Rewrite -- Chapter 4
(Billy Meets Ma; Paul and Maxey Get into Some Shit)
Coffee’s not the only thing brewing at Phil’s Diner.
Previously on Rewrite:
Chapter 1a: https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/michael-hatchers-unpublished-novel
Chapter 1b: https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/rewrite-chapter-1b
Chapter 2: https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/rewrite-chapter-2
Chapter 3: https://hatcherfictionwriter.substack.com/p/rewrite-chapter-3
4.
Billy got out of the truck at Tommy Wayne’s house, about three miles outside Trenton on County Road 22. The property was hemmed in by dense pine thickets with a few oaks scattered in.
Two young Rottweilers (“Smokey! Know!”, Tommy Wayne called to them) grappled with each other in the grass, tangleweeds flattened as they threatened to tear each other’s throats out.
Brick covered the lower part of the house, with white-paneled siding up top. Situated on both sides of the cobblestone stairs was a neatly-kept flower garden. One flag stood on each side of the pebble-strewn walkway: the American flag and one orange-and-white-checkered, signifying the occupants’ loyalty to the University of Tennessee Volunteers and all its athletic endeavors. On the porch, two rocking chairs were angled toward each side of the door.
Tommy Wayne grazed Billy on the arm just before they got to the threshold.
“Now, remember. Mom’s a little — different. She can be pushy and try to get in your business. Feel free to tell her to buzz off. Well, maybe a little more diplomatically.” Tommy Wayne issued an off-kilter smile. “Maybe a lot more diplomatically, come to think of it. Man, she whipped my ass harder than my old man ever did. Lord help you if she ever really gets pissed at you.”
