Page 14 of Wrangler

“You’re a monster.” William told him that he was shit for brains. “Like I care what you think about me. But you trying to make money off of my sister and me makes you far worse than any other creatures that could have come my way.” He looked behind his father and laughed. “You might want to turn around there, William. I don’t think that you’re going to fare well with the jaguars surrounding you.”

Just as his father reached for him, Wills did something that he didn’t know he could do. He doubled up his fist and slammed it as hard as he could into his face. Watching him tumble back to where he landed next to Patsy, he knew then that he was never going to be afraid of the two of them again. They meant nothing at all to him.

Turning his back to the couple that really had hurt him in ways that he couldn’t imagine ever doing to his own children, he went to the dining room and finished filling his plate. It wasn’t long before the others joined him, and they were still fighting over the last of the biscuits when the police arrived.

“You could have knocked me over with a tissue when I saw you hit him. Did you hurt your hand?” Amber kissed his hand, which was slightly sore, and told her that it felt good. “I bet it did. Seeing you do that made me feel good, too. We got this, Wills. They’re going to be nothing but dust when we’re living here, as happy as any people in the world will be.

They were all seated around the table when the sirens sounded that Wrangler told him was an ambulance pulling in. He didn’t bother finding out what had happened. He’d seen it with his own eyes. The monsters were being taken away and back to jail for trespassing.

“I’m going to call you mom from now on.” Amber asked him if he was sure. “I am. When you guys have kids, I don’t want them to be confused about what we were to each other, and I’m going to call Wrangler my dad. If he doesn’t mind. He’s been a better dad to me than my own ever was, and I love him with all my heart. You too, Mom.”

Everyone hugged him, welcoming him to the family. It was then that Wrangler—Dad stood up and said that he and Amber—Mom were going to have a baby. Next spring. He couldn’t wait until then and was so happy to be able to help with the little person like no one, but his sister and his new family had helped him.

Chapter 7

“Who the hell are you? Unless you’re here to get me out of this mess, then get your ass away from here. I got no time for people dropping by.” She told William that she was Lily the Mother Earth. “Bull shit. There ain’t no such thing as a Mother Earth. Who are you, and if you’re not here to get me out of here like I said, then I don’t want a thing to do with you.”

“I don’t want anything to do with you either, but you’ve been messing with the wrong family. My family, as it turns out.” William asked her who they were. “My daughter’s family and mine. The Sheppard’s. That would include your son and daughter, too, in the event that you don’t understand what I’m telling you. You’re upsetting them, and as much as I know what your answer is going to be, I’m asking you to leave them alone. Will you?”

“Bull shit. And no, I’m not going to leave them alone. They got my damned kids, and I want them back. Pontiac.” She told him the word he was needing was pronto and then asked him if he liked the term about bowel movements. “When it suits. Like, I can tell you to fuck off, too, and other shit like that. What do you want by coming here? They said that as soon as I paid my fine, I could be set free from here. The Sheppards are costing me a good deal of money and time that I’m not too happy with. The way that you sound, it’s like I should just let that go. I ain’t gonna. Money costs too much.”

“It’s doubtful to me that you’re ever happy unless it’s something going your way. And it won’t from now on.” He told her that he had the luck of the Irish on his side. “I don’t know what that means, nor do I care. But you will heed my words, both you and your wife. Nothing, not of this realm or any other that you might seek refuge in, will give you anything but back luck in all manner of things.”

William felt it roll over him. Like her words had really made it so that he’d have nothing but bad luck from now on. He didn’t believe it and shook himself hard, free of whatever mumbo jumbo shit that she was saying. She was as unimportant to him as his children were. He needed the money and fame that they’d bring to him.

“What are you going to do? Huh? You gonna put a spell on us? Won’t happen because I don’t believe you can do it. Oh, you might be able to say some mumbo jumbo shit, but it won’t hurt us. We’ve been landing on our feet since we got hooked up together.” The woman told him that his luck, no matter where it was from, wasn’t going to be there for them any longer. “We’ll see about that. I’m going to get my kids, make that man pay me some money for keeping them from me then I’m taking them back home. I don’t like it here. After that, I’m going to do what I damned well please, and there isn’t anything you can do to me.”

It occurred to him while he was listening to his wife jabber on that he couldn’t for the life of him remember what the woman had looked like. Lollipop was the only thing that would come to his mind and scary. Why those two things had him thinking of the woman was beyond him, but he just wrote it off as her being ugly. But that didn’t sit right, either. Shaking his whole body again, he thought that he’d just taken a nap and had slept funny, that was all.

However, he did have a sense of dread. Like maybe what she’d said to him was going to turn out true. Bad luck? He’d never had so much as a splinter in his finger that bothered him overly much. Bad luck indeed, he told himself. He invented having the best of luck, and he would dare anyone to say anything different to him.

The officer came back, and he just offhandily asked him who the woman was. If she told him her name, he couldn’t recall it any better than what she looked like. Her voice, that was nice, she never raised her voice, but that was about all he could remember.

“You haven’t had a visitor for three days. That is if you don’t count your attorney. And he’s a male. What did you want for your supper?” He didn’t even realize it was that late and asked him aboutlunch. “You were sleeping. I told you to wake up but all you did was grumble something about luck and told me to go away. So again, what did you want for supper?”

After getting the choices, he said he’d like to have a roast beef dinner. He didn’t know who was cooking that meal, but it was the best thing on the menu that they had. As the man was walking away, he came back.

“The roast beef is all gone. We ate it all at lunchtime.” He asked him what they’d not eaten. “Well, there’s fish sammiches as well as a wiener on a bun.”

“I don’t like either one of those things. Can’t you scrape the bottom of the pan and make me some beef. I’d really like to have that.” He gave him his options again. “Wiener, I guess. But I need two of them. They don’t fill up a man like a beef dinner does.”

When his meal came, a lot later than he thought that it should have, he was given just one wiener and it wasn’t even on a bun but a slice of white bread. The beans that he usually had at a cookout thing wasn’t there either but some kind of tater salad that was covered in eggs and mustard. It was so gross to him that he had to choke it down with every bite. And the single cookie he was given had raisins in it. Raisins. Who the hell put raisins in cookies and thought that it was going to taste good. He found himself eating them when he’d picked them out of his cookie because he was about to starve to death without them.

When his tray was picked up, no amount of begging got him anything else to eat. Damned jail. If he was in charge, they’d have a cookout every night so that there were plenty of burgers and steaks for everyone to have. William asked about his bail.

“I don’t have anything to do with that. Your attorney is supposed to get back with you. All I know is that you’re going to be spending more time here because you didn’t pay your fines.” He asked about his wife. “Mrs. Damon had some stashed someplace else and her attorney was able to get her out. She’s been out of here since before lunch.”

“That can’t be right. Why didn’t she stay behind so that I could get out? You get her here so I can ask her.” He was told no, a word that he hated more than there is no more. Damned people. “You find her for me, and I’ll make sure you get you a tenner slipped to you.”

“No.” Damned if he didn’t just walk away after him telling him that he didn’t like that word. Or did he tell him. Lying down on his cot, the flipping thing was no bigger than something a kid would sleep on. He had to settle his mind up in trying to figure out what he’d been saying to people. That woman. Who had she been?

He let his mind muddle through the things that she’d told him. No good luck? Could that be why there wasn’t no roast beef for him. And him being stuck in the cell…wait. She told him that neither him nor Patsy would have good luck. Sounded to him that Patsy was having all the luck that she needed. She was out, wasn’t she?

“Mr. Damon.” He sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes as he only just realized that he’d dozed off. Not only was it bright outside, it had been dark when he’d laid down but the man standing in front of him looked just like one of them Sheppard boys. He asked him what he wanted. “As I have said to you twice now, my name is Jameson Sheppard. I’m representing Amber Sheppard and William Sheppard, your biological children. Are you awake enough to listen to me now?”

“Give me a minute here. What time is it anyway?” He told him it was just after eight in the morning. “Must have slept hard last night. Don’t remember ever having—like you care. What are you doing here waking me up so early? A man should have his breakfast before some shit like you comes around waking him up. Don’t you think?”

“I haven’t any idea. When I’m awake, I go and make my own breakfast. Are you ready now to listen to me?” He washed his face off in the sink, then straightened up his clothing. He didn’t know what the little pisser wanted, but he was going to make him wait until he was ready. “Mr. Damon. Will you please listen to me?”

---