He knocked on the archway of the kitchen. Mike glanced up. “Oh, hey Lars. I didn’t hear you knock.”
“I just did.”
“I mean on the front door.”
“I didn’t.” Lars walked into the kitchen “Tell me you have coffee.”
“On the stove.”
“Thank you.”
“Couldn’t you sleep?”
“Actually,” Lars said as he poured, “I was having a wonderful dream about Liz Taylor. I don’t know what would cause me to dream of Liz, but I did. I reached to embrace her, kiss her, and my mouth was dry. I woke up.”
Mike blinked. “Okay.”
“So I go down to get water, looked out my window as I do and I see your light on. I knew what you were doing.”
“Tomorrow afternoon is the day, Lars. Hadley wants his answer.”
“I suppose that is what you’re doing?”
“Yes.” Mike nodded. “See, I want to write two letters to him, one of which I give to Big Bertha tomorrow.”
“Ah, two letters. Two choices.” Lars took a seat. “I suppose what the men decide will determine what letter you give.”
“Exactly.”
“You know, Mike, I wouldn’t give a choice. I’d just say fuck the Society.”
“I’d like to say that, Lars, but I can’t. I have to give the men a choice. I have an idea of what I’m gonna say. I have my ‘no thank you’ letter to the Society written but for the life of me, I can’t get past ‘Dear Hadley’ on the other.”
“That’s because it isn’t the thing to do,” Lars said.
“What do I do if they want to join the Society?”
Lars exhaled and looked as if in serious thought. “You know, Mike, that’s a tough one.”
“I know.”
“I would just give Hadley the ‘no thank you’ letter and tell the men he changed his mind.”
“That’s all well and fine but how do I explain the soldiers that will storm us?”
Lars shrugged. “You can tell them Hadley is pissed because Tigger is screwing is top guy.”
Mike looked quickly. “Ha, ha, ha. Not funny.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Right.”
“Mike, I’m telling you.”
Mike chuckled. “Lars, I appreciate you trying to take my mind off of things. Thanks.” He exhaled.
Lars stuttered some. “Well, uh, it’s my duty as your friend and it is also my duty as your friend to help you out.”
Mike glanced up.
“Let me write the letter, Mike. Let me write the one you can’t.”
“Are you really gonna write it?’
“Absolutely,” Lars said. “Will you let me?”
Mike had very little hesitation in agreeing. The letter surrendering to the Society was not one he didn’t want to write; it was one he hoped he never had to send.
***
What the hell were they doing? Hector wondered as he drove the van down the main strip road between Beginnings and Bowman. He shifted his eyes like a limousine driver to see what the five men were up to in the back.
His instructions were simple. Keep a low profile and the speed steady and slow. They needed to eat up at least a half an hour for the ten mile journey.
What the hell were they up to?
He would be rewarded greatly, Frank told him. If he kept his mouth shut to Joe, everyone in the van was paying him ten Danny Dollars.
Deal.
But …
What the hell were they up to?
Hector followed orders and informed the crew, as instructed, every mile they turned.
“Mile four,” Hector said.
“Already?” Frank asked. “Fuck. Slow it down.”
Slow it down? Hector looked at the speedometer. He was already going twenty miles an hour. “All right.” He chuckled, knowing full well that the Slagel three along with Dean and Elliott were gonna get in some sort of trouble.
No sooner did that thought hit him than Hector caught the scent. He sniffed, sniffed again, and raised his eyes to the mirror. “Uh, guys? Not that I care … not that it matters … but are you doing drugs?”
“Um, no,” Frank replied. “It’s fuckin Jimmy and his Society cigarettes.”
Hector blinked. “It smells like weed.”
“Nope,” Frank said.
“Okay.” He shrugged.
On the floor in the back of the utility van, Frank held in the smoke and handed the rolled up cigarette to Robbie.
“Nah.” Robbie shook his head. “I have the moonshine. Besides, I’m a little old for weed now.”
“Suit yourself.” Frank exhaled and gave it to Elliot.
Elliott stared at the joint. “I wasn’t aware you got high, Frank.”
“I don’t,” he said.
“You are now,” Elliott told him.
“It’s a special occasion. Go on.”
Elliott brought it to his mouth then stopped. “Should I?”
“Fuck, yeah.” Frank told him. “Why are you asking?”
“Well, Frank, my condition,” Elliott replied.
“Let’s ask, Dean. He’s a medical professional,” Frank suggested.
Elliott shook his head. “No, I’d rather …”
“Dean,” Frank called Dean’s attention.
“Huh?” Dean sloppily looked up.
“Fuck, Dean, are you drunk already?”
Jimmy reached over and looked at Dean’s bottle. “God, he’s a lightweight. He hasn’t even finished the neck.”
“Huh?” Dean repeated.
“Can Elliott get high?” Frank asked. “Or will it hurt him?”
Dean snickered. “I don’t see how it could hurt him. I mean he’s already …”
“Dean!” Frank snapped. “Don’t.”
“See.” Elliott pointed at Dean. “That’s why.” He hit the cigarette and handed it back to Frank. “It won’t hurt,” he said, less than enthused.
“Fuckin Dean.” Frank shook his head. “Ryder, I’m setting up a fuckin match between the two of you when you’re all better. Kick his ass.” He hit the joint and passed it back to Elliott. “Besides, bet me it helps,” Frank told him. “They gave cancer patients marijuana in the old world.”
Jimmy verbally shuddered an embarrassed, ‘I can’t believe you said that out loud. “Uh!” he winced. “Frank, fuck, tact.”
“What?” Frank asked. “He knows he has cancer.”
“Uh.” Jimmy cringed again. “Stop that. It’s wrong. Use a different word.” Jimmy took a drink out of his bottle. “You talked about weed being used in the old world. Did you know that in the old world, patients who didn’t use or hear the ‘C’ word had a higher instance of speedy recovery and better prognosis?”
Frank blinked.
Robbie clarified, “They got better Frank.”
“Oh,” Frank nodded. “That’s good. Elliott, don’t use the ‘C’ word.”
Elliott gave a thumbs up.
“You either,” Jimmy said.
“I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. You said the ‘C’ word.”
“I never say the ‘C’ word. Women hate that,” Frank defended.
Robbie laughed. “You got a point.”
“See.” Frank smoked. “No ‘C’ word.”
“Not that ‘C’ word,” Jimmy said.
“What other ‘C’ word is there?”
“The one you said.” Jimmy gave a nod at Elliott.
Elliott glanced up. “He means cancer.”
“Uh,” Jimmy halted. “Stop that. Please.”
“Oh!” Frank smacked himself in the head. “That ‘C’ word. Okay, got it. You know what? Next Council meeting, I’m making the suggestion that we eliminate that word from Beginnings vocabulary.”
“What?” Dean interjected. “You can’t do that.”
“Yes, I can. I can make the suggestion.”
“Council won’t approve it,” Dean argued.
“Why not?”
&n
bsp; Dean laughed sarcastically. “Because you just can’t banish it.”
Elliott said, “I believe Dr. Hayes is adding a double innuendo to it, meaning you can’t abolish the word because there is no way to get rid of the condition.”
Snide, Frank glared at Dean. “Bull. It can. Look at my Dad. Elliott is next.”
Dean raised only his eyes.
Elliott slowly shook his head. “Frank, can we not worry about this?”
“I do. I can’t wait until El gets back from Lodi. You should be anxious too,” Frank told him. “I can’t believe you aren’t more upbeat about this.”
“What are you talking about?” Elliott asked.
“El going to Lodi.”
“I don’t want Ellen to leave,” Elliott said. “Although I am happy she’s aiding Johnny for you.”
“Not her leaving,” Frank corrected. “Her returning with it.”
Elliot looked at him curiously.
“You mean she didn’t tell you?” Frank asked.
“Tell me what?” Elliott asked
“Maybe she didn’t get a chance or maybe she’s saving it until she has you alone,” Frank explained. “She talked to Lars today. She told him about you. He laughed. This guy Lars asked her why she even worrying. He has been working on something for years and perfected it. It won’t work on Johnny because Johnny doesn’t have the 'C' word but that Manis guy …” Frank winked. “Had the same thing as you and he’s healed.”
Elliott’s head cocked. “Are you serious?”
“Yep.” Frank nodded. “Very. Lars laughed at El’s sadness.”
“Oh my God,” Elliott said, shocked. “Why didn’t Ellen tell me?”
Dean shook his head. “Because Frank’s lying.”
“Fuck you, Dean. No I’m not,” Frank defended. “El just found out.”
“Why didn’t she share this with me?” Dean asked.
“Because you’re a dick with little man attitude lately,” Frank said. “She wants to rub it in when she proves you wrong.”
After seeing the disbelief on Dean’s face, Robbie added to the story. “Dean, El told me too. She told me Lars said to her, ‘My dear Ellen, this is not a cause for concern. Obvious Dr. Hayes missed the simplicity of the cure’.” Robbie shrugged. “She imitated him better than me.”
Frank glanced at his brother in gratefulness.
Robbie winked at him.
“See. Ryder,” Frank said.
In shock, Elliott whispered out “Oh my God. This is true, really?”
“Really.” Frank passed him the joint. “So cheer up. You’ll be better in no time and little man Dean is a dead man.” Ethically right or wrong in what he told Elliott, Frank knew he did something right. He made Dean looked irritated and jealous, but better than that, finally Elliott Ryder was smiling again.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The slight drizzle of rain caused Ben from Fabrics to break out into a sidewalk dance of ‘Singing in the Rain’. He danced happily down the street in a flirtatious, impress-my-date manner.
Hal found it irritating. Ellen found it amusing.
Dan and Kitty trailed behind. Of the three couples, their match up was one that worked to their advantage.
All three dating game pair-offs headed to the final destination, Hoi-Hoi on the Range.
Being the gentleman, Hal opened the door for everyone.
Ellen waited behind. “It sounds busy in there.”
“Yes,” Hal said, “It does. Extremely busy … and loud.” He allowed Ellen to enter first and he walked in behind her. Reaching for her arm, Hal’s fingers paused.
“What’s wrong?” Ellen asked.
Hal shifted his eyes. “What are they up to?”
“Who?” Ellen question.
“Frank, Robbie, Jimmy, Elliott, and … Christ, Dean.” Hal huffed.
“Hal, you sound as if you think there’s gonna be trouble.”
“Hmm,” Hal nodded. “I do.”
“Why?”
“Look.” He indicated to where they were positioned. Frank was at one table and Robbie another. Jimmy was across the room, Elliott at the bar, and Dean stared at the jukebox as if he were in love with it. “Not one of them is together.”
“So.”
“So?” Hal asked. “Dear God, Ellen, doesn’t that strike you as odd? Not one of them is sitting together.”
“What do you think it means?”
“They are in … attack formation.”
Ellen laughed loudly at this. “Hal, come on. Attack formation?” she ridiculed. “Really, how much trouble can they start?”
***
Joe looked calmly at his watch. He tapped the face of it, brought it to his ear, and then looked again. He sung out a soft, ‘hmm’ and gazed up, speaking softly, “Four-fifteen.” He walked around and leaned against the front of Hal’s desk. He looked at those seated in Hal’s office. Hal was in the back with his arms folded as he leaned against a bookshelf.
Silence
For a second
Then Joe’s voice rose. “Four-fifteen! Four-fifteen in the goddamn morning and I get called out of bed to come to Bowman to reprimand the five of you because you refuse to answer to Hal!”
Frank shifted his eyes around. “Four.” He corrected.
“Excuse me?” Joe tilted his head.
“Four.” Frank pointed to each man.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Joe asked.
“You said five. There’s only four.” Frank indicated. “One, two, three …”
“Frank!” Joe blasted. “I am …”
“Dad, it’s basic math.”
Joe growled.
Just as he did, the door opened. Jimmy walked in. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“Five.” Frank nodded. “Got it now.”
Sarcastically, Joe looked at his son and spoke, “Glad you could finally join us.”
“I had to see Jenny home.” Jimmy pulled up a chair, “Plus, I wanted to be here in case my support was needed. I was a witness.”
Chuckling, Hal lifted from his relaxed lean. “Listen to you. Witness? You were a participant.”
Jimmy gasped. “I was not. I was on my date. Ask Jenny.”
“Did you or did you not ride to Bowman with them?” Hal asked.
“Yeah.” Jimmy nodded. “Jenny got held up with Caroline and asked if she could meet me in town. I said no problem. I heard Frank and the guys were having an evening so I hopped a ride. That’s it. I wasn’t any trouble.”
Just like a kid, Hal sneered. “Oh, you’re never any trouble, are you?”
Jimmy tilted is head. “Not really.”
Joe held his hand up to Hal and took over. “So … it’s safe to say you weren’t hanging out with them.”
Jimmy shook his head. “Nope, actually none of us hung out. We all did our own thing.”
Joe’s eyes lifted when Hal laughed in ridicule. “Jimmy,” Joe said, “so it wasn’t you who kept calling Hal’s phone every thirty seconds.”
Jimmy chuckled. “No, why would I do that?”
“And it wasn’t you who instigated a fight with one of Hal’s men and said …” Joe lifted a little tablet, “Jess Boyens was hitting on you.”
“Nope.”
“It wasn’t you who got into a fight with Jess that made Hal run round Bowman looking for where you two were hashing it out. And it wasn’t you who proceeded to get everyone in the bar to chant, ‘Hal sucks. Hal sucks?’”
Frank laughed. “That was funny.”
Again, Jimmy chuckled. “But it wasn’t me. Dad, please. Jess and I are friends. That’s a complete and an utter untruth.”
“Uh-ha.” Joe nodded. “Bullshit.” He set down the tablet. “Before we begin, before I continue with hearing excuses, and before I figure out if and what charges are brought against you tomorrow …”
Everyone yelled, “What?”
“Charges. That’s right, you heard me. If this was the old world, you might have been arrested. We do things the sa
me way.”
“Fuck,” Frank blurted. “Fuckin Jason hates me. I’m hung.”
“Be that as it may,” Joe continued, “before all that gets started, let me clarify one thing, gentleman. Hal is second in charge of these provinces. Danny Hoi is third. If I am not available, Hal is. If I’m sleeping, Hal is the man. You hear me. Never undermine his authority again.” He winced when they all started talking. Joe whistled. “Enough!”
A hush took over the room.
“Grown men,” Joe said. “Frank, Elliott, Jimmy, Robert, and Dean. You’re grown men, not children, yet I have to be summoned out of a goddamn good night’s sleep because you five morons decide to cause the ultimate disruption in Bowman and I, not only as leader, but as father, have to figure out what to do! Robert …” Joe shifted his eyes. “No laughing.”
Robbie cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
Joe asked hard, “Why do I have to charge you and figure out a punishment at four-fifteen …”
“Actually, it’s four-twenty.” Frank looked at his watch.
“Frank!” Joe blasted. “Interrupt me one more time and I’m shooting your big ass! I’ve done it once. I won’t hesitate to do it again. Back to Jimmy.”
“Dad.” Jimmy lifted his hand. “If I may …”
“Save it for tomorrow, Jimmy. Save it for when you are brought up on charges of …” Joe flipped open the notebook and jotted down. “Illegal use of public utilities, the phone in case you’re wondering, and disorderly conduct which is the same charge I’m giving to … Ryder!”
Elliott’s head cocked up. “Huh? I wasn’t doing anything.”
“Really?” Joe questioned. “So it wasn’t you who sat up a stage on a table and not only sang stupid Partridge Family songs but recited Othello and Hamlet towards Hal?”
Elliott cleared his throat. “I was slightly intoxicated.”
“Slightly, my ass,” Joe leaned his face close to Elliott’s. “You were drunk. Add public intoxication to disorderly conduct as well.” Joe wrote that down as he shook his head. “In the words of my son, Hal, Good God, Elliott, I expected better of you. Robert, quit laughing.”
“Sorry.” Robbie snorted out a laugh.
“Speaking of expecting better …” Joe said. “Dean.”
The Next Ten: Beginnings Series Books 11 - 20 Page 408