“Don’t let her see her.” He told Dexter that he’d not. “She’ll kill her, the baby I mean. Not Tessie, not unless she gets in her way. Mom is all wrong in the head. No kids. No kids. No kids.” “Dexter, are you all right?” He said that he needed him to watch for Tessie too. To keep her away from him. “Dexter, why don’t you come with me? Perhaps we can do something to help you out.” He’d been told not to mention Alma or the baby. Dexter said no kids a dozen more times before Tess came out and took Ruby from Jules, but didn’t leave. And just like that, he could see the clarity in Dexter’s eyes. The man was in love with her. But as Tess had said, not in love like a man loves a woman, but more like a big brother or something. She held her little girl now, but Jules was no less vigilant about keeping them safe. “Hello Tessie. Your little girl is very pretty. So are you.” Tess thanked him and smiled. When he started to cry, Jules was given Ruby, and he then handed her to the nanny. When she was clear of the area, he looked at Tessie holding Dexter. “I’m so confused. There was so much blood and stuff. I don’t know where I was hurt either. Then she was gone. I can see her face, but not like it was before. Now she’s gone, and I can’t remember who she is. Do you?” “No, I’m sorry, I don’t know. But it’s all right, Dex. You let me take care of you. You need help, don’t you? You want me to help you, Dex?” He stiffened and looked at her. “Dexter?” “Whore. You whore.” When he drew back to hit her, Jules moved to cut him off. “She’s a slut, and I don’t want her around my son. Do you hear me? Throwing herself at him like the tart that she is. You keep that child of yours away from him. He’s god’s child, and he’s pure.” “They were only talking. Why do you think she’s a whore, Debra?” Jules knew that he was looking at her now, Dexter’s mother, and that frightened him on a great many levels. “Why don’t you allow me to talk to Dexter again? He—” “You leave him alone. Do you hear me? He’s mine, and I will not have you making him believe things that you do. Whore.” She looked at the house, then back at him. “I’ve told him over and over and over. No kids. I want no kids. No kids, no kids, no kids.” When Dexter/Debra walked away, Jules wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he did know that he had to talk to his brothers. And his dad. When Tess came to him, her arms wrapped tightly around him, he reached out to his family, all of them, to tell them what had just happened. That’s just what we thought. He’s both of them. And as much as I hate to say this, I think he might have been doing this all along. Jules wasn’t sure, but he thought he might be right on that. But if that’s true, how can we help him? How indeed, he wanted to say, but didn’t when Tess continued. Where will he go now that he knows that I’m staying here? He even acknowledged Ruby and how pretty she is. Then his mom came there too, didn’t she? Even when you called her by her name, she didn’t even flinch. He’s really himself and his mom.
I’d say that’s about it. But there are still things that we can do. Especially since we know now that he’s both of them. Don’t leave Ruby out where he can see her again. Jules promised that they’d keep her safe. Colton told them he wanted to look into some things before he had an answer. And when I get the answers that I need, I’m thinking that we might not care for the answers. Just so that you’re aware of it. Jules wasn’t sure that Tess should be around him at all. Not even when it was just Dexter. But they did need to get him help, and this was the best way. He supposed. What did he know? He was just a retired beat cop trying to be mayor of this town. ~~~ “But Mom, I don’t know where she might be living. I told you, I just happened upon them.” Dexter’s head was pounding again. He was sick with it. And he just wanted to sleep. But Mom was mad at him again, and he was trying to get her to be quiet so that he could rest his head. “Mom? Did you leave me?” He hoped so. There was something there, something that he couldn’t touch about his mom. A memory or a thought. Something that she’d done. And when he was having one of his blackouts, he knew it was because of her. She’d hit him, or something worse. Then he felt it, felt her there close. But he never saw her anymore. Feeling her was bad enough. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to see her. “No, I did not leave you. I’m right here. Why are you forever asking me that? Can you not see me?” She huffed, a sure sign that she was unhappy with him. “Dexter, I have told you a thousand times to stop hanging out with that girl. You have nothing in common with her. As the son of God, you must be better at picking your friends. And since she’s some whore with a child, you have to make sure that the child is taken care of. Bring her to me. I will make sure that she’s...I’ll make sure that it’s taken care of.” “I like her. And the little baby. She’s pretty, like Tessie is. And her name is Ruby, not it. I don’t want you to take her someplace.” He knew she was upset, knew that it was only a matter of time before she hit him again. Like she had when he was just a child. He waited for the sting of her hand, but it didn’t come. “Mom, when can I go home again? I don’t like it here.” This was his house, on some level he knew that, but he didn’t like this place anymore. There were rooms here that he couldn’t open. Picture frames that had no picture in them. There were other things too, too many towels for just him. The bed was too big, and there were things in his room that smelled pretty that gave him a headache. And if he tried to open the door to one of the rooms, his head would feel like it was ready to split open and he’d have to throw up. Again and again. “No, you can’t go there. I’m having the walls cleaned and painted.” That was what she said every time he brought it up. “Besides, you don’t want to go there without me, do you? That’s my house, and you are to stay out of it. But let’s talk about this man, the one that was holding that little baby. What have I told you about children, Dexter? What?” “No kids. No kids. No kids.” She told him that was right, but when he thought about that, something in his head hurt badly. He didn’t understand his head. Before...before something had happened, he never had headaches. Blood. There was—
“Dexter, you’re going to make me upset with you if you don’t start saying it and believing in it. You are the son of God. You must believe me when I tell you that you cannot have children. They’re made in sin. I didn’t sin, and look, I have you. So you keep saying that. Say it Dexter, now.” “No kids. No kids. No kids.” His mind was working while his mouth was busy. But whenever he tried to think about what was there, just on the edge of his mind, it would skitter away like a bug on a hot light. “Mom? Where is he?” “He who? Who is it you’re forever asking me about?” He didn’t know and told her that. But the room was all red and moving around. “Then how do you expect me to tell you where he is if you don’t tell me who he is?” “Yes, of course.” He kept saying the words over and over. But the pain in his head had him leaning over and puking. Laying his head back down on the couch, he held the trash can to him. “I don’t feel well again.” He knew that he’d not eaten in days. His clothing no longer fit him. Even his shoes seemed to be about a size too large for him. Throwing up no longer brought up the green bile, but now he was puking up blood. Dexter didn’t want to think what he might have hurt when he was sick like this. Seeing the blood made him close his eyes. That was another thing that bothered him too. Blood. Before he could be counted on to clean up messy cuts and such. But now it was almost as if he didn’t have the tolerance for any. Not even a little bitty drip. “Dexter, wake up.” He opened his eyes, wondering when he’d fallen asleep. Looking at the clock over the television, he saw that it was only one minute later. “If you sleep now, they’ll come for you. The Lord has told me that you’re to be safe.” “Safe from what?” Again his mind skittered. There was no other way that he could describe it. It was like a scratch on a record, and once it hit that area, it would just bounce or something. “What do I need to be safe from?” “Everyone. You cannot allow women to touch you. I’ve told you this. You need to be pure. If you’re not, then you will remain here after the coming of Christ and die with all the sinners.” He thought of a woman, her face so beautiful that it made his heart burn with the need to touch her. “Dexter, what did I tell you.
?” Getting up, carrying his trash can with him, he entered the kitchen. Three days ago, when he’d been in here, there had been a box of donuts. Like a fool, he’d eaten them. His mother told him they were poison and had made him throw them up. Since then he’d not been able to eat any of the treats that someone, perhaps God, like Mom said, was leaving him. When he’d asked her why, with Dexter being the son of God, that he’d poison him, she didn’t speak to him for over an hour. Sitting at the table, he found an envelope that was addressed to him. He looked around to see if his mom was about. Dexter was amazed at her skills of coming up on him. Most of the time she’d just shout his name and he’d hear her. But seeing her, that wasn’t happening. Not that he knew how she was doing it, but it scared him on so many levels that he was always careful as to what he was doing all the time.
The note inside was in his handwriting. And when he pulled it out to read it, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. The letters were there, but they kept moving around and around in a circle until he had to put it down and wait for it to stop. “Dexter, you’re in trouble.” He looked around, wondering why he’d do this. “Run and find Tessie. Don’t hurt her, but you find her and tell her that you need help.” That was all it said. No name at the bottom, and there wasn’t any way for him to know the date either since it hadn’t been postmarked, but was just sitting on the table. Getting up, he burned the letter in the sink and saw the ring on the little elephant’s nose. The woman came back into his mind. Her face was right there, and he could see her smiling at him. Her body was beautiful too as she made love to him. He heard her say that she loved him before the dream, or whatever it was, was taken away by his mom screaming at him again. Whoever this woman might have been, she had taken his purity from him, and he wasn’t the least bit upset about that. “What did I warn you about?” He wasn’t sure which of the million and one things she’d been warning him about since he’d been a child that this might apply to. “You’re to stay away from nasty dreams. They’re not going to get you into Heaven.” Dexter was beginning to think he wasn’t going to go anywhere near Heaven. Something—he’d done something that was going to prevent it. His mom didn’t know whatever this was. If she did, he was pretty sure that she’d have killed him long before now. Or had him do something bad. Like the time she’d caught him with his cock hard. He’d not meant for her to see him. Dexter had rushed to the bathroom to see if he could make it go away. There had never been any talks of sex in their home. He didn’t know how his body functioned that way. So when he’d had his first hard-on, the only thing he could think was to make the swelling go away. And touching it, that helped some. Just as he was going to release—he knew the name of it now—just as he was ready to release, his mom had come into the bathroom with him. He had not been able to lock her out—there were no locks on any of the doors in their house except for the front and back door. So just as he was releasing, she grabbed him by the back of his head and slammed it onto the wall. Stars had danced over his vision and he was aching then. Just when he was ready to demand that she tell him what he’d done wrong, she hit him again, this time in his painful cock. After he was no longer hard, it took him several minutes of trying to talk to it before a cold shower was suggested. Well, suggest implied that she asked him kindly, when in fact, she’d turned the water on and shoved him in, clothing around his ankles and all, into the stall. He’d gotten a bad bump on his head then. “You shave that off.” He wondered if his mom had meant his entire cock, but all she wanted him to do was shave all the hair. It had taken him longer than the other boys to get hair down there, them being so much older than him, and he wasn’t keen on doing it. But she forced him to do so, plucking out the ones that he missed with the razor when he was done. It had taken him an entire year after that to be able to be in the same shower with any of the other boys. Sitting at the table again, he thought about how much he remembered from his childhood. He and Tessie mostly, but there had been other children. All of them were imperfect according to his mom, and Tessie had been the only one that had defied her and continued to be around him. He’d gotten quite a few beatings from it, but he didn’t care. Tessie was his best friend. “Still is, but I need to keep her safe.” Safe why, he wasn’t sure, but he knew that it had to do with his mom. When he felt her coming toward him again, Dexter let all thoughts of Tessie hide away while Mom told him what to make her for dinner. “I don’t know why you can’t make me a decent meal, Dexter. I showed you everything that I did to cook for you.” It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he thought he was a better cook, and so was— Someone else was better too, but who? The name Alma came to his mind, but it, like a lot of his memories, went away almost before he could remember it. Alma was special. But he dared not mention this or her to his mom. She was angry enough all the time. Dinner, like all the others that she wanted but didn’t eat, was thrown in the trash. It took him a little longer to clean up after his cooking because he kept thinking of the name. Alma someone. He had no idea, but he would bet that his Tessie would know. Deciding to find her and ask what he could about this other woman, he didn’t even tell his mom that he had plans for tomorrow. He’d just get up and leave before she woke. That way, maybe he could be gone and come back before she woke up.
Chapter 7
The clothing drive was going much better than he’d thought it would. Jules looked up as the next truck was backing up to where they had been putting the bags of clothing and the other things that were being separated into sections. There were even little bags of things like bottles of shampoo and deodorant and such that had never been used with the bags. He was so excited to get those too. Jules smiled at the next person who was helping him unload the bags of things from her trunk. “I was thrilled to death to hear you were doing this. And on such a perfect day too. I don’t think it’ll be long before this lovely weather is full time around here. Oh, Jules, this is going to help so many people. Even when there is a fire or something, we’ll have all this to help someone out instead of waiting for a sale or something.” He told her that spring was only a few days away. “I know. And Jules, I wanted to tell you that you have mine and my husband’s votes. The Stantons have been good to all of us. You win and keep up the good work for this town, and we’ll be viable again. I love that about your family.” “That’s my plan. And I have a lot of them.” He started naming off the jobs that Christian had listed that needed done immediately. “Also, as a family, we’re working on a great many more things like this clothing drive. And next month we’ll have a food drive, so you go ahead and start stockpiling those veggies. And for every one turkey donated, we’ll donate another one as a match. I’m hoping to feed a lot of people this year for Thanksgiving, and then again for Christmas.” “Those are wonderful ideas, and I love them. But there are a few that you might not know about. Like the nursing home parking lot could use a good going over. Not just the trash that builds up now that it’s closed down, but also the building could use some sprucing up.” He asked why the home had closed and when. “Just last week, sadly. No funding. I thought when we voted that extra tax in, it’d be used for that. But no, it went to some other improvements. We sure do miss the center they had in there, Jules. There isn’t anywhere else for us oldies but goodies to go.” “I’ll look into that. And I’ll get on that right away too. Christian has been helping us for the last few weeks, but he didn’t mention the nursing home.” The next time he was working next to his mom, he asked her about it. “She said that it was lack of funding. Did you know about this?” “I just heard myself. Mrs. Nash told me about it. She said that she just showed up to work one day and it was closed up tight. I had no idea. We have things planned for there. I’m going to have to find out where all those people have gone. There’s Maggie Sue. I’ll go talk to her. Her daddy was in there for a long time. And ask your dad too.” The rest of the afternoon was too busy for him to get many answers verbally, but he did find out from his dad what had happened. Apparently, it being not funded was only a cover story, for
now at least. They’d had some drugs being run through the place, and the Feds had caught them at it. So much so that they’d closed up, arrested everyone involved, and chained up the doors. He’d have his work cut out for him if he wanted to get that going again. I can help you with that. He asked Dane how. Money. We have it. Not me personally, but we have the funds to not just get a newer building put in its place, but we can also do some improvements to the new place that would generate better workers. I’m in the process of getting it done now. I have connections. Will it be legal? When she laughed, he started to tell her no way. But she did tell him it was legal funding to get nursing homes a boost. All right then. Can you look into it for me? I think we need this here just for Mom. She loved going over there. And those residents didn’t need to be displaced either. A great many of them didn’t have families around here close, and had to be shipped out. Terrible thing that. Two of them, I heard, couldn’t be moved that far and were placed in another city, and passed away. It was just too much for them. He asked her where most of them had gone. To local hospitals or other nursing homes too. And those were already overcrowded. And some of the things that the hospital does to them, the insurance companies won’t cover, and it hurts the family. You need to get on this right away, Jules. This is serious money for the town. And you have company. He looked toward where she was and saw her nod, and following her glance he saw the mayor coming toward him. Jules didn’t want to get into anything with him, so he turned toward the car that was just being emptied. Windbag pulled one of the bags out of the trunk and smiled at the person, thanking him for his help. Benny, from the wolfpack, just shook his head. “I work here, you moron. See the yellow blazers we’re all wearing? If you’d been here when everyone else was, you’d know that.” Windbag’s face turned bright red. Whether it was embarrassment or anger, Jules didn’t know, but he did laugh at him when Benny continued. “You should just go on home. You’re just like a blister, showing up when all the work is about done.” “I didn’t know that this was on my calendar until I saw it on the news. I should have been informed so that I could make an appearance, Jules.” Jules pointed out that he’d not told him about it. “A fundraiser, and I’m not made aware of this? That’s not very sporting of you, Julian. What kind of game are you playing here? Or are you trying to make me look bad?” “As you well know, I’m running against you. So, yeah, I’m trying to make you look bad. Actually, I really don’t think I need to work hard at that, do you?” Windbag huffed and told him he didn’t stand a chance, especially if he acted like this. “Acting like what? A man just helping out the community without fanfare? I didn’t even know it was going to be on television. Not that I care. This is for the community, not for some kind of boost to my good name. I already have that.” He saw the woman from the local news station coming up behind them. Jules decided to get some answers. When she pointed the camera at them both, he asked Windbag about the nursing home. Windbag looked right at the camera and put on his best face. “I was just there this morning. I had a lovely breakfast meeting with the head of the department, and we’re making great strides in keeping the people there happy and active. You should see the list of things that we have planned for this summer. Fundraisers like the one that we planned for today. Jules has been a big help to the community, and I, for one, appreciate it.” The news reporter did Jules’s job for him when she started to point out that none of that was true. In fact, she was more polite than he might have been. Then he was sure of it. “I’m sorry, did you say you were there just this morning having a meeting? That’s not possible.” He said that he was, even going on to say what he had to eat—pancakes and honey, his favorite. “I’m sorry, Mayor Windbreeze, the nursing home has been closed for over a week. That’s what we came here to ask you about. I don’t know who you had breakfast with or who made these plans, but that’s just not possible since the last resident was moved out a week ago. Nor do I think any of the cooks have been there. Not for you or anyone.” The mayor was pissed, and even the reporter could see that. When the camera turned on to Jules, he smiled his best smile and told her that there was government funding they were looking into as a family. And once it was approved, a new building would be built with better facilities, as well as a person on staff that would help with keeping them active. “And this clothing idea—while I’d like to take credit for it, it was all my mom. She loves helping the community and is heartbroken that the nursing home has been closed. But I can tell you now, we’re going to get something going for grants and donations to get something back up and running soon.” Windbag tried again to take over the shot, but the newsperson wasn’t having it. She asked Jules about running for mayor. “Yes, I’m running. However, I’m getting a very late start on it. I think, with the support of my family, my new wife, and daughter, I can make a pretty good showing in the standings.” “You keep up work like this, I think you’ll do all right.” Her ear buzzed, and he could hear the anchor at the other end ask him about the other things that seemed to be happening around the town, like the veterans and handicapped gym. When she asked, he had an answer ready. “My sister-in-law, Allie’s father was injured a few years back on his job. And he can’t use conventional machines in a gym. So, he came up with this idea that if he could find someone like him working in a gym, that he could maybe strengthen up his body a little more so that he can hold his new grandbaby when it gets here. Again, not my idea, but I wholly support it. Change and making things easier for people is what makes us all like to live here.” When his name was called, he excused himself. Jules was feeling great, but he also felt bad for Windbag. The man was standing in front of the camera now that he was gone, sweating like he’d been drenched in it, as well as stumbling over his words. “You did well.” He thanked his mom and dad when they hugged him. Dad continued as he looked over the mountain of clothing. “We have four women who are coming in tomorrow to help start sorting. We did get a start on that by asking that some of the bags be marked. And so you know, I had the boys go and get some items that were too big to bring in a car. Someone donated a washer and dryer. There are a couple of couches, as well as some beds. Now, I’m to understand that those things will have to be cleaned and steamed, but we can take care of that too.” “Yes, bed bugs. I’m not saying that anyone would donate those things with bugs, but we can’t give them away without checking. This is fantastic, don’t you think? And we got a really nice idea from Mrs. Bush. She said that we can keep things like that in storage for house fires or other tragedies.” Mom told him she was proud of him. “You did this. Without your help we’d not have gotten even a quarter of all this.” “Twelve thousand pounds. That’s what we’re guessing. Most of it is clothing, but with the other donations, we’ll have enough to help out some families when they need it.” He looked over the other items that they’d not asked for. “We’re going to need to clean up that warehouse on Fifth that we own. Just to store them.” “You could sell the building to the town, you’d get a tax break, and they’d have a place to store things. That way it’s a win win for everyone.” Dad said he’d do it. “I know you can, I’m just not sure how to go about it.” They were transporting the things to the warehouse temporarily when Windbag jerked him around. There were enough people around that they’d witness things if it got bad, so he was careful to hold onto his temper. He might have to later call the man out on this, but for now, he took whatever he had to hand out. Which just happened to be Windbag’s fist, right to his face. He didn’t have to fall back, but he did, letting himself fall back hard on his ass, then the ground. And as soon as he hit his head, he wished that he’d taken better care that he hadn’t. But almost as soon as he was down, his dad was hitting the mayor back. And it looked like he had used just enough of his cat to knock the man out cold. “You all right, son?” He said that he thought so, but the blood on his hand when he touched the back of his head was caught on camera. Play it up, son. This might be just the ticket for you to get yourself elected. Maybe even sooner. Almost as soon as Tes
s came to him, she handed him Ruby in the process. Jules did have a moment of regret for the older man. Jules hadn’t wanted to make the man so mad that he’d resort to violence, but he hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d not called the newspaper or the news. Jules hadn’t hit him, nor would he. But his dad had no such trouble. “I thought as a doctor, you’d not have it in you to take someone down.” He laughed when Dad did. “You’re my savior in this, Dad. Thank you very much.” “You’re going to have a headache, I think.” Tess winked at him. “I would like for you to come to the hospital and see about the bump. Better to be safe than sorry.” His dad spoke to him through their link when he was with Mom. I’ll talk to Christian about my hitting the mayor. That might not be such a problem since he hit you first. It sure is nice having an attorney in the family. They were both laughing when he saw his brothers Wyatt and Levi talking to the news lady. He wished he’d gotten her name, other than just Lisa. Looks like your brothers are talking you up. I heard Wyatt telling Lisa that you only started this campaign to get things going in this town. It’s been idle for far too long.
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