WACO’S
LUMMOX
By
Waddie Greywolf
Chapter
28
Brick Armstrong
lay there for a few minutes like he was stunned; like a male rabbit
who, when he ejaculates, falls over into a dead faint. He felt
like a lump of flesh that was once an animal who now lay mortally
wounded by the side of the road, soon to become road kill. He
finally got his breath and remembered his young lover who just provided
him with the most fantastic feeling he’d experienced in six
years. He’d forgotten the ecstacy that was ejaculation. He
reached down with his strong arms and gently pulled Tim up to him so
they were laying face to face. He kissed him lovingly but with
firm conviction.
“How can I thank
you for that, Tim?” Brick whispered.
“You don’t have
to, Sir. I should be the one thanking you, Officer Brick.”
“No, no,
boy. I don’t think you understand. I ain’t come in over six
years. I forgot what it was like. Would those three little
words you wanted to hear a while ago be a start, Son?” Brick
whispered breathlessly.
“You don’t have
to, Brick, I know you love me.”
“You’re
right. I do. I. . . Love. . . You. . . Tim.” Brick
said the words separately as if to give each the greatest meaning.
“I’m glad,
Sir. You know I love you. I’d do anything for you, Brick.”
“I know you
would, Tim. I just don’t know if I can handle the responsibility
of someone loving me. When I became a Temple Guard I pretty much
gave up all responsibility to everyone, even myself, to live my life
only for the Holy Prophet. He tells all us guards he loves us,
but he ain’t never done nothing like that for me. My eyes have
been opened to other possibilities. I’m confused, Tim. I
gotta’ think about this.” Brick held the boy tightly.
“Look, Officer
Brick, I don’t wanna’ be the cause of you not going to heaven and
following your dream of serving the Holy Father for an eternity.
Even if you decide to take the final step, I won’t stop loving
you. There’s so much of you to love, I can make do with the rest
of you knowing you love me in return. Maybe in heaven God will
let you have another dick, and I can love you even better.”
“I don’t
know. The Holy Father preaches against men being with men, but he
tells us we have a special dispensation, because we’re children of the
living God and sheep of the Holy Father’s flock. I believe
everything he says, Tim. He’s a wonderful man, and I believe he
hears the voice of God, but you know what? I think I heard God’s
voice a while ago when you were suck’n on my dick. I heard a
voice as clear as day telling me to give you what you needed. It
told me it would put within me what you needed most at that very
moment. I think it was a miracle, Tim. Did you need me to
feed you my seed?”
“Oh, yes,
Officer Brick. I prayed to God the whole time I was suck’n on
your dick he’d let you reward me with your fine tasting seed. I
prayed he’d show me a sign you and me got something special what goes
beyond scripture or faith. I wanted something real, and you gave
it to me. I can still taste you. Best I ever had, Officer
Brick.”
“Not better than
the Holy Father’s.” Brick half asked.
Tim didn’t
answer but shook his head affirmative.
“Humm.” said
Brick. “You made me feel like a million bucks, Tim.”
“I’m glad,
Brick. I hope I can do it again for you.”
“I have to think
about it. Maybe the Devil is placing temptation before us.”
“If you heard
God’s voice, I don’t think it should be confused with the
Devil’s. I didn’t do what I done for you because the Devil made
me do it. I done it because I love you, Brick. If God is
love, then he had to be help’n me. At one time I could a’ sworn
he had his big hand on the back of my head just a’ pushing me down on
your dick to make me suck you harder and faster.”
“Maybe you’re
right. I ain’t real smart when it comes to think’n, Tim.
You’re a lot smarter’n me. About the only thing I know how to do
good is be a Temple Guard. I’m good at that.”
“Yes, you’re
very good. Maybe too good. All the slaves love you, and I’m
almost certain the Holy Father loves you, too.”
“You really
think so?”
“Yes, I’m afraid
so.” Tim answered reluctantly.
Tim knew if Dr.
Scudder really was fond of him, Tim could kiss Brick’s dick
goodbye. Who knows, maybe Tim just did? Tim heard they
didn’t actually remove the testes, they returned them to the original
cavities they dropped from in adolescence and secured them with
surgical saran. They would still produce a minimum of
testosterone; however, the increase in body heat would all but cancel
the production of motile spermatozoa. Without a vehicle to shoot
it into the uterus of a female, sperm became a moot point anyway.
The massive injections of steroids the guards were given on a regular
basis made the glands pretty much useless.
Unknown to Brick
and the other Temple Guards, included in their weekly shots of steroids
was a heavy castration drug that made erection and sexual penetration
almost impossible. That made Brick’s ejaculation all the more a
borderline miracle. The Holy Prophet didn’t have any problem with
his guards laying down with his Temple boys, but he was adamant they
would not lay with his Vestal Virgins.
“What about you,
Tim? You want me to suck you off now?”
“No, Sir.
I didn’t do it jes’ ‘cause I wanted you to return the favor. I
done it because I wanted to prove to you I love you.”
“I’ll do it for
you if you want me to, Tim.”
“Not this
time. Another time, perhaps. Okay?”
“Okay.
Whatever you think best, Tim.” Brick said almost like a child
acquiescing to an adult.
Brick was a good
ten years older than Tim. It made Tim stop and think, at eighteen
he was having to be the more mature person when it came to his
relationship with the big man. Brick was huge, but he was an
innocent. He was a simple man who was innately good hearted and
kind, but saw the world from the eyes and emotional maturity of a
twelve year old boy. Brick’s actual age was twenty-eight.
Tim wanted to
save himself from what he felt in his heart was wrong, but how could he
walk away and leave this innocent man behind; a man he idolized and had
come to love so deeply. To remove any part of a person’s body for
reasons of faith or piety was just simply wrong to Tim. The first
step to personal reform, rebellion or escape against the rages of
stupidity and blind faith is a kernel of doubt. The smallest seed
of a Banyan tree can grow to engulf the largest of religious edifices.
* * * * * * *
The separation
between rational humanist and fundamentalism grew larger and stronger;
however, the secular humanist were still in a greater majority than the
uber-right wing conservatives, but their time was limited. There
began great purges and trials against liberals who were tried in
kangaroo courts with less sympathy for truth or justice than the Salem
witch trials.
Unless a secular
humanist was in a critical position necessary to a community or the
theocratic regime, they were sent to one of the many detention camps to
work as slave laborers for large corporations who privatized the camps
early in the Bush administration. What was once a large majority
of Americans who still believed in democracy and the American dream of
liberty, justice and the pursuit of happiness was quickly being
replaced by hard core fascist right wing theocratic stooges.
Fundamentalists,
or Christian Mythologist as they came to be known were beginning to be
the new majority. They were no longer referred to by the left as
Christians, Christianist or Dominionist. As a severe backlash,
all Christians and Muslims were branded by the left as
“Mythologist.” They were placed in the same category as flat
Earthers, Earth centrist, and believers in the God’s of Greek mythology.
Scientist and
progressive humanist communities began to go underground. They
gave up the fight after Creationism became legislatively required
teaching in all major universities and colleges. They just
considered people who believed that way as part and parcel of a
primordial ooze of humanity that would, hopefully, one day, go the way
of the dinosaurs. The Creationist Mythologist lived and believe
as they were told without ever allowing a single creative thought or
doubt to enter their heads for their entire lives and died to be
forgotten as little more than compost for the ethos; sad lives lived in
quiet desperation, sometimes pumped with meaningless sound and fury
signifying nothing; unable to investigate or care beyond their blind
faith in a failed dogma about their sojourn on this planet.
Creation and the
grand experiment that is man was thought to be about the separation of
the better angels of man’s nature from the bad. According to most
philosophers there never was such a thing as the Devil. Evil was
seen as a purely rational function of nature as well as good; however,
when a higher order of creatures are contemplated there becomes a
greater distinction between the two as opposed to the order of the good
or evil as a reflection of the food chain.
Elephants, for
example, are at the very top of the food chain and yet they are
herbivores. They have highly developed, complex social structures
and have been proven to know the difference between right and wrong,
good and bad. They form tight family bonds and mutually care for
their young in family groups. They know about love and affection
and mourn their dead. They have long been suspected to be
interceptors and conduits of mass intelligence through the waves of
consciousness. Even the bible metaphorically expresses their
special place in a divine scheme of things in the book of Job.
The text of Job
(40:14-24) Behold now, behemoth, which I made (along) with you;
he eats grass as an ox. Observe, his strength is in his loins,
and his force is in the navel of his belly. He moves his tail
like a cedar: the sinews of his stones (testes) are wrapped
together. His bones (ivory) are as strong pieces of brass; his
bones are like bars of iron. He is the chief of the ways of God:
he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. (an
elephant can sense and understand the divine-force within all sentient
creatures and only those who recognize and honor their divine-force may
approach them without fear)
Surely the
mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field
play. He lies under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed,
and fens. (swamp land) The shady trees cover him with their
shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. Behold, he
drinks up a river, and hurries not: he trusts he can draw up Jordan
into his mouth. He takes it (in) with his eyes: his nose pierces
through snares. (an elephant's senses are more acute than the average
sentient creature making him ideal within the reason of wisdom)
How many
religions of Earth revere the elephant and give him a special place in
their concept of man’s spiritual relationship to a higher intelligence?
(The most
dastardly cut of all was the Creationistas who claimed the above
passage proved the existence of dinosaurs during the time of Job.
One would have to be stone stupid to take that description to be
other than an elephant or perhaps a wooly mammoth.)
There has been
speculation killer whales were once indiscriminate killers and would as
readily kill and eat a human as a seal; however, over the years many of
their kind were helped and nurtured by humans, legend has it, the word
was passed among their kind not to kill or eat humans any more.
There have been no recorded killings of humans by Orcas in many years,
and several instances of stranded swimmers being helped to shore by
them.
When a species
progresses to the level they understand a difference between good and
evil and have a choice, there remains the question, which will they
choose? Given free will, it was left to the individual.
Every man and reasoning sentient creature has the ability to make a
choice. The great experiment fared much better in some species
than others. It fared much better in some races of men than
others. In many, as in all of nature, it became equated with a
goodness or the development of a godlike gene. Not that those
containing the gene became actual gods, but rather became godlike in
their attitudes toward their kind and environment. In others, it
appealed to the more base element of their nature and triggered a
false-god gene that made them narrow their thinking to cull from them
anything their leaders deemed unworthy. They, for lack of a
better analogy, became the Judas goats for a condemned flock of
bleating brethren. It was a short trip from conversion to the
edge of the cliff.
The paradox was,
those who believed the most in blind faith and what they perceived as
worthy of worship, were not what the great experiment was about.
The voices of the elders of the universe remained stoic but persistent
in their eternal droning to convince sentient creatures to ‘do the
right thing’ by their specie, their planet and their responsibility to
their fellow species (including lesser animals) The winds of
consciousness drones on through many species and carries the dreams of
civilizations so vast, powerful and amazing the average human can only
begin to imagine. Man was standing at the threshold of a new
consciousness.
* * * * * * *
Abigail Yates
didn’t like her husband’s proclivity to dress in women’s
clothing. Even though he claimed to be totally straight and
devoted sexually to her there were nagging doubts in her mind she
couldn’t resolve. Being the wife of a man with such a sensitive
position in the community meant she couldn’t share her dismay with
anyone, not even her closest friends. They surely wouldn’t
understand, and the least word to the community would mean disaster and
quite probably the end of her world.
Abigail was
comfortable with her life and her position in the community. She
never really liked sex and after the first several years of gritting
her teeth and faking orgasms with her husband the fire began to dwindle
between them. To be honest, it dwindled with David; it was never
really there for Abigail. She tried to think of the last time
they had sex together. She couldn’t remember. Was it two,
no,. . . three years ago? She couldn’t be sure. She usually
marked it on a calender she kept on her desk as a social
reminder. She kept past years as a sort of diary of when things
happened for her and the church in general. She flipped back
through the pages for four years and there wasn’t an entry. She
felt some guilt at first; however, David never seemed to be the kind of
man who nagged her for sex or threw it up to her about their lack of
activity. She always wondered if he might have some interests on
the side, but they were always together. David never exhibited
any suspicious traits.
At first she
insisted he get rid of all his female clothes, his drag outfits she
heard such things called, but as time went on she thought if she went
nuclear on him, he might want more from her and at this point in their
marriage she didn’t know if she could even fake it any more. The
thought of laying with her own husband repulsed her so badly she
spent a morning in the bathroom being sick the last time he attempted
to penetrate her. There was one person she felt she could talk
with about it; although, she knew it wouldn’t be easy.
Abigail’s
mother, Vivian, was always somewhat of a rebel. Abigail never
felt close to her mother. She was closer to her dad, but they
never discussed anything of a personal nature. On the other hand,
her three older brothers worshiped Vivian and their dad. Vivian
never fully bought into the foursquare gospel church thing, and the
times her big cowboy husband, Sonny, got all misty eyed over the
prospects of a closer-walk-with-thee, she dragged his ass off to bed
and fucked his brains out. It always did the trick. Sonny
wasn’t about to give up what he had with the demon lady who shared his
bunk. Vivian dutifully attended church with her family, but
Abigail had seen her mother roll her eyes at more than one teaching of
the church.
Vivian was a
women who was raised in an educated Eastern liberal home, and according
to her family, married beneath her station in life. After her
graduation from Smith, on a trip one summer to visit relatives in the
badlands of Texas, Vivian met and fell in love with an outrageous rodeo
cowboy who could spin the biggest yarn, tell the tallest tales, rope,
ride, drink and shoot with the best of them. She never met a more
sexy, alive, vibrant, open, honest, vulnerable and loving bullshit
artist in her life. Her cowboy was the very essence of the
legendary ‘Pecos Bill.’ He even claimed he was raised on the
banks of the Rio Grande by a pack of wild coyotes and to this day they
still cry at night because he left his canis latrans family to marry
Vivian, his sweet ‘Slue-foot Sue.’
Vivian quickly
realized what and how much she wanted out of life, and with her cowboy
she got it all. She wasted no time telling her condescending
monied Eastern family to suck eggs. She would marry Sonny, have
his babies, as many as he wanted, then get down on her knees and
shamelessly beg him for more. Vivian didn’t marry just any
cowboy. She married Sonny Steele, one of the greatest all round
rodeo champion cowboys ever to grace a saddle.
Sonny was every
inch a man and a hell raiser of the first order. Along with his
buddies, the Linderman brothers, Sonny blazed trails of unbelievable
rodeo feats and bawdy actions that came to define the term ‘rodeo
cowboy’ for a couple of generations until the Christianist cowboy
movement of the late eighties and nineties, where every cowboy worth a
ride would jump down from a wild bronc or bull, fall to his knees and
praise the Lord. Most were neither real sure who the Lord was nor
what he was all about, but it was fashionable to do, it made a good
show, so they followed the rest of the herd. They became a
pabulum of sameness; one being little more than a clone of the
next. Few stood out the way Sonny did. Following the herd
has always been easier than thinking for one’s self, and mistakes
notwithstanding, being your own man.
Sonny rode
rough, high and handy until he met his little filly Vivian who
immediately put a very large ring though his nose, broke him to her
saddle, and firmly planted her red-hot brand on his cowboy butt.
The last of the wild stallions was hobbled and broke. In front of
his beloved pal, his bestest buddy, his devoted pony, ‘Widow-maker,’
Vivian lassoed Sonny’s heart and vowed never to return it. There
was no escape for poor Sonny,. . . not that he ever wanted to.
Sonny’s old dick drooled every damn time he got a whiff of Vivian’s
scent. She would send him into rut when his ‘rutter’ was all used
up. Sonny saw Vivian as the hell cat, cyclone he was destined to
rope and ride down hot, wet and hard until he either tamed her or rode
the life out of her.
Either way was
fine with him; however, as many times as she begged, for what she saw
as her final triumph over him, he would never let her ride his pony,
Widow-maker. There are just some things a cowboy keeps to
himself. In the case of his pony, it was for Vivian’s
protection. All the cowboys who knew Sonny well, believed
Widow-maker held a death grudge against Vivian for stealing his beloved
partner. Sonny claimed, and rightfully so, he didn’t own a lasso
that would reach all the way to the moon.
Vivian tamed him
just a bit and settled him down right nice, but not too much. She
never wanted to make a gentleman out of Sonny. She still got
goose bumps from Sonny’s wild, unpredictable nature. Like his
sex, Sonny was raw, vibrant and explosive, and that’s the way Vivian
loved him. Sonny kept Vivian and everyone he met on the cutting
edge of life. He was not a man to go quietly into his latter days
of age. Vivian tamed him just enough to raise a family and become
a more than moderately successful rancher. They had four
children, three buckaroos who were, for all practical purposes, dynamic
but not carbon copies of their dad, and a little girl the family
spoiled rotten they named Abigail.
Abigail’s mother
and cowboy dad had a thriving sex life from the time the were courting
and were still having unbridled, passionate sex daily well into their
later years. Abigail found religion early in life and latched
onto it like a drowning man clutches a lifeline tossed to him after
falling overboard from a ship. The church taught Abigail sex was
bad and dirty. It should only be done for procreation purposes
and certainly never, ever for pure lust or carnal enjoyment. It
was looked upon as a fast-track road to perdition.
When Abigail
found the courage to bring up the subject of her husband’s ‘problem’
with her mother it all tumbled out faster than she would’ve
liked. While she felt some relief she sat there feeling like she
just torpedoed her on boat. Her mother smiled, grinned wickedly,
then chuckled.
“Didn’t I tell
you there was something not right about that man?”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Do you think
your daddy and me have been exclusive with each other all these years?”
she asked Abigail in a teasing manner.
“Yes,
ma’am. I would never think you and daddy would do anything with
someone else.”
“Well, you’d be
mighty wrong, little sister.” Her mother laid at her feet.
Abigail hated it when her mother called her ‘little sister,’ it meant
she was being condescending to her.
“Don’t get me
wrong, your daddy is still the only cowboy for me. There’s just
something about that man’s brand of love’n I can’t never get me enough
of; still can’t today. He still git’s me hotter’n a freshly
fucked fox in a forest fire what’s jes’ drank six cups of coffee at the
height of summer. Why, I’d be ride’n high on that big saddle horn
of his three times a day and six times on Sunday if he’d let me.
I have never told your daddy ‘no’ in the fifty years we lived
together. Your brothers inherited their daddy’s randy gene, but
alas, daughter, you inherited your grandmother’s prissy gene. Why
I’ll bet the last time you spread your legs a dark cloud of moths flew
out.”
“Mother!
Really! Please, I didn’t come here to discuss sex, or be abused
by you. I came to you for motherly advice.”
“Don’t know why
you’re s’damn shy about sex, I never raised you that way. You
always was your daddy’s little girl. Then you found religion and
God help us. The rest of the family’s been on trial ever
since. Sonny always protected you with a vengeance. I told
him shielding you from the realities of the world would one day come
back to bite us in the butt, and sure enough, it has. Sex is a
part of nature, darlin,’ it’s all a part of life you church folks try
to keep hidden from one another. You try to pretend humans are
above the animals we live with by denying your natural urges or
suppressing them. No wonder them folks is so angry and warlike.
They ain’t got no other way of expressing their frustrations that one
good fuck would probably take care of. Why, you’re daddy’s down
to the barn right now, even as we speak, corn-hole’n three of his
cowboy-slaves to keep ‘em in line.”
“Mother!”
shouted Abigail in an indignant voice. “Daddy would never do anything
like that!”
Her mother
almost choked on her coffee and laughed out loud.
“He’s been doing
it for years, missy. He has a regular routine. He goes
through all his cowboy-slaves at least once a month. He missed a
couple of days last week due to the croup. He got a little behind
in his work. He’s making up for lost time insuring all his
cowboy-slaves gets fucked by him personally on a regular basis.
Keeps ‘em happy and working hard. You might say he’s getting a
lot more behind in his work this morning.” Vivian laughed at the
look on her prim and proper daughter’s face.
“Why do you tell
me such dreadful things, Mother? You always did try to shock me.”
“I keep
thinking, one of these days you’re gonna’ wake up and leave that dimwit
preacher, go out and find yourself a real man, a cowboy who would throw
his lasso around your ass and never let you go. One who would
make a real woman out of you and keep you knocked up with grand kids
for me and Sonny. When’s the last time you had sex with that
pervert? A year,. . . two? More?”
“Mother!
I’m not here to discuss my sex life with my husband.”
“Of course you
are! If he has to go around wearing women’s clothes to satisfy
something inside him you ain’t providing, then you better start looking
closer to home, honey. Sounds, to me, like you ain’t never gonna’
give me no grand children.”
“You got enough
grand kids from my brothers. They cost me and David a fortune
every year at Christmas and their birthdays.”
“Yep, we got us
an even dozen, but none from you. I guess it ain’t never gonna’
happen, so sounds like you got a decision to make. If you want
things to continue the way they been, you better consider a
compromise. You better let him have his dresses if you don’t
wanna’ put out for him or divorce him.”
“You always
could be so crude, Mother. I just don’t understand you. I
know you were raised better than that.”
“Better than
what? Better then them hypocrites you hobnob with in your
congregation? They’re the most sexually repressed people in the
world all in the name of a mythology no one in his right mind could
support with half a grain of reason, and you sit down right beside them
every Sunday, daughter, and believe the same life choking things they
do. I feel sorry for you. Sonny and I pray for you ever’
damn day, that one a’ these days you’ll see the light and dump that
silly self-righteous pervert. Ever’ damn time he smiles he
reminds me of a dog what suffers from corprophagia. I could tell
you a lot more about him, but I won’t. I’ll leave that up to
yore’ daddy. Since you won’t never talk about such things with
Sonny, and he’ll protect his ‘precious’ with his last breath, I guess
you’ll never find out.”
About that time,
Sonny walked in the screen door of the back porch and stomped his boots
to clean them on the old burlap feed sacks. He saw his precious
in the kitchen talking with her mother and went to embrace her.
Abigail could smell the telltale odors of ranch life on her dad and a
strong, unmistakable odor of male sex. She broke off their hug
and turned away from him. Sonny looked at Vivian, puzzled.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. Sonny got the message.
“You get them
slaves taken care of, cowboy?” Vivian pressed him.
“Yeah, all three
of ‘em. They kissed ma’ boots and told me it was the best I done
give ‘em in a while. They’s glad I’m over the croup. They
walked away with big smiles on their faces. They’ll be jes’ fine
for another month.” Sonny allowed. He could see Abigail
stiffen.
“Any left for
me, stud?” Vivian asked coquettishly and winked at Sonny.
“Ah, hell, yes,
darlin’! Gimme’ an hour after lunch, and I’ll take care a’ ma’ purtty
little heifer right good.”
“Well, yore’
little heifer could sure use a good romp in the pasture with her prize
bull
this afternoon, daddy.” Vivian played it to the hilt. She
stood and went to Sonny’s waiting arms. They embraced and Sonny
gently kissed her on the mouth. Abigail got up from her
chair. She was visibly shaken at her parent’s open expression of
affection.
“I guess I
better be getting on home, now.” she spoke quickly.
“Naw, I jes’
come in. Stay for lunch, darlin.’ Mrs. Harper always makes
more’n we can eat.” Sonny invited.
“No, daddy, I
gotta’ get on back. I got a meeting this afternoon with the
Women’s Temperance League.”
“Wish’t you
could stay for a while.” he urged.
“I just dropped
by to talk with mom about some things.”
“Well, come‘mon
back when you can, daughter.” Sonny went to hug and kiss her goodbye,
but Abigail was already to the door on her way out.
Disappointed,
Sonny turned to Vivian and grinned.
“What the hell
you done to her this time, woman?” he grinned knowingly.
Vivian giggled.
“David’s
dressing up in women’s clothes.” she said quietly.
“Lord God a’
mighty!” Sonny exclaimed as he slapped his knee with his hand and let
out a cowboy whoop Vivian knew Abigail must have heard on her way to
her SUV. “I know’d the day I done it, I never should a’
butt-fucked him.” Sonny lamented.
“No, that ain’t
it. You just should a’ never been s’damn good at it.”
Vivian roared with laugher. “Now it seems like all he wants to do is
learn to shimmy like his sister Kate!” Vivian barely could speak she
was laughing so hard at her own joke. She continued, “Now,
don’t chu' be going and feeling all guilty about it. It was him
what come upon you butt fuck’n Perry Reid down to the barn. You’s
jes’ taking care of old Perry like you do all your cowboy-slaves.
David wanted to see what it was like to be a slave and you showed
him. Lot’s of men take it up the butt, but they don’t feel the
need to wear women’s clothes. I think the good Reverend’s
problems go a lot deeper than one cowboy fuck.” Vivian assured
Sonny. Sonny wasn’t convinced.
“You think I
should take him aside and have a talk with him; you know, man to man
like.” Sonny offered sincerely.
“You know I give
up on them two a long time ago, Sonny. So, I ain’t the one to
ask. I go to their damn church and sit there week in and week out
listening to the hog swallop that fat-ass little moron preaches as
God’s holy word. Can’t tell you how many times I come home with a
bloody tongue or ma’ teeth hurt’n from grinding ‘em together.
What he git’s, he deserves, and ma’ daughter’s made her own bed, let
her lay in it. Do what your conscience tells you, daddy. As
long as you take care of the main heifer in yore’ barn, you know I’ll
follow you to the end’s of the Earth.”
“That far,
darlin’?” he asked stealing another kiss.
“Further,
cowboy, much further!” Vivian assure him. If she only knew how
much further she would one day follow her cowboy.
* * * * * * *
Abigail Yates
sat down with her husband, and as rationally as possible, told him he
could keep his women’s things in the old servant’s quarters on the back
of their double-car garage. He was not to bring them into the
house. If he felt the need, he could wear his things out there,
but only when she was gone for a couple of days at a time. She
would make arrangements to visit her family more often; however, under
no circumstances would she share her clothes or makeup with him.
He must buy his own things or let her know what he wanted, and she
would buy it for him. David agreed to all her terms, and couldn’t
wait for her to be gone. His chance finally came. He was
ready.
The Reverend
David W. Yates, the cross-dressing Baptist preacher, felt unsettled, a
little like a lidded pot rocking on the stove as it boiled (except his
wife only served dishes cooked in the microwave), for on the one hand
His Holiness graced him with a visit, but declined to grace his church
with a sermon, so to assuage his wounded pride, he twitched and
struggled into his new padded girdle until it was firmly around his
ample hips; then, as he turned this way and that, admiring his
reflection in the full length mirror, he began to hum the hymn ‘How
Firm a Foundation.’*
David’s cell
phone rang. He answered.
“Reverend
Yates?” the voice on the line was deep and sounded official.
“Speaking.”
David answered.
“This is Captain
Delbert Hawkins of his Holiness’ Temple Guards calling.”
“Yes, how is his
Holiness?” Pastor Yates tried to sound cordial.
“He’s fine and
sends his greetings. We have a request from his Holiness we’d
like to bring you personally. We’re in town. We’d like to
come to your house right away.” The man sounded urgent and not to
be put off.
“Uh, I’m in a
meeting right now. Could you meet me at my home in an hour?”
“We’ll be there,
Sir.” the man hung up before David could give him his
address. He assumed he probably already knew it, besides the
parsonage was right by the church, one of the biggest buildings in town.
David rushed
around cleaning off his makeup and putting his female clothes
away. He barely got everything done when the doorbell rang.
He checked everything in the mirror and was satisfied he got everything
off. He went to the door and opened it. He was unprepared
for the size of the two men who stood in his doorway. They were
huge. Not only were they huge in size, their muscles were
developed to the max. They wore their traditional leather clothes
with tall boots and leather cod piece pants. Although David told
himself he wasn’t a homosexual he couldn’t take his eyes off the men’s
crotches. They didn’t seem to notice. They were both so
used to other people staring at them the preacher’s gaze had little
effect on them.
“This is Sargent
Sven Olefson, Mr. Yates, and I’m Del Hawkins, Sir.”
David stuck out
his hand and shook the two men’s hands.
“Come in,
gentlemen.” Pastor Yates ushered the men into the living room,
and bid them sit down. They did but sat on the edge of the sofa
like they were uncomfortable.
“Can I get you
something to drink, gentlemen?” he offered.
“No thanks, we
can’t stay long, Mr. Yates.” Del said reaching for a briefcase by
his side. He sat it on the coffee table and undid the lid.
It flipped up and he brought out some documents.”
“His Holiness is
asking you to act as his representative in this community. He’d
interested in gaining the cooperation of the good folks here to donate
to his cause several of their young men for his stable of semi-vestal
virgins, and a couple for potential Palace Guards. If donations
are not forth coming he will gladly pay far more than the going rate
for slaves. I don’t think I need to remind you that a request
from the Holy Prophet is not to be taken lightly by you or the
townspeople.”
“Oh, no! I
wouldn’t, but I’m not sure about the town folks. We’re a small
community. There are no slaves I’m aware of currently for
sale. I don’t know of anyone who might even consider volunteering
to become a temple virgin or a guard, Mr. Hawkins.”
“Here’s a list
of names the Holy Prophet has provided. You are to contact their
parents, families, or owners in the case of slaves, and stress to them
the honor and privilege for one or more of their sons to be given into
the service of our Holy Prophet and the blessing it would be for them
and their children. They would be guaranteed a place in the new
kingdom either here on Earth or in
heaven.”
The Reverend
Yates quickly looked over the names, and they were all the boys he
introduced Dr. Scudder to the Friday night of the football game
including a couple he didn’t introduce him to.
“None of these
men’s families or owners are members of my church, Mr. Hawkins.”
“Then you must
go to them and their families and present to them his Holiness’
generous offer and request. There’s also totals for the amounts
the federal government would be willing to pay for these young men
listed beside their names. In a couple of cases the amounts are
quite generous; enough to make a family extremely wealthy.” urged
Captain Hawkins.
“But, . . . you
must explain to his Holiness, these men and their families are not the
kind you can buy for any price. These men have lived on their
land for generations and family is precious to them. Even their
slaves, I’m surprised to say, become part of their families.
Money has little or no import to them when it comes to family.
Their families and their bonds to them are considered their
wealth. There is no balance to that equation, Sir.”
“Nonsense!
Every man has a price.” Captain Hawkins said with firm finality.
“As a last resort you might remind them it would be unwise to have the
Holy Prophet disappointed with them because they blatantly refused to
share with him, when all he’s trying to do is give their children a
greater chance for salvation than others not so fortunate. All he
asks is a little graciousness and generosity on their part and everyone
will be happy.”
The young men’s
names, boys really, on the Prophet’s list were mostly relatives and
slaves of Charlie Goodnight and Lazarus Long except for two. One
slave listed was Stan Edmunds, the only other slave on the football
team who wasn’t a Goodnight man. Stan might as well have been
considered one of the Goodnight boys. Stan’s owners, the Blooms,
and Stan were in thick with the Grange and knew all the things the boys
knew. The Grange helped them many times over the past couple of
years and they were devoted members.
Stan was the
slave to a single couple, Ole and Hattie Bloom. He was more like
a son to them and lived in their house. They were poor folks, but
Stan loved Ole and Hattie and became the son to them they never could
have. He was a good kid. He willingly worked his ass off
for the Blooms to make their life better. They loved and took
good care of Stan in return. Now that Stan was in highschool and
a solid member of the football team, they couldn’t have been prouder of
him. They were a family and Stan was their slave in name only.
The other slave
listed for a position was Angus and Charlie’s younger brother,
Shane. He was listed for a position as a Temple Guard. The
preacher had to shudder to think what a life a man would have to live
to become a Temple Guard. He could see the blank look in the eyes
of the two men who brought him the Holy Prophet’s requests. To
him, they were little more than walking zombies who had their brains
washed, rinsed and spin dried so many times they were beginning to lose
their humanity.
Also on the list
was Waco and Blue Goodnight’s names. Yates couldn’t believe his
old friend would be so bold or so unreasonable as to attempt to take
away from a family and community two of their most important
heroes. It was not only unconscionable, it was down right
stupid. Yates only knew the rumored story of how Blue came to the
Goodnight ranch, but he knew he was close family. You only had to
look at the boy to see he was almost a double for Waco. The
family resemblance was more than a little remarkable.
The preacher
correctly saw himself being placed between a rock and a hard
place. How could he take the Holy Prophet’s message to men like
Charlie Goodnight and Lazarus Long and expect to have any kind of
dialogue? He wasn’t sure about the relationship between Goodnight
and Long, but he assumed from what he heard in the community it was a
close working relationship. He could understand that. Many
ranch foremen became close extensions of the owner’s family.
There was a bond which formed between men from day to day hard work
toward a common goal.
Yates didn’t
know how, but they managed to thwart one of his attempts at gaining a
foothold of control over them, but they sent him a strong warning if he
continued his aggressive posture, they would take him down with little
conscience. In his own perverted way, he kind of admired them for
their fortitude. The fact he had no conscience when it came to
them wasn’t important to him. What was most important to him was
power and control that he was so lacking in his personal life; however,
he knew he had been checked and mated by the men of the Grange.
They took a page from Teddy Roosevelt, ‘Walk softly and carry a bigger
stick.’ It served their purpose well against bullies like
Yates. Their bold actions put him in his place and served to
remind him just how little control he had in the community. He
hated himself and his sham of a life. Left with no choice, Yates
made up his mind to leave well enough alone and coexist with the Grange
on a MAD basis. (Mutually Assured Destruction)
He knew he
could, potentially, cause them all sorts of grief and fully intended to
start his campaign by using his church as his bully-pulpit when they
lobbed a pretty firm warning shot across his bow. He knew they
were not joking. They were deadly serious. He could be
ruined, but how was he going to approach them without being laughed
at? He needed counsel and he knew of no one in his congregation
he could turn to or trust; however, there just might be one man who
might give him some comfort and advice.
* * * * * * *
Scraps and Happy
came rushing into the house followed by their brood. The little
one’s were slower and not so sure footed as their parents but one by
one they made it through the doggie door and into the kitchen.
They dutifully lined up behind their parents. Ida looked down at
them and smiled. She knew Scraps and Happy well enough to know
they wouldn’t come bursting it through the doggie door unless something
was up.
“Is ramrod Long
here, Ms. Ida?” Scraps asked politely.
“Why, yes, he’s
in the front room having coffee with Mr. Goodnight.”
“Would you
please tell him we need to speak with him and Mr. Charlie?”
“I think you can
go on in, darling. I don’t think they’re real busy.”
“Thanks, Ms.
Ida.” Scraps replied and quickly headed for the living area
followed close behind by his family. He found Charlie and Lazarus
talking quietly and drinking coffee. They looked up to see the
dogs descend upon them.
“Fine looking
family you got there, Scraps.” Charlie laughed.
“Thanks, Mr.
Charlie. We just come from the ship. Mr. Cable sent us to
get you gentlemen. He said to tell you Kyron has intercepted some
information you will probably want to know about.”
“That’s
fine. We’re just about finished here. Since you seem to be
acting as messengers would you mind going back to the ship to let Cable
know we’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Sure thing,
Boss. C’mon Happy! C’mon kids, the exercise will do you
good.” Scraps barked at the pups. There was much scurrying and
thumping of little paws as they all headed out to the back porch and a
chorus of pups yelling ‘goodbye’ to Ida Mae on their way out. She
just shook her head and smiled. It never ceased to amaze her how
much joy could be packaged in six small bundles of fur.
Charlie and
Lazarus got to the ship and Kyron shared with them the Temple Guard’s
visit with the preacher. The robocams picked up every nuance of
their exchange and even got closeups of the documents as the preacher
was leafing through them. After the Temple Guards left the
parsonage, Kyron shut down the video.
“Thanks,
Kyron. You done good to notify us.” Lazarus spoke to the AI.
“Just doing my
job, Captain, but it’s nice to know my efforts are appreciated.”
“Can you believe
the arrogance of that piece of filth who calls himself a Holy Prophet?”
Charlie was more angry than Lazarus had ever seen him.
“Steady there,
cowboy. You’re right, of course, but anger ain’t gonna’ get us
nowhere. To be forewarned it to be forearmed. I’m just glad
I let the boys talk me into leaving them robocams on him.”
Lazarus tried to calm Charlie.
“Looks like he’s
still doing his dress up routine.” added Charlie.
“Just more fuel
for the bonfire.” shrugged Charlie. “Just remember, we’re in this
together. He’s after several of my boys as well.”
“I know, but
what can we do? He’s holding all the cards.”
“You ain’t
played much poker, have you pardner?” Lazarus grinned.
“Not a lot.”
Charlie admitted.
“Sometimes h’it
ain’t the cards you’re holding what counts, it’s the way you play
them. I wouldn’t be too worried about it. This could easily
blow up in his face. Damn, them sure were big men weren’t
they?” Lazarus made reference to the Temple Guards.
“Not much bigger
than ma’ little brother and his master.”
“Yeah, I’m sure
that’s why he’s on the list. The preacher was right about one
thing. Country folk’s family and people are more important to
them than money. I’d be willing to bet everything valuable in all
them cargo bays on the Mighty Bee (Lazarus’ nickname for the
Bandersnatch) the Bloom family would never consider selling their boy
Ed.”
“You’re right,
ramrod. I wouldn’t take that bet.”
“Didn’t we git a
feeler from one of the preacher’s in-laws a couple of weeks ago about
joining our Grange?” Lazarus asked Charlie.
“Yeah, we ain’t
had a chance to bring it up at a meeting, but they live in another
county about a hunner’t and thirty miles from us. Seems they been
hit awful damn hard by the Grays after our last stand at the Gibbon's
ranch. As a matter of fact all three of his brother-in-laws,
Matt, Mark, and Luke Steele all wanna’ join our Grange. They
applied for their daddy, too. Told me they couldn’t get nothing
going in their area.”
“Steele?
Steele? Where have I heard that name before?” Lazarus tried to
think.
“Their daddy is
an old rodeo buddy of Angus and mine when we was young men.”
“Not Sonny
Steele?” Lazarus asked.
“The very
same. Top all round cowboy seven years in a row. Back when
being a top hand meant something. You know him?”
“His
great-granddad and I grew up together. I knew his granddad and
his daddy as well. I delivered Sonny into this world. When
Sonny’s ma went into labor, he was too big for her to birth. His
momma was a tiny woman. I never did figure out why them huge
cowboys liked them tiny little women. Other than my mate, Sonny’s
dad was one of the biggest men I ever knew. It was like breeding
Waco’s pony Ranger with a Shetland pony female.
Back in them
days they knew about cut’n a baby out of a woman, but they did it only
to save the child, because the woman always died. She would die
anyway if the baby couldn’t get out. I was hiding out here on
Earth for a while and had my ship hidden in that area. I took her
to the ship and we beamed Sonny out of his mom and she survived.
I swore Sonny’s dad, mom and granddad to secrecy.”
“Damn, brother,
you do have a history in this area.” Charlie shook his head.
“I think we need
to take us a trip to visit with Mr. Sonny Steele and his boys.”
“I got
their phone number and their daddy’s number in the house. I might
be wrong, but last I heard their granddaddy was still alive and living
with their mom and dad.”
* * * * * * *
The men walked
back to the house and Lazarus dialed Sonny Steele’s phone number.
A lady answered.
“Vivian Steele.”
“Howdy, Mrs.
Steele, you don’t know me but my name is Lazarus Long. I’m ramrod
for Mr. Charlie Goodnight on his ranch over here in Reason
county. I believe your son’s, Matt, Mark and Luke, have applied
for membership in our Grange and applied for their dad, Mr. Sonny
Steele, as well. Is Mr. Steele in this morning, ma’am?”
“Why, yes Mr.
Long he’s sit’n right here at the table having breakfast with his
daddy. Would you like to speak with him?”
“I’d shore’
appreciate it, Mrs. Steele.” Lazarus heard Vivian Steele tell Sonny.
“Sonny there’s a
gentleman on the phone named Mr. Lazarus Long. Say’s he’s the
ramrod
for one of the Goodnight ranches in Reason county. Says the boys
applied for Grange membership for them and you. He wants to talk
with you about it.”
Lazarus heard
some dishes clatter and there was a brief commotion.
“Howdy, Mr.
Long. Excuse me just a minute. My dad had an
accident. He dropped his coffee mug and broke it.” There
was a brief moment went by.
“Mr. Long, ma’
dad wants to know if you’re related to another Lazarus Long who used to
live in our area many years ago.”
“You tell your
daddy I’m the same Lazarus Long he knew back then.”
There was
another commotion. “My dad just passed out. He’s gonna’ be
okay, but what’s going on here, Mr. Long?”
“Could Mr.
Goodnight and I drive down and speak with you and your boys this
morning?”
“Charlie or
Angus Goodnight, Mr. Long?”
“Charlie, Sir.”
“Damn, I ain’t
seen Charlie in years. I’d love to see him again. Excuse me
just a minute, Sir.” Lazarus heard him talking with his
dad. “Mr. Long and Charlie Goodnight want to come visit, Dad, and
speak to me and the boys about their Grange.”
“You tell him to
get his ass on down here as fast as he can!” Lazarus heard Warren G.
Steele tell his son. Lazarus smiled and winked at Charlie.
“Tell yore’
daddy I’m looking forward to seeing him again. Tell him we
developed that wonder drug we talked about all them years ago, and I’ll
bring some for him.”
“Will do, Mr.
Long. You tell ole Charlie I can’t wait to see him again.
See you in a couple of hours. I’ll have ma’ boys here.
Their ranches are adjacent ours.”
The men said
their ‘goodbyes’ and hung up. Sonny relayed ramrod Long’s message
to his dad and the old man got a knowing smile on his face and breathed
a deep sigh of relief like a man who just heard he was given a reprieve
from the governor. Sonny sat there looking at the color beginning
to return to his dad’s face. He wondered how his dad knew this
man. The old man was in his late nineties. He got a far
away look in his stone cold arctic blue eyes. They twinkled from
memories he was recalling from sixty-five years ago like they happened
only yesterday.
“Mr. Long didn’t
sound like he was yore’ age on the phone, dad.” Sonny stated.
“That’s ‘cause
he ain’t. He’s much older’n me.”
“No, no, I mean
he sounded younger, dad.”
“Figures.
He won’t look a day over forty.” smiled the old cowboy holding another
cup of coffee to his mouth.
“I don’t
understand, dad.” Sonny said.
“You will.
Trust me. All will be revealed soon enough. Lazarus Long
brought you into this world, Son. I watched that cowboy take you
from your mother. He saved her life. He’s the only reason
you had both a momma and a daddy to raise you. He made sure she
couldn’t have no more after you. I’s jes’ too big a man for yore’
momma.” Sonny didn’t ask any more. He knew when his dad
finished a conversation, he wouldn’t get another word out of him.
Vivian looked at Sonny and winked. She shook her head in
amazement and disbelief. Sonny stabbed another slice of ham with
his fork, helped himself to a couple more of Vivian’s hot cakes and
finished his breakfast.
* * * * * * *
Charlie drove
and Lazarus directed him. He knew exactly were the old Steele
homestead was. They pulled down the gravel road to the old ranch
house and saw the old man sitting on the front porch in a rocking
chair. Lazarus eyes started watering as he could see Warren’s ice
cold blue eyes still as intelligent and full of wonder as ever.
The old man stood as the others came from the house. Lazarus
bounded up the steps and took the old cowboy in his arms. He
threw caution and formality to he winds. He kissed Warren right
on the mouth and the old cowboy surprised his son and grandsons by
returning Lazarus kiss like it was his birthright. Lazarus broke
it off and stood there holding his old friend as they sobbed in each
others’ arms.
“H’it’s so damn
good to see you again, pardner.” Lazarus said softly.
“Never thought
I’d ever lay eyes on you again, Mr. Long. You’re shore’ a welcome
site for these tired old eyes.” Warren told him.
“Lazarus,
Son. I’m just Lazarus to you.”
Warren got
himself together and introduced Lazarus to his family. Charlie
had been busy getting reacquainted with Sonny, Vivian and their
boys. They went into the house and sat in the living room to talk
for a few minutes. Vivian had their slave-lady cook hold lunch
and invited Lazarus and Charlie to join them. Lazarus dropped his
saddle bags in the hallway of the big house. They joined the
family in their kitchen for lunch. Unless it’s a formal affair
country folks always eat in the kitchen. It’s the greatest
compliment to guest for them to be invited to share their common eating
area. It means they don’t have to put on airs because you’re
considered family.
After everyone
was served, Vivian dismissed the slave-lady, Mrs. Harper, and sent her
to her duplex she shared with an older lady who cleaned and helped out
sometimes in the kitchen. Rumors spread quickly among the slaves
if they overheard the slightest thing of an unusual nature.
Vivian had a feeling there would be things discussed over the table
Sonny wouldn’t want the slaves to know about. Lazarus and Charlie
made note of the cook’s dismissal. They didn’t talk about much
until she was gone.
“Did you really
bring me into this world, ramrod Long?” Sonny asked Lazarus.
“Ask your
daddy. I was the man what gave you your first spank’n.” Lazarus
laughed.
“He shore’ 'nuff
did and you let out a yell that would a’ made Johnny Reb proud.”
Laughed Warren and elbowed Lazarus gently in his ribs. Sonny’s
boys laughed at their dad and granddad.
“How come you
don’t look as old as granddad, Mr. Long?” Mark asked.
“Mark!” Vivian
chastised him for his arrogant question.
“It’s a
reasonable question, Mrs. Steele. You wanna’ tell him, Warren.”
“Lazarus Long
was a member of a family whose family name has all but been eradicated
from history. They were a specially designed and engineered
family who developed a longevity gene that gave them life spans far
longer than the average human. Folks who didn’t understand tried
for years to hunt them down like animals and destroy them because
they’s jealous. Lazarus is older than any of you can imagine.”
There was quiet
around the table.
“I have good
news, old friend, we isolated the gene, and now I can give it to anyone
who wants it. I brought some for you and your family if you
choose to accept it.”
“Have others
taken it?” Warren asked.
“I’ve had it,
and my son’s have had it. All my cowboy-slaves have had it.
My brother and his family. Almost all the family members of the
Grange have had it. Several of the Souix tribe including Chief
Tin Penny have had it. The Cheif was about your age when he got
his shot, now he looks half your age and has taken on a couple of new
wives.” reported Charlie. Everyone laughed.
“Has our
government developed this new age vaccine?” asked Luke. Warren
laughed.
“Naw, Lazarus
ain’t from our world, Son. He used to be. He grow’d up here
with my daddy, but he got captured by an alien race and spent many
years away from Earth. He came back for a while to hide out
here. That’s when my daddy introduced him to me and Sonny’s
mom. Yore’ momma’ would’ve died had it not been for this man.”
the old man spoke to Sonny. “He took Sarah on board his space ship and
he and three naked mechanical men beamed you out of her womb after
going up inside her with mechanical devices and cutting your
cord. I watched him do it. Sarah was just fine
afterward. She lived up until about five years ago,
Lazarus. Wish’t you could a got here a little sooner.”
Warren said sadly.
“Me, too,
cowboy, me, too. I didn’t get here until about two years
ago. I settled into them blue granite mountains on Mr.
Goodnight’s property and went to work for him for a pony and ma’
grub. He liked ma’ work and made me an offer I couldn’t
refuse. I became his foreman. I love my work and the folks
I’m living with.”
“You still got
them beautiful mechanical men, Lazarus?”
“Indeed, I
do. They’re over three hundred years old now and look the same as
when you knew ‘em. Other than an occasional tune up, lube and oil
change they’s still good as new.” Lazarus laughed. “They
were excited when they heard I relocated you. They’re anxious to
see you again.”
Warren seemed
pleased. “Got any kids, Lazarus?”
“Just had twin
boys with my mate, Arlen. You remember Arlen Jones, don’t
you? The cowboy almost big as you and Sonny?”
“Shore’ I
remember him. A fine buckaroo. You and him have twins with
one a them ape-men. Yore’ boy, the fine looking Lummox you
adopted, Garron? Was that his name?”
“Damn,
Warren! Ain’t nothing wrong with yore’ memory. Garron is
Waco Goodnight’s slave now. Waco calls him his 'Ox.' He’s
completely devoted to his young master. It weren’t Garron who
acted as a secondary birth parent for ma’ boys though. It was his
adopted dad here on Earth, a big Volgoron or Bigfoot as they’re called
on this planet. His name is Strom. He’s much bigger than my
boy and a fine looking critter. He carried our twins to term for
us after Arlen gave birth to them.”
“Wait a
minute. Men having babies with Bigfoot monsters?” Vivian asked
incredulously.
“At’s
right. I wouldn’t a’ believed it ma’self if’n I ain’t seen it
with ma’ own eyes.” Warren backed up Lazarus.
“I wouldn’t have
either, Mrs. Steele, less’n I’d witnessed the whole process.” Charlie
confirmed.
“I got me
another son, too.” continued Lazarus, “A real fine boy. One I
adopted as a slave whose daddy was gonna’ sell him for dog food.
He’s now one of our highschool football team’s star players along with
Mr. Goodnight’s boy Waco and his cousin Blue.”
“Lucas
Long? We seen him play in the last game; the one where the H.P.
came and caused such a stir. He’s damn good, Mr. Long, a fine
little athlete.” said Matt.
“Y’ain’t changed
a bit, Lazarus.” Warren smiled and said softly like he was
admiring his old friend.
“Would ju’ like
to see a video of your birth, Sonny?” Lazarus asked. Warren
almost fell out of his chair laughing. He knew what Lazarus was
up to.
“How could you
have videos of ma’ birth, Mr. Long?”
“Lazarus’ got
all sorts of technology we ain’t never heard of yet.” Warren told his
son.
Lazarus got his
saddle bags and took out a small holographic projector about the size
of a silver dollar and placed it in the middle of the table.
“You men ain’t
never seen this technology, but chore’ granddaddy has, right, Warren?”
“Is ‘zat one of
them there three-dee projectors, Lazarus?”
“You
remember. Good for you. Yes, it is. You remember
Kyron on board my ship, Warren? I asked him to prepare a special
disk for this occasion.”
Lazarus had
Kyron make up several vid-disks he brought along. He pressed a
button on the disk and a holographic, three dimensional picture sprang
up. Everyone was visibly shaken and moved slightly away from the
table. Warren was having a ball laughing at his family. He
relished the idea he wasn’t so old he knew a few things they didn’t.
“Why ain’t you
never told us you knew about these things, Dad?” Sonny asked in
awe.
“Would ju’ have
believed me?” The old man grinned at his boy. Vivian giggled and
pointed her finger at Sonny.
The first shot
was in the infirmary of the Bandersnatch. There was Lazarus and a
very young Warren with a big man standing behind him. Warren
sucked in air.
“Daddy.” he said
quietly.
“Is that our
great-granddad?” asked Sonny’s youngest boy Luke.
“It is, indeed,
Son.” Sonny answered in awe. “Damn, he looks like a double for
you Matt. Hell, all you boys look like him. He was a
handsome Devil, were’nee?” Sonny asked.
“I’ll say.”
volunteered Vivian. Then she giggled mischievously.
Laying on the
table was a very pregnant Sarah Steele. She was a tiny woman
compared to the men who surrounded her. She raised her hand to
someone they couldn’t see and into the camera range came a huge, furry
monster who gently took her hand, raised it to his mouth and lovingly
kissed it. A big smile came across the small woman’s face.
“Garron.” spoke
Warren softly as tears began to form in his eyes.
The video
continued and showed three fine looking, handsome naked men surrounding
the table along with Lazarus. You couldn’t see everything they
were doing, but when they were satisfied they cut the umbilical cord of
Sarah’s baby they moved away. Sarah lay there holding Warren’s
right hand with the big monster gently holding her other. They
watched as she was ballooned up one instant then completely deflated
the next. At that very instant a baby boy appeared on the table
next to her.
Lazarus and his
men surrounded the baby and were sucking muck from his nose and
checking everything. Lazarus picked him up by his heels and
gently smacked him on his little fanny. The baby jerked and
gasped for air at the same time. Then everyone jumped at the yell
the kid let out. Warren slapped his leg and fell over into
Lazarus’ arms laughing.
“You always did
have a set of lungs on you.” Warren said to Sonny.
“This is
amazing. I’m getting to see my own husband’s birth.” Vivian said
with awe.
The men in the
video carefully cleaned the baby boy and wrapped him in a soft
blanket. They handed the bundle to Sarah. She undid the
blanket and wept at the baby’s beauty. There wasn’t a dry eye in
the room. Even hard nosed old Sonny was shedding a few
tears. Vivian was beside herself. They were even more
amazed when Sarah handed the bundle in her arms to the smiling monster
who stood beside her. Garron took the
bundle, and gently held it to his breast. The baby didn’t need a
further invitation. He hooked up to the monster’s teat like it
was the fount of many blessings and began to suck with a
vengeance. One of the naked men brought a towel and gently dabbed
the
excess milk from the face and chin of the baby.
“You fed me
monster milk?!” Sonny asked his dad accusingly. He couldn’t
believe what he was seeing.
“Lummox
milk!"
Warren corrected his son, "Only the best for my boy.” Warren
grinned. “Lummox milk is the best milk in the universe, boy,
everyone knows that! Gave you a leg up on life. Put lead in
yore’ pencil, bullets in yore’ six-shooter and made you the cowboy you
is today. We was damn lucky to have Lazarus and Garron for
friends. He nursed you through several childhood diseases.”
Warren said with a mischievous giggle.
“Why am I
suddenly jealous?” Mark laughed.
“Yeah, me too,
brother!” Matthew added.
“Hell, count me
in on that, bubba!” Luke exploded. Everyone laughed.
“You know. . .
now that I think back . . . . I remember a big, furry, gentle monster
who used to come to me in my feverish dreams as a kid and feed me from
his teats. His milk tasted like sweetened condensed milk, almost
like ice cream before it’s frozen. I remember. . . I
remember him singing to me to take my pain and fever away. It
always worked. He didn’t sing words. I don’t think he could
speak, but I knew what he was thinking and his songs vibrated to the
bottom of my soul. It was like he was stirring up the healing
parts of my body to make it function to the best of its ability.
All these years I suppressed those images thinking I was either nutty
as a fruitcake, ate one too many mescal worms, or had an unnatural
desires to suck hairy men’s tits.”
“Mine ain’t
hairy, but maybe that’s why they’s sore all the time.” Vivian
offered. The men fell out laughing at her. Sonny blushed
bright red and winked at his wife. The video came to an end and Lazarus
ejected the disk from the small projector.
“Thanks for
that, Lazarus. They never would a’ believed me in a million
years. Why if’n I tried to tell ‘em any of that, they’d a’
slapped my tired old cowboy ass in a happy farm.” Warren roared
with laughter.
“You’re welcome,
pardner.” Lazarus grinned. “We understand you men wanna’
join our Grange. Is that right?” Lazarus asked the Steele
men.
“Yes, Sir, Mr.
Long. We’re losing cattle right and left. We know it’s
aliens what’s taking ‘em. We got videos and pictures of cow after
cow being abducted by them bastards, but the government or the sheriff
in our county won’t do nothing about it.”
“Maybe we can
help. I’ll show you men a brief video of how we handled our
own problem. Then, you can decide if you still wanna’ join us.
What you’re about to see is how we went about setting up and taking
care of our problem.”
There were
pictures of the men of different ranches preparing their bunkhouses and
hats with the antistatic material Lazarus provided them and explaining
what they were doing and why. Sonny and his boy’s mouth’s dropped
open and stayed that way until the old man laughed and told them to
close them. The video went all the way through showing Sam’s
weapons men shooting down the last alien ship over Ranger Gibbon’s
ranch and the Buttercup coming along to pick up the debris.
“Amazing!”
whispered Sonny. “And you ain’t been bothered since?”
“Not yet.
Once they lose a couple of ships they leave the area. I ain’t
saying they might not return, but it’s going on a year they ain’t been
back to our area. Probably ‘cause they jes’ moved on to your
area.”
The Steele
family wanted to join the Grange without question and filled out all
the application papers Lazarus and Charlie brought with them.
Lazarus told them they would present them to the next meeting and the
members would vote. If they’re approved, then they’re in the
Grange and they would work with them.
“However,
gentlemen, we need something from you in return.” Lazarus grinned.
“Name it,
ramrod!” Sonny spoke firmly.
“I got a couple
more videos for you to see.”
Lazarus put the
second disk into the projector and pressed the button. Up sprang
the preacher in all his drag glory admiring himself in his full length
mirror. There were giggles and groans went around the room.
Warren was mortified someone he was even remotely connected to looked
so ridiculous.
“Damnation, that
poor man makes and ugly woman, do’nee?” Sonny slapped his leg and fell
out laughing. His boys did, too. They obviously weren’t too
pleased with their brother-in-law.
“Lord help us
all. How can he lead people to God when he’s such a pervert?”
asked Vivian.
The video went
on and showed the Holy Prophet’s Temple Guards paying preacher Yates a
visit and the purpose of his visit. Sonny was devastated.
Vivian was livid.
“That worthless
son-of-a-bitch.” she ranted, “No wonder he paid an unexpected visit to
your town. It just so happened we went to the football game that
Friday night and saw that demented little pervert. This is awful
and to think, our son-in-law is a part of his plan.”
Lazarus told the
family about him preaching against the Grange and the Steele family
agreed they’d heard him say some terrible things about the
Grange. In fact, Mark spoke up and declared Reverend Yates'
speaking against
the Grange was the main reason he and his brothers decided to
join. Everyone laughed. Lazarus told how they sent the
preacher pictures of himself dressing up in drag, warning him if he
didn’t
cease and desist from speaking out against the Grange the photos would
be made public.
“How did you get
these videos and pictures, Mr. Long?” Sonny asked.
“Lazarus’ got
technology available to him we can only dream about, Son. My
guess is they’re a form of invisible robotic camera placed on him
around the clock.”
“Happy farm my
ass! Yore’ mind is as sharp as it ever was, cowboy.”
Lazarus confirmed Warren’s guess. He took his small com receiver
and punched in a number. Instantly three robo-cams appeared in
the air around Lazarus. The Steele family gasped. Lazarus
pushed another button and they were gone.
We have them on
all our family members for their safety and protection. In case
they get abducted or lost, we can easily find them. They’re great
for making videos of football games and compiling them for watching in
the future. Then there’s times when you have a particularly fine
time in the bunk with your partner you’d like to review at a later
date.” Lazarus said with a smile in his voice.
“When can we get
ours?” Vivian wanted to know. Her boys laughed at her.
Sonny didn’t. He grabbed her by the neck and planted a big one on
her.
“Now, to bring
you up to speed with what we’re up to, I brought along a fun video of
things what’s happening in our world.” Lazarus said in a lighter
mood.
Lazarus pressed
the button and once again the projector came alive. There were
videos of Keekepata which the men and Vivian fell in love with.
There were videos of the Kryscellians and their new vessel. There
were pictures of Ranger and Ping and Pong and their offspring.
There were videos of the new twins and Waco and Blue. They
couldn’t get over the likeness of the two boys. They also
commented on what a fine looking young cowboy Lucas Long was.
Last but not least, were videos of Happy giving birth to the six pups
and their progress all the way through them singing the A, B, C song
with the boys. The Steele family were laughing their ass’s off at
the pups and all said they wanted one including Vivian. She
thought they were wonderful and wanted to meet them before they were
all given away.
Lazarus gave his
old friend the long-shot and to his surprise the others wanted one,
too. He had the men drop their Wranglers, but he gave Vivian her
shot in the arm. Before they left, Lazarus made arrangements for Warren
to come to his ship to be checked out by his medical staff.
“You got a barn
near the house where you don’t have a lot of traffic from slaves,
Sonny?” Lazarus asked.
“You gonna’ set
up a gate, Lazarus?” Warren asked.
“I thought I
would if’n it’s all right with your boy, Warren.”
“A gate? A
gate to where?” Sonny asked without thinking.
“To Captain
Long’s ship, Son.” Warren explained.
“That’s gotta’
be a hunner’t and thirty miles away, Dad.”
“‘At’s right,
let him set it up, Son. Trust yore’ old man.”
“I trust you,
Dad. Sure, Mr. Long, we got a small barn we keep special
equipment in with several stalls. I keep it locked up most of the
time. It ain’t available to the hands unless I give ‘em a
key. C’mon, we’ll take you out there and show you.”
Sonny led the
family, Lazarus and Charlie to the newer, small barn. Lazarus sat
a gate terminal at the base of the first stall. The family was
impressed when the Earth shook as the ground for the gate found bedrock.
“Go ahead, old
friend. I checked before we left and the ship still has your DNA
on file.”
The old man
stepped up to the stall and hit his fist gently against the four by
four post next to where Lazarus set the terminal. The gate sprung
up and the family jumped back. Warren didn’t, he was expecting
it. He chuckled.
“Like old times,
Lazarus.” he smiled and winked at his friend.
“Better’n old
times, Warren. Go on ahead. We’ll follow. There’s
three naked men on the other side what are about to have a conniption
fit to see you.” Without hesitation, Warren walked though the
blue wall of the liquid-like plasma field and disappeared.
“Come,
friends. You may as well meet my staff.”
“Sonny took
Vivian’s hand and they walked through the gate. The boys followed
one by one and then Lazarus and Charlie walked through.
Warren was in
Cable’s arms crying and David and Jonathan were introducing themselves
to Sonny, Vivian and the Steele boys. Then Warren had to hug
David and Jonathan. In a couple of minutes all hell broke loose
as Scraps, Happy and the six pups came bounding into the area by way of
another gate. Everyone laughed and greeted them. The
pups couldn’t quite get Lazarus’ name right yet. He was ‘Wham-wad
Wong’ to them. Vivian thought that was charming. She had to
pet each pup and compliment Scraps and Happy on their family. The
big dogs wagged their entire body at the nice comments.
“Can they open a
gate themselves?” asked Luke.
“Oh, yeah.
It’s mostly Scraps responsibility, but Happy can open them if she needs
to. We ain’t let the pups do it yet for obvious reasons.”
Lazarus laughed.
The gate Scraps
and his family came through opened again, but this time two enormous
furry men in their full winter coats came through. The second one
was much bigger than the first; however, Warren didn’t have any trouble
recognizing his old buddy Garron. He was in his Lummox friend’s
arms in a flash, sobbing his heart out. Ox was petting the big
man and began to sing to him. Sonny got a strange look on his
face like he’d heard that song before. He went weak in his knees
and his two oldest boys caught him.
“They’re
amazing.” spoke Vivian quietly. “I always knew in my heart they
existed.” she said.
Warren broke off
from his hugging Garron, but was still holding his big paw in
his. He held out his other hand for Sonny to join them.
Sonny walked up to them.
“Garron, this is
my boy, Sonny, whom you nursed and help through some bad children’s
diseases.”
The big monster
smiled so sweetly at Sonny his heart melted and he knew he had to hug
the creature. His arms were around Ox and the two stood in an
embrace for the longest time as Ox sang to Sonny again. Vivian
was moved to tears. She never saw this side of her rugged cowboy
husband before, but she was grateful for the chance. Everyone was
introduced to the two creatures and were impressed by their gentleness
as well as their size.
“Now, I wanna’
see you back here, tomorrow morning, Warren. Mrs. Steele you come
with him or the three of you come together. I want my staff to
check him out, and it won’t hurt to have them look the two of you over
either.”
Sonny and Vivian
agreed. They stayed only a while and then Lazarus took them back
to their ranch. They left with no firm plan as to what to do
about Preacher Yates but Sonny said he wanted a chance to talk with
him. Maybe he could get him to say ‘no’ to the H.P. Lazarus
didn’t offer a solution. He figured it would work itself
out. Charlie and Lazarus said their ‘goodbyes’ and left the
ranch. They were back to the ranch before the boys got home from
school.
* * * * * * *
The Steele
family sat around the kitchen table having more dessert and
coffee. They talked quietly among themselves.
“Why is Lazarus
Long here, granddad?” Matthew asked.
“He told me he
hoped to return one day and get me and my family. I asked him
while we were on his ship if that’s why he was here? He said
‘yes’ and showed me a list of folk’s name to be carried away from this
world when the end comes. All our names were on his list except
two.” Everyone hung their heads. They didn’t need him to
tell them who the two people were.
“Then it’s
true. Our world is coming to an end.” Mark said as a
statement.
“Afeard so,
Son.” Warren confirmed. “I asked him when, and he said about
eight to ten years. He’s here to collect the people most likely
to do well on a new world and maybe return here someday after this
world is reestablished.”
“Is he sent from
God like the bible says?” Luke asked.
“No, Lazarus is
a man like you and me. He’s just being instructed by a higher
order of beings, but he ain’t one of them. He’s just doing what
they tell him. I trust him, and I trust them. I think, for
too many years, man has worshiped wrong ideas about what and who the
voices or spirits of the universe really are. They are nothing
more than advanced beings who are trying to save us from
ourselves. They see we’ve come to a crossroads, we need a helping
hand and they’re reaching out to help us so’s not all our specie will
be lost. Lazarus and I had many talks in the past. He
reminded me how the American Indians look upon the great spirits and
how they probably have a closer idea of their connection with them than
any organized religion today.”
There was a
great silence in the kitchen. Vivian sighed.
“Makes more
sense to me than a lot of things I’ve heard. I just ain’t never
been able to buy into the myth my son-in-law preaches. What he
espouses ain’t for the betterment of man, it’s for organized hatred,
power, greed and political control. Hell, they lost me with
Creationism. I’ve changed my mind, Sonny. I think you
should talk with him. We can’t let them men down. We can’t
let that bastard rip their families apart. If there’s the least
chance we can do or say something to make a difference we have to try.”
“Whatever you
decide, Dad, you know the three of us will back you up.” Matthew
spoke as the eldest son. The other two boys agreed with him
“Throw my lot
in with Vivian and the boys, too, Son. I’m ready to stand up to
that little tin plated despot even if it costs me my life.”
“Let’s hope it
don’t come to that, Dad, but I appreciate y'all's confidence.”
The phone
rang. Sonny answered.
“Steele
ranch. Sonny speaking. (pause) Howdy, Son. How are
you? (pause) No, no, we were jes’ sitting here
talking and having some pie and coffee. (pause) Sure,
what’s up? (pause) Tomorrow? Yeah, that’ll be
fine. We ain’t going nowhere. We’ll be around here most of
the day. If we know you’re coming we’ll make it a point to be
here. C’mon down. Look forward to seeing you.
(pause) Yeah, tomorrow afternoon is fine. (pause)
Well, I’m sure whatever it is we can work it out. See you
tomorrow. Plan on having supper with us. Drive
safely. (pause) You, too, Son. Goodbye.” Sonny
hung up the phone.
“It was
David. He sounds troubled. He wants to talk with me.”
“Good. At
least he’s coming to us.” Vivian allowed.
“Poor man.”
Warren said.
“I don’t know,
Granddad.” said Matthew, “I can’t feel much sympathy for a hypocrite.”
“You know how
your little sister can be, Matt.” Vivian looked at Sonny, and she
could see he set his jaw. “I kinda feel sorry for him myself, . .
. just a little.” Vivian added.
The boys never
felt closer to their parents and granddad. They acted like they
didn’t want to leave, but they did, one by one. They had a new
found reason for unity and some hope for the future. They had
just been given a shot that could possible prolong their lives ten fold
from what they ordinarily might live. It was a new world for them
to consider. It was a new beginning for their granddad who had
all but given up hope. He was making his peace with the universe
preparing to crossover, but now he was sure he would live to see his
great-grandchildren grow up.
* * * * * * *
“Do you think
they can make a difference?” Charlie asked Lazarus on the way
back.
“Don’t know, but
we were sent there for a reason, I’m sure of that. I think Sonny
has a strong influence over the preacher. Don’t know how or why,
but if he will listen to anyone, my bet is on Sonny.” Lazarus
said with conviction.
“‘At’s another
bet I wouldn’t make, ramrod. I think you may be right.”
* * * * * * *
As David drove
the hundred and thirty miles to his father and mother-in-law’s ranch he
thought of many things. Mostly he thought of the horrible
position his old friend and divinity school chum placed him in.
It just wasn’t right. It might have been if he had the power in
his community he planned on, but those efforts were destroyed by the
Grange. It sort of reminded him of the game ‘Battleships’ he
played as a kid. You had to outguess your enemy to sink his
ships. Somehow, they managed to outguess him and sink his whole
damn navy. How could they have done it? He struggled for an
explanation. Nothing came to him.
He wondered how
open he should be with Sonny. He had a strange affinity for the
big cowboy. He stupidly asked Sonny to butt fuck him one
afternoon after catching him servicing one of his cowboy-slaves.
David didn’t know what made him do it, but Sonny looked like he was
really enjoying fucking his slave and the slave had a wonderful smile
on his face like Sonny’s big cowboy dick was taking him to places of
ecstacy David could only dream about. David shocked himself when
he asked Sonny to show him how it felt to be his slave. He was
even more shocked when Sonny quickly agreed, didn’t bat and eye, told
him to drop his pants and bend over the fucking horse.
The cowboy
simply provided David with what he asked for. David didn’t want
to admit he enjoyed it, but he did. A couple of times he felt he
could understand the ecstacy the slave felt and found himself smiling
the same smile. He must have enjoyed it. It was the only
time he ever ejaculated without fucking his wife or manipulating
himself, which he rarely did, either. He almost wished Sonny had
chastised him and refused to do what he asked. Then he would, at
least, have some cushion for his guilt, but he had none. Sonny
never said a word to him other than to make sure he was all right after
he fucked him.
Sonny never said
a word about it afterward and never treated David as a homo or someone
he didn’t want to be around. Sonny was just as open and
affectionate to David as a cowboy can be to another man without seeming
to go overboard. He neither asked David for a rematch nor asked
David if he enjoyed it or how he felt about it. Sonny’s stoicism
was almost worse than him taking a firm stand, one way or
another. It was easier for David to deal with absolutes than
vagaries. He didn’t see religion or his participation as any form
of vagary.
On the contrary,
the rules were quite clear, while the dimensions, . . . not so
much. That’s why religion suited his life perfectly. He
could insist on the rules being followed while allowing himself to be
creative within the boundaries of his own unique visions. What he
preached didn’t necessarily have to apply to him. He had heard
the word ‘hypocrite’ but he easily dismissed it for himself as a
convenient non sequitur.
He arrived at
the ranch in the late afternoon. Sonny came out to greet him and
ushered him into the big house. David liked the house and the
kitchen in particular. He knew they had two female slaves who
cleaned and worked in the kitchen, but he also knew Vivian was a fine
cook and enjoyed cooking. The kitchen smelled of pickling spices
and apple pies. It was a heady brew and made his stomach
growl. Sonny noticed.
“Vivian gave the
slave-ladies the afternoon and night off. She’s cooking
supper. She went in to lay down for a spell and she’ll be down
later. Dad’s in his room reading the latest Farm and Ranch
magazine. We’ll eat in about an hour. Can you hold on that
long, Son.” Sonny sounded concerned David might be hungry.
“That’s fine,
Dad.” David said, “I had a late lunch but my stomach sometimes
has a mind of its own. I smelled all the goodness emanating from
the kitchen, and it went crazy for a minute.” he laughed.
“Wanna’ stiff
drink, a beer or something?” Sonny offered.
“No, thanks,
Sonny. I appreciate the offer though.”
“How ‘bout
taking a walk down to the pasture. It’s a warm evening and we can
talk.”
“Sounds great,
Dad.”
The men left the
house and started through the gate down through the pasture.
“Before I start,
Dad Steele, let me apologize to you.”
“Whatever for,
Son?” Sonny asked shocked.
“For asking you
to let me experience what it was like to be one of your slaves that
afternoon.”
“No apology
necessary. I enjoyed it. If I didn’t make you enjoy it,
then I weren’t doing my job right. Taking care of one of ma’
slaves ain’t about hurt’n ‘em. At first they might nor like it so
much, but most come to enjoy it and even look forward to it. The
better I am at taking care of ‘em, the more work I get out of ‘em.”
“No, no, I
actually did enjoy it, Sir. I know maybe I weren’t suppose to,
but I did. That didn’t come out right. Damn it! My
life is going to hell in a handbasket, and I go and blurt out something
like that! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t
offend me, David. I understand where you’re coming from. I
don’t judge you or condemn you for wanting to experience what you asked
me to do. I’m more concerned for you. I just done what you
asked of me. I thought you were all right with it, and I didn’t
never think no more about it. Weren’t no big thing with me.
I do it almost ever’ damn day. I either have a cowboy what needs
it and asks me for it or I take me one who I think needs it whether he
does or not.”
“I guess you
heard about my other ‘problem.’” David went fishing.
“Yeah, Abigail
told her momma and you know Viv and I ain’t got no secrets from one
another.”
“Well, I’m sorry
about that, too.”
“Look, Son, I’ve
run across ever’ damn thing you can imagine in life and I ain’t shocked
no more about nothing. Well, that ain’t totally true
neither. As a matter of fact, I ran across several new things
yesterday what shocked the shit out of this old cowboy, but that’s a
story for another time. What I’m trying to say is, I’ve learned
to live and let live and not judge other folks. You don’t have to
apologize to me. It eats ma’ heart out to say it, but I know my
precious little girl ain’t been the wife to you she probably should a’
been.”
“No, now don’t
say that, Dad Steele. Abigail is all I could hope for in a good
and faithful wife. What problems we have are all my fault.
I’m the one who ain’t no good, Sir. I wouldn’t blame her if she
wanted to divorce me.”
“Look, she don’t
know nothing about what went on between you and me and me and her
mother have decided she don’t never need to know. All you have to
deal with is your current situation. She don’t never talk with me
about such things no ways. She talks with her ma, but Vivian gets
so upset with her she won’t tell her nothing. Just take it one
day at a time, Son. Do what you need to do, but don’t drive
yore’self crazy about it. Hell, all of us got some things
we do we ain’t real proud of. Don’t mean we stop doing ‘em.
If you need what you do, then do it. Abigail will get over it and
adjust.”
David was
dumbstruck. He never counted on Sonny to be so
understanding. He thought he’d probably punch his lights
out. David found himself almost wishing he would. ‘How
perverted is that?’ he thought to himself. David felt safe with
Sonny. He felt like he could trust him. He could, but David
grossly underestimated his father-in-law. Sonny was far from
being the dumb, but gentle hayseed David took him for. Sonny just
set his trap and now David was about to take the bait. Sonny
could barely contain himself.
‘Wait for
it! Wait for it!’ he thought to himself.
“There’s a
couple of more things, Dad Steele. Somehow the members of the
Grange found out about my experiments in cross-dressing. I have
no idea how they did it, but they got photos of me dressed up.”
“That can’t be
good, Son.” Sonny commented like he saw the dilemma.
“I suspected
something of a demonic nature’s been going on out to the Goodnight
ranches under the guise of Grange meetings so I’ve been preaching about
what I felt was going on out there.”
“Do you have any
proof?”
“Naw, Sir.
Just speculation from things I’ve heard about how secretive they are
about everything.”
“In today's
world,
can you blame them?”
“Well, Sir, they
don’t attend our church and the church they attend is known as a weak
sister to the real faith.”
“Humm, so what
was the upshot of all this? How did you find out they got
photos?” Sonny already knew but he was reeling in the fish.
“They sent them
to me with a warning. I better stop speaking out against the
Grange or they would make the photos public.”
“What do you
plan to do about it?”
“There ain’t
nothing I can do about it. They sunk my battleship.” David
blurted out. Sonny wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but he got
the picture. “But that ain’t all, Sir.”
David went on to
tell Sonny about the visit from the Temple Guards and the request from
his old friend and divinity school chum. Sonny didn’t know David
went to school with the Holy Prophet.
“What do you
plan to do about it?” Sonny asked him.
“I don’t know,
Sir. That’s why I’m here. I need advice.”
Sonny sat down
on an old plow which was left to rust in the pasture years ago.
He never bothered to remove it because it belonged to his
great-granddad and had become a fixture of the landscape; like Sonny,
it looked like it belonged there; both, were a part of the land.
He offered for David to sit down next to him, and he did. They
sat there watching the sun go down. Sonny was tempted to tell
David what he must do, but he thought if he did, there was a good
chance it might offend the younger man’s ego and cause him to do the
opposite. This had to be David’s decision.
End Chapter 28 ~
Waco’s Lummox
Copyright 2007 ~
Waddie Greywolf
All Rights
Reserved ~
Mail to:
waddiebear@yahoo.com
* Thanks to my
friend and fellow author Jerry Leckie for this fine paragraph in honor
of the Bulwer-Lytton contest.