Prose
get together in the first place?” Wind pushed rain against their window like a sideways shower. “Well,” Big Art said, “before me, your mother was the victim of a few fellars from the infamous 4-F Club.” “You mean 4-H?” “4-F. Find ‘em, feel ‘em, fuck ‘em, and forget ‘em. I come by and she knew she found somebody she could trust in.” “Because you loved her?” “Something like that.” “Did she ever try and get you to work a regular job?” “Knew better. Knew I’m the kind of man who likes to wake up before anybody else. That way if a nickel rolls down the street, I’ll be the first to grab it.” Caruso smiled and the next thing he knew—or didn’t know—was that he was dreaming of something other than cheese. He probably could have slept all morning, except that Big Art was shaking him by the shoulder and saying, “Get up!” The rain had quieted and it was just getting light, but when Caruso turned his head to see the time, he noticed the digital clock was missing. So was the TV and so were the bagpipers. There were no towels in the bathroom and, more surprisingly, no toilet seat. When Caruso came back into the room itself, Big Art was stripping the beds and loading the blankets and linens into the suitcase. “What’s going on?” he asked his father. “Nothing,” the old man said as he snapped the leather case shut. “Just grabbing me a souvenir or two.” They were on I-95, ten or fifteen miles south of the New Scotland Inn, before they broke silence. “I would have helped, you know,” Caruso said. “With what?” “Taking all that stuff out of the room.” “I figured you needed your beauty rest,” the old man told him. Caruso was the first to see the cruiser in his side view mirror. Big Art picked up on the sound of the siren seconds later. “Dig out my glasses,” the old man commanded as he pointed to the glove box. The Maine State Trooper was young, willowy, and well-pressed. He’d parked the powder blue cruiser less than ten feet behind the trailer, and approached cautiously with his right hand hovering close to his HK 45. “Just keep your yap closed,” Big Art warned Caruso.
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