Free In Dark Corners by Gene O'Neill Page B

lifted the weighted driver once and let it drop while the boy retained his grip on the handles. "Drive the post in, hoss."
    Tentatively, Billy-boy lifted the driver several inches and let it drop.
    "Atta boy," Rowdy said, grinning broadly. "You got it. Now, a little harder." He stood behind the boy, helped lift the driver, and slammed it down on the post. Then he stepped around in front and motioned for Billy-boy to repeat the action. The boy lifted the driver and hammered in the post, looking up to Rowdy for approval.
    "Hey, hey, hammer-swinger, you got it now!"
    From then on, Billy-boy carried the driver, in his lap when they were driving in the pick-up, in his hands even when there were no posts to drive. He was the official hammer-swinger, and he was always ready.

    ***

    That afternoon back at Wild Horse, they excitedly showed Billy-boy's blistered hands to Ellie—the hands of a hammer-swinger! They found him a set of gloves at the little general supply store at the service station. Then they had a steak celebration at the cafe. As they were ordering the food, Rowdy put his arm around Billy-boy's shoulder and said to Ellie's waitress friend, "Bring this hoss here a big root beer right away. Hammer-swinging is thirsty work."
    Billy-boy maintained his usual grin as he drank his treat, but his eyes didn't appear quite so vacant to Rowdy. Under the table, Ellie reached across and squeezed Rowdy's thigh.

    ***

    Everything seemed to fall smoothly into place for the three of them after that. They moved into a larger bungalow. Ellie worked the breakfast and lunch trade at the Wild Horse Cafe. Rowdy and Billie-boy ran fence line out on the Lazy R. They were like a family; and Rowdy felt sure that somewhere Sadie, his dead wife, knew and was happy for him.

    ***

    Then after about a month, one morning working the fence line Rowdy's bad back spasmed.
    Sitting stiff with pain, he drove the pickup back to Wild Horse just before noon, leaving it parked in front of the cafe. He slipped out of the cab, grimacing to himself, and instructed Billy-boy, "You stay here, hoss. We'll go in and see Ellie in a minute. I'm going to the cabin to get some medicine." The boy remained seated in the pickup with the heavy post driver in his lap, gripping the handles with his gloved hands.
    Rowdy limped slowly toward the motel. He'd brought some muscle relaxants and pain pills prescribed back in Salinas, leaving them stored in his stuff. Inside, he found them at the bottom of his suitcase, under some dirty clothes. "Thank God," he whispered to himself, gulping down the pills with a glass of water. Then he squinted his eyes against the spasms of pain and sucked in a deep breath, knowing the medicine would start to hit in about forty-five minutes—
    A gunshot. Then a scream from outside grated on his already stressed nerves, like fingernails on a blackboard. It was Ellie.
    He moved as quickly as possible to the door and jerked it open.
    Across the parking lot blocking his pickup was a green Owyhee County Sheriff's car. The officer had his gun drawn and pointed at Ellie, who was standing on the porch of the cafe by Mr. Papadopolos and a pair of customers. The officer had Billie-boy by the arm, trying to manipulate a pair of handcuffs with one hand, while keeping Ellie at bay.
    She was shouting something at her brother, who had apparently dropped the post driver after getting out of the pickup, and was looking from the deputy sheriff back at his sister, not understanding, the constant grin plastered to his face.
    "Jesus," Rowdy swore, hobbling toward the scene, scrunching across the graveled parking lot.
    Then, as the officer jerked the boy toward his vehicle, Ellie rasped loudly, "Make a face, Billy-boy!"
    As the boy turned from his sister and faced the lawman, Rowdy saw from the side the perpetual smile begin to dissolve, the boy's features turning liquid, slowly changing into something ugly and horrible , like special effects in one of those monster