Eden Bound

by Darrell Maloney

  He yielded to Tina’s superior intellect and let her do the thinking and planning for him.

  “There’s only one way to keep you out of this,” she started. “We’ve got to separate. We’ve got to get you to Tony’s house, and then I’ve got to take the pickup and run with it.”

  “Okay. But what am I gonna do for a vehicle?”

  As always, Johnny was thinking only of himself.

  “Johnny, damn it. Forget about the damn vehicle. This is one vehicle you don’t want. It’s gonna be hotter than hell. Every cop in the state is gonna be looking for it. I’m not gonna keep it for long myself. I’m only gonna keep it long enough for people to see me in it. So they can testify later than I was the only one occupying it. That you were nowhere around it. We’ve got to be able to put doubt in a jury’s mind. After I do that… after I make sure people can testify they saw me alone in it, then I’ll abandon it.

  “You can use one of Tony’s trucks. Hell, last I heard he had three or four.”

  “And where will you go?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t worry about me. I’ll end up somewhere. You just need to worry about yourself.”

  They were wasted words. Johnny was very good at thinking only of himself.

  She went on, “The cops will come to Tony’s house at some point. They’ll have to, because it’ll be their only lead. The only logical place in Big Spring for you to be. You have to work with Tony and everybody else who lives there so everybody can tell the cops the same story.”

  “Okay, okay. But what story?”

  “That you came to stay with Tony two weeks ago. I stayed behind in Lubbock with your pickup because we had a fight and I said I didn’t want to move to Big Spring.

  “You and Tony and everybody else need to have exactly the same story or the cops won’t believe you. Now, repeat what I said.”

  “But what if…”

  “Damn it, Johnny, I’m trying to keep your stupid ass out of prison. Now repeat to me what you’re gonna tell the cops.”

  “Okay, okay. I came to Big Spring two weeks ago. You were supposed to come too but didn’t want to. And I haven’t seen you since.”

  “Good. Make sure Tony and everybody else tells the same story.

  “Tell the cops you left your pickup with me in case I changed my mind. And that you haven’t seen me or the truck since.”

  “But how will that keep me out of jail?”

  “They’ll know you were nowhere near the shooting. They’ll think that deputy ran the plate and pulled me over to arrest you. And that when he found out you weren’t in the truck he said never mind and was walking back to his vehicle. And that’s when I shot him in the back.

  “Then you’ll be off the hook. They’ll be looking for me. They’ll find the pickup abandoned and then the trail will go cold. Because they won’t know where the hell I went.”

  “But are you sure this is gonna work?”

  “Johnny, listen to me. You’re the biggest liar I ever met. You lied to me every time you were with another woman. I saw you steal from your friends a dozen times and lie your way out of it every time. There aren’t a lot of things you’re good at, but lying is one of them. You can do this, I know you can.”

  Ahead of them Frank Woodard began blowing his horn nonstop and turned on his hazard lights.

  Johnny said, “What the hell?”

  Within a few seconds his question was answered.

  They saw that Frank wasn’t in distress of any kind.

  Rather, he was celebrating.

  He’d just passed a green sign on the side of the highway which said:

  BIG SPRING

  CITY LIMIT

  But that wasn’t the best part.

  The best part was that the highway on the other side of the sign was completely free of snow.

  They were now in the city of Big Spring. A city which, like Lubbock, still had people on payroll to clear the streets after every new snowfall.

  Tina began to think for the first time that her plan might actually work.

  Johnny began to wonder for the very first time who he might find to replace Tina.

  She wasn’t even out of his life yet, and he was already starting to shop for her replacement.

  To scum like Johnny Connolly, you see, a woman is little more than bling. He must have a girl on his arm so he can adequately portray the image of a successful drug dealer.

  That didn’t mean he had to love her. Or even care about her.

  Besides, he hated sleeping alone at night.

  It could be said that Johnny Connolly was a scumbag who had no conscience.

  And that was probably true. You see, you have to be a human being to have a conscience.

  -39-

  Frank asked Josie, as they drove into Big Spring and its beautiful open roadways, whether she wanted to pull over and stop.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “So we can say goodbye to that young couple and wish them well.”

  She looked in the rearview mirror before answering, then said, “Honestly, not really. I mean, she was a sweet girl. But her boyfriend gave me the creeps.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “Honey, a woman spends her whole life getting looked up and down by strange men. After awhile, we can tell which ones are undressing us with their minds. We label those men as creeps, and whenever possible we avoid them.”

  Frank was unaware that Johnny Connolly had disrespected his wife in such a manner.

  And furthermore, he had no reason to question her. So he made her an offer.

  “How about if we wish her goodbye and good luck, and I beat the hell out of him?”

  She smiled at the prospect, but passed.

  “No thank you. I don’t think that would do anyone any good. Let’s just go on and do our thing and let them do theirs.”

  Frank had wanted to shake Deputy Sonmore’s hand as well, but there was no sign of his SUV in his rear view mirror. He probably stopped to take a nap, and could be an hour or more behind them.

  It was too soon to tell if Highway 87 was cleared of snow from Big Spring, the city they were in, to San Angelo, a hundred miles farther south. They’d have to drive through Big Spring and get back on Highway 87 to find that out.

  If it wasn’t, and if Frank had to plow it himself, Sonmore would certainly catch up with him again. For San Angelo was Sonmore’s final destination.

  If the highway was clear, as Frank hoped, he’d likely never see Sonmore again. But that was okay too.

  They drove slowly through town, taking in the few sights it had to offer.

  Most places were closed, but a few were lit up and still doing business for the handful of customers which were out and about.

  On Main Street a flashing yellow neon sign caught Frank’s eye.

  MAMIE’S DINER

  Best Breakfast in Texas

  Now, Frank had always been a breakfast person.

  Many folks don’t eat breakfast. They get up too late or their stomachs don’t like having to work so early in the mornings. Many would rather forego breakfast and spend the twenty minutes it would take making and eating the meal to get a little extra sleep instead.

  Not Frank.

  For Frank, there was no better way to start his day than a tall stack of pancakes and a couple of scrambled eggs.

  Topped with bacon, of course. For although the cow was king in Texas and had been for two hundred years, the hog still ruled the breakfast table. Any Texan worth his salt still washed his breakfast down with bacon and black coffee.

  Josie asked, “Do you have any blue money?”

  “A hundred dollars in twenties I got from Ronnie Rosco. I offered to trade him a gold chain for them, but he wouldn’t take it.”

  “I liked Ronnie. He was a nice man.”

  “Yeah. Me too.”

  “Do you plan to stay in touch with him when we get to the mine?”

  “Yes. I plan to call him every week or two to check in on him. And to let him k
now I’ll be there for him if he needs me.”

  Then he realized he’d just made a commitment he should have passed through Josie beforehand. And that wasn’t proper. Now that he was a married man he no longer had the right to make such decisions without at least getting her input.

  “That’s okay with you, honey, isn’t it? That if Ronnie ever gets into a bind and needs my help I’ll come running?”

  She smiled, an acknowledgement she appreciated having a word in the decision.

  “Of course it’s okay. I’ll never try to keep you from helping someone in need. Especially a friend. It’s part of who you are, and part of the reason I fell in love with you.

  “I don’t think he’ll ever call to ask you for help, though.”

  “Why not?”

  “He struck me as a man with a lot of friends in the Lubbock Police Department. I’m sure they do a good job of watching out for him. You told me yourself that even after a cop retires he’s still part of the brotherhood.”

  “Yep, that’s true.”

  “And if he ever needs help, I’m sure his friends in Lubbock will respond. And they’re a heck of a lot closer than you’ll be.”

  “That’s true too.”

  Frank pulled into the diner parking lot and glanced at a sleeping Eddie in the seat behind him.

  He’d driven Frank nuts, getting all the way down to twenty seven beers on the wall before exhaustion finally overtook him and he fell asleep mid-song.

  “Should we wake up sleeping beauty?”

  Josie shook her head. She knew that once Eddie was out he slept like a hibernating bear. Nothing short of an explosion would wake him.

  “Nope. It’ll be nice having breakfast with just the two of us. We’ll get him something to go.”

  “Sounds good to me. Let’s go. I’m starving.”

  As Eddie snored loudly away, totally unaware they’d even stopped, the pair settled into a booth at the diner.

  An overly perky woman in her twenties brought them a menu and said, “Good morning. I don’t believe I’ve seen you two before. Are you new in town?”

  “Just passing through from Lubbock, heading down to San Antonio.”

  The waitress looked puzzled.

  “I thought the highway from Lubbock was blocked.”

  Frank cast a thumb toward the front window, where his snow plow bladed Hummer was visible in the parking lot.

  “Not anymore,” he said. “We just cleared it. Or one lane of it, anyway.”

  The young woman smiled and said, “Well, I’ll be darned.”

  She called rather loudly over her shoulder, “Hey Mamie, these folks just cleared a path to Lubbock!”

  The owner came to the table and said, “Thank you! We’ve been trying to get the highway department to clear that highway for months. I’ve got relatives there, and the only way I’ve been able to visit them is to go through Dallas north to Wichita Falls and then through Snyder. It’s only about three hundred miles out of the way.”

  “Well, we’re glad to help,” Josie said.

  Mamie turned to the waitress and said, “Whatever these people want is on the house.”

  “Fine by me,” Frank winked at her and said. “I’m hungry enough to eat a horse.”

  -40-

  As it turned out, things were slow that morning at Mamie’s.

  So much so that Mamie herself had time to join the couple as they ate, and to answer at length a question Josie asked her.

  “How is it that everything tastes so fresh?” Josie asked after a couple of bites.

  “Oh, we’ve got quite an operation set up here,” Mamie replied.

  “You see, my husband Jack never much took to the diner business and isn’t as much of a people person as I am. I’ve operated this place for almost twenty years, and he operates the truck stop just east of town.

  “When word got out years ago that Saris 7 was coming, hundreds of truckers dropped their trailers at his truck stop and then drove home to their families. They made a hell of a mess. There were trailers everywhere. In the parking areas, in the driveways, just everywhere.

  “When the thaw finally came he expected them to come back to get the trailers, or for the trucking companies to send somebody else after them, but that never happened. Most of the truckers weren’t driving anymore after the seven year freeze, and most of the trucking companies were out of business.

  “Still, Jack wanted to reopen for the few companies that were still moving freight, but he couldn’t because all the darned trailers were in the way.

  “Finally his best friend, who’s an attorney here in town, told him to file a legal notice in the local paper and in every newspaper within two hundred miles.

  “It cost him a pretty penny, but he ran the legal notices in all those newspapers every single day for thirty days.

  “The notice told the owners of the trailers that they had thirty days to remove them from his property or he was keeping them as payment for back rent. Seven and a half years worth of rent, to be exact.

  “The only company that responded to the notice was a company based out of Dallas. They spent several days digging their three trailers out and took them away. Jack wound up keeping the rest. A hundred and eighty seven trailers, after the final count was done.

  “He also got to keep everything that was in them, which turned out to be all kinds of stuff.

  “He brought nine of them and parked them on the two acres of land I own just behind the diner.

  “We turned one into a chicken coop. We keep it warm with huge blowers and heat lamps and collect an average of eight dozen eggs a day, which is plenty for the diner and enough extras for my employees to take some home with them.”

  “How do you feed them with the ground being frozen?” Josie asked.

  “Two of the trailers just happened to be full of chicken feed. They were headed toward a huge egg plant in Cisco when Saris 7 hit, and of course never made it there. We expect to go through one per year, and if this freeze lasts longer than two years we’ve already got a backup plan we’re getting ready to set in motion.”

  “Backup plan?”

  “Yep. You see, three other trailers have become our grow houses. They’re outfitted with grow lights. Artificial sunshine. I contracted with a local handyman to make me some grow boxes that run the length of the trailers on both sides with a walkway in between. Each box is two feet deep and fifty feet long and is filled with a combination of soil, peat moss and mulch.

  “The mixture is soft enough to grow potatoes, carrots and onions. Even though everything is frozen outside, we keep it a balmy seventy five degrees inside with blowers and sun lamps, and it’s so bright in there you can get a sunburn if you’re not careful.”

  “But where did you get the seeds?”

  “FEMA came through here after the first freeze was over passing out seeds and seed potatoes to anyone who wanted them. They wanted the farmers to start farming again and knew most of them couldn’t without seeds, so they were just giving them out right and left. And not just potatoes and carrots and onions, but tomatoes and squash and melons too. We grow everything we use here and have a lot left over.

  “Chickens eat darned near anything, so if we run out of chicken feed before the thaw comes we’ll plant one trailer with chicken feed and grow our own, and feed them all the food scraps from the diner as well.”

  “But you have steak and pork chops and bacon on the menu. You don’t raise livestock in those trailers too, do you?”

  “No. When Saris 7 struck the earth most of the ranchers in the area had high hay in their pastures and fields. The temperatures fell immediately, but the snow fell gradually. They had several weeks to cut as much grass and grains as they could and to store it for their livestock.

  “The dumb ones didn’t butcher most of their livestock. They tried to keep it all alive until they ran out of feed and their herds starved to death.

  “The smarter ones butchered most of their beef and hogs. Since it was cold, fr
eezing the meat was no problem and they were able to trade most of what they slaughtered to area farmers for truckloads of hay bales and bagged feed.

  “By slaughtering ninety percent of their livestock and keeping the other ten percent for breeding, they had less livestock to feed and enough feed to last them to the thaw. Then when the thaw came and they could get new grass, they were able to start growing their herds again.

  “The same thing happened this time. Although the second freeze came without warning, there was fresh grass in the pastures, fresh hay in the fields.

  “To get our meat we have deals with some of the area ranchers. One in particular provides me two hundred pounds of beef and two hundred pounds of pork every month. In exchange he gets four hundred free meals at my diner for him and his ranch hands.

  “It’s a win win. I provide meals for his family and his men; he provides meat for my paying customers.”

  “One question I have,” Frank asked, “Is how do you get all the power to light and heat your trailers? You must have a hell of an electricity bill every month.”

  “Nope. Not a dime. See, all my trailers have been triple insulated from the outside, and surrounded by skirting so there’s no draft underneath them. They’re powered by rolling diesel generators that were on two abandoned trailers at Jack’s truck stop. They were destined for big construction sites in south Texas, but now they belong to me instead.

  “And the best part is, the generators are powered by three diesel tankers, also abandoned at the truck stop, that Jack moved over here and parked next to the trailers. I won’t run out of fuel, even if this freeze goes on for another ten years.

  “Y’all eat up, now. Your eggs are getting cold. Would you like some homemade strawberry pie to go?”

  -41-

  While Josie and Frank were enjoying breakfast in a calm and tranquil setting, Johnny and Tina were enduring a different type of environment entirely.

  Since Tina panicked and shot Deputy Sonmore in the back, their stress levels maxed out and they were both in full-blown freak out mode.