Baxter looked closely at him, then said, "Oh, yeah? Maybe I don't want you around that long."
"I just need a week."
"Tell you what I'll give you six days. If you fuck up or piss me off, I'll kick the shit out of you and throw you on a fucking pig truck to Toledo. You understand?"
"Yes."
"Go back to your barnyard shit." He turned to leave, then spun around and buried his fist in Keith's stomach.
Keith doubled over and dropped to his knees.
Baxter put the toe of his boot under Keith's chin and flipped his head up. Baxter said, "Stay outa town."
He walked back to the car, and Keith saw him and Ward giving each other high fives.
They got into the car, turned and ran over a row of raspberry bushes, then peeled out on the gravel drive.
Keith got to his feet and watched the car turn onto the road. He smiled and said, "Thank you."
Chapter Nineteen
Cliff Baxter sat at his kitchen table and sliced a hunk of meat off his pork chop. He said, "These damn things are burnt."
"Sorry."
"Potatoes're cold."
"Sorry."
"You forget how to cook?"
"No."
"No wonder you ain't eatin'."
"I don't have an appetite."
"Appetite or no, this stuff ain't edible."
"Sorry."
"And thanks for offering to make me something else."
"What would you like?"
"I'll go out and get something."
"All right."
He put down his knife and fork and looked at her. "Something bothering you?"
"No."
"You ain't sayin' much."
"I have a headache."
"That's too bad, 'cause I have a woody."
Annie stiffened but said nothing.
"You finished with your period?"
"No... not completely."
"Well, your gums ain't bleedin', are they?" He took a drink from his beer can but kept looking at her. He said, "I stopped by your Aunt Louise's today."
She felt her stomach tighten.
Cliff put down his beer can. "Now, there's a woman who knows how to cook. What'd she make you for dinner last night?"
"I... I didn't have dinner there."
"You didn't?"
"No."
"That ain't what she said, sweetheart."
Annie looked him in the eye and replied, "Aunt Louise is becoming very absentminded. I was there last week for dinner. Last night I was just visiting."
"Is that a fact? Absentminded must run in the family. You been walkin' around with your head up your ass since you got home last night."
"I'm not feeling well."
"How so?"
"I don't know... maybe I just miss the kids. I thought maybe I'd go visit them next week."
"They don't need you motherin' the hell out of them. If they want to see us, they can come home for the weekend."
"I wanted to make sure Wendy is settled in. It's her first time away from home, and..."
"You know, I don't like that place. I don't like Bowling Green, and I think I'm gonna pull her outa there."
"No!"
He seemed almost startled by her tone. He leaned toward her. "Say what?"
"She likes it there."
"Oh, yeah? What she likes is that fucking coed dorm. They have that when you were there?"
"No."
"What the fuck are they tryin' to do there? Promote fucking?"
"Cliff, the world has changed."
"Not around here. This is a Christian house and a Christian community, and men and women don't live under the same roof if they're not married."
"I trust her to practice what she's been taught in church... and to follow our example." God help her, Annie thought.
Cliff regarded her a long time, then observed, "Yeah, there's somethin' on your mind."
"I just told you what was bothering me. Are you working tonight?"
"Maybe. Hey, speaking of college, an old friend of yours is back in town."
She got up and took her glass to the refrigerator, opened it, and poured iced tea. Her hands were shaking.
"You know who?"
"No."
Cliff stood and put his hand on the refrigerator door before she could shut it. "I need a beer." He took a can out, and she closed the door.
He stood looking at her a few seconds, then asked again, "You don't know who?"
She made a decision and said, "Oh, you mean Keith Landry."
"You know who the hell I mean."
"I heard he was back."
"I'm sure you did. I am sure you did. What else did you hear?"
"Nothing. Do you want dessert?"
"I ain't had dinner. Why do I want dessert?"
"Are you going out for dinner?"
"Don't fuck with me, lady. I'm talkin' to you."
"I'm listening, Cliff. Keith Landry is back in town. So what? Is there anything more?"
"Well, now, that's the question."
"What do you mean?"
"Jesus Christ, you fuckin' women know how to jerk a guy off, don't you?"
"What do you want me to say, Cliff? He's back in town. I heard it, you heard it. Why are you so angry at me?"
They looked at each other, and of course they both knew exactly why Cliff Baxter was angry. He asked her, "Why didn't you tell me he was back?"
"It never crossed my mind."
"You're full of shit."
"Don't speak to me that way." She felt a real anger rise up in her which overcame her fear. She raised her voice and said, "You may not speak to me that way. I'm leaving." She threw her glass in the sink and turned toward the door.
He grabbed her shoulder, spun her around, and held her arms. "You're not goin' nowhere."
"Stop it! Stop this! Let me go!"
He took his hands off her and backed away. "Okay... I'm sorry. Okay, just calm down. Here, sit down. I just want to talk to you."
She didn't trust him at all, but, reluctantly, she sat.
He sat across from her and played with his beer can. Finally, he said, "Well... you know how I am. I just get real jealous sometimes. And I got to thinking about your old boyfriend back in town, and I find out he's single, and I guess I just got myself worked up. Now, you should be happy that I care so much about you. Right?"
She thought of several sarcastic replies, any one of which would send him off the deep end. She said, "I understand. But I really don't want to talk about this. There's nothing to talk about."
"Well, but you can see how this is going to bother me."
"It shouldn't."
"Why not? You mean a man who was fucking my wife is now livin' down the road, and that shouldn't bother me?"
"Cliff... look, whatever I say is going to get you angry. If I say I don't care if he's down the road, you'll take it wrong, if I say it bothers me that he's here, you'll take it..."
Baxter slammed the table and the dishes, and Annie jumped. He said, "You fucked the guy for six fucking years. And all you got to say is I shouldn't be fucking pissed off that he's down the road. What if one of my old girlfriends was down the road? How'd you like that?"
She wanted to remind him that he'd sometimes point out his old girlfriends to her and that all she felt was pity for them. Instead, she said, "I guess that would really bother me."
"You're fucking right it would!"
"Please don't shout. I know you're angry, but..."
"Hey, you remember Cindy North? I fucked her for a year right before I started seeing you. What if she moved in next door and she was single? Would that piss you off?"
"Of course."
"Yeah. So I'm not supposed to be pissed off?"
"I didn't say that. Just don't be angry at me. I didn't do anything."
"But maybe you'd like to."
"Cliff, don't say that."
"You remember the good times with him, don't you?"
"I don't remember any of it. It was over twenty years ago." He seemed almost surprised, she thought, that it was that many years. He said, "But when you heard he was back, you got to thinkin' about those rolls in the hay. Where'd you fuck him? In the barn? You go down on him in your car?"
She stood, and he reached across the table, grabbed her belt, and pulled her down in the seat.
Annie was frightened, but not for herself. She could handle him, but she had to warn Keith that Cliff was getting himself worked up. She took a deep breath and said, "Cliff, sweetheart, I know you're angry, but there's no one in the world for me except you."