James Ross - A Young Adult Trilogy (Prairie Winds Golf Course)

by James Ross

  “Look at this,” Doc said as he pointed into the bush. A female sat innocently on her eggs.

  J Dub gave the vet a look of disbelief. “Damn. That’s my fault. I should have checked for that before we came up here.”

  “You didn’t know. He was just protecting his partner.”

  CHAPTER 77

  That night the kids got a break from studying around the same time as the sunset. The end of school was rapidly approaching. Tests were scheduled to begin any day. One of the other kids had reserved the TV room. The Cardinals were playing a game. Rants on the Cardinal radio broadcast were the next best thing. “Let’s play catch,” Skip suggested. “We’ve only got about fifteen minutes of daylight.”

  “Yeah.” Pabby wanted to tell him about the events of the day. The pair grabbed a couple of baseball gloves and headed out the front door. “It was bigger than this,” Pabby said as he spread his arms as wide as he could.

  “They don’t get that big.”

  Pabby shook his head. “When they spread their wings they do.”

  “Yeah, right,” Skip said sarcastically.

  “It was mean too.”

  “A duck?”

  “Yeah. Adult ducks are fast fliers. They…”

  “Pabby, I don’t want a cram course.”

  “J Dub said that this was a Canada goose. It had a black head and neck with a white chinstrap.”

  “All right. Enough already.”

  The ball was being lobbed back and forth. More often than not, one of the boys would have to retrieve it off the ground.

  “They mainly eat vegetation and usually fly in a v-formation.”

  “Come on, Pabby. Can’t we just play catch and listen to the Cardinal game?”

  “This one was mean. J Dub said it got defensive because we got too close to the mother. She was sitting on her eggs.”

  “Whatever.”

  “I’ll never get that close to another one again. It was scary. It bit me.”

  “Ducks don’t bite.”

  “This one did.” Pabby walked closer to Skip. “Right here on my neck.” He craned his neck and showed him the mark.

  “I don’t see how it could hurt. They have round bills and little mouths.”

  “He was hissing and honking and flapping his wings.”

  Skip backed away and flung the ball in the air trying to catch an imaginary popup. It settled on the roof of the Footprints of Hope home in an area that did not have any pitch. The flat surface did not allow the ball to roll back to the boys. “Darn, now what are we going to do?”

  “Go in I guess. It’s getting dark anyway.”

  His playmate had other ideas. Skip looked around for ways to scale the wall to retrieve the ball. His eyes settled on a ladder that was attached to Farley Bend’s truck. Skip pointed. “Let’s go borrow the ladder.”

  “I don’t think we should do that. It’s getting dark.”

  “We’ll climb up, get the ball and be back down before anyone knows.”

  As the pinks and violets of the sky faded to darkness the duo made their way to Farley’s truck. The familiar vehicle with the familiar slogan was parked in its usual spot. Getting the ladder down presented no problem. The extension easily fell into place. In three minutes the steps rose along the side of the building. “Hold the ladder while I climb up and get the ball,” Skip suggested.

  He scampered up seven steps. As he reached the gutter he gingerly raised one foot over the edge and onto the roof. Once on the shingles Skip made his way to the ball. On the way back something caught his eye. He stopped. The light from an upstairs window revealed a scantily clad teen. In a second he was back to the ladder. “Pabby, come on up,” he whispered, hands motioning his friend to join him on the roof.

  “Why?”

  Skip put his index finger over his lips and whispered. “Annie is naked. Come take a look.” Once again he waved for his friend to join him.

  Pabby enjoyed the thought as would any teenage boy. His foot was on the first step. Then the second. As his weight strained the ladder, the apparatus moved. The pair had placed the footing on a slight incline. The climb was easy for Skip because Pabby had steadied the ascent. By the time his foot hit the fourth rung the bottom of the ladder slid out from underneath him. The lad went down with a thud as the metal ladder clanged off the pavement.

  “Aaagh,” he groaned.

  “Pabby, are you all right?”

  The teen grabbed his shoulder. Skip soon realized his own predicament. He needed to find a way down—and quickly. Pabby’s moans did not go unnoticed. Alex was the security guard for the night. He was the first on the scene. “Don’t move.” He bent down to calm Pabby.

  “I’ll be fine.” After the shock of falling off the ladder had worn off Pabby was more embarrassed than hurt.

  “Alex, I have five bucks for you if you keep this quiet,” Skip said in a hushed tone. Alex looked up. “Put the ladder back up so I can get down.”

  “What are you doing up there?”

  “Retrieving a ball.”

  Girls were looking out of the second floor windows. A scream was heard. Word traveled fast. An intoxicated Mrs. P marched out the front door and was on Alex’s flank. An unmistakable shriek was next. “What’s going on out here?” The words were slurred. No sympathy was given to the fallen teen.

  “Skip went to get the ball.”

  “The girls said someone was looking through the window.”

  Mrs. P was upset that her private party in the bungalow had been disrupted. She wanted a quick resolution.

  Pabby was surprised to find himself in another predicament so soon. “It wasn’t me.” He looked to the roof. Skip had vanished.

  “Where’s Skip?”

  Pabby shrugged. “He was here a minute ago.”

  “Get to your room. Right now you’re grounded.” Mrs. P shushed him away. “You’ll stay that way until I get to the bottom of what happened.”

  Pabby hung his head and shuffled his way toward the front door. “It wasn’t me.”

  Mrs. P turned to the guard. “What did you see, Alex?”

  “Pabby was on the ground when I came out here.”

  “That figures. I don’t know what has gotten into him lately.” She headed for the front door. “He’ll be gone in a little over two weeks.” Pabby was fifty feet in front of her. She followed him through the front foyer and watched as he moped down the hall of his wing and entered his room.

  Mrs. P staggered through the foyer and mail room. She negotiated four steps downward toward the back door. After traversing twenty yards on the sidewalk she arrived at her cottage and immediately grabbed the Chablis and refilled her wine glass.

  “You’ve already had two,” Farley reminded her.

  “These kids. How can you get them to behave themselves?”

  “What were they doing?”

  “Looking at girls through the window. Can you believe those boys?” Pamela wriggled out of her jeans, discarded her blouse and threw a t-shirt over her shoulders. She sat on the couch with her legs folded Indian style, her red panties visible. Her laptop sat on the coffee table. She leaned forward and signed onto Just4Lust.com. The site popped onto the screen. “I feel like being 1WILDCOUGAR tonight.”

  Farley grinned. “When aren’t you?”

  She leaned over and slapped his forearm. “We’re going to play with my new toy tonight.”

  Farley looked around and didn’t see anything suggestive. “You don’t want to sign in as DISCRETE_DUO?”

  “I get more e-mails when the guys think I’m available for them.” She reached forward and plugged a device into the laptop.

  “What is that?”

  “A webcam.” She smiled. “We can broadcast what we’re doing online.”

  “Like what?”

  “Having sex.”

  Farley looked at her like she was half out of her mind. Of course with more alcohol in her system that was only a matter of minutes anyway. “Huh?”

  “Wa
tch this.” Pamela opened two windows and suddenly her image popped on the screen. “Neat, isn’t it?”

  “Get my face off of there!” Farley barked.

  “Oops. Sorry.” She made an adjustment with the webcam and the image that appeared only showed her torso from the neck down. “Now watch how many viewers I get.” Pamela leaned forward as the counter zoomed past 100 and neared 200. Notification sounds signaled that many of the viewers wanted to make contact with her. The irony was that a few minutes earlier that behavior was unacceptable.

  “Look at all the pop up messages.”

  “Guys are pigs.” The level of wine in the glass was rapidly diminishing. “Watch this.” Pamela pulled the top of her t-shirt down and let her breasts pop out. The notification signals fired at a rapid pace. She covered her body. The number of viewers had jumped to nearly one thousand.

  “You’re popular.”

  Pamela laughed. “Maybe I’m good.” She tilted to the side. Her head went out of the frame as she placed it in Farley’s lap.

  Only a sideways view of her spread legs and red panties was being broadcast. The notification bleeps increased again. “Want me to show them how good?” She raised her head as much as she could and looked at her lover.

  “Whoa, I don’t think that I’m quite ready for that.” Pamela placed her hands on his crotch and started to undo Farley’s zipper. “It will be my face that’s being broadcast.”

  “No, that’s enough.”

  “You don’t want to play?”

  “Not for the world to see.”

  Pamela was upset. She lifted herself back up to a sitting position. Her full image was now on the screen. “I want to.” Both hands grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt. With a quick move she lifted the garment over her head and tossed it aside. Her perfectly shaped breasts covered the monitor. Chat friends sent announcements. More notification requests followed. Clearly she was enamored with her popularity. All of her attention became concentrated on her online acquaintances.

  Farley watched her chat. Her fingers couldn’t reply to the requests fast enough. The number of viewers neared two thousand. “Is this what you’re going to do now?”

  Pamela barely gave him a glance. Her eyes were fixed on the laptop. Webcams of a few guys that attracted her popped onto the monitor. She leaned back, pulled her panties to the side and flashed the viewers. “Pour me some more.” She reached forward, lifted her glass off the coffee table and handed it to him. “I’m having fun.”

  “I don’t know Pammy Poo. I think you’ve had enough.”

  “Then I’ll get it myself!” She made a move to get off the couch.

  Farley stopped her by sticking out his hand and honoring her request. He took the glass to the kitchen and filled it with white wine. When he placed it in front of her on the coffee table he warned, “Careful. You’ll be hurting tomorrow.”

  The comment didn’t register. “Look at this hot hunk.”

  Farley craned his neck and peered at the screen. The image of a naked guy flashing his package was in a recently opened window. “He wants to come over right now!” Pamela pulled her panties off.

  “If anyone is going to play with you right now it will be me.” He made an advance by taking a seat next to her, but was out of the webcam’s frame.

  She pushed him away. “I told the hunk I was alone!” Farley glared and clenched his jaw.

  “Look at this guy!”

  “Do you want him over me right now?”

  Pamela’s eyes were fixed on the screen, her breathing rapid. “He’s beautiful!”

  Farley got up from the couch. “While you’re having fun I think that I’ll do some work on that room that needs to be fixed.” Farley left. Pamela didn’t acknowledge his exit. Her new online friend seemed much more playful.

  Farley continued down the sidewalk. The night had turned dark. His motion did not turn on the outside light. The bulb needed replacing. He continued to his pickup and checked to make sure that Alex had refastened the ladder to the vehicle. After unlocking his tool chest he grabbed his toolbox, continued to the end of the building and used his key to enter the door at the far end of the wing.

  Activities at Footprints of Hope had ceased for the night. Lights were out. The noise was subdued. If the kids had not fallen asleep they were in the process of wrapping up their studying and honoring their curfew.

  After entering the room at the end of the hall Farley flipped on the light switch and began his work. Several floor tiles needed to be re-glued and replaced. The trim around a window needed to be tacked down. He continued into the bathroom that was shared with Pabby. Farley fixed the shower head that had been spewing water erratically. Then he checked the lock on the door that lead to Pabby’s room.

  For some reason Aieshia couldn’t sleep. Subconsciously something was disturbing. Then it dawned on her. With the commotion earlier she had forgotten to give Pabby his medicine for the night. She went to the various pill bottles, filled up a pillbox and grabbed some bottled water. Lights were out. The halls were quiet. The kids were asleep.

  She proceeded down the stairs, noticed that Alex was dosing in the chair in the sitting room and proceeded down the hall to Pabby’s room. Aieshia tapped the door gently, cracked it open, peered inside and entered. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she stopped abruptly. “Mr. Ben! What ya be doin’ to my Pabby?”

  Farley was engaged in the act of sodomy. Instinctively Aieshia moved quickly to Pabby’s aid. She never saw the roundhouse right that staggered her advance. Her size alone prevented her from dropping to the floor. The second punch delivered a different outcome. A left hook to the jaw knocked her down. “You saw nothing! Understand?”

  Aieshia scrambled on the floor. “Stop!”

  Farley jumped on her, straddled her body and pummeled her face. “Don’t say a word.” Punch after punch after punch landed on her head. “Say nothing or you’re dead.”

  She kicked. She flailed. She raised her arms in an attempt to shield herself from the blows. The attacker was relentless. “Go home to where you came from. Say nothing. Understand?” A final punch knocked Aieshia out.

  “Let’s go, Pabby. I want to show you something.”

  “Are you my buddy?”

  “Of course.”

  The teen was groggy, but willingly got into the pickup. Farley was gone less than ten minutes. Upon his return he called an ambulance for Aieshia. After she was taken to the hospital he walked to the bungalow. Passed out and spread eagled on the couch was Pamela. The webcam was still broadcasting.

  CHAPTER 78

  Golfers filed through the front door of Prairie Winds Golf Course the next day. The weather was gorgeous. Spring was in full bloom. The threat of rain and tornadoes was non-existent. Blue skies added to the excitement.

  Fred was through the door early with doughnuts. Captain Jer made sure he had his cooler packed with six beers on the front nine. Scotty P made four birdies before the turn. YouWho tried to figure out which menu item at Happy Peking matched his score on the first nine. Paul’s slacks were impeccably pressed. BowTye had polished his shoes. Trot cracked a few one-liners. Pork Chop’s shirt already had food on it. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

  Absent was the arrival of Pabby and Shae with Carla and Aieshia. “Where are our little buddies today?” J Dub asked Julie.

  “I don’t know. They haven’t called and they should have been here by now.”

  The words had not left her lips for more than a second when the phone rang. The caller asked for J Dub. Julie could only hear one end of the conversation. “What do you mean they don’t know?” J Dub asked and then listened. “Where’s Aieshia?” He acknowledged the answer. “Which one?” A worried look indicated that something was amiss. “That doesn’t make sense.” More silence. “What are they doing about it?” The answers were not satisfying. J Dub thanked the caller and hung up.

  “What was that all about?”

  “Aieshia was brutally beaten last n
ight. Farley Bend found her. They rushed her to Spilker General.”

  “What happened?”

  “They’ve been trying to piece things together. Pabby is not there. Evidently he got grounded again last night and was upset. They think that he took it out on Aieshia and ran away.”

  “Have they filed a missing persons report?”

  “They can’t until he’s been gone for forty-eight hours.”

  “What are they doing to find him?”

  “That wasn’t clear.” J Dub rubbed his hand over his forehead. “When the guys get in we ought to scatter out and drive around the area. Running off doesn’t sound like something Pabby would do.”

  “He had the Special Olympics coming up.”

  “He was excited about it and we need to find him.”

  The door flew open. “I have to ask you what you would have done,” Pork Chop said. In a few minutes Fred, Captain Jer, Scotty P, Trot, Doc, BT, Paul, YouWho, Elia, Paco and Curt were all tuned into the story. “I’m serious. My side was really hurting me.”

  “How did you hurt it?”

  “Walking I think. But I’m not sure.” Pork Chop wiped his mouth across the back of his forearm. “But it was only the start of the problem.”

  “What happened?”

  “I was at the retirement home. Pops had a special dinner and wanted me as a guest.” Pork Chop gestured with his hands. “I mean what am I going to tell him?”

  “So you ate with him,” Julie said. She had been eavesdropping. “I’m sure they didn’t have to beg you to eat.”

  “Of course. You know how I am with food.”

  “Yeah, a glutton.”

  “And what do you think they had?”

  “A buffet.”

  “How did you know? You know how much of a softie I am for that style of eating.”

  “I bet they had everything that you liked too.”

  Ooohhh,” Pork Chop groaned. “Everything. There was mostacolli and prime rib and chili and baked beans and…”

  “All the stuff that is good for you.”

  “Oh yeah, and I had to go through the line a second time.”

  “Trying to turn that sixty inch waistline into a sixty-two?”