My new book, The Unforgiving Town, takes place more than 17 years after its prequel, The Sacred Dog, so it has characters who were only babies in the first one. Now teenagers, they’ve heard stories about how a well-liked man — the father of one of them — was killed during a botched robbery. Naturally, they are curious when the man responsible, Al Kitchen, comes home after serving a lengthy sentence in prison.
Jared Hooker is the son of Frank Hooker, the man who was killed. He was born after his father’s death, and so that loss is a big part of him. A sweet kid, Jared has the strong support of his mother, his older sister Crystal, and family friends like Early Stevens who pays him to do chores around his farm. His high school buddies are Toby Smith and Luke Dabrowski who live in the same town.
Toby Smith, the youngest of five, has the same reckless tendencies as his father, Jerry, whose wife finally gave up on him after he spent more time in a bar than home. His brother, who owns the only bar in town, sells him beer even though he’s under the legal age to drink. Toby often acts fast without thinking — a real concern for Jared’s mother.
Luke Dabrowski’s parents are among those city-dwellers who decide to move to the country. He’s a smart student who will be going to college and the kind of kid you’d want yours to hang around with because he does the right thing. Luke’s big assets to the trio are his driver’s license and a pickup truck.
Did I base these boys on any I know? No, but having raised six kids in the sticks, I have a good feeling for what these boys would be like.
Naturally, the trio is nosy as heck when Al Kitchen returns to his grandmother’s home, where he lives with his cousin, Bernie. On Al’s first night home, the boys sneak through the woods to spy on him. They’ve heard the stories and want to see Al themselves.
Their curiosity about Al continues through the book. He’s the main topic of their conversations — along with girls. I created scenes with the boys hanging by a river, camping out. and driving around — including the night Al is found dead alongside the road. Hmm, could they somehow be involved? You will have to read The Unforgiving Town to find out.
Here’s that scene when the boys spy on Al.
Jared walked deliberately with light feet behind Toby. Enough space was between the branches they could see inside. Toby pointed toward the window. A woman sat on the couch, watching TV. A man was beside her with space between them. It wasn’t the best view but enough of one that he was sure the man was Al Kitchen.
“That guy inside’s gotta be him,” Toby whispered.
“Yeah, it has to be.”
Jared raised a finger to his lips, so they didn’t continue talking. He studied Al, who lifted a beer to his mouth. He laughed at something the woman said. Then Al got to his feet. He headed toward the front door. It was time for them to leave. They couldn’t get caught. Who knows what Al would do if he found out they were spying on him.
Jared jabbed Toby’s arm.
“We gotta go,” he said.
The two of them moved fast and quiet to where Luke was waiting. They were already between the trees when the front door opened, and Al walked outside. He sat on the front steps, his head up as if he was studying the stars.
“What are we gonna do?” Toby whispered.
“Nothin’,” Jared whispered back. “I wanted to see what he looked like in person. I’ve only seen pictures.”
“Aw, come on,” Toby said. “We didn’t come all this way just for that.”
Luke raised both hands in protest.
As Toby took a step forward, his sneaker snapped a dry branch on the ground. He froze as Al turned in their direction, staring into the woods.
“Somebody out there?” Al asked.
Jared felt his heart pick up speed as he grabbed Toby’s arm. His mother was right. Toby was the kind of kid who didn’t think things through before he acted. Jared was ready to run if he had to, but he stayed still to see what Al would do next.
Just then a pickup truck sped up the road. Two men were in the front seat, and the driver yelled, “Hey, asshole,” as he threw a bottle, just missing the Jeep. Al watched as the pickup continued along the dirt section, this time moving faster after the driver gunned the engine.
When the truck was gone for good, Al stood and fetched the bottle from the grass. He glanced around, his eyes studying the part of the woods where the three boys stayed hidden, but he didn’t say a word before he went inside the front door.
“Let’s get out of here,” Luke said. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Okay, you sissy,” Toby said.
The boys moved through the woods toward the road. With Al back inside his house, they didn’t care how loud they talked. The pickup truck was long gone.
“You see who was in that pickup?” Luke asked.
“Kinda looked like my brother, Andy’s friends,” Toby said.
They were on the dirt road again. Jared walked with his head down. He had seen what Al looked like. That was all he wanted to do tonight.
Here’s the link to buy The Unforgiving Town. Kindle is 99 cents for now and Paperback is $14.99 on Amazon. Thanks for buying, and I hope you enjoy it enough to leave a review.