Quetzalcoatl Ch. 09

Mom was sitting at the kitchen table when I came in. She looked up at me and smiled. At least she wasn't mad at me.

"How do you feel, because you look good," she said sarcastically.

"Like hell."

"Coffee?"

"Please," I said as I sat down at the table. Mom got up and poured me a cup, and then placed it in front of me while I had my face in my hands.

"You were on a mission yesterday."

"A mission to polish off a bottle of bourbon, you mean?"

"You said something weird to me yesterday. Do you remember it?"

"No what?"

"You said that you were trying to wash the blood off you hands."

"Oh yeah that. I was drunk and being overly dramatic."

"I don't think so. Whose blood are you trying to wash off?"

"Mom I was drunk," I said exasperated.

"The zombies?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head in frustration. "If you must know, I feel a little responsible for you getting kidnapped, but mostly for Cassio's death."

"Ed if you were here you'd probably be dead too. We didn't hear them until they were in our room. Cassio used to sleep with a pistol under his pillow."

"He was able to get two of them," I said.

"Yeah, he almost chased them out of the house, but then the pistol only held six shots. He ran out of ammo and had to fight them hand to hand. There was just too many of them and eventually they overwhelmed him." Tears started to come to her eyes, and I moved over to her to console her.

"The zombies held him down as that fuck Azul stabbed him over and over. I was screaming and trying to get them off of him, but he just kept stabbing him. I pleaded with Azul to let Cass go. I told him that I would go with him willingly and do whatever he wanted, but he only smiled at me and told me that I would anyhow."

"What about Al Shaba? How did they get past the dog?"

"She wasn't here," mom said puzzled. "You didn't take her?"

"No?"

"Ed I haven't seen her since you left. I thought she left with you."

"That's strange," I though out loud.

I sat with my arm around her for a few minutes, and then mom looked at me.

"How did you know? How did you find me?"

"This is a little strange, but Jen came to me in a dream and told me that you were in trouble."

"Jennifer?" Mom asked, and I nodded to the affirmative. "In a dream?"

"Yes."

"I always loved that girl."

"She loved you too mom."

"So you came right away?"

"Yes."

"Was Cass alive when you got here?" She couldn't look at me when she asked.

"Just barely. He told me what happened. Did you tell him that I was your son?"

"He told you that?" She looked up quickly up at me.

"He told me that he knew you were my mother."

"No, I never told him, but I had a feeling that he knew. What else did he tell you?"

"He told me that he was in love with you."

"Oh God," she started to cry. She just sat with her head on my shoulder shaking. I wanted to ask her if she was in love with him too, but I realized that I didn't have to.

I waited a few days until I knew mom was capable of being left alone, and then I went over to see John and Henry. They were sitting around drinking coffee in the office at the boatyard.

"Don't you guys ever leave here?" I kidded them as I entered the door.

"I own this place," John defended himself.

It was a little bit of a shock to me, since I considered him and Henry to be just vagabonds, but then it made sense. "Really," I said surprised. "I didn't know that."

"Ed, it's right there on the door you just walked in." And there I saw written in gold leaf on the pane of glass in the door "McAllister's Boatyard". It was old and weathered but still quite legible. I had forgotten that his name was McAllister. He only mentioned it in passing the first day we met, but now it made sense that he mentioned it at all.

"I'm starting to wonder about you Ed," he said as we all laughed. "My dad started the business, and my brothers and I ran it until, well you know."

"Next you'll be telling me that Henry is your uncle."

"Almost, he was my dad's best friend. Luke's his grandson."

"How is Luke?" I had heard during the funeral that Luke was taking Cassio's death badly.

"Well, he's kind of depressed," Henry said. "He looked up to Cassio, and he feels that it was his fault that Azul killed him."

I didn't say anything. I knew Luke was a young kid and didn't realize the consequences of his actions, but I did feel that he held some responsibility.

"Listen," I said to change the subject. " I need to ask you guys a favor."

"Yeah?" John asked.

"I'm going to need somebody to watch over Josie while I'm gone."

"You going somewhere?" John played innocent.

"Yeah, I need to take care of some business."

"Does that business have to do with Pato Azul?"

"Yeah." I left it at that.

"Do you think that's smart? Killing zombies is one thing. They're easy and it's necessary, but Azul is different. He's smart and he's ruthless."

"That's just it. The way Josie describes that night, he could have let Cassio go, but it was almost like he got joy from killing him."

"It's not almost," Henry chimed in. "He does get a thrill out of killing people. I hear it time and again over the radio. Anyone who has had a run-in with him tell stories of his cruelty."

"You weren't there when they attacked?" John caught that little clue that I didn't even know that I had offered.

"No." I didn't offer any details, and John was too much of a class act to ask, but you knew the questions where in his head. After an awkward pause I asked, "well, what do you think, can Josie stay with you guys?"

"Sure," Henry offered. "She can stay with Anne.

"Who's Anne?" I asked.

"She's my girlfriend. You met her at the funeral. Josie and her hit it off real well."

"I don't remember. I was a little drunk."

"A little?" John teased. "It wasn't even dark when we put you to bed."

"Yeah, I guess I got a little carried away. Cassio's death affected me too."

"Well you missed a good party," Henry mocked me. "Sebastian brought his guitar, we made a barn fire, and he sang all night."

"Who's Sebastian?"

"The black guy with the two kids," John said incredulously.

"Oh yeah."

"That's it Ed," John said to me paternally. "No more bourbon for you."

"I couldn't even think of having another drop," I said nauseated.

They walked me out to the Jeep. "So it's set. Josie can stay with Anne?"

"Well I'll have to ask Anne." Henry added. "But I don't see why she'd mind. I think she'd be thrilled. She hasn't stopped talking about Josie since the funeral."

"New car,?" John asked.

"Yeah I had to trade the truck to Azul for Josie. Holy shit," I realized. "That was your truck John! McAllister's Boatyard; I was driving it for weeks with the name on the side and I didn't even realize it."

"And you say that you were a big-time lawyer back in New York?" John said puzzled.

"And I'm usually good with details. Speaking of details, Henry were you able to get me any more bullets?"

"For the Glock" Henry remembered. "Yes, I've got two boxes in the office. I was able to get you an extra magazine and a holster."

"Magazine?"

"That's the real name for what you call a clip. I'll go get them," he said and turned for the office.

"I wish you would reconsider this vendetta, Ed," John said quietly as I got in the Jeep and he closed the door.

"It's not just for Cassio," I rationalized. " Although that's a big part of it. How do I know that Azul won't come back again for Josie? I'm thinking that he will, and with more help."

"You could run?"

"Never been one to run from a fight."

"This isn't a board room negotiation. Whoever loses this deal will be dead and, let's face it, he has more experience in this field than you."

"I figure that he's not expecting me to come after him. So I have the element of surprise. That might be enough."

"Maybe, but don't be fair about this. If you can take him out from far away; do it. Remember he had a gun, and chose to stab Cassio to death. That's the kind of man you're dealing with."

"Good point," I said as Henry exited the office and gave me the boxes of ammo, the magazine and the holster. I thanked them one more time, and I told them I'd be back with Josie as soon as I could convince her to stay with them. That was going to be the hard part.

When I got home, mom was just moping around the house. It was August and the garden was reaping big harvests. We needed to preserve as much as we could for the winter, but mom was in a depression.

I understood, that she was probably in love with Cassio, as much as you can be in love with someone that you only knew for three weeks. I didn't belittle those feelings. I knew the first night with Jen that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

It's not love at first sight, that's just physical attraction and might not last once you get to know that person. Occasionally there is a certain synchronicity between two people who fall in love. Sometimes you just know.

I gave her plenty of space and tried to pick up her end of the chores, but I wasn't her equal around the kitchen. And sex, wasn't even a thought. I didn't initiate anything and she certainly wasn't going to. It was just as well. I stopped thinking of mom as a sex object and back to being a mom. And, of course, mom only wanted Cassio back.

She had to get over this, and I didn't have too much time if I wanted to catch Azul with his pants down. Two days after, I went to see John and Henry it was all thrust in my face. Again, Luke was the culprit.

Mom and I were sitting on the porch one evening; I in a rocking chair and she on a bench. I was having a cold beer, and I thought of Cassio, like I do every time I have a cold beer these days. When a Camaro, which I didn't recognize, came down the road and turned up our drive.

I instinctively looked for the mini, but I didn't fetch it since I started wearing the Glock on my hip. The mini was just inside the door if I needed it. Besides, I didn't think Azul would come after us this soon.

The car pulled up in front and Luke got out.

"Hello the house," he shouted up to us on the porch.

"Hello Luke," I yelled back to him. Mom stayed quiet as was customary these days. "What brings you around?"

He didn't answer me right away. He waited until he walked up on the porch to speak. I got the feeling that it was quite monumental.

"I want to go with you when you go after Azul."

I cringed as I heard the words come out of his mouth. Tact wasn't going to be Luke's forte. I didn't have to look, I could feel mom's stare on me.

"I didn't say I was definitely going after him." Mom was still eying me.

"That's not what my grandfather said. He said that you were already stocking up on guns and ammo."

I took a deep breath, because I knew what was coming.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" mom preached to me. "Don't you think that I'm hurting enough without you going off on some fool mission and probably getting killed yourself?"

I didn't say anything. I knew that I had to weather the storm.

"I don't believe you! Who do you think you are; some kind of cowboy? You think that you are some kind of macho asshole, risking your life like that? And you weren't going to tell me, were you?"

I let her say her peace, and I just sat there with my arms folded in front of me, until I was ready to speak. "This is not an impulsive decision. I've thought about this for some time."

"So you are going to ride out of here like you are some kind of John Wayne, and go after him?"

"You yourself said that this wouldn't be over until Azul was dead."

"That doesn't mean that you have to be the one to kill him. Did you ever think that maybe he might kill you first?"

"What alternative do we have? Wait here like lambs for the slaughter until he shows up? And with how many zombies? Not me. I'm not going to wait. I'm going to ferret him out and exterminate him like the vermin he is."

"Why, because of me, or because you have blood on your hands?"

There it was. I hadn't known it before, but she too blamed me for Cassio's death. If I were here, her lover would still be alive. I was the great killer of zombies.

"Yes, I have blood on my hands. I blame myself for Cassios's death, but I never realized that you also blame me. And you wouldn't care if I died, as long as your precious Cassio was still here to fuck you." I gave her a look of utter hatred, and she shot me one back of utter contempt. She then got out of her chair, walked into the house and upstairs to her bedroom.

I just sat there on the porch shaking my head while Luke was still standing there, totally clueless, as to what had just happened.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to get you in any trouble. I'm still coming with you, right?"

"You know Luke, I would let you come with me, and die a horrible death, but I think too highly of your grandfather."

"What?" Was all that he came up with.

"Just go home Luke. Haven't you done enough damage?"

"I'm sorry."

"Just go home Luke."

Now, I had worked very hard that day on the house and garden, and after mom went to bed, and Luke finally went home, I drank a good amount of beer. I ended up falling asleep right there in that rocker.

There, in that moonlit August night, while the mosquitoes were making a feast of me, Jen came to me in my sleep. It wasn't a sex dream, and I felt her more than saw her face. When I awoke, Al Shaba was licking my hand.

I could still feel Jen's presence as I emerged from sleep and petted that big white head. "Where the fuck have you been?" She just tilted her head, which I could only construe as a look of puzzlement. With that I got up out of the rocker, and we both went into Cassio's room to sleep.