The boys were in the kitchen, eating snacks and playing games on their iPads, while Frieda was folding a load of towels on top of the dryer.
Justin slugged down the last swallow of beer and got up to get another, but when he opened the refrigerator and realized he’d just finished the last one, he threw the empty beer can against the wall and shouted.
“Dammit all to hell!”
The boys grabbed their iPads and made a run for their rooms as Frieda appeared in the doorway.
“Justin! What’s wrong with you? The boys were playing,” she said.
“And now they’re not!” he shouted. He fumbled in his pocket for the car keys, and started out the door.
Frieda’s heart skipped a beat. “Where are you going?”
“To get beer. We’re out.”
“There were eight in the fridge when we came home. If you’ve already downed that many, you’re too drunk to drive,” she cried, and tried to take the keys out of his hands.
“Get your hands off me!” he shouted, and then doubled up his fist and hit her on the jaw. She fell backwards and didn’t get up.
Justin toed the bottom of her foot with his shoe.
“Get up, dammit!”
She didn’t move.
Frowning, he staggered to the sink, ran water in one of the pans in the drainer, and then threw it in her face.
She moaned.
Satisfied that she was still alive, he threw the pan in the sink and left the house.
As soon as he was gone, the kids came running into the kitchen, saw their mother on the floor, and began drying her off and helping her up. It was standard operating procedure at their house.
Justin got all the way to a convenience store to get his beer, then had his credit card rejected. He stared at the six-pack on the counter, and then at the clerk, his eyes narrowing.
But the clerk knew Justin all too well.
“Don’t do it,” the clerk warned. “You take it without paying for it, and I’m calling the cops.”
“Fuck you,” Justin muttered. He staggered back to his car, managed to get home, then missed the carport, stopped the car halfway into the front yard, and passed out in the grass.
***
The next morning, Frieda woke up to a swollen jaw and a black eye and was on her way to the kitchen to get some ice when she saw Justin’s truck sideways in the drive.
“Oh my God,” she muttered, then looked out the window and saw him passed out in the yard.
She was way past being embarrassed by anything he did, so she thought about leaving him there. But she needed to move his old truck so she could get her own car out of the driveway and get to work.
She went outside to look for the keys. They weren’t in the truck, so they had to be on him, but she couldn’t roll him over.
“You are such a piece of shit,” she muttered, and then saw the garden hose strung out in the grass, turned on the water and then dragged the hose across the yard and turned the full blast of the water on the side of his face.
He woke up spitting and cursing, then rolled over onto his back and saw Frieda and the hose.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he shouted.
“The same thing you did to me last night,” she screamed. “Give me your keys. I need to move your stupid truck out of the yard so I can get out of the drive and go to work. Someone in this family has to earn a living.”
“Go to hell,” he mumbled.
“I live in hell…with you. Give me your keys, or I swear to God I will ram my car into that piece of shit until it’s out of my way.”
Then she hit him in the face with the water again.
Justin fumbled in his pockets, threw the keys at her, and then rolled over onto his belly in the standing water, and groaned.
As she started up his truck, it did pass through his mind that she just might run over him for the hell of it, and then he lay there anyway. But she only moved the truck into its parking place, left the keys in the ignition, and then went back in the house.
The boys were all huddled together in Donny’s bedroom, wide-eyed and awaiting instructions.
“Your daddy passed out in the yard last night. Now, he’s lying in water, but you leave him alone. If he even pretends to raise a hand to you, call Grandma. She’ll come get you kids and deal with him. Otherwise, you have your chores. Help each other and you’ll help me, okay?”
They nodded.
Frieda hugged them. “I love you so much, and I’m so sorry we’re in this mess. I’m going to get enough money saved up to get us out of here. I promise.”
“We’re okay, Mama,” Connor said. “He yells at us, but he wouldn’t dare hit us.”
“Why are you so sure?” Frieda asked.
“’Cause Grandma told him if he did, she’d kill him…and he believed her.”
Frieda blinked, tried to grin, and then winced and grabbed her jaw.
“Gotta go now or I’ll be late. Always call if you need to.”
And then she was gone.
***
Katie’s nightmares took her through a wedding that never happened and the school massacre again. She woke up bathed in sweat, her heart pounding, and was in a mood until she remembered she was having lunch with Sam and the girls. She didn’t know where they were going, and she didn’t really care. Just being with them was the gift.
She glanced at the clock, then checked her phone. There was a message from Sam.
It’s Hillbilly Pizza. There is no dress code.
She burst out laughing, and then threw back the covers and headed for the shower.
After she had her hair dry and was dressed for the date, she took her coffee and a muffin to the back porch. The food settled her stomach, and the peace and beauty of this little town nestled among the surrounding hills took away the lingering memories of last night’s pitiful excuse for a good night’s rest.
***
Sam’s morning was anything but peaceful.
The house cleaners had arrived, so to keep the girls out from underfoot, he found a Disney movie for them to watch in their room and then started a load of laundry.
In the middle of switching loads, he got a call from the station. Just seeing that number pop up made him groan. This wasn’t just his day off. It was to be a day with Katie. If this turned into a big mess, he was not going to be inclined toward leniency.
“This is Sam.”
“Chief, this is Carl. Jeff Dooley just reported a robbery. Ben and me were dispatched to the scene, but Jeff is insisting you need to be in attendance.”