Green Desert - Chapter 1.4.4 - Pí‘oro

I herded Vata back inside, away from the drawn gun that wouldn’t stay unfired much longer. I slammed the door behind me and hurried around Vata for the phone in the kitchen. Vata shuffled after me.

A gunshot cracked. I grabbed the phone off the wall, hit the sheriff button Vata preset five years ago and we hadn’t used since. It worked. “Sheriff’s,” a woman said.

“There’s been a shooting. The highway patrol’s here already, but they’re in the middle of it. It’s all in my driveway. A crazy foreign kid with a rifle.”

I paused and she cut in. “What is your name and address?”

“Pí‘oro Kılímı, 5430 East Crater Road. Hurry! Before he kills someone.”

Silence. “Um. . . We have a car there already.”

What? How did I mistake a sheriff’s car for a highway patrol? They’re not even the same color. I lowered the phone.

Vata started walking towards the back door, across the kitchen. What was she doing? The animals?

A muffled voice from my hand. “Sir?”

Out front, a car crash. “Sir?”

I raised the phone. “I think your deputy has gotten in an accident.” No one else was driving. I had an urge to go to the front door again, but I collapsed in the nearest chair, dropping the phone.

Vata pushed open the screen door and called softly, “Come inside, dear.”

I was too old and too tired for this craziness, that was for damn sure.