Page 2 of Stilettos & Whiskey
I nodded. “He picked me up at the airport yesterday, but he doesn’t want me in the trailer while he is sleeping. He told me to go to the mall, but I don’t have any money and I’m not sure where it is.” My stomach growled loudly.
“He didn’t feed you, did he?”
“No, sir, and I’m really hungry.”
Captain Stone opened the glove box and pulled out a bag of trail mix. “Here. This will hold you over.”
“Thank you!” I opened the bag and crammed the trail mix into my mouth. “Good. So good.”
“When was the last time you ate?”
“Monday, I had pretzels on the plane,” I mumbled.
Captain Stone got in the driver’s seat. “I’m going to have a talk with your grandfather. Show me where he lives.”
I frowned. “If you wake him up, he’s gonna be mad.”
“Too bad. Fasten your seatbelt.” He did a U-turn and drove slowly down the roadway.
I put my seatbelt on. “He lives in a stinky old trailer by the orange groves.”
“Do you have any other family you could stay with?”
“No, sir. My other grandparents were killed when a tornado hit their house.”
He patted my shoulder. “You’ve had a run of bad luck, haven’t you, peanut?”
“Yes, sir.” I pointed. “That’s his trailer.”
Captain Stone parked next to Papa Garza’s old white car. “Stay put. This won’t take long.”
I shot him a disbelieving look. “Papa Garza is kinda mean.”
“So am I.” The captain got out of the truck, stalked up the rickety steps and banged on the door. “I know you are in there! Open the fucking door!”
Ummm. He said a bad word.
Papa Garza cracked the door open a couple of inches. “What the fuck do you want?”
Captain Stone showed him his ID. “We need to have a talk about your granddaughter, Julie.”
“What about her?”
“You can’t leave her outside in this heat.”
“I can do whatever I want with her.” Papa Garza hollered and tried to shut the door, but Captain Stone’s boot was in the way. “No, you can’t.” He forced his way inside.
Papa Garza used a bunch of bad words and swung at Captain Stone.
The captain blocked the blow and with one punch Papa Garza flew backward and slammed into the front window shattering it.
A shudder shook me. Papa Garza was awfully mad. Was he going to lock me in that room again? I hoped not. The bugs kept crawling on me.
Through the open front door, I caught a glimpse of Papa Garza charging Captain Stone. Maybe I should tell him I would find another place to stay.
A loud crash sounded.
Nah. I was going to wait in the truck like Captain Stone said.
