“Are you talking about the ATV or motorcycle sounds?”
“Well yeah. How many were there?”
“We’ve got nothing. We can hear them, but we didn’t see any of them.”
“How’s that possible? It sounds like they’re going southbound.”
“We don’t know for sure, but they had to come out through the wood line someplace. Do you want us to check it out?”
I thought for a few moments, “No. Just keep an eye out. If you see anything, let us know.”
“Will do.”
They kept going, so I wasn’t too concerned but how were they coming through? Knowing the area, they had to be avoiding the roadblock intentionally.
We headed back to the house, and I sat with everyone, and after discussing the ATVs, I filled them in on all the news that Jim told us, except about the nuclear power plant. There was no need to worry everyone about something that may not even affect us. Besides, everyone was in a good mood, especially Red, and I didn’t want to spoil everyone's day.
Soon, everyone stated they needed to get home. No one was really comfortable leaving their homes unguarded for very long. I thanked everyone, and after our goodbyes, Blake and his family jumped into the truck we gave him and headed home and right after that, Jake and his family walked home.
Red was walking around on cloud nine. He just couldn’t quit smiling and he had more energy than he knew what to do with.
I called him over and asked, “Well, are you going to tell us how your wife and kids are doing?”
He smiled, “Fine; they’re all doing fine. She said the economy down there is in a severe recession, bordering on a depression but everyone is safe, and they have everything they need. She was so worried about me due to all the news she had heard. I have to admit, even though I knew she was down there, it’s so good to verify that they’re alright.”
We all smiled, and Kim gave him a big hug, “We’re so glad Kevin.”
Everyone that didn’t have duty started cleaning up the place and putting tables away. I noticed Paul stayed close and was acting as though he wanted to talk but I could tell he was waiting for everyone to go inside. Finally, everyone did.
“Ok, what’s on your mind?”
He looked at me funny as he didn’t realize he was so obvious. I sat down and said, “Take a seat.”
He laughed and then sat down, “Well, I did want to talk to you. It’s kind of important.”
“Well, what is it?”
“Man! I… Well….. Ok. I like Mia.”
I laughed, “Well, that’s no state secret, Paul. It’s pretty obvious. That’s kind of like saying there is breaking news that Mike and Brandy like one another.”
“No, you don’t understand. I mean, I really, really like her.”
I stared at him for a moment, but with the look on his face, I couldn’t help from breaking out laughing.
“My gosh. Man, I see where this is going.”
Paul acted offended and asked a little sternly, “What’s so funny? I’m trying to have a serious talk with you and your laughing at me for being honest.”
I chuckled some more but quickly said, “No. It’s not that. Hey, she’s a sweetheart. I love her to pieces. If she feels the same way, then I say, hey, go for it……..but you better have your shit together, or she’ll chew you up.”
“What do you mean? Man, I’m worried because I didn’t think she’d want anything to do with me because I was in prison. I know I’m not good enough for her. That’s what I’m worried about. It’s been a long time since I’ve had thoughts like this and I’m scared I’m just setting myself up for a broken heart. You saying that confirms my fear.”
“NO! You’re misunderstanding me. Are you taking drugs?”
“No!”
“Let's say you find some in an old abandon house. Are you going to sneak them out and take them?”
“No! Definitely not. I’d give them to Wit and Brandy.”
“Well if that’s the case, Mia doesn’t give a damn if you were in prison. That’s your past. If she cares for you, it’s the current you. Mia is a very good person, she doesn’t care about your past as long as it stays in your past.”
“Then what are you laughing at? What are you talking about when you say, make sure I have my shit together?”
I laughed again and then turned serious, “Listen, Mia has been around some serious clowns. We’re talking Hollywood type. She despises people that are into themselves or brags all the time about something they did. I’ll be honest, the old you before you went to prison and even got seriously on the drugs wouldn’t have had a chance in hell with her. You used to be the kind that was always bragging and telling people how good you were at something. Then when you failed at something, you made excuses and blamed someone else. As I said, you wouldn’t have had a chance with her back then.
That’s the kind of guys she was around all of the time in Hollywood. She can’t stand fake people, or to be honest, people who lie or expect everything given to them. Mia is single because I think she’s looking for that one special guy, she’s not going to settle.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, she has partied her tail off before. She has lived the Hollywood life and almost got swallowed up by it. When it comes to relationships though, she’s pretty damn picky.
When I said to make sure you have your stuff together, I meant, don’t put on any shows... be yourself… don’t try to impress her. Just treat her with respect and treat her like a lady.” I laughed, “But don’t go overboard with that even. Mia is tough. Like all of us, things can get to her, and she’ll break down once in a while but all she needs is someone to talk to her, and she reasons it out.
But I can tell you, if you mess up and try to brag about things and tell her how good you are at everything like you used to, she’ll spit you out and not think twice about it.”
“Well, I’m not that way anymore. Let's just say that prison can humble you very quickly. Dad, I know how I was. You don’t know how many hours I’ve thought about that. I hope I’ve shown you that a little bit since I got back up here.”
“You have, and I know you’ve changed. You finally grew up. Has she said she likes you?”
“Well, no, not in so many words but we like hanging out together. We have fun, even when we work together. She acts as though she likes me. But heck, it’s been so long, I may be reading it wrong.”
I chuckled, “Well if she didn’t like you, you’d know it. Trust me. But if you don’t know for sure, then just keep going as you are. If she keeps finding reasons to be around you, I would say that’s a pretty good sign.”
“So, you don’t think I’m barking up the wrong tree? I don’t want to make a fool out of myself. You like her don’t you? That’s dumb, I know you love her but if you were my age and single, would you be interested in her?”
“Well, that really is a silly question. Of course,… I’d be all over that. But, at that time of my life, I was all military and I probably wouldn’t have had a chance with her,….. and to be honest, if it would’ve been during the earlier part of her career, I doubt I would’ve even liked her, except for the initial physical attraction of course.
In my opinion, we met her when we were supposed to. I know this sounds odd but I think she was supposed to come into our lives for some reason.
Now, let's say all the timing would have worked out and I knew what I know now, and she was the way she is now, and I was single,…. hell yeah, I would’ve bent over backward to try and hook up with her. As I said, Mia is very special.”
Paul sat there and thought for a few moments, “Well, I’m just going to keep going as I have been. If it happens, it happens. I’m not going to try and push anything.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said. Just be yourself and if its suppose to happen, it will. If you try to push the issue, you’ll probably mess up.”
“Thank you. I figured if I was way off base, you’d let me know. I’m sure Mia would tell you. But th
en again, maybe she’d be scared to tell you or think you’d get your feelings hurt that she didn’t like your son or something.”
I started laughing, “No, you don’t have to worry about that. Mia isn’t made that way. She’d have no problem asking me to get you off of her butt. Plus, she’s not going to go along with anything if she doesn’t want it.”
“Do you have any other advice? I need any advantage I can get.”
I laughed, “Well, it’s probably best that you learn the hard way. That way you’ll remember and take it seriously.”
“Really? That’s all you got?”
Still chuckling I replied, “Ok, listen. Excluding the in-love part, as it will take care of itself. When you first fall in love, everyone wants to be romantic and spend as much time with each other as possible. The hardest time is later when you both become completely comfortable with one another. That’s when people have the tendency to take one another for granted.
You know, when I was growing up, I think during my teenage years, there was a very popular book, called, “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.” By what I heard about it, it really showed the differences between men and women. Once you get to that comfortable stage that I mentioned, that’s when you really see those differences.
Once we, you know, men, mature a bit and get past our twenties where we think we know everything, we are very simple creatures. We want a woman that will never lie to us under any circumstances, will stand by our side, and of course, want to make love on a regular basis.
Women are more complex, but they want those basics as well,…. plus a whole lot of other stuff, which you’ll have to learn as you go.
One of the biggest things though, and this applies to both men and women, is no one wants to be around someone that is obsessed with jealousy and has trust issues.
This isn’t towards Mia but with any woman you date. If you hook up with someone that doesn’t really trust you and gets upset and jealous just because you glanced at some attractive woman,… you run and you run like hell because if it’s not just a one time mistake on her part, odds are it will only get worse and end up destroying your feelings for one another.
I would say the very same thing to Mia, as well. No woman wants to be around a guy that’s demanding and constantly keeping an eye on her because he’s scared she’s going to screw around on him. The same thing goes… if she meets someone like that, she needs to run end it quick.
Trust me, jealousy and mistrust is the fast track to failure.
Anyway, getting back to what I was saying, men are usually led by logic and women tend to be led by emotion.
I honestly believe that’s why God blesses the marriage so much. He intended for man and woman to become one flesh and that means that when the couple becomes one and true partners in everything they do, they balance each other out. The woman brings the softer side and more of the emotional side out of the man, and the man is supposed to bring more of the logical and protective side into the relationship. When you put the two together, it can become real magic.”
“Well, how long does it take to learn all of that?”
I laughed again, “It’s a never-ending process. You never stop learning.”
Paul then chuckled, “Well that’s not a shortcut. You’re basically telling me that I have to learn it the hard way.”
“That’s right. You’ll make every mistake there is to make,…. and so will she, but that’s how you learn. Always remember we learn from our failures. You just have to learn to forgive and never be selfish. You need to worry about what you do wrong and how to improve yourself and she needs to worry about how to improve her bad behavior. Hopefully, you’ll both be doing exactly that at the same time.
The problem is, too many people only think about themselves and what the other person did to them,…. not what they did wrong. That’s exactly why the divorce rate was well above 50%. Too many people become so self-centered and feel sorry for themselves.
Listen, don’t get wrapped up with all of this. The best thing I can say is to remember what it’s like if you actually fall in love with one another. During that time, if it’s for real, all you’ll care about is treating her good and making her happy, and she’ll be the same way.
Once you see that there is no childish jealousies and insecurities, other than the sweet innocent type, the trick is to remember that forever, and never give up on one another. But again always remember there is a huge difference between sweet and innocent jealousy and domineering obsessive jealousy. The easiest way to recognize it is obsessive jealousy is displayed with bitterness and hate; where the sweet jealousy can be almost playful.
Most importantly, don’t ever, ever let your personal pride get in the way. Learn how to sincerely apologize when you screw up,….which you will,….. and always be ready to forgive. Most of all, NEVER lie to one another about anything.”
“Good, that’s what I’m going to do then.”
I could see that Paul was very sincere and really cares about Mia but I had to have my fun. So, when he got up with a smile, and as he was walking away, I added in a pretty firm tone, “One last thing, though. Don’t hurt her in any way. Trust me if you do, Mia will destroy you, but that isn’t your biggest worry.”
“You mean you, right?”
“Well, if you hurt her by being stupid or selfish, I won’t be a happy camper, but I’m not the one you need to be worried about.”
He gave me a look like “Who then?”
I looked at him as serious as I could and replied, “If you really hurt her in some way that could be prevented, Kim is who you need to worry about. You’ll experience her wrath, and it won’t be pretty.”
Paul stood there and smiled, then formed a stunned look, then he got a look of worry, and slowly turned and walked away.
As soon as he got out of sight, a huge smile came over my face.
“This is going to be entertaining.”
****
Blake and his family arrived home, and everyone was in a great mood. They had discussed how it was so nice to take a break from the reality of the hell they knew was going on around them.
When they pulled up into the driveway, they got out of the truck, and as they were walking up to the house, they realized Abel didn’t come out. Everyone started calling him, but he was no place to be found. Everyone started worrying.
Blake told everyone to stay at the truck until he checked out the house and it seemed secure, so he unlocked the door and entered the house. Nothing seemed to be disturbed, so he called his family in. Everyone settled in, and Blake decided to go look for Abel. The kids wanted to go, but Blake told them no, that they needed to stay in the house.
As Blake walked out to his pasture calling Abel, he saw that his three remaining head of cattle had been killed. He pulled his M-4 off of his shoulder, and he ran out to them. When he approached, he saw that someone had been cutting them up for the meat. He went into a rage of anger, using every curse word he could think of.
Obviously, it hadn’t been very long since this happened, so he walked around the area trying to find any sign of anyone or anything. As he walked around his barn, he stopped and could only stare. Abel was laying there, dead.
“No! Not Abel!” he said while tears came flooding from his eyes. Blake loved Abel and had raised him from a pup. He ran up to Abel and started to hug him, but as he lifted him, he saw what apparently killed him. It looked as though a knife had been stuck into his chest. The knife wasn’t there, but he could see two or three puncture wounds and then obviously the last thrust went into Abel’s heart.
Blake continued to cry over him, and as he did, his anger grew. Upon further examination, he noticed blood in Abel’s mouth. At first, it seemed understandable, as the wounds would’ve caused internal bleeding but as he looked, he noticed some flesh in his teeth and it didn’t appear to be his blood. Finally, it all came together.
It appeared that whoever was killing and butchering the cattle was attacked by Ab
el and knowing how Abel would observe before taking action, whoever it was, he suspected came walking up to the barn and Abel confronted them. He guessed that maybe the person pulled out a weapon of some sort and Abel attacked him or her and during the attack, the person started stabbing Abel over and over. But whoever it was, left with a serious dog bite.
After crying and sitting in grief, he finally got himself together and walked up to the house. As he walked in, he laid his M-4 in the corner of the room. As he looked up, he immediately saw the faces of his children and wife waiting in anticipation, and he couldn’t help but break down saying that Abel had been killed. All three of his children broke into tears, and as Laura did as well, she ran over to Blake and threw her arms around him. She loved Abel as well but knew that Blake had to be devastated.
When everyone calmed down a bit, Blake announced that he was going out to bury him. He told them to stay inside and that he’d take care of it but they all insisted that they wanted to say goodbye to Abel. Blake agreed, so the five of them walked out to the barn together.
****
Mo seeing Paul walking out the back door asked, “Hey Paul, do you mind giving me a hand taking these sacks of trash out to the dump in the woods? We’ve been lax on that lately, and it’s building up.”
“Sure, whatever you need.”
“Ok, I’m going to grab the tractor, and we’ll put the trailer on it. We should be able to get it all in one load.”
Paul walked around the corner where we kept the trash and saw the build-up of sacked trash. He was amazed how much had built up after such a short time. The trash is usually taken to the dump once a week, but with everything that happened recently, it had been missed. He thought about how much people don’t realize how things build up when you don’t have a trash service picking up your trash every week. It had to be taken to the dump, and very little of it was paper. The paper could be burned, but this was mainly cans.
Mo walked over to the tractor and crawled under it to slide in the drawbar that had the trailer hitch ball mounted on it. Mo had never lived in the country before, but he was pleased how he had learned so much in such a short time. He actually enjoyed the work, and he had decided that if things ever did get better, he would try to talk Angela into moving out to the country. That is if things ever did get better.
Into the Apocalypse Page 28
