Chance Reddick Box Set 1 Page 4

  “Well, you better just be glad I can do it. You know, some people have strokes and then they have to wear diapers the rest of their lives. I figure I came out kinda lucky on that score, and so did you.”

  “Me? How does that make me lucky?”

  “Well, you don’t think your grandma would have changed my diapers, do you? I bet you a dollar to a doughnut that she would have made you do it.”

  Chance shuddered, then turned and walked out of the bedroom. He was sitting at the table by the time his grandfather got there, and Grandma was just setting a cup of coffee in front of him.

  “Where’s Robin?” Grandpa asked.

  “She’ll be down in a minute,” Grandma replied. “I went up and woke her, but she’s on the phone with you know who. Said she will be down as soon as she gets off the phone.”

  Chance shook his head. “I really was hoping to get through today without having to think about him,” he said. “Maybe I should have written to Santa and asked for a new boyfriend for Robin.”

  “Why?” Robin asked as she entered the kitchen. “Who says I need a new boyfriend?”

  Chance shrugged and rolled his eyes. “Look, Robin, we just don’t want to see you get hurt. I’m only being honest when I tell you that Jorge doesn’t strike me as a guy who knows how to treat a girl right.”

  “Oh, like you know anything about that,” Robin said. “How many girlfriends do you have back in Louisville?”

  “I don’t have any girlfriends,” Chance said honestly. “I have a few girls who are my friends, and we go out sometimes, but I don’t have a steady girlfriend at all.”

  Robin gave him a sweet smile. “Then maybe you’re just jealous,” he said, “because Jorge does.”

  SIX

  Despite the almost rocky beginning, the day turned out pretty wonderful. Another Reddick tradition was to open one gift after breakfast, another after lunch, and then the rest of them after the big Christmas dinner. When breakfast was finished, they went into the living room to start their day properly.

  The tradition required each of them to choose the gift they wanted the others to open. It could be the gift that the chooser had bought, but that wasn’t absolutely necessary. Each of them could choose one, but nobody could open more than one present.

  Robin went first, choosing a gift for Chance. She handed it to him and he smiled, then ripped the paper, shredding it and throwing pieces of it everywhere around himself. It hadn’t been a terribly huge package, but Chance was thrilled and speechless when he saw the hunting knife that was inside the box on the wrapping. It was about 15 inches long overall, with a 10 inch blade made in the Bowie knife style. He hefted it and felt its weight, and his smile got bigger.

  “This is really nice, Robin,” he said. “I’ve looked at knives like this before, so I know that it wasn’t cheap. Thank you.”

  Robin smiled sweetly. “You’re welcome,” she said. “And you can thank Jorge the next time you see him, because he’s the one who picked it out for me.”

  Chance managed not to lose his smile, and even promised to say thank you to Jorge when he saw him again. Now, though, it was his turn to choose a gift for someone else. He picked up a box from behind the tree, one that he had painstakingly wrapped himself, and turned to hand it to his sister.

  “For me?” Robin said coquettishly. She smiled as she tore the wrapping paper, being a bit more delicate about it than Chance had done, and saw the lighted makeup mirror inside. It was something she had often said she wished she had, but had never spent the money on for herself. He had seen it on sale at a local store near the campus, and couldn’t resist buying it for her.

  “Oh, Chance, I love it,” she said. She threw her arms around his neck and gave him a hug, then kissed him quickly on the cheek. “It’s absolutely beautiful, and perfect. Exactly what I was hoping for.”

  “I’m just glad you like it,” Chance said. “Now, why don’t you get one for Grandma and Grandpa, so they don’t have to try to dig around in there.”

  “You bet,” Robin said. She turned and started looking at the presents under the tree, then selected one that Chance recognized as one of his purchases and took it to her grandmother. “It’s from Chance, Grandma. Be careful, it could be something alive, knowing him.”

  “It’s not alive,” Chance said with a grin.

  Grandma was smiling as she carefully tore the edges of the wrapping loose, then slid it almost completely intact off the box. She stared for a moment at the picture on the outside of the box, then looked up at Chance in total surprise. “A telephone?”

  “It’s a cell phone, Grandma,” Chance said. “And you might as well use it, because I’ve already activated it on my own account. That’s so that Grandpa or Robin can always reach you, even when you’re out at the grocery store or running around with Mrs. Treadwell.” It was a standard running joke that Grandma Reddick and Mabel Treadwell were training for the next Boston Marathon, because the two of them had gotten into speed walking a few years earlier. Unless the weather was terribly bad, the two of them could be seen walking rapidly around town most days, but if it was raining or snowing or just way too cold, they would drive all the way to Hinckley to walk around in the giant Super Walmart store.

  Grandma shook her head, but she was smiling. “I’ll have to get Robin to teach me how to use it,” she said. “You won’t mind, will you?”

  Robin was beaming at her. “Not a bit,” she said. She turned and went back to the Christmas tree, then grabbed another box that Chance recognized as one of his own and took it to their grandfather.

  “Well, you may have to teach Grandma how to use her phone,” Grandpa said, “but you’re going to have to help me unwrap this thing. One hand isn’t real good for that sort of work.”

  “No problem, Grandpa,” Robin said. “I got this.” She set the box in his lap and then ripped the paper off. Inside was another cell phone, but this one was specifically designed for somebody with mobility problems. The pictures on the box showed how to clip it to himself or a wheelchair, and said that the phone could be programmed with up to two hundred names and numbers. All Grandpa would have to do is say aloud, “Call Chance,” and the phone would do the rest.

  “Yours is really easy to use, Grandpa,” Chance said. “It’s completely voice-activated, so you don’t have to worry about trying to push any buttons. If it rings, all you do is tell it to answer, and it will.”

  The old man looked at the box, then raised his eyes to meet his grandson’s. “Boy,” he said, his voice shaking with emotion, “I think that’s about the best present I ever got. Of course, you know it means I’ll be calling you a lot, right?”

  The whole family laughed.

  At lunch time, they went through the ritual again. This time, Grandma insisted on passing out the presents, and she started with Robin. It was one that her grandmother had bought for her, and Robin was thrilled when she saw a complete set of hair tools, including a blow dryer, a curling iron and something called a styling wand. The girl seemed absolutely overjoyed, and even Grandpa seemed to be smiling from ear to ear.

  Chance received a new wallet, and he made sure to let his grandparents know how much he liked it. Of course, when he opened it to start transferring items from his old one and found a two hundred dollar gift card from Walmart inside, his smile got bigger. “I know exactly where that’s going,” he said. “I need new jeans, and you just bought them.”

  Grandma picked up another small package and took it to her husband, then helped him unwrap it. Inside was a brand-new coffee mug made of stainless steel, with a lid that would supposedly make it virtually spill proof. The old man cackled when he saw it, then held it up to show the kids.

  “I think she’s trying to tell me that she’s tired of having to wash the coffee out of my clothes,” he said. He looked up at his wife and smiled, and thanked her as she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

  Chance got up and went to the tree, then, and picked a box that Robin had bought for their grandm
other. He handed it to the old woman and sat back down while she opened it.

  The box itself wasn’t labeled, so when she got the wrapping off and opened the box nobody else could see what she’d gotten. She stared into the box for several seconds, then looked up at Robin with tears in her eyes.

  “This is absolutely beautiful,” she said, and then she reached into the box to pick up a beautiful white family Bible. “This is perfect, but don’t expect it to stay that way. Bibles are meant to be used, and sometimes they get worn out. I can guarantee you this one will be, one day.”

  The rest of Christmas Day went just as well, and the following day turned out even better when Jorge called Robin to say that he wasn’t going to be home for a few more days, after all. Apparently one of his uncles had taken quite ill, and the family was going to stay in Pikeville for up to another week. Robin was sad, but assured him that she understood.

  To Chance, it meant that he could spend the rest of his Christmas break relaxing, and enjoying his sister’s company. The two of them went out for a movie that night, and he even convinced her to go along to Walmart while he bought some new clothes. For those wonderful few days, it was almost like they’d gone back in time and were as close as they had once been.

  Every break comes to an end eventually, though, and finally it was time for Chance to go back to school. He got up and had breakfast with the family one more time, then loaded all his things into the old truck and hit the road. The snow had cleared, and the trip took its usual three hours with no problems.

  For the next few months, he didn’t really have time to wonder much about Robin and Jorge. He threw himself into the hectic school schedule with everything he had, concentrating on keeping his grades up so that the scholarship he’d gotten would not be wasted. Between his studies, basketball and his job, he didn’t really have a lot of time for thinking about anything else.

  The first real break he got came on a weekend in May. Chance had to work half a day on Saturday, but he was allowed to do so in the morning. By noon, he was free for the rest of the weekend, but that usually only meant that he had plenty of time for studies. On this particular Saturday, though, he was pretty well caught up, so he went back to his dorm room and picked up his phone to call home.

  Just for fun, he dialed Grandpa’s number, and the old man answered on the second ring.

  “Hello? Hello? Who’s there?”

  “Grandpa, it’s me, Chance,” he said. “How’s everything going back there?”

  “If your sister would use half a brain,” the old man said, “things would be going pretty good. She’s still running around with that lazy, good for nothing what’s his name, and it don’t matter what we say about it.”

  Chance grimaced. “Is she there with you now?”

  “Why, no, she’s gone off somewhere with him. Why?”

  “Because I don’t want her to hear what I’m about to say,” Chance said. “Grandpa, you need to remember that you and Grandma are the ones in charge. Not Robin. If it comes down to it, you’re going to have to just put your foot down and tell her to get rid of him.”

  “Now, see, that’s exactly what I say,” Grandpa said. “Your grandma, though, she says the only thing it will do is make Robin start lying to us and sneaking around behind our backs. Now, considering the way your aunt Jeannie used to do that very thing, I guess I need to pay a little attention to her.”

  Chance looked at his phone for a second and put it back to his ear. “Wait a minute,” he said. “Aunt Jeannie used to sneak around behind your back? To hear Grandma talk, aunt Jeannie was some kind of angel.”

  “Ha! Don’t you believe that for a minute. She was always sneaking out, usually right in the middle of the night. Seemed like half the time we didn’t even know where she was. Who would’ve believed she was going to grow up to marry a preacher?”

  “I guess I just never knew,” Chance said. “Any idea when Robin will be home? Maybe it’s time I try to talk to her again.”

  “Son, I wish I could tell you. Unfortunately, that’s something we never know until she comes to the front door.”

  SEVEN

  Chance called again later that day, but Robin was still not home. According to his grandmother, Robin completely ignored any orders to be home by a certain time, so there wasn’t much point in trying to put any kind of curfew on her. When she never returned his call on Saturday, he tried again several times on Sunday, but she was out and gone early in the morning and still hadn’t gotten home at well past her bedtime.

  “Well,” he said after his last call, at nearly 10 PM, “just tell her I called, and I’ll try calling again in the morning before she goes to school. Maybe she’ll be awake enough that we can actually talk for a bit.”

  He ended the call and finished up the chapter he was reading in a textbook, then crawled into bed. He thought he was going to have trouble getting to sleep, because he was worried about Robin, but he drifted off after only a few minutes.

  The ringing of the telephone woke him at 3 AM, and he rolled over to snatch it up off his nightstand. Calls in the middle of the night, or the wee small hours of the morning, were always terrifying.

  “Hello?”

  There was silence on the line for a few seconds, and then he heard what sounded like a sob. A second later, his grandmother’s voice came on the line.

  “Chance? It’s your grandma. Oh, Chance, I’m so sorry to call you like this, but…” Her voice trailed off.

  “Grandma? What’s the matter, is it Grandpa?” He was sitting up now, staring into the darkness of his room.

  “No,” Grandma said. “Chance, it’s Robin. The police were just here, and…”

  “Police? Is she in trouble? What’s going on?”

  “Chance, she’s dead. She and Jorge were over in Hinckley a few hours ago, and somebody started shooting. They said his car was shot almost fifty times, and they said that both of them probably died instantly.” She sobbed again. “They said she didn’t suffer, and that’s the best we could hope for.”

  Chance sat still on the side of his bed for several seconds, but then his head began shaking from side to side. “No,” he said. “No, it’s not true. It can’t be true, Grandma, it can’t be true.”

  “Chance, I’m so sorry. It’s true, I’m afraid it’s really true.”

  He sat without moving for several more seconds, the phone held to his ear. Finally, he cleared his throat. “I’ll be leaving in just a few minutes,” he said. “I’ll be there by morning.” He hung up the phone and laid it on the nightstand again, then got to his feet and started digging clothes out of his dresser.

  “Chance? What’s going on?” It was Jerry, one of his two roommates.

  Chance stood at his dresser, just looking into the drawer he had pulled a pair of jeans out of. It was one of the new pairs he had bought with Robin.

  “Grandma just called,” he said slowly. “Police came to the house a little while ago to tell us that my little sister is dead. She was out with her boyfriend and somebody shot up his car with them in it. They said they both died instantly.”

  Jerry rolled around and put his feet on the floor, his eyes wide as he stared at Chance. “Holy geez,” he said. “Chance, man, I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Listen, I’m headed for home. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I’ll be in touch.”

  Chance pulled the jeans onto his legs, then found a shirt and put it on. He tossed a few other clothes into his duffel bag and then grabbed his wallet, keys and phone before walking out the door.

  The dorm monitor tried to ask him where he was going, but Chance walked past without a word. He made his way to the parking lot and tossed his bag inside the cab of the truck, then slid behind the wheel and started it. He backed it out of its slot and turned around, then drove sedately through campus until he got to the main road.

  That’s when the anger finally hit, and his foot descended on the accelerator. He left rubber as he pulled out onto the four-lane street,
then managed to get himself under control until he got to the ramp for the interstate. Once he hit the highway, he puts his foot down again and made the three hour trip in just over two.

  The lights were on in the farmhouse, and Chance sat in the truck and stared at it for a long moment. At last he got out, took his bag and walked up the front steps. Grandma was at the door, waiting for him, her tear-stained face telling him that things had somehow gotten even worse.

  “What now, Grandma?”

  The old woman stared up at him, tears streaming from her eyes. It took her three tries, but she finally managed to stammer out, “Chance—your grandpa—Chance, he’s gone, too.”

  Chance’s eyes went wide, and he wrapped the old woman in his arms. “Oh, no,” he said. “Oh, God, no.” He held her for more than a minute, then pulled back to look into her face again. “His heart?”

  She nodded. “It was right after I talked to you,” she said. “He was up in his chair, and he looked at me as I hung up the phone, and I could tell something was wrong. I went to him, but he couldn’t even speak. He just sort of leaned back, and he was just gone, that quickly. I called for an ambulance, but they said it was just too late.” She collapsed against him again, sobbing from the deepest part of her soul.

  The ambulance had taken Grandpa to the hospital, even though he was unofficially pronounced dead there at the house. It was a standard policy that they didn’t give up completely until ER doctors called it, so his body was resting in the hospital morgue. There was no point in trying to go to the hospital for him, and Robin’s body was apparently still in Hinckley.

  A coldness settled into Chance, and he walked his grandmother to the couch. He sat down beside her and let her lean against him, keeping one arm around her shoulders.

  “It’s just you and me, now,” he said. “I’ll take care of things, Grandma. You just let me handle things, okay?”

  There was a knock at the front door, and Chance slowly untangled himself. He got up and walked to the door, and looked through the glass to see Bryce, the local policeman.