by Jerry L
As the thin man raised his hands to shoulder level, his gray eyes glinted, thought he detected a touch of the South in the kid’s voice. He was being mugged by a red-neck cracker!
A minute later the kid shoved the tall man against a wall and quickly frisked him, too quickly the tall man thought. After removing the tall man’s Wallet from his left hip pocket, the kid ordered the tall man to stay exactly where he was then the kid stepped back. From the corner of his eye the older man saw the glow of a small flashlight and heard the kid shuffling through the Wallet.
“Sergeant Major Abraham Nigel Lee!’ The thin man heard a card lightly hit the pavement… Association of the US Army!” another card hit the pavement… “Order of the Black Hat, U. S. Army Cavalry.” The third plop.
“California Driver’s License… whoa… you be long expired old man!” Another plop as another card fell. Obviously the kid wasn’t military or he would have known that a G.I.s driver’s license is good for most states as long as he’s on active duty and not in his home state.
“Two hundert US dollars and a Visa card.” Then came a larger plop and the thin man felt something strike his lower leg, his Wallet.
“I’m gonna shoot you Lee but first I wanna know what it was like.” The voice from behind suddenly didn’t sound too stable as it continued, “ Yeah I wanna know what it was like and I wanna know who else was with you.”
Then something was jammed violently into the small of the thin man’s back and Lee could smell the kid’s sweat and smell his breath, a beery smell as the kid hissed in his ear, “who was with you?”
There was no tenseness in Lee’s voice as he asked, “Who was with me when Son? Who was with me where?”
Lee‘s mind was in stark contrast to his outward calm. “Where did he know this kid from.
“Callahan, that’s where!”
The kid hissed, “You remember Callahan County Sarge? That’s where you and your pals killed my sister!” As the kid spoke, Sergeant Major Lee spun and with the speed of a snake swept the gun aside with one hand and delivered a numbing slap to the kid’s face with the other. As the kid recoiled back his feet were swept from under him and he fell flat on his back. His head bounced on the pavement.
The younger man was blinded by the fireworks and the explosion of pain that seared his brain and he seemed to feel heaviness in his chest. For an instant he couldn’t breath, he couldn’t move and he was gripped by panic. Out of reflex he shook his head and the wave of nausia and pain was halted by the realization that he was looking into the barrel of his own weapon and the Sergeant Major was kneeling with one knee on his chest.
“Son,” to thin man’s voice was soft but there was a steely edge not lost to the kid, “Now it’s my turn and I don’t want no crap. You will speak when spoken to and at no other time. You will answer my questions without hesitation and to the best of your ability.” There was a note of finality with each word and the term “will” was emphasized. “You got that Son?” The kid nodded. The older man snarled, “What’s yer name Boy?’
“Wilburn, Jimmy Wilburn… my twin sister was Jenny.” The kid’s voice had a hangdog tone.
“You said your sister died, Jimmy. When?” Where?” The Sergeant Major’s voice was still soft but it didn’t carry the same edge.
“Two weeks ago up in Callahan County,” there was almost a sob in the Kid’s voice; “She shot herself. After what you men did to her, she couldn’t live with it… so she shot herself.” The young man’s face was a pinched white mask, “The County buried her over with the sinners, crazies, and paupers cause we ain’t got no money!” The kid turned his head and began to softly sob.
As he rose the Sargent pulled the kid to his feet, then he released him. The kid’s shoulders slumped and he looked at the thin man. Then the Kid raised his head and spoke, “You might as well shoot me Sarge ‘cause ifin you don’t, A’ll stay on your trail till Ah get you.”
“Son, what makes you think I’m the feller you’re after.”
“Well,” Jimmy spoke, “It’s easy, you left a little somethin’ behind.” The kid carefully opened his poplin jacket and showing that he was using only a finger and a thumb pulled a thin green band from an inner pocket.
Even in the dim light of the alley, Lee didn’t have to take the band to recognize what it was, the elastic loop that held the camouflage cover on a soldier’s helmet.
“You still got the light Son?” Lee asked. The kid carefully reached in to a cargo pocket and handed Lee the small light and the thin man switched it on.
The band formed a circle of about a foot in diameter and was about a half inch in width. Sewn to it were two short strips of luminous plastic tape that when facing rearward made glow-in-the-dark ‘Tiger Eyes’ clearly visible to the person following the wearer. Lee looked at the band in the light of the small flashlight and rolled the band around between his thumb and forefinger then he froze.
Neatly lettered in indelible ink were the words “GO DEVIL” followed by the number 61. Part of the band was blotted with dark spots. “Where did you get this?” There was a touch of ice in Lee’s voice.
The kid looked at Lee without flinching, “I found that where my sister was attacked by you and your friends, that’s her blood on that strap.” There was no waiver in his look and the hatred burned deep in his eyes.
Lee handed the kid his flashlight, but he folded the elastic band and put it into his front pocket. And then the Sergeant Major did a most remarkable thing, he swung the revolver on his finger deftly reversing his grip so that the butt faced the kid. “Here kid, here’s yer pistol.” The kid looked stunned. “I didn’t have anything to do with yer sister, Kid; but I damn well will find out who did!”
Steele and Hawkins sat in the Royal Bar playing the dice game for drinks and dollars. Hawkins had the leather dice cup and on his first roll picked up three fives out of the six die. The second roll yielded another five and Hawkins was rolling his third and last roll with the two remaining die. He shook the cup and deftly flipped it prior to slamming it on the bar; but fate shunned Hawkins and he was skunked on the last roll. “OK, Steele beat five fives.”
Steele scooped up the dice and swept them into the cup; but he was distracted by the entry of a young man into the bar. The newcomer was short and stocky; perhaps twenty-two, and he had a dark look about him.
“A draft beer, please.” The young man asked; however, neither Steele nor Hawkins noticed because both were again focused on their game.
Forty minutes later the young man had joined Steele and Hawkins; but he wasn’t doing very well at the game, he’d bought each of them an even six beers and was on the way to purchasing a seventh.
Meanwhile Steele and his partner were starting to show the impact of the drinks when the young man threw up his hands and announced that this lesson was costing him entirely too much; he did however laughingly purchase another round for the two originals.
Fifteen minutes later Sergeant Major Lee strolled into the bar, waived to the barkeep and ordered a draft beer. As he sipped the beverage placed in front of him, Lee noticed Steele and Hawkins and nodded to both.
The two men, both quite drunk by this point, shouted to Lee and urged him to join them.
Lee took his beer, moved around the bar, and shook hands with the two men while motioning to the bartender to set them up.
“Hey Steele,” Lee asked, “Didn’t you work that area down around Jonesville during the last exercise?” “You know when you picked up my helmet by mistake?”
“Uh….” The drunken Steele replied,”Uh yeah, but shit… I lost it again. Sorry… I meant to give it back Sarge… Why you askin? ”
“Well, Steele, it’s like this,” Lee began, “I’m gonna send your ass to Leavenworth until hell freezes over and the big question it essentially this…You gonna tell me who was with you when you guys raped that young girl or am I gonna have to kick yer ass across this bar until you finally decide to talk?”
Steele stiffened and stared s
lack mouthed, he looked around for his friend, but Hawkins was backpedaling toward the door until he bumped into the bartender. At that point Hawkins became aware of two things, the kid was between him and the door and he was holding a gun. Steele broke the bottle, stood and swung, but Sergeant Major Lee was sober, faster, and he was angry!
Postscript:
The snow white stone was set on black marble a base. Three people stood in a semi-circle around the marker.
A stocky middle-aged man remarked, “Well that’s a right nice stone them Army boys bought Jenny ain’t it Mama?”
Jenny’s mother replied, “It’s very nice Papa, but where did the flowers come from?”
The man reached for the card accompanying the floral bouquet and read, “My deepest condolences, S-M-G Lee. What’s that mean?”
The third person, a young man named Jimmy, smiled, “It’s note from a friend we didn’t know we had.”
That’s 21 tales… thanks… Richard & Jerry
The End