“Then he said he’d take payment in property. Household things, jewelry, whatever I had.”
“He came with his brother and that Luke fellow. They went through the whole house. Took the television, your father’s watch, the rug, the good china.”
“I cried. Asked them to leave the watch—it was all I had of your father. Wade spit in my face.”
“Said now I owed him another three hundred just for talking back.” I listened and felt that cold inside me sharpen into something hard and cutting. Mom kept going. “They started coming every week.”
“Demanding one thing, then another. I gave them Grandma’s earrings, my wedding ring. Wade said it still wasn’t enough, that the debt kept growing.”
“Then they started humiliating me. Made me scrub floors while they sat around drinking. Wade recorded it on a camcorder and said he’d show people so everybody else would know what happens.”
“One time his brother Steve threw whiskey in my face. They all laughed. Luke called me filthy names.”
“I put up with it. Kept thinking maybe they’d get bored and move on.” Tears ran down her cheeks.
I got up, went over, and put my arms around her shoulders. She leaned into me, shaking. “Then a week ago Wade came by and said I owed fifteen hundred dollars now.”
“I yelled that it was impossible, that I had nothing left. He smiled. Said then I’d sell the house, and until then I’d work for him.”
“Said I’d come to his place and clean, wash clothes, cook. I refused. Told him I’d go to the police. That’s when he grabbed my hand and broke my fingers.”
“Just took my hand and snapped one, then another. Steve held me. Luke filmed it. Wade said next time he’d break my legs.”
“And he said don’t bother calling Deputy Peters—Peters is in my pocket and tells me everything.” She went quiet. I stood there holding her, and inside me something settled.
Not anger. That had passed. What was left was a decision—cold, clean, final, like an order. “Mom, I’m going to fix this. I promise.”
She lifted her head and looked at me with red, tired eyes. “Alex, they’re dangerous. They’ve got connections. Protection.”
“Deputy Peters covers for them, and somebody bigger in the next county too. There are three of them, and they’ve got friends all over town. You’re one man.”
I smoothed her hair back the way she used to do for me when I was little and gave her a small smile. “Mom, I didn’t spend two years in the Army for nothing. They taught me how to handle a stronger enemy, a bigger enemy, even an armed one.”
“You just have to do it right. And I know how.” She didn’t believe me, but she stopped arguing. Went to bed.
I stayed in the kitchen, sitting in the dark, smoking and thinking. The plan was simple. Three men. I’d take them separately…
