Bones by Larry Allen Lindsey

Author:Larry Allen Lindsey [Lindsey, Larry Allen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798888241516
Published: 2023-11-18T16:00:00+00:00

“Imagine that,” I said, mostly to myself. “I got me my own angel baby brother.”

And that’s when it hit me.

“How about we call him Micah, Poppa?” I asked.

“Micah?” says he.

“The name comes from the Bible. It means ‘angel.’”

“Micah . . . Micah?” says Poppa, rolling the name over his tongue, testing it for grit. “Micah! I like it!”

Hickory came closer for a better look. With a clawlike finger, he pulled the blanket to one side.

“Yessiree,” he said, “this one’s going to grow up to be one big human being. Play your cards right, Navarrah, and he’ll be a real moneymaker for you. Big-time, I’m telling you. You’ve got a gold mine under that blanket, and that’s a bankable fact.”

Micah scrunched up his nose, began to squirm. With a whimper, he turned away from Hickory. Covering him up again, I headed for the kitchen.

“You’re scaring him, Doc,” I said. “I better clean him up a bit before handing him back to his momma.”

I heard Momma shift in her bed. After a soft groan, her voice came out from behind the curtain. Soft, but backbone firm.

“Thank you for all your help, Doctor Hickory,” she said. When she coughed, I could tell it hurt her real bad. So bad she had to swallow twice before continuing. “But it’s time for you to go now. Me and my family can take it from here. We’ll settle up our account within the week.”

She coughed again. Took a deep breath. Let it out slowly, then took another.

“Navarrah?” she says. “Please show the good doctor to the door.”

Hickory turned to Poppa. Glanced over at the curtain.

“I meant no offense with my comment about the baby’s size, Navarrah,” he said. “I was only looking out for your family’s best interests. Especially yours, considering how many, let’s just say, physical mishaps you’ve had in the past. If young Micah there grows up to be as big as I think he will, people will pay money to see him. I sure as hell would.”

Poppa may have been a bit dusty across the beam, but both he and I knew what Hickory was getting at.

“You probably would,” said Poppa. Then he picked up Hickory’s doctoring bag. “But no son of mine is going to end up in no damn freak show. Not yours, not anyone’s.”

Hickory’s face turned a bright shade of red. His eyes darted about, agitated. He knew he’d played his hand wrong.

“I d-didn’t mean it that way,” he said.

“Oh, I know real well what you meant, Doc,” said Poppa. “I may be slower than most, but I ain’t completely dumb.”

With a firm hand on his shoulder, Poppa angled Doc to the door. So quickly Hickory almost tripped.

“Just hear me out, Navarrah,” says Hickory, struggling to keep up, hopping like a cricket. “Maybe I shouldn’t bring it up just yet, but I’m willing to pay good money for, let’s say, future considerations. You don’t have to make up your mind this very minute. We can work out the details later.”

“Thank you kindly for your service, Doctor Hickory,” says Poppa.

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