Willobee's World

by Wendell Vanderbilt Fountain

  “Shor ’nuff, Creet, but don’t forgit the money. I’m doin’ it for that, too.”

  “Willobee, if the truth were known, the money’s not the real reason you’re doing this.”

  “Now you gonna start callin’ me names like patriot,” Trent chuckled.

  “Let’s just say there’s more in play than money.”

  “Keep this up, and your gonna make me blush,” Trent said with a smile.

  “don’t wanna do that, but you know one of the reasons you were selected was because of your high IQ scores.”

  “You talkin’ ’bout that Standard Benet Intelligence Quotient thing?”

  “Yes, I am. A score of 140 is quite high” Creet replied.

  “Well, I don’t think that makes me special.”

  “We do.”

  The next day Creet called for an update, and Trent told him he’d complied. He also explained Escobar was rather pissed he hadn’t called sooner, but he smoothed that over, and Escobar was okay with his tardiness, but he wanted to meet as soon as Trent returned to Tijuana. Trent agreed, because that was when Escobar would reveal specific times, dates, and any other significant details which might need attention. Although Trent tried to discourage Slinger, he categorically refused, so Trent agreed to meet Slinger again outside of Albuquerque at 40 and 17 to get the specifics.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Sunday morning was beautiful in Oatman, Arizona, and it was time for Trent to pick up Haylee for a visit to the VA Medical Center of Prescott. Since it was an easy ride down I-40 and then Route 89, they were at the hospital in just over three hours. As they were entering the main building, Haylee became curious about it.

  “Trent, how old’s this building? Looks like it’s been around for a long time.”

  “Yeah, I’m not shor when this place was built, but I think they just had their 85th anniversary. There’s a lot of history here. It goes back to the time of Fort Whipple.”

  “Are all of the VA hospitals like this?” She asked.

  “Whadaya mean like this?

  “I mean do they look old.”

  “Nah, there’s a lotta newer lookin’ places ’round the country. Let’s go in so we can visit some of these men.”

  They checked in with the nurse on duty. She recognized Trent right away, and mentioned that there were a couple of vets, Hopkins and Stelzki, who had been asking about him. She said they were in the Day Room, so he and Haylee went down the hall for a visit. As soon as they entered the room, Trent spotted Stelzki. He was in a wheelchair, just staring out the window. They walked up behind him.

  “Stelzki, what the hell you doin’, countin’ trees?!” Exclaimed Trent.

  “Trent,” he said, spinning has chair around, “where you been!? He exclaimed, with a surprised look on his face, when he saw Haylee.

  “Stelzki, you take one look at Haylee-Girl here, and that’s mah answer.”

  “No wonder you been standin’ us ole boys up.”

  “Haylee, this is Stelzki, and he ain’t nothin’ but trouble. I ain’t leavin’ you ’round him for a minute!” Trent said with a laugh.

  “Nice to meet you,” Haylee said, extending her hand while trying to ignore that he was a double-amputee.

  “It’s a pleasure, but I can’t imagine how you got mixed-up with this guy!” He said as they shook hands.

  “Now, Stelzki, it’s a long story, and there’s some things you don’t need ta know,” Trent said with a big smile.

  “Hey, Cowboy, forgot how to find this place?”

  Trent turned around and Hopkins was sitting in his wheelchair wearing an ear-to-ear smile.

  “Thought they’d throwed you out by now!” Trent bellowed.

  “I think they were waitin’ for you, so you could wheel me over a cliff,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I spose innerductions is in order,” Trent said.

  Hopkins extended the only hand he had, and greeted Haylee. Shortly thereafter, Haylee excused herself to visit the lady’s room. Once inside, she fell apart and began crying uncontrollably. Her thoughts ran wild. I wish Trent had prepared me. No, I should have prepared myself. I had no idea. These men are missing legs and arms. Stelzki with two missing legs. Hopkins without a right arm and leg. Dear God, I don’t think I can deal with this. How can Trent come here? I have to get it together. I must ignore all of this. It will hurt these veterans if they know how I feel. Gotta clean up. Can’t let anyone know I’ve been crying.

  Haylee emerged from the restroom with head held high and went back into the Day Room.

  “I was justa ’bout to git one of them nurses to go lookin’ for ya, but then I thought better. I coulda just decided that my female side overtook me, and acted like I was in a Target store,” Trent laughed, and they all joined in, even Haylee.

  “Trent, sometimes you’re scary,” Haylee said with a smile.

  “Only sometimes?” Stelzki and Hopkins chorused.

  “No more pokin’ fun at me. I’m hungry. Let’s go to the cafeteria, “Trent said.

  “See, Haylee, now that’s a scary thought,” Hopkins said.

  “I wondered how long it would be before Cowboy had to eat!” Stelzki remarked.

  “Nothin’ wrong with that cafeteria food. They got good stuff in there,” Trent said.

  “I bet when you were in you stole everybody’s MRE’s!” Hopkins said with a laugh.

  “Let’s go, it’s nearly one-o’clock, time to eat!” Trent yelled.

  Off they went to the cafeteria. Trent pushed Stelzki’s chair and Haylee wheeled Hopkins. It was like old home week when they arrived, because there were several other vets who were acquainted with Trent. He went around greeting them throughout the cafeteria. He also made new acquaintances. Finally, Haylee reminded him that they were there to get something to eat.

  “Trent, you were the one who was so hungry, so let’s get a tray, load it down, and find a table,” she said calmly.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re right, I do gotta gnawin’ in mah gut.”

  The cafeteria was only about half-full, so they found a table in the middle of the room. It was nearly two o’clock, when Stelzki reminded them that he and Hopkins had to go to therapy.

  “You want us to wheel you down?” Trent asked.

  “Nah, not necessary, we can handle it, but don’t be a stranger, that goes for you, too, little lady. We appreciate the visit.” Hopkins said.

  “If you guys don’t mind, Trent and I would really like to wheel you to therapy,” Haylee said.

  Hopkins and Stelzki looked at each other, “Sure.”

  Trent and Haylee pushed their chairs to therapy where they said their goodbyes.

  “You boys stay outta trouble. I don’t wanna have to come back here ’cause of ya chasin’ these nurses. Both of ya got wives and children, so don’t forgit it.” Trent said with a smile.

  “Yes, father,” Hopkins replied.

  “Don’t worry about us, Daddy,” Stelzki added with humorous sarcasm.

  “We’ll be back in a few days,” Trent said.

  After they walked out of the building, Haylee asked if they could sit and talk for a while, and they found a bench under some trees where they sat down.

  “Trent, I don’t know how you do this. I’m still in shock. I had no idea. I see stuff on TV, and it doesn’t seem to affect me like this. These guy’s lives are ruined. They ’ll never be the same, and it just breaks my heart,” she said as tears began to roll down her face.

  “If I coulda prepared ya, I would’ve, but they ain’t no preparin’ for this kinda thing. You say their lives are ruined and they’ll never be the same, but that don’t take away what they can be. They’ll get artificial limbs and stuff, have to learn how to walk and pick up things agin, but these ole boys will go on. You’re right, they will never be who they were. They are different now, but they can
be great. I’m real proud of ya, Haylee-Girl, you didn’t give them boys no pity. That, they don’t need. When you disappeared into the lady’s room, I knew why.”

  “Trent, I think I’m ready to go home, but I’ll probably have bad dreams about what I saw here today.”

  “Just remember, you can live with a bad dream, but livin’ the way these ole boys do is a nightmare every day and every night! That’s one of the reasons I come here. I wanna give ’em all the encouragement I can. They gotta endless row of tall cotton ta pick.”

  “Guess that’s one of the reasons I love you the way I do,” she said, climbing on Rocket One behind him.

  “Love you, too, Haylee-Girl, hold on tight,” and they roared off.

  It was nearly seven when they got back, and Haylee invited him in. He was a little hesitant at first, but he did want to visit with Kit for a little while. He liked her honesty and candidness.

  “That you, Hay?!” Kit called from the kitchen.

  “Yeah, Momma, Trent wanted to say hello.”

  “Be right in!”

  Kit came barreling out into the living room in her wheelchair.

  “You keep drivin’ them speeds, you gonna need a driver’s license,” Trent said with a chuckle.

  “Did you come in here to criticize my drivin’?” She asked looking up at Trent.

  “Not me, just stopped in ta see if ya needed anything,” he replied.

  “That’s mighty nice of ya, but my neighbor just left, and I’m in good shape. Did you two have fun?” She asked.

  “Ma, it was a good day,” Haylee said, glancing over at Trent.

  “Yeah, Kit, it was great ta see some of them ole boys agin. Guess I better git on back to the house, gotta busy day tomorra.”

  “I’ll walk you out to your bike,” Haylee said.

  “Be in to see ya at the restaurant in the mornin’,” Trent said, climbing aboard Rocket One.

  “You’d better,” she said, hugging and kissing him, before he roared off into the night.

  After Trent got home, he decided to feed his thirst a beer. He turned on the TV and started watching a little news. The presidential race seemed to dominate. He flipped from Fox to MSNBC, ABC, CBS, and even Newsmax TV. The hosts and pundits seem to have varying opinions about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Trump was accused of saying bad things about everybody, and Clinton was drowning in her email scandals and Benghazi, Libya. Then there was a lot of talk about the Republican and Democrat conventions. One host said he thought that the Republican Convention was going to be reminiscent of the violent Democrat Convention of 1968 in Chicago.

  After less than an hour of listening to, what Trent thought, was scrambled eggs of politics, he decided to turn in for the night, but he had a little difficulty dropping off. His visit to the VA hospital remained vivid in his mind. He thought about Haylee and what she may experience during her slumber. He also dreaded having to tell her about his next run, which was coming up, but he would tell her tomorrow at breakfast. He thought how strange it had become for him to have to concern himself with someone else. He’d been alone for a longtime. This was new territory, but it was all in the hands of God.

  Light had barely breached the window when the dog next door began yapping. He didn’t even hesitate, he just got up and prepared himself for the day. There was no way he could sleep with light and a barking canine invading his senses. After Trent dressed, he went out to his rig to do some minor maintenance. That rig had been his bread and butter for the past four years, and he took care of it. A little before nine, he made his way down the hill to the Oatman Restaurant. He just stood outside for a minute or two to watch Haylee waiting on customers. He thought: man, am I lucky. She’s beautiful. After his fleeting mental distraction, he walked in and sat down at the counter.

  “Mornin’, Sweetheart,” Trent said with a big grin.

  “Well, I assume you want the usual,” said a smiling Haylee.

  “Yep, of course, unless ya can surprise me.”

  “I highly doubt I can surprise you about anything,” she said while scribbling down his order.

  While Trent sipped his coffee, he tried to strategize about how to tell her it was time for him to put his truck back on the road. He had noticed the day before she avoided any discussion about him going out of town. He watched her taking care of other customers, and then she returned to him with a coffee warmup.

  “Haylee-Girl, you go ta many rodeos?”

  “I’ve been to been to a few, but not lately,” she replied.

  “Think you’d be interested in goin’ to one in a coupla weeks? They got one comin’ up at the Mohave Crossin’ on the Indian Reservation. It’s the Honeycutt Rodeo. I rode in one of theirs a long time ago. It’s a family outfit, goin’ back generations.”

  “Sure, I’d like that,” she said.

  “I’ll git us some tickets then.”

  “When you goin’ out of town?” Haylee asked.

  “Well, uh, gotta go make mah Tijuana-Albuquerque run soon.”

  “How soon?” Haylee asked.

  “Gotta leave in the mornin’.”

  “Will you be home when I get off at five?”

  “I’ll make it a point to be there.”

  “Good, because I want to talk to you before you go,” she said.

  A little while later Haylee brought him his breakfast. Even though he enjoyed the food, he could feel the tension. When he finished, he told her he would see her when she got off. After he left the restaurant, Trent went out to the shed where he kept Rocket One. Trent sprayed his pant legs and shoes with deadly insect poison. He picked up six empty Mason jars, punched small air holes in the lids, put them in a gunny sack, and headed out into the desert. He knew where he could locate some red desert fire-ant beds. He took a jar and dug it through the top of the bed where they were excitedly teaming and quickly screwed the lid on. He had to move quickly before they began crawling on him. He looked for another bed until he found one, and once again he swooped down with his jar capturing dozens more. Finally, He did capture two more jars of these fire-ants, and he was satisfied, but not finished. He headed up toward an old deserted mine where there was an abundance of scorpions. They were trickier to catch, but he used heavy rubber gloves to grab them, one at a time. He placed them in one of the remaining jars until he had an even dozen. Some of them were quite large and menacing. Before he left the mine, he got lucky, he captured a brown recluse spider, hiding under an old piece of timber. Just about everyone knew they could be deadly if bitten by one. Perfect he thought, entomophobia, just perfect.

  It was a little after five when Haylee arrived at Trent’s place. She had barely cleared the door when she blurted out her thoughts and feelings.

  “Trent, what were you gonna do, wait and call me after you were hundreds of miles away?” She asked in a quivering voice.

  “I been wantin’ to mention it, but the time never seemed right.”

  “Is the time right now?” She asked, fighting back tears.

  “Probly not, but it can’t be helped. We been havin’ such a good time, I didn’t wanna spoil it,” he said, taking her in his arms.

  “Since you told me last time there was danger on your run, I’ve been worried. That’s not true anymore, is it?”

  “Nothin’ to worry ’bout. All’s well.”

  “Miss you so much when you’re gone,” she said, holding him close.

  “That’s a two-way street. Think I don’t miss ya? Hope ya don’t think that, ’cause ya stay on mah mind. You have to work. So do I, but things ’ill be differnt down the road.”

  “I’m sorry, Trent,” she said pulling back from his grasp, I guess I get selfish sometimes.

  “Nothin’ ta be sorry ’bout. We just people feelin’ way people do.”

  “Still gonna take me to that rodeo?” She asked with a hint of a smile.
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  “Shor as horses and bulls got four legs!”

  By seven the next morning Trent was well on his to Tijuana. He busied himself with monitoring CB traffic or listening to country music. He felt he needed something to distract him from what he knew was waiting down the road. He wasn’t looking forward to this weekend. He knew things had really heated up.

  “Mazerski, you made progress, yet?”

  “This Vega-Verde?” He asked nearly dropping his cell.

  “Si, yes!”

  “Of course, I got my rig and a friend’s ready to go. You give us date, time, place, and we’ll pick up the cargo,” Mazerski/Slinger said, fumbling with his phone.

  “Who’s this friend?”

  “Without a doubt, when Rodeo Man says it, it’s a done deal. You just make sure we get cash up front,” Slinger replied.

  “Who’s Rodeo Man, don’t worry ’bout the money,” Vega-Verde said.

  “Rodeo Man’s my friend, and I do worry ’bout the money! Why do ya think we’re doin’ this, for our health!?” Slinger remarked.

  “Cool it, man, you’ll get what’s due.”

  “When we pick up the cargo, you just make sure there’re no slipups,” Slinger said.

  “You drivin’?” Vega-Verde, asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “You need to stop and take down this information.”

  “Give me a couple of minutes, and I’ll pull over.”

  Slinger rumbled off the interstate into an emergency zone, rummaged around in the clove box, found pencil and paper, and returned to the phone.

  “Alright, go ahead, I’m ready.”

  “Exactly one week from today you make sure both rigs are parked near the overpass in downtown Columbus, New Mexico at midnight, not a minute later is that clear?”

  “Not completely, is that the only overpass downtown?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, of course it is!” Exclaimed an irritated Vega-Verde.

  “You cool it, Jack! I don’t wanna go snipe hunting!”