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to hurt somebody over this.” He paused, and then brightened. “Hey, I hear you and Sara from Cedar Links hooked up!”
    When I nodded, he winked and turned to Connor. “What are you doing with a girl like Julia anyways, Connor? She’s not your type.”
    “ Maybe we’re coming up in the world. You should try it.”
    “ Bite me. After Ruby, dating a cow would be coming up in the world.”
    We all chuckled and clinked cans: he had a point. Then Connor said, “Sonny, what do you say to camping up at the lake next weekend?”
    He shrugged his massive shoulders. “Yeah, sounds like a plan.”
    Our buddy Earl joined us an hour later. Earl was the human version of a dynamite stick: light his fuse and disaster would follow. He always wore a baseball cap jammed over his shaggy curls, and he was a gun nut, which wasn’t a good match with his temper. But that evening, I was happy to see him come in with his rifle slung across his shoulders. Maybe he would finally shoot that damn skunk.
    I’d first encountered the skunk almost two weeks earlier. Earl and I spent the afternoon cruising along the forest trails on our five-wheeler. I was driving. Earl saw the skunk first, planted firmly in the path ahead. He yelled at me to stop, and I did, but the sudden motion sent him flying off the vehicle. He landed on his shoulder and rolled right into the little black and white bastard, who did what all skunks do when they’re pissed off. I remembered Earl’s .22, which we’d brought along for target practice, and threw it to him, knowing that if he didn’t kill the skunk then and there we’d all be hearing about it until the score was finally settled. Before Earl could even take aim, the skunk, which was missing its left front foot, hobbled off into the bushes that lined the trail. I’d been seeing it on my property ever since: on the front lawn, beside the pool, in the garage. It seemed to stare at me with those beady black eyes, more bold than most wild animals in the presence of humans, although I knew skunks were mostly blind so perhaps I was imagining this. Either way it made me almost as nervous as the Reaper, although I couldn’t explain why.
    Earl was soaking wet and annoyed. “I can’t shoot a skunk in this shit!” He gestured toward the window, which was streaked with rain. The weather had taken a turn for the worse during dinner.
    “ You can’t shoot a skunk at all!” Sonny reminded him. We laughed.
    “ Nice, Sonny, thanks.” Earl laid the rifle carefully against the wall and peeled off his wet shirt and jacket. “Well, if I see that little prick here tonight, Stinky will find out that all skunks don’t go to heaven.”
    “ Here, Earl, light this up for us.” Conner passed him a freshly rolled joint. We smoked it and retired to the addition, where Kevin resided. Surrounded by Kevin’s art, we sat and listened to the rain pound on the roof. This was a real powerhouse of a storm. The weather was definitely taking a turn for the worse. We were safe though, we reveled in storms such as these. I felt safe in my father’s house.
    *****
    Earl was up first on Saturday morning, being the resilient party animal that he was, so when the doorbell rang, he answered it.
    Jake Sanders was sitting on the stoop. Jake was the sort that just showed up at parties, the kind of guy you saw once in awhile, which was good considering we could only take him in short spurts. Jake was a casebook addict, strung out on my doorstep and looking for a hit. I was willing to bet that he was to blame for stealing our crop, though I would never have told Sonny that. Jake used to be one of us, one of our best friends. Then he began chasing the dragon, and now he just ate, slept and did drugs.
    His mother had been killed along with my father on the way home from their joint business venture in the next town. Our families were partners in a hardware store. Maybe that was why I felt like I should try to understand and help him instead of turn my