Toad came from an old family, a really old family. As far as I could tell, his family had been in Knoxville as long as Knoxville had been a thing. We drove down a long, winding road until we pulled up out front of the Toad family shack.
It was a rundown little house with a front porch wrapping around the front. Old broken-down cars, rotting firewood, trash, and other garbage littered the front lawn. I climbed out of the car and an old woman came to the front door.
“Who the heck are you?” she called out.
“Are you Mrs. Trap?”
“Yeah. That’s me. Who are you?”
“Hello, Mrs. Trap. I’m Travis Rock. I went to high school with your son.”
There was a pause, and then she flung the door open. “Travis Rock! My god!” She came out toward me, smiling big. Hartley was hanging over by the car still as I walked over to meet her.
Toad’s momma was short and fat. Her long, greasy hair had seen better days, and she had the skin of a life-long smoker. But she was a good woman, loyal to her family like everyone else out in the hills.
She threw her big arms around me and hugged me tightly. Toad and I had been friendly back in the day, and for some reason his momma had taken a liking to me. Never could explain that one. Maybe it was because I was the only one of his friends who pretended like I didn’t call him Toad when she was around.
“Michael is going to be so happy to see you,” she said.
“How’s he doing?”
“Oh you know,” she said, letting me go. “He’s working when he can. Michael is a good boy, but he wasn’t blessed with the smarts, you know? He’s trying his best, that boy.”
“Good to hear. Is he around?”
“Out back I think. Last I saw him at least.”
“All right then.”
“Well, whose your friend? Introduce me before you run off.”
“Mrs. Trap, this is Hartley.”
Hartley walked up to her, smiling that winning southern smile. “Good to meet you, ma’am.”
“Oh listen to you, all polite. Nice to meet you too, Hartley. Now you two run on off and find my son.” She turned and headed back toward the house. “Tea is inside if you want any. Don’t be shy.”
“Thanks,” I called after her.
Hartley looked at me. “You’re popular around here.”
I shrugged. “I come from a family just like this. Lived in a house not far from here, actually. These people know me.”
She just nodded and said nothing. I walked to the right of the house and Hartley followed, keeping pace.
There were a few more buildings out back, low and squat things, no more than big sheds. More cars littered the area, plus barrels for burning trash and leaves. As we got farther back there, the sound of country music came drifting up from one of the outhouses. We headed toward it, the music getting louder.
“Toad?” I called out. “That you, Toad?”
The music was coming from the biggest building, more like a garage than a shed. One of the large front doors slowly pushed open, and out stepped Toad in all his glory.
He hadn’t changed much. Five foot four at best, Toad was a scrawny guy. He was thin with long brown hair and a mole on the right side of his neck.
But he smiled real big when he saw me. “That you, Travis?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Holy fuck. Travis Rock.” He came over to me and we shook hands. His palms were dirty, but I didn’t mind it. “Who’s this?” he asked.
“This is Hartley.”
“Nice to meet you, little lady.”
Hartley smiled at him. “Same to you.”
“Listen, Toad, we came to talk to you.”
“All right, Travis, all right. Come on. Come in here.”
We followed him back into the garage. Inside it was a mess of tools and old car parts, and it looked like Toad was working on an ancient Mustang. Half the car was taken apart, but the other half looked like it was lovingly restored.
“This is my baby,” he said. “Been working on her for years. I’ll have her finished one day.”
“She’s real nice,” Hartley said.
I grinned at her and she smiled back, playing the role of the polite southern girl perfectly. It almost made me fucking hard knowing that there was a spitfire lurking underneath that pretty blond exterior.
“What’d you need, Travis?” Toad asked me.
“Well, I came hoping for some information.”
“Not sure I got much of that,” he said, smiling. “I can try, though.”
“Toad, what do you know about the Caldwells?”
His face fell instantly. It was like the mention of that name was an immediate trigger. He went from happy to see me to suspicious without a second thought.