, simply pulling the arms didn't accomplish the task because the torso was too heavy. She had to alternate between pulling the body around by the arms and pushing the legs around to follow. Michelle saw Ruby's head remain on the ground even though her shoulders were raised off of it. The eyes and mouth still gaped open in that surprised expression Ruby wore when she was attacked. Michelle didn't want to touch the eyes to close them, so she tried not to notice the glassy cold stare.

By the time she had Ruby turned, the fire was ready for cooking. Once again Michelle grabbed Ruby by the arms and dragged her to the fire. The flames had burned down enough for Michelle to straddle the campfire without being burned. She pulled Ruby head first on her back into the fire. The head and tops of the shoulders fit perfectly into the fire pit. Michelle stepped back as the flames licked up around the sides of Ruby's face, shriveling and melting hair first and then skin. The smell of burning hair and flesh was worse than Michelle had imagined causing her to step further back and out of the smoke.

After a while there was almost nothing left of Ruby's head but bone. Most of all the flesh, including the staring eyes, was gone. However, this method was taking too long, so Michelle had to think of some way to expedite the task. She took Darlene's hatchet from next to the woodpile and began whacking away at the arm and legs to make the body smaller. It would be easier to stack the limbs into the fire this way. She rolled the smoldering torso out of the fire, leaving the limbs to burn.

Unfortunately, she would have to feed the large torso into the fire a few inches at a time and Michelle feared this would take more time than she had. Michelle began to panic over her mother or father returning to find her covered in blood, burning her grandmother's dead mutilated body.

Leaving the arms and legs in the fire, Michelle ran back down the path for the bloody blanket that lay at the bottom of the hill. She then ran back to the fire with the dirty, bloody blanket flowing behind her. Rolling the smoking torso up in the blanket, Michelle frantically searched for a place to stash it until she had more time to get rid of it. She hastily pulled the bundle through the tall grass and brush, bumping and dragging it over hidden debris under the grass until she reached the old smashed up Pinto. Her heart was pounding and she was short of breath from fear and exertion as she pushed with all her might forcing the limbless corpse with the burnt head and shoulders under the Pinto. The Pinto rocked and creaked when Michelle lay on her back and shoved and stomped her grandmother under the car with her feet. That would hide her until Michelle could more completely dispose of the body.

Michelle, now bloody down her front and filthy down her back, climbed back to her feet and returned to the fire. The stench from the burning flesh was overpowering. Michelle watched the blackened toenails and fingernails pointing up from the fire and realized she would have to find a place to hide these limbs also. She ran down to the house and grabbed the last empty trashcan and carried it up the hill. The can was an old metal can without a lid, but it would have to suffice.

Using Darlene's hatchet and fire poker, Michelle fished the limbs out of the fire and pushed them one-by-one into the can, which was on its side in the dirt next to the campfire. When the limb parts were in the can, Michelle set the can upright trying to suppress the urge to gag as the smoke rose from inside the can into her face. She then rolled the can along its bottom rim down to the house and around the side amongst the overgrown sumac where her parents wouldn't be able to see the smoke.

Just then Michelle heard the distant roar of the Maverick and rushed into the house barely stepping on the empty keg porch. She had to clean up the blood soaked living room and clean herself up as well.

Chapter 44

"Warren," Darlene let the shed door slam behind her as she entered, "What did you do to my fireplace out there? It's all messed up and stinks like holy hell."

"What?" Warren woke up and looked at Darlene from the couch with one arm over his eyes.

"My fireplace," Darlene crossed her arms, "what the hell did you do to it?"

"I didn't do anything," Warren slowly sat up, "give me a cigarette."

"Well, then who did?" Darlene tossed Warren a cigarette from her pack, "what, did you smoke that whole carton already?"

"No, I just don't want to get up and walk over there to get one," He lit it and returned Darlene her lighter and ran his dirty hand through his hair.

"So what have you been doing to my fireplace?" Darlene stared down at Warren.

"I didn't do a fucking thing. I've been in here sleeping since you left."

"It stinks out there."

"What did you go out for anyway?" Warren sat and smoked without looking at Darlene.

"A bag of ice and more hotdogs."

"Why'd you get hotdogs? Michelle will feed us now," Warren said happily as though he'd found a treasure.

"How long do you think it's going to take Ruby to catch Michelle feeding us?" Darlene put her hands on her hips, "She might have figured it out already."

"Yeah," Warren chuckled fondly, "she is pretty sharp. I never could put anything over on my mom."

Darlene rolled her eyes, "Enough fond sentiments about the mother-in-law from hell. Come out here and take a look at the fireplace and tell me again that you don't know who trashed it."

Warren's smile disintegrated into an angry frown as he got up and followed Darlene outside, "You know I should fuck up more than your fireplace for always cutting down my mother. She's my mom and you should show her the respect that she deserves."

"I do," Darlene now stood next to the fireplace and looked at Warren with an expression of accusation, "Now tell me you didn't burn something here," she demanded. After looking closer she added, "There's even marks in the dirt where something was dragged into it."

Warren looked bewildered as he smoked his cigarette, stretched and scratched his ear, "I don't know, Darlene," he said honestly, "I don't know anything about it." He sat on the cooler.

"It stinks though, doesn't it?" She walked around the fireplace looking for clues as to what happened in her territory during her absence, "It looks like something was dragged into the fire and out the other side."

Warren stood up and crushed his cigarette out with his foot. He bent down and felt the coals, "It's still warm," he surmised and wiped his hand on his pant leg.

"You were in the shed the whole time I was gone? You didn't hear anything out here?" Darlene looked distrustfully at Warren.

"No, I already told you I don't know anything about it."

"What is that smell?" Darlene stirred the coals with her stick, "Look, my hatchet is over here and I always leave it on the wood pile."

"So."

Darlene picked it up and threw it back down in horror, "It's got blood all over it!"

"What!" Warren picked it up, "What the fuck?" He was alarmed and met Darlene's shocked look.

"We better follow these drag marks and figure out what was going on here," Darlene suggested reluctantly.

"Which way did they come from?" Warren dropped the hatchet and wiped his suddenly sweaty palms on his shirt.

"Well, look," Darlene pointed at the fireplace, "They must come from the path because there's ashes dragged out the other side, so it must have been dragged out of the fire toward the grass and bushes over there."

"What do you mean 'it'?"

"It had to be something. We don't know what, so it's an 'it'."

"Maybe it's a 'who'," Warren suggested.

"What do you mean?" Darlene didn't want to imagine a burning body being dragged through the yard.

"We have to follow the drag marks and see where they go," Warren looked in the direction of the marks.

"We don't have to," Darlene tried to rationalize her fear by denying anything was wrong, "Maybe I made these marks last night when I was putting out the fire and just didn't notice it this morning."

"What about the stink?" Warren asked.

"Maybe it's coming from the house or from next door," Darlene sat on her beer keg, "who knows what that weirdo does over there."

"Come on, Darlene," Warren taunted her, "you're just afraid to find out."

"No I'm not," Darlene lit a cigarette, "I just don't care."

"Then why are your hands shaking," Warren jeered at her, "I'm going to see where the dragging goes," he started following the marks and turned back to Darlene with an intimidating look, "and I'm going to find where they end too, chicken shit!"

Darlene smoked her cigarette wishing she could pretend that she never noticed that something was amiss at the fireplace. She also wished that she never mentioned it to Warren. Maybe she shouldn't always blame him for everything that goes wrong in their lives. But who else was there to blame? She could barely see Warren anymore as he worked his way through the wild, overgrown shrubbery of honeysuckle and forsythia that had taken over that section of the yard years before. She went to the edge of the bushes, "How can you tell something went through there?" she called.

"I can tell the bushes have been crushed over here."

Darlene began to envision a large animal that must have gone through there. It must have been a wolf or a deer that trampled the bushes. What if the animal was still over there and Warren was heading right to it? He might get bit. A dirty old animal would explain the smell too. But why were the coals warm? She hadn't had a fire in there since last night. An awful sound tore Darlene from her thoughts and into reality. Warren released a scream that evolved into a deep groaning yell.

The hair on Darlene's arms stood straight and she held her breath as her mouth fell open and her eyes stared, "Warren!" she screamed as her heart pounded in her chest. She lowered herself by bending her knees, then quickly turned and sprang back toward the path, "Help, help, Warren," the screams came from her throat as she was too terrified to take a deep breath.

Warren didn't hear Darlene's screams because he had just discovered the butchered torso of his mother under the Pinto. Her head was burnt almost to the bone and the bloody midsection of her charred housedress was imprinted with marks from the soles of the sneakers that had pushed her limbless body under the long-dead car. Warren groaned and screamed in horror and shock forgetting the rest of the world as he was consumed by the incomprehensible reality of the moment. He knelt on the ground next to the Pinto and began to wretch and vomit into the bushes from which he had recently passed. He had forgotten about the bushes and the warm coals in the fireplace and the drag marks and the bloody hatchet. It would take Warren a while to be able to think again at all. Now he could do nothing except react to his gruesome discovery.

Darlene ran screaming down the hill to the house believing that Warren must have discovered a large wild animal and was being attacked and perhaps killed. "Ruby, Ruby, Michelle, help!" Darlene reached the beer keg and stood on it banging on the back door. She didn't realize with her horror-stricken mind that the foul odor was still strong here at the house. In fact, the smell seemed even stronger here.

Chapter 45

Michelle was in Alice's room dressing when she heard her parents' screams. Her heart pounded and she grew dizzy and wild-eyed as she realized that they must have found Ruby. "Oh, no!" she whispered, "what am I going to do?"

As Darlene frantically pounded on the back door, Michelle stood in the center of the room trying to decide how to escape detection as the murderer, "I know," she said and ran downstairs to answer the door.

"Michelle, Michelle," Darlene rushed in when Michelle opened the door almost knocking her to the floor. Michelle tried to appear bewildered, "You have to call someone. Call 911. Your father's being attacked by a wild animal."

"What?" Michelle really was bewildered, "What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you hear him scream?" Darlene quickly explained, "He was trying to find out what all the drag marks were from and he went into the bushes toward the Pinto and started screaming."

Oh, shit, Michelle thought, I forgot to cover the drag marks. They led him right to the body.

"I have to call 911," Darlene went to the phone.

"No!" Michelle grabbed the phone.

"What is wrong with you, Michelle? Your father needs help. He might be dead already."

"There aren't any wild animals around here, Ma," Michelle tried to reason with her mother. He probably got sprayed by a skunk or something."

"He didn't scream like that before when he got sprayed by a skunk," Darlene looked at Michelle in distrust, "Why don't you want me to call 911?"

"Because the cops are here enough. I don't want to call them here again."

"Even if your father is getting attacked?" Darlene's panic was turning to anger and confusion, "What the hell is your problem?"

"How can he be getting attacked?"

"You're not listening to me," Darlene vented her frustration and tried unsuccessfully to grab the phone from Michelle, "he was screaming. He needs help."

"Why don't we go see what his problem is before we call the cops?" Michelle suggested.

Darlene slapped her sides in surrender, "OK, but we have to hurry. He could be bleeding to death over there. You sure were in a hurry to get help when your brother was bleeding to death. I guess you don't care about your father," Darlene rushed back out the door after grabbing a steak knife from the kitchen.

Michelle fearfully followed her mother up the path. Darlene didn't know what they would discover, but Michelle did.

"Hurry up," Darlene called behind her. As she started into the bushes, she held up the knife in case she needed to fight off the animal she was certain had attacked Warren.

"Warren," Darlene called, "are you OK?"

Warren could be heard sobbing beyond the bushes. He grunted and struggled with something between sobs. As Darlene came through the bushes and saw Warren kneeling over something as he sobbed, she lowered the knife.

"What is it, Warren?" she slowly moved closer until she saw what it was that he was leaning over. At first, she didn't recognize Ruby's faceless, dismembered body and only stared at it in curiosity. Warren had pulled it out from under the dead Pinto and tried to straighten the filthy blood soaked housedress over the torso. There was grass and dirt clinging to the blackened skull. "Is that a person?" Darlene didn't recognize Ruby's remains.

"It's my mother!" Warren howled in agony, tears running down his cheeks and into his beard. He looked up at Darlene who stood motionless and wide-eyed, "Who would do this? How could anyone do this, Darlene?"

"That's not Ruby," Darlene answered in disbelief, "How could that be Ruby? It can't be."

"Well it fucking is," Warren yelled in rage, "that's her dress. I'm going to kill the sick bastard that did this. I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"Do you think he's still here?" Darlene looked cautiously around and noticed Michelle standing in the bushes, "you stay over there, Michelle. You don't need to see this."

Michelle's voice shook with fear of being caught, but Warren and Darlene mistook her fear for grief, "What is it?"

"Somebody killed Ruby," Darlene's voice shook as well as she accepted the fact that she was standing over Ruby's tortured corpse, "Oh my God!" Darlene began to have dry heaves and turned away from Warren and Michelle.

Michelle looked down at her feet and said, "She told me she was tired of waiting for you and was going to get her own cigarettes. She said we were all good for nothing and she had to do everything herself."

"Well, she didn't get far, did she?" Warren cried, "If only we had been better."

"Michelle," Darlene asked quietly, "would you call the fucking cops now?"

Chapter 46

Michelle reluctantly called 911 and for the third time in as many days, emergency personnel visited the Kennedys. Darlene explained to the police how Warren found his mother's mutilated body wedged under the Pinto while Warren wailed and moaned, trying to climb into the ambulance with the corpse. He cried and groped for Ruby as she was zipped into a body bag. As he hung onto the closed back doors of the ambulance, a policeman ran to the drivers side and told the driver to wait. He had found the missing body parts.

The policeman had Darlene and Michelle take Warren into the house before dragging the still smoldering limbs out of the trash can and into the ambulance.

After the ambulance left, the police questioned the family. Warren's answers were barely discernable through his sobs and groans while Darlene answered coherently although her hands and voice shook noticeably. Michelle, on the other hand, was quiet and withdrawn, barely audible as she stuck to her story. When questioned about her bandaged hand, Michelle lied about being cut while cleaning up the broken window glass. The police stayed for hours collecting evidence from the house and the yard, in an attempt to solve the murder and make an arrest. An autopsy would be performed on the body to discover the cause of Ruby's death and the police promised to return with more questions.

After the police left, the house was silent as the three of them sat in shock on the couch. Warren had finally stopped crying, but occasionally sobbed as he stared at the blank TV screen. Darlene silently offered Warren a cigarette and they both smoked while Michelle fidgeted on the couch by her mother.

After a few minutes Michelle broke the silence, "Are we still going to see Michael today?"

Darlene slowly turned her blank eyes to Michelle and said, "Holy shit, I forgot about Michael."

Warren didn't comprehend Michelle's question and continued staring at the dormant television. Warren's cigarette burned down to the filter and Darlene had to remind him to put it in the ashtray before he spoke. His words didn't pertain to Michael: "Where are my mother's arms and legs? Did they find her arms and legs?"

Darlene looked at Michelle for support, but Michelle's eyes would not meet hers, "Yeah," she replied reluctantly, "they found her arms and legs."

"Where were they?" Warren asked meekly as though he was afraid to hear the answer, but needed to know.

Darlene squirmed on the couch, not wanting to answer Warren, knowing how horrible the answer was and how devastating the knowledge would be to him. She considered making up a lie, but she couldn't think of a lie that would sound any better than the truth, "They were in a trash can next to the house."

"What?" Warren asked in disbelief, "Why would they be in a trash can next to the house?"

"I don't know, but that's where they were."

Tears began to roll down Warren's cheeks again and he put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands. Darlene tried to comfort him by putting her hand on his shoulder. He jumped up off the couch and turned to confront Darlene, "Don't try to feel sorry for me. You're glad she's dead. You hated her!"

Darlene and Michelle looked up at Warren in surprise and Darlene defended herself, "Yeah, I might have hated her, but I wouldn't want anyone to be killed like that. I'm upset about all this too, you know."

"Oh sure," he spit as he spoke, "you were always badmouthing my mother. In fact, his eyes grew wide, "Maybe you're the one who killed her."

"Oh, fuck you," Darlene got up and went to the refrigerator, "do you want a beer, Warren? Maybe you'll think straighter if you have one."

"Look at you," he followed her to the kitchen, "already you're going through her stuff."

Darlene held a can of beer out toward Warren and looked at him with impatience, "Do you want a fucking beer or not?"

He stood staring at her for a few seconds and snatched it from her hand.

"That's what I thought," Darlene took one for herself and followed Warren to the couch.

"If I was going to kill her, I would have done it a long time ago," Darlene took a swig of her beer and lit a cigarette, "like when we first got married and she bitched about me moving in here. She told me I must be a whore because only a whore would go out with you."

Warren lit a cigarette, "Yeah, that was just before my father died."

"Or maybe I would have killed her when we told her I was pregnant and she laughed and said if it's a boy he'll be an idiot and if it's a girl she'll be a slut."

"Yeah," Warren half-smiled, "then we had Michael. He was a good baby. He was always happy. Now he wants to die."

"Too bad your father died before Michael was born," Darlene smirked, "he would have liked Michael. He wouldn't have called him names, like idiot and dumbass like Ruby did."

"That was just my mother's way of saying she likes someone," Warren seriously believed what he was saying to be true, "Some people say 'honey' or 'dear' but my mother said 'idiot' and 'dumbass'."

"Yeah, OK," Darlene and Michelle both looked at Warren as though he had gone insane.

"What are we going to do without her?" Warren sounded like he would start crying again.

"Maybe we can be happy now," Michelle suggested.

"Well, look who finally decided to say something and it has to be an insult to my mother," Warren had fresh tears in his eyes, "you should respect your dead grandmother."

"Why," Michelle asked, "I didn't respect her when she was alive. It's her fault Michael tried to kill himself."

"Oh, no it wasn't," Warren was emphatic, "don't blame Michael's stupidity on her."

"Well, Warren," Darlene intervened, "you have to admit he tried killing himself right after Ruby lit into him and called him the village idiot."

"Oh, come on," Warren shook his head in denial, "she's been talking to him like that all his life. Why would that one time make him kill himself?"

"Everyone has their limit," Michelle said with clenched teeth.

"Except you," Darlene added looking at Warren, "You are still making excuses for her evil behavior."

"She was my mother and I love my mother. Is there something wrong with that?" Warren finished his beer and slammed the empty can on the coffee table.

"No," Darlene agreed, "there's nothing wrong with that, but it doesn't mean you have to put up with her abuse."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Warren opened his mouth to say something else, but a knock at the back door stopped him. Darlene got up to answer it while Michelle looked toward the door in horror, fearing the return of the police to arrest her.

Darlene opened the door to see Ron standing by the beer keg, "Hi, Ron, come on in."

Ron looked uncertain, "What are you doing in the house? Ruby didn't let you move back in did she?"

"What's your problem?" Warren got up to greet his friend, "you act like that would be bad. What, do you think, that we'd be better off in the shed?"

"No way, man," Ron whispered, "it's just that I have Alice with me and she doesn't want to see Ruby so I was going to leave her with you in the shed."

"You what!" Warren yelled, "what the hell are we going to do with her in the fucking shed? There's barely enough room for the four of us."

"Well," Ron asked helplessly, "where else am I going to take her? She doesn't have a place to go to except with you guys. She can't live with me. My parents wouldn't go for that."

"What's the problem?" Michelle interrupted, "with Grandma gone, we can all live in the house. Alice can move back into her own room."

Ron looked confused, Darlene looked enlightened and Warren said, "You are one cold little spoiled brat. Her body isn't even cold yet and you want to disrespect her rules. She didn't want us living in the house and we can't just move back in here without her permission."

"Oh my God!" Darlene took another beer from the refrigerator, "the woman is dead and you still can't stop kissing her ass."

"Ruby is dead?" Ron stood amazed looking from Darlene to Warren to Michelle.

"Yeah," Darlene handed Ron a beer, "go tell Alice it's safe to come in. We might as well tell the both of you at once. We just had to tell the cops our story about a hundred times."

Ron returned with Alice after about twenty minutes. She was still afraid to re-enter the house even though Ron told her Ruby was dead. She wouldn't believe it until he guided her through each room of the house to prove she wasn't there. Even then, she jumped every time someone got up to get a beer or use the bathroom. She kept expecting to see Ruby standing in a doorway or coming through the back door.

Darlene and Warren told their story of how they discovered Ruby's body as they drank Ruby's beer.

"How could anyone do something like that?" Ron wondered as Michelle looked at her feet.

"That's what I'd like to know," Warren's voice shook with sobs he fought back while relating the story to Ron and Alice.

Alice was horrified by the story. She feared and resented her mother's abusive nature, but would never consider murdering her. There were times that she wished Ruby would die, but she never wanted to cause her death herself. Even if she did plan to kill her mother, she wouldn't have devised such a gruesome plan. Why would someone want to cut off Ruby's arms and legs?

"Well," Ron said to Alice, "I guess it's pretty convenient for you, isn't it? Now you can stay here," he looked at the other three, "I guess you can too, huh?"

"You don't have much sympathy, man," Warren said to Ron, "maybe you killed her."

"What!" Ron exclaimed, "why the hell would I kill her?"

"You were pretty pissed at her yesterday for making you cart her to the hospital, weren't you?"

"Yeah, but not enough to fucking kill her."

"And you needed to unload Alice, and you knew she wouldn't come home if my mother was here."

"You are really talking out of your ass now, Warren," Ron got up to leave, "I can't fucking believe you."

"Well somebody killed her and I want to know who," Warren yelled as he followed Ron to the door where Ron stormed out of the house too angry and insulted to give Warren an answer.

Chapter 47

"Ma, Ma," Warren fell crying to his knees by the back door, "why did you have to leave me?"

Darlene got up and went to the kitchen, "Here," she opened the refrigerator, "let me get you another beer, Warren. Go sit on the couch and have a cigarette."

"No, no," Warren wouldn't get up, "it won't help. I been drinking beer and smoking cigarettes for twenty years or even longer. Did it keep my mom from being murdered? Will it bring her back?"

Michelle, with her back to her parents, rolled her eyes with impatience. She didn't realize her father would go on for so long about the mother who did nothing but abuse him. Michelle felt that she couldn't care less whether her parents lived or died. They never did anything for her or Michael.

Alice sat confused and distressed over her inability to console her brother. She never could understand why her brother had such a strong emotional attachment to Ruby. Ruby didn't deserve it. Alice was dependent on Ruby in order to keep a roof over her head. There certainly wasn't any emotional bond. In fact, Alice felt a wave of relief wash over her when she allowed herself to believe that Ruby was really gone.

The phone rang and everyone froze except for Warren who still cried and groveled face down on the floor. Darlene answered the phone putting a finger in one ear and turning her back to her husband. Alice and Michelle watched Darlene as she listened to the caller explain that she was a nurse attending Michael. He was awake and asking for his mother.

"It's really a bad time right now," As Darlene glanced back at Warren, "can he wait until morning?"

The nurse explained that considering the severity of Michael's situation, it was important that she get to the hospital.

Darlene sighed as she hung up the phone, "I have to go see Michael. He's asking for me."

Michelle stood up hopeful, "Can I go?"

"Sure," Darlene put her cigarettes in her pocket in preparation to leave, "I don't care."

Darlene went to Warren who was now whimpering on the floor, "Warren, I have to go to the hospital and see Michael. He woke up and asked for me."

"Leave me some cigarettes," he sobbed.

"You have your own pack on the coffee table. Alice will keep you company, "Darlene and Michelle went out the back door leaving Alice sitting helplessly on the couch watching Warren sprawled out on the floor.

"Why don't you go lay down in bed instead of the floor?" Alice suggested as she stepped over Warren to get to the kitchen. She needed to straighten up the house and catch up on her cleaning. Her chores would be a lot more enjoyable without Ruby criticizing and belittling her every move. It would be even better if she could convince Warren to go upstairs and be out of her way.

"Yeah," Warren began lifting himself off the floor, "I guess I could do that."

"Your bed is still in the same place."

Warren slowly walked to the coffee table to get his cigarettes on his way to the stairs, "Why would anyone kill our mother, Alice? Who would do that to her? Who would do that to me?"

Alice paused while checking the condition of the kitchen cupboards to consider Warren's questions, "I don't know. It's hard to say because, face it, nobody liked her. She was mean. It could have been anyone."

"How can you say that about our mother?" Warren looked at his sister incredulously and sadly.

"Because it's the truth and to be honest with you I don't know why you didn't leave here years ago. Even when she threw you out, you wouldn't leave the yard," Alice rearranged a few cups in the cupboard she was inspecting, "I wanted to get away from her so bad, but I couldn't. You could have left and got your own place any time, but you didn't want to."

"She's my mom and she needed me," Warren's voice began to tremble like he would cry again, "and then I slept right through her murder. Her body was dragged right up to the campfire while I slept in the shed and I didn't even wake up."

"You sleep through anything, Warren," Alice continued inspecting and rearranging the contents of the cupboards, "you never woke up when we dragged you out the back door either."

"Yeah, don't fucking remind me," Warren was still resentful of Alice for helping Ruby drag him out of the house.

"Maybe you came back here and killed her so you could come back home," Warren suggested to Alice.

"Don't you think if I wanted to kill her, I would have done it years ago?"

"No, because you snapped when you dove out the window. How do I know that you're still not crazy?" Warren challenged her.

"Because I'm not," Alice began scrubbing the dirty dishes in the sink, "Ma drove me to jump out the window, but I never would kill her. In fact, maybe I should thank her because now I can practice leaving the house, now that I've finally been out."

"Thank her? You can't thank her now because she's dead."

"Yeah, well whatever," Alice was tired of talking to Warren, "why don't you go lay down while I clean up down here."

Warren slowly and sadly walked toward the stairs leaving Alice to her chores.

Chapter 48

Darlene was relieved when she and Michelle arrived at the hospital without being noticed and pulled over by the cops for the Maverick's lack of an exhaust system. After she parked the car far away from the building to avoid bringing attention to the illegal car Darlene remarked, "One of these times, the cops are going to give me a ticket and have that car towed for not having an exhaust system. Since your father won't pay to have it fixed, I hope he's the one driving when the cops tow it."

"Dad won't pay for anything," Michelle sulked, "not even a place for us to live."

Darlene and Michelle walked toward the hospital entrance, "Well, we don't have to worry about that anymore, do we?" Darlene said as she stopped to light a cigarette.

"Now that Grandma's gone, we can move back in, huh?" Michelle's mood improved, "Maybe Michael will stop trying to kill himself now."

"And Alice won't be jumping out of anymore windows either," Darlene added and they both laughed, "it's about time something good happened to our family."

Darlene and Michelle happily found Michael sitting up in bed. Michelle ran to his bedside smiling and hopeful while Darlene was more cautious, "Well, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you. I don't have to loosen up the blanket from around your neck."

Michelle's smile faded and fear showed on her face, "Stop talking like that, Ma. Don't remind him of that. His problems are over now."

Michael was looking tired and inexpressive when they entered the room, but now he looked confused, "How can my problems be over? Did you find us an apartment away from Grandma?" He looked hopefully at his mother.

"No, but we're moving back into the house," Darlene answered. She wasn't encouraged about his condition when Michael became sad again and turned his gaze away from her.

"But Grandma won't be there," Michelle added "and you'll never see her again."

"What do you mean?" Michael slowly turned back toward them but still looked sad.

"Because she's dead," Michelle was almost giddy as she delivered the news and Darlene looked at her in surprise.

"Michelle," Darlene warned, "you shouldn't act so happy about it or people might start to think you killed her."

"Wait a minute," Michael was alert and interested now, "you mean she's really dead and gone for good? What happened? How did she die?"

Darlene explained that Ruby was murdered and the police are investigating because no one knew who killed her. Michelle stood with her back to them pretending to look out the window. As Darlene spoke Michelle wished that everyone would stop talking about the murder and get on with their lives. Then Darlene asked, "Is she the reason you tried killing yourself?"

Michael turned away again and wouldn't answer.

Darlene became annoyed, "We can't help you if you don't talk to us."

Michael returned his gaze to Darlene and said angrily, "What do you think made me not want to live anymore?"

"Your father thinks it's the summer school thing. Is it?" Darlene wanted it to be the summer school issue or any other issue that didn't make her feel responsible for his actions.

"I didn't ask what Dad thinks," Michael demanded, "I want to know what you think, Mom."

Darlene was exhausted from spending the afternoon watching the police investigate Ruby's murder and didn't have much energy left to answer anymore difficult questions, "Who do you think you are, talking to me like that?"

"You told me to talk to you," Michael reminded her.

"I know," Darlene's fatigue got the better of her and she began to cry making Michael feel guilty and Michelle confused.

"I thought everyone would be happy that Grandma's dead," Michelle wondered out loud, "what is everyone's problem?"

"I'm sure glad I'll never see her again," Michael admitted. Then he said to Darlene, "She's the reason I wanted to die. I couldn't take her abuse anymore and I couldn't take you guys putting up with it. You guys are my parents and are supposed to protect me from abuse. You wouldn't take me away from her. You wouldn't let me run away from her, so I had to escape the only way I could."

"Your father put up with it his whole life and he never tried to kill himself," Darlene tried to excuse her neglect and incompetence as a parent, "In fact, he always forgave her and now he's home crying because she's dead."

"Well, that's him, not me," Michael answered defiantly.

"The nurse called me and said you were asking for me," Darlene blew her nose, but still cried, "Is this why you asked for me, so you could make me feel bad?"

Michelle rolled her eyes, "I told you Grandma was the reason he tried to kill himself. The same reason Alice jumped out the window. We all had to escape from Grandma the only way we could."

"If living with her was that bad, why didn't you say so?" Darlene looked from Michelle to Michael.

"What good would it have done?" Michelle challenged, "Dad was never going to leave Grandma and you were never going to leave Dad."

"If I knew things were this bad, I would have done something. I would have talked your father into leaving. We could have moved away."

"Michael and I know that if there's a problem, we need to solve it on our own. You and Dad only care about your beer and cigarettes," Michelle gave Michael a pat of reassurance on the arm because he was getting uncomfortable with her blatant accusations.

"Things will be different now," Darlene promised Michael, "if you kids have a problem I want you to let me know so I can help you."

Michael seemed comforted but Michelle rolled her eyes, "You can't even take care of yourself, how will you solve our problems?"

Darlene got defensive, "If you're going to be ungrateful, then I won't bother helping you. I'm trying to be a good mother and you thank me by insulting me."

"Well," Michelle said to Michael, "Anyway, now that Grandma is gone, we have a house to live in and we won't have to take her abuse either."

"That's cool," Michael acknowledged, "That's really sick how she died though. I hope they catch her killer."

"So, when can you get out of here?" Michelle asked quickly changing the subject, "that moped is still where you left it. It can't fix itself, you know."

"Maybe tomorrow," Michael felt his sore throat with his bandaged hands, "I'm still on suicide watch until then. Then a doctor has to talk to me to see if I'm OK."

"I know you're going to be OK now," Michelle assured her brother.

Darlene felt her blood freeze in her veins and a wave of adrenaline rush through her when Michael told Michelle, "I knew you'd find a way to solve our problems."

Chapter 49

Warren climbed the stairs with what little energy he had left. Exhaustion filled every cell in his body as he grieved the loss of his mother. Reaching the top of the stairs he turned left and found himself in Ruby's bedroom looking at all of her things as she had left them.

"Oh, Ma, I bet you never guessed you'd never sleep in this room again," Warren looked around at the old flowered wallpaper he had known as a child and the yellowed window shades that were permanently pulled down because they had lost the ability to roll up. Michelle had spared these two windows on her recent rampage.

Ruby's robe lay in a heap on the floor where Michelle had left it in her hurry to remove the old blanket that she used to drag the body. Warren saw the robe and picked it up to smell the lingering aroma of his mother. He held it to him and dropped onto the bed crying in anguish, "I'm an orphan now, Ma," He rocked from side to side, "Why did you have to leave me? I can't live without you," He put his head on Ruby's pillow and, still clutching her robe, fell asleep.

Soon after he cried himself to sleep, Warren had a dream in which he saw Ruby as Warren remembered her from his youth. Her health was better and her weight was lighter before the beer and cigarettes took their noticeable, negative affect on her body. She sat at the neighborhood bar that Warren was restricted from smiling at a young man who sat beside her as she drank a beer and smoked a cigarette. Warren watched through the window, holding Ruby's robe up to the glass and shouting, "Ma, I have your robe for you," Ruby looked at Warren and seemed momentarily surprised to see him there and returned her attention to the young man at the bar.

Warren woke up crying into his dead mother's robe, "Ma, I brought you your robe and you didn't care."

Chapter 50

Darlene was glad that the missing exhaust system on the Maverick created a barrier to conversation. She glanced at Michelle who looked content as she watched out the passenger side window on the way home from their visit with Michael. Could Michelle have murdered Ruby? Could she have dragged her body from the house to the fireplace and then stuffed it under the Pinto? Why would she have cut off her arms and legs and stuffed them into the trashcan?

She knew Michelle could have violent temper tantrums, especially after yesterday's window smashing event. Could Michelle have mentally snapped the same way Michael and Alice did? Darlene couldn't answer any of these questions for sure. Maybe it was better if she didn't know, but what if Michelle did snap and kill Ruby? Would she one day try to kill everyone else in the family too? Darlene was afraid to find out that her daughter was a murderer, but she had to know in order to protect the rest of the family. Having kids is more trouble than they're worth. She had to prevent Michael from killing himself and prevent Michelle from killing everyone else. Warren was useless and Alice was only good at housework.

Darlene was overwhelmed with fear and worry. Michelle said that Ruby was tired of waiting for her cigarettes and went to get a pack herself. She had never done that before. Darlene had Ruby's money so Ruby wouldn't have gone off to the store with no money. Ruby would have smoked Warren's cigarettes while she waited for Darlene.

Darlene turned the Maverick off when they arrived home and Michelle jumped out heading toward the shed.

"Where are you going?" Darlene asked suspiciously.

"I'm going to get my clothes and Michael's clothes, so I can have our room ready for him to come home tomorrow," Michelle happily trotted up the path while Darlene watched in dismay. After a few seconds Darlene decided she should check on Warren's emotional state and entered the back door to find Alice on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor in the living room.

"Everything back to normal, Alice?" Darlene asked as she passed by on her way to the stairs, "I don't see Warren around so he must be upstairs."

"Yeah," Alice looked up from her work, "I told him to go to bed instead of laying on the floor. He was in my way, " She sent back to her scrubbing, "there's this sticky film on the floor over here I need to get up. I don't know what went on while I was gone, but they made a mess."

"You act like you were gone for two years instead of two days," Darlene remarked as she started up the still familiar stairs, "two days seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Alice called back, "a lot has happened in the last two days."

Chapter 51

"Warren," Darlene stood accusingly with her hands on her hips and a disapproving scowl on her face as she discovered Warren curled up on Ruby's bed holding Ruby's robe like a security blanket.

Warren rolled over and murmured, "No, Ma, I don't want to get up yet."

Darlene, annoyed that Warren wouldn't wake up and insulted that he called her "Ma" yelled, "Warren!" and kicked the bed.

"What?" He rolled over and looked at Darlene, "where the hell am I?"

"You're in Ruby's bed practically wearing her robe."

Warren remembered where he was and looked at Ruby's robe, which was now wrapped around him from his having rolled over, "What do you want? How's Michael?" He reached for his cigarettes and lit one.

"Michael is probably coming home tomorrow after the doctor evaluates him," Darlene lit a cigarette and sat on the edge of the bed.

"That's good, Darlene," Warren sat up and nodded in approval, "I need all my family around me now. Now that I'm an orphan."

Darlene rolled her eyes, "You're not an orphan, Warren. You're only an orphan if your parents die when you're a kid," she took the ashtray from the nightstand and put it on the bed between them.

"Well, whatever," Warren flicked his ashes into the ashtray, "all I know is my mom is gone forever and all I have left is you guys. Without you guys I'd be all alone."

Darlene felt a glimmer of sympathy for her husband. She knew how it felt to be alone since her mother ran away when she was a teenager and her father only called her when he wanted a favor from her.

"And the kids just want to get away from us," Darlene remarked, "but Michelle seems happy to be back in the house. She's in the shed now getting her and Michael's clothes."

"Yeah, she's happy now, but I bet you in a week she'll be complaining about something else." Warren shook his head and took a long drag of his cigarette.

"That's just how kids are, Warren," Darlene blew out smoke, "they're never happy."

"Just ungrateful and spoiled," Warren put out his cigarette and lay back down.

"You don't plan to spend the night in here, do you?" Darlene asked.

"Well, what if I do?" Warren got defensive.

"It's just pretty sick, that's all."

"What's so fucking sick about it?" Warren challenged, "I'm in mourning you know. I am an orphan."

"Yeah," Darlene put out her cigarette and stood up to leave the room, "you're a fucking orphan." Darlene needed to find out if Michelle murdered Ruby and didn't have time to argue with Warren. He could spend the night wherever he wanted. She would deal with him at another time.

Chapter 52

Darlene had only been downstairs for a minute when Michelle entered the house with the laundry bag filled with clothes from the shed.

"Is that everyone's clothes or just yours and Michael's?" Darlene asked suspiciously.

"Just mine and Michael's," Michelle went straight for the staircase without looking at her mother.

Darlene was alarmed, "Why didn't you grab all of the clothes?" She thought Michelle left Warren and Darlene's clothes because they wouldn't be needing them if Michelle intended to murder them as well as Ruby.

"They wouldn't fit in the bag," Michelle ran up the stairs to deposit the clothes into the bedroom.

"Oh," Darlene was slightly relieved but still distrustful of Michelle. She noticed Alice was still busily scrubbing the floor in front of the couch. Now she pushed the couch back a few feet to clean underneath.

"Oh!" Alice said in dismay, "Look at that. There's still more under the couch."

"More what?" Darlene got closer to see for herself. She stood next to Alice as they both gazed at the dried brownish puddle revealed by moving the couch, "What the hell is that, coffee?"

"I don't know what it is, but it's kind of sticky. It takes some scrubbing to get it up," Alice sat up to rinse her brush in her wash basin and continued her cleaning binge, "It was under the coffee table and on the TV stand too."

"Is it coffee?" Darlene wondered.

"I don't think coffee would be this hard to get up. Besides this stuff is too red to be coffee, "Alice scrubbed furiously until the mess was removed and the floor was perfectly clean.

Darlene helped Alice put the couch back in place, "Ruby had Michelle cleaning, but I guess all she did was clean up the broken glass." She didn't suspect the mess could be Ruby's blood because everyone, including the town police, assumed that the murder took place outside. They didn't check the interior of the house for evidence or question why or how the bloody blanket was stuffed under the Pinto along with Ruby's corpse. They must have deduced that the blanket happened to be in the yard, just another piece of junk.

"Yeah," Alice washed out her washbasin in the sink, "why are all the windows broken?"

"Michelle got pissed off at Ruby and started throwing shit through her windows. She was just starting on the upstairs windows when we stopped her."

"That's my mom," Alice put her cleaning supplies into the broom closet, "She could make people really mad like that."

Darlene worried about Michelle being a murderer and hoped she could find a way to disprove her suspicions. Even though Ruby deserved to be murdered, Darlene wouldn't murder her and she hoped that her children wouldn't lose control of their emotions and kill her either—especially in such a violent manner. Poor Michael would rather kill himself to escape her abuse than harm his grandmother. Warren would rather pretend that Ruby's abuse was her way of showing affection than question his loyalty toward her. Darlene, herself, would simply tolerate her behavior because she was her husband's mother.

Michelle came downstairs and approached Darlene and Alice in the kitchen, "What's for supper?" she asked casually.

"I'll get the hotdogs that I put in the cooler this afternoon before all hell broke loose, "Darlene went to the door.

"It's still hotdogs, but at least we can cook them on a stove now," Michelle pointed out.

"Yeah," Darlene opened the door, "when I get my food stamps next time, I'll get stuff besides hotdogs," she went out to the cooler closing the door behind her.

Michelle went to the couch while Alice took a skillet from a cupboard and set it on the stove, "What got spilled all over the floor in the living room?"

"I don't know," Michelle answered sheepishly.

"Some sticky stuff was dried on the floor under the couch and the coffee table," Alice explained, "It took me a while to clean it up.

"I don't know," Michelle insisted, "it must have been something Grandma spilled. She didn't clean up anything while you were gone."

"I just wondered if you knew because I never cleaned up anything like that before," Alice put a pat of butter in the pan to cook the hotdogs.

"I told you," Michelle was getting agitated, "I don't know what it is."

"OK," Alice relented, "I was just asking."

Darlene returned with the hotdogs to hear Michelle yell, "Well, stop asking, OK? I don't know," and she ran upstairs.

"Geez," Alice said to Darlene as she took the hotdogs, "I just asked her if she knew what got spilled on the floor over there and she jumped all over me."

Darlene looked worried and lit a cigarette, "Oh, really?"

After dinner they al l took hot showers and looked forward to sleeping in beds. Warren wasn't happy about taking a shower, but Darlene convinced him to take one. Then Darlene and Warren drank the rest of Ruby's beer and they all watched TV until bedtime. Michelle's night would only have been better if Michael were with her, but she was certain he would be reunited with her tomorrow and she slept contentedly looking forward to the morning.

During the hours between dinner and bedtime, Darlene had convinced herself that Michelle couldn't possibly be Ruby's murderer. Mostly because she didn't want to believe it. Life would be much easier if Darlene didn't have to confront Michelle about the murder and possibly turn her in to the cops. Michelle was too happy and relaxed to have just committed a gruesome murder. Darlene believed that Michelle would be acting moody and guilt ridden if she were a murderer. Besides, how could a fourteen-year-old girl drag Ruby up the path and through the fire? How could she drag her through the underbrush to the Pinto and then stuff her underneath? It was impossible.

Chapter 53

Warren woke up to the sunshine oozing through the edges of the shades in Ruby's bedroom. He had begun the night in his old room with Darlene, but later found his way back to Ruby's bed where he cried and slept intermittently. At first, he didn't recognize the room and looked around before he remembered where he was and why. Sorrow washed over him once more and tears rolled from his eyes toward his ears as he lay looking up at the cracked, tobacco stained ceiling.

In the next room Michelle awoke to the sun shining into her room with the excitement of a new day. Michael was coming home, they were living in the house again, and Grandma and her abuse were gone forever. School was out for the summer and they didn't have to become drug dealers or thieves in order to have a roof over their heads. Except for the horrible flashes of memory that haunted Michelle about the murder and dismemberment of Ruby, life was finally looking up after months of hardship while living in the shed.

Darlene woke up on the old mattress and box spring that she and Warren had shared for sixteen years until Ruby banished them to the shed. It was the first morning in months that her back didn't ache from sleeping on the dirty wooden floor of the shed. She lit a cigarette and listened to the once familiar sounds of Alice in the kitchen and cars passing by as she smoked. Noticing Warren missing from his side of the bed, she felt a pang of annoyance as she realized he must have found his way back to Ruby's room. Her annoyance with Warren grew when she assumed that Warren wouldn't be going back to work again. He'll use Ruby's death as an excuse not to work again for years. At least her own days would no longer be filled with the endless search for firewood. The sun shone brightly through the curtainless windows of the room as Darlene thought about how much better life would be now that Ruby was gone and they were back in the house. Darlene could run the house the way she wanted without Ruby's criticism and abuse. After the couch Warren brought home had dried, it would make a nice addition to the living room. Everyone would have a place to sit in front of the TV from now on. Michael would get over the desire to kill himself and maybe Warren would gain some independence after his period of mourning.

Darlene thought about the way Ruby had died and shuddered over the violence of the murder, but felt little sadness for the loss of her mother-in-law. After sixteen years of criticism, bossiness, and belittling, Darlene mostly felt a wonderful feeling of relief and release. She put out her cigarette and headed to the kitchen to help Alice prepare breakfast. She needed to get ready to pick Michael up at the hospital.

Unlike Darlene and Michelle, Michael woke up several times during the night. His emotions changing with each bout of sleep. He fell asleep full of the hope that arose during his visit with Michelle and Darlene. He was elated that he no longer had to fear the emotional abuse from Ruby and no longer had to endure witnessing the abuse that she joyfully forced onto his family, especially his father.

Later he woke up in a cold sweat realizing how he had almost ended his own life believing that all hope was lost in escaping his miserable life of homelessness and mental abuse. He came so close to dying twice and would have missed his new chance of continuing life with his family in the house he grew up in without the evil force that pervaded every moment of his life making his life an endless prison of misery. Instead of being thankful for this second and even third chance at a happy—or at least a better—family life, he felt the fear of being near death and losing this amazing opportunity for rebirth.

Forcing himself to think positive thoughts of the future and even daring to dream of pleasant times ahead, Michael fell asleep again only to wake in fear of having his high hopes slashed by forces beyond his control. Every time he and Michelle attempted to escape their family life and become independent in order to improve their circumstances, someone would prevent them from implementing their plan. Michael tried to make himself believe that this new beginning would bring them the happiness they deserved.

Chapter 54

Darlene and Alice easily fell into their old routine of preparing breakfast together. Without Ruby they could speak freely without the fear and anger caused by Ruby's presence and her inevitable insulting remarks. Alice even agreed, although reluctantly, to accompany Darlene to the grocery store later. Michelle sat on the couch, anxious to go to the hospital, but also content to sit and listen to her mother and aunt happily making plans for later in the day. So far, that moment was the happiest moment in Michelle's life and she felt she was responsible. She believed that she had slain the monster that had made her family miserable for all their lives.

Darlene and Michelle arrived in Michael's room in time to talk to his doctor who was very optimistic about Michael's recovery. Michael had made a remarkable improvement overnight, but the doctor still recommended that Darlene fill his prescriptions and be sure that Michael follows the dosage. She also needed to call the doctor's office and make an appointment. Because of Michael's suicidal tendencies, he will have to be monitored closely for quite some time.

Darlene and Michael were enthusiastically receptive to the doctor's recommendations since they were both so happy that Michael wanted to recover. In fact, both Michael and Darlene were as happy as Michelle was to make a new start and hold high hopes for the future.

On the other hand, Alice was horrified at Michael's appearance when he entered the house. She was washing the kitchen floor when he walked through the back door behind Darlene and Michelle. His neck was red, his eyes were bloodshot and his wrists were still bandaged. She gasped and almost dropped her mop when she saw him.

Michael looked at his aunt with curiosity and said, "Hi Alice, I can't believe you jumped out your bedroom window," he saw her look down at the floor in embarrassment and added, "but I don't blame you," He held up his wrists, "Look how stupid I was."

Alice slowly looked at Michael and said, "I guess we're a sorry pair, huh?"

Michelle stepped between them, "It wasn't your fault. It was Grandma's fault."

Darlene began to get that uneasy feeling about Michelle's innocence in the death of Ruby, "Michelle, why don't you show Michael how you fixed up your bedroom." She watched the two of them go toward the stairs.

Alice was rinsing her worn out mop in the sink, "This mop is pretty beat. I'll have to wash the floor with a sponge pretty soon."

"Is Warren up yet?" Darlene asked.

"No," Alice put the mop away and left the kitchen floor to dry.

"I guess he won't be going back to work anymore," Darlene sighed and sat next to Alice on the couch and lit a cigarette.

"That's Warren," Alice said, "You know he never keeps a job very long."

"Someday he'll find a job he wants to keep."

"He's lucky he has someone to believe in him," Alice remarked, "although I don't know why you do."

"One day he's going to do good by us," Darlene blew out smoke, "Maybe now that he has to let go of Ruby's apron strings, he'll have some confidence in himself."

"Yeah, maybe," Alice didn't look hopeful.

"Well, anyway," Darlene sighed "we need to get Warren out of that room pretty soon so we can clean out all of Ruby's shit."

"You want to do that already?" Alice was a little apprehensive, "I don't know if I want to go through her stuff yet."

"We don't have to do it right away, but I think it might help Warren get over her dying faster if we get rid of her junk."

"Maybe," Alice thought for a minute, "It might help me too. I still keep thinking she's going to come in the room. Every time I do something like wash the floor I keep waiting to hear her say that I missed a spot or have her walk across it with her fuzzy slippers."

"Yeah," Darlene shook her head, "I feel the same way. I keep expecting her to barge into the room and throw us out of the house again."

"Maybe it would help to throw out her stuff," Alice's eyes grew wide with the realization of a good idea, "we could have a ceremony where we burn all of her stuff in the back yard."

"I don't think Warren would go for that," Darlene said, "I think it's a great idea, but Warren probably wants to build her a shrine. He's going to try to keep her room untouched. I know he will, but I'd really like to give one of the kids her room so they each have their own rooms for once."

Chapter 55

"I heard my name," Warren appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He was wearing nothing but his jockey shorts, "What are you saying about me?" He walked to Darlene who still sat on the couch, "Give me a cigarette."

"Is that why you came down?" Darlene handed him a cigarette and a lighter, "to smoke my cigarettes?"

"I ran out," he lit the cigarette and dropped the lighter on the coffee table, "I'm hungry too. What do you have to eat?"

"Nothing right now," Alice answered, "the kitchen floor is wet. You should have been down here when the rest of us ate."

"Jesus Christ," Warren sprayed his bad breath on them, "my mother got violently murdered yesterday and you can't even make me something to eat?" He went back to the stairs taking Darlene's pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, "forget it then. I'll fucking starve to death. At least maybe I'll get to see my mom again." Warren stomped up the stairs and Darlene and Alice both rolled their eyes when they heard the door to Ruby's room slam shut.

"Oh brother," Darlene said, "he's never going to get over Ruby's murder."

"It was horrible," Alice admitted, "even she shouldn't have been killed that way. I wonder who would be so mean to do that to her. I guess the cops will figure it out."

"Yeah," Darlene thought of the possibility that Michelle was the murderer and hoped that it wasn't true, "maybe the cops will find out."

Chapter 56

After the kitchen floor dried, Alice made everyone lunch. Darlene went upstairs to tell Warren to go downstairs and eat. Michael and Michelle had gone outside to look at Michael's moped. Michael's throat was a little sore and so were his wrists, so he didn't feel like doing any work on it, but he checked to make sure everything was as he had left it.

Darlene called the kids in for lunch after her visit to Warren. Warren was on Ruby's bed in the fetal position, again clutching her robe to his cheek. Darlene didn't have much patience left for Warren and his intense grieving, "Warren, are you going to stay like that for the rest of your life?" She tried to pry the robe from him, but his grip was too tight, "Ruby never did nothing but abuse all of us and you act like you're going to die without her."

Warren burst into tears, "I feel like I'm going to die without her. She's my mom and she's gone. How do you think I should feel? You're just a cold bitch, Darlene. You never liked my Mom and you're probably glad that she's dead."

"I'm a cold bitch?" Darlene pointed her thumb to her chest, "You are fucking warped. You're laying in here crying over somebody who did nothing but give you a hard time and call you names."

"She was the only mom I had and now she's gone."

"Well, you're going to have to get over it, Warren," Darlene walked over to Ruby's bureau that was piled with clutter, "because this room is getting cleaned out. All this shit is being thrown away."

"Oh, no you're not!" Warren jumped up off the bed, "you can't throw her stuff away. It's all I got to remember her by."

"I don't need any of this junk to remember Ruby," Darlene motioned toward Ruby's clutter, "I'll never forget her and neither will you."

"Darlene," Warren sat on the edge of the bed, "I don't think I'll ever get over her dying."

"Yes, you will, Warren," Darlene sat beside him, "it's OK to get over her dying. You'll always have memories of her," Darlene scoffed inside when she considered the memories she would have of Ruby. She couldn't remember a single nice thing Ruby had ever done for them, "Why don't you come downstairs and have some soup."

Warren got up and followed Darlene to the kitchen where the others were getting their soup as well. Warren whimpered to Darlene, "I just hope they find the sick motherfucker who killed her. I want to see that guy fry. He'll get the fucking chair if I have anything to do with it."

Just as Warren was about to accept his bowl of soup from Darlene, there was a knock at the back door, "Get that, Darlene, I'm only wearing underwear."

"No," Alice looked wide-eyed with fear, "let me get it." Slowly she moved away from the stove and toward the back door with her heart pounding and hands trembling, "I have to get used to opening the door."

"It's a lot easier than diving out the window," Warren remarked in his sulky voice as he made his way to the couch with his soup.

Alice ignored Warren's remark as she turned the knob and pulled open the door to find two policemen standing next to the beer keg, "Yes?" Alice looked frightened and curious. The police were either there to give them an update on the investigation or to arrest one of them.

"We have a warrant for the arrest of Michelle Kennedy," the first policeman announced.

Alice's mouth dropped open to match her wide eyes as she stared blankly at the policemen. Warren dropped his bowl of soup on the floor with a clatter and hot soup splashed his naked shins. Michael frantically shifted his gaze from his sister to his mother and back again. Darlene, distraught and in despair, closed her eyes, clenched her jaw and briefly looked at Michelle before looking at Warren who stood gaping in anger and disbelief at Michelle. In fear, Michelle began to inch her way toward the front door until Michael cried, "No, don't go Michelle," Michael still hadn't comprehended that Michelle was Ruby's murderer. He thought the police wanted to arrest her for stealing Ruby's TV because Michelle had filled him in on her recent failure to get drug money by stealing Ruby's television.

Michael's outburst broke Warren's silence and he attempted to dive over the couch to get to Michelle while screaming, "You did it! My own flesh and blood killed my mother!"

"Warren," Darlene cried with her trembling hands to her face, "Leave her alone!"

Warren fell over the couch and fell on the floor between the couch and the coffee table giving Michelle time to run out the front door. Another policeman was waiting and apprehended her before she reached the sidewalk.

As the police guided Michelle into the back of the police car, Warren jumped out the back door of the house and began beating on the back door of the cruiser where Michelle was inches away from her father, but protected by the shelter of the car, "I'm going to fucking kill you, Michelle. I'm going to fucking kill you!"

Michelle looked back at her father with bitter hatred as he raged at her. After all, in her opinion it was Warren's fault she was in this horrible situation. If he had provided the family with a decent home, they wouldn't have been subjected to Ruby's abuse. Warren wouldn't get them an apartment or even keep a job long enough to find them a home. Warren wouldn't allow Michelle and Michael to escape the abuse and neglect by running away either. It was like Warren wanted them to have to endure Ruby's abuse the way he had all of his life.

Darlene, Michael and Alice chased after Warren, trying to restrain him and pull him away from the cruiser as it rolled out of the yard toward the street.

"Warren!" Darlene grabbed onto one of his flying arms while avoiding being hit with the free arm, "she only did it for us."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He looked angrily at Darlene, who looked at him pleadingly, "how could brutally murdering my mother help us?" He looked at Alice who was standing beside Michael frowning. Michael had burst into wracking sobs as the cruiser exited the yard.

"Michelle isn't the only one who's guilty," Warren seemed to have come to a realization, "you were all in on it. You all planned to kill my mother. You all took her away from me."

Darlene feared that Warren was going to direct his recent violence toward them now that Michelle was out of reach, "No, Warren," she pleaded with him, "we didn't know anything about it."

Warren looked at the three of them as though they were strangers. He looked confused and incredulous as he slowly began to back his way toward the driveway as though they might try to murder him next. Finally he turned and ran barefoot down the driveway as Darlene called after him.

As she did so many times when he was a child, Alice held Michael in her arms as he wept for his sister. Michelle had become his hope for the future and now her own future seemed dismal as he feared the uncertainly of it. What would happen to her now? Would he ever see her again? Would she get the electric chair?

Darlene began to run after Warren when they heard the screech of tires on the road in front of the house and felt the cold dread in their guts as the screeching was followed by a dull thud. Darlene screamed as she stood still at the foot of the driveway in shock looking at Warren's still and twisted body in the road.

As though she were looking through a warped glass, Darlene watched a shocked and shaken Linda Madison get out from behind the wheel of the white sedan that had crossed Warren's hysterical path of escape. Other cars were arriving and pulling over, the drivers getting out to offer assistance. Soon the police and ambulance arrived to take control of the scene. The police collected the witness' stories to complete their reports, which concluded Linda Madison to be innocent of any motor vehicle charge and Warren to be at fault. The police assumed Warren to be drunk and unable to move out of the way of the passing car. Darlene was unable to speak at first, but finally insisted to the police that Warren was sober.

Darlene wasn't able to look at Warren's body as the ambulance crew lifted, straightened, laid it on a gurney, covered it with a sheet and strapped it down securely. The back of his head was flat and bloody where it slammed onto the pavement and his spine protruded through the side of his neck where it snapped from the impact. She wanted to be able to cry for her husband who died a violent death because of a misunderstanding on his part, but she couldn't find any tears for him yet. She was sorry that he had died hating their daughter and believing the rest of his family had conspired to murder his mother. On the other hand, Warren was now spending eternity with the only person he had truly loved, his mother.

Epilogue

In order to avoid any funeral costs that she couldn't pay, Darlene donated Warren's body to science while a lien was put on the house to cover the costs of Ruby's low-budget cremation. Even though the body was partially burnt, the funeral home would not grant a discount and wouldn't release Ruby's ashes to the family until the bill was paid.

A few days after Warren's death, Darlene found the classified page that Pop's had given to Warren. She attended the job fair and became a kitchen utility worker at the new Indian casino, where she began to realize her own self-worth and independence. After a couple of years, she convinced Alice to sell the house and buy a new trailer with air conditioning, cable TV, wall-to-wall carpeting, and all new appliances including a washer and a dryer. Using money from the sale of the house, Alice finally received Ruby's ashes. Darlene spread them over the property she had so often reminded Warren and Darlene was hers to reign over. The property was sold to the owner of the corner bar and leveled to provide more adequate parking for the bar patrons.

Alice, after a few months of encouragement from Darlene and Michael, also was hired at the casino as an environmental services attendant. Her duties consisted of cleaning the employee restrooms until she advanced to cleaning patron restrooms in the high roller area. With tips, her income was higher than Darlene's.

Michael, with the encouragement of Darlene and Alice, finished high school and with the help of financial aid and a part-time job earned an associates degree in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. He got a job with the state in the prison system helping adolescent inmates avoid drug and alcohol abuse while attending college at night. Eventually, Michael became a high school science teacher where he tried to discourage students from using drugs and alcohol by getting them involved in meaningful projects within the community. He also never missed a Sunday visit with Michelle, riding his moped the twenty-mile distance when Darlene was unavailable to give him a ride.

Alice eventually began dating a fellow cleaning attendant that she met at work but would never agree to marry him. After several years, the man finally broke off the stagnant relationship to pursue other women while Alice was content to spend her free time at home decorating the trailer, cooking, or seeing a movie.

Darlene began taking care of her appearance and dated several men over the years, but like Alice, refused to commit. Her opinion was that she was already married for sixteen years of her life and that was long enough for her.

Michelle was tried as an adult due to the brutality of her crime, but after many people testified to the abusive nature of Ruby, she was only sentenced to twenty years in prison, suspended after ten years. During those ten years, with her family's encouragement, Michelle got her diploma and a degree in business management. Knowing how difficult it would be to find a job with her background, she ran her own small used car business in a blue-collar part of town. Eventually, she had two sons with the guy she employed to maintain the car lot and recondition newly acquired cars. When she realized she was pregnant with the oldest boy, Michelle bought a trailer in the same park as Darlene where they could all share in the raising of the boys. The two boys were thoroughly spoiled by Darlene and Alice with candy, toys, and new clothes. Ruby's name, as well as Michelle's prison term, was never mentioned around the boys.

Occasionally, Darlene would think of Warren and realize how much of life Warren had missed because of his fear of leaving his mother and how much more of life she would have missed if Warren had lived.

###

About the author

Alison Fish was born and raised in Waterford, Connecticut. She received an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts from Three Rivers Community College and a Bachelors Degree in English at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Other work by this author:

Whaling City Vampires: Love Beyond Death

<https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/299149>
