Son of a Preacher Man - By Arianna Hart Page 0,41
Mrs. Farley came out back when she heard him screaming. He tried to blame it on Nadya, saying she attacked him and tried to steal his wallet.”
“Are you fucking kidding me? He’s easily twice her weight and a foot taller. Why didn’t she go to the police?”
“Mrs. Farley tried to get her to, but Nadya’s mama came and took her home. She said she’d handle it and not to say anything. Miss Tala didn’t trust the police. Not that I can blame her. Remember, Matthew Woodrow and his cronies were pretty much the department then. They harassed Nadya and her mama every chance they got.”
“I don’t fucking believe this.”
“Watch your mouth, we’re around little kids. If fuck is Billy’s new word, Mary Ellen will have my balls too.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me about that. I can’t believe I never heard about that before. No one keeps secrets in Dale.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I may have to pay a visit at the hardware store. I never liked Branson Taylor anyway.” J.T. felt a powerful need to hit someone. It didn’t matter that the attack was years ago. Someone had hurt Nadya and no one had been there to help her.
“Just cool your jets there, son. Nadya and her mama took care of Taylor. I don’t know what Miss Tala said, but Taylor never came near either one of them again.”
“Just because they handled it doesn’t make me want to hurt him less. She was a kid for Chr—crying out loud,” he amended his words at the last second, checking to make sure Mary Ellen was out of earshot.
“That’s not why I told you about it. I just wanted you to know not to push Nadya too hard to make friends. Most of those girls did everything they could to make her life a living hell. Opal and Jemma aren’t bad. They’re friendly with Mary Ellen, so they won’t give Nadya a hard time. But those other ones…” He shook his head. “They’re stuck in high school still. And seeing how pretty Nadya turned out, well, that’s just going to piss ’em off more.”
“She was always the prettiest girl in town.”
“Yeah, but she was poor and an outcast. Now she’s back in her fancy car with her fancy clothes and they’re still here. Sure, they’ll tell you they want it that way, but you can’t tell me they don’t wish they’d had a chance to get the hell out of this town at some point.”
J.T. looked at Bill. “Do you? You could have joined the Marines with me, seen the world.”
“My world is right here.” He gestured to Little Billy and Mary Ellen who was holding Hunter. “I have a job I love, the woman I’ve always loved and two beautiful kids with another on its way. That’s all I ever wanted.”
J.T. felt a twinge of jealousy. Bill seemed so solid and settled, a feat J.T. had never managed no matter where he lived. “You’re a lucky son-of-a-bitch. You’ve got your whole little world right here.”
“I sure am. I only hope my little world doesn’t change too much when Nadya sells off to the developer.”
“Hold on. What developer? What are you talking about?” Jesus, he couldn’t keep up with the change in conversation.
“Hornblower dropped off an offer from that bastard at Nokas this afternoon. They’re offering close to a million dollars for the property her daddy left her in his will.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
“No shi—kidding.”
“And she said she’s going to sell?” J.T. asked.
“No, but wouldn’t you? That’s a boat load of money to turn down.”
“But that development would destroy her home.”
“The home she was chased out of. Think about it—what better way to get payback for all the crap she took growing up? If that development gets built, Dale will turn into a strip mall if it doesn’t get knocked down to make room for a new highway into Atlanta.”
“You don’t know that. Nokas has said they’ll use local labor, and that can only help Dale.”
“In the short term. Once the houses are built, there go the jobs.”
J.T. wanted to ask more questions about what else he didn’t know about the developer and how the citizens of Dale had treated Nadya when she was growing up, but his radio squawked.
“Duty calls. I’ll catch up with you later.” He waved to the boys on the seesaw and detoured to where Mary Ellen was talking with Nadya, Opal and Jemma.
“I have to go. If I get off shift at a decent time, I’ll