the other half. It’s a miracle I don’t have scurvy, so back off, old man.” Lilly gave him her hands as she kissed his soft cheek.
“They’re assholes, both of them.” Mac frowned.
Lilly didn’t try to stifle her sad giggle of agreement.
Mac probably never did have much of a filter, but now he said they couldn’t do anything more to him, so he intended to say whatever he wanted until they put him in the ground. It made for ripe and lively conversation.
“Well, I can’t say I disagree.” Lilly fiddled with the hem of her skirt, pulling at it and trying to tuck it under her as she sat. She never could quite get comfortable.
“Stop fussing,” Mac said.
“Sorry.”
“You never told me the end of that story, when you said you broke your ankle.” Mac wheeled himself up the the table and motioned for Lilly to sit.
“Oh, well, there’s not much more to tell.”
“Uh huh, tell me anyway,”
“Okay, well, I was running from the McCleary twins — I told you that right?” Lilly waited until Mac twisted his lips and nodded. “Okay, well they used to throw cow manure at me when I walked home from school. Then, one day, they were chasing and I was running — and I stepped into an old chimney foundation and broke my ankle. When you are eight years old and boys are throwing cow crap at you, you don’t look where you’re going, you just go.”
Lilly stopped and twisted her lips to the side and pulled her ankles together.
“Okay, so most broken bones heel just fine. What happened to yours?”
She fidgeted under his stare.
“Connor didn’t think it was broken. So, I didn’t go see a doctor for three days, so when they finally tried to set it, it just didn’t grow quite right. So, I now have a constant reminder of the McCleary boys. That, combined with a general lack of nutrition, blessed me with the uniqueness of being an inch shorter on one side.”
“He’s an asshole, too. Your stepfather should have taken better care of you.”
“I guess so.” Lilly gave him a half-smile.
“Well, okay.” Mac sounded annoyed. “I ordered us early dinner. Baked macaroni and cheese and strawberries and cream — or you can have my ribeye and baked potato. I know you like the mac and cheese, probably because it reminds you of me.” He flashed her an playful grin. “I was born a few decades too late for you, but I may still have a few goes left in me if you ever decide to give in to my charms. May need to get my hands on some of those blue pills.”
Lilly forced a smile. “I need to have salad, no dressing, maybe some steamed broccoli.”
“Fuck that.” Mac grimaced. “Eat. You’re beautiful. I don’t know a real man who wouldn’t give one nut for a girl like you.”
“Colin will want to know what I ate. If it’s more than 500 calories, he’ll lay an egg.”
“Good, he needs to get whatever is up his ass out, let him lay a few eggs, do him good. I never liked him, even when his father and I ran things, that boy of his stirred the pot, always made things worse.”
“Well, he’s going to be my adoring husband, so I need to figure out how to get along with him.”
“I hate the way he looks at you. My Adeline and I were arranged like you, but I always treated her like a queen. We may not have loved each other at first, but we worked at it and before long, we managed to fall in love. We had a good life.”
His eyes drifted out the window, accompanied by the sadness that always came over him when he talked about his wife. Lilly asked him once how she died, but he just turned and made his way back to his room. Since then, she’d learned that subject was off limits.
A young woman came over with a tray and settled their food on the round mahogany table.
“Thank you sweetheart.” Mac reached over to give the worker a quick pat on her behind.
“You’re going to get yourself kicked out of here,” Lilly whispered as the young woman walked away with narrowed eyes.
“What the fuck do I
Learning to Kill: Stories