The Shack: An Unreasonable Man

I tapped the magazine on the desk. "Or, you can do the right thing for once in your fucking life."

We stared at each other for a long moment, until a distant sound started to build. Sirens.

"Sounds like time's just 'bout up, Shitstain. I almost hope you shoot me. I'd die with a smile, happy knowin' what's gonna happen to your soft, pretty ass in prison."

I let the magazine drop in front of him with a clatter and walked slowly out the door. I was halfway down the hall when I heard the single shot.

The door to the sitting room opened slowly, Charlotte framed in the doorway. "I didn't know, Les."

"Didn't know or didn't want to know, Charli? You had to realize something was up."

She dropped her gaze to the floor and stood silent until Tara pulled her back to let me through. Tara had her lawyer face on. "You need to leave before they get here... Dad." At that last word, a sad, hesitant smile crossed her face, but it was gone in an instant. Charlotte noticed, and she closed her eyes for a second as I walked out.

***

One month later

***

The Sheriff stared at me. "Are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?"

"What's the easy way?"

"Get in the car and we drive over."

"What's the hard way?"

He held up his radio mike. "I call for back up. We Taser your ass, handcuff you. You end up in the car anyway."

I sighed, put the wrench down, and walked over.

We drove in silence for a couple minutes before he asked.

"Is this over, Needles?"

"Is what over?"

"I can read the papers, asshole."

"Still looking for the centerfold in the Wall Street Journal?"

"A house full of gang members blows up. A gang member we just released gets shot in a park in North Carolina. Guys high-diving out of windows, and politicians trying to suck-start handguns. But it's been quiet for over a month. Just tell me it's over."

Damn, he was good at putting shit together. "I didn't fucking start it."

"I know." He rubbed his forehead. "Jesus. Somebody needs to slap a warning label on your ass. 'Do Not Touch, High Explosive.'"

"As far as I know, it's fucking over."

"As far as you know?"

I shrugged. "I think everybody involved is dead. Except my bitch ex-wife, and I don't know how much she knew."

He pulled up in front of the steak house. "Let's go. Or do I need to call back up."

As soon as we walked in, I seriously considered that I'd hit my head on something. I didn't even recognize Delaney, at first. She was wearing a black dress, looking uncertain and nervous.

The fucking "Happy Birthday" banner over the table was excruciatingly cheerful.

Sheree was sitting with a smug smile. She'd warned me I was having a birthday party whether I wanted one or not. I just didn't expect her to play quite that fucking dirty. At least she was wearing a pretty low-cut blouse as an unspoken apology for being so under-handed. Women.

Still, the steak was great and she'd even managed to get Tiffany and Tara there.

After we ate the cake, Delaney stood up nervously. "I got you a present. Sort of. It's kind of ratty and a little fucked up. Nobody else seems to want it, but I thought, maybe, you could figure out what to do with it."

I eyed her suspiciously she handed me a flat package with shaking hands.

I carefully opened it to find a stack of papers, the top one labeled "Petition for Adoption." I carefully paged through it and saw Charlotte's signature agreeing to the adoption already in place.

Delaney was pale as a ghost when I looked up. "This is pretty much the perfect gift. It's exactly what I've always wanted."

She rushed forward, latched on to me and started bawling into my shirt. I looked around, Sheree was crying, Tiffany was crying, even Tara, steely-eyed lawyer that she was, had glassy eyes.

It took Delaney a while to calm down, Sheree pulled chair between us and Delaney parked herself on it. She took a deep breath. "It's part of a set though."

Tara handed me two more sheaves of paper, a bit of her lawyer face in place. Tiffany reached over and gripped her sister's hand. "We know it's kind of late, but..."

I looked at the two sets of adult adoption papers. "Is this legal?"

Tara nodded. "Special circumstances. It's a little unusual, but it is legal."

"I was just curious, I'd have taken them even it was completely illegal."

Tiffany gave a weak smile.

*****

I watched the embers of the fire, listening to the late winter wind against the cabin; Sheree shifted a little against me, tugged her blanket a little higher and put her arm back over Delaney. On the other end of the huge couch, Tiffany and Tara were out cold, lying against each other in a mound of blankets just like they had when they were five.

I could just see an empty cookie tray, covered in piecrust crumbs and stacked with empty hot chocolate mugs on the kitchen counter.

They wouldn't be able to do it every Friday. Tiffany had a fiancé and emergency-room shifts to deal with, and Tara's new job required a lot of travel, but for now everything was good.

It was Movie Night.

Post Production Notes:

Thanks again to everyone - writing these, is to some degree, easy. Making them readable is not. More thanks than I can express. The Missus is, of course, already figuring out pieces and parts the next adventure of Needles & Delaney.

Both the trick with the spark plug fragments and the polarized sunglasses to find the tempered glass are real. Next time you have a chance, rotate your polarized sunglasses and look at the side windows of your car. I don't recommend trying the spark plug fragment trick, it works quite well, but you'll have to figure out how to explain that to your car insurance company. Your windshield is likely laminated and won't work the same way, but you will create some nasty chips in it.