The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  “In my mind there was.” Frank placed his face close to Dean’s.

  “You broke our arrangement.” Dean kept his stare on Frank.

  “Like I care.”

  “You know, I’m glad this came up because I am still really pissed at you.”

  Frank snickered and looked away.

  “Go ahead, laugh,” Dean warned. “But let me tell you something. The whole reason I did this, the whole reason I came here was to bring you home and kill you.”

  “Kill me?”

  “Kill you.”

  “Like dead?”

  “What other way is there, Frank?”

  “Ha!” Frank laughed hard. “You don’t have big enough balls.”

  “According to Ellen, I believe you’re the one without the big enough balls.”

  “Oh no, little man.” Frank shook his head. “Don’t even go there. Back to killing me. You think you can do it? How?”

  “Naturally.”

  “Like you’re a born killer?”

  “No, Frank, you moron. Like making it look like it’s not an accident or deliberate.”

  Frank bobbed his head almost like he approved. “So you’re gonna chase me around Beginnings and try to kill me?” He stepped back from Dean. “You know, this could be interesting.”

  “I’m serious, Frank. I have a list.”

  “Good.” Frank snapped his finger. “Don’t warn me anymore though, Dean,. O.K., I think this will be really cool.” Frank nodded. “Yeah, but wait till we’re home so I have a lot less things on my mind. O.K.?”

  Dean tossed his hands up. “You wanna make it into a game, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, can we?”

  Dean’s hands fell to his legs with a slap. “Sure. Why not?”

  “Excellent.”

  “But don’t think you get Neville points for cheating death with me. O.K.? I’ll talk to the Neville committee first. You’ll already be the favorite once you get home.”

  Frank was lost. “Neville Committee? Neville points?”

  The whole entire expression changed on Dean’s face. “That’s right. You don’t know.”

  “Know what?”

  “Frank, there is a really neat game going on. You’ll love it. In fact . . .” Dean stepped closer to Frank, speaking up beat. “It’s custom made for you.”

  Richie’s head spun. It literally spun. What happened to the fight? What happened to the hatred? One second they were arguing, the next rambling on about some post apocalyptic game of heroism like they were best buddies. Richie gave up waiting for the argument to continue. He just moved closer and listened more to the conversation, trying to figure out how he could get involved in it also when he arrived in Beginnings.

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  Henry’s bangs stood nearly on edge from his hand holding them back. He whined in a Henry manner, both vocally and physically. “Aw El, I can’t believe you kept this from me. Frank’s alive.”

  “Yes Henry. Dean said he’s fine.”

  “I’m community leader, I should have known this.”

  “Oh but Henry we couldn’t tell you. We all wanted to. We were going to. Please don’t be mad and please don’t let on that you know. I’ll be in so much trouble.”

  “They don’t trust me do they, El? That’s why no one told me, huh?” Henry questioned.

  “I trust you, Henry.” Ellen laid her hand on his shoulder. “That’s why I told you now. So you see why you can’t start a campaign looking for Dean?”

  “Yeah. And you know what El? I’ll help. O.K.? I’ll bash him.” Henry nodded. “I’ll talk real bad about him. O.K.?”

  “Oh Henry, that’s a good idea. Oh! Make me cry tomorrow in front of people.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Yeah.” Ellen smiled. “Make it bad about Dean. Really go off.”

  “Really make people hate him. Yeah. It’ll be fun.” Henry grinned. “Wow, and Frank’s alive. Wow.”

  “He’ll be home soon, Henry.”

  “I can’t wait, El. We’ll have a big party.”

  “With lots of food.”

  “We’ll show the funeral tape.”

  “We can do it like we do the walk-ins.” Ellen spoke excitedly. “And speaking of food, where is Robbie?”

  “You think he forgot?” Henry asked.

  “No, him being here is part of the plan.” Ellen looked at her watch. “He’s supposed to show up when people are still walking around.”

  “Wanna go get him? I’ll stay with the kids.”

  “O.K. Let’s practice your Dean bashing on him tonight.”

  “I’ll think of some juicy things right now, El.”

  “O.K.” Ellen was perky and headed to the door. “I’ll be right back.”

  After she had left, Henry placed on a serious thinking face and sat on the couch. “Dean Bashing. Dean bashing. . . . Oh!” Henry snapped his finger. “I’d better write this down.” He stood up, went into the kitchen and got some paper and a pen. He went back to the living room, sat on the couch, and leaned on the coffee table writing his thoughts down. Henry snickered like a school girl as he did so, seemingly so pleased with himself.

  ^^^^

  “Dinner was really good Jess. Man.” Robbie rubbed his stomach as they walked from the dining room to the living room. “I didn’t expect you to cook.”

  “Cooking takes my mind off of things.” Jess carried two drinks with him. “This mission is on my mind.”

  “How can it not be? But . . . everything will go fine. I’ll drop you off. You guys march in there, get what you need, and meet back at the pickup point. Do you worry about running into trouble you can’t handle?”

  “Nah. Not me.” Jess set down the drinks. “Robbie.”

  Robbie hesitated in his sitting down. “Yeah?”

  “I really appreciate this.” Jess took a step to him, so serious. “You spending this evening with me means so much.”

  “I know you have a lot on your mind. I just want to be there for you. Look at what you’re doing for us.”

  “I don’t want that to be the reason you’re here.”

  Robbie shook his head with a slight grin. “No way. We’re friends. That’s the main reason.”

  Jess took a deep breath. “Remember how we had that talk at the social hall.”

  “Um . . .” Robbie moved his eyes up to think. “Um . . . yeah.”

  Jess smiled. “Remember how we talked about being close friends and I suggested we take it slow and you said, what the hell, we live together.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, I think right now. I need to say, what the hell. Right?”

  “Right.”

  “What the hell. I need you.” Jess took a step to Robbie grabbing him, one hand on Robbie’s cheek, the other on his shoulder. Jess, with slight force, pulled Robbie to him and passionately planted his lips on Robbie’s.

  It barreled Robbie over, taking him so much by surprise, he nearly lost his balance. Robbie was sent into total confusion at that moment. Everything spun around him. His body jolted in shock, not only from the sudden feel of Jess’ parted lips touching his, but also from the unexpected sound of Ellen’s voice that rang in the room at the exact moment Jess kissed him.

  “Whoops. Sorry.”

  Hearing Ellen and then the door close, Robbie pulled from Jess, stumbled over the table, and grabbed the arm of the couch to stop from hitting the floor. “Oh my God.” Robbie trembled, looked at Jess, then to the door. “Oh my God. El.” Robbie leaped on then over the back of the sofa and charged to the door. He stopped as he opened it, looking at Jess. “I’ll . . . I’ll be . . .Shit.” He took off calling Ellen’s name as he did.

  Ellen walked fast. She heard Robbie calling her. How she would react when she looked at him was the reason she kept moving.

  “El. Please.” Robbie sounded desperate, running to catch up to her. He reached her at the last row of houses. “El.” He grabbed a hold of her.

  “Rob
bie, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Ellen moved away from him and walked to her house.

  “Ellen. Please.” Robbie jumped ahead of her. “I need to explain.”

  “It’s none of my business, Robbie. Really. it’s none of my . . .” Ellen stopped moving. “You know what? Yeah it is, come to think of it. It is my business. Don’t you think I have the right to know you’re involved with a man. I think I should have been made aware of the relationship.” Ellen raised her eyebrow in question.

  “Oh God.” Robbie looked absolutely distraught. Terror lined his red, sweaty face. His hands shook as they covered his eyes. “Oh God, help me. You’re my friend. What am I supposed to do about this?”

  “I’d keep it quiet if you want to stay head of security.”

  “No!” Robbie squinted his eyes painfully and took hold of her shoulders. “He’s my friend, El. I had no idea he was gonna kiss me.”

  “What?” Ellen looked confused.

  Robbie breathed heavily. “That has never happened to me ever. I don’t know how to handle this now. I don’t know how to handle him. Help me. Tell me what to do. How do I face him again?’

  “Oh man, Robbie.” Ellen spoke with compassion, laying her hand on his cheek. “This has you really upset. Wow. I never seen you thrown through a loop before.”

  Robbie closed his eyes. “I didn’t even see it coming.”

  Joe’s voice, distant but outside with them, carried shockingly over. “How in Christ’s name didn’t you see it coming?”

  “Dad?” Robbie turned to see Joe walking off his front porch.

  “Joe!” Ellen scolded. “You are so nosey.”

  “Christ, you two are talking about this outside. How can I not hear you? I was sitting on my porch.” He moved closer to Ellen and Robbie. “Robert, what did you expect? You led him on.”

  “What?”

  “You led him on.” Joe told him. “What was that today? You told him that, no wonder you liked him.”

  “Dad, that wasn’t what I meant. I had no idea he was gay.”

  “That’s because you were clueless.”

  “And you knew?” Robbie asked.

  “Yeah, I knew,” Joe said.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Honestly?” Joe shrugged. “I really enjoyed watching you play innocently into it. I figured if you were so brainless about it, I wasn’t gonna tell you.” Joe looked at Ellen when she gasped. “Take a hike, Missy Jane. I wanna speak to my son.”

  “Joe, I want to . . .”

  “Go.” Joe pointed to her house. “Now!”

  Ellen widened her eyes and folded her arms. “I’m going, but . . . Robbie, we’ll talk tonight.”

  Robbie nodded fast and nervous.

  “Night.” Ellen stepped on her porch. “Oh wait until I tell Henry you had a homosexual moment.”

  “El.” Robbie reached for her hand. “I’m begging you, please don’t.”

  “I’m kidding. See you tonight.” She smiled at Robbie, opened the door, and gave a mean face to Joe. “Night . . . Joe.”

  Joe waved her off then faced his son. “You have a problem.”

  “This doesn’t make me gay, does it?”

  Joe lifted his shoulder. “Don’t know. You know your uncle Jerry came out of the closet at your age. Remember, he left his wife for that fella.”

  “Uncle Jerry was gay?” Robbie asked with so much surprise. “I didn’t know. I thought he was just really good friends with his . . . roommate.”

  Joe raised his eyebrows.

  “Oh God.”

  “Robert. Calm down.”

  ‘I can’t. I can’t.” I can’t.” He paced around. “What am I gonna do about this, Dad?”

  “What do you wanna do about it?”

  “Huh? Robbie stopped walking.

  “The way I see it you have two choices. You can go back to the house, beat the hell out of him for hitting on you, kick him out of your house, and end the friendship entirely. Or . . . you go back to the house, you sit down with him and you talk to him. You set him straight . . . well, you know what I mean . . .tell him the way you are. Clear the air and forget the situation. Handle it like that time when we first got to Beginnings and you were so plastered you kissed Jenny Matoose.”

  Robbie cringed in the painful memory.

  “Yeah. All was forgotten. It’s up to you what choice you make. It all hinges on whether you still want him as your friend or not. He’ll find someone else to do that sort of thing with. There are plenty of men in Beginnings who are willing. But if you want to stay friends with him, you’d better damn well make it clear, you’re not one of those men, unless there’s something about you I don’t know.”

  “Dad.” Robbie shook his head. “I like Jess . . . . not that way, but I like him. I want to be friends with him.”

  “Then you know what to do.”

  “Yeah. Thanks, Dad.” Robbie gave a smile to his father and started to walk away. He stopped and faced Joe. “Wait a second. Why am I thanking you? You could have stopped this whole thing from ever getting to this point.”

  “And ruin seeing you in this state.” Joe snickered. “Never.”

  Grunting like his father, Robbie waved his hand once and walked away toward his house.

  ^^^^

  Jess stood up from the sofa the moment Robbie walked back into the house. “Everything O.K. with El?”

  “Um . . . yeah.” Robbie closed the door.

  “How was she with it?”

  “Jess . . .”

  “We should have told her. It was only right knowing the history between you two. Maybe I should be the one to talk to her tomorrow. What do you think?” Jess held Robbie’s drink to him.

  “I think I need that moonshine.” Robbie took the drink and brought it to his lips, taking a long drink. “Jess. Sit down.” Robbie motioned to the couch.

  “She was mad, wasn’t she?” Jess sat down at the same time as Robbie. “I’m so sorry. I’ll explain it to her.”

  ‘There’s no need. I did already.” Robbie set down his drink. “We have to talk.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I think . . . I think there’s been a bit of mis-communication between us.” Robbie grabbed his drink and finished it. “I like you, Jess.”

  “I like you too.”

  “No.” Robbie held up his hand. “I like you as a friend but not in any other way.”

  Shock took over Jess’ face. “But I thought . . .”

  “I know what you thought and I’m sorry you thought that way.”

  “See.” Jess shook his head. “You came to me after Trish told you everything.”

  “Trish left out some very important details. Some very important details.”

  “Oh God.” Jess stood up. “I’ll pack up and leave. I’m sorry. I am really sorry.”

  “Jess.” Robbie stood from the couch.

  “I thought we were close. I thought you needed that extra closeness as much as me.”

  Robbie hid his cringing. “I . . . really.” Robbie closed one eye looking at him. “I really get that extra closeness when I need it, trust me, but I can always use a good friend.”

  “I have to leave this house, Robbie. There is no way we can stay friends now.”

  “You don’t want to be friends with me?”

  “Oh I want to, but do you know how hard it is to be friends with some you’re . . . you’re in love with.” Jess walked to the steps

  Bam. Robbie didn’t expect to hear that. “Yeah, I do Jess. Yeah I do. I know exactly what it’s like to see the person you love every single day, to want them, to want to be with them, but to have to stay behind a friendship wall, because that is the way it has to be. I’m there. O.K.”

  Jess nodded. “Same boats, different situations?”

  “Yes,” Robbie said. “But you stay friends and the one with more feelings deals with it. You deal with it if the friendship is that important.”

  “But I kissed you. Do you know how embarrassed I fee
l at this moment for putting you in that position?”

  “Get over it,” Robbie told him. “I will and it will be forgotten.”

  “Can you forget?”

  Robbie fluttered his lips. “Yeah . . .” He snickered. “If Ellen lets me. Look, if you want to move out and stop being friends there’s nothing I can do to stop you. But if you wanna stay, stay. We can be friends still.. I like being your friend.”

  Jess walked away from the steps. “Only if we kill Trish tomorrow.”

  Robbie laughed. “Oh most definitely. We will kill Trish tomorrow.”

  ^^^^

  Quantico Marine Headquarters

  The night air was filled with only one sound. George didn’t need to see it to know what it was. The firm sound of boots marching in unison. The voice of Sgt. Landers carried in synchronization with them. George smiled as he stepped away from his window and released the curtain he held back. Things were going well. Dean was in Binghamton. Frank didn’t get his memory back. And his new brigade of CME troops were now on their way there as well.

  ^^^^

  Beginnings, Montana

  “Robbie.” Ellen spoke seriously, laying on her side, in bed, her back to Robbie who was reading. “I let you sleep in here because Henry is camping in the living room. Shut out the light please.”

  “Thanks for the book, El.”

  “Shut out the light.”

  “El.” Robbie set the book down. “Can we talk?”

  “We talked.”

  “Please.”

  Ellen rolled on to her back. “Is this another Robbie paranoia calming session.”

  “Yes.” Robbie moved to his side to face her. “What if . . . what if I’m gay and I don’t know it.”

  “God, Robbie.”

  “Seriously, El. My Uncle Jerry turned gay at my age.”

  “I remember when Uncle Jerry moved out on his wife. I knew he was gay before that. Everybody did. You are not gay.”