Hands All Over

Ch. 106 Ohana

Juice kept his baseball hat pulled low over his face as he rode in the passenger's seat of the funeral home van with Bones at the wheel. He had no idea where Bones was taking him, but he kept going farther and farther away from the town into the countryside all the while humming the Mission Impossible theme song and driving him crazy. "Where the hell are we going?" he asked, hoping the question would stop Bones' humming.

"I actually have a house out here. One of the old ranch houses," Bones admitted, scratching at his neck nervously.

He furrowed his brow in confusion. He knew exactly what Bones was talking about; Elliot Oswald lived in one of them. They were huge and spread out. Most of them had room for livestock and horses. Some even had vineyards on them so their owners could dabble in making wine. It was where Charming's wealthier inhabitants lived, and he was surprised to find out Bones owned one of them. "You got a ranch house and you're living in a shitty apartment above a morgue?"

Bones nodded. "It's uh...it's complicated," he stammered, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "It's my step dad's place. Or it was, I guess since he...died."

"Oh." Juice grimaced, feeling a little bad about giving the guy shit before. "Sorry to hear that. Your mom and sister, they don't live there either?"

"Um. No. They're uh...they...all three of 'em got in this...insane accident with a drunk driver a few years back," he admitted, his voice cracking a bit. "None of them made it."

Juice's brows furrowed together in total confusion. Bones talked about his little sister all of the time as if she were still around. "Really? But you..."

"I pretend they moved to Florida or something 'cause that's what we were gonna do after I graduated. Makes it easier to deal with," he interrupted quickly. "My dad...step dad...he left everything to me. I wasn't even his kid, but he...just did. Skeeter and Ang did the funeral prep, but she didn't actually go to the funeral. I don't know why but...anyways, I became a little obsessed with death after that so I bugged Skeet to let me help with something, anything. Told him I'd dig graves if he'd let me. He said to wait until I actually graduated from high school and then, it was up to Ang."

Juice felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest at the mention of his wife. He remembered the day she'd prepped Bones' little sister, actually. He'd still been in the hospital after his prison shanking. She'd climbed into bed with him, lay her head on his chest, and asked him to talk to her about absolutely anything. He'd spent a good couple of hours explaining to her the concept of Clear Passages and the different strains of weed and edibles he wanted to sell. She'd listened to every minute of it and afterwards had thanked him for the distraction before making him promise to never talk to her about colonics again. After hearing that Bones had been tied to the case, he wasn't surprised Angela had taken him under her wing; she seemed to do that with anyone who sought out her help. "She took you in."

Bones nodded slowly. "For awhile, I thought it was because she knew what happened. That I was this charity case and that's why she was being so nice to me. She treated me like a little brother 'cause she knew I'd lost my family. But when I finally asked her about it, she had no idea. She really didn't. She just gave me a big hug and then told me to get back to work. We never talked about it again 'n' when I talk about Penny and my parents like they're still around, she goes along with it. Never makes me feel like a...weirdo for it. She's just...a really cool person. And this is corny to say, but I feel lucky to have her in my life. Don't know what I woulda done on my own without her."

He smiled a little as he nodded in agreement. "I know. Feel the same way."

They shared a brief smile as Bones pulled up to a wrought iron entry gate. He typed in the numbers quickly before turning to Juice. "Passcode is 73669. The lights are on timers so don't worry about people seeing them. They're used to it. Not that the neighbors can really see the place anyway couple miles between each of the ranches, but I keep them on to ward off robbers," he explained before nodding at the Escalade in the driveway. "Same with the car. The keys are inside if you need them. I come up here every now and then to start the car and mow the lawn. Give the appearance someone's living here so nothing you do should be too suspicious."