“When?”
“About four months ago,” she said. “Maybe five.”
Will didn’t like guns. He leaned strongly toward the conservative viewpoint politically but felt like the only guns the average person should own were shotguns or hunting rifles.
“You’ve kept that gun hidden from me that long?” he asked. Whisper just looked ahead as they walked. They didn’t speak again for about a mile.
“That was a good shot,” Will finally said, breaking the silence.
“It really was,” River blurted out, sounding a bit too excited.
“You really don’t think that he would have given it to me unless I proved I could use it properly, do you?” Whisper asked rhetorically.
“Remind me not to piss you off,” Will responded.
“I’m sure you’ll remember,” Whisper said as she reached over and slugged him on the shoulder. “I’d hate to shoot off your pinky toe.”
The trio walked quietly for the next couple of hours. Even Emma remained quiet as they made their way along the roadway and then near the highway. Instead of walking on the concrete freeway, they chose to stay near the feeder road where they weren’t quiet as obvious. The darkness of the night somewhat offered camouflage, but moonlight would have illuminated them if they were in the openness of the roadway.
As they passed businesses, they saw that people were boldly taking what they wanted. Flashlights shone in the darkness, pinpointing the jerks in the midst of their criminal activities. The roommates knew that as long as they were focused on looting, the criminals would probably ignore them.
By the time the sun began to rise in the east, the trio of travelers had made decent time and were approaching the Hwy. 69/96 split and Lumberton. To the left was the way to Whisper’s mother’s house. Knowing that there was nobody there and that she didn’t have her keys, they chose to keep right and continue their path to Silsbee.
“I sure am thirsty,” River said as they neared the split. “Maybe we can stop by the restaurant and find some water or Dr. Pepper.”
“I doubt it,” said Will. “If there wasn’t water pressure in Beaumont there probably won’t be any here.”
“We can stop at T-shirt Junction,” Whisper said. “My dad knows the lady that owns it; they’re good friends. I’m sure if she has any bottled water, she would let us have a drink. She’s a good person.”
“Think she’ll have any Dr. Pepper?” River asked. Whisper just shrugged her shoulders in response. She sure hoped she did, though.
As they walked, and the darkness crept away, new sounds filled their ears. Generators were whining in the distance. There were sounds similar to off-road motorcycles, or chain saws, it wasn’t clear which they were. They passed by the Methodist church and saw an older model car pass over the highway and onto a side road. A riding mower was running just ahead.
A few minutes more and they saw turned onto Church Loop and saw where the mower was. There was a blonde lady riding it. The lady was Ms. Barks, the lady they were looking for. As they approached the lady stopped the mower and looked sharply in their direction. It took a minute, but she soon recognized Whisper and grinned at her.
“Dang, girl,” she shouted as she climbed off the mower. “You sure are getting’ big. Where ya’ll headin’ this early of a mornin’? Takin’ a little walk, are ya?”
Whisper walked over to the lady and gave her a hug.
“It’s good to see you, Ms. Barks,” she said. “What are you doin’ cuttin’ grass with everything that’s going on?”
“Well,” said Ms. Barks, “it ain’t gonna cut itself. Ya’ll want some water? Ya’ll sure look parched.”
River walked up to the other two ladies and reached out her hand toward the strange lady. “Hi,” she said. “I’m River. Pleased to meet you Ms. Barks.”
The lady took the girl’s hand and shook it firmly. “Lynette,” she said. “Call me Lynette. I guess they ain’t that thirsty since they brought their own River with ‘em.”
By then Will had joined the group. “I’m thirsty,” he said. “I mean, I’m Will. My name is Will. And yes, we could use something to drink if you don’t mind.”
“Well,” Lynette said, “Ya’ll come on over to tha shop and let’s get you some water. Who’s this pretty girl?” She reached down and scratched Emma behind the ears as she wagged her tail enthusiastically.
“This is Emma,” Whisper introduced her four-legged friend. “She’s an excellent judge of character.”
The four humans, and the one dog, walked across the damp grass toward the small shop at the back of the property, hidden among a community of travel trailers. They all walked up onto the porch of the building and took a seat on an assortment of chairs. Lynette went inside and came back out shortly with a handful of bottled water.
As they drank their water and rested their tired legs, a young man walked toward the building across the slag driveway. He had a mid-sized red dog with him.
“You remember Damien, don’t you?” Lynette said to Whisper. “And that’s Mynew.”
The red dog bounded up the steps and joined Emma next to Whisper.
“Oh yea,” Whisper said. “Good to see you again.”
Will and River introduced themselves as Lynette and Whisper watched the dogs get acquainted.
“Ya’ll headin’ to Silsbee?” Damien asked as he grabbed one of the water bottles and quenched his thirst.
“Yea,” said Will. “Our apartment building burned to the ground a few hours ago and we figured it was time to leave Beaumont. We figured we’d go see my Baby’s dad for a few days.”
“Good idea,” Damien said. “It’ll probably be a lot safer the further you get from the city. People are startin’ to get crazy.”
“You’re tellin’ me,” said Will. “We almost got robbed on our way here. Good thing some people were prepared for something like that to happen.” He looked at Whisper and winked.
“Well,” Damien said, “I got Lynette’s old truck runnin’ a few minutes ago and I’m goin’ to be headin’ up to Fred to check up on some of our friends shortly. I can drop ya’ll off by there if you’d like.”
“Oh good,” said Lynette, “you finally got it runnin’. Is there enough gas in it to get there an back?”
“I’m sure there is,” Damien said. “I’m gonna siphon some out of Doug’s car to make sure there’s plenty. I don’t think he’ll be mad about it if he finds out.”
“I’ll give you a hand with that,” Will offered. “It’s the least I can do if you’re gonna give us a ride.”
The two men got up and walked off the porch, leaving Mynew to play with her new friend.
“Now ain’t it strange how things always tend to work out,” Lynette said as the men walked away. “That boy’s been workin on that truck two days an he gets it fixed at the right time to give a pretty girl and her friends a ride. Tell me God don’t work miracles.”
“Whatever it is,” Whisper said, “I’m certainly glad things worked out the way they did. I really wasn’t looking forward to walking all day.”
“Amen, sister,” River said. “I get tired walking to the bathroom.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Lynette added.
Within the next 30 minutes, Damien and Will had siphoned enough fuel to completely fill the tank of the old pickup truck. River climbed into the passenger seat. Whisper and Will decided to ride in the back. Lynette gave each girl a kiss and a hug before they loaded up. She also gave them each a full bottle of water for the road.
“You tell your daddy I said hello and to take care of his beautiful daughter,” Lynette said as Damien climbed in the driver seat. “I’ll be out to see ya’ll sooner or later, as soon as things calm down a bit. Take care kids.”
“Thank you, Ms. Barks,” Whisper said. “You don’t know how much we appreciate you.”
The motor of the truck roared to life and the truck slowly drove away from the shop. Lynette stood on the porch and waved as they went out of sight. She t
hen walked back to the riding mower, started it up and resumed cutting her grass with a smile on her face.
Chapter 13
A new dawn, a new day
Harold made a final round along the back pasture before walking back toward the house. He had seen that Roxie was stoking up the fire in the pit where she could start cooking for the small group. Coming around by the barn, he saw that the sun was beginning to rise.
It really didn’t register, but Harold did not hear the sound of the generator at the house. If he had, it would have drowned out the faint sound of a diesel motor in the distance. As he walked past the tater shed and approached the fenced-in backyard, the sound grew stronger.
“Sounds like a tractor,” Roxie said when she saw Harold come through the back gate. “It’s getting’ closer, too.” She held out Harold’s freshly filled coffee cup toward him and nodded.
The door of the storage building creaked open and Tommy stepped out, stretching and cracking his joints. “Do I smell coffee?” he asked.
“Come get a cup,” Roxie said.
Harold sat down his cup on the ledge of the water well and headed back out the gate to check out the source of the sound. Tommy followed behind him. Ellen came out of the building with her cup in hand.
By the time the two men walked around to the front of the house John was standing on the front porch with his crossbow leaning against a post. They all looked down the road and saw an old farm tractor make the turn pulling a loaded lowboy trailer behind it. It was hard to tell who was on the tractor given the limited early morning light.
In just a minute, the tractor pulled up in front of the house and came to a stop. Harold recognized the driver and walked over to him and extended his hand. The man switched off the engine. John relaxed a bit.
“Good to see you, Kenneth,” he said. “How was the drive over?”
Kenneth took Harold’s hand in his and smiled as he shook. “It was interestin’, to say the least,” He said. “Is my ol’ lady here?”
“Roxie’s around back,” Harold answered. “There’s a fresh pot of coffee, too.”
“I was hopin’ you’d say that,” Kenneth said as he climbed off his tractor and headed around the side of the house.
Inside the house someone was shouting. Intensely. Harold rushed inside, following closely behind John. They instantly knew the shouting was coming from the mancave, where Loretta and Bear had slept.
“You pig,” Beetle screamed. “How could you?”
The men made their way through the house quickly, though it was quite dark inside. There was s dim light shining in the mancave. The crowded the doorway from the kitchen and saw that Beetle was standing over her brother with some trash in her hands. She was not a happy camper.
“What tha hell?” Bear said as he stared wide-eyed at the slender girl above him.
“How much food did you take?” Beetle shouted as she threw the trash in Bear’s face.
Harold made his way into the room and grabbed Beetle around the waist. He pulled her a few feet back and positioned himself between the siblings. He then turned himself to where Bear still lay on the cot. There were two empty cereal boxes and several plastic wrappers around him.
“What’s up, Bear?” Harold asked. He could see that there was something going on that he did not like.
“I was hungry,” Bear answered. “I just had a snack or two.”
“A snack or two?” Beetle screamed as she tried to get around Harold. He blocked her. “You ate enough to feed those kids for three days! All of ‘em!”
Loretta sighed from her place on the other side of the room. “Bear,” she whimpered, “What’ve you done?”
The small room was quickly beginning to fill as people came to see what was going on. All eyes were on Bear.
“What?” he asked. “It ain’t such a big deal.”
“It’s a big deal,” Jake interjected. “You know how tight the food situation is, but you went ahead and ate all that? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Yea, Dude, it’s a big deal,” Harold said. “I can’t just let this one slide by. There has to be consequence for this. You really messed up this time.”
“He’s gotta’ go,” John said. “Do we really want to keep feedin’ a thief?”
“No, guys,” Loretta said in her son’s defense. “Don’t make him leave. He was just hungry.”
“Everybody’s hungry, Mama,” Beetle said. “Nobody else is stealin’ food, though. Everybody has to earn their right to be here. He earned his right to leave. Right, Uncle Harold?”
Everybody looked over to Harold. He stood there for a few seconds in silence.
“You’re right,” he finally spoke. He then turned to look at Bear. “We’re gonna’ take a vote here. It’s up to everyone in this room to decide what happens next. You’re family, but nobody has a right to take things that don’t belong to them, especially when it impacts everyone else.”
Bear looked around the room. He knew his butt was toast.
“Ya’ll can’t just kick us out on the street,” Loretta said.
“Nobody’s kickin’ you out, Loretta,” Harold said. “This isn’t about you. It’s about him. Unless you were a part of it?”
“No,” Loretta quickly replied. “I didn’t know. But he’s my baby.”
“Then you can go with him if you want to,” Jake said. “My vote is that he has to go. What you do is up to you.”
“I agree,” said John.
“Me, too,” Tommy said. Ellen stood in the doorway nodding.
“I ain’t cookin’ for him again,” Roxie said. “I vote with the rest.”
Harold looked around the room. Everyone was nodding in agreement.
“I guess the group has made a decision, then,” He said looking directly at Bear. “You need to get up, get your things together, and find another place to be. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
Loretta was heartbroken.
“You don’t have to go, Mama,” Beetle said as she wrapped her arm around her. “You didn’t do anything wrong. He made his own bed and he has to lay in it.”
“Well piss on all of ya’ll,” Bear said in a huff. “I ain’t gonna stay anywhere I ain’t wanted. C’mon Mama. Let’s go.”
Loretta looked at her son. She then looked at her daughter. She leaned into her hug and began to cry.
“Let’s go, Mama,” Bear said insistently. He clumsily stood up and grabbed Loretta by the hand, trying to pull her up.
“I’m stayin’ here,” Loretta said, looking up to her son.
“You ain’t choosin’ that bitch over yer own flesh and blood,” Bear said through clenched teeth.
Harold stepped between the mother and son. “She said she wasn’t goin’ with you, Cuz,” he said to Bear. “I think you need to let go of her and be on your way.”
Bear stood there a few seconds, staring Harold down. “This ain’t tha end of this,” he said intensely. A few seconds later he released his mother’s hand.
“Yes it is,” Harold said. “Time to go.”
Bear took one last look around the room, only to see everyone staring at him with not-too-friendly looks on their faces. “Ya’ll gone be sorry,” he said as he reached down and retrieved his hat from the floor. He then slipped his shoes on and walked out the door. Several people followed him and followed him outside and to the riding mower he had arrived on.
“Ya ain’t getting’ yer wheelchair back,” he shouted spitefully as he climbed on the lawn mower and started it up. The small crowd of people followed the mower down the driveway and watched it slowly drive away down the road, pulling the wheelchair behind it. Bear continued shouting as the mower faded out of sight. Nobody could understand a word over the sound of the mower, though.
Inside Beetle comforted her mother.
“You made the right choice by stayin’ here,” she said. “It’s gonna’ get bad in this world if you don’t have people you can trust to watch your back.”
“That ain’t wh
y I stayed,” Loretta said. ‘What Bear did was wrong. I’ve covered for him too many times. It was either leave with him or stay here with you. I couldn’t leave you again. You’re my baby girl.”
“Awww, Mama,” Beetle replied.
“I know I might not be the best mama in the world,” Loretta said, “and I know I ain’t really a nice person most of the time. One thang is sure, though. I love you, baby, and have ever since I first laid eyes on you. I gave birth to Bear so I gotta love him. I choose to love you.”
Beetle had tears running down her cheeks by the time her mama finished talking. “I love you, too, Mama,” she whispered as she kissed her cheek and laid a huge hug on her.
Things outside somewhat settled down after Bear was out of sight. Most everyone met at the fire pit to drink a cup of coffee and discuss plans for the day as Roxie whipped up a batch of pancake batter and started making breakfast. Tommy and Ellen went out to the barn to milk the cows and goats. They figured it would give them a chance to decide how to set up the barn to live in.
Beetle went outside and grabbed a cup of coffee for Loretta. She was accompanied by Victoria, who was focused on getting coffee for her and her mom. Arlene was not someone you wanted to mess with until she had her morning caffeine. Just ask any of her daughters.
Allie and Ashlyn herded their munchkins outside to try and find some breakfast for them. They chatted among themselves about how early the kids were waking up compared to before. You had to drag them out of bed this early to go to school, but with no school they were dragging the parents out of bed.
It was disappointing to learn about all the cereal being eaten, especially since all four kids were expecting a bowl for breakfast. Seeing that Roxie was fixing pancakes (with little pieces of chocolate and dehydrated strawberries in them and a generous serving of Cantaberry syrup covering them) quickly convinced the kids that it wasn’t so bad not having cereal.
The women and children seemed to all be enjoying each other’s company. Laughter filled the air. Harold stood by the well, sipping his coffee and appreciating the atmosphere. He knew things had been tense the past couple of days and took it as a good sign that everyone was coming together and creating a new village among themselves.
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