Birdsongs by Jason Deas

were attempting to infiltrate and overthrow the flowerbeds had obviously lost their conquest and were nowhere in view. A fresh layer of pine straw was nestled cautiously around the blooms, shrubbery, and island borders. The walkway and driveway were swept free of all debris. Red was on the roof, bending like a gymnast. He looked comfortable as a mountain goat on a slippery slope as he cleaned out the gutters.
        Red saw Benny pull into the driveway and magically descended the roof, meeting Benny as he exited the car. Red hung his head as if he had done something wrong and stood before Benny in a submissive pose.
        “My God, Red,” Benny said. “I think I’m at the wrong house.”
        “No,” Red said straight-faced. “This you house.”
        “It looks great,” Benny responded, still bemused by the new country club look his home on land extruded. “Where did you get the pine straw?”
        “Red scrape up in woods.”
        “How did you get on the roof?” Benny asked. “I don’t have a ladder.”
        “Red good to climb,” Red countered. Red once again bowed his head in surrender to Benny. “Red need talk with Bendy.”
        “OK,” Benny answered. “Let’s talk. Why don’t we go inside so you can get out of this heat.”
        Once inside, Red walked over to the coffee table and picked up Benny’s old FBI badge. Benny thought he had hid it well in one of the dresser drawers. He placed it in Benny’s hand. “Red find this when put up clothes. Bendy is police?” Red asked.
        Not knowing how to answer in a way Red would understand he simply said, “Yes.”
        “Red need help.”
        “OK,” Benny answered, extremely curious as to where this was going.
        Red handed him the newspaper clipping from his pocket without a word and he watched Benny’s expression evolve from curiosity to suspended disbelief. “What is this?” Benny said, thinking out loud. “Where did you get this?” he asked.
        “Red mama give to Red before dead. Under Red mama bed in box.”
        “Is this you?” Benny asked. “Are you William James Baker?”
        “Red not know - Who is Red?”
     
     

Chapter 15
     
       Benny grew up in a town smaller than Tilley. He hailed from Horse Knot, Alabama. Story has it the first settlers in the area found a gigantic tree that had a large protruding knot resembling a horse. The tree still stood just outside the main drag, surrounded by ancient, rusted chains attached to rotting posts. A time scarred plaque tells the story. Benny never told anyone, but he thought the knot looked like a sinking ship. He saw the bow of a steamer in the air with the stern dipping towards the bottom of the tree. The admission, as a native would be treason.
        Benny’s parents ran the general store, which long ago was run out of town by big business and the inevitable super centers. After the store shut down his mother cut hair in their kitchen to make a few bucks. She had a steady clientele and the money coming in was just enough for the couple to make ends meet. His father smoked cigarettes and tried his hand inventing things in the backyard shed. One afternoon while mixing some of the leftover cleaning powders from the general store with some of his own invented powders, he stumbled like a mad scientist upon a recipe that removed rust. He sold the recipe for 675,000 dollars and never entered the shed again. Benny’s mother never cut another head of hair. The two of them sat on the front porch of the same house, hardly spending any of the money, smoking cigarettes and drinking. On most days the pair started the festivities around ten a.m. and ended them around nine p.m. with a nightcap. They barely made it past Benny’s nineteenth birthday. They died two days apart from one another.
        The day after the double funeral, a lawyer contacted Benny and his only sibling Douglas to discuss the inheritance. Neither of the boys had