the simple trap: 2

Karl watched the signs pass, many still legible, slumped in the back seat. It felt wonderful, after being forced upright, when his wrists were bound. He took off his glasses, and tried to clean them. It failed, he could still see the smudges, blurring things a little, so he pulled his hair back in a curly, short pony tail, and settled. They had driven past Charleston, down in its long valley, to a sign that said Amma and Clio. They drove around a huge pot hole right in the middle of the exit ramp.
“It hasn’t gotten worse than the last time I was here. That was four years ago, before the war,” Darryl said, shaking his head.
“Not surprising. This is West Virginia,” said Karl.
“The last time I drove down these back roads, my wife and children were alive. It was just after Cory and his wife Lena had their third daughter.”
“Cory?” said Karl.
“Cory is my former brother in law. He’s got guns,” Darryl said, glancing in the rearview at Karl. “I have a plan, Karl. I’ve got a couple plans. And now we’re here. So, can you help me? I understand that you might have some reasons not to help me. I know what happened at the Greenhouse was tougher for you than perhaps anyone. I didn’t know what else to do. Everything was out of control. But I’m gonna need you. We’re gonna have to cooperate. God, I’m sorry, Karl.”
Karl took a deep breath, his mouth open for a long moment, but then he closed his mouth, crushing molars together. Chemicals. They were following the tiny winding gravel along a creek. Karl saw a trailer in the distance.
“Where’d you get that picture?” Karl asked suddenly.
Darryl flipped down the visor, and pointed. This had been one of Luke’s cars. Suddenly the car was crushing Karl.
Darryl pulled the car into a gravel patch next to the trailer, and got out of the car. Karl wished he was back in college, sitting in a lecture hall, sipping a bottle of water. He would have graduated in the fall semester. That was a year ago. More. This was now August. He opened his door. It was cold under the trees.
Standing in the short driveway, Darryl expected Cory, his dead wife’s brother, to sort of jump out of the trailer. Their car had crunched into the driveway, surely enough noise to alert these backwoods boys that somebody had arrived unannounced. But there was no welcome wagon. Karl saw the worry written all over Darryl’s face.
Karl watched Darryl ring the doorbell. A woman opened the door. She was wearing an old tee-shirt that said “SCREW THE YANKEES”, and sweatpants, but she was the most beautiful thing Karl could remember ever seeing. She was big, tall, and Scandinavian. She had freckles, and blond curly hair, like a halo, cropped short along her jaw line.
“Oh, fuckin’ Christ,” she said, then leaned back inside the house, and shouted for Cory.
“Lena,” said Darryl. He stuck his hand out. She looked at it.

“Look, I’m not sure it would be real good for y’all to stay here. I mean, I’m not sure why you’d want to,” he said. His wry smile rose, then faded.
They were sitting around a little table in the single-wide trailer. Cory was pushing his chair back, raising up the front of the seat, flexing his legs, his shaved scalp pressing against the wall.
Karl rubbed the red welts on his wrists. The movement drew Cory’s eyes.
“And what the fuck happened to him,” said Cory, nodding his head towards Karl.
Karl looked at Darryl. Darryl looked at Karl. A long silence filled the room.
“Well, he bound my wrists with a ziptie,” said Karl.
More silence.
“Ya’ll can’t stay here. I don’t know what’s been going down, why you’re here, nothing. I can’t see why you think I’d let you. Damn, it’s just arrogant for you to come here bringing your bad shit riding up behind you.”
Karl was guessing that Darryl probably didn’t have a truckload of former brother in laws who collected guns that lived in the mountains, who were still alive. There would be no where else for them to go, except to try to stick it out together. At least if they could stick it out in this hell hole, he would have somebody else to talk to. Still Karl resisted the urge to appear engaged in the conversation, or to what was left of his hopes up.
“Look, Cory, we can provide protection and food. We got something you need. We got nothing following us. And I got something better even than that. But I can’t even let you know what it is, tell you let us stay a night here. I’m going to buy a night here with you with something you want,” said Darryl, wringing his hands under the table.
“What could you have that I want?” asked Cory.
“I’ve… Look, man. I’ve got a dime-bag for you if you let us sleep here. Let us talk to you. Let us in. A whole dime-bag,” said Darryl.
“Let me see it,” Cory said, narrowing his eyes.
“No. Let us stay. I give it to you in the morning,” said Darryl.
“I can’t believe you smoke,” said Cory, shaking his head.
“Cory, I never touch the stuff. But it trades for a lot these days, and… Let us stay. That’s all I’m asking,” Darryl said. At the end, his voice wavered just a hair.
Karl was pretty certain that whatever Darryl had planned was about to come crashing down. He glanced at Cory, and thought he saw the dawn of a smirk.
“You must think I’m a real son of a bitch. Man, I’m not really gonna turn you out to the bears. I never really liked you, but you’re family, more or less, yeah?” said Cory, leaning forward, smiling like a dog. “But let me tell you what. You bring down any kind of trouble, something bad coming after you, whatever you’re traveling this far for, and I’ll field dress you, then turn you over to whomever is interested. You got me?” Cory laughed.
“You got nothing to worry about, just gain. I got a little plan I want to let you in on. That’s why I came here. I knew this would be the only place where my little plan might have a chance of working,” said Darryl. He was a little giddy with relief.
Karl was wondering what Darryl had up his sleeves. He was beginning to wonder if Darryl really intended to set up another grow house like the one they had on the outskirts of Richmond. The thought made Karl’s mouth clench even harder. An annotated list of why it wasn’t going to work quickly compiled in his mind. But he didn’t say any of that. He just said, “I’m Karl, by the way,” and Cory crushed his hand, nodding his Mr. Clean skull.
“Cory, we’ve been up for about 24 hours. I am in need of some sleep, badly. Would you let us sleep here?”
“Course man. But the kids have the only spare room in the house. You guys won’t mind sleeping on the floor in here would you?”
“No, no, that sounds wonderful.”
“Hey, Lena, would you get out the old sleeping bags?” said Cory.

A few minutes later, Lena laid two ancient sleeping bags on the floor in the middle of the living room. Heinous smell expanded in the room. Darryl looked up at Karl, shrugged his shoulders, and grabbed one.