August by Callan Wink

Author:Callan Wink [Wink, Callan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2020-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

Near midnight now, snow starting to fall, the wind punching it sideways across the shafts of Tim’s headlights. The Qwikstop was still open, and they pulled in for more beer. August stayed in the truck, and Tim came running back with a case and a foil package of Backwoods. He handed August a beer and a cigar. He pulled his hat a little lower down on his head, lit his Backwoods, clenched it between his teeth, and tossed August the lighter. He cracked his beer and raised it toward August. “Here’s to Clint Eastwood,” he said, dropping the truck into gear and roaring out of the parking lot. Everything silent under the snow. No signs of life on the streets of Martinsdale. No footprints on the sidewalks. No TVs glowing blue through living room windows. Tim barreled through the single red light. “Welcome to the great Western apocalypse,” he said.

August blew a line of smoke out the slightly opened window. “I was thinking about your brother and the Hutterite girl,” he said.

“Oh yeah? You thinking about going down to the colony and signing up for some good bucking?”

“Not really. I was thinking that the Hutterites wouldn’t have just given your brother that butchered hog for no reason.”

“I know. That’s what I was saying. I’m not bullshitting you about the story.”

“No. I mean the Hutterites wouldn’t give your brother a hog unless he fulfilled his end of the bargain, see what I’m saying?”

“I know, man. He did it, I’m sure of it.”

“Tim, what I’m saying is that unless he actually knocked her up, there’s no way they’d just give him a hog. They weren’t bargaining with him about the sex. It’s clearly about the sperm to them. Same as when you have an AI guy come and do your heifers. They wouldn’t come through with the hog unless it took, and she got pregnant. You probably have a nephew or a niece out there. That’s what I’m saying. Uncle Timmy.”

Tim nodded, sucked deep so his cigar cherry glowed angry. He exhaled through his nose and said, “Yeah, I’ve considered it. A little. The kid would be two or three years old now. Half-Hoot, half-Duncan. I mean, half-Hoot, sure. But half-Duncan, too. I’ve been thinking, maybe soon it’ll be time to swoop in. Get the kid back into the fold of his family. Kid needs its mom up until a certain point. But a Duncan living like a Hoot? If my old man knew he would rupture.” Tim drank, tipped his ash into an empty can in the cup holder. He hunched down a little in his seat to get a better look outside. “What a night,” he said. “What a mystery. Ever think about it? How the blackest sky can make the whitest snow?”

“Huh?” August said.

“Let’s go get him. Tonight.”

“Him?”

“My brother’s son. I guess it could be a daughter, but I feel that it’s a son. Tonight’s the night. I’m glad you brought it up. Suddenly I feel ready.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.