A Long Drive

Kashi wolfed down the last of the scrambled eggs on her plate, her fork clanking against the blue and white dishes.

“Woah there,” her aunt chuckled, “You want some more of those?”

Kashi stood back from the island in the kitchen, the white stool screeching. “No thanks Auntie C.” Kashi said, hurrying to wipe down her dishes in the old sink. “I wanted to catch Uncle Hudson before he left to go get the new equipment.” She slid her hastily washed and dried dishes into the cupboards. “You should get a new sink to match the renovated kitchen.”

“I’ll think about it!” Aunt Cee laughed. “Now go get your uncle. He’ll be getting the trailer out now.”

Kashi skipped out the back door towards the large metal barn where they kept most of the larger equipment. Her braids bounced against her back, messy and hurried. She’d been too rushed to do anything more than swiftly twine the strands together.

She had decided she’d see what her uncle knew about those letters and its contents. The yearbooks had come up a dead end, meaning that the other man wasn’t from this small town. At least not during high school. He had, however, made it into a newspaper dating from before Kashi’s mom had even met her dad. The photo was almost identical to the other. Her dad and uncle were standing side by side, grinning from ear to ear. That other man who the newspaper dubbed, ‘Collins’ was smirking beside them. The title of the article was “New Heights Reached as Grounds Break.” Essentially, the three of them had struck up some business deal having to do with a company from New York. But Kashi remembered that the deal had never happened. Too many of the locals protested having the company in their small town. And despite the two Thompson men owning most of the land in their town, it didn’t come to fruition.

That still only gave her a little to go on. The article didn’t give a name for the company or a hint as to what it did.

“Uncle Hudson!” she shouted, jogging over to where he was finished connecting the trailer to his truck. “Need any help?”

“You always seem to ask that question when the work is finished.” he chuckled, grunting as he stood up from kneeling in the browning grass. “I was just about to head out. Wanna come with me?”

“Sure!” She jumped into the passenger seat. Plenty of time to bring up the business deal.

He was headed to a town about an hour away where he bought a used tractor. “Half the price, just as good!” he’d told Kashi when she asked him why not just buy a new one. He could certainly afford it.

“Hey Uncle Hudson,” Kashi said, staring out the windshield at the never-ending road. They’d been listening to her uncle’s favorite talk show for almost a half hour. She wasn’t sure she could take much more. “How come you and dad aren’t pals anymore like you used to be?”

He sighed reluctantly. Kashi dared a glance over to her uncle. He was frowning over the steering wheel, sunglasses and cap shielding his expression. “We were never quite pals growing up. He and Aaron used to beat up on me as the baby all the time. When Aaron was killed in that crash, your dad kinda stopped communicating with anyone. He and Aaron were better friends.” The rumbling of the truck across the cracked asphalt filled the span on time before he continued. “We did get close after we both got back from college shortly before your grandpa decided he was too old to keep running the ranch.”

Kashi had never met her grandparents. Her grandmother had divorced her grandfather and left when her dad and uncle were both at college. They hadn’t heard from her since. Her grandfather had died before she was born. “So, you said close, but not pals?” She caught his gaze. There was a small smile on his face, one of nostalgia.

“Business partners. We had planned to run the ranch together, your dad and I. But when things started to pick up speed…” He trailed off. “There were allegations of cheating. Millions of dollars were lost. Someone went missing and I just couldn’t stay a part of that in my right conscience.”

Kashi turned away. That’s what this was connected to? Her dad had always been mad at her uncle for cheating him out of something. But he never talked about it. “Uncle, why—”

“Kash, why are you so interested?” His eyes didn’t leave the road.

“I just…” her sigh was audible over the engine and the blasted AC. “I miss having you and Auntie C around.” It wasn’t a lie. She did miss them. Her dad and uncle had begun to make up when she and Felix were kids. Some of her older siblings had still been around. It was before her stepmom died too.

Then there was that argument, and the brothers went back to the cold silence and competition. It happened on Felix’s birthday. They’d had family and friends over to celebrate. Her father and her uncle disappeared into the kitchen to have a shouting match, audible through the screen door. Even if the heavy oak door had been shut, they still could’ve been heard.

Her red-faced uncle had stormed out of the house into the yard. The party was already silent. His footsteps thudded across the hardwood. “Cecile let’s go.” He grabbed his wife’s hand, nodded to Kashi’s stepmom and left without so much as a backwards glance.

Felix’s party didn’t last much longer after that.

“I miss it too.” Her uncle’s face shifted, his eyes looking at something far away.

Shadows of large birds flew over the wild grass surrounding them. The sun dipped behind a tiny puffy cloud, emerging seconds later. Kashi shifted, her legs sticking to the hot leather seats of her uncle’s truck. Maybe she’d pay her dad a visit this week.