Page 47 of My UnTrue Love
Bright future could he see.
Lyrics from the folk song “Crossroads Coyote”
Clementine all but ran out onto the balcony, trying to cut Woody off. “Luke’s not home, Mr. Shakes!” She called to the landlord loud enough for everyone in Red River Valley to hear.
The fiddle music inside Luke’s apartment stopped with an unharmonious screech.
“If he’s not home, what’s the noise?” Woody demanded, glowering over at her in unpleasant triumph.
“Um…The radio?”
“Nothing that fucking terrible is on the radio.”
“It’s probably a broken radio. Luke is very poor. Which is why I think you should give him more time to come up with the rent he owes.”
“Forget it!” Woody’s snake-y body coiled beneath him, his tail rattling in agitation at the very suggestion of clemency. “He pays by tomorrow or he’s gone. Good riddance to the little shit.”
The ugly curtains in the front window of Luke’s apartment shifted. The kid was listening to all of this. It made Clem want to shield him from Woody’s antipathy.
She lowered her voice, hoping Luke couldn’t hear. “You’re a fair man, Mr. Shakes.”
“No, I’m not.”
Okay, that was undoubtedly true.
“Youcouldbe fair, if you gave yourself a chance.” She wasn’t the kid’s manager, but she could still negotiate on his behalf. Artists weren’t always the best at business discussions. They sometimes needed help. “I understand you have a job to do, but Luke is a young boy. He probably has got nowhere else to go. Can’t you give him an extension? Just this once?”
“That deadbeat’s not going to have the money, even if I gave him fifty years.”
“He could do repairs around the complex to work off some of his rent. Fix the pool maybe.” She gestured towards the half-filled eyesore in the courtyard. The tattered deck chairs surrounding it were just silly, because no one sane would go near that mosquito pit. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have it up and running?”
“Name me one person around here who knows how to swim.”
Again, that was a good point. There were no rivers in Red River Valley. Or oceans or lakes or even a teeny pond. The landscape was desert and mountains, as far as the eye could see.
“Well, we could all learn to swim if we had a pool.” She reasoned, undaunted by logic or the dry environment. “This is a wonderful opportunity to provide the community with a valuable resource…”
“Forget it.” He interrupted. “Not happening.”
Clementine mentally tallied her own money. It didn’t take long to add all the single-digit numbers and come up with a slightly larger double-digit number. “Look, I don’t have a lot of resources right now.” She admitted. “But if you’d be willing to take installments on Luke’s rent, I could pay some of it. That would work, right?”
“Forget it.” Woody repeated. This time the words were a hiss that sent his forked-tongue wriggling out.
“There must be some kind of arrangement we can make.”
“The only kind of ‘arrangement’ you could make with me, I already offered you.” Woody reminded her nastily. “You weren’t interested. So, I’m not making any deals with…” He stopped mid-word, his eyes fixed on something behind Clem’s shoulder.
She turned and saw Bill in the doorway of their apartment. He was backing her up, even though it was no doubt anathema to his mild nature. One of his shoulders was leaning on the jamb, like he was perfectly at ease.
…But his eyes were positivelyglowing. The vivid blue was electrified with that marvelous, protective magic. It was the hottest thing she’d ever seen in her life.
Clementine forgot what she’d even been talking about, her mind consumed with frantic images of dragging Bill into her bedroom and having that powerful glow all to herself. His scorching eyes running over her body, as she ripped off his clothes and ravished him.
“Howdy, Woody.” Bill said, his tone very, extremely, scarily calm. He was doing a great job of channeling the façade of a dangerous man. Like so many artists, Bill was an incredibleactor, throwing himself into the role. It was very convincing. “I believe I asked you to be nice to my roommate.”
Woody’s scales paled, completely buying Bill’s act. “Ihavebeen nice. Miss Miner’s a real fine lady. No doubt in my mind. Why, I told the whole building to be on their best behavior, whenever they see her around. You’ll have no problems with anybody, on that score.”
“Never expected I would.” Bill didn’t move, but somehow that seemed like a threat. “What ‘arrangement’ did you offer her?”
