THE SECRET GARDEN OF MARTHA GRIM
PAGE 18

Rudy Infano had picked up Tommy Hawkins just outside of the Grim house. The kid was this side of hysterical. Stating that he had to see his dad, something about the garden, and a dead cat. God, Rudy hoped he wasn't going to get in trouble for this. That would look great on a resume, child stealing.

Man, he just knew his dad was going to yell. "Why didn't you just take him home?" he'd say. "Why you gotta bring him here? This ain't gonna be good for business, ya know. This is kidnapping!" he could hear him now.
Holy crap! Cell phone! Why didn't he think of that sooner? Idiot. He pulled his cell phone from his shirt pocket and dialed the store's number.
"Hello? Pop? yeah, it's Rudy. Listen Pop...what? yeah, delivery when fine, dropped off the stuff. telling ya pop, that broads a weird duck..listen, that's not what I'm calling about, listen, is John Hawkins there?"

"John Hawkins?" Carmine Infano repeated, a bit bewildered at the question, "why would John be here?"
"Listen, Rudy, I need you to get back here, I have a few more deliveries, and the..."

"Pop," Rudy interrupted, " I need to find John, have you seen him? Yes it's important..it involves his son, Tommy."

"Tommy? When did you see Tommy?" Carmine asked, "is he OK? I he hurt? That Cole! I knew it! That bastardo..."

There he goes again, Rudy thought, jumping to conclusions. His dad was a nice enough guy, but was a bit too easy to fly off the handle. "No Pop, its nothing like that, Tommy just needs to see his dad, and he asked me for a ride into town. What?....No, she doesn't..." Here it comes..

"WHAT!" his dad yelled into the phone, "Are You insane? What were you thinking...No, you weren't thinking...I.."

"POP!" Rudy yelled back, "Will you calm down..the kid was freaked, and he didn't want to go home, I didn't have a choice, you didn't see him..Look, I'll explain it when I get there. Just do me a favor and get Hawkins to the store, ok..Alright..bye."

Rudy hung up the phone with a click of the flip lid. He had never yelled at his dad like that, but he had to stop his tirade somehow. Tommy just stared at him. "Crap," Rudy thought, he better say something, kid probably thought something was wrong or he did something wrong.. "Hey, umm..it's OK Tommy, we're going to go to my dad's store, you remember my dad's store? Yeah, well, we're gonna go there, I just called him, let him know to get your dad, so he could meet us there.." jeez he was hoping the kid bought this.

"I remember your dad." Tommy said, looking out the window, "My dad said he could always trust him to give you a square deal. What's a square deal?"

Rudy smiled and said, "It means my dad's a fair guy, and its true, he is."

"You don't believe me, do you, Rudy." Tommy said, more of a statement, than a question.

"Kid, the way you looked, I don't know..I mean, I just came out of there, and that lady's a strange one, I'll give you that, but "cat killing-vines", That's a bit much to swallow, you know? I mean you have to look at it from my angle, you know.."

"But it did happen,Rudy!" Tommy blurted out, "I saw it, Sarge was there, then the vines grabbed him, like long fingers, and they pulled him in. They twisted him, like...like he was a rag." The kid was on the verge of tears..

"OK, OK...Take it easy, I'll take you to your dad, we'll get this sorted out. You'll see.."Rudy put a hand on the kids shoulder, to calm him. Man this kid was seriously freaked. He hoped his dad could find John Hawkins, or there was gonna be some real problems.

The drive into town continued in silence..
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"Damn it Woman, would it kill you to put some damn meat in this house!" Willie slammed the refrigerator door shut.
All that damn veggie crap was driving him nuts. A man could eat so much turkey meat. He wanted a good steak every now and then. So what if she didn't eat it, He did, and damn it he wanted steak with his goddamn potatoes!

"Listen Willie" Ann said, as she came into the kitchen, "Don't go yelling at me, just who the hell do you think you are?
You forget, this is my house, and this is my kitchen, and my damn fridge. I'll put whatever the hell I want in it. If you don't like the food in it, go eat out." She took a defiant stance by the fridge and continued "You knew i was a vegetarian and besides, I bought you the turkey meat. So quit your complaining. So there's your damn meat! There!
What do you think about that?"

Willie softened his gaze, walked over to her from where he stood by the sink, smiled, and with the reflexes of a cat, shot out the back of his left hand that caught her on the right cheek, hard enough to knock her off balance and against the fridge. In the same movement, with the same hand, he grabbed her hair and held her hard against the refrigerator door.
"Say something now! Say something now! What? nothing smart? How about I take one of those carrots and ram it down your throat, huh? Yeah, you don't mind meat much when you're on your knees, do you!"
The words spit out of his mouth with venom, "Don't you ever think that you can talk that way to me, bitch! you understand? DO YOU! I'm Willie Fucking Cole! I fucking own you! and that brat of yours..I'll do what I want, when I want...and now I want meat! You hear me..MEAT!"

He let her go.

She sat on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. He'd never been like this. My God, what have I let in my house? she thought. Near my son..She knew his business was suffering, he'd been more and more irritable. All he could talk about was that damn house and that woman and her garden.
Now this! He'd been rough, but he'd never struck her. She could barely understand the ranting with the ringing in her head. Something about shopping for food. Then he was in her face again..."Now..you would like it if i took you now, wouldn't you..damn whore, no wonder your husband left you. Well you ain't worth it now..Now I want food, and..."
He stopped in mid sentence, was looking out the window.
Suddenly he bolted from the room.
She could hear his truck start up and leave out of the driveway.
Slowly she got up. Walked out of the kitchen and into the downstairs bath. Looking into the mirror, she examined the damage. Her right cheek was already swelling, and with her fair skin, that was going to bruise, she could tell that right off. Her head was sore where it he had banged it up against the fridge door, and it hurt where he had pulled it.

Throwing some water in her face, she fixed her makeup, and hair, to cover the spot where he hit her, grabbed her largest pair of sunglasses, and went out to her car. He wanted meat..She would have to go to town, to the store.
She'd also buy some of that stuff for the rats. That had arsenic in it, didn't? She had just decided to kill him not when he hit her, but when he said she wasn't worth anything. No one tells Ann Taylor-Hawkins that she's worthless. Especially some no account gardener.
Hitting her just signed his death warrant.