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Spencerville

"Yup. I was there."

"You're lucky I wasn't. You'd be laid out right now at Gibbs, stiff as a board, with that pink shit they use in your veins. And I'd spit on your face if you had a face left after I got through with you."

Keith didn't reply.

"My boys told me you was hidin' behind that preacher's skirt at St. James."

"You can leave Pastor Wilkes out of this."

"Yeah? Why? Anybody who fucks with me or my boys is automatically in it — up to his ears — and that includes God Almighty himself."

Again, Keith didn't reply but just shook his head.

Baxter continued, "And what the fuck were you doing at Baxter Motors?"

"Speaking to your brother about a car."

"Yeah? And about my wife. If you keep asking around about me and my family, you're gonna die. Understand?"

Keith noticed that Baxter's eyes were set close together, the sign of a predator in the animal kingdom, and his head swiveled from side to side as he spoke, as though looking for prey or peril.

Keith tried to picture Annie with this guy for twenty years but knew that there was another Cliff Baxter, the home model. Cliff Baxter probably loved her, though she'd never tell Keith that, and Cliff Baxter thought he was a protective and caring husband, though most people would say possessive and abusive.

Baxter asked, "Cat got your tongue?"

"Nope."

"I'll bet you got to take a piss right now."

"Nope."

"Nope, yup, nope, yup. You got nothing else to say?"

"Yeah, I do. How did you get out of the draft? Mental or physical?"

"Hey, fuckhead, I was a cop. I did my duty here."

"Right. So did the women and schoolchildren who sent letters and packages."

"You motherfucker..."

"Hey, Chief, don't talk the talk if you haven't walked the walk. You want to prove you have balls? I'll go inside and get my piece, or you take off yours. You call it. Guns, knives, axes, fists. It doesn't matter to me how I kill you."

Baxter took a breath, and Keith saw by his body language that he wanted to take a step back. All said and done, Baxter still had the only gun between them, and there wasn't much keeping him from drawing it. Except, Keith thought, Baxter probably had other plans for Keith Landry, something he'd been thinking about for the last few weeks. Baxter hadn't come out here to kill him, so there was no reason to give him a reason. Yet, Keith couldn't resist the opportunity to mess with his mind and maybe draw him into a fair fight. Keith said, "Okay? You want to have it out? I was about to take a break anyway."

Baxter smiled. "Yeah, we're gonna have it out. But you ain't gonna see it coming."

"Still the class bully."

"Yeah, and you're still the class asshole. Hey, remember I used to bump you in the hall? You'd like to forget that, wouldn't you? I used to eye-fuck your girlfriend, and you didn't do shit. I'd feel her up every chance I got, and you saw me and just stood there. You know what? She loved it. She wanted a man, not a fucking pussy. And, hey, by the way, if I ever see you talking to her, I'll cut your balls off and feed 'em to my dogs. I kid you not."

Keith stood absolutely still. There was nothing to say after that, nothing to do now except let the man dig his own grave with his mouth.

Baxter, on a roll now, continued, "Hey, what do you do out here for pussy? If I catch you fuckin' the livestock, I'll run you in. You farm boys're always fuckin' the livestock, that's why they're so skittish. Your brother used to fuck the geese down by the lake and damn near killed half of them. He was the goose fucker. I remember him. And your sister..."

"Stop it. Please stop."

"Say again?"

"Please stop. Look... I'm leaving in a week. I just came back to see to the farm. I'm not staying. I'll be gone in about a week."

Baxter looked closely at him, then said, "Oh, yeah? Maybe I don't want you around that long."

"I just need a week."

"Tell you what — I'll give you six days. If you fuck up or piss me off, I'll kick the shit out of you and throw you on a fucking pig truck to Toledo. You understand?"

"Yes."

"Go back to your barnyard shit." He turned to leave, then spun around and buried his fist in Keith's stomach.

Keith doubled over and dropped to his knees.

Baxter put the toe of his boot under Keith's chin and flipped his head up. Baxter said, "Stay outa town."

He walked back to the car, and Keith saw him and Ward giving each other high fives.

They got into the car, turned and ran over a row of raspberry bushes, then peeled out on the gravel drive.

Keith got to his feet and watched the car turn onto the road. He smiled and said, "Thank you."