Desperate Times 2 Gun Control

by Nicholas Antinozzi

  “I lived through that era,” said Doc, scratching his bushy beard. “I hope everyone isn’t all hopped up on drugs. I wouldn’t want any part of it.”

  Mars laughed. “Whoa, I never said anything like that. Look man, we don’t have any dopers here. Out in Utopia, we get high on life. Our drugs are love, music, and fresh air. Are you pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down?”

  “I can dig it,” Julie said with a wide smile.

  “Far out,” said Mars, returning her smile.

  “Give me a break,” said Jimmy.

  Julie slapped Jimmy on the arm, just hard enough to sting. “Keep your comments to yourself. We’re guests here, so don’t embarrass the rest of us.”

  “Yeah,” said Cindy. “Why do you always have to be so negative?”

  “They’re right,” agreed Mars. “You’re a real Debbie Downer, man. All I ask is that you open your minds and groove on what’s goin’ down. How hard could that be?”

  All eyes were suddenly on Jimmy, and the girls both wore pleading expressions. Jimmy rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. “Fine,” he said. Jimmy took Julie by the arm. “Excuse me,” he said. “Can we have a moment?”

  “That’s cool, man,” Mars said to Jimmy, putting his hand on Cindy’s shoulder and staring into her eyes. “Let me guess, you went to UMD. No, wait; I’ll bet you went to an Ivy League school. Am I right?”

  Cindy was giggling as Jimmy led Julie out of earshot. Doc stared at them in exasperation, obviously wanting to get on with the tour. He crossed his arms and whistled some nameless tune.

  “Where are you taking me?” asked Julie. “What’s going on?”

  “I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Jimmy said. “Do you think you can quit acting like you’re thirteen years old? He’s not Brad Pitt, Julie. My God, could you be any more obvious?”

  Julie whirled on him and her eyes grew dark. “Excuse me? Are you a little bit jealous? Funny how things change, isn’t it? When Paula was following you around like a lost puppy, that was okay? Now you’ve got a little competition and you’re seeing green. For your information, I’m not interested in him. He’s not my type.”

  “Oh, give me a break.”

  “No, I like my men stupid and insecure, just like you.”

  “Perfect,” said Jimmy.

  “Come on. Let’s go see what all the fuss is about. Don’t worry; I promise not to throw myself at Mars. Have a little faith, will ya?”

  Jimmy nodded his head and followed Julie sheepishly back to the others. “What about Bill?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we wait for him?”

  “He can catch up with us,” said Mars. “I’m sure Myron will take good care of him.”

  Jimmy caught Tony’s eye, and his expression was grim. Jimmy felt sorry for Bill. They were probably loading Chuck’s bones in the back of the Honda right now, and that would be rough.

  Chapter 3

  They followed Mars up the road and past acres of bright green ferns scattered among the tall pines. The gravel road looped around and took them away from the lake before doubling back. Wildflowers dotted the landscape, and birds called from the trees. They were in a northern version of a jungle, and Jimmy couldn’t help but to admire its beauty. The air was warm, but then the road dipped the air noticeably cooled, and the hint of a mist hung suspended in the woods.

  The road climbed again, and suddenly it opened up to reveal the majesty of what Mars had called Utopia, formerly Bailey’s. The old lodge was built out of pine logs, and it towered three stories above them. Log cabins lined the lakeshore where children played on a long, sandy beach. There were numerous outbuildings painted in shades of green and brown, each of them blending perfectly into the setting.

  And that was when Jimmy began to notice something strange. Either most of the men had gone out hunting or Tony had been right about the ratio of men to women. Looking around, Jimmy thought he had died and gone to heaven. There seemed to be girls everywhere. Most were dressed in shorts and bikini tops, and he suddenly felt Julie’s elbow in his ribs. “Ouch,” he said.

  “Try to keep your eyes in their sockets,” Julie hissed.

  Mars must’ve heard the comment because he stopped walking and waited for them to join him. “We had over two hundred students visiting from Saint Catherine’s at the time of the collapse. We couldn’t send them away.”

  “All girls?” asked Cindy.

  “I’m afraid so,” answered Mars. “There are some young dudes too, but not many. We had about fifty other guests at the lodge when the bottom fell out. One group tried to leave in a caravan, but they had to turn around in Ely. Good thing too. We heard the National Guard was there and that they were rounding the citizens up and shipping them to relocation camps.”

  “That’s true,” agreed Doc. “We’ve seen it.”

  “That’s a bad trip,” Mars said, shaking his head, sadly. He then suddenly perked up. “Dr. Benson, would you mind if we started in our little clinic?”

  “Please, call me Doc. Everyone else does. I’d love to.”

  “We all have our special skills, and in case you decide you want to join us, it’s my responsibility to assign you each a position that suits you best. Everyone pulls their own weight here, man. We don’t want any loafers.” He then turned to Cindy. “Of course, you’ll be excused for classes. You’re going to love our school.”

  Jimmy groaned inwardly. He was playing them like fish. Why couldn’t any of them see it? There was something bad here; Jimmy could smell it. People began to emerge from the buildings curious, wanting to get a good look at the newcomers Jimmy thought. Very few were men. That was when Jimmy began to notice something even more peculiar. Was it his imagination, or did all of the men have something in common? It was as if Mars had hand selected each of them to ensure that he had as little competition as possible.

  “I’ll have to be honest with you, Doc,” Mars said, as he walked next to Doc at a leisurely pace. “The clinic isn’t much more than one of the smaller lodges. We house the clinic in a six-bedroom unit right down on the lake. Cool, huh?”

  “Right on,” said Doc.

  Jimmy elbowed Julie as he nodded his head at Doc. “Right on?” he mouthed to her, raising his eyebrows as far as he could.

  “Quit staring at all of the girls,” Julie mouthed back at him. Her eyebrows were cross, and there was red in her cheeks.

  “There it is,” Mars said as they topped a small rise that overlooked a private cove in the lake. Eight sprawling, multi-family lodges stood at the water’s edge. There was a private beach down on the cove. A volleyball game was in progress.

  Julie’s elbow came in low, and Jimmy was only just barely able to block it. The all-female volleyball game had stopped, and it seemed as if all eyes were on him.

  “The clinic is right here,” said Mars, pointing to the lodge that sat just to their right and closest to the beach.

  “Sweet,” said Doc.

  Mars smiled and led them all to the long porch that stood in front of the cavernous redwood lodge. “I’m afraid our doctor wasn’t able to make the trip. I’m not sure what happened to him. You know how it was,” he said, nodding his head.

  Doc also nodded his head every bit as vigorously as his counterpart. He probably thought he had just died and gone to clinic heaven.

  “We do have three RNs on staff, and—knock wood—they’ve been able to treat our sick and injured. I’d say we’ve been pretty lucky.”

  “Damn right, you have,” replied Doc.

  Fifteen minutes later they left a smiling Doc at his new beachfront clinic.

  Mars was soon dropping Cindy off at the school which was housed in one of the end lodges. Cindy’s escort was a boy about her own age, and the two began a conversation about Constitutional law before they had left them on their own. Jimmy had never seen Cindy look happier. “Looks like you just made her day,” he said, shaking his head with a smile.

  “You either got it or you don’t,” Mars said.

  Jimmy wanted t
o punch him in the nose.

  “That was impressive,” said Julie. “Good luck finding a fit for either of us.”

  “Don’t bet against it,” replied Mars with a sly smile. “You’re tan and athletic. You wouldn’t happen to be a swimmer, would you?”

  Julie nodded. “I can swim.”

  “This is the land of ten thousand lakes,” said Jimmy. “Of course she can swim.”

  “Some of them can’t swim,” Mars said, pointing to the volleyball players. “And we need a lifeguard.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Hey baby, would this face lie?”

  Jimmy actually reached down to where his holster would’ve hung. He set his jaw against the flood of angry words that threatened to escape from his lungs.

  “I don’t have a suit,” said Julie.

  “That isn’t a problem. We’ve got a bikini for every shape and size in the camp store. I’m afraid the beach is by the single cabins. They aren’t as nice as the lodges. You’d have to take one of those and share it with Cindy. Is that cool with you?”

  “Sure,” Julie said dreamily.

  They walked back to the commons area, and Mars led them to a two-bedroom log cabin that needed nothing more than fresh air. Jimmy was so angry that he stayed outside and smoked as Mars gave her the tour.

  They left a smiling Julie shaking her head in wonder.

  Jimmy wondered where Mars would take him, and he followed him wordlessly up the path and away from the lake. Jimmy swore that something had changed about the man, who looked as if a light behind his eyes had been switched off the moment they left Julie at her cabin. Finally, after they had walked for nearly ten minutes, Mars began to speak. “You’ll be working in the kitchen,” he said, the sixties washed clean of his voice. “You’ll do whatever they ask of you. They start work at four in the morning, and some nights I know they aren’t cleaned up in there until nearly nine. That’s all I have for you to do. You can either take it or leave.”

  “You’re kidding me, right?” Jimmy asked.

  “I certainly am not,” Mars said, crossing his muscular arms. “Look, I’m a busy man, and I don’t have time for this. Where did you work on the outside? What special skills do you have?”

  “I can paint,” Jimmy said, sheepishly.

  Mars laughed. “That’s great. You’ll be the first guy I call when we feel the need to change the color scheme around here. You people. I swear. The writing was on the wall for years, and none of you bothered to read it. I’m offering you a job, a chance to join us and become part of all of this. I think I’m being extremely generous.”

  Jimmy didn’t think so. Still, he knew if he refused that Julie would be furious with him. How bad could it be? “I’ll take it,” he grumbled.

  “Of course you will,” Mars said.

  Chapter 4

  The kitchen was in the back of the great log building that stood in the middle of the compound. Massive white pines had been felled to create a visually stunning dining room. The two-level room had a sixty-foot ceiling and a stone fireplace against one wall the size of a school bus. Oak dining sets filled the room, and stuffed creatures adorned the walls. The tall ceiling boasted two long skylights. A long window stood against the far wall, and it looked out of place in such an elegant room. Jimmy would find out it had been recently created to allow the diners to be served cafeteria style.

  Jimmy was quickly introduced to the staff, and before he even had time to think, he found himself seated with three others, peeling potatoes into a green trash can. Jimmy had never seen so many potatoes. His coworkers peeled away quietly as if he had interrupted them by invading their circle. Two of the three were women, probably grandmothers, Jimmy thought. The young man was large and doughy-looking; he had a bowl haircut and wore a lost expression on his boyish face. He peeled slowly, as if manual labor was something new to him. Jimmy tried to make conversation, but each time he was completely ignored. An hour passed, and his hands began to ache.

  The man who ran the kitchen was named Merlin, and he pulled Jimmy off potato peeling, only to direct him to a large pile of red onions. “I want them diced. Can you do that?” Merlin asked him, as if he were five years old.

  “I think I can handle it.”

  “Good.”

  Jimmy chopped for half an hour before excusing himself from the kitchen. “I’m getting some air,” he said to anyone who cared to listen. His cheeks were puffy, and his eyes were on fire. He hated onions. He stepped out the back door and nearly collided with Julie.

  “There you are,” Julie said, suddenly looking concerned. “Oh my God, are you all right? What’s going on in there?”

  “I was peeling onions,” Jimmy said, rubbing at his tortured eyes.

  “Oh, I thought maybe…”

  “Nothing like that; they weren’t beating me.”

  “Good. I just love it here, don’t you? I saw Cindy earlier, and she is so excited. She’s met a boy! You remember the kid who we met at the school? He’s her age, and they really seemed to hit it off. You know what we have to do, right?”

  “What?” Jimmy asked, lighting a cigarette.

  “We have to talk Ken and Patty into coming here. We’re safe here, can’t you see that? They have some sort of agreement with the National Guard. Ken doesn’t have that, and they could be taken away any day. We’ve got to make them see the light.”

  Jimmy wanted to burst out laughing. “Julie,” he said, trying to keep his voice calm. “Do you really think Ken is going to give up what he has? Can you see him peeling onions? Are you out of your mind?”

  Julie shook her head. “I know. I never said it was going to be easy. Still, I think there’s safety in numbers and that we have to give it a shot. Their lives could depend on it. I want you to think about it and how we should approach them about this.”

  “He’s never going to go for it,” Jimmy said, taking a drag off his cigarette and exhaling the smoke in a long stream.

  “You!” shouted a voice from the back door of the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

  Jimmy turned to see Merlin standing at the door. “The onions were getting to my eyes,” he said. “I needed to get some air.”

  “Well, you’ve had quite enough,” spat Merlin. “Now, put out that cigarette and get back in here. We have a schedule to keep. You’ll get a fifteen-minute break in about an hour.”

  Jimmy grimaced. “I’ll be right there,” he said.

  “I’m sorry,” Julie whispered. “I know this isn’t easy for you. I’ll see if I can’t talk to Mars and get you moved into another job. You can do this, Jimmy. You can do this for me.”

  Jimmy rolled his eyes, but Julie stepped close and kissed him softly on his mouth. “For you,” he said. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

  “Good, I’m proud of you. Tough it out and something good will happen. I can feel it. I think we’re all going to be very happy here. I’ve got to run. I’ll see you tonight.”

  They kissed under Merlin’s scornful glare, and soon Jimmy was back at his chopping block of onions. Time passed so slowly that Jimmy was sure there was something wrong with the clock on the kitchen wall. No one spoke, despite Jimmy’s repeated attempts to strike up a conversation. The old women muttered a few words here and there, and the man-child said less than the old women, but at least he would make eye contact with Jimmy. Merlin was in and out of the kitchen. He was about Jimmy’s height and weight and looked to be in his early sixties. He had a fringe of white hair and a goatee to match. Like the others, Merlin was a man of few words. He gave them plenty of instructions and paid them just enough compliments to leave them wanting more. Jimmy wondered about that as he worked.

  The potatoes were boiled and mashed and set into a large steam table. Merlin handed Jimmy a hair net and a pair of thin plastic gloves. “Put these on,” he said. “I don’t care if you don’t wear them when you’re working, but you have to have them on when you’re serving food.”

  “Doing what?” Jimmy asked,
hoping he’d heard him wrong.

  “You’re manning the spuds,” Merlin said. “Grab that apron off the hook and put it on. They’ll be here soon.”

  “But, I’ve never served food before.”

  “Nothing to it,” Merlin said. “You stand at the window. I’ll give you an ice cream scoop and you ask one scoop or two? Plop, plop, you see? Nothin’ to it. Just get through this, Jimmy. I’ve got big plans for you.”