Page 35 of Pete and His Precious

Then when Kylie got married, money seemed to flow even more. I’m not sure what that has to do with her ex-husband, but they made a good bit of money together, before they got divorced. Kylie got a very large settlement. Dad’s law firm handled the divorce, which I know was very profitable for him.

Seems like that would be a bit of a conflict of interest, but their divorce was amicable, even though Kylie’s husband wasn’t really interested in Baxley.

He is a playboy.

Definitely not someone I would have been interested in, but I think Kylie just saw dollar signs. We were not raised in a cushylifestyle exactly, but I think the idea of actually having to get a job and go to work was a little more than what she wanted to do.

Sometimes I’m not sure why I’m doing it. I could move back home and have a life of even ease and luxury. But, I guess there’s something inside of me that wants to know I can make it on my own.

Maybe it’s the idea of a safety net behind me that keeps me from being petrified of what will happen if my voice acting career doesn’t work out.

“I was surprised to see you here,” Pete says as he opens the door and allows us to walk out first.

He steps through and closes it behind us before I say, “I knew they asked you to, but that was...before.” And by before, I mean before we started talking and I realized that he wasn’t as bad as what I had always thought he was. “Still, I dismissed it because I thought that you would never leave the force.”

“About that,” he says. I can tell that what he wants to say is pretty important to him, and Baxley is fine. She walked out onto the grass, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. It looks like she’s texting someone.

She is rather quiet, and she seems a little depressed to me. I don’t know, maybe if I had to live in this house I’d be depressed too. It wasn’t like this when I was a kid. But, it was turning that way more and more every day.

“I kind of figured there was more to the story. I could tell that you wanted to say more at the table, but you didn’t.”

“You could tell?” he says, a little bemused.

“Yeah. You seemed antsy. I don’t think it was obvious. I could be wrong, but I doubt anyone else noticed. I was the one sitting beside you.” And I seem to be in tune with whatever he does. My eyes track to him whenever we’re in the same room together, and I feel a powerful pull, where I don’t want to leave his presence, and I want to be closer.

“I see,” he says, and then he says the rest. “You’re right. I would have turned it down if I could have. But I didn’t want to tell your family that. I don’t have anything against them, or anything. I just didn’t want to leave the force. And it didn’t matter how much money was waved in front of my face.”

“I didn’t think you’d be swayed by money. You’re just one of those people that doesn’t seem to care about it.”

“I care, but it’s not going to make me do something I don’t want to do. If that makes sense.”

“It does, except you’re here,” I teased him gently. That’s a little pry to get the rest of the story out.

“I didn’t have a choice because the chief put me on unpaid administrative leave, and so if I wanted to make money, and pay my rent, I had to take the job.”

“You’re a single man living by yourself. I know that being a cop doesn’t pay a whole lot, but other than rent...” I can see I touched on a nerve, because he fidgets again. Interesting. I am starting to be able to read him.

“I have some things I put money in. The anteaters for one.”

“Oh, that’s right. You’re supporting a family of them now. What is that, a hundred bucks a month?” I ask, knowing that it couldn’t nearly be his entire salary. And I know how much his rent is, unless our landlord had been extremely unfair to me whenever he’d rented my place. Since our places were similar, I would imagine that the rent was very much similar to.

“I give a lot of my money to Aunt Arley. That’s not something that’s common knowledge,” he says to me, his eyes holding mine.

I nod, and I want to continue the conversation, but I know that we’re out here for Baxley.

I also know that he’s uncomfortable around children. He said as much yesterday.

“I thought Baxley would really enjoy seeing the farm. I almost took her on the field trip yesterday, but she’s at least two years older than the oldest kid there, and I didn’t want to use my position to get benefits I shouldn’t.”

“I would really like to go!” Baxley says as she comes back over towards us, and she looks excited about something for the first time that day.

“I’m sure we can arrange that,” he says, and I believe him. I’ve already established the fact that he’s not the kind of guy who says things he doesn’t mean.

I really, really admire that in anyone, but especially a man.

“Are you really a police officer?” Baxley says, and again, it surprises me that she’s even talking to him. She isn’t usually comfortable around strangers, and especially men. She’s usually very quiet and reserved.

“I am,” he says.

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