Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“God shole got his ass good for how he done me. Look at him.” Mama chuckled while shaking her head as if she felt both pity and amusement. “God don’t like ugly, so He must not like your father one bit,” Mama kept going.
“Mama! Now you know you ain’t right. Daddy looks good, ’specially for his age.”
Mama burst out laughing, and they shared a cloistered titter at her triviality.
She looked around the room and swelled with love as ‘It Kills Me,’ by Melanie Fiona, started to play. It felt good having them around her. Family. No, they weren’t perfect, but she was loved by them today and would be loved by them tomorrow. Three of the most important people in her life were with her, their energy filling the air like a lovely perfume.
Caspian, you deserve an academy award. Bravo.
As if reading her mind, the man turned to her and winked, then blew her a kiss before turning his attention right back to her father without missing a beat…
He was all that he was… and all that he claimed…
What’s easily understood doesn’t have to be explained…
Caspian studied the sparkling diamond wedding band in the white box. He sat right outside on the steps of Noah and Aunt Angel’s house in the early afternoon, a few hours before he was due to marry the woman of his dreams. The sun shined bright in the sky, and the leaves had just begun to turn shades of deep russet, burnt orange, and burgundy.
Four months had passed with no sign of Uncle Bobby until one day, several weeks ago, his remains washed up on the bank of the Ohio River. Noah initially took his absence hard but after a few weeks, he seemed to settle down, accepting the fact that the old man was gone. In fact, a wave of relief appeared to wash over him. As time passed, Noah opened up more to him about the goings on in that house. Caspian discovered that Uncle Bobby had been verbally abusive to Noah once he began drinking heavily again. According to his cousin, when Aunt Angel got terminally ill, the drinking picked up and the abuse began, getting worse with each day. Noah was initially forgiving of the old man, but admitted that he’d begun to hate him.
Uncle Bobby was reverting back to his old ways. It was always in him. Noah wasn’t kin to him. He just wanted to use him. He kept himself in check and stayed in line ’cause Aunt Angel was here. He didn’t want to rock the boat and have no place to go, since Aunt Angel handled everything and took care of him. I was his own son, and he knew it, but he didn’t care. He killed my mama. Lied to my Aunt. Destroyed our family… My grandpappy never got over his daughter’s death. He cried out for Cheyenne for years.
Uncle Bobby was a wreckin’ ball. I became his day of reckoning.
When his body was discovered, he didn’t have a head, but the police presumed it was because some wildlife got to him due to the cut being jagged, as opposed to if it had been done with a knife or saw. The body was in such bad condition, it took a while for him to be identified. A tattoo of a Viking ship managed to do the job. As far as the scene of the crime? Axel had done a damn good job. It looked good as new. Not a trace of evidence left behind.
Leading up to that day of Uncle Bobby’s timely demise, special precautions were made. The man had left Noah a note that he was leaving to run an errand. Of course, no one ever saw him again. It had taken Caspian a few good tries to get Uncle Bobby’s handwriting down pat, but he finally managed, and the letter looked believable. It was presumed he went to the river, a place he liked to go to every now and again to fish and sight see, and somehow accidentally fell in. After all, his car was parked there, though they found the vehicle several weeks after his disappearance. The body had yet to be seen.
Regardless of the grizzly details, Uncle Bobby’s side of the family had put together a memorial for him. He and Noah attended, both appearing to be in mourning and distraught—only in his case it was a performance, and he rather enjoyed the fact that it had to be a closed casket.
You didn’t want anyone to know you were my father. Well, I just took your head off then… No worries. Nobody can ever see your fuckin’ face ever again…
Caspian sat Noah down and explained that Aunt Angel’s house was all his now. Angel had left it to Uncle Bobby, and if the man should die, then it would go to Noah, fair and square. Aunt Angel didn’t have much, but she did leave a private bank account only for Noah, and Caspian had promised his cousin he’d help him keep up with the bills until he got a better paying job. Most importantly, he let him know that he was so very proud of him.