Prologue Jeremy awoke to the sound of a car door slamming. Then he heard another door slam. He bolted upright, sprang out of bed, and ran to the door. He turned on the outside light and opened the door. When he walked outside he saw two cars in the driveway and saw a stranger walking towards him, with Sally ten feet behind.
Jeremy’s smile turned to a frown.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
Slim stopped in his tracks, realizing what was about to happen. As Sally was rushing to get in between the two men, Slim responded,
“My name’s Slim,” and then, though he knew full well who it was, he asked, “Who are you?”
“What are you doin’ here, Jeremy?” Sally demanded. “When did you get out?”
Her tone of voice was not welcoming, warm or even close to friendly.
“Who’s he, Sally?”
“He’s a friend.” She turned to Slim and said, “You’d better go.”
Before Slim had time to leave, Jeremy persisted,
“No, who the fuck is he, Sally? What’s going on here!”
“That’s none of your business, Jeremy! You haven’t been around for five months and now all of a sudden you show up and think everything is going to be just like it was? It isn’t!”
Sally got in between the two men and said to Slim, “Go! Now!”
Slim stood his ground at first, but then walked backwards, very slowly, toward his car, keeping his eyes on Jeremy as he did so. Jeremy walked towards him, keeping the same distance between the two men. Sally stayed in between them, facing Jeremy, keeping her arms up, pushing against Jeremy’s chest, to stop his advance. He threw her hands to the side several times and kept walking.
“So who is he, Sally! You found yourself a boyfriend, did you?”
“He’s just a friend, let him go. I’ll explain later,” she responded, in a softer tone of voice, trying to lower the tensions that were escalating.
“Oh yeah? I doubt that! Hey, you! Come back here!”
Slim reached his car, opened the passenger side door, reached underneath the seat and pulled out a Smith & Wesson 45. Then he sneered,
“I ain’t goin’ anywhere, Mister, and you’d better watch your mouth!”
Jeremy saw the gun and stopped.
“This is my house! Get your fucking ass off my property! Now!”
“What you gonna do, little man? Call the police?”
Jeremy’s mind was racing. All he’d wanted to do was make love to his wife and see his baby. He wasn’t ready for this.
“You put that gun down and I’ll kick your fucking ass, that’s what I’ll do!”
“Oh yeah? You and who else you scrawny, little mother-fucker!”
Sally stayed in between the two men, but Jeremy kept moving forward, pushing her out of the way, but she managed to stay in the middle. The men were less than six feet from each other. Jeremy stopped. The two men stared menacingly at each other.
“Okay! That’s it! You get out of here, Slim! And you go back into the house, Jeremy! Now!” Sally shrieked. She put her hands on Jeremy again, pushing hard on his chest. He pushed her away, again, but this time she fell down. Jeremy stopped when he was a foot away from the gun which was pointed in his face and said,
“I ain’t afraid of you! Go ahead, pull the fucking trigger! You fucking coward! Steal a man’s wife while he’s in jail!”
Slim pulled back the hammer until it clicked and said,
“Make one fucking move towards me and I’ll blow your head off, mother fucker!”
The two men stood their ground, neither moving an inch, glaring at each other, less than a foot apart. As they did, they heard,
“Yes, this is Sally Thibodeaux. I need a deputy out here now! Somebody’s about to get killed!”
Though both men heard what she had said, neither moved and neither looked away. Slim thought to himself that he’d better get out of there before the law arrived. He had some things in the car he’d rather they not find.
Jeremy thought to himself that he didn’t want the law coming to his house for any reason. He didn’t want to do anything that would put him back behind bars. Despite that, neither made the first move, until Slim slowly released the hammer, and said,
“Don’t do anything stupid, little man. The law’s gonna be here any minute.”
He took a few steps sideways, angling to get around the car and into the driver’s seat, while keeping the gun pointed at Jeremy’s head, not saying another word.
Jeremy looked him straight in the eye and said,
“Get your fucking ass out of here and don’t come back!”
Slim opened the door with his other hand, while keeping the gun pointed at Jeremy, got in, started the engine, and peeled out of the driveway, leaving Jeremy standing where he was and Sally still sitting on the ground with her cell phone in hand, giving directions.
“Tell them not to come, Sally. I don’t want the law here.” Jeremy said sternly.
“It’s too late for that, Jeremy. They’re on their way. Yes, I’ll stay on the line. Yes, I’m safe now, I think. Yes, that’s right, about a mile behind the Dollar Store.”
Jeremy was angry, and hurt. His heart was pounding. He didn’t know what to say or do, but he knew that he’d better get out of there before the police arrived.
“Where’s my truck?” he demanded.
“I sold it.” Sally replied, defiantly.
“You sold it?” he said, accusingly.
“That’s right! I needed the money, Jeremy! We didn’t have any!”
Jeremy didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to be there when the police got there. He was afraid of what he might say or do.
“Give me the keys to your car!”
“No!”
“Give me the keys to your car, Sally! My name’s on it, too!”
“No! Then what will I do for a car?”
“Sally, give me the damn keys! I’ll go over to my mother’s house and leave you alone. We can figure all of this out tomorrow!”
They heard the siren of the approaching police car.
“Too late now, Jeremy! You’re going back to jail!”