by P. D. Clover
I could feel my rage boiling up. Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Matt take up a stance to the group’s right. They didn’t notice, but they all took a step away from me. Some primitive survival instinct alerting them to a danger they only just realized was in their midst.
“Henry!” Katy called from my right.
I glanced over and saw Katy walking past Matt and towards me. She stopped and took in a deep breath when she saw Bill. Bill lost all his newfound confidence and looked to the ground.
Well now, that was different.
Katy approached, “Bill come here. I need to have a word with you.”
Bill said a brief “Goodbye” to the group and walked over to Katy. They immediately began a hushed and what seemed to be very serious discussion.
“So, what’s your problem with Bill?” Jerry asked.
“None of your fucking business Jerry,” I said calmly watching the body language of Katy and Bill.
It would seem, Bill was in the doghouse.
“Well, there is no reason to be rude!” Jerry spit.
“I’m not, Jerry. If I were being rude, you would look like Bill,” I said, turning my head to stare down Jerry.
Jerry scoffed with an, “as if” and sauntered away. “Walk” would not fully encompass his movement, it was definitely a sassy saunter.
“Well, that was interesting,” Gloria said.
Gloria was a former ACLU attorney from Berkeley. She was 5’9” and a hard-core runner and vegetarian. Other than her core political beliefs, we actually got along well. She enjoyed a good verbal sparring session and could admit defeat. I respected Gloria. She was also the de-facto leader of the “Liberal Coalition”, a name some of the more conservative folks in the neighborhood had dubbed Gloria’s little crew of retires.
“Sorry about that, Neighbor… Bill and I have an issue or two to iron out.”
“I somehow believe that you are substantially understating the issue, dear Henry,” Gloria expounded.
“Just a bit, Gloria. So how are y’all doing in these crazy times?” I asked, trying my best to be polite and release my anger from just moments earlier.
“We are well, dear Henry. We are curious to see what may or may not come of this little social gathering,” Gloria said.
“Ditto… In fact, I need to find Josh before this shindig begins. So, I apologize for the earlier interruption, and if you all will excuse me?” I said as I started to walk away.
Gloria caught me and pulled me aside from the group. In a hushed tone she said, “Dear Henry, you need to mount an eye to your back. Jerry and Floyd are newcomers to our little commune and dare I say, there is something wrong with them.”
“You think he will try to be a problem?” I asked.
“I know they were heavily involved with the city unions in Chicago.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you, Gloria. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Gloria gave a warm smile and walked back over to the LC.
I looked for Matt and saw him standing and talking to Katy. I couldn’t believe it. Katy hated Matt almost as much as I hated Bill…or at least I thought she did. Her reason wasn’t as good as mine. He had rejected her drunken advances about ten years ago at a thanksgiving dinner where she threw the turkey at him. It was a real bummer at the time but has since made for a glorious story.
“So, where’s Bill?” I asked in as chipper a voice as I could muster.
Katy looked over at me and said, “He is going home to Mom’s. He was supposed to stay home to help mom and the twins get things organized and settled.”
“Okay,” I said.
“No Henry, not okay. Look…I don’t know how to say this, but…” she started.
And Matt chimed in, “There’s Josh! I’ll go talk to him. You two probably need a moment.”
“Wait, what?” I said, lost for a second.
“Henry… I’m sorry,” Katy said.
I was not expecting that. In fact, I was stunned. Katy apologized? Shit, it really was the apocalypse.
“Look, I know it doesn’t make up for anything. I know that… I am truly sorry. I have done so much and changed so much for Bill… I... I just don’t know who I have become. He told me last night Henry, he told me what he did to you and Dee and Paul. That he got his old boyfriend to make it happen...” Katy had tears in her eyes.
“I just don’t know what to do now. I love him so much, and I trusted him. I couldn’t understand why he would do that to you. That’s why I didn’t believe you. I thought when he refused to press charges against you after the Christmas party. I thought he was being selfless... I thought that was the act of an innocent man being the bigger person. I was very wrong. He confessed last night. He was blind with rage after the fight. I don’t think he knew what he was saying until he saw the look on everyone’s faces.”
“Wait... who heard him?” I asked.
“Me, Timber, Sahara and Mom.”
“WOW… that’s something,” I said, in a mild state of shock.
“Sahara refuses to speak to him, and Timber hit him.”
“Timber definitely has the family temper,” I said laughing.
“Yes, he does… Henry, I want to start over. I know we can’t change what has been, but could we try to start from right now?” she asked with real vulnerability.
“Absolutely,” I said as I hugged my little sister for the first time in many years.
By the time I pulled it together, I realized we had missed the damn meeting.
“Come on,” I said as I put my arm around my sister. We walked to the gazebo where at least 300 people were listening intently in and around the Hill Top Park Gazebo.
At the center of the gazebo standing on a large box was Hillis Swindle, a gray-haired man in his early forties, about 6 ft tall and weighing a hefty 380lbs. I was amazed whatever he was standing on hadn’t given up the ghost yet.
My sister and I walked over to Josh and Matt at the edge of the gazebo in the thick of the crowd. For such a fat guy, Hillis’s speaking voice was nasal and grating. I resigned myself to being silent. I personally had little use for Hillis. He had never actually accomplished anything on his own that I was aware of. I would be amazed if he wiped his own ass. He had spent his whole life riding on his daddy’s coat tails. Hillis’s father Oswaldo was a man to be reckoned with. He was 68 and a fierce businessman. I disliked the whole clan, but I at least respected Oswaldo. The patriarch of the Swindle clan, Oswaldo did not mince words. He said what he meant and meant what he said. He just happened to be an asshole as well. The whole Swindle clan was rotten and entitled. Their great-great whoever happened to buy some land that a 100 or so years later, natural gas happened to be found on. They went from living in old busted out trailers on a mountain, to living on the lake. They still didn’t really do anything. Apparently, they never really did. They just lived off the gas royalties and prayed it never ran out. I did have a certain amount of respect for the Swindle clan, or at least for the Swindle clan members who came before this bunch. I appreciated that they held onto their land for all those years, no money, no nothing. They refused to sell. I can respect stubborn.
However, Hillis and I had never gotten along. Two days after we moved into town, he and I had bumped heads over a frozen pizza at the grocery store. I had grabbed the last one of his favorite brand. He demanded I give it to him or else. I happily chose option 2… Hillis called the store manager and demanded that the local police be notified as I had accosted him and said derogatory things to his son as well. Young Francis immediately backed up his fathers’ story with an even more embellished account. I stood there quietly waiting on the local PD, as I was already familiar with the local police department and Sheriff’s office. Magnus, the Rorschach twins and myself had held an “almost free” advanced SWAT class and Officer survival course for the officers. It was something we always did for local law enforcement whenever any of us moved into a new area. Once Officer Ryan Phillips arrived on scene, she immediately
recognized me. I greeted the 5’5, bubbly burnet warmly, and from my side I could hear Hillis’s exhale. He was counting on me being a stranger who would be easily intimidated by threats from a local, but he figured wrong. After speaking with Officer Ryan and giving her my side of the story, she then asked Hillis what had happened. Realizing this was not going to go his way, he tried to back out. Thank God for the store manager who threw a fit over my alleged attack upon Hillis and his son. In all the madness, I had mostly tuned-out what young Francis was saying. Before any more attention could be drawn to us, I asked the manager if the security cameras worked. They did in fact work very well. You could almost read the lips of the great big fat man as he threatened me. After that, things sorted themselves out. I was free to go on my way with my now thawed pizza… Hillis and Francis were barred from the store for 6 months. It wasn’t an actual legal thing. The store manager, after being so embarrassed told Hillis that if any of his clan came in the store before the 6 months was up, he would have them all trespassed from the property, permanently.
Hillis had never let it go. He used to make snide remarks that he thought were clever. The problem was Hillis’s people had been in the mountains too long, so they were a little slow when it came to witty remarks. Now they didn’t go to special schools or wear helmets, but it probably wouldn’t have hurt them in the long run too much if they had. Oswaldo was mildly respected and had stumped hard and given out a lot of money to get his boy elected to the county commission, some people said Hillis and Oswaldo had their sights on congress. They were definitely dumb enough for the job, but I always figured it would be Francis they would try and squeeze in. If they didn’t run of money or natural gas, and Francis didn’t get caught killing dogs and cats again, he might have a shot. More than anything, it was the attention they craved and the authority. That’s why they loved being involved in politics so much. Oswaldo even funded his grandson Francis’s student government election and campaign. He bought all of the local billboards in town, but the fat little shit still lost.
I tried to ignore Hillis’s stupid voice and hear the details.
“So, I said all that to say this, we will be setting up geographic, location-specific-regional areas of working focus to better synergize us through this time of difficultness!” Hillis finished with a big dumb smile.
Everyone in the crowd stared at him with total confusion. Naturally Hillis interpreted this as a job well done.
Yep, that was classic Hillis alright. Thankfully Josh tapped Hillis on the shoulder to stop him from starting up again, “Excuse me commissioner, but I need to get out the announcements. That way we can start getting people organized. It would be good if you stuck around to reassure everyone that things will be okay,” Josh said.
“Yes, that is exactly precisely what I shall do. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to my people,” Hillis said smugly as he stepped down from the, what I could now make out to be an actual stump. Hillis had brought his own stump… Of course, he had.
“Hey everyone. Thank you for coming. I will start by saying that I have no more information than you do. But I have spoken with the Sheriff, City Mayor and County Executive this morning… First, we are under martial law. That came from the President. Each governor is handling his or her state as they deem necessary. Second, cell phones don’t work, and the internet has been shut down by the feds. Third, the cities are working with the county to organize and figure out a way to distribute resources to those who need it. Right now, all gas stations and grocery stores have been closed and are being inventoried. That was one of many suggestions from the federal Government. All gas is to be used for emergency purposes only. Forthwith, the cities within the county will be organized on a very local level. Our neighborhood is now its own micro city, North Baldman is its own micro city as well as South Baldman. Those are the largest population groups. It is suggested that we organize our own security and regular patrols. Crime is expected to be a problem. The fifth and final thing is that we have heard from TVA. Our power will stay on, and as long as our water and sewer plants have power, we will have water. We need to be mindful and start boiling our water that we are using to drink or prepare food, apparently, the utility does not have enough of the proper chemicals to treat the water. So, keep that in mind. I know winter weather is just getting started here, but we have confirmed that our natural gas supplies should stay on and remain stable. So, for those that use natural gas or electricity to heat, you should be okay. For the moment at least...”
Josh continued, “Now from the federal government…there is to be no more paying of utilities, rent or mortgages, until things can be turned around. The Federal government said six weeks to six months. Both the hospital and community college are being prepped to house anyone who cannot take care of themselves. Food, shelter and security will be provided there. Now I know everyone has a lot of questions, but I do not have any answers yet. What I can say is that we will be meeting here at Noon every Wednesday and Sunday. The church bells in the neighborhood work. So, for those of you like me who used your cell phone or smart watch to tell time, now you just have to listen and count the bells…”
“Also, our neighbor and Hill Top city police Officer, Ryan Phillips will be taking down names for those who wish to volunteer to help,” Josh finished. He looked physically and mentally exhausted. He must have done a bunch of running around this morning. As soon as josh stepped off the stump, he was swarmed by people all talking at once.
I turned to walk away with Matt and my sister. That was a problem I had no desire to partake in. I had enough on my plate.
Katy asked me, “Are you going to sign up to help?”
I laughed, “Hell No! That is the opposite of a smart thing to do.” As I continued making my way through the crowd, right before I made it to the walking path I heard, “Hey Henry… Thanks for signing up and taking the first shift… Here are your deputy badges.” I froze and looked at Officer Ryan, all bubbly and excited as usual.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you on the team. Your friend Matt Holloway said you guys would even take the first shift tonight. That’s great!” she was all smiles.
“Wait… What now? I volunteered for something?” I asked puzzled.
“Well, your name is on the security volunteer list Josh handed me, you and a Matt Holloway,” Ryan said, as she double checked the list.
I turned to face Matt. He was all smiles.
“That is correct, Officer Ryan. We are very excited to help. But please, just call me Matt. Everybody does,” Matt said, with a smile wide enough to bridge the Grand Canyon.
“Wonderful!” Ryan said in her typical bubbly way. Then she paused and asked with a serious and hushed tone, “Do you have Henry’s training background?”
“Who do you think trained Henry?” Matt said, trying to work his angle.
I cut in, “Well I didn’t bring my deep bullshit boots, so if you will excuse me and my sister… Officer Ryan, I will catch up on the when, where, what, and how we are going to do this from Matt in a bit... I’ll see you later this evening apparently.” And with that said, I walked away with my sister in tow.
As Katy and I walked away from the edge of the crowd and down to the sidewalk, I asked her “Do you need to me to walk you home?”
Katy gave a loud chuckle, “No big brother, I have Walter’s old Ruger Security Six in a holster under my jacket… and before you start, I also have a knife in my pocket.”
“Good, you found mom’s guns. Do me a favor, do not let Bill near them. There is a whole lot going on right now. Who knows what he will do under all of this pressure.”
Katy looked at me with that old fury, I prepared myself for the upcoming argument, getting my point and counter points ready to go. Then suddenly, I could see it was gone. She just nodded her head, reached up to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then she walked off toward my mother’s house. I was stunned, simply stunned. I just watched my little sister walk down the street. Somehow, she see
med smaller.
I turned back to face the crowd that was still there…most trying to talk to Josh, others trying to talk to Hillis and his people. Hillis was standing next to his Cadillac Escalade. It was black with giant fancy rims, like something from a movie. Before I could decide what I should do next, Matt walked over to me and said, “Ready?”
I nodded, and we started the short walk back to the house. As we turned down my alley, we caught a big ole blast of arctic wind. We both pulled our flannel over shirts closed.
“Looks like we will need winter gear tonight… It’s a bit early for things to be this cold already.”
“Why in the hell did you volunteer us for that patrol?” I asked
“We need to be involved… You know that… Plus, we were going to go check out that house tonight anyway. I just thought it would be better if we didn’t have to worry about some tools shooting us mid-stakeout. A little official authority would be beneficial.”
I let out a deep breath, “Solid reasoning. We shouldn’t just be relying on Josh to keep us in the loop.” I laughed, “I thought it was because you wanted to try and bang Officer Ryan.”
“That is definitely on the table but not a priority,” Matt said seriously.
“You have got to be kidding me?”
Matt stopped walking, “Hey man, not everyone met their soul mate at 22… Plus, it’s kinda the end of the world as we know it. Why shouldn’t I try to find some comfort?”
“Huh, I never thought about it man. You’re right. Good luck Buddy! I hope it pans out,” I said picking up the pace. Matt joined in beside me.
“So, when, where, what, and how?” I asked.
“6 pm, at Hill Top Park…we bring whatever we think we need,” Matt said.
“Copy that ghost rider. I am going to try and take a nap in the meantime.”
“Ditto,” Matt said as he walked toward the camper.
As I walked into my house from the cold, I was greeted by a sumo stomping 2-year-old, with brassy blonde hair. “DAAADDDDDYYYYY!!!!” she let out as a war cry and charged me. I scooped her up and blew a raspberry on her belly before she could react. I then threw her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
