Then Sarah spoke what they both knew: \u201cThat Wendi woman did.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Sarah, who knew her son thought more of Wendi, her ex-husband\u2019s last girlfriend, than she did, changed gears again. \u201cSo, you\u2019re at the house. What\u2019s it like?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cLike Van Gogh vomited.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cWhoever he<\/em> is,\u201d said Sarah. \u201cSome of the furniture in those email pictures Bates sent looked, well, valuable. Whatcha think?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDunno, Momma, guess so. Bates said most of it\u2019s knock-off, but some might be worth somethin\u2019. But hey, there\u2019s these statues in the yard. They\u2019re weird but that doesn\u2019t matter, they\u2019re fancy as hell, worth big bucks, Momma, huge<\/em> bucks. And there\u2019s dozens of \u2018em!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sarah perked up. \u201cStatues? Like Auntie J\u2019s concrete Jesus and those adorable lambs?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cNo, Mom, not concrete\u2014stone! Carved. Chiseled. You know, sculptures!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Sarah didn\u2019t sound impressed. \u201cWell, BK, statues or no statues, doesn\u2019t matter. We ain\u2019t seein\u2019 no money outta that house.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cFor sure,\u201d he agreed, examining a tag hanging from the couch. It was an auction label. There was one matching it on the opposite couch and others on all the artwork he could see. \u201cLooks like Bates is gettin\u2019 ready for a yard sale, Momma, to pay off the creditors, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDon\u2019t start me on that tuh-urd, Bates.\u201d Sarah pronounced turd<\/em> using two syllables. \u201cJust look over what Bates has for you, carefully<\/em>, sign it, and you know the rest. Hustle back with that three thousand. The super\u2019s screamin\u2019 about the back rent, so let that tuh-urd Bates worry about everythin\u2019 else.\u201d She changed gears again; Sarah was an efficient gear-changer. \u201cBK, you eat lunch?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cYes, Momma.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cBecause, you know, that medication, that Q-peen\u2014\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201c\u2014Quetiapine\u2014\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201c\u2014Whatever it\u2019s called, you need to take it with food. That foreign doctor\u2014\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201c\u2014Doctor Singh\u2014\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cYes, him, he said so, and I finally got to the library to look it up online. Says you need three meals a day with it. Eat, Billy. You\u2019ve lost so much weight, you\u2019re a stick with hands. Speakin\u2019 of, what was lunch?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cTaco Bell.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cNow, Billy, you must eat, of course, but don\u2019t waste <\/em>money. Eat what your momma packed in the cooler. Have you put it in the fridge? That chicken won\u2019t keep in this heat\u2014it\u2019s a scorcher here, by the way. Bates said the house would have power. Does it?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cHow\u2019s the Corolla?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows framing the front doors. The car gleamed in the sun. \u201cIt\u2019s fine, \u2018cept the AC\u2019s still dead. Alignment\u2019s pullin\u2019, too.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI pray it\u2019ll be alright, and we\u2019re more worried about you, anyway. You don\u2019t sound so good, Sweetie.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWe? Who\u2019s we<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n His mother paused; he could hear her thinking. \u201cWe<\/em> are your momma and your girlfriend. And don\u2019t say Amanda\u2019s not your girlfriend; you\u2019ve been sleepin\u2019 at her apartment.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWhat? You guys are talkin\u2019<\/em> now? I thought you hated Mandy.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cNo, I dislike<\/em> Mandy. There\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cMom, I don\u2019t want you talkin\u2019 to her\u2014\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cSweetie, that\u2019s not up to you. Look: please just take your medicine and come home in one piece, okay? \u2018Cause I got a bad feelin\u2019.\u201d Sarah regularly had bad feelin\u2019s.<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cOkay, Momma: \u2018Take my meds.\u2019 Got it. It\u2019s just weird, you know, you and Mandy talkin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cJust keepin\u2019 track of my son\u2019s whereabouts. Believe me, we\u2019re not tradin\u2019 recipes. Listen, I hafta go. Your momma\u2014that\u2019s me\u2014loves you. And who loves me back?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cBilly does.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cBilly who?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cJesus, Mom, I\u2019m twenty-two. Don\u2019t make me say it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDon\u2019t blaspheme. Now, tell me who loves me.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cBilly the Kid<\/em>. Ya happy now, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDelirious! Take your medicine, Sweetie-pie. Love you. Bye!\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cLove you too, Momma,\u201d he said. With a click-beep, the call ended. Billy was used to Sarah having f<\/em>eelins <\/em>and finishing conversations like a drill sergeant, but his mom and his girlfriend talking? That was new. He stewed over an image: Mandy and his mother sitting on some couch comparing notes, but he dropped the thought. He was feeling better\u2014at least a little\u2014and didn\u2019t want to jinx it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He continued looking through one of the glass panels abutting the front doors. Outside, the two robins he\u2019d scarcely noticed earlier had just alighted on the shoulders of the large tollbooth samurai, the Big Hoss. Strange, <\/em>he thought. <\/em>The statue now definitely faced away from the road, toward the house\u2014toward Billy. Coulda sworn it had been lookin\u2019 the other way. <\/em>But had he really been paying attention? No.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The fat robins perched comfortably, enjoying the view while digesting their worms. Suddenly, the statue vibrated. The unsuspecting birds felt this tremor through their talons and flew off to the safety of the hawthorn bushes. Billy saw them take flight but thought nothing of it; he was too far away to notice such a quick movement.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n