A Life On The Edge

Kathy Woods

I walked into the kitchen a little stunned and at a loss for words. How was I going to tell him? Should I tell him? Of course I should, but when? Now? No, wait till Ryder leaves. Oh fuck this is so awkward.

“I forgot to tell you.” Ryder smiled at me, his shirt now on. “Eddie was looking for you this afternoon. Says you owe him a favor or something.” I could see Lyle tense up. “What did you do?”

“He gave me 100,000 dollars to settle a debt.” Ryder’s mouth dropped. He cautiously looked over at Lyle and leaned towards me.

“Did you fuck him?” Lyle slapped him across the head. “Ow!” he seethed.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that.” I growled. I picked up my jacket and headed towards the door.

“Where are you going?” Lyle asked.

“To find Eddie. Is he still at the store?” Ryder shrugged.

“He’s scheduled at the bar. I have to go in anyway. I’ll take you.” Dylan said picking up his jacket.

“Keep an eye on him.” Lyle told Dylan.

“Of course.” He scoffed. I stuck my tongue out at the both of them.

“I can take care of myself.” I got into the car with Dylan and leaned back in the chair letting the information sink in.

“You okay?” Dylan asked.

“So what does he want Lyle to go to the funeral or something?” I asked confused. “How could he want anything? He’s dead. Wait how did he die?”

“Heart attack.”

“Damn.” I mumbled.

“He’s in the will. They really just want him there for the will reading and Blake told us because they’re going to go sniffing around for him to try and find him. Blake thinks if he can be very careful about it Lyle can show up to the reading without being requested and get out without being detected by anyone.” I nodded.

“So he has to go or else we’re in even more danger then we already are.” Dylan nodded. I sighed frustrated. “How am I supposed to tell him?”

“Don’t tell him tonight. A lot happened today. You went to visit Troy, we had that talk with River, your friend found us out, and now he’s anxious about this whole Eddie thing. Just give him a break.” I nodded. “Wait until tomorrow.” I stared outside and watched the desert pass as we drove into town, I thought we had just ran over a stick or something when we heard the loud pop.

“What the fuck was that?” I mumbled. Dylan shrugged and continued to drive until we started so slow, and slow, and slow.

“Shit.” He mumbled and pulled over. He put on the hazards and got out of the car. “Fuck!” he yelled.

“What?”

“We hit a nail and our tire is flat.” I got out and groaned at the deflated circle. He mumbled something under his breath and pulled out his phone. “No service.” He scoffed. “Fuck!”

“Calm down, stay here by the car and wait for someone to drive by or something and I’ll go look for a signal.” I sighed snatching his phone. I walked down the road and off the ramp. I stumbled down a small hill and found a little bit of service under the arching road we were on. “Come on.” I mumbled to myself. “One more bar please.” I pleaded to no-one in particular. I heard the sound of water trickling, then I smelled urine. “What the fuck?” I looked up and was surprised to see a woman squatting by the hill taking a piss. “Hey!” I called.