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Post by Ozarks Tom on Oct 25, 2021 1:33:41 GMT
Not to intrude on a wonderful story, but this last chapter reminds me starkly of what my mother revealed to me when I was about 14 years old. When I was about 4 years old we were living well out in the country north of Minneapolis. She'd gotten into some poison ivy, to the point where her vascular system was impinged. Back in those days doctors made house calls, so the doctor came out with his nurse to treat her. She was on the verge of shutting down when the doctor told his nurse to load a syringe with adrenaline, but the nurse loaded it with insulin. She went into insulin shock and died. Realizing the mistake, the doctor punched a needle of adrenaline into her heart and got it going again. She lived another 43 years.
She told me what she experienced in those moments she'd died. She followed the light to where she met her mother who'd died when she was 5 years old, and a couple aunts she'd loved but had died earlier too. She felt warmth and love, and looked forward to being with those she loved and loved her, but they told her it was time for her to go back, and she did.
She wasn't a boisterous Christian, wasn't evangelical at all, but had a calm about her when she was dying of pancreatic cancer that can only be described as almost a joy in expectation. She had no reason to tell me her experience when I was a teenager, maybe other than reinforce that there's a much greater unknown power who loves us.
I was there when it happened, but being so young I had no idea what was going on. I remember the shouting and recrimination, the relief, and her getting up when my sisters came home from school on the rural bus.
So yes Bret, your story is spot on.
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Post by bretf on Oct 25, 2021 18:18:50 GMT
Epilogue
“Kevin, c’mon, you’ve got to wake up.”
Kevin rolled away from the offending hand. He wanted to sleep and ride the dream he was in as far as he could. The dream world he’d been immersed in was very pleasant. But the hand wouldn’t allow it.
“C’mon, wake up, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. He smiled and groaned as the dream vanished. “That was a good dream. I wasn’t alone anymore. I had a loving wife. She let me sleep in and brought me breakfast in bed.”
“Ha! So just what do you consider me? And the last year?”
Kevin smiled. “You’re better than a dream, darling. A lot better.”
“You too. But now you’ve gotta get up. Cindy has been calling and calling. She wants you to come and use your strong hands on her enlarged anatomical features.”
Kevin sighed and shook his head. “I never should’ve told you that story.”
“But it’s such a good one.”
“Whatever. But speaking of,” he said and raised his eyebrows, “she can wait and you’re right here.”
“Sorry, sweetheart. It’ll have to wait for later. I’ve got breakfast going. And even if you want it in bed, you’ve got to go do the deed with Cindy, first. She won’t let up until she feels your sweet caresses.”
Kevin chuckled. “I guess there’s no getting out of it, is there?”
“Nope, and just remember, you brought it all on yourself.”
Kevin sighed and got out of bed. The cat that’d been pressed against his legs let out a disgruntled meow at being disturbed, but settled back into the comforter. It was easier to rise than was often the case. Jack and Jill weren’t beside the bed to greet him. They were supervising the breakfast prep, willing to clean up any spills. It allowed him to rise without being mugged by flashing tongues. Following a trip to the bathroom, he dressed and went to the kitchen. His bride smiled and handed him a steaming coffee cup. He sipped and then set it down, only to have her hand him a bucket with warm water in it.
“On your way, now, and I’ll finish breakfast while you take care of Cindy. Oh, by the way, the neighbors invited us over for a barbeque this afternoon to celebrate our anniversary and them getting such a nice home.”
“Do you want to go do something just the two of us instead? This is the only first anniversary we’ll get,” Kevin said.
“Yeah, but we’ll get all the other ones after this. It’s an important day for them, too. Now get out there so we can eat.”
Kevin smiled and pushed the screen door open. Looking back, he saw Jack and Jill wouldn’t be joining him. Not when there was a chance of a snack. “Traitors,” he said.
He walked to the recently erected goat barn. Missy, his milk goat waited impatiently, her udder full. “Okay, girl, I’m here. But I’m starting to wonder if I need to rename you. My darling wife refuses to call you Missy. Ever since I told her a story, you’ll always be Cindy in her view.”
Kevin poured grain into the feed box, locked Missy-Cindy into the stanchion, and settled down for the morning milking. Or in his wife’s terminology, using his strong hands on her enlarged anatomical features. As he did, he recalled the crazy events that’d transpired, ending with him being married.
#
Kevin slowly regained awareness. He was in a bed with tubes and wires running everywhere, all attached to or poking him. An out-of-view machine behind him made irritating noises, including clicks accompanied by a feeling of bliss. He wasn’t sure what it meant or where he was.
A woman appeared beside his bed, masked, and wearing hospital scrubs. She looked at the obnoxious machine, poked some buttons and caused it to whir, paused, and then leaned over him. “Welcome back, Mister Andrews. You’ve caused a lot of teeth-gnashing from our staff and your friends. It’s good to see you coming back to us.”
He tried to speak but couldn’t.
“It’s alright Mister Andrews. Now that you’re awake, we’ll pull that tube. But I have to tell you, your throat will feel pretty raw for a while. Now hang tough while I get the doctor.”
Hang tough? As if I can move. Kevin stared at the ceiling, trying to arrange his muddled thoughts. They wouldn’t come together.
The machine clicked and Kevin drifted.
#
The next time Kevin saw the nurse, that he was coherent enough to register anyway, she carried a newspaper. Turning it to face him, he saw a bold headline: FOUR KILLED IN POLICE SHOOTOUT.
“You’re famous. You made the front page,” she said.
“I wish I hadn’t.” Kevin studied the headline and thought. There’d been seven people in the house, that he knew of, anyway. Five thugs, him, and Tammy. “Who was killed, does it say?” His chest tightened. Was Tammy one of the dead?
The nurse turned the paper back and looked closely at the news story. “Okay, it appears it was three men and a woman.”
Kevin’s chest tightened more. The machine behind him made noise, indecipherable to him. “The woman? Who was she?” he croaked.
“Oh, let me see. Wow, she was a busy lady. She had several drug busts, both for using and distributing.”
Kevin recalled the night he’d been in The Watering Hole and witnessed Tammy selling dope. Dang, she was worse than I imagined. But why’d she do what she did when her family showed up? Realizing the nurse was still talking while his mind drifted, he said, “I’m sorry, I missed that part.”
“Then she had some arrests for prostitution. Yes, a very active lady. At the time of her death, she was working as a stripper and was suspected of selling dope in the club she worked at.”
He perked up. “Stripper?” he asked.
“Yes, and there’s a photo of her. She was a looker. She must’ve done well as a hooker and stripper both. Did you know her?” the nurse asked, turning the paper and showing Kevin.
It was Cindy, not Tammy. He breathed a heavy sigh. “A little. What a wasted life.”
“It appears so. And the men, now they were some real hard-cases. First class losers. They all had extensive arrest records and spent quite a bit of time in prison. And this one guy, man, prison sure didn’t rehabilitate him. It says he was killed on the very day he was released. His name was Jack Randall. The other two were Dwight Anderson and Robbie Thompson. Did you know them, too?”
So Randall was dead. Good! And the other two must’ve been Thug One and Thug Two. “We had run-ins. Does it say anything else about another woman, Tammy Brown? Or a guy named Charley?”
“It says two people suffered critical wounds. That would be you and Charley. I’ve seen him. Unless something unexpected happens, he’ll recover so he can spend the rest of his life in prison. But no Tammy Brown. It does say, however, that two officers received non-life threatening injuries.
“Also, the police are going to make a wide sweep of other people implicated in the drug ring.”
Kevin missed her last statement. He was stuck on the part of officers. “Officer? Was Tammy an officer? The machine clicked. The feeling of bliss washed over him and his mind drifted into nothingness.
#
“Oh, Kev. Thank God. How’re you feeling?” Mindful of the IV tube in his wrist, Tammy grasped his hand.
“Tammy? What, I, where, why’s your arm in a sling? What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Tammy wiped the tears away. “What do you remember?”
“Randall,” he rasped. Staring at her, more came back. “And, oh, yeah.” His face fell.
It was hard to read her with the mask required by Covid protocols but her eyes showed pain. “I need to explain some things to you. How doped up are you? Can you think and process what I tell you?”
“I think so, but Tammy, you, him, Cindy?”
“Yeah. So first thing, don’t take any more of those pain meds than you absolutely have to. I know you’re tough, so please, limit them. If you don’t, prepare for me to kick your butt until you do. They’re highly addictive. That’s where this story begins.”
“Wait. Before you get into it, where’re Jack and Jill? Are they alright?”
“They’re staying with me. They’re fine.”
“But, but they never liked you,” Kevin said.
Tammy shot him a rueful smile. It was concealed by her mask. “You know, I wasn’t exactly fond of them either. I always told you I was a cat person. My cats lay on me at home and I must’ve smelled just like them to your dogs. But now that Jack and Jill have met the cats and we’ve spent quite a bit of time together, we’re doing alright together.”
“Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“Yes, really. Although, my cats have been giving me the cold shoulder since I brought them into our home and spending time with them. But now, my story. As I said, pain meds, specifically opiates, is where this all starts for me.” Tammy pulled a chair up to his bed and sat in it.
Kevin turned his head to see her better. And waited. Not as if he had a choice but he wanted, no, he had to hear her story.
“When I was in junior high, my parents were in a car wreck. They were hit by a drunk driver. Dad was killed and Mom was hurt bad. It took her a long time to recover, and by the time she did, she was addicted to opiates, the pain meds. She couldn’t shake them.” Tammy’s voice cracked at the end. She turned her head and wiped her eyes.
“I begged her to get help but she wouldn’t. So, enter the Randalls. The senior Randall at first, and later, Jack, Cindy. The dad was a dealer and he facilitated Mom’s problem when the doctor wouldn’t prescribe any more pills. He went from supplying her to moving into our house, bringing his two kids along. Jack was three years younger than me. Cindy, about two years younger than him. It was a living nightmare. Jack was evil from a young age and even worse when puberty hit. From the start, I was sure he was molesting Cindy, and she was so young. Then, he came after me.” Again, she had trouble completing the sentence, and tears ran down her face.
“One night, he busted the lock on my door. He molested me right there in my bed while my mom was in her bedroom, stoned. I knew I wouldn’t get any help from her, so as soon as Jack was gone, I threw some things in a bag. I pilfered what cash I could locate and snuck out. I went to the bus station and had just enough money to get to the town where my dad’s parents lived. Looking back, I know I could’ve gone to the cops, but then I’d have ended up in foster care. So I know I made the right decision for me because my grandparents were good, loving people. However, it allowed Jack to stay out of juvie.”
Again, she stopped and wiped her eyes. Lowering her mask, she took a tissue from her purse and blew her nose.
“Grandpa and Grandma took me in. They’d never warmed to Mom and weren’t surprised that she’d turned into an addict. I was a junior in high school then, and they insisted I finish school if I was living with them. Mom called once, one stinking time, to see if they’d heard from me. I don’t know if she didn’t care or cared enough she was glad I escaped, but I’ll never know. I never saw or talked to her again. She OD’ed not long after. I didn’t even go to her funeral. I was afraid of the Randalls.
“So, I finished high school. And the whole time, I hated them with a passion, them and their drugs, and everything about them. It simmered in me and I made a promise on Mom’s grave to get them, someday, some way.”
It was quiet in the room but for the noises from the machine Kevin was hooked to while Tammy regained her composure.
“I took the ASVAB, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery test in high school. I scored well and was recruited. After telling him what I wanted, the Navy recruiter pretty much promised me with my scores, I could get into the Master at Arms force, the Navy’s policing unit. So I entered the Navy straight out of high school and eventually went into law enforcement. And throughout my career, every dirtbag I busted, I imagined it was one of the Randalls. I never forgot and the hatred burned inside of me.
“Katie, you know, Deputy Johnson, and I were best friends in high school. We kept in touch over the years, swapping stories from our jobs. I was retiring from the service but not ready to fully retire. Katie said there was an opening here that I might be especially interested in. Then she told me about a suspected drug ring her department was investigating. I couldn’t get here fast enough.
“I’d done quite a bit of undercover work over the years, so since I was new to town, they got me on at The Watering Hole as my cover. I ‘happened’ to run into Cindy one day and fed her a story of how I’d been making ends meet by supplying users at every place I waitressed. She bought it all, and I was back in the fold.”
She wiped her nose and eyes again, looking for the right words. “And of course, that’s where I met you. I befriended you because I knew Cindy and Charley were buying the house beside you. I thought I might be able to hang out with you and keep a closer eye on them. You were just so convenient. And then,” she stopped and sniffed, blew her nose and wiped her eyes. “And then, when you quit feeling sorry for yourself, I came to admire you and was drawn to you. I knew it’d be a conflict with work but I couldn’t stop myself from falling for you. I tried to get you away from home anytime I knew they were up to something to protect you. And then I all-but got you killed.
“So, now you know my story and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
With that, she abruptly stood and rushed out of the room.
Kevin lay stunned from the revelation. A nurse hurried into the room. “Is everything alright, Kevin? Your visitor almost ran out of here.”
Kevin said, “No, everything isn’t alright. I want to talk about whatever dope I’m on that keeps sending me off to La-La Land.”
He didn’t see Tammy for several days, not until the day before he was to be released. She stood at the doorway and asked, “Can I come in, Kev?”
“Of course.”
She walked to the side of the bed and grasped the rail.
Kevin reached over and took her hand, squeezing gently. “That was quite a story you told me. I’m sorry the Randall family put you through it all.”
“Yeah, thanks, but they won’t do it to anyone else, now. So, are we good?”
“Yes. And well, I was drawn to you, too. Although, there were some odd happenings that made me doubt you,” he said. “And of course, my dogs didn’t like you.”
Tammy chuckled, “Oh yeah, your dogs. I’m pretty sure they didn’t want to share you with me. Plus, I don’t think they were ever around cats before and it was a pretty rough few days getting them all used to each other. I’m not sure if you remember me telling you, but my cats shunned me for days. Now, though, they all get along. Well, they put up with each other at least, just like a lot of families.”
“I’d sure like to’ve seen them,” Kevin said with a chuckle. “I’d bet it was pretty entertaining.”
“You could see them together, you know, every day,” Tammy said, giving him an intense look.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Kevin asked.
“Let’s quit beating around the bush with each other. I love you, Kevin. Let’s get married, here in the hospital, in the chapel.”
“You, you want to get married? To me?” Kevin asked.
“Yes, I do. We’ve already done the ‘till death do us part’ portion, and let me tell you, I didn’t like it, not one bit. But I want another shot at it following many years together. I want to do the ‘for better or worse and richer or poorer’ part with you, hand in hand all the way. We’ve already done the worse part. I can’t imagine anything we’ll face any worse than what we’ve been through. Now, I want the better, with you. You there for me and me there for you. You don’t like being alone and I’m tired of being alone.
“And by the way, I haven’t been sitting around while you’ve been laid up. With help from Katie, Janice, and her family, we repaired the house and cleaned up from the fire. We’ve been taking care of your garden and chickens. We can and dehydrate everything possible, although we eat a fair amount fresh. I’ve gotten pretty good at preserving food and gardening and enjoyed it. Remember once, I told you I thought your ex was crazy to leave you like she did? I believe that more than ever. I like the life and want more of it. With you. Now that the Randalls are done, I’m tired. Tired of being around scumballs all the time. I need a new beginning. Hopefully, you’re ready for a new beginning. So, what do you say? Will you marry me or not?”
Kevin smiled. “I’d have to be crazy to refuse an offer like that. Well, crazier than I am anyway, so yes, I’ll marry you.”
Tammy lowered her mask and then bent down, their lips meeting.
When she straightened back up, Kevin said, “Wow! For once I’m glad Jack and Jill aren’t with me at the moment. I’d hate it if they’d interrupted that.”
Tammy smiled and lowered her head for another kiss.
#
Kevin stood and put away the T-stool, then let the goat loose. He walked out of the small barn and looked towards the neighbors’ house. He smiled and waved. “Hey Janice, thanks for asking us over.”
She waved back and called, “You’re welcome. And don’t bring anything except your appetites. I already raided your garden.”
He nodded and smiled. Jack and Jill came bounding from the house, looking longingly at the bucket he carried. He patted each, then turned to go to the house where his wonderful wife waited.
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