Big Jack Is Dead by Harvey Smith

Author:Harvey Smith [Smith, Harvey]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9781482563658
Amazon: 1482563657
Goodreads: 17788212
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2013-04-02T07:00:00+00:00

Brodie stood on the steps behind the funeral home, smoking a cigarette. I waved at him as I wheeled the car around. He waved back, holding the cigarette up, but his expression was dead.

As I got out of the car, he called out to me across the parking lot. “What happened?”

“Sorry I didn't make it.”

“Where'd you go after you left? Mom freaked out. You wouldn't answer your phone. A bunch of people showed up at her place.”

“I didn't feel like socializing,” I said. Leaning on a metal railing, I stayed far enough away to avoid his smoke.

One side of his mouth lifted and his brows came together. “That's it?”

“Yeah…I didn't feel like answering questions and all that. So I sat in my motel room. I felt like shit.”

“Damn.” He took a drag and looked away.

“Sorry if that threw people for a loop, but I wouldn't have been good company anyway.” I watched him as I spoke, trying to see my little brother inside this man. When I made eye contact, he looked away. There were lines at the corners of his eyes that made him look weak. He had Dad's eyes.

Brodie looked me over. “You look really good at least.”

“Thanks.”

The back door to the funeral home flew open and Mincy came out onto the steps. Short and heavy even when Brodie and I were young, my stepmother had gained weight, adding to her hen-like appearance. Most of her weight, for whatever reason, was in her ass and in the backside of her thighs. Her legs were like pillars of white clay and her ass was like a beanbag chair that someone had glued to her backside. She had hair that curled up in back like a duck's tail.

“Jack! Where in God's name were you? I had a house full of people last night.” Her tone implied some catastrophic occurrence.

My throat tightened and I glared at her. “Jesus, Mom, calm down.” Five seconds and she was digging into me already. “I was at the El Cinco. I felt way too bad to go out.”

“Well, my God. We were expecting you. We had food and guests.” Her eyes rolled up so that I could see the whites. She stepped closer and I had to tilt my head down to look at her. “You could have called,” she said.

“Well, I didn't call. I told you, I felt bad. I didn't want to go out. I didn't want to see anyone.”

She looked up at me, her mouth making an ugly line. Her voice dropped lower and her hands balled into fists. “You only ever think of yourself, don't you? You've always been like that…you don't care about anyone else.”

“Do you have to say shit like that?”

Brodie watched us impassively, flat again.

“Well, what was I supposed to think? You worried me sick last night. Do you know the first thing that came into my mind? Do you?” Her voice was shrill and her eyes rolled upward again.

“No. What the fuck came into your mind?” I braced myself, held my breath.

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