Curiosity Killed Shaney(24)

Shaney sighed. “No, I’m not. I may be a screw up, but I’m not a criminal.” Petulance colored his tone.

“Fuck that talk about being a screw up.” Hudson’s grow raised Shaney’s eyebrows. “Just enough.”

Shaney bit his bottom lip. If Hudson wanted him to stop, he would.

Hudson’s lips curled into a smile. “So tell me what didn’t you do to get probation then?”

“I didn’t save the kittens.”

Exposing his stupidity to Hudson was the last thing Shaney wanted. Perhaps anything said would be protected under some carpenter’s code of silence, like what happens during the cutting of the pipes, stays...That didn’t make any sense, even to Shaney.

Hudson crinkled his eyebrows. “Kittens?”

Reliving this humiliation was the highlight of his hell, and Hudson’s attentive stare was confirmation that he would remain in that hell indefinitely.

Shaney focused on sanding. He might have to confess, but he didn’t have to look at the man while doing it. “I was walking home from work last month when I passed that large warehouse on Maple. It was late and dark, and I could swear I heard kittens meowing. Well, the meowing got louder and faster, and I heard this rumbling noise like a machine starting. I thought maybe they’d fallen into something.” He closed his eyes remembering how scared he’d been, how desperately he’d needed to help those kittens. “I broke a window and climbed in to find them.”

Hudson waited patiently, not even twitching an eye in response to the story, a story that would be proof positive of Shaney’s uselessness. Would Hudson fire him? Again, Shaney was convinced his fate was with Big Louie. He so didn’t want to be anyone’s bitch.

“There were no kittens.” Shaney shrugged hopelessly. “I found out later—after the cops dragged me off to jail—that what I’d heard was the steam escaping the pipes from the old furnace. It sounded so much like meowing, and when the furnace started, it got louder and faster. I really did think there were kittens stuck in there.” For a month after that, covert meowing noises had followed Shaney wherever he went. People really sucked some times.

The silence weighed heavy in the air, compelling Shaney to look up.

“Sounds like a legitimate reason to me. It’s not as if you went in there to steal anything. As long as you fixed the window, right?”

The unexpected response had Shaney swallowing hard against the boulder forming in his throat. “No, I didn’t want to steal anything,” Shaney whispered. Hudson understood? Didn’t see him as a criminal? Would wonders never cease?

Hudson nodded and took the pipe from Shaney, examining the end. “Good job,” he said. Another win for Shaney.

After their successful reconstruction of the highways (pipes), they emerged from the crawl space. Shaney swiped at the dirt clinging to his clothes and patted his pants and shirt to squish any bugs trying to defect to the country of Shaney. As he followed Hudson to the door, Shaney couldn’t help but grin, thinking about how awesome the day had turned out.

A diminutive woman with short white hair and twinkling grey eyes opened the door. She beamed up at Hudson.

“You’re all set, Mrs. Winters.” Hudson smiled warmly down at her as one might a beloved grandmother. Damn, if that smile hadn’t lit up his entire face.

“Thank you, dear. Now you boys come in and wash up. I have something for you.”

“We’re really dirty, ma’am,” Hudson replied and swiped his hand over his thigh.

Shaney had to agree with that.

“Nonsense,” she said, and turned with the wordless expectation they would follow.

Wiping their feet on the mat, they followed her into a small, cheery yellow kitchen. “Now you tell me how much I owe you, Hudson, so I can have the money ready.”

Hudson shook his head, a shy grin on his lips. “You know your money’s no good with me.”

“You’re a good boy, Hudson Turner.” Hudson actually blushed when Mrs. Winters patted his cheek. Freakin’ adorable. Shaney chuckled, imagining Hudson’s reaction if he called him adorable.

“Now, go on and wash up in the bathroom, Hudson. Shaney, you can wash up here at the sink.” Hudson obeyed, immediately disappearing through the door next to him. Shaney went to the sink and scrubbed a day’s worth of grime from beneath his fingernails and skin.

“Shaney Mills,” Mrs. Winters stated and creases formed across her forehead. “Any relation to Judy Mills?”

Shaney shut off the water and grabbed the towel she had left. “She’s my mom.”

“Lovely woman,” she stated emphatically. “And your father, Tom, was such a nice man. So young.” She shook her head.