Otis answered the phone once his caller ID recognized the number. "Hi Pop," he said. "What's wrong this time?"

"Whut?" came the deep rumble of his father's voice. He sounded much larger than he really was, and Otis wished he'd inherited that bassy rumble. It would've sounded better on him, in his opinion.

"You only call when somethin' bad's happened back in the Bayou."

"Now that ain't true, boy, Ah call ya'll the time!"

Otis grinned every time he listened to his father speak. If Venti thought his accent was thick, he wondered what he'd say about his Dad's! "Name the last time you called me without it bein' anythin' bad, Pop."

"Well," the older otter's voice trailed off as he thought about it. "Well, shoot, boy, Ah guess ya might be right."

His dad rarely admitted any wrongdoing, so Otis let it go. "No problem, Pop. Now what's happened? It Sissy all right?"

"Yoah sister's fine, son. It's Ben I'm worried foah."

Ben, at seventeen, was the youngest of the otter clan. Always getting into trouble in one way or another: be it drinking beer, getting into fights, or just being a stupid kid. "Do I wanna know, Pop?"

"He might've gotten him some durn girl pregnant."

"Is that all?"

"Whut do yuh mean 'Is thet all'?"

"Well, Pop, it could've been a lot worse. Remember the time he broke that one kid's arm because the kid supposedly called Mom a fish-eating slut?"

"Son, arms can heal, and the kid had it comin', callin' yoah mother a slut. She's a vegetarian anyway."

"Point taken, Pop, but is it really that bad?"

"Yes! He don't even plan on marryin' the girl!"

"Why do I have a feelin' there's somethin' to this that you're not tellin' me, Pop?"

"She's a goddamned panther, that's whut!"

"Oh, Hell's Bells. What did Grandmama say?"

"She don't know yet, Otis. She broke her hip last week."

"Geez, when were you gonna spring that one on me, Pop? When I was gonna visit this Fourth of July? And you wonder why I look forward to your phone calls every time you call."

"Don't be a smartass, son. Nobody likes 'em."

<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>