Three Minutes More by Edward O'Dell

Author:Edward O'Dell
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: thriller, suspense, murder, god, bully, rape, devil, appalachia, abuse, heaven
Publisher: Edward O'Dell

Chapter 9: The Car

By the time summer arrived, the fall from the top of the retaining wall was but a distant memory. I still had to take my medication daily, but I was doing everything my brothers did. I looked forward to a summer on the creek. Eddie worked a lot at the greenhouse, while James worked at the bakery. Donnie was getting big enough to help hoe the garden, and I was told to teach him how.

I was getting ready to head to the garden one morning, having just finished bringing in the day’s water. I had just picked up the hoe when I noticed Mark Webster running up the hollow, toward our house. Though I couldn’t make out what he was saying, there was undeniable urgency in his voice. The very moment he reached the yard, he looked straight at The Old Man and exclaimed “you have a call! Mom wants you to please come now!”

Knowing something extraordinary must had happened, Feenie, The Old Man and Mark Webster hopped into the brown Riviera and roared down the road. I still don’t know how that big old car managed to get across the bridge that day. I could swear that, at no time racing across it, did all four tires touch the surface at the same time. The car swerved as it entered onto the bridge, with the front of the car pointed to the northeast. As it exited, it pointed to the southeast.

Rarely did anyone telephone The Old Man. Mr. Webster agreed to let my parents use his telephone in case of emergency. People would call their house and they, in turn, would send Mark up to tell us. I can recall only other such time they sent Mark up to tell The Old Man he had a phone call: the day when Old man Waybright got killed in a car accident.

As was always the case when Feenie and The Old Man were gone, Jeff was the de facto parent. Though I had little in common with him, Jeff was a good enough big brother. He teased us a bit, but he never beat us or asked us if we wanted to try his ice cream or anything like that.

He somehow knew what made each of my parents tick, and he used that understanding to position himself as confidant for each.

Four years older than I, he was much less excitable. He didn’t seem to get beaten nearly as much as the rest of us. We couldn’t be certain as to why, but James, Eddie, Lee and I wondered if he held a secret over Feenie that she didn’t want known. If he held one over her, then he likely held one over The Old Man, too, because even he seldom beat Jeff.

We liked Jeff because he fought so much with Joseph. Though they didn’t live in the same house, when the two got together, they seemed to just end up fighting. If they spent twenty or fewer minutes together, a fight between the two could be avoided.

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