Thieves I've Known by Tom Kealey Page A

but took hold of my wrist. Her grip was tight, and I didn’t know if I could pull free.
    â€œDid you hear that, Albert?” she said.
    He was laughing. “I heard him.”
    â€œSteep donuts.”
    â€œYou sending him out?” said Albert.
    She was laughing now, and she began to move again to the music. “I was never to send Daniel Atkins out,” she said.
    And then she put the money away and let go of me. She handed over the donuts.
    So, we had some donuts and some beer, and I was feeling all right. Merrill helped my brother out of his chair, helped set him on the couch. She leaned him back till his head was lying on a pillow. Then she slipped his shirt off, turned him over. In the hospitals I’d seen the nurses do this a hundred times. He had his eyes closed, and it seemed that his face held some troubled thought. I could barely make it out in the candlelight. It sent a chill down my shoulders. He reached back, and she took his hand.
    â€œThere’s a blanket,” said Merrill. “On the bed in the room. When you get it, bring me the brush on the nightstand.”
    â€œMe?” I said.
    â€œYes you, Daniel Atkins.”
    So I went in there and got the blanket. And I got the brush. On the stand there was a picture of two teenagers. One was spot-on for Merrill, and she and a boy were leaning against a fence. The boy she was with was good-looking, and he held an old-time pocket watch in his open palm. He was looking at that watch like it was the most curious thing. The younger Merrill looked delighted. I picked up the picture and checked the hallway. I studied that watch in the picture. I was wondering what was so curious about it. I wondered if the boy was just performing for the camera. I was getting pretty drunk. A minute, and I set the picture back as best as I could.
    In the den I gave Merrill the brush, and she looked at the blanket and said, “Go on.” So I sat back in the chair and pulled the blanket over me. I took the last swig of a beer and put my feet up on the table.
    â€œWhere do you live during the week?” said Merrill.
    â€œMe?” I said.
    â€œYes you. I don’t want to talk to this fool brother of yours.”
    â€œHey,” said Albert.
    â€œHey,” said Merrill.
    â€œWith my Ma,” I said. “Up in Raleigh.”
    â€œAre you in high school yet?”
    â€œNext year,” I said. “If some things start to go right. I’ve missed some time lately.”
    She nodded. “We’ve all got things to take care of. Albert has told me some about you.”
    â€œA little,” said Albert.
    â€œWhat does he say?” I said.
    Merrill was sitting next to him, and she poured some clear, scented oil onto her hands. Then she rubbed it into Albert’s back. “You’re a hell of a bowler,” she said. “That’s him talking. What else? Bowling’s a good start. Someone takes something up, they should be good at it. You’re a swimmer, and you work nights at a restaurant. Dishes, right?”
    â€œBoring,” I said.
    She rubbed the oil into his shoulders, down his spine. “Well he didn’t tell me that part. Here’s one. You order your clothes on hangers, light to dark.”
    I smiled at that. “Which way?”
    She considered. “Light on the left.”
    â€œWrong.”
    â€œI’ve got to keep closer attention,” she said. “Now I’ve got to make up for it. When you were younger you had a duck who you thought was your girlfriend.”
    I sat up at that. I looked at my brother. “Albert!” I said.
    He opened his eyes and looked up at me. They were both laughing.
    â€œBe careful what you ask,” said Merrill.
    I tucked the blanket up to my neck. “She was just my friend.”
    And that set them to laughing more. I let them ride that out. I wasn’t going to say another word. I looked over at the mice, and for some reasonI