Page 91 of The Troll’s Summer Flame

Earl chews invisible tobacco, a habit that he gave up two years ago, but a sure sign that he’s thinking hard. That mind is still sharp as ten tacks and strikes like shrapnel when he’s angry. Hoping he’s not too angry just now...

“Why?”

“Hm?”

“Why are you doin’ all this? My own blood kin don’t fuss. Haven’t heard from ‘em in years, not a call, not a Christmas card. My buddies at the VFW and American Legion are dropping like flies, put in homes, living with their married daughters, or retired out in Florida—stupid. Hurricanes and humidity that’ll simmer your gizzards.” Earl fake spits an imaginary wad to show his disdain for the Florida weather.

“New York is cooler. Pretty, too. Lenny invited me up for Thanksgiving.”

“Didn’t invite me, though.”

“He did! And you were there for his wedding, you ass. You’re family. You want me to spell it out? You are family. You and Tilly. Lenny and Cindy. You are all I have in the whole fucking world, and if you don’t want to come quietly, then you can come screaming and cussing. I’m busting you out of Mint Woods when you’re discharged from this place, and we’re starting a new life in Pine Ridge.”

Silence. Chewing on nothing, or maybe chewing on words.

Then, “The dog comes?”

“Duh.”

“Don’t sass me, you’re not some teenager with a safety pin through his nose.”

“Of course Tilly is coming.”

“And where are we staying?”

“In a nice place.”

“You have no idea, do you?”

“Not yet. But you’re not gonna be released until next week. I have time.”

“You realize my social worker from the VA will have to help you out, or I’m gonna lose my medical coverage and probably my disability checks, right? We joke that the VA loses people in the system all the time, but not when you keep popping into the hospital and costing ‘em money.”

No, I hadn’t thought of that. I just thought of getting him someplace where I could at least try to help him. “Of course, I thought of that. I’m not some brainless piece of bait on a hook. I’m... I’m going to get the people in Pine Ridge to help me find us a place.”

Earl snorts. “The people in Pine Ridge, he says. Like they’re different from people anywhere else. What are they, gods?”

Vampires, krakens, mothmen, Orcs, gargoyles... I smirk, even though he can’t see it. “No, but they’re the next best thing.”

Cathy

“I can’t meet for coffee. I’ll be lucky if I make it to Friends-giving before you leave for Cape May.”

Cindy’s voice is breathless in my ear. Normally, that might make me suspicious, since she and Lennox, her huge mountain man of a hubby, seem to be in a permanent state of breathlessness lately, but during the school year, we barely see each other unless we’re working a catering event together. I don’t think she’s missing one of our super-rare coffee breaks just to fool around.

“What’s wrong? You sound flustered. Is it hanky-panky flustered, or something-bad flustered?” I close my laptop and push aside the pile of Thanksgiving acrostic poems I’m grading, each one topped with a scented sticker and some specific praise and critique.

“Something-not-awesome. You remember Marlow?”

“Lennox’s brother?” I’ve only seen him once, at the wedding. He was quiet, kept to himself, and stayed near their uncle, who was blind. He looks a lot like Lennox, same enormous build, same long black beard, same shyness. At least, I think it was shyness. Maybe he’s just not a big wedding person.

“I know you only met him once, and he and Len don’t always get along, but things have been better since Lennox uh—left home. They had a complicated childhood, raising each other without parents from the time they were young teens. Just... a lot of power struggles. A lot of very different personality traits.”

“Cin, you don’t have to explain anything to me. Remember, I have a bunch of sisters.”

“Yeah, and you all get along. I mean, how could you not? You’re like five copies of the same person. It’s like your mom and dad had one and then hit the ‘clone’ button.”

I can’t argue with that. My family is super Hallmark Channel-esque, but as a teacher with a bunch of students who all share different life experiences, and as someone who has lived on my own for the last seven years, it’s not like I don’t understand that my family is the exception, not the rule. “You’re spiraling. Stressed?”