All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

“Okay, fine. They’re gonna tell you what I’m telling you.”

At the police station, when the deputy called the farmhouse, nobody answered. Mama had probably turned off the ringer. Then he called Sandy’s trailer and nobody answered there either. I sat in a chair in the sheriff’s empty office while the deputy took Kellen to charge him for assaulting the guy in the Mazda. It was only a misdemeanor, so Kellen got to post bail right there, but he still had to have his picture and his fingerprints taken.

He came back, wiping ink off his hands and arguing with the deputy. His name tag said Vogel.

“I’m gonna have to call Children’s Protective Services,” Deputy Vogel said.

“What the hell for?” Kellen’s black cloud was back. Bigger.

“Because we got a minor here and not knowing who she is, I can’t let her go with you.”

“How about this? Why don’t I go get her mama? Take me an hour to get there and an hour to get back. Think you can wait to call somebody ’til then?”

“I couldn’t get CPS out here before then anyway. I just don’t want to release her to somebody who doesn’t have any business taking her.”

Kellen’s mouth got hard, but he didn’t say anything to that. He ran his hand over my hair and said, “I’ll be back, Wavy.” He glared at the deputy. “And can you get some ice for her eye?”

After Kellen left, Deputy Vogel brought me a bottle of pop and an ice pack, but I didn’t touch them.

Being in the sheriff’s office was a lot like when Mama got arrested, but at least I was dressed with my boots on. When they arrested Mama, I had to sit in the police station for hours, just in my nightshirt, while strangers walked in and out and talked to me. And tried to touch me.

The deputy didn’t try to touch me, but he sat at the sheriff’s desk, asking me questions.

“So how do you know Mr. Kellen? Or Mr. Barfoot? That’s his legal name.”

I stared through him.

“Where did you two meet?”

I crossed my arms over my chest to let Deputy Vogel know he was wasting his time.

“Not at school, I’m guessing.”

Ha ha ha.

“You know this isn’t his first assault charge?” he said.

I knew. Kellen didn’t get those scars on his knuckles from playing poker or fixing motorcycles. He got them from pulping guys in the face.

“He’s got himself quite a rap sheet. Doesn’t hardly seem like the kind of guy a sweet girl like you should be hanging around.”

I was so sweet. Like a lemon drop.

I stared through the deputy until he had to get up and walk around the station to get away from me.

It was almost five o’clock in the morning when Kellen came back. I recognized the sound of his boots on the tiles outside the sheriff’s office, but it wasn’t Mama with him. Clicky heels, but too slow. I turned and looked out the window blinds. Sandy.

She looked tired but beautiful. A different kind of beautiful than Mama, who was dark. The sun was always shining on Sandy. Her hair was as blond as mine, but big and hair sprayed. She wore lots of makeup, and tight jeans and a tight T-shirt with no bra.

“Hello there, ma’am,” the deputy said. He sounded surprised, and I could tell he thought Sandy was sexy. He kept looking and looking at her. It made me wish I looked older. If I looked more like Sandy, the cops wouldn’t think I was too young to be out with Kellen.

“Hi, sweetie,” Sandy said to me. “You ready to go home?”

I nodded.

“Wow, that guy really did a number on you.”

“Are you her mother?” the deputy said.

“Yes, I am. I’m Valerie Quinn. I’m not sure why I had to get out of bed at o’dark-thirty to come tell you that, but here I am.” Sandy wasn’t like me. She always sounded sweet, even when she was mad.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Quinn, but you can see why we were concerned about her being out so late with him.”

“No, I guess I don’t see.”

“I wasn’t sure her parents knew where she was.”

“Well, of course, I knew she was with him. Don’t you think I’d be out looking for her if I didn’t know where she was?”

“I just wanted to be sure,” the deputy said.

“Is that all? Are we free to go?”

“Yes, ma’am, but can I just say? You ought to keep an eye on your girl. You shouldn’t ought to let her out with a man like—”

“Thank you so very much for the advice. We’re gonna go now, if that’s okay?”

I got up when Sandy did, but before we could walk out, the deputy reached across the desk and handed me a piece of paper.

“If you ever need anything, Wavy Quinn, you call me,” he said. That’s what was written on the paper, his name—Deputy Leon Vogel—and his phone number. I stuck it in my pocket and followed Kellen outside to the car.

Sandy stretched out in the backseat and slept all the way to the ranch, snoring a little. I curled up beside Kellen and rested my head on his leg. Even though we didn’t talk, I stayed awake to keep him company.

When we pulled into the yard in front of Sandy’s trailer, Liam was standing on the porch, drinking a beer. Kellen got out of the car and folded the seat up so Sandy could get out of the back. Liam came down the stairs, his eyes red. If you could see into him, see what he was, his eyes would always be red. The sun was coming up when he walked across the driveway and grabbed Sandy by the arm.