Page 41 of Running Scared
“Fresno’s not bad if you’ve got air-conditioning,” he said after a moment.“They’ve got a nice little state university there.”
“So you’re saying you’d rather be in Fresno?”Dean asked, making sure.
Marcus shrugged.“Hey, in two days we’ve got the possibility of getting shot at here, so that’s a plus for the Chihuahuan Desert.”
“I’m saying,” Dean told him.“It could definitely be worse.”
“I’ll let you know if we don’t kill each other in two days,” Marcus told him direly, but they’d killed time before without killing each other.“Anyway, go back to sleep.You were only an hour into your nap, and now that I’ve seen you do the heebie-jeebie dance, I’m wide-awake.”
Dean rolled his eyes.“You just want a chance to see me do it again,” he accused, but he was busy wrapping his scarf around his head and sealing off the neck areas, as well as tucking his hands in his sleeves and reupping the snugness between his boots and his khakis.
“Two days, Dean.We’ve got to get our entertainment somewhere.”
Dean grunted and settled in for his nap, making doubly sure his baseball hat was tight to his head and covered by his scarf.“I feel you.Did we bring cards?”
“Damned straight.Tomorrow’s gonna be one long game of cribbage.”
“We can keep points using dead scorpions,” Dean promised, and then he put his various fears, paranoias, and phobias into the other box and closed his eyes.
Royal Welcomes
BAILEY WASactually relieved to drive the family minivan, although he was surprised to find that after his father and Catherine noped out in the back row, he ended up next to Reg while Anthony and Chance napped in the middle seats.
He was pleased for a chance to talk to the quietest Royal without any interruptions from the rather boisterous crowd he found himself with.
“So,” he said as he started out, following Reg’s directions to the 5, which would take him straight toward Bakersfield—a place that Dean assured him wasnotparticularly glamorous but which held all the comforts of home.“You’re a cautious driver?”
Reg made a sound of disgust.“Only compared to my little brother,” he muttered.“My God, he’s terrifying.”
Bailey couldn’t argue there—although for entirely different reasons.“How long have he and Marcus been dancing?”he asked, figuring that would give Reg something to chew over.
“That feels awfully personal,” Reg said, surprising him.
Baileyhmmed.“You’ll have to forgive me.I was an only child.Having an entire family to gossip about is such a luxury.And Dean really only started opening up about you guys recently.”
Next to him he could feel Reg relax.“I guess that’s understandable,” he said.“It’s just… my baby brother has carried such a torch.I hate to encourage him when Marcus is older and way more worldly, you know?”
Bailey remembered the odd note in Marcus’s voice when he and Dean had been discussing somebody Marcus was waiting on to grow up.“I get the feeling Marcus is just as worried about making a move on one of Dean’s younger siblings,” he said carefully.
Reg made a subtle “hmm” in the back of his throat.
“What?”Bailey asked, amused that it should be as hard to get information from Reg as it was from Dean.
“I think if Marcus was to make a move on Chance,” Reg said carefully, “he needs to be very, very prepared.Chance has been planning their wedding for four years, since Dean first brought Marcus home.Yes, he was just about to graduate from high school, and Marcus was so terrified, he hit oneverybodyelse in the family, including our straight brother, Prock.Chance was warned off since then, but… you know.Whatever happens between them….”
“We’d all better put on our flak jackets and our helmets and duck,” Bailey said, getting a full picture of the potential disaster.
“And be prepared to pick up the pieces after the explosion,” Reg told him grimly, and then he cast a half-guilty glance behind him, probably to make sure Chance couldn’t hear.
Bailey felt him stiffen again, and in response to a quiet voice from the back, he said, “Good.Didyouhear what we were saying?”
Anthony’s voice was a little louder and clearer this time.“No, Reg, because you’re not broadcasting.Don’t stress so much!”
“Sorry,” Reg said, a thing that sounded automatic.
“What’s the rule,” Anthony said.
“Oh God, really—”
