Hyenas by Joe R. Lansdale Read Free Book Online Page B

soaked in. I didn’t offer him any guarantees.
    We called Marvin about seeing if he could drop a word to the police about the car in the shed, and so on. He did. They didn’t really have enough cause, but they went out and cut the lock anyway. The car inside was gone. The place was empty. They went out to the house where Smoke Stack lived. It was cleaned up and only Smoke Stack was home. He told them the bruises on his face were from falling down in the driveway.
    It was an iffy move, putting them on the alert like that, but me and Leonard figured it was best to make them a little nervous.
    After we got the news, Leonard said, “Smoke Stack and his swinging dick friends are done tidying up. There’s nothing left for the cops to find. I think we should have shot them all last night. I think we should have shot Smoke Stack twice.”
    Donny was sitting on the couch listening.
    “That includes you,” Leonard said.
    “He’s just testy,” I said. “He hasn’t had his morning coffee. And his boyfriend isn’t talking to him.”
    “You’re gay?” Donny said to Leonard.
    “Yep.”
    “You don’t act gay.”
    “How do they act?”
    “I don’t know…”
    “Look here, kid. We come in all shapes, sizes, and attitudes. But it’s pretty much a given we all have big dicks.”
    “Yeah,” I said, “but he doesn’t have an ounce of fashion sense.”
    “No Barbara Streisand records either,” Leonard said. “I just prefer men to women. And just for the record, I can whip your ass and pretty much anyone else’s on any day of the week, provided the Moon is in Leo.”
    “What?” Donny said.
    “He’s fucking with you,” I said. “About the moon in Leo part.”
    We went to the gym and took Donny with us. When we got there we put the bag gloves on him and showed him how to work the heavy bag. He didn’t want to do it at first, but Leonard persuaded him with a threat. After Donny hit the bag a few times, he got into it. He started asking questions on how to throw punches. He had seen us do it, seen how we moved the bag, and he wanted to learn it. I think he was also thinking about that ass-whipping I had given his hero.
    Leonard said, “You got to come from the hip. But, you get older, you get more experience, you realize this bag don’t mean shit. Hitting a person, you don’t have to be able to move this bag. You got to hit a man when he’s in the void, when he’s stepping, when he’s trying to shift or recover his balance. Catch him them, you can take down a big guy with a simple punch, a kick. Catching someone off balance, or controlling their balance, makes them easier to throw.”
    We spent two hours at the gym, then went back home.
    We pulled up in the drive, and I saw the front door was open. Leonard and I were in the front seat. He turned and looked over his shoulder, said, “Donny, you stay in the car. If anyone comes out shooting, or you hear shooting, you run like a motherfucker. But, you don’t hear shooting, I come out, and you’re gone, I will track you down—”
    “And beat the shit out of me,” Donny said.
    “That’s right.”
    We had guns in the glove box and we got them out. Leonard went around back, and I went up on the porch and moved the open front door wider with my foot, peeked inside.
    I didn’t see anyone. I moved in slowly, and then I heard the back door lock click, and Leonard was in.
    Leonard took the kitchen, and I took his room. We checked the bathrooms. I went upstairs. The bed covers were pulled back and the big red tee-shirt she had slept in was lying on the floor. On the end of the bed was a note.
    I picked it up and read it.
    We got your redhead. We got Donny’s brother. We got your lady’s cell phone, and we got your number. Go to the cops, they’re both dead. Wait for our call.

    THERE'S NO WAY to describe the emptiness I felt. I went downstairs with the note and gave it to Leonard. He read it and went upstairs and came down with a shotgun, two pistols, and a