Serialization: "Hawkins County" Chapter 1 - the 1970s - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Ken watched him disappear into the woods and then banged his head on the sill as he pulled his head back inside the window. "Ouch! Damn it all, that hurts," he said. While walking back downstairs, he wondered how many more bumps his head could take, and it was so sore that he was still rubbing it when he got to the porch and met up with Stacey. Rather than speak to the grinning man, he walked outside to the squad car where Connie was already waiting.

Stacey, however, felt like getting in a few more digs, so he took another swig from his pint and followed Ken to the squad. The German shepherd, now out of view behind the house, began to bark and growl again.

"Too bad Killer's chained up," Stacey said. "He'd a-given you two assholes quite a welcome."

First Pat got away, then he banged his head, and now the old man was giving them a ration of crap. "What kind of a father are you anyway?" Ken said. "You ornery old drunk, you never send Pat to school, and you live out here in this dump like so much trash."

Stacey met Ken's gaze. "I do my best."

"Your best!" Ken spit on the ground. "O'Connor, you ruined your own life and now you're letting your son do the same to his." He paused a moment as he glanced around the yard and at the sheriff. "But then, why the heck should I care? In a few weeks I'll be leaving Hawkins County, and the very first thing I'm going to do," he jabbed his finger at Stacey, "the very first thing, is forget the O'Connor clan ever existed. You can rot to death out here if that's what you're bound and determined to do." He motioned toward the house. "The way it smells in there, you probably will, too. I got half a notion to report you to the Hawkins County Public Health Department."

Making the probation officer come unglued was the highlight of Stacey's day, causing him to break out in raucous laughter. "Gee, I'm sure going to miss our little visits, Ken, but as you can plainly see, Pat ain't here." He shrugged his shoulders. "He ain't been for some time. I sent him out to California to live with his sister, Clarice." Looking at Connie and back at Ken again, he took another swig from his pint. "Now I'll thank the two of you to make tracks off my property." (to be continued)

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