The Hole in the Wall - Lisa Rowe Fraustino [36]
Boots Odum took a long time chewing and rolling his eyes around ecstatically before he swallowed his first bite. “Yummee! Your mother-in-law’s quite the cook, Claire. She always was. I’ll never forget the brownie bribes she used to give Craig and me to stay out of her hair when we were little ruffians.” He showed us all a smile with a big scoop of friendly on top of the rich and powerful. Ma fake smiled back.
“Too bad the ol’ lady’s not here to hear you say that herself,” Pa said. “But I just delivered her over to the church for the weekly gossip.” He grinned.
“Nobody’s busier than a retired widow.” Boots Odum winked.
“Cut to the chase, Stanley,” Ma said, lighting a cigarette. “You didn’t drop by to make small talk. Why are you here?”
“A woman who doesn’t waste time. You’re a lucky man, Craig,” Boots Odum said and, grinning Pa straight in the eye, reached into his rucksack to pull out a loose pile of green and white. Cash.
Me and Barbie gaped at each other across the kitchen as she put a fresh gallon of milk away. Then I stared back at Boots Odum’s hands because I’d noticed something strange as he neatened the stack of hundred dollar bills. His left hand looked a lot like Pa’s, hairy and sinewy with veins popping out. But his right hand was as smooth as a mannequin’s!
He caught me staring and gave me his little two-finger hummingbird wave. “It’s bionic,” he said, then placed the stack on the table between Pa and Ma.
“The money’s all yours, Craig. And Claire. Right now, if you want it. All you have to do is sign your deed over to ORC. I’d like to see you in a more comfortable place as soon as possible. And to help you move, you can have use of an ORC company van and a couple of men with strong backs, gratis. No charge.”
“Is that what you said to the Dogstars?” Ma asked. “I went up there last night to warn them about the eggs and saw your sign on the door.”
“You did?” said Pa.
Odum nodded. “I’m aware of that, Claire, and I’m prepared to let the trespassing go, since you didn’t realize the property had changed hands. No hard feelings. We’re all friends in this town. So, what do you folks say? My people will help you move any time you’re ready.”
Pa stared down at the Ben Franklins, licking his lips. No apple on them, either. Ma glared at him, her lips tight over her teeth. I could see the fight behind her eyes. But would she say what she was thinking? Would she dare? In front of us, in front of Boots Odum? Ma’s careful with what she says. You can almost see her weighing her words in her hands, the way her fingers knead at each other while she thinks.
Ma leaned forward. She took a deep pull on her cigarette, blew a sharp stream of smoke out the side of her mouth, and said, “Tell me something, Stanley. Can you sleep at night?”
“Like a log,” he said. “I’d say like a baby except they wake up every two hours.”
Pa cracked up at that. He says it himself all the time.
Odum put his hands behind his head, leaned back a bit, and said, “That’s a strange question, Claire. Why would insomnia want to take hold of me?”
“Oh, I thought maybe you might have a pang of conscience over turning a beautiful chunk of nature into a cesspool, ruining the lives of your friends and neighbors, a few little things like that.”
“Well, now.” Boots Odum cleared his throat and looked at Pa as if to say, “Will you shut her up?” Pa was just staring at the money, hardly even listening.
Our visitor went on, “Claire, you are my friend and neighbor, and that’s exactly why I’m here, offering you more money than you could ever get from this place on the conventional real estate market. Kokadjo is one heckuva fine community and I want to keep it that way by helping you folks out.”
Ma shook her head, laughing. “Help us out is right, Stan. Do you really think anyone’s buying your baloney? You’re throwing money around hoping you won’t get sued!”
Way to go Ma, I thought. Jed would be so proud! I was grinning inside, until I caught the look on Pa’s face. It was red,