Resurrecting Home

by A. American

  “How can you tell?” I asked.

  “You don’t think I’ve seen enough of them things to recognize it? Hell, I can smell the bastards.”

  In a few minutes he was proven right as the two Hummers coasted up to the barricade. I was surprised to see Captain Sheffield and Livingston in the lead truck.

  “Wonder what they want?” Sarge said in a sigh.

  The second Hummer pulled up beside it. Ian was behind the wheel with Jamie up front. Sheffield and Livingston got out and walked up to Sarge.

  “What brings you fellers down here tonight?” Sarge asked.

  “We need to talk,” Sheffield replied.

  Sarge smiled. “I’m all ears.”

  “Came across some of your handiwork,” Livingston said.

  Sarge cocked his head to the side. “What work was that?”

  “Three sets of busted hands,” Sheffield replied.

  “Oh, them boys. Guessing they came to town?”

  “Indeed they did, and when they described what happened to them I knew who it was.”

  “I am kind of memorable,” Sarge replied, pausing to smile. “But did they tell you what led to it?”

  “Surprisingly they did,” Livingston said.

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “Let’s just get to what we’re here for,” Sheffield said. “I want to position a few of our people here, use this as an outpost of sorts.”

  Sarge looked over at Jamie and Ian. “You mean these two?”

  “Three,” Perez said from the turret.

  “Yes, these three and the four of you would be a decent squad to have out here.”

  “Oh, we got more than a squad here,” Sarge replied.

  “Damn straight,” I added.

  “That’s up to you guys. You just have to keep yourselves in check. This isn’t the Wild West.”

  Sarge looked around. “If this isn’t, what is?”

  The comment annoyed Sheffield. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, but do you get my point? I don’t know what you want done or how you want to do it, but if I’m going to be dealing with this shit I’ll do it my way. Those three could have killed. They were wrong, but they didn’t deserve to die—yet. So I dealt with them. They’ll recover.”

  “That’s the problem: you’re the army, not the local civilian authority, and we need to fix that,” Sheffield said, then reached into his blouse pocket and extended a closed fist to me. I stared back at him. “Put your hand out.”

  I stuck my hand out and he dropped a gold badge into my palm. The word SHERIFF was stamped on it. I looked up at him. “What the hell is this?”

  “Times have changed. We’ve met with the county sheriff. The county is simply too big and he has his hands full with Tavares and Leesburg. There’s a sheriff for Eustis, and I was thinking about who would be a good fit for sheriff of the north end of Lake County. And that would be you, Morgan.”

  Sarge erupted in laughter and I stared at him, seemingly unable to speak.

  “I don’t want to be the fucking sheriff, I’ve got my hands full here! I’m sure you’ll find someone who wants the job.” I held the badge back out.

  “That’s exactly why you’re getting it. You and your people have your shit together out here. I’ve heard you talking when you were down visiting the camp. You’re smart. You think about problems and you come up with creative solutions. You have no idea the condition most are in. You have vehicles, you know the area, and so now you’re the sheriff,” Livingston said.

  Livingston pointed at Sarge. “And you”—he pointed at me—“work for him.”

  “Oh, give me a break. He isn’t going to listen to me, not that I’d want him to. Why don’t you make him sheriff?” I said.

  Sarge started waving his hands in front of him. “No, no, no, I’ll listen to the high sheriff. I don’t want to be no sheriff,” he replied, laughing.

  Looking at Sarge, I replied, “Fuck you.” It only made him laugh harder, snot coming out of his nose and tears running down his face.

  “Linus, I need you to get in touch with your higher-ups. We need some help. Can you do that? I’m in contact with the people at MacDill, but I know you’ve got other contacts,” Sheffield said.

  Sarge was getting himself under control, he nodded. “I can do that. Can’t promise anything, though.”

  “Looks like the fire’s died down,” Livingston said, looking north.

  “We stopped it on this side. I think it’s done over here,” I replied.

  “See, that’s why you’re the sheriff,” Livingston said with a smile. I gave him the finger as a means of reply, which caused him to chuckle.

  “Have you guys checked on the camp?” Sheffield asked.

  “No, we were beat when we wrapped it up,” I replied.

  “I think you should go check on them.”

  “Me? You go check on ’em,” I shot back.

  Sheffield smiled. “You’re the sheriff.” I glanced over at Ian and Jamie. She had her hands over her mouth, obviously trying to hide her laughter. Ian, however, didn’t even attempt to hide his enjoyment of what was going on.

  I shook my head. “This is bullshit. We don’t have very much fuel left, anyway. There isn’t much we’re going to be able to do.”

  “We’ll get you fuel.”

  I was being cut off at every turn. It was starting to look like I was stuck with this crap.

  “So what am I responsible for?” I asked.

  “From Highway 42 north to Highway 40,” Sheffield said.

  “Holy shit, that’s a huge area! How in the hell am I supposed to do anything in an area that size?”

  “You’ll need deputies,” Livingston said, reaching into his cargo pocket. He produced a small cloth bag and tossed it to me. It clanged when I caught it. In the bag were a dozen or so silver stars with LAKE COUNTY SHERIFF DEPUTY stamped on them. “I think you already know some candidates.”

  I bounced the bag in my palm, the stars clinking together. “Look, if I have to do this I’m doing it my way”—I pointed at Sarge—“and if you don’t like his way you’re damn sure not going to like my way.”

  Sheffield crossed his arms over his chest. “Morgan, you are now the face of law enforcement in this part of the county. We don’t have judges and juries, and there is no jail you can lock someone up in. With that said, though, you’ve got to be prudent.” Sheffield looked at Sarge. “You can’t kill everyone for everything.”

  I shook my head. I damn sure didn’t want to do this. There was more than enough for me to worry about here. My family came first, my friends second, and nothing was going to change that. But, with all that said, it would give me the ability to affect change where it needed to happen.

  “All right, but I need some support,” I finally said.

  Sheffield nodded. “We’re going to move a few more people down here. I’m pretty sure you have the room.”

  “Who are you sending?”

  Sheffield nodded at Jamie and Ian. “Those two, plus Perez.”

  Sarge snorted. “You ain’t got anything that’s housebroke?”

  Jamie’s head perked up. “Hey!”

  Sarge smiled. “Not you, Jamie, that damn seagoin’ bellhop over there.”

  Ian smiled and blew a kiss at Sarge.

  “I think these three will be more than enough help for you,” Livingston replied.

  “Have you boys eaten yet?” Sarge asked.

  “Yeah, I was going to invite you bastards to dinner, but now . . .” I trailed off.

  “We’re all right, Linus,” Sheffield said.

  “Fresh venison,” Sarge teased.

  Livingston looked at Sheffield. “Come on now, let’s not be inhospitable. They invited us, after all.”

  Sheffield smiled. “Well, since you put it that way.”

  He turned back to the Hummers. There were two additional Guardsmen there. “You guys keep an eye on this here. We’ll be back.” The two men nodded.

  �
��I’ll make sure you boys get a plate too. We got plenty of meat down there,” Sarge said to the two men as they took up positions behind the barricade.

  Both of them smiled broadly. “Hey, thanks,” one of them said.

  “Come on, let’s go get something to eat,” I said as I walked toward Ian and Jamie.

  Jamie was grinning from ear to ear. “Hi, Sheriff,” she said as she started to laugh.

  I gave her the finger as I passed, cracking Ian up in the process. Sarge opened the door to get into the Hummer and was surprised to see Miss Kay sitting in the back.

  “Well, hi, Kay, didn’t know you were there,” Sarge said.

  “Y’all didn’t need me for anything, so I just stayed out of the way,” Kay replied.

  “What are you doing down here?” I asked.

  Timidly she replied, “Well, I was kind of hoping I could stay here. It’s just so crowded at the armory, and they don’t need an old woman in their way.”

  Sarge scoffed. “You ain’t old!”

  “Of course you can stay here, Kay. I know some folks who will be happy to see you,” I replied.

  She smiled. “Thank you, Morgan.”

  Sheffield and Livingston followed us down to Danny’s house. The house was already crowded with people, and we were adding eight more to it.

  “We got enough to feed this crew too?” I asked as we came up on the porch.

  “We got plenty,” Thad said as he got up.

  When Jess and Fred saw Kay they rushed over to her. “Kay! It’s so good to see you. What are you doing down here?”

  “Moving in,” Sarge replied with a smile.

  “Really? You’re going to stay here now?” Fred asked.

  “If that’s all right with everyone,” Kay replied. “I can cook, and I can clean.”

  “Cook and clean? You sound like my kind of woman!” Bobbie said.

  “Of course it’s okay for you to stay here—you’re more than welcome,” Mel replied, with a smile. “We’ve all heard so much about you.”

  After the events of the past few days, it was nice to sit down together. As Thad cooked up the venison, I sat in the kitchen, thinking about my new position. I really didn’t want any more responsibility, more challenges. All I wanted was a routine, some semblance of normalcy.

  Thad was busy at the stove, and I took a seat at the bar. “Hey, let’s roast the pig tomorrow instead. I was thinking of going down to the lake, having a picnic of sorts. A celebration.”

  Thad smiled. “I think that’s a fine idea. Here, this is for you,” he said, handing me a plate.

  “Thanks,” I replied with a smile.

  After dinner Sheffield and Livingston got up. “Thanks for the great grub, guys. Really appreciate it,” Sheffield said.

  “No worries. Let me get a plate for your guys,” Thad said.

  “Thanks,” Livingston said with a smile.

  “Who’s supposed to be on duty tonight?” I asked.

  “We are,” Thad said as he finished the last plate.

  “You want a ride down there?” Livingston asked.

  “No, we’ll ride down on the four-wheelers,” I replied.

  “Here’s the plates for your guys,” Thad said.

  “Ian, you and Jamie stay here tonight. You too, Miss Kay. We’ll work things out tomorrow with where you’re living,” Bobbie said.

  Mel asked me to walk her and the girls home before I went down to the barricade. I told Thad I’d be back shortly and helped Mel round up the girls. Little Bit was sitting with Sarge, talking his ear off.

  “Come on, Little Bit, time to go,” I called.

  She jumped up and hugged Sarge. “Bye bye, Mister Sarge, see you later.”

  He tousled her hair. “Good night, sweetie.”

  We walked home, Mel and I holding hands. Taylor and Lee Ann were swinging Ashley by her hands, much to her delight. They set her down and Taylor looked at me. “Dad, is the fire really out?”

  “It is, kiddo. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that anymore.”

  “So we don’t have to leave?” Little Bit asked.

  “Nope, we’re staying right here.”

  “Thank God, I really didn’t want to have to leave,” Lee Ann said.

  “So are things going back to normal?” Taylor asked.

  I thought about that for a moment. “Well, in a way.” I squeezed Mel’s hand. “I have something I need to talk to you about later.”

  She looked at me, concerned. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  I smiled. “Nothing’s wrong, baby, just something that’s come up, not a bad thing.”

  “What is it?”

  I smiled. “I’ll tell you later.”

  We got the girls home and into bed. I gave Mel a kiss and told her I’d be back later. “I still want to know what’s up.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  Thad and I rode the ATVs down to the barricade. Sheffield and his people were still there.

  “We waited for you,” Livingston said.

  “Thanks, appreciate that,” I replied.

  “Remember what I said, Morgan: you’ve got to be prudent,” Sheffield said.

  “I know, I know,” I said with a dismissive wave. Thad gave me a raised-eyebrow look.

  “We’ll see you later,” Sheffield said.

  Once they were headed down the road, Thad looked at me. “What was that about?”

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out the gold star, holding it in my palm. He looked at with eyes the size of saucers.

  “They want me to be a sheriff.”

  Thad stared at the badge for a minute. “Sheriff of what?”

  “North Lake County, they say.”

  “What’s that even mean?”

  “I guess it means we’re going to be responsible for dealing with shit around here,” I replied.

  Thad looked at me with raised eyebrows. “We’re?”

  “Oh yeah”—I pulled a bag out of the cargo pocket of my pants—“here,” I said, handing him a star. “Deputy.”

  He took it and turned it over in his hand. “You really wanna do this?”

  “No, but I guess someone has to, and I’d rather it be us than someone else.”

  “Got a point there. If you’re in, I’m in.”

  “Thanks, Thad. Thanks a lot,” I replied with a smile.

  We didn’t talk much for the rest of the night. I passed the time thinking about what lay ahead, hoping that maybe for a while—just a little while—things would calm down. We were relieved by Jeff and Danny sometime around midnight. I went home and quietly climbed into bed, trying not to wake Mel in the process. I drifted off to sleep in no time.

  In the morning I got up early, leaving to go to Thad’s before Mel and the girls were even awake. There was a lot of work to do to prepare for our pig roast. When I got to Thad’s, he was setting up a large tub on a fire.

  “Morning, Thad,” I hollered. “You got a hog picked out?”

  “I figured one would pick itself out,” he said, leaning over the side of the pen. The pigs immediately took notice. Thad held his pistol in one hand and with the other he reached out. One of the hogs made a lunge, and Thad dropped it with a shot to the head.

  After gutting the hog, we scalded it in the tub and scraped the skin and hair from the hide, the first step in preparing a whole hog.

  “Help me load it in the truck, then you can go get everyone together,” Thad said.

  He already had the big smoker hooked to the red truck. We dumped the water out of the tub and loaded the hog into it, setting it in the truck bed.

  “Who’s going to the park with you?” I asked.

  “All of ’em. They all want to go, at least they did yesterday when I talked to Fred, Aric, and Jess.”

  “Good, you guys be safe. We’ll be up later.”

  I left for home, finding Mel still asleep when I got there. Since it was quiet in the house, I sat on the couch and closed my eyes. I was jarred awake when Little Bit jumped on
me. “Good morning, Daddy!”

  “Hey, kiddo, you sleep good?”

  “I did! I wasn’t scared of the fire anymore.”

  “Good, know what we’re going to do today?”

  A smile spread across her face. “What?”

  “We’re going to the lake for a cookout.”

  “Really? We are?!” She jumped up and down, clapping her hands.

  “In a little while. Let’s go see if Danny is awake,” I said as I stood up.

  “Okay,” she replied, grabbing my hand.

  We walked over to Danny’s in the cool morning. It was still overcast and the ground was damp, a nice change in weather. We found Danny and Bobbie sitting on the porch enjoying the morning as well. Little Bit ran up the stairs and sat on Danny’s lap. I dropped onto a step. We talked a little about the plan for the day, but mainly we enjoyed the morning, soaking it in.

  With the fire out we took the chance to relax and enjoy some downtime. In the afternoon, we organized who would stay at the barricade. I was surprised when Ian and Jamie volunteered for the whole day. “You guys could use a break,” Ian said.

  “Thanks, thanks a lot. We’ll get you guys down there at some point,” I said.

  We headed down to the park in the afternoon. Everyone was excited to go—Little Bit was bouncing up and down the whole ride there. When we rolled up, Thad had the big smoker set up near the old swimming area of the park. Fred and Aric were sitting at the water’s edge, and Jess and Mary were sitting at a picnic table.

  “Holy crap, that smells good!” Jeff shouted, reaching for the smoker’s lid.

  Thad smacked his hand. “It needs another two hours.”

  “Well, since we have some time to kill, let’s get everyone together real quick,” I said. Everyone gathered, some with looks of concern on their faces.

  “What’s this all about?” Danny asked.

  Mel crossed her arms. “Yeah, what is this about?”

  “First, we’ve been under a lot of stress with the fire, but we beat it.”

  “With a little help from the rain,” Jeff said.

  “A lot of help,” Mike added.

  “Yeah, a lot of help, but we really came together and put on a good show. Thanks for all the effort, guys.” Fred and Jess whooped and hollered, echoing my thanks.

  “Anything else?” Mel asked.

  “Actually, yes”—I pulled the star out again and held it up—“it would appear that the army wants me to be a sheriff. We’re going to be responsible for the north end of the county.” I looked at Sarge, and he gave me a wink and a small nod.