Page 45 of Hallow’s Eve
“Apparently, they were sleeping together.”
“You know I wasn’t sleeping with Grady, right?”
Celie never answered me, but said, “You’ve got a job if you want it.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said to her, but knowing the man who owned Bootsies had my boss killed discouraged me.
Celie let me know Grady’s funeral was right after Donette’s tomorrow. She was joined by more crew from Bootsies, and I slinked away, only to run into Dylan, Donette’s ex.
“Eve,” he started.
The sight of him shocked me. Donette had been a mess since he left her. Crying even harder, I left.
That night when I moved my things over to Donette’s apartment, all her belongings were still there. Of course, her parents hadn’t had the time to move them yet. I left everything just like she had it for the most part. From what I’d heard from Hallow, she’d had a guy over, that big biker Thorn the night she died. I went into her bedroom and made her bed and got rid of any evidence of Donette’s wild sex life, so her mom didn’t have to see it when she came over eventually to pack up. After all, what were best friends for? After boxing up lingerie and dildos, I locked myself in my new room. To my surprise, my brother texted me that my dad had made it home last night. I felt bad for suspecting Hallow would betray me. I didn’t feel bad for thinking the other bikers might. I called the hospital to check on Hallow. The nurse told me that he was doing simply fine. I breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing dad was home and Hallow was alive, I slept pretty peacefully, considering.
Putting on the same black dress, I attended my best friend’s funeral the next morning. I guess in Nashville funerals even had a live band. Jackie’s Heroes were there, singing a sad, country “Purple Rain” that made me bawl my eyes out. I was too chicken shit to go up to the casket and say goodbye, so I drove out to the cemetery afterwards for another chance. They opened her casket for the last time, and I finally made my way over. Reaching out, I touched her cold clammy hand.
“Donette, I miss you. I’m sorry for assuming you sold me out,” I said to her in my mind. “Just so you know, Dylan showed up at the wake.” I gave her a moment to process that. “And I took your advice and got laid. I promise to never take my time on this earth for granted again. I promise to get up and sing whenever I get the chance, for you, since I’m too chicken shit. I promise to love hard and fuck harder. I love you, girl.”
Watching Donette placed in the ground, I ended up missing Grady’s funeral all together. Probably for the best since everyone thought I’d been fucking the guy. No one had told me anything about Earl’s funeral. Ford and Jasper, their deaths were tainted so I had no idea what was being done. I helped Donette’s family take flowers and wreaths from the funeral back to their home in Antioch. I spent my time there refusing all the food people tried to feed me and in the arms of Donette’s grandma whose soft skin and baby powder scent reminded me of my Gran. That night, I ate a bowl of cereal for dinner, while I flipped through my phone looking at pictures of me and Donette. When I was about to go to bed, Riff called me and said Hallow would be discharged in the morning.
“Kingpin said you’d be the one to take care of him. If you’re not up to it, he said he’s sure Memphis can nurse him.”
“Memphis?”
“Blonde, big titties.”
Oh, her. Thinking of another woman with Hallow, I barked, “I told Kingpin I’d be there.”
Riff gave me directions to Royal Road. “After you get off the highway, go down the road until you hit Allan’s Junk Cars, turn right right there and keep on going. After you go round Dead Man’s curve, you’re going to pass Sulfur Creek. Go on until you get down to the bridge down near the Pickin’ Pickle Farm. You’re going to take a left and take another left when you get to a trailer with no underpinning. Yonder down that road about five miles is where you’re heading. Got it?”
“Got it,” I said confidently.
“You’re sure.”
“Yes.” I was from the south, after all.
“Hallow will be home after noon.”
The next morning, I packed a suitcase not knowing how long I’d be taking care of Hallow. As I worried about if the bikers would get the doctor’s instructions and pick up any medicine he needed, I followed Riff’s directions to a tee. When I got to the trailer without a stitch of grass in the yard surrounded by a lush forest, I knew I wasn’t headed to Royal Road. That had been in the old industrial part of the city. Soon, I parked Gran’s old El Camino in front of the cozy cabin Hallow took me to this weekend. At least I thought. There’d been about ten identical ones on the way. But at this one about twenty motorcycles were parked outside along with a few cars. At the top of the steep drive, the door was wide open. Walking inside I found Hallow in the front room surrounded by bikers and their women. A redheaded boy ran past my legs about knocking me down. A biker caught him and tossed him into the air.
“Oh, quiet down everyone. She’s here,” A woman announced, clapping her hands.
The crowd hushed and parted away from Hallow to let me through. Looking rough, he’d been propped up on the couch, one leg and one arm in casts. At the sight of him, I wanted to run to him and hug his thick neck. A flood of emotions about bowled me over. As it was, there was no room on the couch with him. A plump woman in leather pants with a nest of bleached blonde hair fed him chicken soup. Another older woman wearing a Black Sabbath t-shirt and cut offs patted the corner of his mouth with a napkin. She introduced herself as Allie then gave me a rundown of Hallow’s care instructions.
The bikers I recognized and ones I didn’t all continued shattering as the women asked Hallow, “Is this the girl going to be joining us here in the nest?”
“She is, though I haven’t asked her yet. Not officially anyway,” Hallow said to them.
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
Hallow’s good arm pulled out a tiny velvet box. “Eve Angel Newberry, will you marry me?”
My hands flew up to my face to hide my shock. Everyone stared at me. I put my hands down. “Yes,” I said instantly.
Allie had to open the box for him and handed him the ring. The older women moved so I could join him on the couch. With one hand, Hallow slid a small engagement ring on my finger. I barely looked at it because I could only look at him. Hallow’s smile warmed my heart. Mainly, I was glad he was alive. In our awkward position, we kissed like no one was in the room. Like there was no tomorrow. Like life was way too short to wait for the right time. Or the right dick. Kissing Hallow, I had no regrets, no misgivings, nothing.
When our kiss ended, everyone cheered and clapped. A biker smashed his bottle of beer on the wooden floor. Allie complained she’d be cleaning that up. It’d been a set up. We were having an engagement party complete with cake and drinks. One of the bikers announced he’d be grilling steaks out in the yard, so the crowd dispersed as people went outside. Allie, I liked her. I didn’t have to ask, she just explained this whole neighborhood of cabins in the woods was part of Royal Road, the part the public didn’t get to see. She called it the Eagle’s Nest.
