A Time of Anarchy
Mayan’s Story
Prologue
Somewhere between Nevada and California, 1969
A light drizzle sputtered down from the starless sky, tapping like an impatient little foot on the highway. In the rays from the overhead streetlight, the rainwater looked like tiny shards of glass. Steam rose from the pavement as the downpour began to cool the heat of the day, while the dry cracked desert earth surrounding the road drank deeply from Mother Nature’s bountiful gift. Even with the cooling shower, it was a warm night in late August when Shirley Bloom stood on the side of the road with her thumb extended to hitch a ride. She’d considered waiting for a few more hours until the rain passed before trying to find a way to California, but she had to leave. She was itching to go; there were too many painful memories in that small Nevada town driving her away.
Shirley’s heartbreaking affair with Ben, a married man who’d pursued her relentlessly, had come to a devastating end earlier that evening.
Now, while she stood at the side of the highway, her mind drifted back to the beginning, how it had begun between her and Ben. They met at her Saturday horseback riding class. Her instructor was running late, and that left her waiting in the main room of the ranch until class could begin. She was bored, almost angry, at the waste of her time. Lauren was late often, and her lack of consideration was becoming annoying. Even though the two had become friends, Shirley planned to discuss the scheduling problem as soon as Lauren arrived. Then Ben strolled in to buy some things and everything changed. She forgot about her lesson. In fact, she noticed him immediately. Every move he made exuded class, sophistication, and even more importantly, he was incredibly attractive. Ben appeared to be shopping through the saddles hanging neatly on the wall when he suddenly turned his attention to her. Their eyes met. With an innocent smile, he walked over and asked her if she knew anything about a product for cleaning leather. She’d told him that she had never tried the spray, explaining that she did not own her own horse, and therefore knew little about the upkeep. In fact she’d only just begun taking lessons. Ben explained that he had recently purchased his first horse, but he’d been riding for years. Shirley told him that riding was something she’d always wanted to try, and so she’d finally decided to take private lessons. Ben offered to help if he could. Her heart danced an Irish jig. His full hair, cut stylishly, was sprinkled lightly with gray. And he was tall and well-built, with a nice tan. They talked until her lesson began.
Later, after class, Shirley forgot to be angry with Lauren for coming late; instead she mentioned Ben. It was then that Shirley found out that he came to the ranch often to purchase supplies. Everyone knew him, and he was a married man with children. Shirley was upset. That could only mean trouble. She’d wanted no part of him. Why start something with a man who was unavailable? So, she let her interest go, and forgot about him. But he remembered her name and found her listed in the phone book. Then the wooing began. At first she was adamant about not getting involved. She avoided his phone calls for almost a month, but with charm, sweet words and expensive gifts, he broke her resolve. In fact, on the day she’d finally accepted his offer for dinner, he’d sent three dozen red roses to her office with a card that said, “Come on, it’s just dinner, and every girl has to eat, right? Ben.”
It had been a bad day at work. Her boss yelled at her over using White Out to cover several typing errors on a report that was overdue. Shirley was feeling low when the flowers arrived. For a few moments she stared at the card; then she called Ben. That was the turning point in her life.
When it all first began, it was a fairy tale. Ben couldn’t have been more attentive. Their dates were magical. And before she knew it, they’d rented a room at a local motel and made love. For a while, that too was magical. But then it seemed as if Ben lost interest. It happened so suddenly. At least it seemed that way to her. Where he had once called every morning when he got to his office, and every evening before he left work, he’d now stretched the time between calls to once a day. Where their dates had been had been twice a week, they now diminished too.
As weeks passed, the frequency of calls became less and less. The long, sweet conversations of the past were gone. Now, he barely spoke. He always seemed to be busy. The time between calls stretched longer, until, if she was lucky he’d call once a week. Sometimes it seemed as if she hardly heard from him at all. Every minute of every day she seemed to be on edge waiting for him.
She fought a diligent battle to keep the magic alive, but it was lost. Although she tried to deny that it was over, she knew. The message burned deep in her gut. Although it was hard, she overlooked the way that his eyes strayed to younger, prettier girls when they were together. Often he’d leave her with a promise to call, but forget for several days, leaving her a prisoner to the ring of the phone. She’d even called out sick to work because he’d said that he planned to call one afternoon. He’d promised to take off work and take her to an intimate French restaurant for lunch. It was the only time he was able to get away from his wife, he’d said. She got up early to fix her hair. But the call never came. Then when he finally did contact her, two weeks later, it was only for a quick roll in the hay that left her feeling empty. Their actual dates became rare occasions. And he no longer took her to nice restaurants; instead he’d tell her that he was short on cash, and they’d go somewhere for cheap fast food. But even with all of the evidence pointing to the end, she refused to believe that he no longer loved her. When her best friend, Belinda, had tried to convince her that she needed to break up with Ben and find someone else, she’d severed the friendship with Belinda instead.
The night it all finally came to an end was one of the nicest times that Shirley and Ben had spent together in over a month. And because she was so happy just to be near him, she noticed everything around her. Nothing slipped past her. It was always like that when they were together. And everything had a rosy glow. She was aware of how lovely the weather was that evening, how the sky was filled with stars and the full moon wore a special smile. It felt so much like the beginning of their relationship, when he’d actually been crazy about her, that it brought a tear of joy to her eye. Ben surprised Shirley with a romantic dinner at her favorite Italian restaurant. And then, as they always did, they took separate cars to the neighboring town where he rented a room at their regular Holiday Inn. On this night Ben was especially tender when he made love to her. Her heart beat with love and she believed that her prayers and wishes on stars had been answered, and things would be as they were before. For a long time he kissed and caressed her until it was she who was so ready that she could hardly stand it anymore. The magic of being with him that night was surreal. She felt like a princess. Ben loved her…
After they’d finished making love, he’d held her more tightly than usual. Her heart sang.
Then, softly, he kissed her forehead. It was barely a whisper when he spoke. “Shirley,” he said. “I never wanted to hurt you but…”
This couldn’t be happening. But she knew what was coming and hoped against hope that she was wrong. How could this be? How could this happen? It had been such a perfect night.
No, Ben, please don’t say it… Please!
“I’ve given it a lot of thought and I have something to tell you. I can never leave my wife. Now, I know what I said in the past, but I’m sorry, I just can’t. We have too much property together. If we divorced, I would lose everything I ever worked for.” There was a long silence. All the promises he’d made to her were lies. But she didn’t care. All he had to do was say I love you. That was all, and she would learn to accept the relationship in any way he would be willing to give it to her. He could sta
y with his wife. Even come to see her whenever he felt like it. Anything. Just not goodbye. Please, not goodbye.
“And worse, my wife found out about us. Somebody saw us together and told her. I am so sorry, but tonight has to be our last time together,” Ben said. He did not look at her; he turned his head away.
Shirley felt like she’d just been punched in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She could not speak. Besides, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. There were no words to change his mind. She knew him too well; once he’d made a decision, it was final. So, she sat there, feeling like a fool, her heart beating hard in her dry throat as she watched him dress. Her mind searched in desperation for something to say. Then, quietly, like the snake that he was, he slinked out without looking back, and the door to the hotel room closed softly on all of her hopes and dreams.
At first she was so broken she couldn’t even cry. But then, with a sudden burst, the tears broke through and she wept, crying out loudly until her throat ached. When she could not cry anymore, she lay there for a few minutes before she got up, got dressed, and went back to her parents’ home where she lived. They were asleep. Glad she didn’t have to explain anything to them, Shirley packed a bag. She was leaving. Going to California. She couldn’t stay in Nevada anymore…too much pain…too many memories.
She’d considered taking the car her parents had given her for her last birthday. It would be easy to drive right down Route 66. But, although it was a gift, her parents kept it in their name. It was their way of always having control of her. They would find her in a matter of days through the license plate. The police would become involved because the automobile would be a considered a stolen car. The cops would find her and return her to her nosy, controlling parents, and they would question and browbeat her as to where she was headed and why. Her parents spoiled her. Shirley knew that. All through high school and college she’d had the best of everything. They could afford it and they gave her everything she ever wanted in exchange for her total dependence on them. Her mother, even more than her father, expected to share everything in her life. But she’d never told them about Ben. And right now, Shirley was in no mood to explain. No, it was best to hitchhike, leave the car behind. Then they could never find her. She would just blend in with the rest of the flock of young people who headed west looking to find themselves.
Thunder crashed in the distance and, for a brief second, fingers of lightning stretched across the sky.
Even now, as she stood here alone on the side of the highway the rain drenching her slowly, she could still smell Ben on her skin, that spicy fragrance that was Ben. In the past she always cherished the lingering of it after they made love. But now it was nothing but a reminder of what she’d lost. A stab of pain shot through her. It was really done, really over.
If she were not feeling so distraught, she would have been more concerned with how the rain was frizzing her hair. Every day she spent hours ironing it until it was perfectly straight. Shirley always took great care with her appearance. But how she looked didn’t matter to her right now. And the rain was a good cover-up for the tears that kept springing without warning from her already bloodshot eyes.
Very few cars glided down the highway on that black night, and she wondered how long it might take before someone stopped. It was nearly an hour before she saw it. In the distance, a truck’s headlights broke through the darkness in the road. Truckers were usually good for a lift. She propped her thumb out. When he pulled over to the curb she ran up to the door of the cab.
Opening the window he asked her “Where you going?”
She couldn’t help but notice how attractive he was, with his shiny black hair and chiseled chin.
“California,” she replied. This might be an interesting night, she thought, maybe a good distraction from her feelings about Ben.
“Get in. I’ll take you.”
The inside of the cabin reeked of cigarettes, peppered with a little marijuana. She turned to him and he smiled. He certainly was attractive. She wondered, even hoped, that something more might happen between them…something more than just a ride to California.
She glanced over at him. His eyes met hers. He smiled and his teeth were sparkling white. Shirley felt her heart skip a beat. But as they rode a little farther down the highway, she glanced over at him and had a strange sensation of fear come over her. It was without reason or warning, but it clutched her heart and she turned to him.
“I’d like to get out here, if that’s okay with you…”
Two days later when the Robinson twins were riding their bicycles down the shoulder of Route 66, they saw a naked female body lying in a ditch on the side of the road. She was covered in deep slash marks, and blood had pooled, mixing with the mud all around her. Her head had been almost completely severed. Shirley Bloom was the first documented victim of the Route 66 Killer.
MAY
Chapter 1
Chicago, Illinois, 1969
Electric guitars screamed into the night as the sidewalk vibrated to the manic rhythm of the metal drums. Above the music, a man’s high-pitched voice cried out in frenzied song.
Through the open door to the Psychedelic Circus, the strobe lights flashed wildly against the darkness, completely impeding sight.
A young girl walked out of the club toward the street, a bottle of Ripple wine in her hand. She could not help but notice the man with the motorcycle staring at her. His long black hair was pulled into a ponytail, and his thick dark beard could not hide a strong, determined face. He was standing with legs spread apart, hands on hips, confident, surrounded by his gang members. They could be recognized as his brothers by the colors they wore sewn into their denim vests. The leader’s eyes were fixed upon the girl as he turned to whisper something to the man beside him.
The girl stood beneath a tree with a cigarette in one hand and the bottle in the other, looking around frantically. She could not be more than fifteen, certainly underage for drinking. She anxiously awaited her friend, Eve’s, arrival. Earlier that evening she’d run away from home, and she’d left a message for Eve to meet her at the Circus.
A screech of metal from the guitars came blasting out of the club as the band finished their song in a blaze of sound. From across the lawn she could see the biker. His eyes were fixed on her every move. Then the man who the gang leader had whispered to began to saunter slowly toward her.
She was nervous. Excited. Afraid. Her palms were sweating and she had a hard time taking a deep breath. If only Eve would arrive. Eve would know what to do.
The band began another song with a manic roll of a drum solo that reverberated inside of her.
“Hi.” The gang member approached her with a swagger to his hips. The tight black pants he wore showed off his lean panther-like muscles. “What’s your name?”
“May,” she answered with more confidence than she felt.
“Well, May, this here is your lucky day. Look on over there; do you see that handsome guy sittin’ there on that Chopper?”
She took a swig from the bottle and nodded. May tried to look disinterested, when in fact she was a little impressed. It was fun to be the center of a man’s attention, and especially someone so important.
She smiled a half-smile.
“Looks like you’re goin’ somewhere with that duffel bag.”
“Maybe.”
“Yeah, well, come on over and say hello. Don’t be a stuck up bitch.”
“Hold on. I’m waiting for someone. I’m not going anywhere,” May said and she crossed her arms over her chest.
The biker shook his head. “Now what the hell am I supposed to tell Red, the leader of the toughest gang in Chicago?”
“Tell your leader if he wants to talk to me he can come over here himself. If he’s such a tough guy, then he doesn’t need to send you,” May said, hugging herself tighter. She wouldn’t allow herself to be another biker groupie, even though she was flattered that, of all the women at the club that night, the l
eader of the Son’s of Rebellion noticed her.
“He ain’t gonna be too happy to hear that,” the man said, shaking his head and scratching his greasy hair.
Shrugging her shoulders, she tossed the cigarette to the ground. Then, sitting down on the edge of the curb, she turned away from the man and waited for Eve. May was undecided as to whether she wanted the gang leader to come and talk to her or not. But she knew one thing for certain, if they were going to meet, he must come to her.
Eve, where the hell was Eve?
Until Eve, Lily had never had a best friend. Introverted, she’d spent most of her time alone. Eve introduced her to the calming effects of alcohol and marijuana, and May loved the way they eased the pain. What a wonderful luxury they provided. For a while, she could forget. Forget the loss of her beloved feline friend; forget the parents who were too involved in own lives to realize that she was quickly growing from a child to a woman. Unlike other people she’d met in the past whom she mostly avoided, she enjoyed spending time with Eve. But Eve loved boys, while May, although flattered, was not always comfortable with the hungry stares from her male classmates. Her mother had told her often enough that boys wanted only one thing from her, and once they were finished, they would throw her away like a used tissue. Early on, she’d decided that she would not allow herself to be stepped on by any man. She had pride. But she also had secret longings, dreams she shared with no one. Dreams of true love, the kind she’d read about in books. May yearned for a lover who would be a partner and a friend; someone she could trust. Sadly enough, the boys she went to school with had proved her mother right. She’d watched as girls in her classes fell deeply in love, giving their whole heart and soul to some boy, who ultimately proved undeserving. It would always begin with someone going steady with someone else. Then, after a short while, the love affair would end. And, May would hear the gossip whispered through the high school halls as the poor abandoned girl was ostracized by her classmates, her reputation ruined by the insensitive bragging of a foolish boy. May decided that the only crime these poor girls were guilty of was of loving too much. She would never allow herself to love like that unless he was someone very special. Very special.
A Time of Anarchy- Mayan's Story Page 1
