Gatekeeper's Secret
Copyright© 2026 by Fick Suck
Chapter 20
“Welcome to my home,” Grady finally managed to croak. He could not stop himself. “I don’t understand; didn’t you two have a knock-down, drag-out fight a couple of weeks ago and got suspended?” They nodded ‘yes.’ “Then,” he began, waving his arms at them, “how?”
“It was a misunderstanding,” Christina said slowly with slitted eyes, like she was daring him to say anything more. Grady looked at Jessica who was as mystified as he was. He waved them in and led the women to the table. “We don’t say grace,” he said to Kimberly
“Not a problem,” Kimberly said. She looked like she wanted to say more but decided to stare at her plate. Bri began bringing in the food, placing the dishes in the center of the table. Everyone remained silent until Bettina came in with the magic chili sauce and took her seat.
“Ah, what the hell,” Grady said. “Rub-a-dub-dub, thanks for the grub. Yea, God.” He offered a sly smile, “Please, dig in. You don’t have to worry about food poisoning because I didn’t cook any of it.”
“I can’t decide if you’re being clever or you’re an asshole,” Bettina said. “I’ll err on the side of caution and assume you’re an asshole. I keep forgetting you’re only eighteen.”
“Mi hermana, you wound me,” Grady said as he took a piece of chicken and passed the dish to his right. “Learning on short notice that I would have guests for dinner, I would have opened three boxes of Mac ‘n Cheese and chopped up a whole package of hot dogs to add to the dish. I also got a family size bag of Tater Tots in the freezer. You saved us all.”
“There are no taste buds in your asshole, Grady,” Christina said. “Why you continually confuse the two, Bettina, puzzles me.” The table roiled with laughter, except for Grady who smiled with a radiant solemnity that he reserved for the moment when words would not suffice. He tapped his temple with his index finger and then pointed it slightly at her as if to say, “you topped me this time.”
“Disfrute de su comida, ” Grady said, “as they say in all of the finest restaurants.”
Bettina waved her hand. “Idiot, we say bon appetit like everybody else.”
“Are conversations always like this at this table?” Kimberly asked.
Bettina let out a low chuckle as she spooned beans onto her plate. “Things around this table are better lately. It took us years to housebreak Grady and teach him good manners. You will notice that he is wearing pants to table.”
“The last time I didn’t wear pants to the table, I was in diapers,” Grady said.
“Oh, last week then,” Christina said.
“Christina, enough,” Jessica said. “This is not the High School cafeteria, and I expect better manners out of you.”
Grady decided to change the subject, “Did you come to an agreement with the dealership for that van, Bettina?”
“I’ve got a chicken and egg problem,” Bettina said. “The terms are reasonable if I can drum up enough business. There aren’t enough electricians in the county for the number of buildings, but I’m not the biggest name in town. Besides you, I’ve only got two other clients and one of them is residential – you know, one shot fix.”
“What about networking through your brothers?” he asked.
Bettina waved her fork at him. “I do, I did, but we both have the same problem.”
When Grady did not respond, Jessica chose to step up. “What is the problem?”
“We have a large construction firm in the area that does its best to cheat and drive off everyone else, especially when they hire tradespeople as subcontractors. They want to pay pennies on the dollar,” Bettina said. “He’s a pig.”
“Who?”
“Sylvester Jeffries,” Bettina said, pretending to spit on the ground next to her chair.
“He IS a pig,” Kimberly said forcefully out of the blue, “and a whore’s son and a pervert. He belongs to my father’s church. He donated a new roof for the building and then had my dad sign off on a bill that was way beyond the price of a new roof. Hint, work hasn’t started yet. The whole time Mr. Jeffries, Call-Me-Van, was in the house, he was ogling me and my mom like we were sides of beef. Even his handshake is cold and clammy. He gropes too and he has no shame – in my own house. Ew.”
“There you go,” Grady said. “If he’s a pervert, maybe we can lure him to Channing Apartments and get pictures of him. Take him down.”
“What are these apartments?” Jessica asked.
“The Clinton version of a slum. Drugs, guns, prostitutes and lots of violence,” Grady said. “It’s an old, rundown complex that was a dump the day it was built. There are a lot of immigrants there, even illegals, but the real source of the trouble is the white folk who live there. You can’t miss them at high school; they walk around looking to mess up someone’s day because they are mad at the world.”
“White trash,” Jessica said. “People who blame anyone and anything else for their troubles. The poor aren’t necessarily trash and the trash aren’t necessarily poor. Trash is trash though.”
Kimberly choked as she took a gulp of water. Christina pounded her back a few times as Kimberly’s face became quite red. The girl took a few deep breaths and let the calm return. Grady took it as a sign to start eating again. He had a clue, but he had no context as to why this girl was here and why she was anxious.
“I’m sorry,” Grady began, “I’ve tried to be patient, but this table is a bit jumpy and unsettled. Who wants to go first?”
Grady could hear the ticking of the cheap wall clock in the kitchen with its clunky plastic parts. The rest of the house was silent. Everyone appeared frozen at their place, not even the silverware in their hands were moving. “What? Did I fart at the table or something?”
“Or something,” Bettina said as she glanced around the table. “I’m going to put on coffee. I think we may be here for a while.” Everyone ate in silence until she returned from her task. “We can take our time. If you want, I can fry up some bananas to go with the coffee.”
Grady pointed his knife at Christina. “Do you want to start?”
“Kimberly is going to stay at the bunkhouse, okay?”
Grady nodded. “Your mom rented the bunkhouse, and it sleeps four. While she has the right to choose who stays there, I do retain some veto power if I consider the individual to be dangerous to my person or my property. I don’t think Kimberly is a danger to me and mine at this time. Still, you haven’t told me why Kimberly is here, and she isn’t sleeping at home or at your apartment. I don’t think we’ve ever exchanged more than two words in all the years I’ve known her.”
“Yes, Christina, I think it is time for some transparency,” her mother said. “What’s going on? You said you weren’t in trouble, but...”
“I’m not in trouble, Kimberly is,” Christina said before correcting herself. “She’s not in trouble because she did anything wrong. It’s ... I can’t say.”
“Kimberly,” Bettina said, “My soon-to-be-ex gave me an unprovoked punch in the gut. I gave him a broken arm with a pipe wrench. Bri has seen some shit too.” Kimberly started shedding silent tears. “Do you give Christina permission to tell us.”
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