Something was wrong with this kid. His cornbread wasn’t all the way done in the middle or something. He sounded like a five-year old but looked like a gorilla. “I don’t know, Puck,” Grayson wasn’t about to call him Fucking Puck. “Where did she go?”
“She went to Lumby to get our boxes. She goes every month but she always comes back the same day. Sometimes she gets home real late. I get something special for staying home.”
“Lumby?”
“The big town across the bridges. Mama Dee makes me stay home cuz I’m scared of the bridges and I track her when she’s driving.”
Track her?
Distract maybe?
“Columbia?” Not that there was a huge bridge or anything on the way to Columbia, but the interstate had plenty of bridge overpasses and there were small bridges covering creeks and lows. If the power was out in Columbia too, she might’ve got caught with no gas to get home. It was a little over an hour away—same city Graysie attended college.
“There’s no one to stay with you?”
“Jenny, but she likes to sleep in the barn. This stuff is for her.” He bent down and scooped up the vegetables, awkwardly stuffing them back into the bag.
That was odd, but Graysie had slept in the barn before. Usually, only when she had a friend over though, and most of the time, they’d end up back in the house before morning with tales of bugs, rats and scary things that went bump in the night. Girls didn’t typically like to sleep in barns.
“Is Jenny your sister?”
“No. But Mama Dee says we’re about the same age. Mama Dee says we’re all like family.”
Was Jenny the same… er… intelligence as Puck? If she was, these kids shouldn’t be left alone. If Olivia was there, she’d insist on taking care of them until their mother returned.
“Do you and Jenny want to come stay with me until your mama gets home?”
Puck dragged his enormous boot through the dirt and looked down. He whistled with his head hung low, seeming to forget Grayson and Ozzie were even there. Soon he tugged his too-big britches up until his ankles were showing, paying no mind to Grayson or his question.
Grayson ducked his head down and looked up into Puck’s face. “It’s okay. I have a girl about your age myself. She’s away at college right now though. You can trust me.”
Puck frantically shook his head. “Mama Dee wouldn’t like that. And Jenny doesn’t like strangers. I need to stay home.”
“I could meet her. Then I wouldn’t be a stranger, right? My name’s Grayson, by the way.” He stuck his hand out in greeting, only for it to hang there empty.
Puck shrugged and screwed up his lips, looking away. He was obviously avoiding the suggestion to meet Jenny, and the handshake. Then, as though just remembering, he exclaimed, “She’s hungry. Mama Dee was bringing Jenny some food too. Spose’d to anyway.”
Jenny wasn’t the only one hungry. He could hear Puck’s stomach growling. He doubted the boy could cook, and apparently neither could Jenny. “Why were you up in that tree?”
“I like trees. People don’t see me up there. Usually. I was looking for Mama Dee cuz I can see far up there. But the mean boys,” Puck’s lip quivered. “They wanted Jenny’s food.”
“Where’d you get that food?”
“I borrowed it. Jenny’s hungry.”
Grayson scratched his head, still surprised at the childlike responses coming from the young man. No wonder the boys were chasing him. He was worried about them coming back too, even though apparently Puck was the thief. Did they know Puck lived right down that dirt road next to where they were standing?
“Listen, kid. You can’t take things that don’t belong to you. That’s stealing.”
Puck hung his head and Grayson realized he was crying again.
Oh hell.
Grayson reached out and patted Puck’s back, only to be surprised at the kid flinching. He stepped back to give him some room. “Hey now. It’s okay. But don’t do it again, huh? How about you ride over to the house with me, and I’ll cook you and Jenny some hamburgers on the grill. Something to hold you over until your mama gets home.”
Puck pursed his lips and looked up at the sky. He swiped the tears off his cheeks. Finally, he answered, “I’d really like that. Do you have a pickle? Mama Dee gives me a pickle with my burger. But I’m not s’posed to be talking to strangers. Or going to someone’s house.”
He looked back up into the sky, leaving his mouth hanging open a moment. Then suddenly blurted out, “Maybe I can just stay outside so Mama Dee don’t get mad? Jenny won’t eat a burger. So just for me.”
“She doesn’t like hamburgers? How about a hot dog then?”
“No meat. Meat makes Jenny throw up.” Puck beamed as though he’d answered a million-dollar trivia question. He held up the sack of salad stuff like a trophy, seemingly not ashamed of his theft after all. “This is for her.”
“Meat makes her sick? Is she pregnant?”
Puck squeezed his eyebrows together and shrugged.
“Is she going to have a baby?” Grayson further explained.
Puck screwed up his face in disgust. “I don’t think so.”
Jenny sounded like a heap of trouble. Probably one of those millennial vegetarians or something. Graysie had brought a friend home a month ago that said she was ‘vegan,’ and had nearly drove him and Olivia both up a wall. Their family was big on meat. But Grayson felt sure he could come up with something more filling than a salad.
“Come on, then. Get in the truck. I’ll make you both something.”
Puck hooted and hollered and ran to the truck, jumping in the back in a single leap, into the truck bed where he sat against the cab and grabbed the side. He tightly held on and yelled, “Ready, Mister Gray Man.” He squeezed his eyes shut and grinned, as though about to take off on a carnival ride.
Grayson sighed and smiled. This kid was weird. Mr. Gray Man? He ran his hand over his mustache and goatee. Maybe it was time to let Graysie get creative with some hair dye. And riding in the back wasn’t exactly safe—or legal—nowadays.
Hell, it was only a few miles home, he could ride in the back. Why not? What’s the worst that could happen in two miles?
11
GABBY GLARED at Olivia in disbelief, her eyes nearly bugging out of her head.
“Are you serious? You left your bag at home? What were you thinking? Did Grayson know you were leaving it? I thought he’d told all of us to never, ever leave without it? So, you’re exempt, because, why?”
Olivia raised her shoulders up around her ears, and closed her eyes. “I know. I’m an idiot. I swear, this is the only time I’ve ever taken it out of my car. Grayson has no idea. But I didn’t have room for all of our luggage, and three more bags. I threw mine and Emma’s out in the garage when you guys were in the house. And… I hit my head,” she whined, hoping to use her injury again against Gabby’s wrath.
“Emma’s too?” Gabby shook her head. “And the bleeding stopped. You’ll live. We’ll work on it in the car—with my first aid kit from my bag. This really makes me mad, Olivia. You should know the one time you leave it, Murphy’s Law, is the one time you need it. I can’t believe you left both of them. Seriously?”
Emma calmly stepped between her older sisters. “Hey, what’s done is done. We’ve still got one. We’ll be fine. Besides, we’re not walking. Home is only four hours away, maybe a little more with all the stalled cars on the road. But as long as we’re riding, we shouldn’t even need the bags. There’s not time to fight now, we need to get to Larry’s car before he changes his mind and leaves us.”