Bluegrass Symphony - 14. Requiem

'How?' Jason thought as Sheriff Keen grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Casey yanked him aside as Wren lunged. 'How did this go so wrong?' He felt the sensation of air as his nephew's knuckle-strike missed his throat by a fraction of an inch. The blow seemed designed to crush his windpipe, and in all likelihood, it would have if not for the Sheriff's quick reactions.

"No!" Wren yelled when Caleb tackled him. "No!" The two young men tumbled to the ground, but Caleb held on. Wren raged and thrashed, locked in Caleb's strong arms. Jason had never been afraid of the young man, but now he realized that was a mistake. Caleb rolled until he had Wren on his front against the ground. "Let me up!" Tears streamed from Wren's eyes and he gritted his teeth. He glared at Jason from his position. "He needs to pay! He needs to PAY!"

"Wren!" Caleb's shoulders and arms bulged with effort, and he struggled to hold Wren down. "Stop! You're gonna hurt yourself!" An elbow barely missed Caleb's jaw as Wren tried to roll them both over. "Or me!"

"Settle down!" Sheriff Keen pulled Jason further away from Wren and Caleb.

Kyle had stepped next to Wade, and as Jason was jostled around, he caught sight of Wade's .357. His brother held the gun down, eyes locked on Jason.

Sheriff Keen must have seen the weapon, because he gasped. "Wade…"

"Sheriff." Wade tapped a finger on his trusty firearm. "Right now, this is a matter of family." Wade never looked away from Jason. "An' if you know what's good fer ya, you'll leave it that way."

Keen swallowed but managed to keep his voice level. "Wade, I can't just let you shoot yer brother."

Wade's dark brown eyes slid over to Casey. "If I wanted ta shoot 'im, he'd be dead." Wade pointed with his chin. "Step over there. He'll still be kickin' when we're done with 'im." Wade then rested his unnerving, steady gaze back on Jason.

Keen hesitated. Rachel walked over beside him. "Sheriff," she glanced at Wade, then turned back to Sheriff Keen, "Casey." Her voice softened. "I think it's best. You know how things work."

Jason felt Keen's grip falter on his arm, and then he turned loose. The green-eyed lawman took a step back away from Jason, slid his gun into its holster, and left Jason back in the middle of the circle.

Wade took a breath. "Caleb," he nodded at the two still on the ground, "let 'im up." Wade's voice hardened. "Behave, Wren."

Caleb stood and helped Wren to his feet. Jason watched from the corner of his vision, but he never took his eyes off of Wade.

"Wade," Jason tried to reason with his older brother. "Look, I… it was a accident. I never…"

Wade held up a hand and shook his head. "Naw." He smiled, grim and terrible. "That ain't how this is gonna go." Wade's finger continued to tap out a steady beat on the gun. It was impossible for Jason to ignore, and he glanced down at it, fear written in his eyes. "Jason, I know I told the sheriff I don't want to shoot ya, but if you don't get to talkin' real soon, an' tell us all what happened..." Wade shrugged. "Well, that might make a feller change his mind."

Jason wet his lips and nodded. "Okay. Okay, I'll tell it."

"Everythin'." Kyle's hands flexed open and closed. Jason knew the big man wanted nothing more than to wring his neck with those strong fingers.

"Yes." Jason nodded again. "I swear. Everythin'."

Wade spaced his feet and got comfortable. The gun never left his side. "Go on, then."

Jason rubbed his face, the sound a bit sandpapery as his calluses ran over the stubble on his chin. "Okay. It started after I was given the order from the court, to allow the fed on my property. Well, I snuck around, an' overheard the feller on the phone while he was lookin' at my shed with the fertilizer…"

⤱

06 May 2009

"...course, Mr. Hambrick. Your involvement will remain confidential." The pasty white, husky man dressed in a dark jacket rooted around in the shed. Jason pressed himself against the wall beside the entry and strained to listen. "There's not much to be seen in here right now," some empty polypropylene bags rustled, "but we're going to take some samples of the fields and the water from the creek. If the amounts you're saying were used, then we'll find out. We'll still need your help to…"

Jason moved away from the doorway, a slow, burning rage in his chest. "Adam." He whispered under his breath. "Our own brother." Though 'Mr. Hambrick' could also be their father, Beecher, Jason knew without a doubt that he'd never turn them in. No, it had to be Adam.

The EPA and other interested Feds had been nosing around, and Wade had been sure that Casey Keen, the new sheriff of the county, had been the one behind their troubles. Now Jason knew the truth of it.

He went into the house. Jason grabbed the little pistol on his nightstand and, after a quick check to ensure he wasn't seen, began the trek across the ridge to his brother's property.

"Time to put the fear of God into Adam."

It didn't take long for Jason to find Adam. His younger brother had finished with his fencing repair and had just slid the hammer back into place in his toolbelt when he looked up at Jason's approach.

Adam frowned at Jason's expression. "Howdy, Jas…"

"Why'd ya call the feds on us?" Jason stopped a few feet away. The birds singing in the trees above them made for a strange counterpoint to how he felt.

Adam set his jaw. "Jason, I don't…" Adam's face registered his surprise as Jason drew out the gun. Then his eyes narrowed. "Really?" He motioned at Jason. "Yer gonna shoot me? Fer doin' the right thing?"

"We're family!" Jason stomped his foot. "Ye don't do this to family!" He waved the gun at Adam. "Yer lucky I ain't told Wa…"

He must have had his finger on the trigger. The crack of the .38 surprised him. Adam swayed on his feet, a look of betrayed comprehension on his face, and he toppled over in the grass under the trees. His stillness was disturbing.

"Adam?" Jason stepped over next to him, his hands shaking. "Bub?" He knelt. "Adam, please, don't be hurt. I never meant ta hurt ya." He turned Adam and took a sharp intake of breath at what he saw.

The next hour was a whirlwind of panic. Jason dragged Adam's body to the creek. The water was up, so he floated it down the waterway, knowing that it'd throw any dogs brought to track him. As he splashed through the knee-high water, one hand gripping the nape of Adam's shirt, he saw the big walnut coming up. "There." He spied the cubby he'd always hid in when they were all boys. None of his brothers had ever found him there. The only bad bit was the overpowering smell of walnut, but that worked for him now.

Jason pulled Adam's body into the little space. Then he worked to get rid of his tracks leading from the creek to the bank. Old walnuts lay about, and he gathered as many as he could find. Those he piled around Adam to add to the scent.

Jason was wet, bedraggled, and muddy. He panted and looked at Adam's body. "God." He rubbed his face. "What have I done?" He blinked back tears, then clenched his jaw. "This… this wouldn'ta happened if ya hadn't gone to the feds!" He frowned down at his dead brother and some of his self-preservation instinct kicked in. Jason bent and removed Adam's wedding ring from his finger, already forming a plan to divert blame from himself.

⤱

Wade eyed Jason. "So, you gave Adam's ring to Kyle, an' told 'im that you got it from Keen." Wade glanced at Kyle. "Lord, sometimes I wonder about you." He shook his head and muttered. "I know yer simple, but damn."

Kyle bristled. "Don't call me that!"

"The shoe fits." Wade sighed then focused on Jason. "But, we're dealin' with somethin' else right now."

Keen cleared his throat. "Jason, you understand what yer doin' here." He glanced at Wade then continued. "Yer admitting to killin' yer brother. Accident or not, that's what yer sayin'."

Jason looked at the sheriff, then again at Wade. "Ah, yeah." He bit his lip and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"So," Rachel began, "so you gave the ring ta Kyle, knowin' it'd pull eyes away from you if it was ever found out. An' it made Kyle suspect Casey was involved." She shook her head with an almost neutral expression. "Then… what? After you called Kyle today, an' he went to come check, you put the gun you shot Adam with in Kyle's house?"

Jason didn't look as if he wanted to answer. Wade crossed his arms, the gun still in hand. Jason noticed, gulped, then nodded. Jason turned to Wade. "It… if somethin' weren't done, then we'd have lost everythin'! Everythin'!" His voice turned into a whine. "Wade, I saved it. ME!" He stepped toward his brother, his tone imploring him to listen. "The feds, they woulda shut us down!"

Wade looked as if he considered. Then he slowly shook his head. "Jason, you crossed a line." His skinny brother flinched under Wade's tone. "An' now," Wade smiled his stained teeth on display, "well, now yer gonna pay."

Keen began to say something but Wade held up a hand. "I said he'd be alive." His gaze slid over to the sheriff, deadly serious and cold. "But I never said in what state."

"I… I can't stand by while you beat the hell out of 'im, Wade." Casey's hand twitched, and migrated to his holstered gun. "I just can't."

"Then get ta steppin'." Wade's tone never changed. "He'll be able ta walk. We'll make sure of it." Wade nodded at Caleb. "You an' the Sheriff, y'all go on. We'll meet ya at the barn in a bit. This is a matter of family, so you two go." Wade motioned at Wren. "He was our brother, but Adam was yer daddy." Wade worked his mouth. "It's yer show, nephew." For all of the issues with Wade, Caleb couldn't help but feel a sharp stab of satisfaction at that.

Wren looked for all the world like a predator. His green eyes were intense and focused entirely on his murderous uncle. Jason stared back and shook with fear, but he silently accepted his fate. Caleb pulled on a reluctant Sheriff Keen. "Come on."

Instinctively, Caleb knew that Wade would keep his word. Jason would survive, and he would be able to face the justice of the system, but only after he endured it from his own family.

Once they were about fifty feet away, they heard a hollow thud, and Jason's cry of pain - the first of what would be many.

They kept walking, and Caleb never looked back.

⤱

"Come on, hon." Rachel had her arm around Wren's shoulders. "Come on."

Wren shuffled forward, numb except for the stinging of his hands. They got to the barn where an anxious Sheriff Keen and Caleb met them.

Wade and Kyle were behind them and pushed a bruised, battered Jason along in Rachel and Wren's wake. There were faint, whimpering sounds from Jason, but nothing else.

Kyle gave him a shove, and Jason almost fell in front of the Sheriff. Casey rubbed his mouth. "Wade, what am I supposed to say 'bout his condition?" Wren barely processed as the men talked. He felt as if he were in a fog.

Wade shrugged. "That's up ta you." He jerked his thumb at Jason. "But this 'un knows better than ta talk."

"I fell," Jason whispered, drooling saliva and a little blood. He spat on a rock at his feet, then wiped his mouth. "I fell, an' that's that." His tone was flat, almost emotionless.

There was more discussion as they turned Jason over to Sheriff Keen. While they talked and opened the gate to the barn, Caleb stepped near Rachel and Wren.

"Hey." Those blue eyes of Caleb's regarded him with concern. Caleb glanced at the other men. They were distracted and talked amongst themselves. The big Shaw boy risked putting a hand on Wren's neck and smiled at his lover. "It's over. It's over, Wren."

Wren closed his eyes. There, behind his family's barn, he sank to his knees on the ground, spent, both emotionally and physically.

⤱

Wade and Kyle left with promises to cooperate with Casey whenever they were needed. Sheriff Keen had called his deputies, and the pair secured Adam's resting place until the coroner could arrive. After they did that, the lawman took Jason to the county jail.

It was now dark outside, though the light was on in Charles's kitchen. Wren and Caleb were at the table, a basin of water beside Wren's arm. Caleb gently ran a warm washcloth over Wren's busted knuckles on his right hand. After making sure Miss Rachel was okay, Caleb had taken Wren up to Charles and Tracy's house. His brother and sister-in-law had left quickly with the baby to be with Rachel, who had gone to the police station in town.

"I should be there," Wren whispered. His unfocused, glassy gaze rested on his bloody hand. "I… I should be there with Mom."

"Not right now." Caleb dabbed the wounds as carefully as he could. "She's got Charles an' Tracy. She's fine."

Rachel had been the one to tell Caleb to keep Wren safe, occupied, and away from the police station. "Caleb, take 'im up the hill, to yer brother's place." Rachel had looked at Wren with both love and concern. "I'm afraid of what he'll say right now. There's only so much sheriff can do, an' Wren could get tossed in jail fer assaultin' that rotten uncle of his."

Caleb did as he had been told. He continued to minister to Wren's hands. Caleb cleaned the wounds, and then he set to work, putting ointment on them and bandaging everything up.

All the while, Wren sat and watched Caleb work. Slowly, Wren looked from his torn-up hands to Caleb's face.

"There." Caleb smiled and gently patted Wren's arm. "You're all fix-" he noticed that Wren silently stared at him. "What? What is it?"

Wren swallowed. "I-" He shook his head. "Caleb, I wanted to kill him." Tears appeared in Wren's eyes and his lips moved as he tried to keep himself together. "I wanted him dead." Wren squeezed his eyes shut and tears ran down his face. "He took my daddy from me, and for that, I wanted him dead." Wren breathed through his mouth. "What does that say about me?"

"Hey." Caleb knelt in front of Wren's chair and put a hand on the back of Wren's neck. He pulled until their foreheads touched. "Hey, it's okay." Wren cried there in the warm, caring place provided by Caleb. "It just says that you're human. And that's all right."

Wren put his arms around Caleb. For the first time in his life, Caleb saw Wren completely broken, raw, and vulnerable.

Caleb had always loved Wren. He had loved him as he would love a brother - like he loved Charles. But as they aged things changed. It was so gradual, organic, and subtle that Caleb hadn't noticed the shift. Now he knew. Wren meant more to him than anyone else in the world. As Caleb held him close, he realized that he had never loved anything or anyone more.

⤱

Two weeks passed, and the sheriff's department was finally done with Adam Hambrick's remains. Cause of death was determined to be a single bullet that had passed through his sternum - straight into his heart. He had died almost instantly from the wound, and the family took solace in the fact that he didn't suffer.

Jason Hambrick awaited trial for manslaughter, obstruction of justice, and a litany of other charges. For the moment, that wasn't Sheriff Keen's primary concern.

"Will ye be there, Casey?" Rachel asked, hope written on her features. They stood together out on her porch, protected from a late spring rain. Distant thunder rolled out over the hills to the east, and the weather showed no sign of letting up anytime soon. Keen had dropped by to give her the news himself - that the remains were now released to the family. Rachel smiled with a touch of sadness. "I… I'd like if ya could be there, fer the burial."

Casey nodded. "I'll be there." He sighed and took off his hat, his hair damp from the rain. "Adam deserves that." He hesitated, debating if he should say what else was on his mind.

"What?" Rachel narrowed her eyes at him, but her smile remained.

Keen swore silently to himself. She was observant. "Ah," he smiled a bit uncomfortably. "I was gonna say, that ah, that you deserve it too."

He and Rachel had done this dance now for years. Casey had never made a move. In a way, he felt that it would be disrespectful to Adam, a man he had admired. So he waited. He continued to enjoy being around Rachel, and couldn't help but put himself into situations with her.

Rachel looked up at him. Keen took an unconscious breath as she stepped very close. Rachel reached and gently pushed his short brown hair that was plastered to his head back up into its regular place. He couldn't help but react to her, and Keen prayed that she didn't look down.

"Thank you, sheriff." She whispered, and her eyes held his. Rachel let her hand rest on the side of Casey's face. "I reckon this is forward of me." She continued to look into Keen's eyes. "But, once Adam is at rest, well, I think I'd like to see if you'd enjoy dinner with me."

He suddenly realized that she had been waiting too. Rachel had accepted that Adam was gone long ago, but not knowing had kept her from moving on. Now they knew. Now they could both explore something more.

Casey smiled. "I'd like that, yes."

She grinned and patted his face. "Good." Rachel turned to go back into her home. "Ye might want to hold yer hat over your front when ya leave." She gave him a sly look over her shoulder. "Otherwise, you'll give Wren a show when ya walk in front of the camera."

She disappeared into the house and Casey flushed red with embarrassment. He also took her advice, glaring at the camera as he awkwardly got into the patrol car with his hat over his tented groin.

⤱

Two days passed, and all was arranged. Wren was stunned, but Wade and Kyle paid for a full burial of his father. The uncles, Wren, Caleb, and Rachel were gathered up on the hill at the family graveyard, along with Tracy, the baby, and Charles. It was late morning, the 6th of May. There was a slight breeze, and the sun was out in a blue sky with only a few clouds visible.

In addition to Sheriff Keen, Ragan Sanders also showed up. The old farmer stood a bit apart, respectfully giving the family their place, but his presence was a quiet affirmation of Adam's importance. Wren nodded at him, and the expression carried his appreciation for Ragan's attendance. He knew Ragan had wanted to do the same for Beecher, but that he loathed the uncles and had stayed away just in case they were about. So it was especially touching to Wren that Ragan would show up for his father's burial.

Wren, Caleb, Kyle, and Wade lowered the casket into the grave that had been dug beside Beecher's final resting place. Ten years to the day of Adam's death, the casket finally settled gently on the earthen bottom of the grave.

Both uncles had insisted on being a part of it. "I know ye don't care fer us," Wade had said, "but, he's our brother. An' we'll be there to see 'im put to rest."

It had puzzled Wren - the difference between the way they had treated Beecher and Adam. But Rachel had some insight into that. "Guilt." She had nodded after Wren asked what she thought of their payment of the burial and their planned attendance. "They're feelin' guilty. Like, their greed pushed Jason ta do what he did." Her jaw clenched. "Can't say I disagree."

Regardless of why they were there, they were all present. The weather was pleasant, and as Wren stood graveside with Caleb on one side and Rachel on the other, he gazed down at his father's casket.

Just like Beecher, Adam was not religious. To honor that, Rachel didn't have a preacher come to speak over her husband. Instead, she and Wren had planned something else. She stood beside her son and reached for his hand. Rachel looked around at those gathered to see Adam this final time. "Well, thank you all fer bein' here. It means a lot to us." There were nods all around, except for Wade. He only worked his mouth and looked down at the pile of dirt beside the open hole. Rachel continued. "Wren an me, we thought it'd be nice if each person took a turn, an' said a few words about Adam." Rachel smiled at Wren. "Go on, hon."

Wren exhaled a long slow breath, his eyes on Adam's headstone. "When dad didn't come home that day, ten years ago, it was the worst day of my life. I spent years thinking that he left, ah," he wiped his face, "that he left because of me." At this Wade looked up, his attention on Wren. Wren shook his head. "I had my reasons, for feeling that way - or, I thought I did." He squeezed Rachel's hand. "But, now I know that I was wrong. Now I know, my daddy loved me. He loved me, and I'll never forget him."

Wren finished with a shaky breath. He lifted his eyes, and he met Wade's gaze. Silent tears had tracked down Wade's stony face. Wade blinked and wiped his eyes. Wren was surprised to see him display any sort of emotion, but something in what Wren had said shook something loose in the man.

Wade cleared his throat. "I don't belong here. So, I'm gonna go. But, before I do," Wade frowned and seemed to struggle with what he wanted to say, "I just…" He sighed and his shoulders slumped. "I'm sorry." Wade continued to look at Wren. "Yer daddy was a good man. We didn't agree on much, but that don't mean I didn't love 'im." Wade straightened. "Anyhow, that's my piece. I'll leave y'all be."

Wade turned, wiping his face again as he did. He got two steps before Wren spoke. "Uncle Wade." The use of the word "uncle" associated with his name stopped Wade in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder at Wren, a haunted, regretful quality in his eyes. Wren smiled and tasted the salt of his own tears. "I think daddy would like it if maybe we find a way so that you do." Wren nodded. "So that you and Uncle Kyle… so that you do belong."

Wade stared at him. His jaw shifted as he thought. After a long moment, he nodded. "Maybe." The barest smile pulled at the corner of Wade's mouth. "See ya, nephew."

Wade strode away down the hill to his white Dodge. Even after Wade had gone, and while the others said beautiful things about his father, Wren thought about possibilities.

He wondered if it would be possible, to really have an uncle again.