Avenging Home (31 page)

We walked in silence for a moment. Then Thad surprised me with a comment. “You notice anything different?”

I looked around, but couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Shrugging, I replied, “No.”

“I don’t mean what you can SEE.”

“I know what you mean, Thad,” Sarge said. “There’s a different air to things now.”

Thad nodded. “Yeah. It just feels different.”

Sarge pushed his carbine around to his back. “Like a weight’s been lifted.”

Now I knew what they were talking about, and I too felt it. “I know what you mean. It was like yesterday when we got back to the ranch. No one was at the bunker. For the first time in as long as I can remember there was no immediate threat. No one had to be actively watching for what may come.”

Thad smiled. “It feels good. I hope it lasts for a good long time too.”

I didn’t say anything, but immediately started to think of the radio transmissions about Russian and Chinese troops. What we just pulled off would seem like a cake walk compared to dealing with them. The Russians have troops hardened in the fight in Ukraine. The Chinese, well, they had sheer numbers if they were committed to it. Looking over at Thad, I said, “I hope so too, old buddy.”

The market was crowded with folks. Early offerings of vegetables were showing up from those that got their gardens started early. It was good to see. Of course there were the fish mongers selling the day’s catch. The lakes had been converted into quite the fishery with several boats working the waters daily with nets. In the long run, it could lead to over-fishing, I suppose; but this was a large chain of lakes and could probably take the pressure for some time.

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. It was nice to wander down the sidewalk. But on closer inspection, things weren’t as cheery as they appeared. The sidewalks were weed-choked, and leaves and dirt were piled in the gutters. It wasn’t hard to imagine that without some maintenance, the gutters would overflow, allowing water to enter the shuttered shops on Bay Street. While most of these store were empty, or at least not operating as businesses, water intrusion would ultimately lead to decay and these old buildings collapsing.

So there was a lot for the senses walking through the market and streets of downtown Eustis. The smell of the fish, the fresh earth still clinging to the vegetables. This mixed with the smell of wood smoke and meat cooking from someone offering a kabob-like skewer. Lord only knows what was on it, and I wasn’t adventurous or hungry enough to try and find out.

Sarge nudged me as we approached Mel and the girls. They were at a table with a young woman selling what turned out to be soap. Looking where Sarge nodded, I saw a familiar face. “There’s Porky,” Sarge said.

“Yeah, I see him.”

He pushed me in his direction and said, “Let’s go see what he’s up to.”

He was talking to a group of people who’d gathered around. He looked like something from a 1930s movie about a smarmy politician. He stood with his thumbs tucked into his suspenders as he spoke as if he were campaigning for votes. We walked up behind him and stopped to listen.

“So you see good folks, you need someone experienced in such matters. You can’t have a Sheriff, or God forbid, the military running roughshod over your community. And one such as myself, who’s from a neighboring town and has no preconceived allegiances would be the best choice.”

Some in the crowd looked at Sarge and me as Porky spoke. Seeing their attention diverted and hearing Sarge snort at the end of his oration, Porky turned, quite surprised to see us standing there.

He side-stepped and held a hand out as though he were introducing us to those gathered. “And these are the very men I’m speaking about. Why just today they executed a man in the middle of town.” Turning to the crowd, he wagged a finger at them. “In cold blood, mind you! The man was chained and could not defend himself. Is this what you call justice in this town?”

A man from the crowd called out. “They shot the sum bitch that set off a bomb here. He was one of them DHS guys. Hell, I wondered what took ‘em so long to do it!” His comment was met with agreement from all assembled.

“Not to mention, we didn’t shoot him, Porky.” Sarge said, then pointed at Thad. “He did.”

Hyatt began to fan himself furiously with the ever present paper fan. Turning to face Sarge, he said, “Good sir, there is no reason for disparaging comments. I have a name of which I have previously informed you.”

Sarge chuckled. “I don’t give a flying shit what you think, Porky.”

With Sarge’s comment, Hyatt’s lackey Albert stepped forward. Thad quickly pulled the shotgun from the scabbard on his back and leveled it at Albert. “Mister, this thing makes a hell of a mess this close. I suggest you back up.”

I thought it was funny and smiled and figured I’d stir the pot. “He’s only killed one man today. He’s usually good for two.”

Albert, as well as several others, backed away. Hyatt looked at Albert with disdain, then turned his attention to the crowd again. “You see? You see how these men use violence and intimidation?” Turning, he pointed an accusatory finger at Sarge. “Not to mention the unlawful seizure of private property! You still have not returned our weapons!”

Sarge jerked his head in my direction. “You gotta take that up with the Sheriff.”

Hyatt looked at me and I replied flatly, “No.”

“This is unjust!” Hyatt shouted, holding a finger up to emphasize his displeasure.

Looking at the crowd, I said, “Look, folks. We’re trying to find someone to act as a judge. That’s not my job.” Pointing at Hyatt, I said, “But I’m not going to let just any spineless imp take the position. It needs to be someone of character, someone we all respect. And most importantly, someone that doesn’t want it as bad as this sack of shit does.

“Think about it. Why do you think he wants to be a judge so bad? Who is he and where did he come from? We’ll find someone, the right someone. I don’t know what this guy’s telling you, but think for yourself. What have any of us here done to you? Decide that for yourself.” With that, we walked away, as did the crowd. Hyatt tried to keep their attention to no avail.

Mel was sniffing a bar of soap when we walked up. She held the bar out to me and said, “Smell it. It smells so good.”

I sniffed the bar. “What is that? Lavender?”

The young woman behind the small folding table smiled and nodded. “Yes.”

“Where did you get lavender oil?”

“I sold soap-making supplies online and had a lot of different oils in stock.” She smiled. “Since the internet was gone, I decided to make my own soap and trade it.”

Mel looked at me. “Can we get some?”

Taylor held up a bar of eucalyptus. “I want this one.”

Looking at the young lady, I asked, “What are you trading for?”

She shrugged. “Whatever you have, if I can use it of course.”

Reaching into a pocket on my vest, I pulled out a couple of silver quarters. “How about one of these?”

She held her hand out and I dropped one in her palm. She looked at it and said, “This is one of the old ones that is silver, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “How about two of them for four bars?”

She flipped the quarter in her palm. “You know, a month ago I wouldn’t have taken this. I mean, you can’t eat it and no one wanted money. But now, people are starting to trade for money.”

“Everyone needs soap,” Mel said. “You should be able to trade this for anything you need.”

The girl laughed. “You’d think so! But again, you can’t eat soap. But now people are starting to look for things to make life a little easier.” She leaned forward and whispered, “And starting to actually bathe.” Turning back to me, she said, “Sounds like a deal to me.”

I gave her another quarter and told the girls to all pick one out. Which they did. Little Bit handed the bar she picked up to me. “Smell it, Daddy. It’s coconut.”

I sniffed the bar. “That smells good enough to eat!”

“You could! It’s all natural,” the girl replied.

I laughed. “Isn’t everything now?”

“Eww! I’m not eating soap!” Little Bit shouted.

Waving, I thanked the young lady for the soap and we wandered off. I told Mel I wanted to go to the clinic to check on Danny, and we walked that way. Thad and Sarge said they were going to get the truck and bring it up.

Little Bit held my hand as we walked. She looked up smiling and said, “I like coming to town, Daddy.”

“Me too,” Taylor added. “I’ve been cooped up at the house for so long, I thought I was going to lose my mind.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, kiddo. And I’m glad you’re out of the house too.” I said.

“When can we come back?” Little Bit asked.

I smiled. “Oh. We’ll come back soon.”

“What for?” Lee Ann asked.

“You’ll see.”

Mel looked at me. “What are you up to?”

With mock surprise, I said, “What makes you think I’m up to something?”

Mel gave me a look that screamed,
you can’t fool me.
“Because I know, that’s why.”

Danny was sitting outside the clinic. His shoulder was bandaged with a clean dressing. Doc was laid out on a couple of large green crates with his hat pulled down over his eyes. Danny looked up as we approached.

“Yo. How was the shopping?”

Little Bit held her bar of soap out. “I got soap!”

Danny took it and smelled it. “Mmm, coconut. Smells good enough to eat.”

“The lady said you could eat it. Said it was all natural.”

Danny took the soap and pretended he was about to bite into it. Little Bit squealed and snatched it away. “Hey, don’t eat my soap!” He laughed and tussled her hair.

He was a great uncle to the girls. He’d been there for all of them, it made me happy. “You about ready to head back?”

He looked at his shoulder. “Yeah. They dug a bullet fragment out. Said that’s all it was and I was good to go.” He pointed at my face. “You should have them look at your nose while you’re here.”

From under his hat, Doc said, “They aren’t plastic surgeons. And even if they were, I don’t think they’d tackle the challenge of fixing that head.”

I snorted. “Good to see you too, Ronnie.”

“Well, I think he looks fine,” Mel said.

Doc sat up and lifted his hat. He looked at me, then at Mel. “I question your judgment.”

Danny stood up. “If you’re headed back, I’m ready.”

Doc lay back down, covering his face again. “Where’s the old man?”

“He’s bringing the truck up. You wanna ride with us?” I asked.

He bobbed his head from side to side. “Nah. I’ll wait on the good humor man.”

Now that was funny. “Suit yourself, brother. I’ve got a couple of stops to make, so we’re off.”

We left Doc and headed back to our truck and loaded up. As we left town, I thought about stopping at the plant, just to check on how things were going. But I wasn’t really in the mood, and skipped it. I wanted to get to Gina and Tyler’s. I hoped they could help with my plan for the party. I drove in a half daze as I ran through what I was thinking. The truck kicked up a cloud of leaves and dust behind us.

The roads were getting more and more cluttered with debris. This just added another thought, civil engineering. We needed to start addressing some of the issues all this crap was causing. If we wanted to start getting things back to some sort of normal, we needed to come up with a plan. Just one more thing to do. One more thing on the never-ending list of things that needed attention.

I pulled into the Publix parking lot and Mel looked at me. “What are we doing here?”

I stopped the truck in front of the Domino’s Pizza. “I need to grab something if it’s here.”

She looked at the pizza joint. “There’s nothing in there.”

Getting out, I shut the door and looked back at her. “You never know.”

“Grab a large pepperoni,” Danny said.

I stepped through the shattered glass doors. The place was a mess, having obviously been gone through countless times. I hopped over the counter and started my search. It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for. There was no reason for anyone to take them, so I knew they’d be there. I grabbed several stacks and went back out to the truck and tossed them into the back.

Mel was looking at me. “What are you doing with those?”

“I have an idea,” I replied with a smile.”

“What in the world are you going to do with pizza boxes?” Danny asked.

“I told you. It’s a surprise.”

I wheeled the truck into the parking lot of the Kangaroo Store in Altoona. Mel looked over and asked, “What are we doing here?”

“Gotta see a man about a dog,” I replied as I got out.

Little Bit’s head popped up. “We’re getting a dog?”

“No, we already have dogs.”

Mel spun around in her seat. “It’s just a saying.”

I walked over to the milk man. Seeing me coming, he grinned. “How are you, friend?”

“I’m good. Was hoping I could put in an order for some cheese.”

He rubbed his chin. “How much?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, five to ten pounds.”

His eyes went wide. “Ten pounds! What in the world are you doing?”

I told him about the party and what I was planning on making. He cackled and slapped his knee. “Now that’s just about the craziest thing I’ve heard in a long time! Never thought I’d see it again.”

“Can you help me out?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I think I can do that. Just might be a little short on milk for the day. But we can do it.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “What’s it going to cost me?”

The old man smiled and thought about it for a minute. “You say you’re making this for everyone in town?” I nodded. He thought some more. “I could really use some twelve gauge shells. I’m plumb out and no one wants to trade any.”

“What size?” I asked.

“Hell, I’ll take anything I can get!”

“Alright. I’ll get you some shells. Can you have it by Saturday morning?

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

I shook his hand. “All right then. I’ll see you Saturday morning. I’ll bring the shells, and you bring the cheese.”

Stopping the truck at Gina’s, I told everyone to sit tight, I’d only be a minute. Little Bit protested, she wanted to go in. She knew Gina always had a treat of some kind. “No, just stay here. I’ll be right back.”

“What are you doing?” Mel asked.

“It’s a secret.”

Her face soured. “I’m really getting tired of hearing that.”

Dylan came out on the porch and waved. “Hi ya, Morgan. What brings you by?” Then he was taken-a-back. “What the hell happened to your face?”