The Devil's Pet

Chapter 5

May 2005

Earl watched the early morning sunlight stream into the back window. They’d been driving all night and the brightening landscape was a welcome sight. Earl rode along with Boss, while T drove the van with Hector. It was over two thousand miles from Los Angeles to Chicago, and they were almost there. Of course, Earl didn’t know exactly where there was yet, only Boss did.

Earl, Hector and T had their ideas but, as usual, they wouldn’t know for sure until Boss told them.

Boss had been out to Chicago a couple of times in the past year, so they figured he had something lined up. He hadn’t given them much warning before they left LA. One day he told them they had one last job to do and then they’d move on. Two days later they were on the road, flush with cash.

He never told them much in advance but when he did they were expected to pay close attention, or else. With Boss, or else, meant a seriously unhappy outcome. Whether it was remembering something important or carrying out some task, it was best to do exactly what he said. They’d all seen what Boss was capable of and no one wanted to be the object of his anger. Besides, following him had worked out well for them.

He figured things out they couldn’t even begin to. And, if he ever made a mistake, they never saw it. He made sure they always had a place to stay, money in their pockets, good food, women and best of all nobody fucked with them. Not for long anyway.

They were finally there. Boss parked, and Earl got out from the passenger seat. He was always in the passenger seat, because no one would let him drive. Just like no one would let him carry a gun, not a real one anyway, only that stupid pellet gun. He was about to complain, but decided he didn’t want to get yelled at, so he kept his mouth closed.  

They had pulled up in front of an old white two story house that looked like it had been built shortly after world war two. The street was lined with similar houses, though this one seemed to be the worst of the lot. Earl noticed right away it had a good size wrap-around porch, he liked that. The paint was badly peeled, and although the windows weren’t broken, most of the screens were hanging ripped. At some point the porch had lattice around the bottom, but it had long since rotted and only the tattered edges were left.

Someone had gone to the trouble of putting in a cement driveway, but generations of weeds now infested every crack and groove. The front lawn was mostly weeds except for a large oily patch of scorched earth by the sidewalk. It appeared someone had lost control of a gas can. Completing the view were empty beer cans and a broken wine bottle scattered across the yard.

Earl smiled, he felt right at home.

T pulled into the driveway and turned to Hector saying, “we’re staying here? What a fucking shithole.” 

Hector laughed and said “I don’t know T, some paint and curtains and it’ll be just like home.” 

“Yeah,” said T, “and maybe we need your wetback cousin to come weed the lawn for us too.”

Hector angrily replied, “Why are you always doing that to us man? Putting me and Earl down like that? We’ve been in the same scrapes as you and saved your ass just like you saved ours. You might be smarter than us, but Boss is way smarter than you, and he doesn’t make fun of you all the time.”

Before T could answer, Boss walked up and said

“Hector, Earl, get the house set up for us. T, you and I need to go visit the new neighbors. I’ll drive.” 

Boss always drove a big heavy car with a powerful engine. This time it was a 1999 black Lincoln Continental. Boss made Earl leave the BMW in LA. His brother had given it to him. He would miss that car.