'Til Death Do Us Part (43 page)

“
Sorry!
”
BT yelled in the cab loud enough for Gary to hear.
“
Skunk walked in front of the truck!
”

“
Run the creature over next time.
You
made me
cru
sh a cigarette on the dashboard,
”
Deneaux
seethed.

As the truck passed
,
Ga
ry watched the skunk waddle off. I
t seemed to be doing fairly well given the circumstances. Gary wondered if a skunk crossing one
’
s path meant anything.
When
he was certain it didn
’
t
,
he returned his gaze skyward. As they crossed into New Hampshire
,
Gary
’
s feelings of trepidation grew tangible. He could taste it on his tongue, he could feel the weight of it on his chest,
and he
did not know how he was going to face those he loved the most.

After another half hour or so
,
the truck came to a stop.

“
What
’
s up?
”
Gary asked.

“
Bladder break!
”
BT yelled back.

Gary got back down
,
riding in the back of the seemingly shock-less truck on a pine bench was not doing his spleen any favors and
h
e welcomed the chance to stretch and pop. They had just crossed the Maine state line and Gary felt like his knees might buckle under the added weight of guilt.

Mrs.
Deneaux
was staring at the sign and
the surrounding forest of trees
when she commented on the state
’
s motto.
“
Maine,
the way life should be. For who? C
hipmunks? I certainly wouldn
’
t want my life to be like this.
Looks
like the land that time forgot.
”

“
That
’
s the point,
”
Gary said morosely.

“
Like the dark ages?
”
s
he asked.

“
More like the fifties,
”
h
e told her.

“
The fifties weren
’
t all they were cracked up to
be. People were still assholes…
there was just not
twenty-
four hour news that catered to
the insanity like we have today
.
”

“
It
’
s more
the idea of the time, I suppose,
”
BT said
,
defending Gary who looked like a whipped dog.

“
One thing that was more in
the open than today was racism.
I wouldn
’
t think you
’
d be in such
a hurry to revisit those times,
”
s
he said to BT offhandedly.

“
You must miss that?
”
BT asked sarcastically.

“
At least there wasn
’
t all this phony politically c
orrect bullshit.
You
knew where people stood.
”

“
Yeah
,
in a circle with
hoods on watching crosses burn,
”
h
e said heatedly.

She scoffed at him,
“
Are we done here or do you need to tinkle some more?
”

A
t some point
,
Gary just
left the argument and got back on t
he bench.
The
truck pulled away moments l
ater, Gary struggled for breath
s as dismay and disquiet warred within him.

Tracy Journal Entry

The
day my world crashed in on itself. It was late afternoon and I had f
inished most of my daily duties.
Who
knew surviv
ing could be so labor intensive?
I was sitting on Ron
’
s deck with Tony and we were enjoying a cup of coffee together. It was the only time of the day I felt at peace, because
when
the night set in so did my fears.
I was looking out over the pond
enjoying the silence with Mike
’
s dad when he abruptly stood.

“
You hear that?
”
h
e asked me.

I thought this strange because he was notoriously hard of hearing
,
so I did not know the odds of him hearing something before me.
(
Although I had secretly suspected that his hardness of hearing might more be contributed to selective listening.
)
T
hen I heard it, a moment later it was confirmed.

“
Truck coming!
”
Mark, Ron
’
s son
, said from his
guard station
in a turret
some thirty feet off the ground.
“
Military truck,
”
h
e clarified.

Whoever hadn
’
t heard the truck outright had most definitely heard his warning cry. People streamed out the front door of the house as Tony and I went back in through the back door and out the front to stand on the lawn with everyone else.

“
Halt!
”
Mark shouted
as he pointed his rifle down at the truck.

Ron came out from the woods on the passenger side.
Tony had his rifle up and pointed squarely at the truck. I did not see Travis and Justin until later
.
They
were in the woods far enough back to not be seen
,
but close enough and with good enough firing angles to take out anybody on the driver
’
s side.

The large military truck came to a stop.

“
Hands!
”
Mark shouted.
“
Identify yourself!
”

I could see arms the size of heavy tree limbs poke out the side windo
w.
My
heart leapt
. It was BT—it had to be—
they were back! And as
if
to prove my point, the passenger side door opened and Mrs.
Deneaux
got out
. S
he was her normal pleasant self.

“
Oh for the love of God, who else do you think we are? Who else would come down to the middle of damn nowhere?
”
s
he said as she lit up another cigarette.

“
BT?
”
That you?
”
Travis said as he made his way out of the woods, putting his rifle back up.

“
Good to see you again
, boy,
”
BT said
with genuine sincerity
as he o
pened his door and hopped down, e
xtending his hand for Travis to shake it.

“
Where
’
s dad?
”
Travis asked
,
looking around the bulk of the man as if Mike were hiding.

Even from thirty y
ards away I could see the tight-
lipped
,
imperceptible shake of BT
’
s head. I felt like someone had pulled a heavy weighted veil over my entire body, the pressure
nearly sending me to my knees. I was cognizant enough to see Gary come from the back of the truck and thought that surely Mike was right behind him.

Gary
’
s head was down. H
e walked past Ron and Justin
,
who had converged to give their greetings. He was walking towards
me and Tony;
I felt myself wanting
to turn and run into the house.
If
he could not catch me
,
he could not tell me. Tony stood stoically, but I could see his white knuckled grip on his rifle
.
Instead
of slinging it across his shoulder
,
he kept it across his chest
. M
aybe that was his barrier against the encroaching news.

Gary was ten feet from the both of us when he spoke. Tears were streaming from his eyes.
“
I
’
m so sorry,
”
he said.
It
was difficult to discern who the apology was directed to, but it didn
’
t really matter.

“
No,
”
Tony said
,
shaking his head.
“
NO! I cannot lose another child!
”
h
e yelled, the force of which stopped Gary in his tracks still some five feet away.

“
I did everything I could
, dad,
”
Gary
moaned.

“
NO!
”
Tony said
,
taking one hand off the rifle to point an accusatory finger at his son.

Tony did what I had hoped to do an
d retreated back into the house.
I
stepped forward and hugged Gary.
He
sobbed long and hard against my shoulder, it was difficult to figure out who was holding who up.

And even enveloped within my mourning
,
I was able to hear the rest of the miserable little drama as it unfolded. Erin
(Paul
’
s wife)
and Perla had been out on the pond fishing when the truck had roll
ed in.
Cindy
(Brian
’
s
fiancée
)
had gone down to tell them someone was coming.
The trio came up from the side of the house.
Erin saw me with Gary. She took a few steps forward and saw BT and Travis, and then Deneaux by herself.
“
Paul?
”
s
he asked of anyone that would listen.

Gary sobbed even harder if that
were
possible
. T
hat was all the information I needed in regards to Paul
’
s fate.

“
Paul!
”
Erin screamed, running towards the truck. She did a complete circle around the entire vehicle.
“
Paul!
”
s
he screamed again.

“
Really, don
’
t you think he would have responded by now if he were here?
”
Deneaux
answered.

“
What…
what are you talking about?
”
Erin asked.
“
When are the rest of them coming home?
”