Short Story / Sometimes it gets messy
“Here we are, you sure you’re up for this?” Cliff looked over at his nephew before climbing out of the small, rusty, Toyota pick-up truck, which liked to shake and burp as the engine was shut off.
Terry let the truck complete its death rattle in the driveway before he climbed out. The hot morning breeze lifted his dingy mullet. He grabbed a pair of dark sunglasses from the collar of his stained t-shirt and placed them over his eyes. He took a moment to examine the home in front of him.
The small A-frame house sat at the end of a gravel road, the steady Florida sun had faded the paint and if power washed it may end up reverting back to a white color. The front yard was browning and infested with crab grass, a few neglected bushes, along with an empty rust colored bird dish decorated the front. The blinds were all drawn and were there where no blinds blankets had been nailed over the windows to conceal the inside.
A large, windowless, two stall garage, that some would consider a barn due to its size was connected by a canopy walkway.
Cliff nodded toward the garage as they approach the front door to the house, he wasn’t sure his nephew was ready, but sometimes the aches and limitations implemented by age determined your path.“The vans in there.” He nodded toward the garage as he opened the screen door to the house and walked in.
A pile of flip flops, dirty sneaker, and kicked off mud made up the entryway. The inside of the house was poorly lit, and smelled of cat urine and tobacco. A heavyset older woman with tangled hair sat on the couch wearing a white and pink nightgown, watching a small turn knob television with an old game show rerun on it. She stamped out her long cigarette as she stood, and then walked laboriously over and embraced Terry with an emotionless hug. “I’ll leave you two men to your business. I’m gonna go lay down a spell.”
“Okay Gene, nice seein ya,” Terry watched her walk out of the kitchen.
“Take a seat,” Cliff motioned to his flower patterned couch, “I’ll be right back,” He clicked off the TV as he passed it and walked into a back bedroom.
Terry looked at the still smoldering half cigarette his aunt attempted to put out, after a moments consideration he plucked it from the ash tray and gave it a few good tokes to get it going again, and then triumphantly held it in front of him.
Cliff exited the back bedroom carrying a manila folder. “Better yet, let’s take this to the table, I want to go over this one more time before you head out.” He clicked on an overhead light and turned the bulb to its brightest setting, causing the clothes cluttered wooden table to glow a soft orange. Cliff bulldozed the laundry with his old, hairy hands; freeing up half the surface.
Terry stood next to him watching over his shoulder as Cliff opened the folder and placed white sheets of paper, one next to the other until he had made a make-shift map that was three rows of paper tall and four rows wide. They were elaborate hand-drawn maps of a neighborhood a few towns over. Even though he knew the area, Cliff worked for three days scowering the streets and affirming the homemade maps accuracy. He wasn’t a cheap man, but if you can kill two birds- one, no paper trail, the other, saving ten dollars- why not.
Streets ran in a criss-cross pattern and lined up with the papers positioned next to them. Boxes were drawn along the sides of the roads, representing homes; each seemed to be spaced out a bit from their neighbor. A few of the homes had X’s running through them, a few others were circled.
“I’ve been drawing these maps for the last two weeks. They will help you get as many as you can. I’ve been learning this patch of town; I mean every house; every car; every person living there for more than a year.” He turned to look at his nephew, making sure he was paying attention, “This is our promised land. Our ticket to a better life.”
He stamped his thick finger on the paper, “and it is a one shot deal.”
Terry picked up one of the pieces of paper, took a drag off his cigarette, which he knew he should extinguish, and examined the hand-drawn maps. He noticed all of the roads were labeled with street names. “I don’t recognize any of these streets.”
Cliff glanced at the papers, “It’s over an hours drive from here. It’s the perfect environment for us, houses are spaced far apart, no one will recognize you, it’s close the highway, and its either, well to do families or rich snow-birds.” Snowbirds was a term the locals gave their northern neighbors who migrated down south for the winter months.
Terry poked the page, “What’s with these X’s, and these O’s?”
“The ones with X’s are worth nothing to us. The blank box’s I’m unsure of. But the ones with circles around em` have young kids living there. Those are the ones where after and you gotta keep your eyes peeled when passing them.” His tone deepened. “Drive slow and search both sides of the road for children when you get by these houses with circles around em,” he still wasn’t sure his nephew knew what he was getting into. “You get every kid you can to the van.”
Terry kept his gaze on the paper and spoke in a cool, cold tone, “Don’t worry about me boss. I’m going to get as many as I can. We’ve been talking about this for years. I’m ready I just hope things don’t fall through on your end.”
“Don’t you worry about me. I been had the same connection for ten years. And make sure you cover that up,” he nodded to a tattoo covering half of Terry’s forearm. An eagle; aggressively shooting a M-60 machine gun.
“I’m already ahead of you I brought one of those all blue canvas body suits,” he pointed outside. “Like the ones you see painter wearing.”
“That’s perfect.” Cliff smiled. He couldn’t hide his pride for the young man he practically raised, he dropped the smile as soon as he acknowledged it; this wasn’t a time for glee. “Boy, now you got me pissed I never thought of that. I was going to tell you to make sure you wear long sleeves and gloves.” His face grew sad and his eyes seemed to go somewhere far away. “Sometimes it gets messy.”
They stood there a moment and then Terry broke the silence, “I got thick cloth gloves when I got the suit, a few pair. I also got some black boots and a matching dark blue ball-cap.”
Cliff nodded, satisfied, he picked up the pieces of paper in a specific order. “This first one,” he pointed at the top sheet of paper, “starts at exit 87, off I-75. It will take you to the neighborhood I scoped out. Then just turn each page and follow the maps.” He closed the folder and handed it to Terry staring into his eyes. “You get every kid you can. Don’t waste any time, remember you’re on a timetable. If one runs from you don’t worry about em`; keep to those maps, everyone you snag means extra money for the family.”
Terry took a final drag on the cigarette and smashed it out on the overflowing ashtray near him. The lipstick coating on the butt reminded him of how he started this particular nicotine fix. After today he’d be able to buy his own cigarettes whenever he needed, and for the rest of his life for that matter. He opened the folder and took a few moments looking over each sheet of paper. “What about when I’m done?” he kept his gaze on the papers in front of him.
“You get your ass back here; get the van in the garage. That’s home base for you. I’ll take care of the rest. You’re welcome to stick around and help,” he shrugged, “or go your own way until the next time.”
Terry nodded and closed his folder.
“Come on. I want to show you some special features I’ve added to that old van to make this easier for you.” He walked out the main door;
Terry closed the folder and followed behind, making a fast pit stop and retrieving a small gym bag from the back of the Toyota. He knew it was going to be a hot day today, he caught up to his uncle just before he was about to open the garage door.
“You sure you’re ready for this? You got mine and your families counting on you.”
Terry shuffled his feet, “I’m doing this just as much for you as I am for us, Uncle Cliff. You been working hard a long time. . . It’s time you get a break.”
Cliff let another half-smile escape and then opened the garage door.
The sun shinned in; illuminating the van and the surrounding area. The van was all white and had three megaphones mounted on the top. Large sliding windows ran along both sides. A large section under the windows held massive stickers; each sticker offered different varieties of ice cream treats. Terry took a moment looking over the items- re-affirming his knowledge of their correlating prices.
“Make sure to give the kids their correct change as soon as possible and get to the next one. They’re going to be swarming you in some area’s.” Cliff took a serious tone, “The most important thing is to be pleasant, polite, and keep a smile on your face. Kids only know joy, and that’s what we are selling. Listen to what they ask for, some of em’ talk funny. We keep our product cold and our customers happy.” He smiled. “That’s what allowed me to do so good for so long.”
Terry walked slowly around to the driver’s side door, a large smile on his face, “I remember riding along with you when I was younger. I felt like the coolest kid on the planet,” there was a glow in his eyes, “I can’t wait until I get to bring Jimmy along with me.”
“Give it a few weeks; learn the route and the kids.” He motioned Terry to climb into the drivers seat, “Climb in, day’s a wasting`.”
Terry gripped the wheel a moment; obviously pleased. He started the engine, which purred silently, and smiled one more time at his uncle as he put the van in drive.
Cliff stepped out of the way, shaded his eyes, and watched his nephew slowly bump down the dusty road. A feeling of pride and sorrow filled him as the torch of the family business had been passed. He raised his hand in a final trivial wave and walked toward his front door.
His wife stood behind the screen door, smiling, holding back tears.
She knew how this day was bitter-sweet for her husband.
He returned her smile and walked toward her. Little did she know he was beyond ready for them to enjoy the next stage of life, together, in love.
You need to log in to urbis or create an urbis account to review this writing.
Reviews
Sort Reviews by Newest | Oldest | Highest Quality | Lowest Quality | Newest Comments |
It creates a sense of mystery that propels me to continue reading it. I am hungry for the next chapter or continuation. I love how much detail you give to every event and the lurid and descriptive style. The characters are believable in their language and thoughts of the everyman.
- add/view comments (0)
Showing 1 - 1 of 1
Review item
Add to faves
GENERAL
REVIEW QUEUE
Ratings & Rankings
