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Boyd emerged from the mine after another day of hard and treacherous work. He closed his eyes and tilted his head up towards the sun, enjoying the warmth on his face, took a deep breath of wonderfully clean (if slightly dusty) air, and thanked the Lord for surviving another day.
He didn’t have to open his eyes to know that the first thing he’d see would be Raylan sitting in his black Town Car in the parking lot, staring at him like he was just waiting for Boyd to make a wrong move. He’d been there, waiting, every day for the past couple weeks. Boyd never walked over to say hello or make some sort of snarky comment; he didn’t want to fight with Raylan and that was surely what acknowledging the man’s presence would lead to. Instead, he turned and made his way to his locker to pull off his coveralls and retrieve his wallet and keys, like always.
As he made way to his truck, still wiping the coal dust off of his face with a wet wipe, Boyd noticed that Raylan was still there in his car, staring. He was usually gone by then, he’d gotten whatever he’d come for in a quick look apparently. Boyd paused, hand on the door handle of his truck before turning and walking over to the black Town Car.
“Well hello Raylan,” Boyd began as Raylan rolled the window down. “Did the Marshall’s service finally wise up and fire you and now you’re here hoping I’ll provide you with a sterling character reference so that you might once again obtain gainful employment? Or are you just stalking me?”
Raylan looked out over the steering wheel, trying to fight back a smile, but still obviously amused. “If I were looking for character reference, you’d be the last person I’d come to.”
“Is that because you doubt my ability to convince someone that they won’t spend the rest of their life regretting hiring you or because a character reference from a former criminal isn’t exactly what employers are looking for?” Boyd asked with a crooked grin.
Raylan opened the door – forcing Boyd to take a few steps back or be hit – got out, closed it, and leaned against it. “I just wouldn’t have figured you’d have anything good to say about me… what with me shooting you and throwing you in jail and all.”
“Well,” Boyd began, leaning his hip against the car, “despite all the pain that came from that, I believe you actually did me a favor Raylan.”
Raylan arched a brow questioningly, obviously not expecting to hear that. “How so?”
“I was headed down a dangerous and lonely path. I needed that time in jail to take a good, hard look at my life and see my crimes for what they were, to see that I needed to find a new path. You saved my life Raylan Givens, and for that, I will be forever grateful.”
Raylan stared at him, blinking, for several long moments, trying to decide if he was being genuine or not. “Holy shit,” he finally said. “I heard that you were supposedly on the straight-n-narrow, but I just couldn’t bring myself to believe it. Hell, you hate the mines almost as much as I do… we both said we’d never go back, no matter what. And here you are, goin’ down a mine every day for an honest living.”
“Not many legal employment opportunities for a former criminal such as myself," Boyd replied, looking back at the mine’s entrance. “It’ll keep me from starving though. Gives me a certain sense that every day is precious as well.”
“Jesus Boyd,” Raylan whispered, almost frightened by the sense of finality in the man’s voice. It was almost as if Boyd had resigned himself to eventually dying in a cave-in. Somehow it terrified him to think that Boyd might have gotten it in his head that he deserved to die in a cave-in for some of the things he’d done.
Boyd turned back to him and noticed the deep, unsettled frown on Raylan’s face. He smiled, trying to give the man some sort of reassurance. “Maybe this is just the work I’ve always been meant to do. You always said I loved to get money and blow shit up… I’m practically livin’ the dream.”
Raylan smiled despite himself. “I suppose you are.”
“Ya ain’t gotta worry Raylan, the days of me being a thorn in your side are gone.” Boyd clapped a hand on Raylan’s shoulder and let it linger there for longer than strictly necessary. “Next time you come looking for me, it’ll have to be because you need a drinkin’ buddy.”
Raylan chuckled as he watched Boyd turn and walk back to his truck. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
It’d been a while since that day that Boyd had talked to Raylan in the parking lot and Raylan hadn’t been back since. Boyd supposed that Raylan had gotten what he’d come for, whatever that was exactly. He continued to look for him though, secretly hoping that Raylan’d be there waiting for him, even though he knew better.
Boyd had just about given up looking, chiding himself for even being hopeful, when he emerged from the mine to find Raylan leaning against the hood of his car in the parking lot. Raylan spotted him and his hand rose to lazily wave at Boyd. Body quickly shucked his coveralls, collected his wallet and keys, and jogged out to meet Raylan; about halfway there he reminded himself that he shouldn’t look so eager and slowed to what he hoped was a casual walk.
“I hope you’re here to take me for a drink, ‘cause otherwise, I’m afraid you’ve wasted a trip,” Boyd said with a smile that betrayed his purposefully casual tone.
“Actually, I brought ice cream,” Raylan said, holding up the cone that he’d been licking at.
Boyd raised a brow. “Just the one cone? I wasn’t aware that our relationship had advanced to the point of sharing food.”
“Well, there were two cones, but I ate mine and you were late coming up, so yours was dripping all over me…”
“So that’s actually mine?” Boyd asked, pointing to the partially eaten cone in Raylan’s hand.
Raylan had the decency to look at least a little ashamed and extended the cone out to Boyd. “If you still want it.”
“I doubt you’re germs will be the thing to do me in.” Boyd took the cone from him and bit off a large chunk of the ice cream. “Besides, it was at least a hundred degrees down in the hole, so I really need something to cool me off.”
“That was my reasoning in bringing the ice cream.”
Boyd gave him a knowing look as he leaned against the hood next to Raylan. “More like you had a craving and decided not to be an asshole. You forget that despite everything, I know you better than anyone in this world Raylan.”
Raylan chuckled and shrugged. “It’s the thought that counts… no matter what that thought might be.”
“So what brings you here?” Boyd asked, licking at the cone. “I know this is probably one of your least favorite places in the world, even if you’re not going down in the hole.”
Raylan gave the mine’s entrance a loathing look before looking back at Boyd. “Thought we could go get that drink.”
“Ice cream and a drink? Did someone die?”
“No, least not that I know of,” Raylan replied with a chuckle.
“Then do you want something?”
“Yeah, to take a man I used to dig coal with for a drink,” Raylan said, slightly exasperated by Boyd’s skepticism.
Boyd smiled. “Well alright then, I’ll follow you.”
Boyd followed Raylan to Cumberland in his truck, wondering the whole way if Raylan had some sort of ulterior motive. The evening passed without Raylan asking him for any sort of information or anything however. They talked about old times and all the things they used to get up to, drank to simpler days, and laughed about things they’d completely forgotten about until that evening. It was pleasant and comfortable and Boyd hoped that they could keep things this way.
Drinks became a regular Friday night tradition, so much so that the bartender didn’t even ask for their order, he just brought over two whiskeys as soon as they walked in. Raylan had even come over one Saturday to help Boyd with some of the repairs on Ava’s house. Ava had watched them through the curtains and constantly looked like she was watching a cheetah and gazelle somehow getting along. Boyd had told her that he and Raylan were friends once more, but she must have assumed that he was lying.
Boyd was on the front porch of Ava’s house sitting in a rocking chair, drinking a cup of coffee when he noticed a dust trail from a car coming up the road. Raylan’s town car pulled up in front of the house; he got out and rested one arm on top of the door and the other on the roof. “I’ve been evicted.”
Boyd stood and moved over to the porch railing, leaning against one of the supports. “From the motel?”
“Yeah,” Raylan replied, squinting up at him to keep the morning sun out of his eyes.
“How’d you manage that?” Boyd asked, amused.
“Well, technically everyone’s being evicted… they found mold.”
“Damn, not mold!”
“This ain’t no laughing matter Boyd, I had to pack all my shit in my car!”
As if on cue, Ava burst out the front door. “Well ya ain’t livin’ here Raylan Givens! This ain’t no orphanage for lost souls.”
“Easy Ava,” Raylan began, holding up his hands, “I ain’t askin’ to live here. Helen said I could stay at her old place if I fixed it up; apparently the previous tenants just up and left about a month ago, left the place in a real mess. I just came to see if Boyd could maybe help me replace some drywall and shit.”
Ava crossed her arms. “Well alright then. You want coffee?”
“I’m good.”
Ava turned and went back into the house, door slamming behind her.
Raylan made his way up the stairs and quietly asked, “What’s with her?”
“I walked in on her naked last night,” Boyd admitted. “She’s less than pleased with me right now.”
“That’s all? You walked in on her naked?” Raylan asked skeptically. “She seems awful mad for something simple as that.”
“Well, it ain’t the first time. The woman hardly ever closes a door and still expects complete privacy. And when she does shut one and I knock, she answers ‘yeah’, which everyone knows is the southern equivalent of ‘come in’. And when I’ve got my door closed, she knocks and then just opens the door, acts like’s it’s my fault when she sees me naked.”
“To have your problems,” Raylan chuckled.
“Yeah, well, I get the feeling it wouldn’t be such an issue if I wasn’t a Crowder. After all my brother and daddy done to her… she don’t trust anyone by the name of Crowder no more. Not sure why she took me in in the first place, but I got the feeling that I’m wearin’ out my welcome.”
Raylan looked out at the view from front porch before coming to a quick decision. “If ya need another place to say, Helen’s house has two bedrooms. And like I said, I could use some help fixing it up.”
“Yeah?” Boyd asked, surprised.
“Yeah,” Raylan said after a moment, “why not?”
The new living arrangement worked surprisingly well for both of them. Boyd had been a little skeptical about how well their rekindled friendship would stand them being in such close quarters, but after a couple weeks, he wondered why he’d ever worried at all. They had talked about doing this, living together back when they dug coal together, but never got around to it before Raylan decided to split. And now here they were.
When they weren’t working, they worked on the house together. Helen hadn’t been kidding about the place being a mess; it looked like her former tenants had taken a sledge hammer to most of the walls and even the floor in a couple places. Boyd had slept with a hole through the wall at the head of his bed for the first three nights, worried that he’d wake up to a varmint crawling across his face. Turned out the varmints were already in the attic and apparently liked to race from one end of the house to the other at two in the goddamn morning. He figured they’d laugh about it all eventually, but that was a ways off still.
Boyd woke with a start. He wasn’t sure what had woken him, but felt like it was something big, something loud. He scooted up the bed to cautiously peel back the curtain and look out the window to see if someone was outside. The sun was just barely up, but it was light enough to see that only his truck and Raylan’s car were in the driveway. He glanced at the clock and noted that it was a little after six am, so Raylan should be getting ready to head off work. He flopped back down on the bed, figuring the Raylan had made the noise.
“Boyd!” Raylan yelled, his voice sounding strained.
Something about the tone of his voice had Boyd out of bed in record time and looking for his friend. “Raylan? Where are you?” Boyd called out after checking Raylan’s room and the living room.
“Bathroom!”
Boyd rushed to the bathroom and stopped just inside the doorway, shocked. The showerhead was completely gone and the broken pipe left behind was dispensing water unchecked. That wasn’t the only thing gone. The shower curtain looked to have been ripped from the rings that held it on the rod and the floor of the shower was missing.
“Boyd?” Raylan’s voice came from the hole where the shower’s floor had once been.
Boyd moved over to the hole, careful to keep a safe distance from the edge just in case it wasn’t solid, and looked over to find Raylan naked, half curled in a ball, with one hand up to keep the water out of his eyes. Boyd quickly turned off the faucets to stop the water before looking back at his friend and asking, “What happened?”
“I decided to inspect the plumbing under the house before work,” Raylan said sarcastically, wiping the water from his eyes. “What the hell do you think?!” He threw the shower head that he had accidently broken off up at Boyd.
Boyd bit his lip to keep from grinning at Raylan’s predicament. “Well I never know with you.”
“Just… get me out of here.”
Boyd tested the stability of the edge of the hole with his toes before getting on his hands and knees and reaching down into the hole for Raylan. Raylan took his hand and he pulled. As it turned out, pulling a naked man out of a hole was harder than either of them would have thought; with no belt or waist band to grab on to, Boyd had to settle for a butt cheek and hope it didn’t hurt Raylan too bad.
Once he was out of the hole, Raylan collapsed on his side, breathing hard, and tried not to focus on his pain too much. Boyd tried not to focus on the fact that Raylan was naked and looked really good despite all of the cuts and scrapes.
“You gonna be alright or should I call someone?” Boyd asked after a minute of watching Raylan just lying there breathing.
“Depends,” Raylan began, smile creeping onto his lips. He turned over so that he was face down on the floor. “How far up my ass is… whatever that is that I’m feeling.”
Boyd surveyed his back. He’d noticed several pieces of something sticking out of Raylan’s back, but hadn’t been too worried about it while he was pulling him up. Now that he looked though, he realized that it was pieces of terracotta colored tile and splintered wood in his back, ass and the backs of his thighs too. “Looks like you fell on a damn porcupine made of tile and wood. Not too bad though, just flesh wounds.”
Raylan looked over his shoulder at Boyd. “Well, so long as it don’t look as bad as it feels.”
“You want me to getcha somethin’ for the pain?”
“No, I want you to get the shower floor out of my ass.”
“I look like a damn doctor to you son?” Boyd asked.
“A shitty nurse, maybe…OW!” Raylan grit his teeth as Boyd pulled a large piece of tile out of his ass, being none to gentle about it.
“Huh, guess even a shitty nurse can do that,” Boyd said, annoyed, and tossed the bloody piece of tile down in front of Raylan’s face.
“Not the wisest thing, to insult the man pulling sharp pieces of broken shit out of your back side, I suppose.”
“Not so much.” Boyd pulled another piece out, being a little gentler this time.
It took a while, but Boyd finally extracted all the pieces of tile and wood from Raylan. He looked for a first aid kit, but realized they didn’t have one. Being the stubborn shit that Raylan was, he made Boyd drive to the store for medical supplies while he lay bleeding on the floor instead of just calling an ambulance like they probably really should have.
“How do we end up in situations like this?” Boyd asked as he rubbed antibiotic ointment into one of the cuts on Raylan’s ass.
“I can’t say I recall ever being in a situation quite like this Boyd,” Raylan replied with a chuckle.
Boyd smiled. “Yeah, I think I’d remember pulling shit out of your ass. No, I mean situations where one of us gets hurt and the other takes care of him. Seems like we’ve had a lot of ‘em over the years.”
Raylan considered it for a moment. “You countin’ the times one of us has hurt the other and then made sure they made it to the hospital?”
“Yeah. Don’t think I don’t know ‘bout you sittin’ by my bed all worried, waitin’ for me to wake up.”
Raylan smiled. “I dunno Boyd, maybe we’re just meant to take care of each other, through the good and the bad.”
Boyd liked that thought. “Maybe.”
After several long moments of silence, Raylan finally asked the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind since Boyd had gotten out of prison. “Boyd? You ever gonna make me have to hurt you again?”
Boyd froze. It hurt him that Raylan even felt the need to ask. Sure he might end up walking the line sometimes, but everyone did, even Raylan; it didn’t mean that he was going back to his full blown criminal ways though. He was happy with his life right now, even though he did have to go down into a coal mine every day. He had his best friend back, a home (even if it was falling apart faster than they could fix it up), and he wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder wondering who was trying to kill him this time. “No Raylan, I surely am not.”
“Promise me.” Raylan said, refusing to look at Boyd. Boyd could say anything, but if he wasn’t looking at him, Raylan wouldn’t be able to tell if Boyd was lying or not. He could believe whatever Boyd said.
Boyd laid down beside Raylan, careful to keep his hands away from anything he could get the mixture of Raylan’s blood and antibiotic cream that was covering them on, and looked him in the eyes. He knew what Raylan was doing and it was important that the man knew he was telling the truth. “I promise Raylan.”
“Good.”
Boyd kissed Raylan’s shoulder before he even had time to realize what he was doing and sat up, ready to tend to the rest of his friend’s wounds. He’d just squeezed out a fresh glob of cream onto his fingers when Raylan rolled onto his side and grabbed his wrist, pulling Boyd towards him. Boyd tried not to get the cream on the floor (one more mess to clean up later), but lost his balance as Raylan pulled him over and kissed him, and put his hand on the floor for support.
Boyd’s heart raced as the seconds ticked past and the kiss deepened. This wasn’t exactly how he’d ever imagined this moment, but he definitely couldn’t complain. Raylan turned a little more, headed towards lying on his back when the first of the wounds touched the floor sending a jolt of pain through him. He winced and Boyd pulled back, concerned.
“It’s fine,” Raylan assured him. “Just don’t think you’re gonna get me on my back this morning… or maybe even the next few days.”
Boyd laughed. “Well, I’ve been waiting since we started digging coal together, I do believe I can wait a little longer.”
Raylan’s eyebrows crawled up his forehead in surprise. “You too?”
Boyd urged him back onto his stomach so the he could finish doctoring the cuts. “To think of all these years we’ve wasted.”
“Coulda been screwing each other instead of shooting each other. Or trying to shoot, in your case,” Raylan said with a smirk.
Boyd pressed his finger into one of the cuts, wiping the smirk off of Raylan’s face, before soothing the cut with a fresh dollop of the cream.
“That’s not very nice,” Raylan complained.
“You deserved it and you know it.”
Raylan smiled. “Nothing’s changed.”
“I think we’d be disappointed if it did.”