Page 12 of Locke

“Did you want me to bring you in your computer so you can use it, or did you want me to bash it over your head?” He laughed but stopped abruptly. “I’m sorry. You must be still in a great deal of pain.”

“Only when I laugh. The muscles are getting stronger but I still have to lie on my stomach in order to get them to heal properly. The things they do to my legs are kind of nice. It really does get my blood running, but it’s also something that wears me out a great deal.” She told him that she could understand that, too. “Thanks, Alex. You’ve no idea how much I miss being around you guys.”

“We miss you too.” When Locke came into the house, she handed off the phone to him. The house wasn’t the only one that she’d found a landline in, but it was certainly one of many things that she thought were old-fashioned. After heading to her own office, grateful to have something to do herself, Alex was still on the phone with one of the companies that she’d been contacting on behalf of her new family.

She put the phone on mute so that she could talk to Locke when he came in, and she told him about the woman she was talking to. All she was trying to do was get two credit cards canceled that she was sure that Locke hadn’t asked for.

“Oh, honey, you don’t want to cancel that card. It would put a ding on his credit report. Just stick it in a drawer someplace and only take it out when hubby isn’t around. See what I’m saying?” Alex did and told the woman she was appalled by her suggesting that she go behind her husband’s back to use a card to get something. “Everyone does it. Now you tell me the annual income in the house, and I’ll see if I can—never mind. I’m just going to give it all to you. You just say the word, and I’ll hit this little button here for you, saying that you decided to keep the card after all.”

“Cancel it.” When the woman started to say something else, she cut her off. “I have a recording of the conversation that we’ve just had, and I’m sure they do at your place of business. If, by the end of the day, you’re not terminated, I’m going to go there and figure out why. Cancel those cards right now before I call your boss.”

“Testy, aren’t you? Well, don’t come back here telling anyone that you’ve changed your mind. I’m marking your file with a black mark.” Alex laughed, and that seemed to piss the woman off more. “There. All the cards that we’ve been very generous with you are canceled. I hope you have the day that you deserve, you bitch.”

Locke picked her up and sat her on his lap. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re very good at protecting us when you’re cornered, aren’t you?” She told him that the woman had pissed her off. “Yes, I can see that. I’m sure she knows it too. Good job. Now, what else do you have to do today? I’m going to run the computer into Dusty, and then I’m going to go by and pick up some buns. It was discovered that they didn’t come in the groceries. I don’t know if that means no one ordered them or we just didn’t get them. But I’m also to pick up a couple of gallons of tea as there isn’t enough in the fridge for us to serve if they want that.”

“I have some things that I need his approval on before I can cancel some of the things that he had in his name. One of the weirdest things is that Dusty is paying a nursing home for someone that I can’t find a name for.” He told her to leave that one be. It was personal for Dusty. “Oh. I never thought of that. Is it something that you can share?”

“Let Dusty tell you. It was a long time ago, but he needs to tell you about it. All right?” She nodded. “Now. I’m off to the hospital. Is there anything else I can pick up?”

“No. I think we did a good job in building up the pantry with staples. At least, that’s what Ms. Bee told me. I just pulled out a couple of her recipes and made sure that those things were on the list. Since I didn’t know what some of the things were, I only ordered small sizes. She told me that for a non-cook, I’d done very well.” He told her that he was proud of her as well. “If you’re hoping to get laid again, you don’t need to butter me up. However, I’m still sore, so we might need to just cuddle for a while.”

He told her that he was sore, too, and left it at that. When he left to run by his brother’s place and then the hospital, she was kind of glad for the quietness of the house. It was never a loud place here, but she was used to the silence of the buildings in which she had been staying. Alex couldn’t have been happier than she was right now. She only hoped that it would last, too.

Chapter 6

William hadn’t wanted to bring his kids with them to his home, that had been stolen from him. That’s what he’d been calling it since his mother had left him high and dry. In fact, he didn’t care if they didn’t go anywhere that he was going. They were just too whiny and loud.

It also bothered him that there were people there that he’d not wanted. The family of Locke had shown up about the time that he and his wife, Gilda, had arrived. When the car backfired, he was disappointed that none of the men had reacted. He’d seen people drop to the ground when that happened. They just walked up to the house as if nothing had gone on. William was about as disappointed as he was of his kids.

“Mr. and Mrs. Grable, welcome to mine and my wife’s home.” He said not to get too comfy. That’s what he wanted to talk to him about. “I’ve been living in this house for the last eleven years. I’ve very comfy here, as you call it.”

“Well, you won’t be living here any longer if I have anything to say about it. I don’t know why you were given the house when I’m her son.” They were in the living room now, and he hated that it looked like someone had really done the place up. “What did you do with the couch that was in here? I’d like for all the stuff that was here before to be put back. If you don’t mind.”

He was trying his best not to be angry with the man. He was going to butter him up and see if he’d just move out and let him have what should have been his in the first place. However, all the man did was smile and ask him if he wanted some tea.

“Tea? No, I don’t want no tea. That’s a lady’s drink. I suppose you use dandy little cups too that felt like they were going to shatter the first time you used them.” He corrected what he’d said. “Dandy? Danity? Who cares. Now, if you have some beer in there, that would hit the spot. Just so long as it’s not that girly kind that has low calories. I want a man’s drink.” He was told they had domestic beer. Not that he knew what that meant, but he said that he’d settle for that. “Are you one of them fancy pants kind of men? I know that you say that you’re married to that there girl, but that don’t mean a hill of beans to someone like you.”

“He’s married to me. We got married yesterday at the courthouse. And just so you know, we’ve decided that we’re going to be changing the name of this house from Grable to Erikson Mansion.” He asked her why she’d do something like that when he was just going to have to change it back when he moved in. “What makes you so sure that you’re ever going to be stepping foot in this house again?”

“Oh, come on now. Be a decadent person and give me what is rightfully mine. Damn it to hell and back, I should be living here, but you stepped in and made sure that my mom liked you more than she did me. That’s not fair.” Locke, a stupid name if you asked him, corrected him again. “Damn it all to fuck and back, I know what the word is. You told me that I was going to get what I had coming to me. That would be this house and all the money that goes with it.”

“Actually, that’s not what I meant at all. Yes, you are going to get what you have coming to you, but it has nothing to do with your mother’s estate. I meant that you are going to be arrested for nonpayment of child support as well as a great many other things that you’ve done. Some of which is going to land you in prison for a very long time.” He asked what he was talking about. “I’m talking about the fact that you knew you had a lot of offspring. You claimed them on your taxes. Which tells me that you committed fraud. The insurance scam that you’re doing by leaping in front of moving cars in order to be paid a heavy amount of money that you have used up almost as soon as it was cleared by your bank. Then there is the fact that you’ve been caught on video stealing cars from the local dealer here and other places around the city.”

“Yeah, I was making a pretty good living at that until I just got too old to manage it well.” He laughed. “I thought about training my kids to do that, but they’re just too delicate or something. Screamed and hollowed about hurting too much. All I can tell you about that is don’t have no kids. They’re the ruination of the world if you asked me.”

“No one did.” He nodded, then asked Locke what him running scams had to do with this house being his. “I don’t think you understand. You’re going to jail. And thankfully, we don’t have to have a long and drawn-out trial since you admitted to doing just what we thought. Dinner is ready.”

He didn’t know what he was expecting when he was told that they were eating in the dining room. There were pretty colorful paper plates as well as plastic stuff to use. William was hoping for a nice thick steak and some Frenchie fries, but all he got was some tater salad and some mushy noodles that he hated to even look at. William asked if they were broke, too.

“No. We’re fine. I just didn’t want you touching my nice things. So, if you’d not mind, eat your dinner and get out of our home.” He asked when they were planning to move out. “We’re not. You are as soon as you eat. Then we’re going to throw away the things that you touched and never think of either of you again.”

“You’re not at all nice, are you? While you don’t look like my wife, you sure do have her temper. Christ, oh mighty, you’re the spitting image of her temper.” The woman asked him why he thought that she should look like his wife. “The guy said that to me the other day. Because she’s my wife. Why can’t you guys get that through your head? You don’t look like her or me one bit. What is there to understand?”

“I’ve changed my mind about you.” He grinned, waiting on what Alex or whatever her name was had to say. “You’re not dumb at all but a moron. I’m not even going to waste my breath on explaining to you how I don’t look like your wife. Suffice it to say, I’m glad that I don’t look like either of you. Nor act like you. You two deserve each other.”

“I don’t know what you’re so upset about? I just want to raise my family in the house that I grew up in.” He turned and winked at Glida. That had been what she’d told him to say to get sympathy from them. William thought that it had turned out better than he could have hoped. Until his damned daughter said that she wanted to go home. He smacked his kid upside the head enough to knock her to the floor. “You are home, dumbass. And as soon as I can get these people out of here, we’ll set you up in a room, and I won’t have to look at you no more.”

When he turned to look at the others, he thought that something had happened to make their faces all pinched up. He looked around behind him and saw nothing that would warrant them looking at him like that. William finally asked them what had happened.

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