Mother Road Ch. 05 - One For The Road

Laura excused herself to go rest, but Walter didn't get up to leave. It felt like he had other things to discuss but was having a hard time doing it. I laughed inwardly because I'd gone through this scenario with my son James eight years ago. "Now that we've gotten business out of the way, Walter, anything else on your mind?"

Like James, Walter surprised me, and in his low gravelly voice murmured, "I've always thought Mrs. McFarland - Laura - is really pretty."

"Thank you, Walter, I agree. Unfortunately, she's taken." My jealous urge stayed dormant. This was my long-time friend and now business partner. If nothing else, he was a loyal guy, he'd never make a play for my wife.

Walter started sharing more, "Tom, I been working for Mr. Bartolo on call 24/7 for 30 years, and I never had time for no relationships. The only women I been with were the ones where you put money on the dresser, you follow?"

"Yes, Walter, loud and clear."

"When I was at your daughter's wedding, it was nice. Seeing you and your daughter dance together, it give me a warm feeling, you know? Then when you was dancing with your wife and she was crying, you said something that made her smile, it made me want what you got. A good woman and a good relationship."

"You saw that? Holy shit, Walter, you didn't miss anything, did you?"

"That's how I stayed alive working for Mr. Bartolo all those years, Tom. I see and hear everything."

"So, what can I do to help you, Walter?"

"I'd consider it a personal favor if you'd give me advice if I ever find a woman. I mean, I got the physical stuff down, but I don't got a clue how to talk to a woman, or make her happy, or how to get her to stop crying like you did that time."

Wow. He may have been 7 years older than me, but Arthur the menacing giant was in fact just another lost soul looking for love. I shook my new partner's hand, "My friend, you can count on it."

As he stood up to leave, I noticed Walter was wearing a shoulder holster. "Wow, Walter, are you expecting any trouble? What's in the holster?"

Walter replied nonchalantly, as if I'd asked him about the forecast. "It's a handgun. If you want specifics, it's a Taurus Raging Bull 5-round revolver with an 8" barrel that uses special .454 caliber Casull ammunition. It's completely legitimate, I've got state carry permits for both Oklahoma and Kansas."

"Not judging you or anything, partner, but the security consulting business typically doesn't involve shooting at people."

"I've been carrying a sidearm for the last 28 years working for Mr. Bartolo, Tom. After all these years, I'd feel naked without one."

"The thing's a freaking cannon, Walter. What happens if a client sees it? Do you really need a gun that big?"

Walter held up one of his enormous hands. "Consider this: First, I need a gun that fits my hand so I can use it effectively. A little .22 pistol doesn't work, it's like holding a kid's cheap squirt gun. Secondly, if a client is concerned about security, I think catching a glimpse of my weapon would send a message that we're serious when it comes to security. You see what I'm saying?"

"Fair points, Walter. Personally, I'm not happy about it, but keep wearing it for now. If a client starts freaking, though, you keep it at home, right?"

"Sure thing, boss."

Looking back now at how the business grew after that, I was sorry I hadn't hired Walter sooner. Ironically, one of the first contracts was with Olivia's father-in-law Archer Maddox. He'd opened up a new Maddox Family Building Center location in Emporia, only to find his inventory was growing legs and running away.

Walter went in, determined that the security cameras had been moved slightly so there was a barely noticeable surveillance blind spot near the back docks. The next night Walter was there waiting when Archer's new Assistant Manager was loading up about $2,000 worth of power tools. The dumbass tried to physically intimidate Walter; it didn't end well for him. Walter detained him, called the police, and the problem was solved. I gave Walter 100% of the fee on that one, he deserved it.

++++++++++

July -- Family Ties

It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and I'd just finished drafting a set of plans for a housing development's community center, the 24" plotter printer in my cabin office humming as the plans printed out. Laura was asleep in the cabin's bed; this pregnancy really sucked the energy out of her, and she took a lot of naps these days. At four months her baby bump hadn't started showing yet, apparently this baby was a tiny one.

I heard the crunching of the driveway gravel as a vehicle came up the long drive. It wasn't the mailman; the mailbox was down by the driveway entrance. Eli had come to take Natty for a date to the County Fair, and I told him to be a good big brother and take Amelia, Pearl, Lucas, and TJ with them. He started to grumble about it until I gave him an extra $100.

The FedEx and UPS drivers usually came by late. Liam and Miriam lived 20 miles away in Edmond, but they weren't due to bring the grandkids by to visit until Saturday. James and Melissa lived in Oklahoma City, but were away dropping their daughter Ashley at a summer camp. I got up, kissed Laura's head, and went outside to see who it was.

A red 90s-era Dodge Caravan with dark tinted windows had pulled up. It looked to be in rough shape, with a lot of dents and the front tires were worn down almost to the point of being bald. A woman stepped out and started going up to front steps of the house.

"Nobody's in the house, can I help you?" I called from the door of the cabin.

She turned towards me, and when I got a closer look, I couldn't believe it. Her resemblance to Laura was uncanny. The same face, the same red hair, the same green eyes, but she looked a few years younger and a little thinner. It was like meeting Laura, but many years ago.

She came closer. "Hello, I'm Dorothy Harmon. I'm looking for Laura Watkins. Does she still live here?"

"Laura still lives here, but she hasn't been Laura Watkins for about 25 years. Her name is Laura McFarland now. I'm her husband, Tom McFarland, can I help you?"

She stepped closer; a broad smile broke over her face. "Well, I am very pleased to meet you, Tom McFarland! I'm your sister-in-law, my name's Dorothy, but you can call me Dotty!" Having said that, she shocked me by throwing her arms around me and giving me a hug, murmuring, "I have to hand it to my sister, you are a fine-looking man!"

That's when I heard Laura's voice behind me, in a clearly unfriendly tone, "Whoever the hell you are, bitch, you'd better take your damned hands off my husband." Breaking free of Dotty's clutches, I turned to see Laura standing in the doorway. Having just awakened, her hair was tousled, but bed hair always looked sexy on her. Given the murderous look on her face, though, I dare not lay a finger on her unless I only needed to count to nine from here on out.

Dot's reaction was unexpected. She cried out "Leelee! My God, it's really you!" Throwing her hands in the air, she rushed up to Laura and embraced her.

I was expecting Laura to claw this woman's eyes out, but instead she stood stock still, in shock. "Dotty? It's been 30 years, I didn't recognize you!" Not recognize her? This struck me as odd, as it was plain to my eyes that Laura should have felt like she was looking in a mirror.

Seeing this might be a long conversation, I interjected, "Let's go into the kitchen, I'll make some lemon tea while you girls catch up." This would serve two purposes: it would get Laura off her feet, and it would get some liquids in her.

Quickly I ushered the two in, had them sit at the kitchen, and commenced to make tea.

Laura started right off, "Dotty, it's been over 30 years! What are you doing here? how did you even find me?"

"I had to do some digging, but I found this was the last address for the Reverend Watkins. I figured it was a good place to start!"

Laura's response was short and to the point. "Dotty, I was 17 when I left home. After the Reverend died, I was alone with a baby to raise on my own for four years. Where the hell were you then? When my second husband was killed, where the hell were you then? When my third husband left me on my own with seven children to raise, where the hell were you THEN, Dotty?" There was plainly a lot of pent-up emotion here. Both women's eyes were beginning to tear up.

Laura wasn't done yet, "Now, after 30 years, this is when you bother to show up? As far as I'm concerned, you're no sister of mine, and you can just get back into that raggedy-ass minivan of yours and get the hell out of my sight!" She turned to me, tears in her pretty green eyes.

"Tom, Dotty's leaving. Help me upstairs, please, I need to rest now." I stood and moved to help my wife. I could see tears pouring down Dotty's face, those gorgeous green family eyes flooding. Laura turned to her sister with a fiery parting shot, "Oh and on your way out, you'd damn well better keep your whore hands off my husband!"

Wow. Laura's incredible compassion was something else I'd learned to love about her. We'd taken Ava's homeless girlfriend Ashley and her sister Melissa into our home and made them our own without a second thought. This, though, was another thing altogether. There were clearly some unhealed family scars here.

Dotty stood up suddenly and sobbed, "Leelee, PLEASE! We need help, you were the only one I could think of to come to!"

Laura stopped suddenly. "Who's 'we', Dotty," she asked quietly.

"My son, your nephew, Trent. He's 5 years old, waiting in the minivan. He and I are running away from his father, Sonny. We've been married for 6 years, but in the last 2 years my husband's gone off the deep end. He was a warehouse worker until he got fired for stealing, then he was doing odd jobs off and on for money until some of his so-called friends talked him into selling meth.

As if selling wasn't bad enough, he started using. He became impatient and short-tempered. He would have these angry outbursts, sometimes hitting me. I could take it, but when he hit Trent I'd had enough. I took my son, and we ran. We've been living in cheap motels for the past three weeks. I'm almost out of money. When I finally found this address, we came here. Please, Leelee, don't turn us away. If you want me to go, I will, but at least let Trent stay with you."

I knew Laura would never turn a child away. I could sense her feeling weak and exhausted, so I spoke up, "Dotty, Laura's not well. I'm going to help her upstairs so she can lay down, then I'll come back down and meet Trent."

I walked with Laura up to our bedroom and helped her into bed. She was more pale than usual, and by her expression I could tell her emotions were in a whirl. I gave her a quick kiss, then ran down to get her some ice water. After that, I walked out to where my sister-in-law was waiting, a small, scared little boy at her side. "OK, Dotty, introduce me to my nephew."

"Trent, this is your uncle Tom. He's married to my sister, your Aunt Laura." Unsure of me, Trent took a step behind his mother. I sat on the ground a few feet away from him.

"Hello, Trent, I'm glad to meet you. We really like kids here. Do you know how many children we have? I don't think your Mommy even knows."

I looked at Dotty, and she shrugged. "As a matter of fact, I don't. How many children do you have, Uncle Tom?"

Looking at Trent I held up both my hands, my fingers spread wide, "We have nine, plus Aunt Laura has a baby in her tummy, so that's ten! Do you think that's a lot?" Trent stayed silent, nodding his head.

"Not all of them live here, some have grown up and started their own families, but we still have a few here to play with. Our youngest boy, TJ, is 8. He and the other kids went to the county fair, but you'll meet them when they get back. It looks like you and your Momma will be staying with us a while, so you won't be the only kid. Do you think you'll like that?" Once again, Trent just nodded in agreement.

Standing up, I offered my hand. "Can I show you the room where we keep all the toys? You can play there while Mommy and I talk for a bit, OK?" Trent offered his silent headshake and reached up to take my hand. I led him to the playroom where close to two decades worth of toys were stored. When I opened the door, his eyes lit up. Rummaging through the stuffed animals, action figures, and toy trucks he was suddenly one happy little man.

I turned, and Dotty had walked up right behind me. Throwing her arms around me, she hugged me tightly. I couldn't help but notice that like Laura, she was soft in all the right places. I wondered if all the Terhune sisters felt this good. "Thank you, Tom."

"Dotty, you and Laura may have some things to hammer out, but you and Trent are family. Laura would never turn you away, especially Trent. We'll clear out a bedroom for you and Trent to sleep in while he adjusts, although I suspect he'll eventually want to share a room with TJ. We'll let him decide."

"Is Laura really pregnant at her age?" Shocked, I looked at my sister-in-law like she'd just asked if water was wet. "Come on, Dotty. This was an accident, yes, but your mother kept cranking out kids for how long?" Dotty nodded.

"We're being really careful this time, it's a high-risk pregnancy. It's driving Laura crazy, but she's pretty much on full-time bed rest. If you could help take care of her, and better yet occupy her to keep her from getting bored, that would be helpful."

Extricating myself from her arms, I led her to the kitchen, grabbed a notepad and pen, and sat down at the table. "I need you to give me every piece of information you can tell me about your husband, because tomorrow afternoon we're going to visit Dave Stewart, the best family attorney in Oklahoma so he can write up a divorce petition. You need to scrape that husband off of you."

++++++++++

After I finished with Dotty, I headed to my office in the cabin to call and make that appointment with Dave Stewart. As I walked out the front door, I saw the Fury. Apparently, Eli and the kids had returned from the fair. He and Natalie sat on the porch swing, his arm around her shoulders. She was holding a small stuffed bear and seemed very happy. Time to test the waters. "Natty, did you and Elijah have a good time at the fair?"

She looked at Eli as she answered, "Yes, Papa, a very good time. Eli won me a bear!"

"Is he treating you well?"

"Yes, Papa, very well."

"Good." I looked at my son. "Elijah, you just keep doing what you're doing."

He looked at me hopefully. "Dad, do you think I could move back now?" I looked on Natalie's left ring finger. Still no ring.

"Nope, not yet. You can stay for supper, but then you go, you got me?"

"Yessir." He and Natty both frowned in disappointment, and she gave Eli a soft consolation kiss.

Just to amuse myself, I scolded her, "Natty, I asked you not to be so damned generous with your affections. Did Eli really earn that kiss?"

Natty scowled like a rebellious teenager, declaring "Yes, Papa, he DID," and she kissed him again as if to defy me. I laughed inwardly; this girl was a delight every damned day. I was in no hurry for her to leave.

"It's your call, but I highly doubt it," I shouted over my shoulder as I walked away. If Eli couldn't tell Natalie was crazy in love with him, he was a bigger idiot than his father Christopher. I truly hoped that wasn't the case.

++++++++++

A week after the appointment with Dave Stewart, the divorce papers were ready. Dotty had signed them, and they were ready to be filed with the court. Then, as the old saying goes, "Well, speak of the Devil and up he pops." Sure enough, the Devil himself popped up one day as I was puttering around in the barn.

I heard a voice at the end of the driveway call out, "Hello the house!" Around Wellston, friends and neighbors just roll on up to the front door. Strangers don't, thanks to the 'castle' provisions of the Oklahoma Firearms Act of 1971. You trespass, get perceived as a threat and get shot by the property owner or one of his visitors? Too bad for you. The law is on the side of property owner and his guests.

Now a man was hailing the house, acting like he knew the how the law would view him. This told me right away this dude was most likely bad news. I walked down the driveway to see who it was, but I stopped when we were within shouting distance.

He'd pulled his beat-to-shit 1980's era Chevy Celebrity a few feet into the driveway and gotten out. He was wearing jeans, ratty sneakers, and a filthy tank-top 'wife-beater' style t-shirt. Height-wise, he looked to be a little under 6 feet tall, and his face was pocked with scabs and sores. He had long greasy hair, a scraggly beard and a thin mustache, as if his body couldn't produce enough hair. He started walking towards me, but I stopped him.

"That's close enough. Something I can help you with?"

"I'm looking for my wife and son. Her name's Dotty, my son's name is Trent. They're here and I'm taking them home."

"What if I told you nobody like that is here?"

"Before she took off with my son, I put a damn tracker on that bitch's minivan, and it says she's right here, so I'd have to call you a liar, mister." Well, shit. Busted!

"Like the old saying goes, you can call me whatever you want, but just don't call me late for dinner."

I thought I was being hilarious, but he didn't laugh, so I got serious. "I don't know who you are, but I'm guessing you're Sonny Harmon. If that's the case, I'm told you're a junkie, a wife abuser, and a child beater, so you're definitely not welcome here. Your wife and son are safe and well cared for, and they're going to stay here until such time as Dotty decides she wants to leave.

If I were you, I wouldn't stand around waiting. Dotty's here visiting her long-lost sister, and they haven't seen each other for a while. She's family, and she's welcome here. She could be here months, or even years if she's so inclined. You, on the other hand, are trespassing. If you're not gone in 2 minutes, I'm going to go into my house and put a call in to my friends over at the County Sheriff's department and they'll get you gone, asshole."

Sonny pointed at me, "You think you're hot shit, old man? You're going to regret this. I'll give you one more chance. I'll even make it easy on you. Give me my son, the bitch can stay. You give him to me now, you'll never see me again." Chance? Sounded more like an ultimatum. Fuck this guy.

I hollered back, "First, I'm not old, I'm only 43, and secondly, if I don't give Trent up, what're you going to do, tweaker? Try to scare me with those open sores on your face? I'll tell you what, I've got divorce papers prepped for you on the dinner table. Signing them now will mean we don't have to officially have you served. You sign them, I'll give you $1,000 and you can be on your way."

"FUCK YOU, MAN, I WANT MY SON! IF YOU DON'T GIVE HIM TO ME, I'LL BE BACK AND I WON'T BE ALONE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!!?"

This asshole just climbed up to the number two spot of people I hated, right behind Christopher Palermo. I couldn't help myself, I had to goad him. "Who are you bullshitting, Sonny? A tweaker like you doesn't have friends."

"YOU JUST WAIT, OLD MAN! I'M GONNA FUCK YOU UP GOOD!" He jumped in the Celebrity and started the car.

"I'M NOT OLD, I'M ONLY 43, SHITHEAD'" I yelled back at him as he sped away, his rear tires throwing up gravel.

By the time I got back in the house, the adrenaline had left my body and my hands were shaking. Dotty's husband was an out-and-out crazy drugged up asshole, and I'd just goaded him into action. I pulled out my phone and called Walter.

++++++++++

Laura, Dotty, and I were sitting at the kitchen table discussing the sleeping arrangements for the kids when I heard the rumble of Walter's El Dorado on the driveway gravel, followed by a car door slamming. Walter entered the kitchen through the mudroom, just as I did the first time, and I'll be a son of a bitch if lighting didn't strike twice.