Page 1 of Small Town Beast 2: Saverin's Duet

ONE

ABSALOM

If the man stretched his neck another inch it might have popped right off his shoulders. He reminded Absalom of a red-bellied cooter he’d seen while fishing at New River. Although the creature standing at the door made a somewhat less impressive specimen.

“Can I help you?”

The man stared up, andup, at Absalom Greentree, his jaw getting slacker with every inch his eyes traversed. “Lord but you’re a big’un. You looked much smaller from a distance.”

“Most people do.”

“What did they feed you, boy?”

“Cornbread,” said Absalom. “And I ain’t no boy.”

“No sir. That you arenot,” the man agreed.

Absalom stood at six foot five inches tall, with shoulders spanning nearly the entire width of the narrow frame. The man doing his best to stare around that wall of muscle might have taken a hint from two more noticeable features of Absalom Greentree: a hostile blue glare and the 92X Beretta at his hip. But the fellow remained stubbornly in place, squinting through the narrow gap between Absalom and the frame. He certainly hadn’t climbed all those steps just to get a look at muscles and apair of pale blue eyes. There was something far more interesting inside of that room to the man straining his neck for a peek. It was a truth universally acknowledged that the persistence of mountain folk rivaled only their love of other people’s business.

“I didn’t come here to mind your business,” said the intruder, shuffling right, then left, as his eyes hunted for an opening.

“And yet,” said Absalom.

“The boys downstairs said you were up here plannin’ for the war tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t you have someone guardin’ this door? Roman might send his black-hats up thon stairs to give you a cold bullet.”

“I can handle myself,” came the reply.

“ Well, I came to tell you that you can count on us Mulgrews to join the fray tomorrow.” The man puffed out his chest. Now he wasn’t so much turtle as turkey. “It’s time somebody put a stop to all this race-mixing and carryin’ on and just get down to growing marijuana nice and proper like we used to.”

There was a pause; an opportunity for Absalom to give the man a proverbial (or literal) boot in the ass. But the tall blond leader of the Green Tree clan was a politician first. “I’m very happy to hear that,” Absalom said to Mulgrew, or whatever his name was, offering his hand. “Your support is appreciated. It will take a lot to bring the Harvest back to what it was but with everybody doing their part we can make it happen.” He patted the man on the shoulder, driving the fellow back a small step. “If you’re riding with us tomorrow you can talk to Rory downstairs. He’ll sort you out on the details. Good night, friend.”

“We can fuck them, but we ain’t have to marry them,” the man burst out as Absalom began to shut the door.

Absalom said, “Pardon?”

Mulgrew threw up his hands. “It’s the marrying and cavortin’ around in public I have a problem with. I’m pleased as punch you said you were gonna put a stop to the race-mixing, honest to God.”

Absalom’s voice hardened. “When did I say that?”

Mulgrew shook his head. “My sister married one, believe it or not, and if I had my way I’d boil the fucker in grease. I went to that party she was havin’ for the Fourth, and I start speakin’ my mind as is my inalienable constitutional right, and what should happen but this darkie bastard popped me right in the clackers. Then come all his friends out of the woodwork and I saw what time it was; had to run for my life and Sis was no help at all. But if I hadn’t forgot my gun at church it would have been a different story I’d be telling here today, yes sir.”

Absalom stared down at him, eyes narrowed.

The turkey inflated some more. “Now, I don’t have a problem with itnecessarilysir, ‘cause every man has his needs and we’ve all been curious to dip our rods in different rivers, but we all know the blood in Florin’s being thinned enough as it is. If we let this mixing and mingling continue we won’t have a culture left.”

“Abi?” called a fluted, female voice from inside the room. “Can you get this window? It’s letting in bugs and it won’t stay closed.”

Mulgrew’s eyes widened, and Absalom backed into the room and shut the door firmly in his face, but not before the nosy scrap saw everything. Ten minutes later, the taproom downstairs had the rumor confirmed that Absalom had an almost-naked girl up there— a girl who was most definitely not his wife.

And nor was she white, neither.

Scandal!

Absalom shutthe door and crossed the room to help Lorrie with the window.

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