Chapter 10
Her first meal with the Tremor family was informal, relaxed, and punctuated by a sense of camaraderie between the brothers that the women largely sat back and observed. Tsugi wore a look of warm fondness, Red an expression of interest. Lester was devoted and almost maternal as he insured that plates and cups were kept full and no one went hungry. He especially doted on Tsugi, pouring more hot water into her teacup when it was running low and rubbing her thigh under the table. Jeeves kept shooting furtive looks down to the floor at his feet, where Bandit…ever the intelligent animal…waited patiently for the inevitable dropped chunk of meat. The fact that Jeeves was an avowed vegetarian but nevertheless took a portion of steak and cut it immediately into tiny kitty-bite-size chunks made his secrecy particularly endearing in Red's eyes. Darwin was less moved by the display.
"Goddammit, Jeeves. That's a perfectly good steak you're throwin' to a mangy alley cat."
"He's not mangy! He's ma' friend!"
"Excuse me," Red finally said softly, coldly, "He happens to be my friend too."
Darwin regarded her, tilting his head slightly. Then he cut a piece off his own steak and tossed it to the floor.
"C'mere, furball. Get a little fat on you, damn it."
Lester and Tsugi exchanged looks, but Red didn't even notice. She was watching Darwin, warmth filling her chest. It was the first gesture of kindness she'd really seen from him, grudging as it appeared. And she filed it away in her heart, and never forgot it for the rest of her life.
The rest of the meal passed in an atmosphere of contentment and good-natured ribbing. There was more food than Red had seen in a long time, and though at first she hung back, soon she found herself relaxing right along with everyone else. The Tremor family was unconventional, odd, unapologetically redneck and charmingly countrified. They were also, much to Red's shock, absolute racists. The White Supremacist kind. She noticed this when Jeeves, who was sitting closest to the stove, casually pulled off his shirt and draped it over the back of his chair. In the center of his chest was a monochromatic prison-style tattoo of a large motorcycle roaring forth, clouds of road dust behind it. And sitting astride the great machine, hair flowing behind him, a cocky scowl on his familiar features, was Adolph Hitler. He was flipping the middle finger. Red stared at it.
"Oh my God, that's the most hideous tattoo I've ever seen!" she exclaimed in shock before she could stop herself. In fear and horror at her outburst, she raised a hand to her mouth. But Jeeves only chuffed a deep laugh and helped himself to more potatoes.
"Yeah. The guy really screwed up the front wheel an' the smoke. So I stabbed him. Ah-hah."
Lester narrowed his eyes at her.
"You got a problem with Hitler? You one o' them self-hatin' whites er somethin'?"
It was a tricky moment. On the one hand, Red had never once considered herself a self-hating anything. Nor was she a racist by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, her own little sister had been adopted from a very young, unwed Jewish mother. Some of the people upon whose kindness Red had found herself compelled to rely were African American. But on the other hand, to make a moral stand against racism right at this moment, when it was freezing outside and she had only a leaky cabin awaiting her…hey, protecting the First Amendment rights of the people who were feeding her, giving her warmth and shelter, snuggling her cat and offering her protection just seemed more important than making a stand for equality.
"You know…this is really hard. My great grandfather died in Dachau." She whispered. Tsugi coughed. Jeeves put his fork down. Lester stared at her over the tops of his spectacles. Darwin stopped chewing.
"Are you fuckin' serious?" he asked. Red nodded solemnly, her eyes sad.
"Yes," she replied, "It was tragic. Devastated the whole family. He…he fell off a guard tower."
Darwin laughed, shaking his head.
"Hah! Nice."
Red grinned back, and when they both reached for their water glasses at the same time their hands bumped. She was certain it wasn't an accident.
After supper they all retired to the warm living room to indulge in more whiskey, to watch the trees' manic dance in the moonlight outside through the window, to talk or not talk as the mood dictated. Tsugi threw another log on the fire and sat down on the floor at Lester's feet, leaning back against his leg and pillowing her head on his knee. Jeeves settled onto the sofa, which creaked under his heavy muscular frame, and contentedly ran his hands over Bandit. A log snapped, outside the wind picked up. Red could hear it moaning in the trees, followed by the soft rattle of rain on the rooftop. Lester sighed and stretched, and Jeeves cradled Bandit like a baby and rubbed the bridge of the sleepy cat's nose with one finger.
"He's shuttin' his eyes. He has a happy."
"That means he likes you, honey." Tsugi told him gently, and Jeeves beamed. Lester leaned down to rub his fiancé's shoulders.
"Mmm, that feels magnificent, Les. Thank you." She said, relaxing. Darwin nudged Red with his foot.
"Are you particularly good at anythin', baby?"
Red hugged her knees to her chest and looked up at him where he sat in a large armchair by the fire. She swallowed hard.
"I'm decent at writing. I like to organize things, and I'm just great at redecorating on a budget. And I…I can play the tuba pretty well. Marching band." She finished lamely. There was a long pause. Lester coughed to cover a chuckle. Tsugi's face remained impassive, but her eyes twinkled with merriment. Jeeves's open, sweet-natured face broke into a wide grin.
"Tuba playin'. Ah-hah." He laughed softly.
Darwin shook his head in disgust.
"Interior design and high school marchin' band bullshit, Red? Is that the best you got? What can you do that might benefit a family like ours?"
Red looked at the floor and sadly shook her head. It was then that Tsugi's quiet voice broke through the stillness.
"She's brave. She's determined. She is a survivor. She's willing to learn. And she's my friend. Those things alone make her beneficial to this family. I think in time her other talents will become apparent."
Darwin's bright blue eyes turned to regard Tsugi, weighing her words. After a moment, he looked at Red.
"Brings me to the obvious question, darlin'. You're not livin' down in that shotgun shack for your health. What's your story?"
It was the moment of truth. Red turned around fully to face him, her back to the warm fire, and in a trembling voice began to speak.
"I've told Tsugi a little about my past. How I got the cabin and made it here. It's not pretty. I…I did some things."
Darwin's eyes glittered. He smirked.
"Oh yeah? Did you knock over a lemonade stand or something'? Maybe smash your baby brother's piggy bank? What kinda hardened criminal are we dealin' with?"
"No. No lemonade stands or piggy banks. More like convenience stores and a small town bank and a CVS."
"Well I'll be." Lester laughed quietly, sizing her up. Darwin shook his head.
"Bullshit. You ain't no bank robber."
Red blushed crimson and reached down to pick the remote control up off of the coffee table. Steely-eyed, she pressed it against Darwin's forehead. She snarled at him, her voice hollow.
"All the money in the bag right now, or your wife is going to be sobbing over a closed casket."
There was a click.
"Put…the…remote…down." Lester growled. Something cold touched Red's neck, and all the fight went out of her. She backed up and laid the remote on the table again, her mouth going dry. Darwin chuckled and slapped his knee, genuinely amused.
"Well, well. Got yourself a little streak of danger in you after all. So that's why you don't want to be found. At ease, Lester. Don't need two closed-casket funerals in this house."
"Jesus! It was just a remote!" Red whispered.
Lester grumbled and moved the weapon away, stashing it in the back of his waistband. Through it all, Jeeves seemed oblivious, as though it were commonplace to witness such things in the living room. He tickled Bandit's chin, rumbling down at him.
"Nice kitty. Yew're so soft an' gentle."
Red turned to stare at Lester.
"Do you always carry a loaded gun in your pants?"
Lester grinned and Tsugi covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle.
"Every goddamn day," Lester retorted, "You just watch yer manners around our leader, ya hear me?"
Darwin laughed, enjoying the spectacle, and Red slowly sat down on the floor again with her ears ringing and her palms damp. Tsugi took pity on her and cleared her throat.
"Would anyone like some wine? Whiskey?" she got to her feet.
"Wine." Lester nodded.
"Whiskey." Darwin said evenly, still looking Red over with that unsettling gaze. She met his eyes and didn't look away.
"The same." She said.
"Two whiskeys and a wine. Got it. Jeeves?"
"I want apple juice."
Tsugi smiled fondly and nodded. While she fetched the drinks, Red kept her eyes on Darwin. He kept his eyes on her, and God they were blue.
"So you can do a couple gutsy things," he said softly, almost gently, "And we got them intimidatin' tuba skills you mentioned. I gotta tell you, Red, you kinda amuse me. You're almost like a professional comedian, only I don't think you were laughin' much when you damn near sliced off your leg there."
Red sadly shook her head.
"No sir."
"So what would drive an inept, marchin'-band suburbanite gal like yourself to turn bank robber? What in the hell are you runnin' from? And what's with you and that cat?"
It was a bad moment. Red didn't want to open up this deeply, this fast. Not even to someone who was offering her a kind of protection. Red looked from Lester to Jeeves to Darwin, shivering.
"I'm running from someone."
"Figured as much. You feel like tellin' me who?"
Red bit her lip. Tsugi came back and placed a glass of deep amber whiskey in her hand, followed by a pat on her shoulder.
"Can we just kind of…kind of work up to that part?"
A sheet of lightening lit the sky outside, and thunder crashed a moment later. Bandit jumped a little in Jeeves's arms. For a moment, Red wished she could climb into someone's arms. She looked up at Darwin, and her eyes stung.
"I'm not ready."
He sighed and rubbed his knee.
"Alright then, Red. You take a little time. Just relax. You're safe now, anyway. Only a damn fool would come for you here." Shrewdly, he looked out the window through the black rainy night, narrowing his eyes. "They might still be comin' for you, won't they."
It was not a question. Every eye in the room turned toward her suddenly, all of them waiting for the response.
Red felt like she was going to throw up. Finally, she nodded.
"God please. Please Darwin don't throw me out. I know this is bringing possible trouble to the family. I know I might be putting you all in danger. But I am out of money and I have nowhere left to run. This is where I have to lie down and let it happen. Right h-here." She drew in a deep, shuddering breath and looked around at all of them. For an excruciatingly long time, Darwin simply stared at her. Then he leaned forward in his chair and brushed away a tear from her cheek.
"Stop that now. You just stop. Ain't no one's comin' to get you here. Believe me." He half-smiled, a menacing little smirk that Red found strangely comforting.
"How can you be so sure? You don't even know who's after me."
"Darlin', I don't care if the goddamn Russian Mafia was after you. This is Tremor territory, and we're the largest and most feared family of serial killers in the nation. Hell, the world maybe. Someone wants to terrify a little tuba-playin', bank-robbin', crappy-ass lumberjack on my land…he'd better bring a fuckin' army." His blue eyes turned deadly. "You're mine. This family saved you. We protect what belongs to us. Now get me another whiskey, no ice."
He handed her his empty glass. Stunned, she took it. Then, with gratitude filling her heart to the top and overflowing, Red rose to her knees and threw her arms around him.
"Whoa now." Lester chuckled, and Tsugi touched her fingertips to her lips to still the small smile that spontaneously arose. Jeeves gave a soft 'Awww'.
Darwin slowly put one arm around Red's back, lowering his head to catch the scent of her hair. He blinked a few times, just hanging onto her. Then, embarrassed and afraid she'd gone too far, Red shifted back and smiled.
"I'll get your drink now."
"Yeah, I think that'd be best. And you're takin' a bath tonight, girl. You smell like dish soap."
"Any port in a storm, sir." Red responded cheerfully, and limped into the kitchen.