“So,” Lawrence said, “bombing whoever you want, that’s a solution?”
Timmy smiled at Lawrence, like the detective was a simple child. “You can’t change the world overnight, but every little bit helps. You bring awareness and enlightenment to people one person at a time.”
I said, “How about Morton Dewart? Did he like your brand of awareness and enlightenment?”
Timmy shook his head. “That was too bad.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It was just too bad, that’s all.”
“There was no bear, was there, Timmy?” I said. “That was all bullshit, wasn’t it?”
Timmy chuckled. “I thought it was, until one of your dad’s guests got killed by one.”
“But Morton. He didn’t meet up with any bear, did he? He had a run-in with Gristle and Bone.”
“Hey, Timmy,” said Wendell, his voice tinged with caution. “I don’t know if Mom wants you talking about that.”
“It’s okay, Wendell,” Timmy said. “It’s not going to make any difference.”
I felt a chill.
“So it was the dogs,” I said. For a fleeting second, I felt some sense of satisfaction. Then I reminded myself of my current situation, and got over it.
“Morton,” Timmy began slowly, “had become a bit of a problem. The boys and I, we thought, when May brought him up here, that maybe he was kind of on the same wavelength with us, you know? And so, slowly, we started taking him into our confidence, letting him know what we planned to do, because he was a bright boy. He’d taken electronics at college, knew lots of helpful stuff we thought we could use.” Timmy paused. “But it didn’t work out.”
“Two for two, huh, Timmy?” Dougie said, and laughed.
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
Before Timmy could respond, Dougie said, “May has kind of bad luck with men.”
I cocked my head. “May had a boyfriend before, who died in an accident.”
Timmy said, “She told you about that, did she?”
“Yes,” I said.
Timmy said, “I felt, we felt, that it was best for May to come home. To be with her family. With me, and Charlene and the boys. It’s a nasty world out there, and home, well, that’s the best place to be.” Timmy paused. “We just had to establish the right conditions that made it conducive for May to return to the fold.”
I wasn’t sure I was really hearing what I thought I was hearing.
“I’m not sure I’m following, Timmy,” I said. “What do you mean, establish the right conditions?”
“I got to drive,” Dougie said, beaming.
“You guys should really shut up, you know,” Wendell said.
“You ran him down?” I said to Dougie. “You ran down May’s other boyfriend? A hit-and-run?”
“But Timmy and Mom made the phone calls,” Dougie said. “They’re better at that sort of thing. But you put me behind the wheel, and I know what to do.”
“You made anonymous calls to May’s employers,” I said. “So she’d lose her jobs, one after another, run out of money, and have to come back here and live with you.”
“It had to be done,” Timmy said. “I was thinking of the boy. Of Jeffrey. It’s not right, him growing up in a world like that. He’s much better off with us. He’s a wonderful young lad. So the odd call here, suggesting May might have stolen from a company, or that she was giving secrets to competing firms, in the long run, it was to help Jeffrey. And her, too.”
“Is sending Jeffrey to his room without dinner helping him?” I asked. “Striking him with a belt? Is that helping him? And how about when he sees his own mother take a whipping from you? You think that’s going to make him into the kind of man you want him to be?”
Timmy’s eyes were full of fury and they bore into mine. “That’s the whole problem with the world today. Everyone’s afraid to discipline anymore. Kids need a firm hand. They want a firm hand. And it doesn’t stop when they get older. As long as they’re your own, you have a right to set them straight. I’ll bet your father never took a hand to you. I’ll bet you never got so much as a little pat on the ass, did you? And that’s why now you’re nothing but a big *, has to call a nigger up here to help you out. Imagine being that weak.”
I never broke his stare. I said, “So maybe all I can hope then is that Jeffrey grows up big and strong so that someday, he can get justice for his mother by taking care of you.”
And then Timmy spat at me. His spittle shot over the top of the gate fast as a bullet, landing on my right cheek just under my eye. I blinked, looked away, and used my sleeve to wipe it off.
I turned away, clenching my fists so tightly my nails left marks on my palms.