Marathon Cowboys (7 page)

feet. I shoved the shotgun down behind the seat and

crouched behind the driver’s side rear quarter.

Jesse hit the light. The windows were fogged up, so I

could see very little, but the hysterical chatter of teenagers

caught naked, making out in Mom’s Honda, was fairly

universal. The boy opened the driver’s side door, saw me,

slammed it shut and locked it. Oh, yeah, that was gonna

keep the bad guys out. I gestured to Jesse to get back in the

truck.

“That was probably a good deed,” he said. “I did not see

any condoms in evidence.”

The Honda started, flew down the road with a jerk of

shifting gears.

“Why don’t we leave the truck here, take a walk and

scout around on foot? That’s always a better way to get the

lay of the land.”

“Yeah, okay. I’ve got the flashlight. Can you grab that

shotgun?”

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

48

“I said no already and I meant it. You don’t use guns to

scare people. And if we need somebody killed, I’ll just choke

him to death.”

Jesse rubbed his throat. “You nearly choked me.”

“I did not. Don’t be a pussy. And if I did, you deserved

it.”

“Are you gonna turn me over your knee and spank me?”

“You wish. Now where are we going?”

“Another block up, then down to the left.”

“Alright. Let’s cut the chatter.”

We walked in silence, the air cool and still. Jesse

pointed to Sadie’s house when we got close, then he leaned

up and spoke in my ear. “There’s an alley out back.” I

nodded for him to go ahead.

The alley looked empty, but I pulled Jesse up against

my chest. “Wait a minute. Give your eyes a chance to get

used to the dark. Then look again. Look for something

moving.” We waited, his back snug against my chest, and I

could feel his racing heartbeat slow and steady under my

hand.

He raised his hand, pointed, and we stood very still,

watching the spot. I studied it for a moment, then I got it—it

was the lit tip of a cigarette. I gave my eyes another second,

studying the scene slightly out of focus, then I had it. He was

sitting on the lowered tail of his pickup, smoking. He’d

pulled the truck between some trash cans. I took a step

back, and Jesse followed me.

“Same thing with the kids. You circle around and shine

your flashlight on him. Hold it up high, and right into his

face. Got it? He’s gonna run right toward me, either in his

truck or on foot. I’ll catch him either way.” Jesse nodded, left

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

49

me, moving quietly down the street. I waited until I could see

him moving down the alley, then I started up to meet him.

He did his part perfectly, and the dipshit bolted down

the alley, his cigarette still in his mouth, ran straight into my

arms.

I jerked him around, pulled his arm up between his

shoulder blades. He was fighting, blustering, “What the fuck

you think you’re doing, man? I’m not doing anything wrong,

I mean, shit, I was just out….”

Jesse joined us, flashed the light in his face. “Remember

me?”

The guy froze. He smelled like he’d been a few days out

in the sun without a shower, and his wrists were slick with

sweat. “What are you doing here?”

“Queerbait, right? I think the last time you asked me

that, you said, ‘What the fuck are you doing here, queerbait?’

I told you then to stay away from Sadie. You didn’t think I

was talking to you?”

“She asked me to come, bring her some shit. She

thought she had a connection down here, but the guy wasn’t

around. Or wasn’t ready to trade if she spread her legs.”

Jesse raised his arm, brought the flashlight down across

the guy’s mouth before I could move. He spit out blood,

blubbering again. I leaned into his ear. “I would shut up

right now. You’re in more trouble than you know.”

We all were. Like it was answering my last words, the

red and blue lights of a Brewster County Sheriff’s

Department cruiser lit up the alley. A young deputy got out,

a Latina no more than twenty-five, and The Original opened

up the passenger-side door.

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

50

I held the dipshit’s wrists until the deputy got to us,

then I held them out to her. She gave me a look that said

we’d be speaking later, but she didn’t question what we were

doing, just lifted the handcuffs off her belt and closed them

around his wrists. She hauled him to the back of the cruiser,

put him in. By that time Sadie was out on the porch,

wrapping her robe around her. “Granddad! What’s going

on?” She flew into his arms. I looked at Jesse. He was

looking for a quiet place to stash the flashlight.

“Give it to me,” I said. “That’s a good flashlight. The

blood will wash off.” I stuck it in my back pocket.

The deputy motioned us over. “What are you two doing

here?”

“I had a bad feeling my cousin was in danger from her

abuser,” Jesse said, pulling the ball cap off and running his

fingers through his hair. “We came to check she was okay.”

“And?”

“And we found the perpetrator hiding in the alley behind

her house.”

Her eyebrows rose at
the perpetrator
, and she bit down

on her lip to keep from laughing. “I suppose he fell?”

“No. I hit him in the mouth with a flashlight. It was

necessary.”

I sighed, stared up at the heavens, begged for patience.

When I looked back down, Jesse was grinning at me. “God, I

have got to paint you with that look on your face. That’s like

the tenth time I’ve seen it.”

“Did the kids in the Honda call 911?”

She looked at me then. “Sadie called, the kids in the

Honda called, Jesse Clayton Senior called.”

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

51

The Original had his arm around Sadie. “You come on

back to the house with me.”

“She can stay in my room,” I said. I was starting to

wonder how many grandkids were going to show up.

The Original shook his head. “Her cousin wants to help

out so much, he can do something useful. She can stay in

his room.” He waited until the deputy climbed back in the

car and rolled down the alleyway. “Jesse, if you so much as

put one finger on that shotgun, I am going to beat your sorry

ass. Talking to you is like talking to a God-damned brick

wall. I told you no. What did you not understand about

that?”

Jesse looked at me for help, but I just held up my

hands. He put his hands on his hips. “Mary took it away

from me.”

“Thank you for keeping this shit-for-brains grandson of

mine off death row for killing another idiot with my shotgun.”

I hadn’t known him long, but the old man was ready to spit

nails, anybody could see that.

Sadie pulled her robe closed, held the fabric together at

the neck. “Granddad, I’m gonna stay here with Mama. As

long as he’s in custody, I’m okay, right?”

“Yes, darling. They’ll call before anything else happens.

But you come on over to my house in the morning, we’ll talk

about what’s best to do.”

“Okay, Granddad.”

After she had been bundled back into the house, The

Original turned to look at Jesse. I started walking back to my

truck.

“Did you hit that boy, Jesse?”

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

52

“Yeah, I did. It would have been better if I could have hit

him across the mouth with the shotgun. All I had was the

flashlight.”

I glanced back at them. “He deserved it,” I told the old

man. “He had a smart mouth. If Jesse hadn’t popped him, I

was thinking about dislocating his shoulder.”

No one had anything else to say. When we got to my

truck, Jesse slid into the middle, and The Original climbed

in after him and shut the door. When we got back to the

house, we all three made for the kitchen and took seats.

Then Jesse got back up and put on a pot of coffee.

The Original looked at me a long time. “Why did you let

that idiot boy drag you into another piece of trouble? I know

full well who is responsible for this and who was responsible

up in Alpine.”

Jesse turned from the coffeepot. “Granddad, that’s not

fair.”

The Original pointed a bony finger at him. “You just

keep your peace.” He looked back at me. I don’t know if he

was expecting some kind of answer, but I wasn’t sure I had

anything to say.

“You wouldn’t expect me to let him go by himself?”

“No, I guess not.” He turned to Jesse. “Son, can’t you

see that Lorenzo has got things to do? He came down here

for something and you’re just sweeping him up in all your

nonsense and distracting him from his work!”

Jesse looked at me, his eyes troubled. He rubbed along

the angle of his jaw. “Mary, I didn’t mean….”

“You didn’t do anything. Jesse, you mind if I talk to your

Granddad in private?” They both looked startled, and Jesse

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

53

nodded, went out of the kitchen with another long look at

me.

“Mr. Clayton, if this isn’t a good time for me to be here, I

can always find another….”

He was shaking his head. “No, sir. You and I made an

arrangement, and I want to stick to it. But I’m worried, son.”

He looked at me a long time then, his eyes such a beautiful

blue, like Jesse’s. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to

get wound up in that boy’s business. Since he was a kid, it

was like living with a bunch of honeybees in the house.

Things always seemed to get stirred up around him.”

I sat back, studied the worry in his face. This wasn’t

about Alpine and it wasn’t about a little head-knocking in

the middle of the night. We must have been louder than I

thought, out on the couch in the studio. “I like Jesse a lot.

He’s smart. I like listening to him talk about his art.

Anything else going on between us, it’s not going to be a

problem. Not for me. I hope not for you. We’re just learning

how to be friends, getting to know each other.”

He waved this away like he was brushing off one of

those honeybees. “I’m not trying to get into your business. I

was just worried. Jesse could talk an Eskimo into buying an

icemaker.”

Okay, I got it now. “He didn’t talk me into anything.

I’m….” Something seemed to catch in my throat, and The

Original got up, poured me a cup of coffee. He set it down on

the table and looked away so I could say it out loud and not

be embarrassed. “I’ve always been with men. You know, that

way.”

“Well, that’s your business, like I said.” He sighed,

poured another cup of coffee and sat down at the table. “It

must have been hard in the corps.”

Marathon Cowboys |
Sarah Black

54

“No harder than anything else. Most of the time, we

were too busy working to worry about it.” And he grinned at

me then. “If you feel uncomfortable with this, then you just

tell me, and I’ll find my own way. Things are getting more

complicated than I expected, pretty damn fast too. I don’t

intend to bring trouble into your house.”

“I think we’re good.”

“Sir…. That man, the one Jesse calls the dipshit. He

suggested your granddaughter may have a problem with

drugs. That’s why Jesse hit him. But if it’s true, she might

need some help. From a doctor, or a clinic.”

He drank his coffee real slow, eyes squinted like he was

looking into the sun. “It’s crossed my mind. I’ll look into it.”

“I think I’m going back to bed.” I walked down the hall,

stopped in the door of my bedroom.

Jesse poked his head out of the room next door. “Well?

Are we in trouble?”

“You might be.” I grinned at the look on his face when

we heard The Original shouting down the hall.

“Jesse! Get your butt in here, son.”

I listened to them yelling at each other for a few

minutes, then Jesse walked down the hall and stuck his

head in my door. I had to laugh at the comical look of

outrage on his face. “Can you believe it?” He was whispering.

“He thinks I lured you away to the dark side! You better ’fess

up, cupcake.”

I rolled over. “I got cartoons to draw.”

EARLY the next morning, the truck with Jesse’s painting