“The store has a copy of Shane in the bargain bin. But Taylor says we need to save our money.” Noah replied.
I felt momentarily horrified. “Only until I get paid.”
Pickles reached into his ironed slacks and pulled out his wallet, removing a ten-dollar bill. With a shaky hand, he held it up to me.
“You put that away, Pickles.”
“Let me buy the kid the DVD,” he said.
Pickles was on a pension. His house was sparse. His belongings few. Yesterday was pension day. His money had a long way to go. Advanced lung disease wasn’t only a bitch, it was expensive.
“You don’t let me pay you for the bagels, it’s the least I can do,” he said.
“And you watch Noah for me all the time without letting me pay you,” I countered. “Besides, I have ten dollars set aside to buy the DVD this afternoon.”
Noah’s face lit up. “You do?”
Not really. Things were tight. I had enough for some groceries and gas. A DVD, even if it was in the bargain bin, was not in the budget. But damn it, I was going to make it work so my two favorite people could watch their movie.
“Sure, I do. Thought I might get a pizza, too, and we could celebrate my new job tonight.” I already knew Trader Joe’s had them on special. I turned to Pickles. “You want to join us?”
“You got a new job?” He looked delighted. “Where?”
“The Kings of Mayhem clubhouse. They need help behind the bar.”
Pickles eyes rounded and then sparkled with amusement. “The Kings of Mayhem…well, I’ll be damned.”
Everyone in town knew the Kings of Mayhem. But I wasn’t sure if Pickles knew much about them.
“You know them?”
“Know them! Cara mia, I got in a bar fight with their president back in the sixties.” He chuckled. “He clocked me right on the jaw, almost took all my teeth out.”
“Why?”
“Because of a sassy redhead named Sybil Stone.” He chuckled again, and shook his head. “Boy, she was a wild one back then. Great lady. This was well before my lovely Annabelle came along, of course. I was young and dumb. Just about to be shipped out. Took my chance on a striking redhead serving drinks behind the bar at the roadhouse out near the railroad tracks. It’s long gone now, just a pile of bricks and dust, but it was the place to be back in sixty-nine. And Sybil Stone sure was a beautiful woman.”
“You hit on the president’s girl?”
“Didn’t know she was his girl. But when he told me, I had a belly full of beer and a head full of worry. I was going to war. I didn’t know if I was coming back. That gets you a little crazy when you’ve had more than your share of liquor. He told me she was spoken for, and I guess it just made me a little stupid. But like I said…I was a dumb kid about to head off to war.”
“What happened?”
“We brawled. Broke a few chairs. Smashed a few bottles. I got a few punches in, but I was no match for Hutch Calley. He was a strong sonofabitch!” He glanced over at Noah. “Sorry, cucciolo.”
Noah grinned, while I was intrigued.
“How did it end?”
“My friend, a young Marine called Vinnie, said something about us being shipped out. It stopped Hutch mid-throw. He was back from Vietnam going on two years. He grabbed me by my shirt collar and he told me to live every moment I had like it was my last. Because we were about to fly into hell, he said, and when we came back nothing would look, smell, or taste the same. Then he shook my hand and brought me a beer.” His eyes drifted off for a moment, then he came back. “We saw each other around town, every now and again. And he was right, you know. I survived the war, but nothing was the same again.”
I smiled. I loved Pickles’ stories.
“The people of this town love the Kings of Mayhem. You could do a lot worse than working for them.”
I had done a lot worse. My whole life.
“Thanks, Pickles.”
The clock on the small table next to him suddenly buzzed, making us all jump.
“Damn thing. The visiting nurse set it to go off when I need my medication. Damn near gives me a heart attack every time.”
After I got Pickles his meds, I picked up Noah’s bag. “Come on, time to get you to school.”
We left Pickles with a promise to pick up pizza for dinner while we watched the movie, and made our way outside.
As we reached the set of stairs leading down to the road, I noticed a black Cadillac parked down the street and I stopped walking. It was out of place in this neighborhood, and I felt my gut tighten. I couldn’t see inside, but I was sure it was the same car I had seen a few days ago outside the store. Fear tickled at the base of my spine.