Scars of My Guardian Angel

by Russell L Martin

  22

  Battle Scars

  I had already noticed his face and arms were scarred but I never imagined his entire body had received this much damage. I turn looking the other direction, hoping he didn’t see me observing his battle wounds.

  “Chado, it’s okay bud. You forget I can hear what you’re thinking.”

  “Man, you got me. I’m so sorry Uriel. I couldn’t help but notice your wounds and wonder how you got cut up like that. Do you mind telling me?”

  “Sure I can tell you. We have a few more miles to go before our first stop. Chado, I’m going to remind you of an event that happened in your past life and then I want you to tell me the story about what happened. Is that okay?”

  “I guess so, but what’s that got to do with your scars?”

  “Everything, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Do you remember when your dog Buck got shot while you were on a project over in the state of Mississippi?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, tell me from the beginning exactly what happened.”

  “It’s been a long time ago, but I’ll try.”

  * * *

  “When I got the job as night watchman for the pipeline company, it didn’t take me long to figure out that I needed a companion. The long twelve hour nights babysitting heavy equipment that was used to install steel pipelines cross country made me realize I needed a dog. So in my search for the perfect canine, I happened to stop at a general store for my nightly snacks and there was an ole female Catahoula Cur standing in front of the store. I petted her as I came in and also as I left. She hung around the storefront for several days, and each time I started to leave, she would try to let me know she wanted to go with me by raring up with her front feet on the tailgate of my truck. I had to ask the store manager who she belonged to. The manager claimed that she didn’t belong to anyone and insisted that I take her. So I dropped the tailgate and without any persuasion she jumped right in.

  After several nights of having her around, I knew I had definitely made the right choice. Sometime later, I bred her with my brother’s Bull Mastiff and she had a litter of puppies. Before she gave birth to our new family of pups, I built a cypress dog house for the back of my truck. It was a thing of beauty, the craftsmanship of the aerodynamic roof would have made any dog owner sin with envy.

  The proud mom gave birth to seven beautiful pups that were born on the pipeline in the back of my truck.

  After they were around eight to ten weeks old, the guys on the pipeline would get a kick out of watching me arrive and dropping the tailgate, seeing pup after pup stick their heads out.

  As time passed, I gave away all but one, and kept my favorite. He was the pick of the litter; Buck.

  I guess if you compared him to Moushie and Rex, Buck would have to be one of my top three dogs ever .

  In that season of my life, I managed to get married in between projects, and it seemed like every time I came home my wife would announce, ‘I’m pregnant’. Wow, back to back, two girls and a boy.

  Trying to send my wife through nursing school and facing a whole other type of expense with three babies, I had to figure out how to cut costs. So I started eating a lot more beanie weenies and sardines. Still struggling, I decided no more motel expense for me. I got permission from the owner of the company to camp along the pipeline. So Buck and I slept during the day anywhere there was a source of fresh water near the pipeline right-of-way. I truly believe the old man that owned the company liked my being out there.

  On the larger jobs where we were spread too thin, they would hire another watchman. This is where I met Marvin; he was a preacher that really loved the Lord. He worked with us on several projects and became a dear friend.

  I was finally able to afford a six hundred dollar camper. It looked like something from a comedy show, but it did keep the rain out. We had no running water or electricity, but it was definitely a step up from tents or sleeping in the back of my truck curled up with my furry friend. I remember using a twenty gallon water cooler in the winter time to bathe out of. This was only after the water in the creeks would get so cold it would hurt my scalp when I would try to wash my hair, and at that point I would start using the igloo cooler.

  No, I couldn’t crawl in a twenty gallon cooler. I would take the lid off each day and let the sun warm it up as much as possible. I would then take a big towel stick it down in the water, take a deep breath then squeeze it out over my head, soap up, shampoo up and then rinse right off. For a quick shave, I would twist the mirror around and before I knew it, I was as clean as could be.

  As the days passed, Marvin and I would read and study the Bible. Uriel, as I think back, I truly believe being around ole Marvin really impacted my whole life.

  Well anyway, one day after we awoke and were getting ready to head to our designated locations on the line, I told Marvin that I had an awful nightmare about Buck. I dreamed that he had come running up to me and his face was covered with bright red blood. We didn’t think much of it at the time, but that was about to change.

  My crew had shut down for the day on the side of a hill overlooking a land owner’s home and property. As I was sitting in my truck before dark reading the scripture, I looked around for Buck and I saw he had made friends with the land owner’s German Shepherd and they were both playing about half way between his house and my equipment. I remember smiling as I watched them harmlessly chase each other and I had the thought, the shepherd must be a female and Buck has a new girlfriend.

  Suddenly the owner came out of his house and with a very hard tone started hollering at his dog to come home. I immediately got out of the truck and called Buck back up the hill. The land owner went back in his house like everything was okay.

  After Buck came up to me I petted him for a few seconds, ‘Buck, don’t go back down there, you hang around here.’ I stepped back in my truck, grabbed my Bible and continued to read, when suddenly I hear gun fire. POW, POW, POW, I look up to see where it’s coming from and it’s the landowner shooting a rifle, and he’s pointing in our direction. I look back over and see Buck standing beside a Cat side boom that’s parked in front of my truck. The shots continue: POW, POW, and I hear the bullet hit Buck with a thump.

  Buck doesn’t go down; he runs around and leaps up in the back of my truck. I quickly threw my Bible on the seat then grabbed my Colt 45 pistol. I jumped out of my truck and ran to my wounded dog. I could see the entry and exit hole from this maniac’s bullet. It looked like a perfect heart shot, the entry wound was right behind the front shoulder. Suddenly Buck starts spitting up blood and with tears swelling and my heart pounding, I was getting ready for Buck to take his last breath.

  With sudden overwhelming anger, I turn and start running down the hill with my pistol cursing and shouting, ‘I am going to kill you, you sorry no good SOB!’ Suddenly from out of nowhere something stopped me. I turned and walked past the open door of my truck, tossed my weapon on the seat, and slowly made my way to the back of the truck, dreading that I might find my best friend lying dead.

  To my surprise he was still breathing. I could hear a gurgling sound coming from his chest. The look in Buck’s face was something I had never seen before. I placed my arms around him and lightly hugged him as I whispered, ‘Hang in there buddy, I’ll get you some help.’

  I slammed the tailgate and we tore out of there, heading for the nearest town. I called the other watchmen on the CB radio informing him of what just took place. Only by divine appointment we found a vet that was still at his office. I explained Buck had been shot and needed emergency care. The kind veterinarian brought him straight in and told me they would do everything they could to save him.

  By this time the other watchman, Mr. Marvin, had already contacted the police. On my arrival back at the crime scene, the cops were on site talking with the shooter.

  I parked my truck right behind the equipment and through the night air, I could hear them having conversation with the land owner. I actually heard t
hem all laughing and joking like close friends.

  It wasn’t long until the two officers drove up to my location on the hill. They get out of their squad car with a cocky look, ‘Sir after questioning the land owner, he claims your dog was attacking his cows and there is nothing we can do about him defending his livestock.’

  I instantly start defending my dog, ‘That’s a big fat lie! Buck was standing in front of that Cat side boom right there. Besides that, Buck was raised around livestock and has never ever chased or harmed any cows. That guy is lying through his teeth!’

  ‘Well sir, there is nothing you can do.’ Both cops get back in their squad car and drive off.

  As I sit in the dark thinking about what had just happened. The horrible scene plays over and over in my mind like a broken record. I can still hear their laughter, then echoes from the gunfire; finally seeing the face of my dog as he coughed up blood. Speaking of blood, mine now boils with anger.

  There has to be something I can do; this is so wrong!

  It finally broke daylight and when the first pipeline operator arrived, I took off in search of the local courthouse, not realizing it wouldn’t be open that early in the morning. After that I drove back to the animal clinic and found that Buck was stable. The kind doctor told me it was a slim chance that he might pull through. Upon receiving this grave report, I headed back over to the courthouse and patiently waited until it was open. After a multitude of people went through the doors, I felt confident that at least one had to be a judge.

  Since I had never set foot in a courthouse, I was lost as a goose. A lady at one of the many counters asked me what I was looking for. ‘Ma’am, I would like to see a judge.’ She grinned real big and said, ‘Let me see young man, you stand right there and I’ll check.’ She was gone for a couple minutes and on her return, ‘If you would, please follow me.’

  To my surprise, she walked up to the chamber door of a lady judge, lightly knocked and I hear, ‘Come on in’. Upon my entry I was greeted by a beautiful black lady with a warm smile. ‘Come on in young man, and tell me what’s troubling you to the point of wanting to see a judge in person. This has to be something special.’

  I told her about everything that had occurred, even about the cops laughing with the land owner and how it gave me the impression they were all cousins or somehow related.

  After explaining my story, she turns around and pulls a big thick law book off the wall. She plops it down on her desk with the sound of a deep thud. ‘Come around here where you can see and help me find the laws that have been broken.’ I walk around to her side of the desk as she drags her finger back and forth across the print. ‘Okay, it says right here, cruelty to a dumb brute; it carries a fine from 60 dollars up to 10,000 dollars and or time in jail. Well young man, what would you like to do?’

  ‘I’m not sure, I mean I don’t really know how all this works, what would be your advice?’

  ‘I can’t give you advice on what you should do, but I can give you options on what we can do inside the guidelines of this law book and the final ruling would be done in a court room. Saying that, if you want to press charges we will have him arrested or you can drop it and move on.’

  ‘I would like to press charges and have him arrested.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll get it all started, and it was a pleasure meeting you sir.’

  I gave her my humble thanks as I left her chambers. Walking back across the parking lot I was thinking, Man how lucky was that, walking straight in and seeing a judge .

  On my drive back to check on Buck I prayed, ‘Lord please let my buddy make it, he’s such a good dog.’

  As I walked in the vet’s office, surprisingly the kind doctor almost met me at the door and was eager to give me an update. I could tell he had a true heart for animals and took a special interest in this case. This man had stayed with Buck all night watching over his patient.

  The vet explained to me that only time will tell if Buck makes it. The bullet went completely through his body, barely missing his heart and struck a part of his lung and he had quite a bit of internal bleeding. He informed me that they would monitor him closely and there is no sense in me having to sit and wait.

  I praised the kind doctor and thanked him with great compassion as I left. I went back to our campsite and sought council from Marvin. I knew he had to have wisdom from the spiritual side of life, due to his many years of studying the Bible and being a preacher.

  I gave him an update on Buck’s condition and then told him about getting to see the lady judge and how I pressed charges on the land owner. She told me they were going to have him arrested.

  The old preacher leaned back in his chair grinning from ear to ear, ‘Well Chado, sounds like you just kicked a hornets’ nest wide open.’ His smile turned into a pretty good laugh. ‘You just had an official judge write out an arrest warrant for a land owner that owns the property our pipeline is crossing.’

  ‘Yes sir, I guess I did. What do you think is going to happen?’

  ‘Well, I would imagine Mr. Fred, the owner of the company is going to fly hot, and then the gas company we’re laying the line for will get involved also. It’s going to turn into a mess. Chado, I wonder if the cops have picked him up yet.’

  ‘I don’t know, but I hope it’s the same cops that were laughing at me and my dog, and they are the very ones that have to arrest that nut job.’

  Marvin looks over at me with an odd expression, ‘Chado, you know that weird dream you had about seeing Buck’s face covered with blood? Don’t you think that’s a bit strange, the very same day you have the dream he gets shot? You said Buck was spitting up blood; right?’

  ‘Yes, bright red blood, just like my dream.’

  ‘Well, it might be more going on with this whole scene than we can understand.’

  ‘What do you mean Marvin?’

  ‘Who knows, God might be up to something in your life or maybe He’s trying to get that land owner’s attention. I know this, in the Bible it says,

  ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, your sons and daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.’

  ‘Well I thought what I had was a dream and I’m a young man.’

  ‘Chado, how do you know the difference if you were dreaming or was simply having a vision in a sleep state?’

  ‘Maybe so, I just hope Buck makes it through this and I don’t lose my job. We are barely above the water level financially.’

  As evening fell, I arrived at my designated location on the line and I was met by a foreman telling me that I needed to head over to our field office. On my drive to the office, I was preparing myself to face the facts of being fired from my much needed job.

  When I drove in the parking lot, I noticed several vehicles that were unfamiliar. They really stood out because normally everyone had gone home by this time of evening.

  As I walked through the door, I was faced with several people from the gas company, the owners of the construction company and three land agents. They all stared at me without saying anything with a look of anger in their eyes.

  I slowly make my way to an empty seat at the end of a long shiny table that had blueprints and note pads scattered in front of the men .

  As soon as my butt touched the chair, old man Fred, my boss and owner of our company, lit in on me like a mad bulldog. His face got so red I could see the blood vessels swell across his forehead.

  ‘You can’t have a land owner arrested; do you realize what you’ve done? When you leave here you go drop the charges. I mean now!’ He pulls out his wallet. ‘How much is that dammed dog worth?’ He grabs several hundred dollar bills out of his wallet and started shaking the money at me. ‘Here take it; I’ll pay your vet bill and whatever it costs to drop the charges. Here, I said take it!’

  The whole group of men started mumbling among themselves as Fred continued to shake his money at me and rave about what
I did could shut the whole pipeline down.

  At first, I felt like I didn’t have a friend in the world. Not knowing what to say or do, I felt my face and scalp start to tingle as a fire started in my heart. Anger rose up through my whole body as I thought of my best friend Buck lying in the animal hospital struggling for his life. I quickly stood up and the room went silent. I slowly looked into each one of the men’s faces, as their curiosity of what my reply would be kept them silent.

  ‘Let me tell you this, it’s pretty simple. That crazy land owner shot my dog out of pure hatred and I could care less if this pipeline ever gets laid. Buck was born on the pipeline and he has helped me watch over your equipment and helped protect your pipe from vandals and thieves. So, you can fire me or whatever seems fitting in your hearts, but I’m not dropping any charges. Mr. Fred, you can stick that money back in your wallet where it belongs, because there is no price you can put on my dog!’

  The room exploded with everyone talking over each other trying to figure out what they should do.

  I spoke back up and informed them that I would be in the parking lot waiting on their decision about my termination. I walked out to my truck, dropped the tailgate then hopped up. As I was sitting on my tailgate slowly swinging my feet back and forth I noticed my hands were shaking. I need to calm down, I’ll get another job somewhere; this has to be the right decision.

  The door to the office flies open with the owner’s son, Mr. Jerry heading straight for me. I noticed he was smiling. ‘Hey Chado, this is quite the situation we’re in, wouldn’t you say?’

  ‘Yes sir, I believe it is.’

  ‘Look, everything is going to be okay. Truth be known, the land owner can’t kick us off his property. The land agents have already paid him for access. So with that being said, the pipeline will not be affected at all. We will lay right through and he can’t do anything.’

  ‘Mr. Jerry, will I lose my job over all this?’

  He chuckles, ‘No you’re not losing your job. Chado, we all love Buck and when I heard what happened I knew he was lying about Buck attacking his cows. I’ve seen the way Buck acts around livestock many times in the past. Know this, I am behind you 100 percent on whatever direction you want to take this. I tell you what I would like to do, is to help you with the vet bill. I also would hope you might consider dropping the charges on this guy. I believe this would help keep the peace with the other land owners in our path. You’ve already stung him pretty good with his arrest. I heard from a pretty good source down at the police station that the ole fart’s wife is out of town for the weekend. It looks like he doesn’t have anyone to bail him out, so that means he has to sit in jail till Monday.’