“I believe in you. Besides, there’s no way you could destroy something you love as much as Sprayberry.”
“I just don’t want to be the stupid one who ran the place into the ground. The buyers are antsy. They’re worried I can’t deliver the same quality. Damn Frank was doin’ the job of ‘bout five guys. It’s a wonder he didn’t fall over dead before now. It’s officially mine now. When Frank died, everything reverted to me legally except my parents’ house and the oil. That’s still tied up between all of us. But I officially own every piece of Sprayberry. All six-three hundred acres.”
“Wow. I…I didn’t know it would happen that way or that fast.”
“I didn’t talk ‘bout it much because it scared the crap out of me. It’s why they had to know if I wasn’t willin’ to do it. Arrangements had to be made. It’s hard but I know it was the right decision. Mother had no idea though, on what it took for Frank to handle the place. I stayed with ‘em for a while but I had to move out. She was drivin’ me crazy. I’m not livin’ with ‘em anymore.”
“The eight thousand square foot Mason Manor was just too small?” I giggled as I watched his face.
“Not funny.”
“Ok. I’m sorry. So where do you live?”
“I moved into Frank’s house.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me! The spook house? We were too scared to even look at that place and you live there?”
“Don’t worry. I haven’t seen any shrunken heads stuffed under the floor boards.” He chuckled, rolling his eyes at my thoughts. “Just dirty old man shit.”
“Like what? Never mind. Gross. I don’t want to know.”
“Not like that. Just nasty, menthol medicine and cigarettes. The smell seeped into everythin’ in that place.”
“I’m gone like five minutes and you move in the freakin’ spook house. I don’t even know what to say.”
“You’re gonna laugh your ass off when you see it too. I can take you up there in the mornin’?”
“Ok.”
“Good.” His jaw clenched on the words with troubled thoughts, churning just behind the blue.
“What?”
He reached up and touched a piece of my red hair, letting the long strands pull through his fingers. “You weren’t gone for just five minutes.”
“I know.” A jab of guilt erupted inside my chest. I had planned to come back for several visits. Despite the best intensions, I always seemed to book a ticket to someplace else; someplace new that didn't inflict pain. The thought of seeing his face and then leaving again, was more than I could stand. So I just never made the emotionally riddled trip back.
Scooting closer, I rested my head against his shoulder. The pain remained, but it felt better just to touch him. “Tell me what else I’ve missed.”
“I don’t know.” He picked up my wrist and rubbed his thumb over the blue stars inked into my skin. He held on and didn’t let go. I wondered if he really understood what it meant. I’m sure he thought it was for Texas or Sprayberry or some constellation in the sky. Part of me wanted to tell Jess the truth. That tattoo might as well been his name scripted in my skin; a tiny blue star for each of the letters in his name as they faded off in the distance.
“Come on.” I needed to keep him talking before I said something stupid. “It’s Arlis. You must have something good.”
“Well, I guess Skeeter’s got a girlfriend. She’s a teacher from over in Mineral Wells. I think she’s related to Ms. Baker. He met her at the church’s Labor Day picnic. He can’t stop talkin’ ‘bout her.”
“Like a completely normal woman? And she knows that Skeeter thinks they’re dating?”
“Yup. I’ve had dinner with ‘em.” He let out a deep yawn. “And I guess the Landry’s may sell. Said they’re gettin’ too old to keep up with it. Kids don’t want it. Now that Frank’s gone, they think it’s time to see what else is out there before it’s too late. They asked if I wanted it. I don’t know. It would be another nine hundred acres. I’m still thinkin’ ‘bout it. I’d like to do it because of the Landrys and its good hay land.”
“Just add it on to Sprayberry?”
He reached up, running his fingers through his soft, black hair. “I don’t know. It has been Triple L as long as most can remember. I might keep it separate. It’s a big decision though. I’m already strugglin’ with what I got.”
I felt the stress oozing from his body. He was different than the carefree boy I’d left behind at Sprayberry. This man felt the weight of the world driving him along, pushing and pulling alongside a cliff. Lifting my head from his strong shoulder, I peered into the familiar face. “You’ve changed.”
“I have?” The eyebrows furrowed up.
“Not in a bad way.” I touched his cheek, feeling the stubble under my index finger. “I’ve known you for so long, I guess you just feel different. It’s a good different. I know it’s hard, but it makes you happy, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” his lips turned into a wry grin on the corners that faded into a little laugh, “Happy as a gambler who won a three-tit hooker.”
“What?”
“Frank. Gotta love the nasty old bastard,” he chuckled, letting out another yawn. His eyes seemed heavy as he leaned his head back on my wall. I nestled myself against his side. “The Bar got pool tables and some coffee shop couches. Ernie’s tryin’ to upscale the place I guess. I’ve been there some with Buzz.”
“Buzz is back?”
“I thought you’d heard. He blew out a knee his second year at West Palo. He was picked up by Tech before it happened too. Shitty luck, I guess. He went off the grid after that and worked as a rough neck down in the Gulf. He got tired of living on the rigs and came back lookin’ for a job. Buzz said he missed Arlis. Oh, and he goes by Bobby now. You’ll have to see him before you leave. I hired him to work at Sprayberry.”
“Buzz goes by Bobby and he works for you?”
“Yup. Still gettin’ use to usin’ his real name too.” He let out a big yawn, drowning out the last works. “Ashley’s back too you know. She’s got a kid.”
“No! She has a child? Like, she’s a mother?”
“Yup. Little girl.”
“She doesn’t look anything like you, right?”
“You just like bein’ nasty don’t you. She’s not tellin’ anyone who the father is. I don’t think he’s from here. She just showed up with the baby. She’s workin’ at the hospital as a nurse too.”
“Wow. I just can’t see her as a nurse. That would require Ashley to actually be nice.”
“It has been a long time, you know. My dad says she’s not too bad. I haven’t seen her yet.” His boots hit the wood floor as he stood up. My chest tightened. Jess was leaving. The clock arms turned at warp speed this visit. One blink and I would board a plane. One blink and he would be gone for another year or more.
“You leaving?”
“Nah.” Jess pulled off his shirt. “I’m stayin’.”
“Wha…what are you doing?” I tried not to look, feeling my cheeks turn red. His body had changed into a more filled-out adult version of himself, with a center patch of dark chest hair. In a few more years, Jess would be the mirror image of Dr. Mason; most considered him an attractive man stuck with the perpetual boyish face. Jess would look even better, with the smile of that ornery boy frozen in time. And as he grew older, that pair of blue eyes would still shine like sunbeams from a pile of wrinkled skin.
“I’m exhausted. I think I’ve been awake for ‘bout thirty hours, and before that, we worked cattle for several days straight.” Each boot came off, and he lined them next to my bed. “I stayed up takin’ care of one last night. Prolapsed uterus and lots of blood. She pulled through.”