One Hour to Live

by Gary M. Chesla

  “It’s been a few years,” Kevin replied. “After high school I left and went to Indiana and Lisa went to some school up in Boston. I guess she and I just haven’t been back to Bolivar at the same time since. She was a cute little girl, a bit of a tomboy, but cute.”

  Bill laughed out loud, “You definitely haven’t seen her for a few years then.”

  Kevin looked curiously at Bill.

  “I don’t think you would describe her as a tomboy any longer, or as a little girl,” Bill grinned. “She has grown up quite a bit, if you know what I mean.”

  “You’re beginning to sound like a dirty old man, Bill,” Kevin smiled.

  “Of course he is a dirty old man,” Bob said when he realized what Bill and Kevin were talking about, “but in this case he is just telling it like it is.”

  “Not you too Dad,” Kevin laughed as he took the chicken breasts off the plate and dropped them on the grill. “I think you two should think about moving to New Florence or somewhere where you can be around normal people before you two become old perverts.”

  “Hey don’t judge us before you see for yourself,” Bill laughed. “You might want to take a look at who is coming across the street.”

  Kevin laughed as he turned and glanced across the street to see Lisa and her parents walking across the road.

  “Shit,” Kevin exclaimed as he stared at Lisa as she walked across the street.

  Bill laughed, “You dirty old man.”

  “Maybe you will come home to visit your old man more often now,” Bob grinned. “Some things around this old town have changed for the better.”

  “Knock it off you two,” Kevin smiled, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Lisa.

  Kevin used the tongs to remove the last of the chicken from the grill and stack them on a plate.

  He poured some extra Baby Ray’s barbeque sauce over the chicken then turned and headed for the picnic table that sat out in the back yard about fifteen feet away from the back porch.

  His dad sat at one end of the picnic table, next to Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. Bill sat across from his dad on the other side of the table.

  Lisa sat at the far end of the table on the same side as Bill and across from her parents.

  The only seat remaining was the empty space between Bill and Lisa.

  Kevin smiled, he was sure his dad and Bill had purposely sat where they did to keep the Murphy’s from all sitting together on the same side of the table.

  The two dirty old men were obviously determined to make sure Kevin would be sitting next to Lisa.

  Kevin studied Lisa as he approached the table, he didn’t mind the seating arrangements at all. In fact, felt his heart begin to beat rapidly in his chest as he walked up behind Lisa.

  Images from the summer he had spent with Lisa before leaving for school flashed through his mind.

  Some of the memories almost made him blush.

  The crazy little tomboy that Kevin had dated before leaving for college, back then usually wore blue jeans, tennis shoes and a baggy shirt.

  Today she wore sandals, short cut offs and a tight-fitting T-shirt with the words Zeta Tau Alpha stretching across the front. The low-cut front of the shirt left little mystery as to why the words across the front of the shirt looked distorted and stretched.

  Kevin had seen both guys and girls change once they got to college, away from home and living on their own, some for the better and others for the worse.

  Some were overwhelmed by college life and became reclusive book worms and focused all their time and energy on their studies. Others, once away from the restrictions of friends and family, seemed to lose their minds and became party animals.

  Many of the so-called party animals soon flunked out of school, or worse.

  The Zeta Tau Alpha on the front of Lisa’s shirt told Kevin that Lisa had possibly gone the latter route.

  The Zeta’s at Indiana had a reputation as party girls with many of the girls being known for being easy.

  In fact, the girls from Zeta spent more time over with the boys at Sigma Alpha Epsilon than they did at their own house.

  The guys from the other fraternities would often arrange to be outside each day to watch the morning walk of shame from the Sigma house to the Zeta house.

  The local bookies often took bets as to which of the girls would be seen making the walk the morning after many of the Sigma parties.

  Sigma Alpha Epsilon had a reputation as being the worst fraternity in the country and the reputation of the girls at Zeta Tau Alpha wasn’t too far behind.

  Lisa had been a nice girl, Kevin hoped she hadn’t changed too much.

  He had really liked the old Lisa, sweet and innocent. Well sort of innocent, Kevin chuckled.

  By the look of her Zeta Tau Alpha shirt, Kevin wouldn’t want to bet on that now.

  “We’ll let’s hope she hasn’t changed too much on the inside,” Kevin thought to himself as he stared at Lisa’s shirt, because she had definitely changed on the outside.

  “Hi Kevin,” Lisa smiled looking up at him as he stepped over the bench and sat down at the picnic table next to her.

  “Hi Lisa,” Kevin grinned, “I’m surprised to see you. I’m thrilled to see you, but I didn’t expect to see you. I’ve looked for you every time I’ve come home but you don’t seem to come home much.”

  “No, in fact, this is only the second time I’ve been home since I left for school two years ago,” Lisa replied.

  “You must really like Boston,” Kevin said.

  “It’s OK,” Lisa replied. “But to tell the truth, I miss Bolivar.”

  Kevin laughed, “There isn’t much to miss around here anymore.”

  “I’ve noticed,” she smiled. “I didn’t think it could get any worse, but is sure has. I miss seeing my mom and dad most of all. Phone calls and texting help but it’s just not the same.”

  “Why don’t you come home more often then?” Kevin asked.

  “I had to take a job to help pay for school,” Lisa answered. “It costs a lot more than I expected. After the first semester. I even stopped staying in the dorm to save money. I joined a sorority, it was a lot cheaper to stay at the sorority house than staying in the dorms.”

  “I noticed your shirt,” Kevin said.

  Lisa smiled, “Do you like it?”

  Kevin hesitated for a minute, not knowing how to answer. He wasn’t sure if she was asking about the shirt or if she was referring to something else. She had always been the ornery type and enjoyed teasing him.

  Finally, Kevin replied, “I do, red is a good color for you. It matches your hair. Do you like being in a sorority?”

  Lisa blushed then spoke quietly so her parents wouldn’t hear her, “Not really. They have too many parties and it is hard to study at the sorority house. Besides, you wouldn’t believe the things they made me do in order to join.”

  Kevin grinned, “I think I can imagine. The Zeta’s are on the Indiana campus too. At Indiana, they made the girls streak across campus in the middle of the day. If that wasn’t embarrassing enough, they announced the day and time of the run on their Facebook page to be sure there would be a lot of spectators.”

  Lisa looked away for a moment, but then looked back at Kevin. Her face was beet red.

  “They did that at my school too,” Lisa said quietly, sounding embarrassed. “I didn’t want to do it, but I figured I didn’t have a choice, I needed to get into a sorority house to save money. I had tried to join some of the other sororities, but the Zeta’s were the only ones that wanted me.”

  “It could have been worse,” Kevin smiled. “I’m sure you became very popular after that run.”

  Lisa looked shocked, “What makes you say that?”

  Now Kevin looked embarrassed, “I didn’t mean anything by that. Honest Lisa, I just meant that……”

  Lisa grinned, “Relax Kevin, I know what you mean. You were always a good guy, I know you weren’t implying anything. But on the other hand, any girl that runs around campus
naked deserves all the lewd comments she hears.”

  Lisa glanced over at her parents and whispered, “Don’t say anything in front of my parents, they don’t know. I would be so embarrassed if they found out. My dad would kill me.”

  “Your secret is safe with me,” Kevin grinned as he whispered to Lisa. “That’s why I didn’t pledge a fraternity. At Indiana, the press showed up and put pictures in the Indiana Gazette. My dad gets that paper. It’s all I would need is for him to see my picture on the front page.”

  Lisa suddenly looked horrified.

  Kevin stared at her in disbelief.

  Lisa shook her head up and down, “They blurred a few places, but you could clearly see it was me. I think that was the main reason the Zeta’s accepted me. My naked picture hangs in the entrance to the sorority house. They think it’s cool, I think it’s embarrassing.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Kevin replied.

  “I’m sure you could think of something,” Lisa smiled. “Let’s change the subject before my parents hear us.”

  Kevin nodded. He felt bad for Lisa’s obvious discomfort.

  He did make a mental note, however, that when he got back to school, to go to the Library and pull up a copy of the Boston Gazette on the computer.

  “How long are you home for?” Kevin asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Lisa replied. “A ship crashed into the docks in the Boston harbor. I heard that most of the people on the ship were sick or something. The authorities quarantined the docks, afraid whatever it was could spread into the city. The school decided to close too until the quarantine was lifted. Normally I would have just stayed and worked at the mall where I have my job, but they closed too.”

  “When did that happen?” Kevin asked. “I didn’t hear anything about that on the news.”

  “It was about a week ago,” Lisa answered. “It wasn’t on the news in Boston either. I think they were trying to keep it quiet so they wouldn’t cause a panic.”

  “Wow!” Kevin exclaimed. “Where was the ship from?”

  “I think it was a passenger ship from Cape Town, South Africa,” Lisa answered, “But I’m not sure. I didn’t bother to ask many questions after they told us to go home. Since I couldn’t stay and work, I was just happy for the chance to come home. How long are you home for?”

  “I’ll be home for a week,” Kevin replied. “Maybe we could get together and do something?”

  “That sounds nice,” Lisa replied. “I hear there is a carnival in Armagh this week. I think it starts tomorrow. If I remember right, you used to like carnivals.”

  Kevin smiled. He didn’t like carnivals at all and thought they were boring, but he did like Lisa.

  “Sure,” he grinned. “Do you want to go tomorrow?”

  “OK,” Lisa answered. “Do you have a cell phone, I’ll give you my number?”

  “No, I don’t have one,” Kevin replied then smiled, “but I’ll get a pen and take your number anyhow. Maybe I’ll get one someday.”

  “So, that’s why you never called me,” Lisa smiled weakly as a hurt look spread over her face, “I was disappointed that I never heard from you, or you never came up to visit me.”

  “I did try to call you when I came home from school the first Christmas,” Kevin replied, “I even left about a dozen messages with your dad to give you whenever you called home. When I never heard from you, I sort of assumed that you had moved on and weren’t interested anymore.”

  Lisa looked shocked, “I didn’t know, honest or I would have called you. I’m not surprised that my dad didn’t give me your messages. He sat me down and had a talk with me about boys before I left for school. Long story short, he told me there would be plenty of time for boys after I graduated. He swore if I got knocked up at school he would disown me. I’m sure your dad didn’t have a talk like that with you.”

  “I’m sure having an attractive daughter going off to school was a little different than my Dad’s situation,” Kevin grinned. “Your dad never seemed very interested in talking to me or I would have told him he could trust you.”

  “I don’t think he trusted you either,” Lisa gave Kevin that familiar ornery smile of hers, “Of course in your case, he had good reason.”

  “Hey,” Kevin said pretending to be offended. “If I remember…..”

  “Be quiet Kevin,” Lisa blushed as she glanced towards her parents, “someone might her you.”

  Kevin grinned, “Tomorrow on the way to Armagh, maybe you can help me pick out a cell phone.”

  Lisa’s face lit up and she gave Kevin that ornery grin of hers again, “OK, we’ll get you one in your favorite color, pink. I know that’s your favorite color, or at least that what you always told me.”

  Kevin laughed, “Not for a cell phone. That would just be wrong.”

  Lisa grinned, “I’ll remember that the next time you tell me how much you like pink. What time are you going to pick me up tomorrow?”

  “How about noon,” Kevin replied, “We can go buy a cell phone, go to the carnival and spend the day together catching up.”

  “I’d like that,” Lisa smiled.

  “Now how about I get you something to eat?” Kevin asked.

  “I hear you grill a mean chicken breast,” Lisa grinned. “Bill has been bragging about you the last two days. He wanted to make sure I came over today. Every time he saw me he would come running over to remind me to come over and see you.”

  Kevin rolled his eyes, “That dirty old man. Well whatever the reason you came over today, I’m just glad you came.”

  “Me too,” Lisa smiled. “I’ve missed you.”

  Chapter 5

  Today

  Bill watched as Bob cooked the rabbits on top of the wood burner.

  The heat given off by the wood burner felt good and the smell of grilled meat was driving him crazy.

  The skinned rabbits, split into halves, laid sizzling on top of the hot metal top of the wood burner.

  “Mac, don’t you think that maybe you should turn the rabbits before they burn?” Bill asked looking worried.

  “Hey, who is the cook here?” Bob grumbled as he stood in front of the stove leaning on his cane.

  “You’re the cook, but I just don’t want to see these two rabbits get overdone. I haven’t had anything this good in a long time and well, you might be out of practice,” Bill replied, hoping that Bob was indeed out of practice and wouldn’t ruin his first chance at a good meal in almost a year.

  “OK, I’ll turn the damn rabbits,” Bob replied, “I probably am a little out of practice. But cooking is like riding a bicycle, you never forget how once you learn.”

  “That’s good,” Bill answered as he thought, “But what if you never learned to cook in the first place?”

  Bob turned the rabbits using the large fork that usually hung on the side of the grill out in the back yard.

  Since they had run out of propane long ago and the fact that it wasn’t safe to attempt to cook anything outside, that is if they would have had anything to cook, the fork had been brought inside the house.

  If nothing else, the big fork would make a good weapon.

  “I think the meat looks done,” Bob said as he flipped the rabbit halves over and listened to the renewed sizzling coming from the stove. “Go have a look out the window and see if you can see Kevin.”

  Bill, grateful the meat was going to be taken off the stove before it was ruined, walked over to the window and pulled back the heavy red curtain.

  He stuck his face up against the crack in the boards that covered the window and looked down Market Street.

  “I don’t see him, Mac,” Bill said. “All I see is a few of those zombie bastards moving around. Maybe they can smell our rabbit cooking.”

  “I don’t think that would make them come around,” Bob replied. “Those bastards like their meat raw.”

  “Yeah, the bloodier the better,” Bill sighed. “Sorry Bob, still no sign of Kevin. Where did you tell me he went to again?”


  “To the other end of town,” Bob replied. “He should have been back by now. I would have liked for him to have had some of this meat while it’s hot off the stove. He would have loved this. Maybe we should wait for a while before we eat?”

  “I think we should eat now,” Bill said as he felt his mouth watering. “I’m sure Kevin is OK and I know he would have liked to have had his meat hot, but if we wait, his meat and ours will either be cold or burnt to a crisp.”

  “I hate to eat without him,” Bob replied.

  “Why don’t we do this,” Bill said. “Let’s cut the meat into six even pieces. Two apiece for each of us and two for Kevin. You can either set Kevin’s meat aside or leave it on the stove, whatever you feel is best, but I think we should eat. I’m sure Kevin would agree. He would want us to eat this feast hot off the stove.”

  “I’m sure you are right,” Bob sighed, “I guess I’m just worried. He has never been this late before. I hope he didn’t get himself in any trouble.”

  “He can take care of himself,” Bill said again. “Besides, worrying isn’t going to help.”

  “OK,” Bob said. “But we are going to save the two hind quarters for Kevin.”

  “That’s fine with me,” Bill responded as he stared at the top of the wood burner.

  Bob grabbed a knife from the kitchen and cut the meat into six pieces.

  He put the two hind quarters on a plate and set it on the cupboard for Kevin.

  He put the rest on two plates and walked over to the table where Bill eagerly waited.

  “They are your rabbits, pick which plate you want,” Bob said.

  “They both look good to me,” Bill replied, “Just give me a damn plate before we wake up from this dream and this rabbit disappears or turns to tree bark.”