Violet Eyes by John Everson

years. Anders had tried to occasionally act like a gentlemen at first, she had to admit that he had. But he never really had known how to truly share his heart with her. And eventually, she had stopped giving him free access to stomp on her own.
    Being with Terry was like stepping from the foul air of the factory to the pure breath of the forest. She almost snorted at the thought. Okay, hokey, but true. Rachel had found herself bantering with him from the moment they’d met, and that didn’t stop when he picked her up for dinner. He was kind and warm and easy to joke with. When Boudreaux’s was starting to empty out, and Terry mentioned that it was probably time to take her home, Rachel felt her heart sink.
    He must have seen the look on her face, because a moment later he said, “If I get you home safe, will you promise to risk another date with me this weekend?”
    Rachel couldn’t halt the smile from stealing her face. She nodded, not trusting her voice.
    He held out a hand and his fingers were quickly warm around her elbow. “C’mon then, let’s see if your neighbor has survived your son.”
     
     
    Eric and Billy were both just fine. Terry left her at the door, and when she stepped inside, clutching her makeshift cane, the two of them both looked up from the couch with the reflection of blue fire in their eyes. They were watching some sci-fi movie on the TV, and things sounded as if they were exploding at an alarming rate on the speakers as she stepped into the room.
    Nobody jumped to their feet to help her as she hobbled through the door.
    She flipped the switch for the end table light and they both looked up. Billy pushed himself to his feet then. She put a hand up to stop him and said, “you can finish watching your movie if you want!”
    “It’s cool, I’ve seen it,” Billy said.
    But she had to smile when he kept glancing back at the screen as he walked towards her.
    Rachel pulled a twenty-dollar bill from her purse and handed it to him. “Thanks,” she said.
    “Anytime,” Billy answered. “We had a blast.”
    She opened her mouth to answer but just then the phone in the kitchen rang. As she moved towards the other room, Billy waved, and then looked at Eric. “Work on the fastball, huh?”
    The door closed behind her neighbor as Rachel picked up the phone.
    “Hello?” she said. She gasped slightly for breath, and a familiar voice picked up on her weakness instantly.
    “Sounds like you’ve been hitting the sheets,” Anders said. “A little early for that, with my boy in the house and all, isn’t it?”
    “A little late for you to be calling, isn’t it?” she countered. The clock on the kitchen wall read 10:24.
    She could almost hear him take a deep drag on his cigarette before answering.
    “I’ve been thinking,” he began. When he said it, his voice took on the kind of drawl that just telegraphed the notion that any thinking he’d been doing was damned dangerous. She could imagine him continuing the sentence, “I’ve been thinking that your leg is sexy as hell, but ya know, it’d look even better if there was a bear trap around it. That’s the kind of calf bracelet I’d like to getcha.”
    That’s not what he said, but that’s how he made her feel. Instead, he said something even worse.
    “I’ve been thinking,” he said again. “I don’t like the idea of Eric being down there so close to the Everglades and all. It’s dangerous there. Snakes and alligators and all kinds of shit. I think Eric would be better off if he came back up and lived with me.”
    “Yeah, well, I don’t think that’s going to happen,” Rachel said. She felt a shiver down her back as she said it. Asshole ! Damn right it was not going to happen. She’d put her life on it.
    “Eric is just fine, and I need to get him to bed right now,” she said. Her voice was terse, and betrayed more emotion than she wanted it to.
    “He’s not asleep already? Seems pretty late for him to be up on a school night.