by Stan Morris
“Are you sure he’s all right?” she kept asking, ignoring Kennedy’s reassurances.
“It’s just a scratch, Yuie,” Kennedy gasped out.
“It’s not just a scratch,” Diana retorted. “But he will be alright.” There were already ten stitches along his left side.
The troop from Petersburg stayed in the glen until they buried the bodies, and then they started their journey back to the river and from there, down to Petersburg. They made the woman and her two boys trail behind, but they fed them.
Someone seeing them eat muttered, “Why bother?”
Jean replied, “Because that’s what the Chief would do.”
At Petersburg, the residents were waiting anxiously for news of their troop. Mike returned two days after they left. He was surprised to hear about the people from the Retreat, but he didn’t offer any opinions, or any advice for that matter.
Howard offered to let Mike sleep in the loft until Jean returned, but Mike turned him down. Mike moved into the Lodge and took a bunk in the boys’ cave. One night, Imee sent for him. He found her in John’s and Desi’s room. He and John waited in terrified suspense most of the night, and then in the early morning hours, they heard a small high pitched voice wailing. Imee called them into the room. The newborn lay on Desi’s chest.
“John, come say hello to your son,” said Desi wearily. “Hey, Mike, come say hello to Michael.”
After a time, while Desi and the baby slept, Mike and John took a long walk and climbed the slope next to the cave. Amid the trees, they found a private place to talk. Later, before they left that place, they laughingly promised each other that neither would ever tell anyone that they had held each other and had bawled like John’s son.
Days later, the happy community rejoiced as they welcomed Kennedy and the other defenders back. If there had been any doubt about the Rangers integration into the community, it was forgotten. Together with the villagers, at the risk of their lives, they had protected their community. And the Rangers, too, saw this village they had defended as their village, and when they walked once more into the valley, it was as if they were home.
Lieutenant Kennedy and Yuie were often observed hand in hand, to everyone’s relief. Their arguments seemed unimportant to them now, and they began to speak about who they really were and where they were from. Kennedy laughed when he found out that Yuie was from Berkeley, California. Her grandparents, she told him, had been political activists in the nineteen-sixties.
“That figures,” he said, grinning at her.
Yuie was not surprised to learn that Kennedy was a second generation soldier. She was surprised to learn that he was from Lubbock, Texas. He doesn’t have much of an accent, she thought. Yuie was delighted to hear of the birth of Desi’s baby, and she and everyone chuckled when they saw Mike carrying the child as if he had done so all his life. But when he changed the baby’s diaper in the dining hall one day, there was some grumbling about the smell.
“Tough,” was his one word reaction.
Most of them were happy to hold the baby for a few moments, except for Jacob who broke out in a terrified sweat when John handed baby Michael to the scout. Standing next to the scout, Lily assured him that the baby would not suddenly explode or grow wings and fly away.
Now that Jacob was back, Lily wanted to go and see the edge of the Fog, so she could check on its progress. Jacob packed their things, and they set out. After the three day journey, they came to the Fog and verified that it was, indeed, much lower. This time, Jacob placed a small boulder in the road to mark the spot. They moved away from the Fog and found a place to camp for the night.
It was warm that night, with just a light breeze, and Lily wanted to talk. She managed to get Jacob speaking about his life before the Fog. She discovered that his father had owned a gas station in Oakdale. She in turn, talked about her life growing up in the coastal city of Watsonville.
“Artichokes,” he said, and she nodded pleased that he knew something of her home town.
But though he had mentioned his father and his mother, after a while Lily felt Jacob withdrawing, and he became tight lipped even for him, so she finally asked, “Jacob, what’s wrong?”
She sensed his sudden tenseness, and she wondered if he would answer, and then he said, “It’s my birthday today. I’m seventeen.”
“Oh, happy birthday, Jacob,” Lily responded.
“Thanks.”
Lily waited, and as she waited, her thoughts turned to the previous year when she had first met him. She sighed, remembering their conversations, and then she leaned toward him and put her arms around his shoulders, and then lifted them to his neck.
“Happy birthday, Jacob,” she whispered again, tenderly, and then for the first time, she kissed him.
The villagers were pleased when Jacob and Lily reported that the Fog was still receding. There was a new confidence among the community that one day their world would be normal again. There was a sense that, as the seasons passed, this community would become stronger. Some of the older girls looked at Desi’s child and thought about the possibility of their own children.
Summer was passing. The grain was high, and it needed to be cut. Mary was due to arrive in the village any day to start the combine. Eric was trying to build a working bicycle. Ahmad’s position as Admin was making life easier for Howard. Most of the people from the Retreat were adjusting to life in Petersburg. The women and the small children had suffered trauma that would take a long time to overcome.
Life for Lieutenant Kennedy would have been just fine, except for the fact that Yuie was depressed. She hid it, but Lincoln had come to know her well, and, one day he coaxed into speaking about what was wrong. Gradually, haltingly, she began to talk about that day in the glen. She was feeling guilty about her part in the fight.
Staring straight ahead, Yuie said, “I didn’t want to kill again, Linc.” She turned her head and looked at Lincoln. “I didn’t want to kill anyone ever again.” Lincoln pulled her head against his shoulder. He put his arms around her, and he held her as she began to cry.
“I know, Yu,” he whispered quietly. “I know, Yu.” Eventually, Yuie’s emotional health began to mend, and so did Lincoln’s.
When September arrived, Howard announced a four-day Labor Day celebration, and this year he turned it into a fair of sorts. Everyone was encouraged to make something to trade for something else. The Brown Farm community came for the fair, and Mary started the combine.
“I’m not going to cut yet, but this is a good opportunity to power up and check it,” she explained.
Ralph got a chance to talk to Howard about who should be chosen to live in the Solar Apartments. There were more applications than apartments, so the young men debated over whether or not to use a lottery, or to choose the inhabitants based on what skills they would bring to the farm. Ralph was not looking forward to the possibility of kicking someone out of their apartment, because they refused to work.
While they were throwing tiny spears at a target set up in a booth, Lincoln suggested a deal to Yuie.
“I’ll trade you my last four pieces of chocolate for four kisses. My choice of time and place,” he said.
Yuie laughed and agreed to the deal, so Lincoln gave her the chocolate. Then Yuie surprised him by taking the sweets to Comet and Star. She gave them each one piece. Star was seven years old now, and she could barely remember chocolate. Comet didn’t remember chocolate at all, and he looked suspiciously at the brown sweet.
“It looks like poop.”
Carefully, he took a tiny bite. His eyes lit up, and he popped the whole piece into his mouth, as older teens looked on enviously. He and Star hugged Yuie.
As Lincoln watched Yuie give the children the precious chocolate, he shook his head. I’m in love with a peacenik from Berkeley, he mused. He asked Yuie to take a walk around the track with him. When they were away from everyone else, down where the river left the valley and entered the woods, they turned to look back toward the vil
lage. He pulled her back against his chest, and she lifted her arms above her head, so she could lean backwards and place them behind his head. Lincoln laid his chin on her head, reveling in the aroma of her long, silky black hair, and they stood there together down at the far end of the meadow.
Then Lincoln said, “Yuie, I have another deal to offer you. Here it is. I promise to teach our children to respect and to honor people like you. People who question the government. People who demand accountability from our representatives. People who protest against the government when they think it’s wrong, especially when the government is sending our people to fight and die.
“In return, I would like you to promise to teach our children to respect the people who wear the uniform of our country. I want you to promise to teach our kids that it isn’t the military who make the choices of when to fight and die; that it’s the civilian government that makes those choices, and that the men and women in the military have a duty to faithfully carry out the orders of those civilians. Will you accept this deal?”
Then Yuie said, “I do accept this deal, and I do want to have your children.”
Then she turned, and she kissed him, accepting now that she was in love with this Army man. She had not expected this change in her life and in her attitudes, but she realized that she was happy, even if this was a great surprise.
On the grassy area below the Lodge, Mike, John, and Desi watched the two lovers at the end of the meadow. Desi sighed when Yuie turned to kiss Lincoln.
“I always thought that Yuie would end up with you, Mike,” she said wistfully. She was holding Michael in her lap.
Mike laughed. “I liked her at first, but later she was kind of like my sister. I never even kissed her, even when we shared our sleeping bags.”
“Oops. Gotta change Michael. Come help me, John,” Desi commanded as she rose.
John sighed. “Yes, dear,” he said, and the two of them went into the Lodge.
As Mike looked out over the panorama of his village, he felt intense satisfaction. He took in the golden fields, the running stream, the buildings of his village, and his people. He glanced again at Yuie and Lincoln who, were walking again on the track. He saw Hector and Kathy down by the river, busy as usual, measuring a spot for the sawmill. He saw Howard and Jean talking with Eric and Cody. He saw Rasul holding Diego and escorting Imee into the dining hall, where the fair was centered. Some of his people were not here. Even on a holiday, the guard posts at Davis Brown Farm, Logging Road junction, the hill, and upriver, had to be manned. Then Mike glanced sadly at the three graves, and he noticed that someone had recently placed fresh flowers on them.
Suddenly, Mike felt a strong urge to see Major Collins and Erin again. I could take a walk, he thought. I could go see the Army post and the new post below Evil Hill. The Fog is going down. There are all kinds of places I could explore. But he wouldn’t tell that to Howard today. He would wait a few days. Today was a time for fun. Mike walked down to the dining hall.
Two days after the fair ended, Howard sent Nathan and Kevin to Davis Brown Farm. With them went Paige and Kylie, who had stayed behind when the wagon carrying the others had left. The four rode the bicycles. Ralph had warned them not to dawdle along the way.
Howard needed to send two of the bikes to Major Collins, but he just wasn’t sure how he was going to accomplish that. He wanted the other bikes to be available to convey messages from David Brown Farm to Petersburg. A strong rider using a bicycle would take only one day to get a message from place to place. This would make the horses happy.
The days after the fair were dedicated to cleaning the village. Petersburg needed a good cleaning before winter set in. The villagers worked diligently with few complaints, and when they were finished, the kitchen sparkled, the Admin’s cabin was organized, and the Lodge smelled better. Tired from his part of the work, Mike was unpleasantly surprised to be roused from his bunk before dawn.
“The Mayor wants to see you, Ch… uh, Mike,” Tyler said.
Mike rubbed sleep from his eyes. “Do you know what it’s about, Tyler?” he asked.
“Only that one of those guys from the Retreat is in trouble,” Tyler replied.
“Shit,” Mike grumbled.
He used the Porta Potty and then went down to the Village Office, which used to be Chief’s Headquarters. Howard was there, along with John, Eric, Ahmad, Rasul, and Jacob. The original Spears, thought Mike. I don’t like the looks of this. The oldest teen from the retreat was sitting on the bed, a sullen expression covering his face. Tyler was told to wait outside.
“This clown has been pressuring one of the artists to have sex with him,” Howard said.
Mike looked at the boy from the Retreat. “Is that true?” he asked mildly.
“It’s none of your business,” the boy said. “I’m over sixteen, so I have a right to get laid, even by your stupid rules.”
“He told the woman that if she didn’t put out for him, he would tell everyone in Petersburg what a whore she was. That she was every man’s lay at the Retreat. He told her, she was a worthless bitch, and that no man in Petersburg but him would ever want to touch a used up cunt like her,” Jacob stated flatly. “Those were his words.”
Mike glanced at Jacob and recognized the intense anger beneath his friend’s calm surface, and then he looked back at the boy. He doesn’t know, Mike thought. This stupid shit doesn’t even know that he’s lucky to still be alive.
“Calm down,” he said quietly to Jacob. “We’ll take care of it.” He waited until he saw Jacob relax.
“You didn’t ask Kennedy to be here,” Mike said to Howard.
“No, Chief. I wanted Kennedy to be able to say that he knew nothing about what we did to this dickhead,” Howard replied.
“Good thinking.”
Mike nodded and faced the boy. “Have you been down to the Hanging Tree?” he asked.
The boy became agitated. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I didn’t rape her. I only talked to her. She’s a lying bitch, if she says differently.”
Jacob stiffened and then relaxed again, at a glance from Mike.
“How did we get the evidence?” Mike asked.
“Lily and I overheard him, Chief,” Jacob explained. “We’ve been sleeping out on the lawn in front of the Lodge. So we can be together, you know? We heard her go to the Porta Potty. Then he came out of the Lodge. When she left the Porta Potty, he started talking to her. She started crying.” He gave the boy a contemptuous look. “He didn’t realize we could hear him. And he didn’t realize that I had my Spear.”
Mike gave Jacob a wry smile. “Thanks, for not killing him, Jacob.”
Jacob nodded. The boy’s face paled. At last, he began to understand the danger he had brought on himself. Mike turned to Howard.
“If we hang him, there’s no way the rest of the tribe won’t hear about it. We’ll probably have trouble with his mother and brother. We’ll have trouble with Kennedy. And he didn’t actually rape her. At least, not here.”
“True,” Howard said. “But we have to do something.”
“Yes. Here is my advice. Put him in the storage room for the night. Set a couple of guards on him. Call a Meeting tomorrow morning, first thing. That will let everyone know how serious we’re taking this. Let everyone who knows him have their say. And if we decide he’s guilty, then banish him. Let the guards know that if he shows up here again, he’s to be killed on sight. But that’s just my advice. If you’re going to hang him, tell me now, and I’ll get my spear. Otherwise, I’m going back to bed.”
Mike waited. The others exchanged looks and then nodded their acceptance of Mike’s advice.
“Alright, that sounds like a plan,” Howard said. “Ahmad, you and Tyler stick this scumbag in the storage room. If he tries to leave, spear him.”
Mike and the others went back to bed. The next morning, Howard let out the word that there would be a Meeting immediately after breakfast. Rumors were flying when Meeting began. Howard explained the cha
rges against the young man to the community. Jean had carefully scripted the order of the witnesses. The strongest went first. Watching them gave confidence to the other victims. Lily spoke first, and then Diana was asked to tell what she knew about the teenager. Imee was asked to describe her experiences with him. Slowly, the vileness at the Retreat, and the teenager’s part in it, became apparent to all of them.
The boy’s mother interrupted at the beginning of the interrogation. Howard quickly kicked her out of the Meeting. She was taken under guard to the storage room. The boy’s brother sat silently.
Jacob and Lily testified to what they had heard the young man say to the woman. Then the victim was asked to testify. It was difficult for her, but she gave a halting account of what the boy had said to her during the incident. She described other times, at the Retreat, when he had extorted sexual favors from her in return for food and protection. Finally she told them other things he had said to her while they were in Petersburg.
Then the boy was allowed to give his side of the story. He said that he was forced to do those things to her at the Retreat. He said that she was always willing. He pointed out that he had not actually had sex with her in Petersburg.
When the Meeting was over, Howard said that the Council would meet, and that they would decide the fate of the boy. One hour later, the Council reappeared. Howard announced that the boy was banished from Petersburg as of the following day. He would be given food and water for three days. If he returned, he would be killed.
“This is a death sentence,” Lieutenant Kennedy said grimly. He forced himself not to object.
“Probably,” Mike sadly replied.
At sunrise, Eric, Ahmad, Nathan, and Tyler marched the young man out of Petersburg. The teenager’s angry mother and his silent brooding brother went with him. The three were given three days of food and water. At sunset, they came to the Logging Road junction guard post. They spent the night there.
“Why are you doing this?” the older boy asked Eric that night. “Don’t you understand that the world has changed? It’s all about survival. Men are in charge again. It’s like in the ancient times. Men are the strong ones. Men are the smart ones. Women are the weak ones. Women are the stupid ones. We have to take care of them or they’ll die, right? So we get to have them. It’s our right. You can’t punish me for doing what’s natural.”
