With This Ring

By

Retta Michaels

Preface

Dear Reader,

In a lot of my writing, I've never felt the need to write a preface. With this story, I want you to know what to expect. For me, the story is a mixture of a whole lot of truth and a whole lot of fiction.

For me to explain it, I must sit and tell you what my conceptual plans were for the novel

IN LIFE, we are not given a set list of directions and plans how to complete it. Some people don't like the unknown, so they don't take any foreign steps into different territories. With others, they know no structure. With my life, I've never done anything by the rules, so I've led a more than interesting one with a group of friends which run all over the spectrum.

Rather than having a nameless character out there who could sue the fuck out of me for even inferring they're a member of the mafia, I chose to go personal and use my own name. It's a lot less messy and a lot more friendly for my lawyer.

I am not a member of the mafia. I will not say I do not know a lot of the family members from several cities, but I am not a member myself.

I will state at one time I was with a man named Gino who headed a crime family. He's since passed and this story has been released with permission and editing done by his son who is still a dear friend of mine. (Thanks Dave.)

The names I've used in the story besides my own are ficticious. The names have been changed to protect everyone. Where names weren't important, I have not used them.

I have given enough references to who the person is so if you can read between the lines, you can see who they are. With that said, I will not say more about the characters.

The story is made up. It is totally ficticious. None of the incidents happened, and nothing of the sort ever occurred. If you choose to believe it did happen, and if you choose to believe it's true, then that's on you. I will state now if I receive an email asking me if such and such part is true, I'll be polite and refer you to the Preface and leave it at that.

The reason I'm writing this preface is because I want people to know when I write, I write fiction with an air of the style of writing used by the National Enquirer or the Sun. There's an air of truth in there someplace, but it's actually fiction. If you choose to believe it's truth, then do so...I've got about twenty acres of swamp land I'll sell you and someplace on that land is a complimentary Iphone. If you can find it, it's yours.

With that said, I'll now state the characters of this story will probably be used time and time again. I think I've found a niche in this style of writing. I'll tell you now, it's done in the style of Mack Bolan “The Executioner”, James Bond, or Scarface.

“With This Ring” is the first book of the saga. It shows how someone can go from leading a normal life wanting to lead a normal life to being thrown into a complex cast of characters which require him to be more and more of what he doesn't want to be.

I hope you enjoy the story.

Chapter 2:

On the way back to my house, he said, “I need to stop by my apartment, I forgot I'd have to get my cruiser on Friday!”

“Not tonight dear. You've been drinking.”

“Ok, I'm glad you're watching out for me.”

“No problem, just cover me sometime when I need it.”

“When is our flight?”

“I need to book the flight. I'll do that when we get back.”

“When is our appointment?”

“Two pm a fella by the name of Rodney.”

“Ok, now, I've got a question which might throw you for a loop. What are you moving back from Missouri?”

“Oh man, I don't know. I know I need to get a server from the computer room and I need to get Gypsy a pet carrier so I can take her on the plane, and let's see. One of the computers and all that gear, I guess, but besides my clothes and toiletries, I'll bring my safe and that's it.”

“Your house will be safe?”

“Kevin will watch it.”

“You really should close up the house and make sure no one messes with it and get it put on a house patrol.”

“They'll tell you they patrol houses, but they don't unless you're in a rich subdivision there. Just before I left, they had some houses broken into out in one of the rich subdivisions and the police are all over there patrolling. Yet, my property taxes are higher than out there and my house got broke into and not one time did they patrol. I tell you they really have it out for gays there.”

“How about if I go out with you and we drive back. You've got to drive your truck remember and I think Gyp would prefer that to flying. Then while I'm there, I can go in and speak to the Police Chief man to man and tell him I'd appreciate it.”

“If you think it'd do good. And we could have you meet my family.”

“I would like to meet Kevin too.”

“That'd be fine.”

“I'm not going to say anything inflamatory. I just want him to know you're going to be took care of. I know you're in his heart just as much as he is yours.”

“Maybe, but I don't know. I guess I would be, but it's really hard to think I am.”

“Is that a pitty party? Or, you doubt everything with him that much.”

“Doubt. Everything I thought I knew with him has turned upside down in the last four months.”

“You sure he isn't on drugs?”

“Yeah, he got tested.”

“How old is he?”

“Forty three. He'll be forty four May 2^nd.”

“Oh, maybe it's mid life crisis early. If it is, then he needs to watch out for alzheimer's because there's a study out that says men and women who have midlife earlier have more of a risk for alzheimer's.”

“Maybe it's me being cynical, but it would explain a lot if he had alzheimer's now. I mean, he tended to forget he had a lover and then that last week of December, he forgot I had a heart. Then, when he threw that punch, he forgot what it'd do to me. I don't know, but it'd explain that away.”

“That's probably you being cynical. He sure violated your trust in him all the way around, didn't he?”

“Yeah.”

“It's like he was pushing you away.”

“He succeeded.”

“Well, from here on out, we'll look forward rather than back at that, ok?”

“Ok, that's a deal.”

He reached over and took my hand and said, “I'm finding myself pretty lucky here lately.”

“Nah, I'm going to switch the subject on you.”

“Ok”

“While we're back home, would you drive with me to the dam so I could show you Tony's grave?”

“Sure, how far is it?”

“It's about forty miles. While we're out there, we can go to a place up there called Rustic Oaks and eat.”

“Ok, sounds nice.”

“It is. There's one other thing I want to speak with you about and you can do it, or you don't have to, but I want to do it to have things clear, ok?”

“Shoot”

“Bang. What I want to ask is while we're back home, would you mind if we go get tested for A.I.D.S.?”

“Why?”

“You've not been with anyone, and I trust that, but I have and I want you and I to both be clear we're ok before we do anything.”

“Ok, sounds good to me, my health plan will cover it.”

“Not me, but we can go when we're back home and the health department will do it free.”

“Ok, it's confidential, correct?”

“Yeah, all you have to do to get the results is wait two of the longest weeks of your life and then call in for the results.”

“Why do you say it's two of the longest weeks?”

“Ok, for me, it's because Kevin and I had unprotected sex the whole time I thought he was being faithful to me and I don't know how many others there might've been if he was lying to me about only being with the one guy, but for you any person that's ever spit on you, bled on you, or whatever. It all goes through your mind during those weeks of waiting.”

“Oh, I see what you mean. I've been really careful about those things, but it's happened.”

“But just like a nurse that accidentally sticks herself with a needle and gets a disease, it might've happened to you too.”

“That would suck.”

“Yeah, so what we'll do is we'll get the test and then we'll be fine.”

“I'm cool with it. But do we have to wait until then to do something?”

“No, there's lots of things we could do that'd be safe, but what I'd like to do is take things really slow and get to know each other's bodies completely. I want to know when I touch you it's going to be a complete turn on to you. For that, it will take a lot of communication and intimacy.”

“I agree. And thanks once again for not letting me drive.”

“Don't worry about it.”

“If you don't want me to drink, I won't.”

“Hon, you be you and I'll be me. I just don't like the thought of us having to be intoxicated to be with each other. That's not right for either of us.”

“I understand now. It must've been a blow to your self esteem to think the first place I would take you would be to a place to get drunk.”

“No, we had a good time and it wasn't to get drunk, it was to eat dinner. I'm sure there will be nights when we go out that I'll have a beer or five, but I knew one of us had to drive and I'm glad you did it around your friends. If they'd seen you being different with me, they would've thought I was changing you which I hope you know I'm not.”

“I know that. You're pretty level headed.”

“I try to be, but there are times when you think I'm an off the wall insane lunatic too, but those days aren't that often.”

“When was your last one?”

“The day Kevin and I took the long ride and I set everything into motion with the DEA. That wasn't a good day.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I knew it'd hurt him, but I didn't give a shit.”

“Well, the way I see that is he built the house of cards and he shouldn't have been surprised when they fell. That's the way I am with someone I'm arresting. There's not much sympathy when they're just then seeing the error of their ways and bawling their eyes out. For me, tears at that moment is them wanting me to feel sorry for them and I don't play that shit. I felt sorry for them the second they made the decision to screw up their lives...everything after that is what they deserve.”

“I guess. I mean, I know I made a conscious decision to have sex with Chad. It took me several weeks to finally do it. The only reason I decided to go ahead was because I spoke with his mom and she told me she thought we were already doing things and that it was ok with her.”

“Tell me more of what went on with him.”

“Ok, the way things went was like this. His mom and I met each other while I was tending bar. We worked at the bar together and then I decided to move back to Kansas City because I was starving to death working at that place. I moved back to live in my house there and one day she called and said, she'd found a note and Chad had tried to commit suicide because he was gay. She called me because I was the only person she knew who was gay.

I drove to Columbia where they had him in intensive care. When I got there, she gave me the note and told me she never told them about the note. She said she wanted me to go speak with him

Now, I never really knew him. I'd met him maybe once or twice, but I'd never talked to him, so the idea of me going into his room to speak to him was a bit way out there for me. But, she was a good friend and I went.

While I was up there, he came to and we spoke. He wasn't really talkative, but I did get from him he'd let me mentor him. So, we agreed upon Sundays as that's one of the two days I had off. The following Sunday, I tended bar until seven am and I then drove to Moberly. When I got there, I picked him up and we went out. He wasn't really talkative again, so I pretended nothing was wrong and took him to the mall in Columbia with me. I was really having a lousy time and decided if I had to be stuck with Mr Glum, I'd take care of some errands.

On the way down there, I'd look over at him and just noticed he was really not well groomed. His hair was greasy and his clothes just had a tinge of gray to them. I made a comment and he gruffly told me he only had three pair of pants and two shirts.

I was a bit blown away because I mean, we were poor when I was growing up, but I still had clothes. I might have had to go out and work my tail off for them, but I had them.

SO, I decided to make things a bit better and show him how I went clothes shopping. He went through the stores with me and at one area, they had colognes. He really loved Ralph Lauren's Polo, so I told him to get a bottle. He looked at me like I was crazy because of the cost, but I told him not to worry about it.

On the way home, he smiled and it was a million watt smile. It made everything better with the kid.

Anyways, when I dropped him off, I went in and spoke with his mom. I asked her if I could spend some money on him by getting him some school clothes and she thought that'd be great. He showed her the cologne I got him and she commented she thought he looked better than he had in months just by him smiling.

The next Sunday came and we went shopping for him. When the total was rung, I'd gotten him enough clothes and accessories for two weeks without him having to wear the same thing twice. He had shoes, and matching belts and everything to go with them. When he got home, he modeled them for her and she told me I shouldn't have spent so much on him. I told her it was worth it and I knew she didn't have that much to spend on him, so that was fine. But, what was strange was she started acting like she was jealous of him and began ripping him a new asshole over not buying socks that weren't gray and underwear. I handed her twenty dollars and told her to go buy him some.

This went on for three months until school got out. The day school let out, I got a call from her telling me he'd run off to come over to Kansas City to live with me. I told her I'd find him and bring him back, her direct quote to me was, “If all of his major life decisions are going to be through notes to me, then you keep him until he can show me some respect.” So, I had Gino put out the troops looking for him and as soon as he showed at the bus station, they brought him to me.

Now, I was still working my job at night, so when I was gone, I had no clue what he was doing. What I know, was I would stop by Subway or someplace on the way home and pick us up something to eat. Then, when I got home, my clothes I was wearing would go in the washer and I'd go upstairs into the shower and bathe before I even went around him.

What I was noticing was he'd be real nervous and fidgety when I got home, so one night, I came home and listened and he was kicking out the vcr and rewinding it. Rather than going to take my shower, I went into the living room and sat down. An infomercial was on and I asked him what he was watching. He couldn't even tell me what the infomercial was, so I picked up the remote for the vcr and pressed play. Up on the screen were two guys fucking.

He got embarrassed, and I told him, “If you want to watch this, do it when I'm home. That way, I can tell you this isn't two guys in love and it's just sex. If you want something to be real in life, you have to be real back. This sex isn't real.”

After that night, we began talking about sex and I felt good about him learning things. What I haven't told you is over that Summer, he really filled out and went from dud to stud. He grew like six inches and his body really was cut and sculpted. He was going through so much changes, I was thankful it was Summer because shorts weren't too short on him, but when those got to be too tight around the waist, we bought him new.

When school time came, I spoke to his mom about whether she wanted him back and she said for me to keep him. That was fine with me because he was a great house guest. He cooked, cleaned, and wasn't bad to look at.

One night, he got out a porn and asked if we could watch it. I was fine with it, and I noticed he sat in front of me while I was laying on the couch. That was a bit closer than he normally sat, but I was cool with it. He went in to get something to drink and when he came back, he sat so his head was up by mine. I figured he was doing it so he wasn't in the way, but when he spoke to me, his breath was right on my ear. It was turning me on something fierce and I finally had to go up to go to bed to be away from him.

About a half an hour after I was in bed, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I told him to come in and he came over and sat at the foot of the bed. I asked him what he wanted and he asked if he could sleep with me. I told him he could and he jumped into bed and as soon as he was there, he was like an octopus with his hands everywhere. I told him, “You asked to sleep with me, not make out!” He lay down and we slept

For the next two weeks, he slept with me and I kept finding him and I entwined when we were sleeping. Finally, one morning, I was spooning him from behind and I was really grinding into his ass when I woke up. I backed off, but the thoughts of us doing things kept going through my mind.

For two more weeks, I kept thinking about him until I finally couldn't take it anymore and went to speak with her. That's when we had the talk of her telling me she thought we were lovers already and it was fine with her since she knew it'd be making love instead of just him going out and fucking some unknown.

When I went home that night, I told him I was ready and we made love. From then on out, it was really good....I mean, our lives. He was on the football team and was really good. He got scouted and was getting all sorts of offers for great teams like Nebraska and Oklahoma to be their quarterback. It seemed he had one of those throwing arms that is one in a million. He could run aim and throw all at once and hit a target anywhere on the field.

So, after the end of the season of his final year, he asked me if we could move so he could go back home and graduate with the class he grew up with. That was fine with me because I wanted him to have that.

We moved and just as soon as we moved, is when hell started happening. People couldn't take two gays living in that little town and DFS got called.

By then, I was so used to being with him, it didn't matter. It was our house and what went on there was our business.

Well, the DFS lady came and she asked him questions and me questions separately. Whenever she'd ask questions about what went on in the bedroom, I told her that was my private life and I didn't discuss that with anyone. Well, it really pissed her off. She was telling me I was being evasive and I told her I did believe I had rights and I could answer a question anyway I felt.

She then asked me about the Halloween photo and I told her it was a joke. She said, “Yeah, it looks like a joke and took it and left. Two days later, I was arrested and the charges they threw down were all over the board. Basicly, they threw the book at me hoping something would stick. They put him into a foster home and told him he couldn't come see me.

I bonded out and he and I would speak to each other on his sister's cell phone. When he turned 18, he moved back in and told the DFS lady to fuck herself.

The charges were still there and she placed them so it sounded like I was raping him from the time he was fifteen. It wasn't until he was nearly seventeen when we finally started making love. My lawyer fought it, but he was really outclassed as far as being a lawyer went. Finally, I was facing so many charges, they offered a plea bargain for me just to plea guilty to one count. Where they got me was they told me I'd only do 18 months. So, I took the deal.

When I got into prison, I found out sex offenders did two thirds of their sentence and it wasn't the same as the month and a half for every year sentenced. So, I did eight and a half years.”

“Man, that sucks.”

“Yeah, but that's life. The good thing there is I met Kevin while I was in there and I had 14 good years with him. Then, we broke up and I went out here and met you. So, if I'd gotten out in those 18 months, I'd not met him and probably would be in some fucked up relationship with someone else. I'd not have went out there to live and we would have never met. I know I'd certainly wouldn't have the desire to write the stories I do because it took Kevin's belief in me to tell me I was good enough to go further.”

“He told you you were good and then when you pursued it, he held it against you?.”

“Yeah, but he felt like he was in competition with my time I spent writing. I'm sorry, but stories don't get written as fast as I can talk. They take work writing and they take a lot of time editing and reading them over and over and over hoping I find all the mistakes and polishing them so they look good.”

“Well, I know that story now and I don't judge you a bit.”

“Good because I have all of my legal paperwork in my safe. You want to know the kicker of it?”

“What?”

“I got sentenced to one crime and while I was in, they changed the classification of it from a Class B felony to a Class C and no one told me a thing. Instead of having to serve a maximum of twelve, they should have took me back in and resentenced me and I would have had to do a max of five. I did eight and a half years on a five year sentence!”

“That doesn't sound legal.”

“Yeah, but even though Kevin was a law clerk, who would have thought for us to look up changed on mine! We were so busy helping everyone else with theirs.”

“Man, that really sucks.”

“Yeah, but I have to look at it for it being a blessing otherwise I get real bitchy about it.”

“I don't blame you.”

“Well, subject switch, it's your turn to tell me something about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Start at birth and I'll let you know when to stop.”

“I was born, I lived. I went to high school. I jacked off a buddy. He went on to get married and I went on to working for the Sheriff's department. I went to college and got my Masters in Criminal Justice and thought seriously about going into law. Something turned me away from that because every judge I saw was a crook. I mean my daddy would go in and they'd make deals about what to give someone and I just saw that as a farce.

I lived at home until eight years ago. After that election, I got my own apartment. Since then, I work, I go home. I play pool and I go to places we went tonight to relax. There've been nights when I don't know how I got home and I'm the Sheriff.”

“Oh Steve!”

“Yeah, you talk about ass chewin's I've given myself, but I keep going to those places. Then fast forward until today when I met you and as soon as I saw you answer that door, I thought, “Wow, that guy's a knock out and there you were looking so fine and inviting me for tea. Hell, I had to accept if for nothing other than jacking material, I'd get to see you again and hope. SO, when I left your place, I drove around thinking what it'd be like to be able to hold someone like you in my arms and make love with you. Little did I know that it'd be possible.”

“Well, you got me!”

“Yeah, so if you don't mind, can we park the Viper in your garage and my cruiser out in front of it?”

“Yeah, you can park your cruiser in the garage too. If we need to, we'll build another garage and have his and his.” I smiled.

“No, the cruiser can sit out in front. Then, if we get to living with each other, then would be intruders will see the car and leave your house alone.”

“What I know is my Dakota will have to be parked in the garage because of the paint job. SO will your Viper. The Rolls can, but it doesn't matter.”

“What's so special about the paint job on the Dakota?”

“I bought the truck for twenty seven thousand dollars. It's nice. Right after I got it, I sent it out to a guy who air brushed and feather painted murals all over it. Now, with the wheels and all the accessories, it's a rolling piece of art.”

“Man, what are the murals?”

“On one side is dolphins. ON the other is a bunch of mountains and a nice scene.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It is. The guy is one of the best in the country when it comes to painting flames on vehicles. A lot of these custom shops send their bikes to him. If he hadn't been married to my aunt once, he'd probably been too busy to do the work on my truck.”

“And you paid what for the job?”

“His cost of his time a little under twenty grand, but it's a real head turner.”

“So are you babe, so are you.”

“Thank, you know I find this refreshing. What I mean is after my attack, there were bits and pieces of my ego laying all over the place like it was busted. One big noticeable difference in Kevin and I's relationship was he never told me he thought I was nice looking, cute, or even attractive to him anymore. I tried to tell myself it was all in my mind because he still loved me, but it really makes a difference when you tell me how hot you think I am.”

“You are.”

“And so are you. What you will probably notice when you meet him is you two have almost identical bodies.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, that's why I find you so attractive.”

“Because I'm built like him?”

“No, not that. I find any guy thats built like you two hot. Look at David Beckham, same build and sizzling...not as much dick, but sizzling just the same.”

“I take it Kevin's hung?”

“Not that I'm telling, but I did say you two had identical bodies.”

“Man, I feel for the dude. There are times I hate having this thing. And you don't know how many times I've thought about being romantically involved with someone and having the fear they'd tell me it was too big.”

“No problems here. Now, what I'll tell you is when Kevin and I got together, he was so gentle it was sneaky. I mean when we first started, I thought I'd never take the whole thing. Then, when we began, he was so gentle that I was thinking he had about half of it in when suddenly he was ball deep. I was calling myself Lucy after that.”

“I won't. Now, you told me you had a thing for guys my size and I think that's really nice. I mean I see guys your size and think you're hot, but man I see you without clothes and it's like WOW! You're awesome looking.”

“Thanks, one thing you'll see is I don't do much to keep in shape. I walk laps at the Y, but that's it. Lately, I've begun running again, but I find running on a treadmill harder than hell. I think I'll like it over here though.”

“What we'll do is we'll run together. We can go out over the causeway and you can see your house is nicer than most of them out on Hilton Head.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, those houses might be expensive, but to me they're really tacky. Your house has a classic gentility to it that just says unstated grace. I love it.”

“Me too. From the first moment I saw the photos until when we pulled up the street and tuned into the drive when it took my breath away.”

“It's impressive. But what I like is when you get closer to it, it's size dominates you. A lot of houses which are nice from the street, when you get up closer to them, you'll find out there are flaws. Your house, I'm impressed the more I get closer. And that chair right beside the front door on the porch is perfect. I knocked on the door and thought to myself, “Well, I'll wait here” and looked over and there was a chair. How perfect is that? The only thing missing was the class of iced tea waiting on a little table next to it.”

“Yeah, there are little things I like more and more about the house as I think of it too. The windows in that back sitting room for instance. Instead of that coffee table, I could see a card table and that being a room where we entertain guests, but I love the way the seats carry around under the windows. That's what I want up in the widows walk room.”

“How do you want that room?”

“Ok, you know how those windows are in that sitting room?”

“Yeah.”

“I want those all the way around and rather than a single door up there, I want french doors all the way around so I can open them all and feel the breeze from all directions. BUT, what I want most is up there, instead of a widow's walk, I want a deck big enough to sit on in a chair and have the railing so the widows walk looks the same.”

“You know what's interesting is a lot of the real old houses have what looks like a widows walk up on top, but it's not. What they did was they had lightning rods that looked like railings.”

“That's neat. Does mine have lightning rods?”

“I don't think so, but if not, you might want to get them. That metal roof might attract lightning.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No, not at all. You'll be really happy about that metal roof come hurricane season because a shingle roof will blow off. One other thing, whatever deck you have up there for that widows walk, I'd prefer if you had metal. I know you might not be able to walk around barefoot, but a board will break and can become a missile. When it's metal and welded, it stays put.”

“Ok, you'll help me with getting my room up there?”:

“What I'll do is I'll do one better, I'll put you in contact with the architect who designed the house. I'm sure he'll be all to happy to know who you are and how much you like it.”

“You going to come with me to the appointment?”

“Why?”

“It's going to be your house too!”

“Oh, yeah I guess.”

“Well and I want you to give him your idea so if there's something that's not carrying across, you can tell him exactly what you want.”

I looked over and he appeared to lean his head back and go to sleep. When we got back to the house, I went in and got on the internet to order our airline tickets. It looked as if we were either going to have to drive or be a bit late for our appointment. I chose to order the tickets and be a bit late. For someone that was taking a check for almost five hundred thousand for a car, they could wait. If not, I sure as hell could walk It wasn't like I couldn't find another Rolls dealer down there.

I then went back out to the car and backed it up where I preferred him to park his cars. It was out of the way, but not so out of the way it'd be convenient. I then went around the car and opened his door. He looked up at me and said, “Home hon?”

“Yeah, give me your arm and I'll help you get up to the house.”

“He gave me his hand and I turned him and squatted down to help lift him out of the car. He smiled, “If I kissed you now, would you blame it on my drinking?”

“You didn't drink that much to be that drunk.”

“No, I don't hold my liquor that well, but I sure like holding you!”

“Me too, now come on.”

He let me help lift himout of the car and I kicked the door shut.

“Tell me you just didn't kick the door shut.”

“Can't do that. I kicked the hell out of it.”

“Good at least you're not going to lie to me to spare my feelings.”

When we got inside I said, “Couch or bed?”

“Do I get to share with you?”

“Yeah, but all we're doing is sleeping. You can spoon up in front of me. That way if anyone's getting fucked, it's you.”

He laughed and said, “Maybe I want it that way.”

“Well, whatever you do, don't do anything to me in the middle of the night. All I ask is I be awake to give consent, ok?”

“Yeah, I never thought of that, but it'd be considered rape, wouldn't it?”

“Sex without consent is rape when it's happening to me.”

He smiled, “I got that loud and clear. Let me say if you ever choose to wake me up with a sexual act, then I'll be completely accepting of it.”

“I doubt if that happens since I treat others as I like to be treated, but if I do, don't consider that your green light, ok?”

“Ok”

I went through the house locking doors and checking windows. Then, I went upstairs to bed. As I settled in, I knew I'd absolutely have to find a place which sells feather mattresses. This mattress was nice, but just not soft enough.

After rolling around for nearly an hour, I got up and went downstairs and got my laptop and brought it up to the bedroom. I went to the Ginnys.com website and ordered three of the five inch and three of the three inch feather mattresses in King size for my/our bed. Then, I ordered one of each for each of the other beds.

I went over to the shop's website and attempted to gain clearance. Kevin had it blocked off. So, I went to my email address and wrote him an email.

Kevin,

Until June 1^st of this year, I am still co-owner of the sign shop and all our shared holdings. Your blocking of my access to the website just cost you dearly. I'll now consider my services to the sign shop done. In the future, my consulting fees will be ten grand an hour. Try finding someone to program the billboards in sequence without my logo-rhythms and they'll tell you, you're crazy. Until June 1, I'll continue to expect my share of the profits.

Rhett

PS. I expected more. I'll now have my mom check all of my belongings there since you went petty.

After doing that, I sent it. It wasn't thirty minutes later, there was a call on my cell phone.

“Hello”

“I had it down for maintenance. I'm in here trying to figure out what went on. We're having thunder snow here and everything shut off. I pull up my laptop to write you an email and get that fucking email.”

“Here's what you do. You hang onto the phone and you shut them all off.”

“Ok, I'm doing that now.”

“Now, over to the left is the white one that says Compaq 6400R.”

“Yeah I see it.”

“Turn that one on first.”

“I'm writing this down. I can't afford your fees.”

“It gets expensive when you piss me off.”

“Which one is next?”

“Wait for that one to boot.”

“Ok, it's doing that.” I heard the sound of jet engines in the background. “What's going on, the Dell just turned itself on?”

“They'll turn themselves on now. That Compaq is the main op.”

“Now, were the billboards down while this was happening?”

“No, they've got a built in loop they run. The servers only control the timing of them and what's being shown. You'll have to go to West Quincy and check that sequence by driving through the signs. If they're fine, then the ones in Columbia and Troy are too.”

“You charging me for this?”

“If you ever lock me out, you know what happens. I'll now try my laptop to see if it links me in.”

“Rhett, I'm not going to ever block you out.”

“Ok”

“Did you get your house?”

“Yeah, for two four.”

“That's a far cry cheaper than what you expected.”

“The gay friendly real estate guy wasn't gay friendly. He's now out of that office and could be facing charges.”

“What happened?”

“I got into his car and told him I wanted to bring the laptop as that's where all the photos are. From that point on, the man had attitude. Then, he blasted right past the guard shack and I told him I would be discounting a hundred grand. Then, we get to the house and the gates are wide open and he tried telling me it was an ordinance the gates couldn't shut. I took off three hundred thousand then. When we got to the house, his attitude was such that he didn't want to test outlets with me. I told him for each outlet that didn't work, I was going to take off a hundred thousand. He still refused, so I discounted it anyway. Then, he hit more attitude and by the time we were done, I was gutter trash in his opinion.”

“Oh fuck, how bad did you go off on him.”

“I called his Supervisor in front of him and told him I had a deal to buy the house, but it wouldn't be from him. So they needed to get someone there who would sell me the house. The Supervisor showed and we did the deal, but the jerk had attempted to slip papers that didn't give me access to the Country Club or Golf Course.”

“It's not like you play golf.”

“Who knows, I might try.”

“Rhette, you'll have the most decked out golf cart they make”

“Kev, I might do it the old fashioned way until I see if I enjoy it. There's no sense in spending all that money if I'm not going to like it.”

“Ok, we're way off subject, what did you actually think of the house?”

“Kev, it's beautiful. More beautiful than the pictures. I really really like it.”

“It's late there”

“Yeah, I went out for dinner with someone.”

“Really! Who?”

“The Sheriff, we're probably going to start seeing each other.”

“I'm not sure I'm liking this.”

“Why not? You're free to see who you want and so am I. If it upsets you, then you need to get over it. The only way I'll be upset about whomever you get with is if they don't pass background check, so save me the time and when I meet them have the papers ready so I won't have to wonder.”

“You'd do that, wouldn't you?”

“In a heartbeat. Your last one nearly got you locked away forever.”

“You were my last one.”

“No, my heart was out of it when I found out about Jerry. In my mind, Jerry was your last one.”

“Whatever, I'm not going to argue with you on that. You were my last one and I don't think I'll find someone for a long while.”

“I didn't think so either, but then he walked up and man...”

“Good looking?”

“In his own way. You're good looking.”

“Built?”

“Like you”

“Don't do that to yourself Rhett.”

“I'm not. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then it wasn't meant to be.”

“Ok, but I think you've made a mistake.”

“Kevin, if I have, I'll own up to it, but don't be running around setting everyone up to hate him. He'll be coming back with me to help me lock up and get moved back.”

“You going to introduce him to me?”

“Yeah, he wants to meet you.”

“What the hell for? I'm not going to get arrested, am I?”

“Outside his jurisdiction by a few states, but I think he wants to be able to put a face with the name and know who you are so when you call, he can feel like he knows you.”

“I doubt if I call.”

“You just did! Now, lose the attitude and don't cut your face off to smite your nose!”

He laughed and said, “You been drinking?”

“We went crabbing and I drank about sixteen ounces.”

“Ok, what's crabbing?”'

“You know when we went to Joe's Crab Shack?”

“Yeah”

“Well, it's like that, but it's cheaper and rather than a little bucket, you get a five gallon bucket and a two gallon bucket of beer. Most of that was head though.”

“Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, it wasn't bad, but afterwards, we drove to Charleston to go to Swenson's for ice cream, man you don't know how much I'll keep the road hot doing that.”

“I remember you telling me about the place. The people dress up like the old days.”

“Yeah, I remembered them being dressed in green but these outfits were blue.”

“It's been a long time.”

“Yeah, tomorrow we're going down to get my car.”

“Doesn't this guy work?”

“Yeah, he has comp time. You know how it was with the guards in prison.”

“Yeah”

“Well, he has a couple of months worth of comp time so he's calling in until next Monday and then he'll fly back with me next week and help me get packed up and be out of there.”

“I'm going to miss you like hell.”

“There's always a phone Kev. I'll miss you too, but I think things will be better for us if we don't pretend things are ok when they're not.”

“I do love you.”

“I do too, but you don't screw around on someone and you don't throw punches at someone and you don't accuse someone of screwing around if you love them. I think you wanted things your way and you found out I'd play up to a point, but once we went beyond that point, for me it was over. I'll be friends, but I think things are better as they are. We'll still see each other, at my mom's family get togethers, but Steve will be there on my side.”

“So you think he's the one to replace me?”

“Replace you? No, he's the one to follow you. You once said you wouldn't attempt to take Tony off the pedestal I had him on, but you'd do enough things that I would take him off myself. I did and then, I put you up there. Then, your actions took you back off. Now, he's building things and I really hope he's the one.”

“Why?”

“Kev, there's a lot of little reasons. One of the things he does is he tells me I'm good looking and attractive to him. You used to do that, but after the attack, you stopped or it was so seldom I wondered if you were just tolerating me. Now, I am told those things by him and it makes me feel good.”

“Why didn't you say something?”

“Why should I have had to? You screwed around with that girl while I was in the hospital and then, the shrink told you support would be crucial. SO, I got out and suddenly you're banging a guy. Someplace, it was like I was a dog you couldn't get rid of, but you wanted to leave me at home and go do everything else. When I finally said enough was enough, then you want to now say things were good. They weren't.”

“Ok, so now I know.”

“Don't do it to the next person whomever they are and you'll be happy. If not, then you'll waste another fourteen years and have to learn the lesson again. Either you'll learn it, or you won't.”

“So, is this what this is, is a lesson?”

“Kevin, if you learn the lesson from the mistake, then good. If not, don't think I'm going to be there in a relationship either way. It's not going to be like that. Telling me you love me doesn't take away the pain and the hurt. A year ago, I sat at home on Valentine's Day while you went out with him to a motel. Now, we're in territory I'm going to hear about something and think about what happened last year and will have those memories to face. March Madness last year was when you and him left for four days and went to bang like bunnies. Two years ago isn't better because the attack happened. Three years ago, we put wallpaper up in the bedroom together while you kept ducking out to see the scores. So, I have to go back three years to get a memory. Pathetic is what I think the best word is to describe that. But to you, it was all about you so you can look back on it and say to yourself you enjoyed it all...and not see you fucked me over getting what you wanted.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I know you are. You're now paying for the mistakes.”

“Ok, let's switch subjects.”

“Ok, now what I would like to ask is if you'll have some of the guys go up and put plywood over the windows of the little house.”

“Why?”

“Because I'm not going to be living there. When I get in next week, I'll drain the water lines and open the taps, but other than that, I'm not going to be there but once every month or so.”

“Do I get the address of your new place?”

“Yeah, but I'll be up to get the checks from you directly.”

“NO, maybe I want to send you housewarming flowers or something.”

“Ok, but if you come, you'll have to let me know because the guard down at the end of the road won't let you past.”

“I doubt if I come out there.”

“Why not?”

“I'm going to be busy here trying to hold down the fort.”

“Don't put yourself in a grave doing it.”

“I'll put your address up on the bulletin board.”

“Like hell you will! Just because I'm not there doesn't mean someone can't come in and take it down and then come out here and beat me again. If someone wants my address, you give it to them and tell them in order to get mine, I have to have theirs. If they don't give, they don't get. Got it!”

“Ok, I'm sorry, I didn't think about that.”

“Kev, earlier tonight Steve and I talked about things and he told me there's a study out about Alzheimer's and you might be at risk. I told him it'd explain a lot if you had it now because of what you didn't remember. I'm not going to beat you over the head about it, but you might watch your diet and get yourself a lot more rice and raisins in it.”

“Ok, I like those things, so I'll eat it for breakfast.”

“Kev, Let's just be friends so we can care for each other and be there for each other. It's my hope when you find someone new that you'll know I'll care enough to see you have the best and if there's something wrong with them, I'll tell you. Love's blind and Lord knows I've been there.”

“Is that what you're discounting us as?”

“No, I'm not discounting us. We had a lot of good years, but the past two for me weren't so hot. I was out there plugging away and you were finding it really easy to cheat. Once, that was a mistake. Twice, it's a character flaw and it made me regret the first time I forgave. Now, I can tell you my feelings were hurt and either you can listen or not. But, now that's said, I'm done saying it and the future's ahead of us. Just know my trust isn't so much that I won't have a short fuse when anything else happens.”

“Ok, but don't beat me over the head with things.”

“I'm not. You now know there's not going to be a likelihood of things happening for us, so we can go forward. Just know I'll watch out for you and you can watch out for me.”

“I will.”

“Good, now I see I'm back into the server, so I'm sorry about jumping your ass.”

“No, because your trust level is low. Let me know if ever in the future you can't get in and I'll get you in and find out why not.”

“After June 1^st, I won't be getting in. Until then, I'm still going to check on things.

“At least I know what your fees are after June 1.”

“No, but piss me off and they will be. If you need help, give my cell a call and I'll be there to help you immediately or do it online.”

“Ok Gyp's missing you.”

“I know. Tell her I got us a new home and she can come see you when we're in town, but tell her I'm going to be getting some Dobermen to protect this house.”

“It's not got security?”

“Yeah, but that realtor has me suspicious.”

“What's his name?”

“Collins.”

“Ok, if anything happens, I'll be out there finding him and seeing he gets a bit of what he dished out.”

“If you do that, you better come on over and take a look at the house.”

He chuckled and said, “I just gave myself away, didn't I?”

“Yeah, but Kev, you'll fall in love with the house. It's not better than the big house, but it's nicer in a way since it's all modern and is usable.”

“Will it stand up to a hurricane?”

“Steve said it will stand up to a class 4 which if this place ever gets hit by one, the rest of all the houses will not, so it's going to be bad. He said that the designer of the house over designed this one as it was the first one and the closest to the water.”

“Well, I could help you move stuff out. I got a new truck.”

“Did you trade in the Navigator?”

“Yeah, they still gave me five grand for it.”

“Lucky you, I wouldn't have given you a hundred for it.”

He laughed and said, “Me neither, but this Ford is nice. It's Burgundy and it's loaded.”

“Do me a favor and open the sunroof on this one. There's no sense in having it if you don't use it.”

“This one doesn't have it, but I did get leather seats.”

“Good”

“Well, I'm going to get off here. You can stay up all night, but me, I have to sleep.”

“Kev”

“What hon?”

“Sleep well and put Gyp on the bed with you.”

“She puts her butt up by my face.”

“Tell her to go down to the foot of the bed and then she'll go. Just say, OK and she knows that's where she's to go.”

“Ok”

“Now, good night and give me a call if you need anything.”

“I will.”

I flipped the cell phone shut and checked on the servers. Nothing was amiss and what I decided was I'd stop someplace and buy another few outfits to wear at a place on the beach. Maybe I'd get something from up at Beaufort.”

Thinking about clothes, I went and looked for the washer and dryer. I went downstairs and looked but didn't see a thing. I looked at the real estate print out and it stated there were hookups, I went to the basement, but it was nothing but a huge room with a master shut off at the top of the steps for electric, cable, and phone.

When I went up to the second floor, I decided to look through closets and see. When I got to what I thought was a closet for the furnace, I opened it and there was the washer and dryer and a complete utility closet. I looked around and saw I needed to get laundry soap and fabric softener sheets, so I put it upon my mental “to do” list.

After finding that, I went to the bathroom and took a shower. The five shower heads were different, but would have made more sense if they weren't all on when the main water valve was on. In order to scrub with soap, I had to shut the water off which seemed stupid.

I went back to bed and then snuggled in to go to sleep. I dozed off and was back up in two and a half hours with a start from a nightmare of the attack. Feeling depressed, I went down to the kitchen to find something to eat. That's when I found oatmeal and decided to cook it.”

Interestingly, I found a good number of the dishes missing. The set matched, but it was like there was one plate and that was it. I figured the rest probably went by the wayside during an argument. I found a bowl, so I used it to cook the oatmeal in the microwave.”

After eating, I opened the dishwasher and found all the dishes. Someone hadn't put them away. I began to take them out and found them still dirty. Gross. I looked for soap and found none. I decided to go ahead and run it so the water would soften the dried on food. What sort of person would leave a dishwasher full of dishes without at least going and getting some soap and running them unless she never planned on coming back?

I'd started a pot of tea when Steve came in getting dressed.

“Are you aware you have every light on in this house?”

“NO, but thanks for letting me know.”

“You couldn't sleep?”

“I slept, but a nightmare woke me up. One thing you'll need to know about me is I'm an insomniac. I only sleep a couple hours a day, so if we're sleeping together, know that's why I'm up. I'll probably be up in my office typing away”

“This time I found you down here.”

“Yeah, look at this noise. They left the dishwasher full of dishes.”

“Yuck.”

“Yeah, some water on them would have been better than none, so I'm using pot scrubber mode on them to get the dried food off.”

“Fortunately, we'll not have many dishes.”

“Why?”

“Hon, you don't know Southern hospitality. The Sheriff in an area gets invited to everywhere to eat. The plus side of it is I can take whomever I like and they love me for it.”

“Ok, so I take it you use it to your advantage?”

“Yeah, now I hope you didn't eat a big breakfast, because Mabel's down the street has the best breakfasts.”

“What time do they open?”

“They're open now. What time do we leave?”

“Not until late. I'll have to call them and tell Rodney we'll be late.”

“Did you try Charleston's airport?”

“No”

“Give them a try. They usually have more options.”

“Ok, let me go look.”

I went up and got my laptop and cell phone.

“When I came downstairs, he saw me carrying my cellphone and said, “Phone call?”

“Yeah, Kevin called because I sent him an email jumping his ass.”

“Why?”

“I tried getting into the server at home and it wasn't letting me, so I shot him off an email. He called and said they're having a thunder snow storm and the servers all shut down which means the power fluctuated. So, I had him start them up and found out I jumped the gun.”

“Ok, so he doing well?”

“Yeah, he's sorry and he's realizing we're not getting back together, so it's a bit painful.”

“I imagine.”

“They have a flight leaving at nine twenty from Charleston, Let me cancel the flight from Savannah and we can catch that one.”

“Ok, one way, right?”

“Yeah, it's higher than a cat's back because it's not pre-arranged, but they got us on.”

“Cancel that and use mine. They don't charge law enforcement the higher rates.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, so use my account.”

“What's your account?”

“You're not going to laugh, are you?”

“No”

“Stimpy Six”

“Stimpy!”

“Yeah, now don't laugh, you promised.”

“I'm not, I'm just throwing all the combinations together. Rhett and Stimpy.”

He chuckled and said, “I never thought of that, but it's cute.”

We used his account and got the flight booked. What's interesting was the seats weren't the same.

After we did that, I said, “I'm going to buy some clothes down there on the way back.”

“Ok, I know of a good mall up by Jacksonville.”

“That'd be nice, so we can go there. It's been years since I was in Jacksonville. They have a leather bar there I was at once.”

“Oh, that's a scene that's a bit scary.”

“Nah, they're a bunch of sweethearts. If they're off into the domination, then they're usually not there.”

“Ok, I guess I'm getting them confused.”

“It's easy to do. One likes the leather and the other likes the power and control. It will be a cold day in hell when I give up that control.”

“I hear ya. If it's not going to make us feel good about each other, I don't want to do it.”

“I agree” I chuckled. “We're doing a lot of talking about it”

He smiled and said, “Let me get my shower and get dressed and then we'll go get breakfast. You can drop off your rental car up there just as well as Savannah.”

“Ok, we'll take it.”

He went and got his shower and while he was doing that, I went on ebay and bid on him a Rolex Yachtsmen (the waterproof one) with the blue face. Brand new, they cost twelve grand, but on ebay, new ones are five.

When he came down, I took the laptop out to the rental car and he followed. I looked at him and asked, “You ready?”

“Yeah, I need to get my jacket. How you can't wear one is beyond me, it's cold out here.”

“It's nearly fifty degrees in February at six am! How can you be cold? UP home, they're having thundersnow!”

He asked, “So whether it snows is when you decide to wear a coat?”

“No, but it's certainly not cold enough to wear a coat.”

He smiled and said, “One thing you'll love doing here is having tomatoes for St. Patrick's Day.”

“Oh man, that's going to be nice. Then I can take them home to everyone and tell them they came from my garden and they're still knee deep in snow.”

HE smiled, “Yeah, it'll get you shot for sure.”

“Nah, I'll throw tomatoes at them.”

He laughed and said, “It'd make me stop.”

He went and got his coat and said, “You want me to lock it?”

“Nah, I'll give your plan a shot and if anything disappears, then I'll lock the doors.”

“You'll never have to lock them.”

“Let's hope not.”

We got in the rental car and he said, “This is a fancier car than what the police Impalas look like.”

“Under the hood it's the same. The only thing different are the ports in the engine and in the brain box. You'll still see the brain box is over there on top of this wheel.”

“So it takes all that vibration?”

“And the heat from sitting. There's not that much room under the hood as most of the compartment is shoved full of engine, so when they're sitting still, the heat builds up.”

“Yeah, it's rare anyone turns off their engines.”

“When we get up their next week, I'll take you over to Sheriff Ben's station and he'll be happy to show you. He got almond colored ones to match their brown uniforms.”

“The sound of your voice when you talk about him tells me you respect him a lot.”

“Let me tell you his story and then you'll be amazed.

Ben was the town drunk. He'd go into the bar and tell everyone he was going to run for Sheriff and everyone told him they'd vote for him. SO, when it came time to go put his name on the ballot, he got the signatures and went. Everyone still thought he'd not do it. Then, he ran and they voted and he won!”

“Oh man, so you had the town drunk as the Sheriff.”

“Yeah, and he decided to clean up his act and get sober. Suddenly, he's the best and the fairest ever and he's so well loved, everyone just knows he's great.”

“I bet. It doesn't sound like there's any old school politics there.”

“Not much. It died out in the seventies. Now, it's like you say and that's someone getting the favorable nod and they get in, but it's more about action there than someone getting in and not doing anything. Folks around there know if someone gets elected, they better get something for that vote because if they don't, the next person in will get them something.”

“And that's how it happens?”

“Yeah, we have a State Senator in there now that's not going to get elected if she' s not careful. She went in saying she was going to make changes and all I've seen is the same old , same old. I'm sorry, but when someone tells me they're not going to vote for the war and they do, they've lied.”

“You'll get used to that here. The Senators all lie and not a one keeps their word.”

“You need to run.”

“You and my mom both.”

“Who're you going to give the nod to when you leave office?”

“J.T.”

“Who's that?”

“My little brother.”

“Oh, is he as cute as you?”

“Yeah, cuter.”

“Nah, I think not.”

“Just wait. He takes after my dad. I take after my mom.”

“Oh, so that's supposed to mean he's better?”

“Nah, it's just about something everyone says.”

We pulled into Mabel's parking lot and got out. He said, “This bunch will get roudy, but we're here early enough to miss most of them.”

“Ok”

We went in and there stood Mabel. All five feet of her and about ninety years old. Imagine a retired drill instructor and you've got Mabel. She hugged Steve and said, “And, what's your name!”

“Rhette, ma'am.”

“Rhette, you think you're cute or sumthin'!”

“Know it ma'am, but what's looks got to do with a name?”

“Regualar smart ass.”

“Nah, I got told I'm gutter trash yesterday. Don't confuse me by telling me I'm something different today.”

She looked at me and her face softened and she said, “Who said that!”

“My real estate saleman.”

“Brandon Collins. I heard he got fired.”

“Yes ma'am, he did. Tell folks he stole from the company he worked for and the person that bought the house.”

“He was never any count. Spoiled rich kid. What'd he take?”

“The membership to the Country Club and the golf course.”

“Oh, wouldn't use it if I had it, but if they sold it with the house, then you should get it.”

“That's what I think.”

“Well, get over there and get you some food and from now on, you call me Ma, if you call me anything different, you don't get to eat.”

“Thanks Ma.”

“No problem.”

“I went over and the buffet laid out was something I'd never seen before. Instead of a normal hot table, it was all done up so the dishes were like a carry in at home. What they'd do was they'd come out and take the dish into the kitchen and then come back out with another that was full. The biscuits they had were homemade just like the ones in prison.

I tore the biscuit apart and then poured the red eye gravy over it and then poured grits over a small piece of corn bread and put cream over that.”

Steve looked at me and said, “Who taught you to eat that way?”

“One of my exes mom.”

“She was a Southern girl.”

“Yeah, from Texas.”

“She's forgiven.”

I laughed and said, “She'd probably tell you the same thing.”

“I know.”

We went and sat down and began to eat. I sat facing the door and soon, I heard Steve say, “Ok, here comes your test.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just wait.”

A guy got out of a truck and came in. As soon as he entered, he told Ma good morning and then lifted her and hugged her. She yelled, but her face told him she loved it. He sat her down and came right over to our table and slid in. “Damn, where'd you come from you pretty thing!”

I looked at Steve and said, “Who's this guy?”

“Tell ya in a minute.”

I looked at the guy and said, “Listen up, you'll get your ass out of my seat and you'll ask to sit here. I'll tell you no and then tell you if you want to sit down to ask Steve to give up his seat and he'll sit over here. Got me?”

He looked at Steve and said, “He's a keeper. Man, the look in those eyes told me I was about to die.”

Steve said, “JT, let me sit over there and you can sit here. Go get your plate filled and I'll be moved when you get back.”

“So that's your brother?”

“Yeah, cute huh.”

“Not, he's got a dimple goin' but you're way better. Too scrawny for my tastes.”

“Good, because he's straight.”

He moved his plate over and said, “JT will let you know what he thinks without telling everyone in the place what we are.”

“Ok, where's he work?”

“At the Sheriff's office as a dispatcher. He answers phones.”

“Ok, so he'll be able to keep the county happy.”

“The county will be happy to have him. He's a member of my family.”

“Ok, but let's hope he serves the public well.”

“You and my mama will get along great.”

“Let's hope. Your dad and I won't get along?”

“He'll not like you because you're not Southern enough. The best I can say is for him, the Civil War is still going on. Thankfully, you're from Missouri so you're not going to be branded a Yankee.”

“Good, I said chuckling.”

JT came back over and said, “Did you two sleep together?”

“No” I said. “He slept and I was the one left screaming out made passionate curses of joy never knowing he was asleep.”

“Oh, you'd know if he was asleep the way he snores.”

“Not one peep. See, I knew you were faking.”

JT giggled and said, “SO, you didn't get lucky.”

Steve said, “He's a gentleman.”

“Damn, I hoped you'd tell me you weren't a virgin any longer.”

“Not yet, but maybe soon.”

“Hey! I'm here you know!” I said giggling.

“And you are fine.” JT smiled.'

“I bet you get most anything you want, but JT it's not happening.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because you're too scrawny. If I wanted little, I'd go look in the mirror.”

He looked at me and said, “He's hot isn't he?”

“Yeah, and that ass is tasty as cherry pie.”

He laughed and said, “Steve, he's going to be so good for you.”

Steve smiled and said, “Yeah, and for your information, I'll be coming out at work.”

“Huh!”

“Yeah, I'm not going to keep it a secret. I'm not going to tell everyone, but I'm not going to keep it quiet either.”

“Why not?”

“Because I've decided if I love him then we should be able to go places and be together and carrying the pretenses of me being single would be unfair to him.”

“Oh. Well, that's true, but don't let dad know.”

“Dad's one of the first I'm telling. He can either take that or he can't. Mom can come and see us at his place.”

“You know dad won't want that.”

“JT, I really don't care. Dad's not warming my bed. Rhette is.”

JT looked at me and said, “So you did get some?”

“Nope, I was a gentleman. Tonight, is when I work him around that bedroom.”

He laughed and said, “You gotta tell me where you live so I can come over and see the place.”

Steve interrupted me and said, “That place I told you I loved is the one.”

“Oh man, really!”

“Yeah”

“You paid a lot for that place.”

“Nah, I got it reduced.”

“There's not enough reduction there for my salary.”

“Mine neither” said Steve.

“Mine neither, but you only live once, so I got it.”

JT asked, “What do you do for a living?”

“Retired! You're younger than me and you're retired!”

Steve smiled and said, “Hon, show him your driver's license so the kid will be a believer.”

I pulled out my billfold and slid it across the table. JT looked at my license and said, “Nuh-uh”

“Yeah, that's what I said” said Steve.”He's put together like a brick shit house, ain't he.”

JT smiled and said, “Brother, there's not a guy in this whole area that would ever make me consider it, but that one there.”

“I'm here you know. I really wish you'd stop talking about me in front of me.”

JT smiled and said, “If I do that, then I'll get a boner and Mabel will think I really want her.”

I laughed and said, “Ok, you're the straight one thank goodness.”

Steve smiled and said, “Yeah, thanks bro for taking it for the team.”

Steve got up to go refill his plate and I said, “Hon, would you get me some of the hickory bacon, that's good stuff.”

“Anything else?”

“Yeah, I better get a biscuit and a slice of cheese. If we're going to be at the airport, then we'll need it.”

JT looked at me and said, “You and he going some place?”

“Yeah, to Florida....West Palm Beach.”

“Why?”

“I'm buying a car.”

“What kind of car is there?”

“Rolls Royce.”

“Oh, nice cars but too expensive. You could buy ten cars for the cost of that one.”

“Yeah, but none of those others will get you the respect that one will get you.”

“I hear that, but man, it's still too rich for my blood.”

“I'll let you drive mine since you're family.”

He smiled and said, “Got any sisters?”

“None as hot as me.” I said smiling.”

“Man, that's fucked up.”

“Nah, what's fucked up is you see something you like and because of a label, you're not going for it. That's ok, your brother and I'll knock the socks off each other.”

“You're going to be good for him. For a long time I was worried he wasn't going to ever find someone and when he called home last night to tell us he wouldn't be home, I was really happy.”

“SO he told you before he even came over.”

“Yeah, I imagine. He called early.”

“Oh, he's sly. I thought it was all my doing.”

“Don't let him know, but as soon as he met you, he gave me a call and said, he'd found someone.”

“Well, he is fine.”

“What's the difference between us.”

“You've got a slighter build than him. He's broader through the chest and that ass is to die for hot.”

He smiled and said, “Good, I'm glad you find him attractive too, but I can see what he sees in you.”

“Good, at least we have your support.”

“Oh, you'd had that even if I didn't like you just because he cares for you. It really helps I like you. I just hope I don't end up fantasizing about you. You've got that sort of look to you.”

“Thanks. If you do, you do it with me spanking that ass and making yourself call me daddy.”

He laughed really loud and said, “Yeah, like that's going to happen....poppa.”

I laughed and Steve came back over. “They brought some new biscuits out, so I made up your sandwich for you so the cheese would get melted. What's so funny.”

“Nothing, JT's got a nickname for me and I've got one for him already.”

“What's yours?”

“Poppa”

“Huh!”

“Yeah, he'll call me Poppa and I'll call him bitch.”

Steve busted out laughing and said, “JT, don't you dare because I could see him doing that in the middle of Stone Meadow Baptist Church and you answering to it.”

JT started laughing and said, “As convincing as he is, he'll probably have Reverend Hollis calling him the same thing.”

Steve gave JT a look and JT said, “Oops, I got the look Rhett, if you learn anything it's that look because he'll make you walk if you're not careful.”

“Nope, I drove.”

“Good thinking.”

Steve put his hand down on my lap and said, “Only JT has had to ever walk and he didn't have to walk far.”

JT smiled and said, “Yeah, but by the time I got there, you already had told on me to everyone”

“You deserved it runt!”

We continued to eat and the banter flowing back and forth were typical brothers. JT told me he was glad to have me in the family and I got out and hugged him. He held on for too long and siad, “My God you feel like one.”

“Thanks bitch”

He laughed and said, “Poppa Smurf”

“Ooh, you're going to get it”

He left and I said, “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, you driving?”

“Yeah, you can drive most of the way home.”

“We driving home tonight?”

“I don't know. We'll see how late we get out of there. We'll probably stay someplace since it's going to be a long drive.”

We drove and got to the airport. I was learning my way around Charleston more than my own area.

We turned in the rental car and I didn't get too much grief over it. They asked why I was turning it in there instead of Savannah and I told them, “Savannah doesn't have the flight I need.”

When the flight took off, he said, “JT likes you.”

“I know”

“No, he really likes you. That's going to worry me.”

“Hon, if he is, he is. If he's not, then he's not.”

“No, what worries me is he's hot for you.”

“Hold up, if he's hot for me, that's one thing, but you're forgetting I'm a part of the factor too. I don't find him attractive.”

“Not in the slightest?”

“No. He's got nice eyes and a dimple going on, but that's it. For me to ever think of you versus him, that wouldn't happen. So, don't worry.”

“Good, I was worried.”

“You shouldn't have been.”

“He'll be over a lot.”

“Good, I hope your family is too.”

“My dad won't be.”

“His loss.”

“You know, what I think is if anyone can win him over, it'll be you.”

“How does he handle things with you?”

“He refused to speak about it.”

“Fucking ostrich. It's like if he ignores it, it'll go away. Unfortunately, you're his son and he'll lose you when it goes away.”

“You know you're right.”

“I know. My first lover's parents were like that, but when Tony came out to him, he brought out photographs to fight his battles. The more I think about that, the more it upsets. me. The man knew about us and chose not to confront it. Instead, he waited and caused his son ir-repairable harm by being too insensitive.”

“He still alive?”

“Sitting in a nursing home drooling in his cheerios. Man, I'd love to fuck with him.”

“No, just leave him be.”

“I know, it's just hard. The man fought me all the way”

“Care to talk about it?”

“One day, we'll go out in the middle of nowhere and I'll tell you everything but it'll have to be where I can use a pistol to target practice to get rid of anger.”

“That painful.”

“Oh yeah”

The flight didn't last long and when we landed, I called the dealer. They put Rodney on and I said, “Could you come get us in the airport and we'll use the drive back as a test drive.”

“I'll be right there. You wanted the drop head, right?”

“Yeah”

We went out front and waited. When he pulled up, all the eyes were turning towards him. He got out and I got behind the wheel. He got in the back and let Steve get in front. Steve introduced himself and I asked for directions to the dealer. He told me and I drove. The horsepower under the hood with the supple ride was scary. I looked down once and realized the odometer was reading 115 mph. I backed off and Rodney said, “It sneaks up on you. The cruise control will be a lifesaver for you.”

“Now, what am I going to get for the trade in on this?”

“Yours will take nine months to build. If they get to it sooner, it'll be a miracle, but there's a box that gives them permission to build it sooner if they have space in the schedule.”

“Ok, I'll check it.”

“What I'll do is I'll charge you a dollar fifty for each mile you drive and the twelve hundred a month as if you're leasing. Then, when it comes back in, we'll trade out for that difference.”

“Ok, now you're knowing what I want, right?”

“Yeah, I'll pull out paint swatches when we get to the dealer and we'll do a build.”

“Good, now, I've a question and you can answer it. What happens if I fall in love with this one and I want to keep it too?”

“We'll do the paperwork and sell you this one as a used vehicle when you bring it back in.”

“I'll save money doing it that way?”

“Yes, you'll find you'll really be treated well.”

“Ok, then lets do it that way.”

“Are you sure?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, you with that outfit on and this car. The colors tell me this car was made for you.”

“Hon...”

“Steve, make me this deal. I drive this one until the other comes in. Then, you get this one.”

He turned to the salesman and said, “When he gets his, can I trade in my Viper and get him a reduction in the cost?”

“Yes, it's not as much of a trade in as you'd get for another Viper, but we'll take it.”

“Good, that way the garage isn't too full.”

Steve turned to me and said, “I'll take it if you're sincere.”

“I'm sincere.”

“No, let me finish.”

“Ok”

“If you're sincere about growing old together.”

“I'm sincere, but Steve don't let a present make that determination for you.”

He smiled and said, “The money doesn't mean a thing to you, does it?”

“No because on that trust fund, what I make per year interest is what I spent yesterday and today really easily...probably what I make in six months.”

“And you don't spend the money of it?”

“No, the reason I don't is because it doesn't mean as much to me as the relationship I had to give up in order to receive it.”

“I understand that better now.”

I pulled into a filling station and said, “You come over and drive and see what you think.”

He went around and I got into the passenger side. He pulled out into traffic and really sped up.”The throttle on this is light”

“Yeah, watch the odometer because it'll sneak up on you. What looks like thirty five in the Viper is over a hundred in this.”

“Oh man! You were going that fast!”

“Yeah, remember when I slowed down?”

“Yeah”

“I looked down and I was doing a hundred and fifteen.”

“Jeez”

We drove to the dealer and went to do the paperwork on the car. I had them put the title in both Steve and I's names. Steve smiled and I said, “Well, we're starting with this.”

When the paperwork was done, The saleman brought out a book of paint swatches. In it, the swatches went clear back to the beginning of the company. As we were turning the pages, I saw a Burgundy for a 1950's Continental which was awesome. When we got to the one he was showing me, I said, “Ok, but here's what I want. I want you to do the interior with white leather and Burgundy piping and stitching. The headrest, I want with the initials of JM. The Paradise gal out front, I want her to light up. Other than that, I want a chrome dash instead of burl.

Rodney was writing furiously and said, “Ok sir, I've got that. Now, I want you to see if you want a quiet sound like the one you got or a throaty sound like this one.”

He started one and the sound of it was a low rumble. I said, “The throaty one.”

He then asked, “Chrome on the door sills?”

“Yeah, with the initials again.”

“And the black carriage roof.”

“With red stitching. Just like the old ones.”

“You know, there's only been one car ordered like that.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, a fella by the name of Fairbanks.”

“Douglas?”

“Yes, for his new bride.”

“Wow! So, I'll have the modern day equivalent to that car.”

“Yes, with the exception of the black highlights.”

“Yes.”

“Could I get those?”

“It's a special order, you could get those.”

“Ok, then let's do that and between the black and the red, let's have some stainless pinstriping.”

“Ok, I'll put that down. Anything else you want with this car?”

“Wire wheels and white walls.”

“How wide do you want the white walls?”

“I don't want it to look like a pimp mobile, but I want it to state it's elegant. I want it to look like a modern day version of the old car.”

“That would be a cabriolet.”

“No, because that'd make it a special build which is a million dollar car and there' s no way I'll pay that. Beside, I want it to be a racier version. Sort of a speedster.”

He nodded and said, “Ok, I'm getting the picture. Let me go in and fax this and see if the designers over in England have some sort of design they've thought of similar.”

“Ok”

Steve looked at me and said, “You know your car's going to be half a million.”

“That's ok, what do you think of the design of it?”

“I think when people see it, they're going to be blown away. They're going to say, “Man, that guy has a car that would take Pebble Beach by storm”.

“Good, that's what I want. I want it to look classic but be a modern driver and yet, I want it to go into any country club and be parked amongst the other Rolls and have those people really salivating.”

“I think you've hit upon it.”

“Good, now if that cost half a million, then when I get old and I'm ready to get out of it and into a snow white limo, I'll be able to sell it on the auction block and get what I paid for it.”

He smiled and said, “So that's what you're looking at?”

“Yeah, if you'll learn something about me it's that house will hold it's value. I think when the day comes I sell it, I'll have it snapped up. The same goes for the car. One thing I like about the newer Rolls is it's a take off of the old ones. When they gave up their Ghosts and went to the Corniche style, they went crazy. There are some of those that look hot, but most of those look fat and lazy. This one is going to be sleek and racy. I want people to look at this one and say, “Wow, Rolls put themselves on the map with that one.”

“You know what's funny?”

“What hon?”

“I can see us going crabbing and all the rednecks coming out and really going apeshit over them. You don't know it, but you really have a way of winning them over.”

“I hope. I don't want to be an embarrassment between you and your friends.”

“You're not going to be that. Did you see my brother this morning?”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“Hon, JT doesn't say anything unless it's on his mind. For him to say you were hot enough for him to consider going gay, believe me, everyone's thinking that.”

“Maybe, but the only person I'm concerned about keeping happy is you. It might sound strange, but in a relationship, I've been mostly the bottom. Yeah, there's a top side occasionally, but for the most part, I've let the guy take the reins and rode in the back. With Kevin, I exerted more of those times at the reins than I've ever done with anyone else, but without him there, I didn't want a part of it.”

“I understand.”

“Well, with you, for the first time, I'm ready to be an actual partner...not someone who's letting you do all the reining, but someone who can step in and call some shots.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ok, what I mean is I like the way you accept things. It's not like I'm buying you a car, but it's like we're buying our future. With these cars, we won't really need another car for our lives. If you want one, great, but if you don't, that's fine too. A long time ago, someone told me money was made to be spent. My reply then was it was if you had it, but if you didn't, then it was meant to be saved. Now, I'm loosening my hold on it and I'm getting a start on the rest of not only my life, but ours.”

“What I've got a problem with is you doing all the purchasing of things.”

“Hon, I'm not going to argue with that. I understand it because for a long time, I lived in what the other person provided. A huge part of me said I didn't deserve everything even though they said it was mine. For you, there are going to be times when you give me things that I'll not be able to give back. When that happens, I won't be keeping score. I think that's one of the hardest things about a relationship is that part...the not keeping score.”

He nodded and said, “In law enforcement, it's damned hard. I fall into that trap a lot, but I've learned to let it go. When I see someone on the street, I immediately judge them in regards to what they've already paid their time for. That person might have went and changed their life, but for a fleeting instant, I'm judging them for what they did in the past. What I've learned is to go up and speak to them as if they're an average person and to forget the past. If anything, I'm learning it more and more every day.”

“I understand and maybe that's why I want a new start here. Back home, I'm the ex con who had that relationship with Chad. No, it wasn't right, but it wasn't wrong either. They're judging me on a lot of levels and when they're done, they're seeing me as something I'm not. Coming here, I'm getting involved with you and I'm creating a playing field where people will judge me on the here and now on into the future, not what happened in the past. You've accepted me and it's been awesome. Who would have ever thoguht I'd end up with someone on the right side of the law.”

“What did Kevin do to go to prison?”

“He killed his cousin.”

“How?”

“It was a mess. I'll tell you in a way you can understand and then, you'll see it from his viewpoint and just be blown away by the injustice of it.”

“Ok”

“Imagine you've got a cousin who's a real bullying motherfucker.”

“Ok, that's easy to do because I do.”

“Now, imagine you, JT, and the cousin all go hunting and the cousin is walking ahead of you and he suddenly turns around and puts his rifle up to JT's forehead and asks, “What would you do if I pulled the trigger?”

“Oh man.”

“Kevin put his gun which was a ten gauge shotgun up to the cousin's throat and told him if he pulled the trigger, he'd pull his.”

“And what happened?”

“At that moment, Kevin wasn't watching what was happening to his brother. He was looking at the cousin dead off in his eyes. He heard the gun go off next to him and he pulled the trigger. The slug took the guy's throat out and decapitated him. What had happened was the guy had pulled his rifle off to the side of his brother's head and pulled the trigger. Kevin's brother was deafened by the blast and has yet to recover his hearing, but Kevin went to prison for Murder one rather than manslaughter because the laws were changed that stated there was no such thing as manslaughter.”

“Oh man, so he got sent up for life?”

“Life with a chance, but that was when he was sixteen. Back then, life was thirteen years. That was if you could make it to the end of that time. With Kevin being a kid in a man's prison, he had to adjust and become a fighter. Because he adjusted in that manner, the parole board and all the administration stated he was institutionalized mentally and didn't want to release him out to an unsuspecting public.”

“So they didn't want to let him go?”

“No, but I came into the picture and the hard core felon found he had a soft spot for me. He and I fell for each other and he suddenly started finding in order to get he had to give to others. He fought it and Lord knows he fought it, but finally, some things happened so we could leave at the same time. I'll let you read “With Love” and you'll see what I mean.”

The salesman came in and said, “You're Retta Michaels!”

“Yeah”

“I overheard your conversation and I've read “With Love” as well as your other stories.”

“Wow, so how do you like them?”

“Oh man, you're writing pulls me in like no one else's. I can sit and read your stories and it's like I'm seeing everything. You leave out just enough of the location scenery I can imagine it vividly and yet, you use words to the point I'm in and I'm just pounded emotionally. When you're experiencing things, I'm really bawling my eyes out. It's funny, because I feel like I wish I had a book you wrote here so I could get your autograph.” He said smiling.

Steve chuckled and said, “And I've not read a one.”

Rodney looked at him and said, “You have to. When you read Jordan, you'll wonder how he got so much information on the behind the scenes goings on of the music industry. And with that said, how did you get all that information?”

“To be honest, a lot of it was taken from an ex of mine, but a lot of it was gleaned from Behind The Music. What one of the stories told was about Vanilla Ice, but while he was sniveling about losing his music royalties, he wasn't telling the whole story.”

“I understand. He's one that came to mind immediately when you were explaining the financials. As I read it, it was suddenly making it very clear to me the money didn't add up. No, and yet, because he's so captivatingly good looking, everyone wanted to believe him.

Is there a Jordan?”

“Yeah, there are several Jordans. I took bits and pieces of all those people and threw them into one character. What's interesting is when I called Daniel, he told me about more and I put those aspects into the character to make him seem more in depth.”

“You know, when you started mentioning videos, I went to YouTube and started looking at them. That stage they have over in Russia is awesome.”

“Yeah, I found it by accident while going through some videos and knew I had to throw it in so everyone else could see it.”

“I understand, and one thing you did was you told me about Melanie Thornton's death. I had no idea she was dead until you mentioned it and the way you put her song into the story was so powerful I listened to the words and imagined it in that scene and I just bawled...” he said with his voice cracking.

I stood up and went over and put my hand upon his shoulder. “I understand. When I wrote that scene, I was crying, but the whole last chapter of Jordan, I was crying like you wouldn't believe because I fell in love with them all but don't worry, for Christmas, I'm having a sequel which gives more of their lives.”

“Oh man, really!”

“Yeah, look at what those boys went through, do you think it could be over?”

“No, but you gave enough things of what they'd be doing I just knew it'd all be fine for them.”

“Yeah, but that's the art of telling a good story. You build the characters and you lay it all out so when the story is over, you just know they're going to be fine.”

“What about the kids in “Rural Love”?”

“You tell me because they're not speaking to me. I think a large part of it is because when Kevin and I split up, he blamed my writing for what he did. Mentally, I shut them off. Fortunately, they're coming back and I'm getting the characters of “Write Me A Love Story” to telling me their story again.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, I'd thought I'd lost them, but just the week before last, I went over to see if I could read the chapters and I got them to speaking to me. They're ready, so I'm working on the chapters.”

“Good, that story has so many directions it could go, I'm amazed because I can see where it could go and where I'd take it.”

“And that, is why you could sit and write a story. Many people don't think they can, but I'll tell you what the catalyst was for me to start writing. For years, I sat and read other people's work. A whole lot of them, I read and thought, “I can do this and I can do better”, so I did. Once I opened my mind to the creativity, the story lines started rolling in and this laptop has all the files in it that I've been working on so as I'm on the road, I can put more in.”

“Wow, so what's some of the new ones?”

“Oh man, which ones? I mean I have so many. Each day, I'm getting more and more. What I'm afraid is I'll never get them all written and the readers will not get to read them, so I've got a deal with my mom that she gets them emailed to her for safe keeping. If anything ever happens to me, she's been told to release them and I've even gotten a draft of an email saved to explain it to the readers the stories they're reading were written before I died.”

“You're not ill are you?”

“No, but who knows. Each month it seems someone really talented is gone. I read their works and I'm saddened because of all the creativity that passed with them. For me, I want that legacy to be such that even after I'm gone, I'm still giving to the readers.”

“That's nice.”

“Yeah, and what I've got to do is find a voice recognition software that will let me speak and get them told faster. I've tried several, but they're not real good yet. If I can get one, the stories will roll out so fast and furious I'll be way ahead of the game and the stories will be written before writer's block ever happens.”

He smiled and said, “I'm sorry, we're way off subject.”

“We are, but I'm honored you're a reader. Now, did they come up with something?”

“They're searching now. What they've done is they've told me to go ahead and take your partial payment for the order and they'll stay in contact.”

“Ok, but what I want from them is I want to take time in April and go over to the plant and do a tour. Then, I can speak with them and get a vision of what it will look like through their eyes.”

“I'm sure they'll be delighted. Several of the ones I spoke with on the speaker phone were amazed because they think you're putting them in contention with Bugatti and the memories everyone has of the Dusenburgs.”

“Yeah, but this is a Rolls. Rolls has what Dusenburg didn't have...staying power. They've been around and personally, everyone's going on and on about the Maybachs, but to me, they're a modern equivalent of the Austin Princesses. They're pretty, but they're no Rolls.”

He smiled and said, “Tell them that. I'm sure they'll be honored.”

“I will because I could have an imposter or I could have the real thing. I'm sorry, but a Maybach is like comparing a dildo to the real thing. One is awesome and over the top and the other is just a ride.”

Steve started snickering and said, “Hon, the way you use words is funnier than hell.”

Rodney smiled, “I hate to cut this short, but I've got another appointment in a half an hour.”

“Ok, so how much do I cut the check for?”

“Write it for half a million and we'll notify you of what the rest will be.”

“Ok, one moment and I'll give you this.”

I wrote the check out and said, “You've got the paperwork done for his?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, then tell them to schedule me an appointment over there in six weeks and I'll see what they've got for me. You have my email address and you can get me the drawings and correspondences to me. Tell them if they don't have something to knock my socks off, I'll cut that order back to being a normal car. I'll probably go with that Burgundy from the fifties.”

“I'm sure they'll have something spectacular.”

“Good, I'd be real interested in seeing the design concepts.”

“This has been fun. I sold two and I got to meet someone whose writing I admire.”

“It's been a pleasure here too. Now, we're insured until we get home and get the car licensed, right?”

“Yes and what I'll do is I'll call you if anything else develops. Is this number here good to reach you most anytime?”

“It's my cell I always carry with me.”

“Thanks now lets go out and get you into your car.”

We went out and I looked at Steve, “You want to drive first, or me?”

“You drive and then I'll pick up someplace so we can get into Jacksonville.”

“Ok”

I went around and got in. The automatic adjusters did their thing and everything made itself so I was at ease. I pulled off the lot and Steve said, “You know, the way you and that guy talked about your writing, I was impressed. I could tell you'd touched his life and the way he spoke about the characters were as if they were real to them.”

“They are, but it really bugs me when people want to give me hell about them. Maybe I make them too real, I don't know, but then again, maybe that's something I need to work on. I've never thought about a reader thinking as my writing as that real to them.”

He smiled and said, “That's a testement to your writing.”

“I understand though, I've written to one author and really gave him an ass chewing about the way a story went. He was nice and believe me he was nice in the way he told me to go re-read how the first chapter went. BUT, from that story, I doubt if you ever see me doing a flashback or a dream sequence. After I re-read it, I felt fucked as a reader.”

“So it was disappointing?”

“Oh hell yeah. Don't get me wrong, I love the man's work, but I felt robbed.”

“You're telling me that I'll get drawn into these stories?”

“Yeah. What's funny is for a long time I thought women who got all into their Harlequin romance novels were hilarious.

Then, in prison, I read every Danielle Steele novel that came out. I love her work, but to me they're cookie cutter romances. The premise through them all is the same.

In mine, they're so lifelike they're like you've entered a world of that person. The person's life is so real because I throw a lot of my life into them. The person's not perfect and their life isn't all fairytale bullshit and they've got issues. Lord knows I've got issues and you can say Amen to that, but one thing I've never come across is someone who has written and said, “You know, I started reading your story and it's complete and utter horse shit. There's no way that could happen and it's so way out there I can't believe it's real.”

“Really!”

“Yeah, but one thing I've got to do is trot up to Charleston and get the background of the feel of the city so I can get Camp Sumpter written.”

“That's the one that's the historical novel?”

“Yeah, those guys are really gnawing at the back of my mind. Their love story is amazing. When I get that one written, it's going to be riveting and it's going to probably be more lifelike than most of the civil war books written. I do know I've done enough background work on it, it'd surprise you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ok, the area the lead character came from is right in our neck of the woods. The Southern plantation of the sugar fields and everything. What has amazed me in doing the research is the amount I didn't know about the South and the amount they didn't know about farming. Those guys literally raped the ground and when it was useless to them, they just left it and used their slaves to go clear more land. They sure didn't know about crop rotation or fertilization. If they had, they'd not had the problems they did. Instead, they fucked themselves into losing the war.'

“How?”

“Here's what I mean. Tractors hadn't been invented. Hell, a lot of things hadn't been, but with what they did to the ground, if they'd paid attention to what the indians had taught them from the original colonization with fertilization of fish, they'd been out there using fish to grow corn and food crops. To them, that wasn't where the money was, so they didn't mess with it. If they had, the south would have been an awesome force. Instead, they ran out of food and they ran out of resources which gave them the underhand in the war.”

“I'm getting what you mean. My daddy said steel was one of the reasons we lost.”

“That and working a slave into their death bed. Everything they had was wasted like we waste our resources today. Look at our house. WE've got eight fireplaces and I can't think of a place close we could cut wood.”

He laughed and said, “Hon, my daddy has wood like you wouldn't believe. We'll go up there and we'll get what we need.”

“Ok, so the next issue is finding a place to put it because look around the house and you don't see a place to store that much.”

“No, you're right there.”

“Well, maybe along the front fence, but I'm sure the neighbors will raise hell about that.”

“If it's put on our side where it can't be seen, I don't think it'll be an issue.”

“Yeah, but I hear the bugs here are really bad.”

“Yeah, but you get used to them and I'll tell you you're going to see some things we do to get rid of bugs that are going to really amaze you.”

“One thing I want to do is get some bat houses going. I don't know if there are any colonies around, but I want to welcome them. The neighbors might complain, but as far as I'm concerned they'll have to deal with them.”

“Hon, I don't think a bat will come. You're forgetting the moss in the trees and the spider webs. Bats get caught up in them and they don't do well.”

“Ok, so what do we do about bugs?”

“What we'll do is we'll string out some underground electricals that go to some poles out in the vegetation. Once there, we'll install some ultrasonic pest repellers that will drive them all to other locations.”

“You mean the neighbors get the bugs and we get to go outside on the patio.”

“Yeah, but one thing I see is we've got to install fencing out a ways so the gators won't be laying in wait.”

“Is that legal?”

“Yeah, it's legal. What I've got to say though is we want permanent fencing instead of the black plastic some of them use. I've seen that stuff after a hurricane and it's a mess. What you'll have instead of protection is a huge net to catch everything and then the weight of everything it's caught has pulled down trees or went airborn and has become lethal to the neighbor”

“What sort of fencing do you suggest?”

“They have some secure chain link which is nice.”

“Doesn't that do the same if it goes airborn?”

“Yeah, but it doesn't get a chance to go airborn if it's embedded in concrete.”

“So we put a perimeter up of link in concrete and nothing can lift it.”

“Yeah, but what's nice about it is after so long, it becomes invisable because the vegetation climbs it and takes it to looking natural.”

“Ok, well does someone put it up?”

“I'll call someone. It's not going to be cheap, but it'll be the best way to go so you're secure with knowing we're not going to have a gator in the backyard.”

“What about raising the yard?”

“Not an option. The neighbors and the wildlife agents will roast you. That's one of the agreements they gave when those houses were built was the marsh wouldn't be affected.”

“Ok, now hold on a second and tell me which way I go here.”

“Take I-1 North.”

“Ok, this way?”

“Yeah, but hit the inside lane because these people all drive like idiots.”

“Ok, you sure you don't want to drive?”

“Not yet, but promise me tonight we'll read some of your stories.”

“What I'll do is I'll hand you my laptop and you can read whatever you want while I go set in the jacuzzi and then go to the sauna.”

“They might not have a sauna.”

“Take a look and see which hotel has a sauna on Expedia. We'll find one.”

“It's probably going to raise the price of the room we stay in.”

“That's ok, Now, are the neighbors going to have a stroke if we have a swimming pool with a jacuzzi and pool house with a sauna?”

“I'd suggest taking the idea to the architect to see if you can get one that blends in with the rest of the house and out buildings. I can get it pushed through the commission because there are a lot of houses which have them in the area. A sauna isn't going to really make much of a difference. People will proably smile at you wanting to sweat when the humidity in the Summer time will have you doing plenty of that, but that's your perogative.”

“That's spoken by someone that's never gotten into one.”

“Nope, you got me there.”

“Well, tonight, we're going to do this and you're going to be blown away by what it will do to you.”

“Why?”

“Here's why. Before I started using a sauna, I was one like you. I couldn't see why people would want to do it. Then, an employee of mine told me about the one at our local YMCA and begged me to go out with her because no one would go. She made it sound so appealing I agreed to try it once. We went late at night and we hopped into the jacuzzi and then went into the sauna.

At first, I wasn't impressed. Then, we went back out into the jacuzzi and suddenly all the aches and pains I didn't realize I was having were disappearing. When we went back into the sauna, I was relaxed to the point I nearly fell asleep. We did that a few more times and then, I went and took a nice long shower.

Let me tell you that drive home was dangerous. I was so relaxed I nearly went to sleep and when I got home, I went right to bed and slept like a baby the whole night long. For me to get nine hours of sleep at one time is unheard of, but that night was the first of many times I've since slept.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, now, I think enough of them I want one. I'll pay that money to have that opportunity to sleep once or twice a week.”

“So, it gets rid of the aches and pains and relaxes.”

“That and the jacuzzi.”

“Ok, I'll try it.”

“You do realize we'll be sleeping together at the hotel.”

“Yeah, I'll not do anything you don't want me to do.”

“That's fair. I promise the same back. By the way, thanks for taking the day off and coming down with me.”

“That's fine, I've enjoyed it.”

“Now, I've got a question I need to ask because if you don't want to that'll be fine too, but before I tell you, I'm going to tell you now either way I've got to go.”

“What's that?”

“Before Kevin and I split up, we agreed to take mini vacations together. It was supposed to be a way we could leave the worries behind and let us just be a couple without the phone ringing and us being disturbed by business. As you know, we're not together anymore, but those reservations still stand at several places.

One of those places is a fishing lodge called Molson. Now, I'll tell you the thought of me ever wanting to go fishing is unheard of because Babe Winkleman, I'm not. However, going to that website and seeing some of the monsters they were catching made me want to do it. Now, if they can forgive the fact they're in a boat with a homosexual who isn't wearing plaid, I'll forgive them for being straight looking like they belong on Brokeback Mountain. All I want is one of those huge damned fish.”

He laughed and said, “The way you make that sound is so appealing, I'm sure I'll accept just to see the look on your face when you land one.”

“Good, because the trip is already reserved and I don't want to let it go. Do you think you can use your comp time for little trips like that?”

“I'll do it providing the trips aren't more than once a month.”

“Ok, I'll check, but there might be one or two which are. I'm not sure. I do know the trip to the Indy 500 at the end of May will be out now since it's more than five hours to get there.”

“Why?”

“When I scheduled going, it was because Indianapolis was only five hours away. I figured we could go that morning and get there in time to get parking and get to the seats. Now, that's a thought that's not possible since I'll be living here.”

“Let me do some checking. I'll tell you now I'll have to work some of that weekend, but the advantage of it is I'll be in charge of the scheduling of the deputies. If I can arrange for me to work Friday and into Saturday, I think we could go if you'd like.”

“Don't put yourself out, but if you can that would be great. We could fly into St. Louis and go up home and then drive over.”

“You leaving a car there at your house?”

“No, but I'll talk to Kevin and I'll get one of the trucks from work. We can drive over in one of them.”

“Will he do that?”

“Yeah, we're being civil to each other. My name's still on the place, so I think we'll be fine as long as I don't ask to drive his new truck.”

“He's got a new truck?”

“Yeah, he took the Navigator and traded it in. They gave him five grand for it.”

“I thought you said it was beat all to hell.”

“It is, that's why I'll never buy a Ford from them again. If they take that truck and pull all the dents, then they're selling someone a truck that's going to have all the paint popping off it like you wouldn't believe.”

“That sounds like it ought to be reported. Was an insurance adjustment done on it?”

“No, that's what is scary. They could do that and no one would be the wiser.”

“Oh man. I wish there were pictures of that truck.”

“There aren't. I know I didn't take any and I sure know Kevin wasn't going to go out bragging it up to his buddies that he was inside the thing when I went ballistic on him.”

He smiled and said, “I wouldn't either.”

“I am glad Kevin got a new truck. It's a sign he's moving on with life.”

“I'm glad you two can part as friends. It says you two care about each other.”

“My trust level is really low and he knows it. I've promised not to beat him over the head with it anymore, which is going to be really hard for me, but in all fairness, I have to ask myself why I'd do that to him since there's nothing to gain from it.”

“True.”

“One thing you don't know is that statement shows I'm maturing as a person. It's strange, but I went through all these classes for anger management and making things “win-win” and that's all fine and dandy when it's something that's not huge, but when huge things come at me in life, I'm a person that strikes out when I'm in pain. In a way, that's a good thing because I used to be someone who didn't and kept it all bottled up inside, but then I got in prison where retribution was a huge part of the game. Now, I'm swinging back to the middle and I'm hoping I can keep it there.”

“You know, that's something I would like to speak with you about.”

“What?”

“Do you think the classes worked for you?”

“Yes and I'll tell you why. In life, we're not handed a rule book or even an owner's manual when we're born. If we're fed junk when we're little, it affects the way we deal with things later. A large part of knowing things are wrong in my life is having someone give me a wake up call and then, it's like a light is switched on inside my head that shows a room that's full of shit. Once I'm shown the room, I can go in and work on it, but until then, I'm not aware it's there. The classes are a way for me to deal with the wreckage in the room.”

“Ok, so it's a tool for you once you know something's wrong.”

“Yeah, but I'm going to tell you something you're going to find ridiculous.”

“What?”

“Your job as a law enforcment officer is to get someone who has violated the law to fess up and then you punish the hell out of them. A large number of people out there don't realize they're breaking the law and the implications of what happens when they do break that law. For me, it might sound ignorant, but yes, I knew there was a law that stated I shouldn't have sex with Chad, but there was no direct correlation of what would happen if I did. Now, for a large number of inmates in prison, they're in the same boat.”

“That's what probation is about.”

“And not many of those people get probation. It's like they have a quota to fill to get people in prison and the ones that get the probation are after that quota has been filled. I was offered probation and I took it. Then, the judge gave back the deal and took the plea of guilt. He then handed me a sentence of fifteen years and basicly told me if I didn't like it to appeal.”

“That's fucked up. You should have been given probation, but in all fairness to the judge, you did make it obvious you were going to continue seeing him.”

“Yeah, but he was eighteen when I was sentenced. It's not like he was still sixteen.”

“True, but I can't explain how they do things sometimes. My job is I'm told to catch them and then leave that up to the judicial part of things.”

“Can you make suggestions?”

“Yeah and I do, sometimes. BUT, on other cases, I don't.”

“I can understand that, but what happens in the situations where you make suggestions?”

“They usually take them because they realize I'd not go up and say something if it wasn't warranted.”

“Could you suggest classes and training and probation on a case that would normally warrant prison?”

“It would be bending things to an extent, but what I mean is normally, I ask for the person to receive probation and that's it. That's why I asked if the classes did you any good. If I could start requesting re-education to where people saw the light and made that clean sweep to get their life back on track, I think it'd go them a lot better.”

“I agree and here's why. When you offer someone help and they don't find out what prison's like, you've still got their fear of prison held over their head. Most people are afraid of what prison is like because they see all those things on television.

I'll tell you now, once someone goes to prison, you've taken away that fear. They've been there, done that. And now, you've got someone that's a lot more lethal because they've experienced the alternative.”

“I get what you mean. Maybe that's why the recidivism rate is so high.”

“No, that's high because you've got some crazy screwed up laws in this country which tell employers it's ok to hire an illegal, but they can't hire a ex-con. Yeah, they're not supposed to hire illegals, but what's the penalty? Twenty five dollars? I'm sorry, but when you put on the books a minimum of five grand to hire an ex-con or a twenty five dollar fine to hire an illegal and the illegal gets deported, who do you think gets hired? And where do you think the ex-con goes to work? He goes back to doing what he knows makes money because that's what he knows.”

“Man, you're making me see a lot of things I've not seen before.”

“Yeah, so here's what you end up having out there in your county but all over the country. You've got one factory that's locally owned that will hire felons. That guy pays nothing and yet, he's got everyone wanting to work for him because he's the only one hiring them. It's like that all over the country.

Then, you've got employers that don't hire felons due to company policy that are hard pressed to get employees. So, an illegal walks up and gets the job. It pays good, so they call and tell all their fellow illegals about it. You've now got a factory that looks like the friggin United Nations....and houses in your area that have thirty people living in them.”

“You think that many?”

“Let me be honest with you. I have a best friend named Mike who is a real night owl. He and I were out one night and we got home. Instead of inviting him in, we sat out in his truck and talked. In my neighborhood, there are four houses in a two block area that are owned by illegals.

Kevin and I tried to buy them, but we didn't want to pay the prices the owners were asking. Unfortunately, they were huge old houses with lots of bedrooms. Illegals went in and paid cash for them and gave the owners what they were asking. Suddenly, we had them living there. I didn't mind because some of them are really fine...if you know what I mean, but that night Mike and I were sitting out front, we saw a Uhaul van pull up and probably forty people got out of it. I looked out in back of my house and it looked like the whole underground railroad was in action with people going up to the one house.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Fuck no. I'm an ex-con man, for me to call the cops, something better have been done to me that I can't prove and don't know who the person is. They're not doing anything directly to me, so I don't give a shit.”

He smiled and said, “Let's see. They're doing lots of things to you, but you don't really care.”

“Let's not get into the health care issues and the uninsured vehicle issues. What I mean is if it doesn't affect me and my house, I'm not bitching. Now I did catch one out fucking with the center of the hubcap of my BMW, but believe me, the guy paid.

Gyp went crazy barking and I looked out the door. I saw him and went outside with a ball bat. He was caught and he knew it. I told him I could call the cops or he could pay for the hubcap. Oh holy fuck....”

I pulled over and hung my head outside to puke.

“What's wrong!”

“Nothing.....just nothing....”

“Bullshit, pull over more and I'll drive.”

“Steve, those guys had a white Ford F-150 4x4. Until now, I didn't remember. I thought I was being so cool because I made the bastard pay $300 for a hubcap. Miguel....his last name was something like Angelo or Angel. “

“You sure.”

“Yeah, he opened his billfold and I saw his license when he was paying me the money.”

“Where'd he live?”

“He lived up on the street behind my house and he worked at the Mexican restaurant. I don't know where he is now, but the truck will have a license plate because they wrecked it up on the steps. Call the Police Chief and tell him, here's my phone.”

I dialed the number for the police station and Steve spoke to the Chief. He used an authoritative tone of voice and gave who he was and where we were. He then told the Chief he was with me and that I'd remembered the incident and the person's name. He then told the Chief there would be a vehicle accident report with damage to city property of the vehicle.

The Chief told Steve the case was closed and Steve told him, “You have victim who remembered something and you're telling me attempted murder cases stay closed in your state? I'll tell you Sir that I'll contact the highway patrol in your state and start an investigation through them. As soon as I get back to my station, I'll make a deposition and get it faxed. You have a good day sir because my next call will be to the press.”

Steve rang off and said, “What a dumb ass.”

My cell phone rang back and Steve answered it. He said, “You go ahead and attempt to put charges upon him. Trace this phone call and you'll find we're in the state of Florida on our way back to South Carolina. We'll be staying in Jacksonville, Florida tonight and just as soon as I can get to Jacksonville Police Department, I'll use my shield to get that deposition put down and faxed to my office. Then sir, I'll have them fax it to your office and your highway patrol. AND, as soon as I find out you've wrongfully pressed charges, I'll have him contact your city attorney and manager to file suit upon you. As soon as I hang up from this call, I'll be calling them myself to forewarn them of your intentions to hopefully put a cease and desist upon you. IF they can't, or won't, then I assure you your city has seen the biggest lawsuit ever heading your way. I've seen those photos and if you think he did that bullshit to himself, you're crazy. He's now telling you who he thinks it is. IF I had a victim coming in and handing me the perp, I'd be paying attention.”

Steve listened and said, “Sir, by your comment, I certainly hope you have this phone call recorded. In MY state what you just did constitutes a hate crime punishable by federal law. It might not be in your state, but I will file charges against you myself as soon as I get back to my state. Good day sir.”

He got off the phone and said, “He called you a faggot on the phone. We tape all of our calls and he assures me he does too. He just broke the law and I'll have every bit of these phone calls gotten through the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). I'll call the city manager now.”

“No, let me have that phone.” He looked at me and I said, “Give it here.”

I dialed the phone and as soon as it rang, David answered it. “Dave, this is Rhett. Yeah, I'm doing fine. Why I called is I just remembered who one of the people is who did the beating. Yeah, I was talking about something and it came to me. I'm with someone different now who is probably going to need your help. Yeah, he's a Sheriff in South Carolina, but he can't get our fine city to do anything through the legal channels. The man's name is Angel Miguel or Miguel Angelo. The way it is on his driver's license is Miguel Angelo, I believe.

What I will do is I'll put myself into self induced hypnosis and see if I can bring back the interaction. Now, the truck had a wreck at the corner of Grace and Summit streets before the attack. The man drove up the steps at the corner and damaged city property...a hand railing. I remember the incident because the truck was so far up the steps the tommy lift on the ass end of the truck was the only thing holding it up.

You might contact wrecker services around the area as most of them photograph the accidents and see if they can remember them. Find the man and get him to talk. He lives in one of the houses in the area full of Mexican immigrants. I believe it's at the one on the corner of Grace and Griffith. It should have a Griffith address.

Yeah, I'm doing well. I just went down to West Palm Beach and bought a Rolls. Yeah, your dad turned me onto them. Yeah, I know he loved me. Why he wouldn't let anyone else know that was beyond me, but we both know he had his own mind. Yeah, I love you too. See what you can get done and call me back, or I'll call you. Yeah, I do need to get over there more, but I just bought a house in South Carolina. Yeah, I know I'll always have a place over there, but I've got to live life as I can. Ok, love ya dude.”

I got off the phone and turned to Steve. He'll have the guy picked up by the end of the day. That's how efficient his people are.”

“That's illegal.”

“And so is our police department. You can fuck with them for a month and still not have the guy. This way, we're getting them.”

Steve looked at me and said, “I wish you hadn't brought my position into this.”

“Hon, maybe you don't trust me yet on what I tell you, but you're going to have to talk to the man yourself to get anything done for you. Between you and I, the city will view anything you say as posturing until the suit is filed. They're like that...then, it's an 'oh my god' and they all run to the city attorney who tells them they're screwed.

When that happens, they usually find the idiot settles out of court. If not, in the case of the ex police chief, they go into arbitration where they attempt to give pennies on the dollar. They think I'll do that and take the settlement but they don't realize about the time I go to the board, I'll release those photos and inflame the matter so I have public sympathy on my side. Then, I'll make a press statement as I walk out of it telling the press the amount they offered and ask the citizens if that amount is worth their face.

My advantage is I've got co-ownership on every billboard in the area which will have my face plastered upon it before, during, and after. Then, when they attempt to pull me back in for the second offer, I'll kindly tell them my billboards either get them into office or out of it. They'll back off that small offer and suddenly they'll throw a larger offer and they'll go public telling everyone I'm being greedy and I'm trying to take the town to the cleaners which is exactly what they did to the police chief.

He walked out of arbitration and said, “See ya...wouldn't wanna be ya” telling them he'd see them in court. His lawyer got prepared for trial and the eve of court, he got his money.”

“Ok, so is this about the money with you?”

“Fuck no! It's about them treating some citizens as second class no matter how much income taxes they pay while those with the “right” name get first class treatment. It's clearly small town justice designed to remind us where our place is and we'd best stay in our place. What they don't realize is I've left and my place doesn't play into their hand. So, I'll file suit so no one else has to wrangle the bullshit factor anymore.”

“You're pissed and that's good. You're doing it for a moral reason and that's better. So, I'll call them and I'll swing some names at them which will take them down a few notches as soon as I mention them and they'll realize what they'll be messing with.”

“Ok, so call them, but you know what you'll be dealing with there. Your best bet is to speak with Jeff LaGarce who is the city manager. He's a decent guy because he's an outsider and knows how the game is really supposed to be played.”

“Ok, I'll speak with him as it will be his budget which will eventually be ruined to make fiscal recompense.”

He dialed the phone and then listened to the voice directory to get him to Jeff.

When the phone was answered, he spoke with Jeff's secretary. “Hello, this is Sheriff Steve Jackson. I'm calling for Jeff LaGarce. Yes, I'll hold.

He turned to me and said, “You sure he's a decent guy?”

“Yeah”

“Hello, Jeff. Yes, this is Sheriff Steve Jackson of Bluffton County, South Carolina.

I'm calling on behalf of Rhette Michaels. Yes, I'm in the car with him and he just recalled who attacked him in your city a couple of years ago. He's made a deposition to me and I attempted to contact your Chief of Police.

Your chief refused to speak with me on the matter because he said the case is closed. I told him there is no statute of limitations anywhere in our country on attempted murder and was told he's going to attempt to press charges upon Rhette for remembering who his attacker was.

Now, sir, I'll tell you what I'm going to do on behalf of Mr Michaels. I'll contact Jim Metting and he'll gladly file a hate crime charge upon your chief. His actions and statements indicated he's not pursuing the matter because Mr. Michaels is gay and deserved what happened to him. I'll tell you sir when Mr Metting gets ahold of this, he'll file suit and then take this matter to a very public forum called CNN.

You'll have to speak on behalf of your city and you'll have to explain why your police chief is threatening retributive actions. What I will do sir is I'm going to fax you the deposition at the same time I do so to Mr Metting and your Chief. My advice sir is you make some phone calls because once I send the fax to your highway patrol, they will be making the investigation into your department.”

He listened and said, “I'm aware you aren't aware of what's been said. My advice to you sir is you go and you take possession of the tape from your police department before it disappears. If it disappears, I will bring your office to account for it, not the chief.”

He listened again and said, “Sir, this isn't a threat. It's a promise. IF my office had ever begun to make the statements your police chief made to me directly, I'd be held accountable. I do know the laws and policies to which he's held accountable and I will use those against him. My statement to you is to get the tape because if it's damaged, destroyed, or just plain disappears, I will hold you accountable.”

He listened again and said, “Sir, I am aware your phone is taping this call. There is no threat implied here. It's a promise. I'll get off here now and call Mr. Metting personally. You have a good day.”

He got off the phone and said, “I'm sorry about burning up your minutes. You'll be repaid.”

“No problem. Do what you've got to do.”

He smiled and said, “The man thinks I'm threatening him. He has no clue.”

“Well, he's not aware of that was stated and he's only going off your statements. Wouldn't you feel threatened?”

“No, I take all accusations seriously. It's my job. It's his job too.”

“Nope, his job isn't in jeopardy. The only people who will get rid of him are the city council and he's their puppet. He knows that and so do I?”

“Who the hell makes someone not held accountable who is a city official?”

“That town there. We've had some real winners.”

“I'd say. None of them seem to know what accountability really means.”

“They do, they just know the way the games played in that town. Now, I'll have to have David in that town video taping everyone in my family as they drive through the town because they'll all be pulled over and given tickets.”

“That's bullshit.”

“Yep, but who's going to argue it? It's a good old boy network.”

“I thought you said there wasn't such a thing there.”

“Not if you don't shake the hell out of the hornets nest, but hon, we shook the hell out of it and we've drop kicked it. When they come out, everyone's going to be stung.”

“Well, here, call David and tell him what's happened. I'm sorry, but I thought my dad was corrupt. This gives the word a new meaning.”

“Yeah, and now, you ready to play ball on the terms I'll be playing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ok, just watch and listen.”

I called David back and said, “David, yeah, it's me again. Here's what I need because we've pissed everyone off. What I'll need is someone put on each of my family members there videotaping everything. You know what will happen and now we've got to fight it. Put each videotape upon every outlet within your reach and call in favors. Yeah, we're going to contact a guy by the name of Jim Metting who is someone.....Oh? He's on your payroll? Good, Steve apparently thinks highly of him and is going to use him to file suit. Oh ok, good. No, I'm not familiar with him but if you think he's good, then put him on them and don't let up. Yeah, I've got to go back to town and get some things.”

“Ok, how about you and Steve meet up at my mom's and you guys go into town to get everything. Kevin will help and you might put someone on Kevin too. I'm sure they're really going to go insane when they hear of my next phone call. Yeah, that's who I'm calling. Steve wants the highway patrol in on this and investigating so I'll call them. Yeah, I'll give you a call later and let you know what I've learned. Thanks Dave. Yeah, I love you too.”

When I got off the phone, Steve asked, “Ok, Jim's on his payroll?”

“Yeah, I told you he has connections all over the place.”

“Ok, so he works above the board too?”

“Yeah. It's best to work above the board so when you're working under it people's attention is diverted. Now, I'll make a phone call and you can speak to another friend of mine who will get things moving for you.”

“Who's that?”

“You'll be amazed. One second.”

Matt answered the phone. It was his private cell number so there wasn't any patching through as is normally the case in the state's capitol.

I dialed the phone and said, “Matt, Hi Rhett here. Yeah, I've got a problem”

“What's your problem Rhett?” He said sounding really jovial.

“Ok, my case I have with the assault. I've just remembered who one of the people is and the truck. We attempted to contact the police department to get the case reopened and got told he's not reopening it since I'm gay and apparently deserved what happened.”

“Huh!”

“Yeah.”

“Ok, back up a second, I thought you were going out to look at a house.”

“I did and then I met someone.”

“Who'd you meet?”

“His name is Steve Jackson. He's a Sheriff.”

“Oh, I see you're coming in from the dark side Luke....hahaha.”

“Yeah, don't ask me to explain how it happened, but he's banging on all eight cylinders. Anyways, after getting the house...”

“You got the house! So, you're going to be leaving our fair state.”

“No, but yes....I've still got the little house there, but I'm going to be moving. I'll be back in the state for a few times a year, but the house is gorgeous.”

“I imagine. The pics you emailed me are awesome.”

“Yeah, so he took a few days off with me to go to down to pick out this new car.”

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it's awesome, but on the way back I was talking to him about something and it clicked where I knew the truck and one of the people that did it. Shortly before the attack, there was someone at the house stealing a center to the hubcap of the Z3 and I caught him. I made him pay me three hundred for the damned thing.”

“You told me about that!”

“Yeah, well, his name was Miguel Angelo or something like that.”

“One second, hang on. I've got that written down someplace in my computer because I wanted to do a check on the guy. Hold up....here it is. It's Miguel Angelo Hernandez. He's a resident of your city. His nickname is Angel the bull or Angel de Toro. I've got all his information here. That truck had an accident if you don't remember.”

“Yeah, I remembered that and we attempted to tell the police chief but he doesn't want to reopen the case. Steve said from the photos, it's attempted murder which has no statute of limitations.”

“You're correct. Let me get an investigation opened and tell Steve to send me a statement of what happened.”

“Hang on, Let me put him on the phone. You're going to love him.”

“If he's good to you, that's what matters hon.”

“Thanks Matt.”

I turned to Steve and said, “Here....it's the governor.”

“Huh!”

“Speak to him.”

Steve took the phone and said, “Hi, he said you're the governor.”

I heard Steve take an intake of breath and then said, “You are! Well, great! Listen, I'm having a problem there. It seems everyone in that town doesn't want to seem to do their job and the chief is now threatening to arrest Rhette.

Yeah, he said Rhette's phone made the phone call and even though I spoke to him the threat would be getting Rhette arrested and because Rhette's gay, he deserves what happened to him.

Yes sir, those are his words actually so if you wouldn't mind, would you get someone in to do the investigation and get that phone tape before it disappears?

Good. I spoke to the city manager and I told him I'd be getting ahold of Jim Metting and holding him accountable for that tape to which he now believes I threatened him which wasn't true. Ok, good, I told him his tape would be requested too.

Ok, he's got people moving on it too, but it'd be great if you'd have highway patrol escorting his parents, family, and Kevin since they'll all probably be arrested for obeying the law in that town. Hahaha, yeah, it's a burg that I can hardly wait to see. Yeah, we're coming in next week to get Rhette's things he wants to bring out here. Yeah, he'll be in good hands. Yeah, he's a dear and you don't have to worry about him getting on the wrong side of the law unless I want him there.....Hahaha, yeah, I understand he's persuasive, I'm captivated by him. Yeah, I'd like to meet you too. Good, Yeah, you're welcome out here too, we've got plenty of bedrooms and a suite above the garage. Yeah, you don't say! No, we've not had a chance to discuss things Until he dialed the phone and told me who you were, I had no idea he knew you. Yeah, I know we'll keep it discrete too. You're welcome sir. Oh ok Matt, call me Steve. Ok, I'll tell him. Yeah, thanks for getting the investigation opened and I'll get you a copy of the fax I send out of the deposition. We'll be making it today as we're staying overnight in Jacksonville, Florida. Yeah, the car's beautiful as he is......Hahaha....yeah, I can't wait to meet Kevin too. Well, once again thanks. I'll tell him. Bye.”

He got off the phone and said, “Holy shit, you never told me your connections.”

“I never told you because I wanted you to read “With Love” and for you to find out our connection. Now, I've had to do it this way, but it's going to work out fine, isn't it?”

“He said he's going to order a highway patrol officer to go in and get the tapes of the police department and the city hall. He wants those investigated and he said he'd be using them as leverage to get an investigation opened. Then, he's going to use the information you already gave him to get the man arrested. Fortunately, you made reference to the guy possibly being an illegal, so he opened up an investigation.”

“To be honest, until he mentioned I'd told them about the guy, I didn't remember it. I still don't recall it, but I'm glad I did. The background footwork is already completed.”

“Yeah, and the guy is apparently a legal resident so there's not a chance of him being gone.”

“I don't know. I don't recall anything about him except the guy was strange. What would he want with one hubcap?”

“Who knows? But I'm glad you mentioned it.”

“Steve, life's not always this much drama. I'm really a boring person.”

“Yeah, yesterday you were a trespasser and today, you're a friend of a governor. Nope, no drama there!”

“Well, I'll give you a deposition and you can use it.”

“You already have. All I've got to do is type it up. By the way, when you go back into town, he's going to have a highway patrol officer driving your vehicle in case we get pulled over. That way we can use it for the investigation to show cause.”

“Good. He's slick like that.”

“Still, I think it'd be good to have David pulling strings behind the scenes to cover all bases.”

“He said Jim Metting is a world class lawyer, how do you know him?”

“He and I went to high school.”

“Oh, well that's nice.”

“Hon, the one incident I mentioned with my cousin?”

“Yeah.”

“It's Jim.”

“He's your cousin?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool, I've got a cousin that's an attorney too. It's funny because he and I did things also.”

“Maybe it's in their briefs.”

Notes From Retta:

To whom this may concern;

I am not a professional writer. I do not plan on going to writing school or ever majoring in college level English, therefore if you have a problem reading my stories, know they're written with a level of understanding which is the best a public education can provide in Hannibal, Missouri, where the student was too hung over to really care what went on in class.

When I did go to college, my major was Mortuary Science. Those people SURE didn't complain about my degree of prefessionalism and whether my language use dictated a proper comma, or the sentence ran too long. If you'd care to see life from my profession on that side, then please give me an email and I'll do a pre-need funeral for you!

That should get my point across. To those of you who appreciate the story with the errors and mistakes, thank you. Those words come from the heart and they mean the world to me as do your compliments.

“From My Keyboard To Your Heart”,

Retta

RettaMichaels@Gmail.com

Copyright Notice - Copyright © 2008 by RettaMichaels

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Disclaimer: All individuals depicted are fictional, and any resemblance to real persons, locations, or incidents is purely coincidental.