"Brackett, Beverly - Sherrif Funderburk - Booger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brackett Beverly)

Funderburk shut the door and smiled down at the boy. "How's that bruise on your chest doing?"

"Fine." He stared down at his feet, rubbing the toe of his sneaker against the carpet.

"Really? Mind if I take a look?"

As Davey unbuttoned his shirt, Funderburk took a shotgun from the case.

The bruise was still there, a deep blue and purple oval etched into the boy's thin chest. As Funderburk brought the butt end of the shotgun up to the bruise, the youngster pulled away and began to rebutton his shirt.

He was too late. Even at a distance, Funderburk could see that the two matched perfectly.

A noise to the right drew Funderburk's attention. It was Troy, standing in the doorway, his face pale and sweaty.

Davey burst into tears. "I didn't tell him nothin', Troy. Honest to God, I didn't."

"You boys shot your father?" Funderburk asked gently.

The older boy nodded. His hand gripped the doorknob tightly, and his breathing was shallow and rapid. "I'da done it by myself, but I couldn't hold the shotgun steady and reach the trigger. So Davey held it. And I pulled the trigger."

"Why?"

"Mama made us promise, before she died," Troy answered. He took a deep breath, and released the doorknob to wipe his hand on his pants' leg. A light sheen of sweat glistened on the brass.

"She made you promise?" Funderburk prompted.

The boy nodded. "That we'd always look after Katie. Not let nothin' bad happen to her..."

"And your father did something bad to Katie?"

The boy's face hardened, his eyes narrowing to angry slits. "You know he did! I heard maw-maw talking to the Social Services lady yesterday. And she come here today to talk to you about it, didn't she?"

"But how did you find out?" Funderburk asked, ignoring the boy's accusatory question.

Troy bit his lower lip and looked at Davey, who stood by silently, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"I saw him with her," the younger boy whispered. "And he tol' me that it was a special thing that only him and Katie did. He said she was the lady of the house, now that mama was gone."

Funderburk sat on the edge of his desk and rubbed his temples. "Why didn't you tell somebody? A teacher? The police?"

The answer, certain and matter-of-fact, came from Troy. "He'd have killed us. Sure as shit."

Davey looked up at Funderburk, his face ashen, and asked, "Are you gonna 'rrest us? Put us in the 'lectric chair?"

Funderburk pulled a tissue from the twisted box that Rayette Hutchins had left on his desk and wiped the tears from Davey's face. "Go on out in the hall and sit with your sister."

* * *

Asa Hutchins went to his eternal reward in late July, and was laid to rest in a quiet church graveyard. His funeral, unlike Booger's, was well attended.