"Nothing interesting in there," I said automatically, pulling it away and tucking it back into my pocket.
"You know, Constantin," Frank smiled. "My boy and I have owned this station a long time. Technically, Glenn was born here, grew up here, learned the trade here."
I glanced at the "container" and said nothing.
"Plenty of folks have come through here. Plenty of well-off ones too," Frank clarified. "But someone as distrustful as you? That’s rare. Even Selena has her moments of being more forgiving. After all, she’s the one who brought you here, right? Doubt you’d have lasted a day on your own."
I was offended. In all my time here, even a crow had managed to judge me. I opened my mouth to retort, but Frank cut in:
"Don’t get me wrong—in a way, I get it. I lost my wife early on, raised my boy alone. Kids, as you know, are restless little beasts. Glenn still pulls stunts. Loves attention, no denying that. But that’s life, so he works with me."
"I’m sorry about your wife," I sighed. "Must’ve been hard, losing her like that, especially with a child to raise."
"Huh?" Frank looked confused. "Oh! Nah, you got it wrong. She’s alive and well—just ran off with that dung beetle, Vance."
"Ah," I finally understood. "And who’s Vance?"
"Local farmer," Selena chimed in, the kid beside her. "His ranch feeds half the county. Land’s crazy fertile."
"Scoundrels like Vance always have the best soil," Glenn added. "You should drop by, get acquainted."
"No way!" the kid snapped. "Quit messing with us."
"What’s the problem?" I asked.
"Vance is the local boogeyman," Selena explained.
"Oh, come on," Glenn scoffed, spitting out his toothpick. "He’s alright. Just… moody sometimes. Normal stuff."
"Rumor is he’s got an entire weapons cache buried on his ranch," the kid whispered conspiratorially.
"That’s just gossip from bored locals," Glenn countered. "They’ve said all kinds of things about us too. That we’re smugglers, secret millionaires—hell, even mechanics."
"Even mechanics?" I repeated, tensing up.
"Glenn's joking," Frank tried to reassure me. "What he means is that locals here love making up tall tales. Anyone who achieves even a little something suddenly gets wrapped in legends."
"And if this 'achiever' happens to be an outsider? Lights out. They'll be branded a 'stranger' forever," the kid nodded in agreement.