Grampa's Keys

Dalbert fried us a piece of meat in a black pan and I ate mine faster than they did. The juice dripped of the giant’s lips and ran down into his thick beard where it disappeared, adding to the smell of him. The old man chewed swallowed and drank over and over until almost nine o’clock when I had to tell him it was time to go. Grampa told Dalbert that we would be back in the spring and I had to bite my tongue because I wanted to shout out that I was never coming back here. Then Dalbert asked the old man if he wanted any venison to take with. I didn’t know what that meant, but he said no thanks anyway so I didn’t find out. I figured the old man got what he wanted and I got what I came for and that was enough. I wanted to tell Dalbert that I knew what kind of a man he was and that messing around with dead animals was wicked, but I also knew that there were places on the farm he could put me, places where I would never be found, so I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to leave so badly that I stood next to the door with my hand on the door knob while they polished off the last of the bottle. We finally said good-bye and got outside and while walking toward the car I felt as cold and afraid as I ever had. It was pitch dark out there and still, not even a breath of wind, no sound, no lights, just emptiness. The cold staid in me for a long time while we waited for the car to warm up and I started shivering and worrying that the old man was too drunk to drive. He backed out and followed the tire tracks down the long driveway and out onto the main road. I never saw another car the whole way home and I kept my eye on him, and talked about nothing, trying to keep him awake so we wouldn’t end up in the ditch. I sat with Rose’s envelope on my lap and I could feel the hard outline of a small key inside. I wondered what kind of adventure Red was about to send her on. Even from the grave, where ever he was, Red was changing our lives and I thought it odd that I should be the one to give Rose something she had waited so long for. I was determined to see this package in her hands and see the smile on her face. All I could hope was that this would be over with tomorrow for better or worse.