Run Away Baby

“I’m sure.”

“Why didn’t you tell him it’s your place?”

“It was none of his fucking business.”

“Okay,” Meggie said. She took a small bite of the hotdog, and then set it in her lap so she could light a cigarette. She took her time, alternating between small, almost dainty, bites of the hotdog and leisurely puffs on the cigarette. This wasn’t how Abby would have predicted she’d consume a hotdog. Starving, she thought about asking if she could have one too, but she held back.

“That guy had a lot of fucking nerve,” Rake said.

Abby nodded sympathetically. Maybe he’d forget all about his plans for her now that he had someone else to focus on.

“Who the fuck does he think he is, coming down here and trying to, trying to…” Rake stumbled on his words.

“Intimidate you,” Abby offered.

“Trying to fucking intimidate me. Who the fuck does he think he is?”

No one answered. Charlie cracked open another beer. Meggie got up and went to the cooler for another hotdog. Abby caught her eye and raised one finger and smiled, hoping she’d realize she wanted one too, but Meggie closed the lid on the cooler and sat back down, oblivious.

“I think we should take a walk,” Rake said to Charlie. “Go find him. They must be pretty close if they saw the fire. I’m not done with him yet.”

“You’re not?” Charlie asked. Abby saw his eyes flick over to her and back to Rake.

“Did you see his truck? His fucking wannabe rancher Toyota Tundra? Did you see how fucking clean it was? It looked like he just drove it out of a showroom. I’ll bet he’s some office job corporate motherfucker. Probably sits behind a desk and watches people on a little computer screen and tells them to work faster. Or he’s a teacher. He reminds me of a fucking high s

chool teacher, doesn’t he? That fucker wouldn’t know a day of hard work if… if…”

“If he was up to his eyeballs in it,” said Meggie, trying to help now, as well.

Rake nodded and continued ranting: “That fucking truck couldn’t haul anything bigger than a lawn cart. What a fucking douchebag.”

“Hey, are you serious? Let’s let this go,” Charlie said.

Rake ignored him. “I’ll bet they didn’t even lose a dog. I’ll bet they were just coming this way to nose the fuck around.”

“You really don’t think there was a dog?” asked Meggie. “I believed them! I sure hope there’s a dog. I’ve told you, Rake, I want a dog. If he shows up here I’m gonna keep him.”

“He’s not gonna show up, because there is no dog. The dog story is bullshit.”

“Listen to me. Calm down for a second and listen. I don’t know if we should start anything,” said Charlie.

“We aren’t. He did. We aren’t starting anything.”

“Yeah, but he didn’t even see me or Abby,” said Charlie.

“I don’t appreciate someone telling me I’m trespassing on my own land.”

“But Rake, isn’t it kind of not really your land anymore?” asked Meggie. “Right?” She shrugged.

“You’re pretty tough right now that you’ve got an audience,” he said to her.

She lit another cigarette and focused her attention back on the leaping flames in front of her.

“I think mixing with them any more than what already happened is a bad idea,” said Charlie.

“You’re not really gonna make me finish what he started on my own?” Rake said to Charlie. He stood up and tossed his beer can into the fire. “If you want me to have your back, you’ve gotta have my back.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Meggie asked when Charlie stayed planted in his lawn chair, nibbling on his lip.