Chapter Ten

Kelleigh picked up the telephone and dialed Steve's mother. As the telephone rang, she reached over and took the beer out of Delly's hands; she took a sip then handed it back. She made a face; she never cared much for the taste of beer.

As she swallowed, Steve's mother answered the telephone. "Steve, why are you calling so late? Are you fighting with Kelleigh again!?!"

His mother was a notorious busybody, had caller ID, and knew it was Steve calling. "No, this is Kelleigh. We're not fighting" She lied a little, it didn't matter now. "I have some bad news, is there someone there with you?"

"Well, Sid is here." Of course he is. Steve's brother was always there, mooching, Kelleigh thought in response. "What do you want?" His mother asked.

"Well, like I said, I have some bad news. The police were just here…" She was interrupted by Steve's mother yelling at Sid "Sid! The police are at Steve's house! They must be fighting again. Take me over there now!" Kelleigh cringed.

"No, that's not it at all. The police weren't here for a fight. In fact, they were never here for a fight." Kelleigh felt required to acknowledge her untruth. "Mrs. Lucky, it's bad. He was in an accident."

She screamed again. "SID! He's been in an accident! We have to go NOW!" Kelleigh took the receiver away from her ear. Delly just shook her head in response to the screaming.

Kelleigh tried again. "Mrs. Lucky. He had a car accident on the highway. He didn't survive his injuries. Steve died tonight." All she heard in response was a scream and the sound of the telephone being dropped.

Soon, she heard the pounding of footsteps and Sid's voice. Finally, he picked up the telephone. "What the hell happened? What did you say to her?"

Getting frustrated, Kelleigh sighed. "Sid, Steve was in a car accident on the high way. He didn't survive. Steve died."

"God dammit. What are you saying!?!" Sid shouted into the telephone, again forcing Kelleigh to take it away from her ear. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Delly cringe and then roll her eyes.

"Don't yell at me Sid. If you want to know, listen to me. He was in an accident on the highway. He was driving erratically, put the truck in the ditch, hit a pole and died on impact."

The line was quiet for a moment. "Sid? Are you still there?"

"Um, yeah." He paused. For the first time, Kelleigh felt a little twinge of sadness. For all the horrible things that had been done and said in Steve's family, she never doubted Sid's love for his brother. His silence was the first thing to make an impact on her since she'd been told of his death.

"Sid, he will be at the funeral home in the morning and we can make arrangements then. I'll meet you there at 9:00, okay?"

She heard the telephone shift, "No, we'll take care of it. Mom has Steve's life insurance policy. You don't need to come. We'll do it."
Kelleigh stood with the telephone in her hand, speechless. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said. You needn't worry your pretty little head over it. We don't need your help."

"He had a life insurance policy? What are you talking about?"

Sid snorted sarcastically. "Mom bought it for both of us. She's the executor so don't think you'll get any money."

Horrified, Kelleigh just hung up the telephone. She wasn't going to argue with Sid or his mother. A few seconds later, the telephone rang. Without thinking, Kelleigh reached over and disconnected it from the wall.

"What happened? What did they say?" Delly asked, putting the beer back into Kelleigh's hands.