Free ClarenceBN by Sarah M. Anderson Page B

did look like a kid that hadn’t finished growing up yet—probably had done a couple of tours. But Clarence had six inches and probably a hundred pounds on him. If there was a problem, Clarence was the solution.
    “Hey. I’m looking for Tammy Tall Trees and she ,” he said, nodding at Tara, “doesn’t feel like helping me out today. You know where she’s at, buddy?”
    Tara and Clarence shared a look, which was not something that happened every single day, but today? Yeah, today they were completely, totally, 100% on the same side.  
    He glanced at the clock. 1:37. Tammy was next door, putting kids down for a nap or doing the lunch dishes. “She’s not here.”  
    Ezra the dickbag’s smile tightened. “Okay, yeah—got that. Do you know where she’s at?”
    Neither Clarence nor Tara responded.  
    At that moment, Melinda Mitchell stuck her head through and called out over the sound of a kid pitching an epic fit, “Wanda Bright Sky? Are you in here?” A woman with a hacking cough stood up and moved toward the door that divided the Clinic and the Child Care Center.  
    “Hey,” Ezra said to Melinda, “I’m looking for Tammy Tall Trees. Do you—”
    “She’s putting the kids down,” Melinda said without looking up as she held the door for Wanda. “I’ll tell her you’re looking for her. I’m so sorry, Wanda, but he’s really upset . . .” Her voice trailed off as she led Wanda into the room.
    Ezra turned back to where Clarence and Tara were. “Not here, huh?” He looked Clarence up and down. “You never did like me,” he told Tara.
    “That’s where you’re wrong,” Tara snapped. “I didn’t give a damn about you one way or the other until you knocked up my baby sister and then ran off like a dog with its tail tucked—”
    “Yes?” Tammy’s head poked through the door. “I’m Tammy.” Her gaze met Clarence’s and at first she smiled, all happy to see him.  
    They hadn’t talked a lot about their pasts, beyond the fact that Ezra had made promises and not kept them. Clarence didn’t know if he should just get a jump on things and punch Ezra or if that would be the wrong way to handle this situation. The best he could do was give a little shake of his head in warning.
    In that moment, Ezra turned around. “Whoa—Tammy? What the hell happened to you?”
    “Ezra?” Tammy froze in place, her eyes wide in shock.
    It didn’t last long, that frozen moment, mostly because Clarence had Ezra by the back of the neck and was bodily removing his sorry ass from the Clinic. “You will not talk to her that way,” he managed to growl in Ezra’s ear before he launched him across the dirt parking lot.  
    “Clarence!” Tammy appeared at his side.  
    “I won’t have him talk to you like that,” Clarence repeated, dusting his hands off as if he’d been touching something grimy. “He’s got no right. I won’t have it.”
    Then, to his surprise, Tammy rushed over to where Ezra was sprawled out on the hard-pack dirt. “Are you okay?”
    “Jesus, what the hell is his problem?” Tammy helped Ezra to his feet and even went so far as to help straighten his jacket for him.  
    Clarence could not begin to process what he was seeing. Tara had been right about this, at least—Ezra was a dickbag. What kind of man would ask the mother of his child—a woman he hadn’t seen in five damned years—about her weight? Just thinking about it made his blood boil.
    And yet, Tammy was over there with Ezra, apologizing for Clarence’s behavior and generally being . . . nice? What the ever-loving hell? “I’m so sorry,” she was saying as she fixed his freaking collar. “Are you all right?”
    “Um, Tammy?” That was as far as he got. He wanted to do a whole lot more than just throw Ezra but that seemed to be a not-good plan at the moment.
    She threw him a warning glance. “Well,” she said in a too bright tone. “Ezra Johnson, this is Clarence Thunder. Clarence,” she went on as if this were