A Tree Born Crooked by Steph Post Page B

man. Can’t go outside. What if somebody followed you? You think somebody followed you? Did you see anybody behind you?”
    Rabbit ducked from window to window, pulling up a corner of the trash bag or army blanket that covered each one and peering out into the approaching dawn. He turned his eyes wildly back on James, his countenance like that of a horse about to scream and die. James was beginning to get spooked by the whole situation.  
    “You see somebody?”
    “Rabbit.”
    The sharp tone of James’ voice brought Rabbit up short. He paused for a moment, panting.  
    “What?”
    James spoke very slowly, holding Rabbit’s eyes and forcing him to calm down.
    “I need you to tell me what happened. Right now.”
    Rabbit took a deep breath.
    “It all went to pieces. Oh, man. It was all so perfect and then it all went to pieces. Man, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. James, you gotta tell me what to do.”
    “First, you need to tell me exactly what happened. From the beginning.”
    “Delmore don’t want me telling no one what happened. He said to sit tight and he’d be back in the morning after he took care of it. He didn’t want no one to know in the first place what we was gonna do. He said not to talk to nobody. Oh, shit. Oh man, he’s gonna kill me if he finds out I called you.”
    “I’m gonna save him the trouble and kill you first if you don’t start talking.”
    The tension slowly dropped out of Rabbit’s body and he sat down on the busted arm of the couch. He let his hands relax and dangle between his legs until his voice became steady.
    “Okay.”
    “From the beginning.”
    Rabbit sat silently for a moment, collecting his thoughts, while James waited impatiently. Finally, Rabbit sat up straight and began.
    “Well, now, let’s see. We took you back to your truck at The Diamond. Then, we still had time to kill. It being Monday, or I suppose Tuesday now, the club closes early, at one. So, we went to Willy J’s for supper. I had the rib special. You ever eat there? Man, it’s something else. They got this sauce with something like fourteen different kinds of spices. Delmore always gets the wings, but that barbeque sauce on them ribs is something else alright.”
    “No. I’ve never eaten there. Keep talking.”
    “Oh, yeah, so it was maybe ‘round ten when we left to drive out to Lucky’s. Or I left, I mean. I picked up my car and drove out there first. Delmore was gonna meet me up there later.”
    “Where did he go?”
    “Out to Waylon’s place. Marlena was right, he weren’t at the bar. He called and told Delmore to come on out to his place to pick up the stuff. Smarter than bringing it to the bar. If Marlena knew what he was getting into, she probably woulda shut it down and thrown it all in the creek. Or if a cop came by or something. Who knows?”
    James had lifted up a corner of the army blanket covering the window to glance out into the yard. He dropped it and turned back to Rabbit.
    “What’re you talking about?”
    “The guns. See, Waylon and Delmore thought it out. We had to cover every base, so we couldn’t use none of our own guns in case something happened and the cops could trace ‘em. But Waylon knows all these folks that deal in guns. Some cousins of his ex-wife’s or something. So, Delmore went out there to pick ‘em up. We weren’t planning on shooting nobody, but Delmore said they was still good to have. I went to the club so as to act all normal. Just like a normal night. I sold some pills, got a couple of free dances, and stayed until they closed. I kept my eyes open, too, and I seen Lyndell talking to these guys. Real tough looking types, I mean. Dressed all nice like they was just businessmen, but I could tell they was packing. One of ‘em had a bag with him. Like a gym bag.”
    Rabbit paused and scratched his nose before continuing.  
    “They went in the back room with Lyndell, but I was watching the door the whole time and