Page 14

(Creature)

“Go grab a shower, and I’ll hunt you up some clean clothes,” Creature declared as he locked the door behind a sullen Axel and pointed to the door across the hall from the kitchen.

“Bathroom’s right there; use whatever you need.

Clean towels are on the metal stand. I’ll drop whatever I find for you to wear on the top shelf, but I guarantee it’ll be too big for you.

Not even sure how much a drawstring will help, so help yourself to one of the hair elastics on the counter if you need to cinch them tighter.

“Thanks,” Axel murmured, the first words he’d spoken since Creature had set him on his bike and told him to chill the fuck out and hang on .

“Seriously, thank you. It was a shitty day. I didn’t mean to lose my shit like that.

I’m usually a lot better at brushing off the crap my old man says to me. I didn’t hurt him, did I?”

“He might have a few bruises in the morning, but I could still hear him cussing you out all the way to my bike, so I’d say there was no real harm done.”

Axel made a half-hearted effort to smile before ducking his head and shuffling off to the bathroom.

Christ, it had been like stepping into a time machine when he’d pulled up to that house and heard Axel’s old man ripping into him the way Creature’s had back in the day.

It was only when he’d heard glass shatter that he’d rushed in, and it was a good thing he did, with how hell-bent Axel had been to hurl everything he could get his hands on at the man.

There was no doubt in Creature’s mind that if he’d been strong enough, Axel would have thrown the fridge too, and anything else that wasn’t nailed down.

Meh.

Even nails wouldn’t have stopped him in the state he’d been in.

A crack on the ass had.

Creature was certain that if he got a peek at it now, his handprint would cover one whole cheek.

He’d be wearing it awhile too. Creature hadn’t checked his strength when he’d smacked him.

With the way Axel had been flailing around so hard, Creature had almost dropped him on his head.

He was just glad he’d gotten there in time to keep him from doing any real damage.

He could tell Axel still cared about the older man despite the hateful words and abuse he endured.

Was probably the reason he stuck around too.

Hadn’t Dalton said the kid’s father used to spend a lot of time throwing the football around with him and his friends?

“He was a good man, once,” Dalton said. “Had some beers together from time to time, watched a few football games and some NASCAR races back when his wife was still alive. He kept that trailer in tip-top shape too. Hung flower boxes under the windowsills and birdfeeders all around the trailer because his wife loved butterflies and listening to the birds sing.”

“So what happened?”

“She died, and he turned to alcohol to handle it, like a lot of guys do; only he never could pull himself up outta the bottle. Left Axel to finish raising himself. He’s a good kid, just lost and in need of some attention, maybe a few friends so he doesn’t feel like he’s got to keep everything inside. ”

“Yeah, I know what that feels like.”

“I know you do, which is why I’m glad you’ve taken an interest and plan to look in on him,” Dalton said. “You make sure you do that tonight. After the day he’s had, I’m sure he could use a kind word instead of more yelling.”

“Yeah, I’m heading over there right now.”

“Then why the hell are you still talking to me?”

Creature chuckled at the memory and the crotchety old man who could never resist giving him shit even when he was being helpful.

He heard the shower come on and headed down the hall to his bedroom to see what he could find for Scout to wear.

It took some digging, but he found a pair of basketball shorts he’d been meaning to donate to the thrift store since he couldn’t even get them over his thighs.

Any t-shirt would be big regardless of which he chose, so he grabbed one off the top of a stack in a drawer and left them on the bathroom shelf like he told Axel he would.

It dawned on him that Axel probably hadn’t had anything for supper, so he rummaged around in the fridge and came up with half a pack of hot dogs and dropped them in a pot to boil while he hunted up something to go with them.

He spotted a can of peaches in the cupboard beside half a loaf of bread; that would do in place of buns, since he kept forgetting to pick up a pack.

By the time he remembered, he’d be out of hot dogs, and by the time he thought about buying hot dogs again, the buns would be dotted with mold.

It was a vicious cycle that never seemed to happen when he was making burgers.

He had plates on the table and a couple cold sodas beside them when Axel emerged, shuffling forward with his shoulders slumped and his damp hair lying lank against his shoulders.

“Come on, you need to eat something before you pass out,” Creature declared as Axel’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the table.

“You didn’t have to…” Axel began, only to have Creature cut him off.

“Yeah, I did. Now eat up before the dogs get cold.”

“Thank you.”

Despite the questions he had about the robbery that morning and what had happened when Axel had gotten home, Creature refrained from saying anything until Axel had cleaned most of his plate, yawned, and propped his head on his hand while he pushed the last three remaining peaches around on his plate.

“This was the most fucked-up day ever,” Axel said, creating the opening Creature had hoped for.

“Yeah, I heard about the robbery,” Creature said. “Kinda stupid, if you ask me. Who puts together a crew that can’t even get along for long enough to knock over a gas station?”

“Don’t ask me,” Axel said. “I spent most of the time up-close and personal with the floor.”

“That’s the safest place to be in a situation like that,” Creature said. “So, what the hell did they start arguing over anyway?”

“Chips.”

“Dumbasses.”

“Yeah, the whole thing was fuckin’ stupid. I was already filling the damn bag with cash; all they had to do was shut up, take it, and leave.”

“Sometimes people are too stupid to get out of their own way,” Creature said with a shrug. “I’m glad you and Scout got out okay.”

“You know Scout?”

“He works at the Joker’s clubhouse,” Creature said. “So, I’ve seen him around. Haven’t really gotten the chance to talk to him too much.”

“We just met this morning.”

“Hell of a way to meet.”

“You’re telling me.”

“So, did he spend his time on the floor like you did?”

“I think so, but I couldn’t really see him from where I was at until he crawled over to help a customer who’d gotten shot.”

“That’s what I hate about dealing with dumbasses,” Creature said.

“They always manage to get someone else caught up in their bullshit. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were the only ones who got hurt.

That’s the one thing about a bullet: it doesn’t care who the intended target is; it just goes where it’s pointed. ”

“That’s pretty much the same thing one of the cops said,” Axel explained. “One of the robbers even shot the ATM. No clue how long it’ll be out of order.”

Creature snorted and shook his head. “At least they didn’t try to wrap chains around it and yank it out.”

“In that shitty little car they were driving?” Axel said. “Man, the whole thing was a rolling shitshow from the moment they burst through the door and one of them yelled, ‘Nobody move, while the other one demanded we put our hands in the air.”

“The fuck?”

“Right,” Axel said. “It took all the willpower I had not to ask him to make up his fucking mind.”

“Was a good thing you didn’t, or you might have been the one with the bullet hole.”

“Yeah.”

“In a situation like that, it’s best to keep your head down, hit the silent alarm button if you have one, and then do whatever they tell you to.”

“I did hit the button on my way to the floor.”

“Sounds like they weren’t even on the same page when they went in there; one of them wanted cash, and the other wanted chips.”

“I think they both wanted cash, and the chips were just a bonus.”

“I mean, I’ve heard of getting distracted before, but was there something on the rack, something new that snagged their attention?” Creature asked. “I know tweakers are unpredictable, but typically, something has to happen to set one off.”

“I don’t know. I was too busy getting the money out of the drawer and shoving it in the bag, though I was torn between whether to give them paper or plastic and nearly started laughing when Scout asked which one they’d prefer.”

Now, that gave Creature a moment of pause. Had Scout set them off by being a smartass? If so, the kid could have gotten them both shot along with the woman in the store.

“Did he taunt them any more than that?” Creature asked.

When Axel hesitated and bit his lower lip, Creature knew that there was something going on that he wasn’t trying to talk about.

“Should I take that as a yes?” Creature prodded.

“No,” Axel replied, immediately jumping to Scout’s defense. “I think he was just nervous and anxious and scared, the same as I was, and it just slipped out. He didn’t say anything else after that. I did, after the robber told me to surprise him.”

“And what did you say to that?”

He shrugged, squirming a little. “I said, ‘Sure, how about I toss in a hand grenade free of charge?’”

Taken momentarily off guard, Creature snorted and smacked a hand to his face, covering his eyes, and groaning, because dammit all, that was funny as hell, but the last thing he wanted to do was encourage Axel to be reckless.

“What you should have done was keep your mouth shut and shove the money in the first thing you grabbed.”

“I know. I knew it was stupid the moment I said it,” Axel admitted. “But I’d already gotten into a fight with my old man before work, and I guess I was tired of being silent when someone was giving me shit.”