A Tree Born Crooked by Steph Post

and go back to the bar, just as he had pushed past his brother out into the hallway and away from home, but he didn’t. He bent down and got into the car. The look of relief on Rabbit’s face was something they both needed. Rabbit revved the car unnecessarily and did a U-turn in the middle of the street. They sped off into the country.
    It was about ten minutes before either one of them spoke. They drove along the back roads, surrounded on both sides by lanky pine trees and deep ditches, the darkness cut only by the Caprice’s one cloudy headlight. James finally broke the silence.
    “Who was that girl?”
    “What girl?”
    Rabbit was holding the wheel with one hand and trying to text on his cell phone with the other. The car had terrible alignment, weaving back and forth as it drifted, and Rabbit had to yank it back in the right lane. James resisted the urge to reach over and grab the wheel away from him.  
    “That girl at the bar. Or, out back of the bar, I guess.”
    “Who, Marlena? You don’t remember her? Shit!”
    A fox darted out across the road and Rabbit did his best to swerve with one hand. For an instant, James caught the glow of the fox’s amber eyes in the headlight before it vanished into the trees.
    “Why don’t you put the phone away for a sec? You can’t get service out here no how.”
    “Nah, I got it.”
    Rabbit hit the send button and dropped the phone into his lap. He put both hands back on the steering wheel.
    “What was we talking ‘bout?”
    “Marlena.”
    “Oh, yeah. You mean to tell me you don’t know her? You dated her cousin back in high school. Maybe second cousin. I can’t never figure all that family tree stuff out.”
    “I did?”
    “Sure. That crazy girl, Addie. She up and married that dude Willy Underhill after you left, remember? Had a couple a his kids, but he took ‘em with him when he left her. Now she’s on to anything with a dick that’ll look her way.”
    James gritted his teeth and went to crank the window down. The handle was broken.
    “I know who Adelyn is, dumbass.”
    “You probably saw her at The Diamond tonight. She’s usually in there fishing for guys on Sunday nights. Or any night, really. Me and Delmore, we got some dealings going on with the owner, Waylon Bell, so I’m ‘round there a lot and, man, that Addie is a piece a work. But I guess you know that.”
    “That was a long time ago. And we were talking ‘bout her cousin.”
    Rabbit picked up his phone again and checked the screen.
    “Oh, yeah. So Marlena is Waylon’s daughter. I guess maybe you wouldn’t a known her. I think she woulda been in your grade, but she didn’t go to our high school. She only came ‘round during the summers or something like that. Lived up near Lake City with her mama, I think. She just moved back here a couple a years ago, when Waylon’s wife took all that money from him and high-tailed it off to Mexico or wherever. Probably a good thing she come back, too. No offense to Waylon, but I don’t think that bar woulda made it much longer if Marlena never showed up.”
    Rabbit gave James a solemn look. He was obviously proud of himself for having such inside information. They turned off onto a narrow road and soon pulled into a dirt yard littered with trash, broken lawn furniture, and pieces of a rusted bench press. A child’s plastic play kitchen lay on its side collecting rainwater and mosquito eggs. Rabbit parked the Caprice in front of a singlewide propped up on cinderblocks with black, plastic garbage bags taped up in the place of two windows. There didn’t appear to be anyone at home.
    “Well, shit.”
    “What? I thought you were just dropping something off.”
    Rabbit drummed his fingers on the gearshift. He chewed on his lip and kept staring at the dark trailer. Finally, he picked up his cell phone. The glow from the screen showed a line of worry across his forehead.
    “Yeah, but Delmore’s truck ain’t here. It’s something I gotta give him