Ford County Read Free Page A

to pee.”
    “Not here,” Calvin said.
    “Open the door,” Roger insisted.
    “Can’t you wait?”
    “No.”
    Calvin slowly opened the passenger’s door, stepped out, then watched as Roger tiptoed to the side of Mr. Gates’s Ford truck and began urinating on the right front wheel.
    Unlike her husband, Mrs. Gates was a light sleeper. She was certain she had heard something out there, and when she was fully awake, she became even more convinced of it. Buford had been snoring for an hour, but she finally managed to interrupt his slumber. He reached under the bed and grabbed his shotgun.
    Roger was still urinating when a small light came on in the kitchen. All three saw it immediately. “Run!” Aggie hissed through his window, then grabbed the key and turned the ignition. Calvin jumped back into the truck while grunting, “Go, go, go!” as Aggie slammed the transmission in reverse and hit the gas. Roger yanked his pants up while scrambling toward the Dodge.He flung himself over the side and landed hard in the bed, among the empty beer cans, then held on as the truck flew back down the driveway toward the road. It was at the mailbox when the front porch light popped on. It slid to a stop on the asphalt as the front door slowly opened and an old man pushed back the screen. “He’s got a gun!” Calvin said.
    “Too bad,” said Aggie as he slammed the stick into drive and peeled rubber for fifty feet as they made a clean escape. A mile down the highway, Aggie turned onto a narrow country lane and stopped the engine. All three got out and stretched their muscles and had a good laugh at the close call. They laughed nervously and worked hard to believe that they had not been frightened at all. They speculated about where the deputy might be at that moment. They cleaned out the bed of the truck and left their empty cans in a ditch. Ten minutes passed and there was no sign of the deputy.
    Aggie finally addressed the obvious. “We gotta get to Memphis, fellas.”
    Calvin, more intrigued by the Desperado than by the hospital, added, “You bet. It’s gettin’ late.”
    Roger froze in the center of the road and said, “I dropped my wallet.”
    “You what?”
    “I dropped my wallet.”
    “Where?”
    “Back there. Must’ve fell out when I was takin’ a leak.”
    There was an excellent chance that Roger’s wallet contained nothing of value—no money, driver’s license, credit cards, membershipcards of any kind, nothing more useful than perhaps an old condom. And Aggie almost asked, “What’s in it?” But he did not, because he knew that Roger would claim that his wallet was loaded with valuables.
    “I gotta go get it,” he said.
    “Are you sure?” Calvin asked.
    “It’s got my money, license, credit cards, everything.”
    “But the old man had a gun.”
    “And when the sun comes up, the old man will find my wallet, call the sheriff, who’ll call the sheriff in Ford County, and we’ll be screwed. You’re pretty stupid, you know.”
    “At least I didn’t lose my wallet.”
    “He’s right,” Aggie said. “He’s gotta go get it.” It was noted by the other two that Aggie emphasized the “he” and said nothing about “we.”
    “You’re not scared, are you, big boy?” Roger said to Calvin.
    “I ain’t scared,’cause I ain’t goin’ back.”
    “I think you’re scared.”
    “Knock it off,” Aggie said. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll wait until the old man has time to get back in bed, then we’ll ease down the road, get close to the house but not too close, stop the truck, then you can sneak down the driveway, find the wallet, and we’ll haul ass.”
    “I’ll bet there’s nothin’ in the wallet,” Calvin said.
    “And I’ll bet it’s got more cash than your wallet,” Roger shot back as he reached into the truck for another beer.
    “Knock it off,” Aggie said again.
    They stood beside the truck, sipping beer and watching thedeserted highway in the distance, and after