Coming Home

He wondered about the letter that sat, rather uneasily in his jacket, of what reason his father's lawyer had to contact him. He knew that his father had disinherited him after the unfortunate incident involving Mary Wells, the one that had sent him into the Marines and from there, into two dusty hell holes.

As the bus carrying him into town slowed, he could not help but notice how much his home town had changed.

Gone was the drive-in, replaced by a chain fast food place, and just outside of town he had seen the strip mall with its big box store and supermarket. As the bus traveled further into to town it was not hard to notice that all the small mom and pop stores were gone, replaced by antique and specialty shops that he had no memory of.

He got off the bus and looked around, wondering if his father or his lawyer had sent anyone to pick him up. After waiting a good half hour to 45 minutes he decided that they had not, and being that he was tired and the hour was late, he decided to walk towards old man Ryan's bar and see if anybody he knew was around. He was sure he would find someone he knew, as many in the area had always done the same thing, graduate high school and either go to work on one of the ranches or in the mines, or for those lucky few, would go off to college. Even they usually came back to work in management in the mines, have families and continue the cycle.

As he approached the bar, it was hard not to notice that it, and the area surrounding it, now looked much like areas around some of the bases he had been stationed on during his service. Old Man Ryan's was now called "The HELLCAT XXX" and there were two more places nearby with similar names.

Deciding to see what was up, he entered The HELLCAT, paying his cover at the door, the doorman giving his beard and hair and his clothing a long look, which had all seen better days. But with all the time he had spent down range, his wardrobe was quite limited and lacking of anything not made for comfort.

The inside of the bar was as dark as he had expected, but what was going on up on the stage surprised him. He had thought bars like this were restricted to places outside of the US. Up on the stage was a pair of girls doing a full on lesbian show, with a strap-on, and not far from the seat he had chosen was a girl giving a guy a hand job under the table.

Shaking his head and wondering what was going on, he almost did not hear the waitress speak to him, "You're new around here?"

"Yeah, sort of," he replied.

"What can I get you?"

"What you got?"

"Well we have beer on tap, the usual brands, hard liquor and if you are looking for a good time, any of the other girls or I who are working."

Again shaking his head, he asked for a Budweiser and a shot of whiskey.

The girl nodded and said she would have his order in a few minutes.

So as he waited he looked around the bar, he did recognize a couple of the men in the place, many of them where older than him, some closer to his elder brothers in age. He really was starting to wonder about things and reached into the pocket of his over jacket and pulled out the letter he had received.

The letter still read strangely, as it was not in his father's handwriting, but was a personal note and not a business letter.

Junior,

Your presence is required as soon as possible, I will inform you of the reason when you arrive. Please expedite your arrival post haste.

Your Father

As he put the letter back into his pocket, he observed the girls who were up on stage working the room for more tips and what he assumed where offers of more of a private show.

The serving girl arrived and put down his drinks on the small table, asking him if he wanted to run a tab to which he nodded his head no and handed her a twenty, for which he got a 5 back. She looked at his reaction, and his face was stone-like, so she moved on to her next customer. One of the girls from the lesbian show approached him, "Hi, my name is Crystal." A loud 'sure' went through his mind as she continued, "Are you looking for a dance or more of a good time?"

"I am just enjoying the scenery at the moment, but maybe later," he said, using a stock line he always used at places like this outside the country. <em>He wondered again how this was possible. </em>

Over the loud speaker the DJ called the next act to the stage saying, "And here is the what many of you have been waiting for, its Mary!" As the curtains at the back of the stage moved, the old school rap song by Run-DMC 'Mary Mary' came on.

Within the first few seconds of seeing the girl, he was shocked, because here was someone he knew well, and she was the reason for his long absence from his home town and family.

TWELVE YEARS EARLIER

It was a typical day at high school, the jocks razing the nerds, the dead head types planning the next party, and the outcasts and wallflowers just trying to stay out of the cross hairs of everybody.

Then you had the social butterfly types, the ones who befriended anyone and everyone.

It was on a day such as this that the lives of so many would be affected.

Bill Grove was the golden child of the school, star athlete, scion of the wealthiest family in town, and the target of every female in the school , for to catch his eye, even for a short time, was both socially helpful and could get you into the upper crust of the local gentry. And maybe you might end up the next mistress of his family's vast ranch, as he was the only child, thus due to inherit the family business.

But if Bill and a few of his well-heeled buddies had a vice, it was that they thought every girl thought this way. They were wrong.

"Hey, Mary, wait up," called out Bill as he walked out of the classroom. Mary turned to see who was calling her name. Her first thought was, "Oh great, it's God's gift to woman, will he ever get the idea and leave me alone?"

Instead she answered, "Yeah , Bill, what you want?"

"I was wondering what you were doing for prom?"

Mary knew that she was the one junior or senior girl that had ignored Bill's advances, wanting no part of him or his money. "I have no prom plans as of yet, but I am waiting for someone to ask."

"And who would that be?"

"Junior."

"Junior? That overgrown retard?"

Several of Bill's posse laughed and chortled at his statement, " Mary, I hate to tell you, but that boy is half a deck short of all there."

Mary let out a little laugh, as she had to work in the office as an aid and had seen everyone's GPA and class rankings, and she knew that Junior was far from dumb.

"And what's so funny?"

As this transpired Junior was walking up looking for his friend Mary, to tell her he could not give her a ride home as he was leaving early to help on the family ranch.

He had become friends with Mary at a young age since both of their older brothers had been friends for years and the two of them had spent many a night at a sporting event or some such other thing together. He had never looked at her as anything more than a friend, well at least not until recently, and he could not help but hear the conversation as he approached.

Walking with him was another friend, one who had a secret, one that only Junior new about. Her name was Katherine Karol Kolby, and yes everyone including her parents acknowledged what a bad idea the name was, but it was the first names of her grandmothers. It was an sop to both of them, as neither had really approved of her parents' marriage.

It was Mary who started to fight, innocent as the comment was, it was a unfortunate case of not knowing that someone was within hearing range and would hear a comment that could be misconstrued .

"Bill , I hate to tell you, but your grades are far inferior to his and as a matter of fact, he is in consideration for an appointment to the naval academy. While I hear the only appointment you have is one for marriage.

Katherine gasped, "Junior, I thought you were not going to tell anyone!"

Mary and Bill both spun upon hearing what Karol had said. Junior just looked down at her, his eyes showing that he was hurt and Karol immediately knew her condition was out of the bag and decided to just let loose. "Bill, I have to tell you something, my baby, it's yours."

Gasps and other sounds of shock resonated throughout the hallway. It was a tense scene. Bill stared at Karol, his eyes intimating that she was lying. Junior, who stood a touch to the front of her, wondered if some else knew about Karol and Bill, which would be a scandal in the area, seeing as Karol was half Black and half Native American. That was something that his family would not like. And Mary stood there, realizing that an inadvertent jab had hurt a friend.

Bill was the one who escalated the incident from a simple shocking claim to a confrontation. "What do you mean your child is mine? How do I know that you have not been fucking everyone and are just claiming it's mine for money?" Karol let out a sobbing cry, "Because you are the one that took my virginity and I have not slept with anyone else. Not to mention, in this day and age, a simple amniocentesis can provide DNA and prove paternity!"

Junior stepped towards Bill, "Let's not have this out here, let's find someplace private."

"How do I know it's not yours, Junior?"

"It's simple, have her take the test, and if it's not yours, what do you care? But, if it is, then you have to deal with the consequences of not keeping your dick in your pants or at least being smart enough to use a condom."

Now Mary, who was not known for holding her tongue had to add fuel to the fire. "And Bill, that is why I would not go out with you any of those times you asked, because you fuck with no regard for those you sleep with. You ever notice how those who fawn over you, including your buddies over there, always want money, gifts or your castoffs? All except Troy, he wants your ass with his dick in it!"

Troy started to step forward to answer the charge when he noticed the other guys moving away from him.

Junior spoke, "Like I said, let's do this outside of school since not everybody needs to be hearing these things."

"Mary, hate to run, but my brother and father called and needed me at the ranch, Karol I think you should go up to the office and call your parents since it's not going to take long for this to make it out of school and I think they should know what is going on." Karol went to speak but junior reached up and put his finger to her lips. "K, do it. You know I have your back, but your parents have been asking about the little one's father. It is out now, so you should tell them." Karol just nodded and started towards the office.

As he turned to leave he heard Bill open his mouth again, "So Mary, you going to follow him home and fuck him?"

Junior glanced over his shoulder and Bill said, "What are you going to do, hit me?"

"Nope, Mary will clean your clock easily enough, so no need for me to break a sweat."

Mary, God bless her, took the statement for what it was, but walked away and ignored Bill.

But Bill, being the prick he had always been, did the one thing that should be never done. He turned and went after Karol from behind, shoving her into a group of lockers.

Junior turned because he heard someone yell at Bill not to do something stupid, and witnessed his attack on the pregnant girl.

Many who were in that hallway, including a teacher doing hall monitor duty, said time seemed to stop for a moment and only two people moved, Junior and Bill. And one thing that all agreed on, was that Junior, for a person who no one had ever seen move at more than a shambling pace, covered the distance between himself and Bill in a the blink of an eye and stopped right in front of him. "Care to take a try at me?"

Bill took him up on the offer, hitting him in the jaw, snapping Junior's back. But what followed was what everyone would probably remember till the day they died. Junior's punch and the sickening sound of a jaw breaking were heard and along with the sight of Bill falling.

Karol was crying and there were screams and the voice of the teacher who had finally moved yelling, "Call for an ambulance!"

It was later that day, after Junior's brother had come to the school to see what had happened, that he said, "Principal Johnson, from what you have told me, my brother was struck first and after the punch that he took, he struck Bill once and he went down. I see no reason why but for a suspension, that he should be punished any further than that."

The principal looked up at him, "He shattered Bill's jaw and broke his neck! It is possible that he will not walk again and you think he only deserves a suspension? That is not what Sheriff Cane thinks."

"Well, as I see it, Bill is 18 and my brother is 17, making him a minor and he was defending himself and a pregnant girl, who at this moment is in the hospital, with the distinct possibility of losing her child. So, I ask the sheriff whether or not if that happens, will there be charges filed, or is it going to be another thing that family gets away with?"

Both the principle and the Sheriff mumbled and glanced at one another, but it was Junior who spoke up, "I have a question, do I have enough credits to graduate early?"

The principal logged onto his computer and checked while asking Junior as he did so, "Why do you ask?"

"Because I am sure I have the grades and after this I think it would be best if I left. I know Bill's father will be after me and my family, and if I am gone things might just calm down."

The principle looked at his screen. Yes, it is possible and as a matter of fact, even without your final test this coming spring, you have enough to graduate."

Junior turned to his brother, "You think dad would sign the papers for me to go into the Marines?"

"I thought you were just waiting for the senator to forward your appointment to the academy?"

` "You really think after this, that is going to be possible?"

"You're right, it probably will not happen, not with Bill's father on the warpath."

Junior stood up, "Sheriff, am I going to be charged with anything?"

"Your brother is right, no."

"Then I will go to the recruiting office tomorrow and enlist."

And that is why, due to the circumstances, his arrival San Diego put him in the class that graduated just post 9/11. So, his first assignment was 15^TH MEU which started out in Pakistan and soon was in Afghanistan.

PRESENT

Junior wondered what Mary was doing working in a place like this and decided to leave and go call his father's place instead of waiting for tomorrow. As he got up and picked up his travel bag he caught sight of another face, and was deflated, it was Karol. His first thought was where was her son, the second being what had happened that she would be on her knees, giving a guy a blow job?

The same bouncer gave him a look as he left, probably wondering why Junior's stay was so short.

Junior walked over to the fast food joint, pulling out his recently purchased cell phone and pressed the number for his father's ranch . As it rang, he continued his perusal of the downtown, noticing the lack of business that there that was not fast food, sex related or pawn shops and such.

Someone finally picked up the line, "What the fuck, its 2 in the morning!"

A smile came to his face," Hello dad, I thought you would have someone in town to pick me up?"

"Junior, we did not expect you until tomorrow, well until today now, I guess. Where you at?"

"I'm across from the HELLCAT, and dad , what the fuck is going on around here? I saw Mary AND Karol working in there!"

"Son, that is one of the reasons I called you back to the ranch, because we need you. They need you. I'm sending Karol's father to get you. He works for us now and he will start to fill you in. By the way, nobody has seen you in ten years, what you look like now?"

With a laugh he said, "He will know it's me as soon as he gets here. I sort of stick out, even down in this mess."

About an hour and a half later, a big 4x4 truck pulled up in front of where he was sitting and a voice came out of it, "Damn son, ever heard of a razor?"

Looking into the cab as he opened the door, he could not help but see that while his voice was good natured, his Native American features where strained. "I guess my father told you I saw Karol. So as we drive back, please tell me what the fuck happened around here!"

Karol's father, Walking Bear, was known to those near him as WB (pronounced weeb). WB looked at him and answered, "Well, where to start? About a year or two after you left, Bill's father started to push for the state legislature to legalize both gambling and prostitution, citing that until the sixties both were legal in this part of the state and that with the state constitution written as it is, the banning of both was not within the purview of the state." Junior nodded on his side of the cab, remembering that he'd heard about the talks. "Well not long after you and your father had the falling out over you deciding to join the Marines and make it your career, Bill's father got the bans over-turned and proceeded to open up the HELLCAT and slowly force out everyone from downtown. He ramrodded the mall out on the state highway and then started in on the small ranches, either buying the bank notes and demanding payment in full or using the sheriff to harass the ones who owned their property outright, by bringing them up on various violations of the Water and Feed Act."

Junior sighed hard, knowing that Bill's old man was playing loose, but within the rules. "Okay, I get that part, but what's with Karol and Mary working at the HELLCAT? The last I knew, Mary was up in the capitol working for the DEP and your Karol was raising the little one out with your parents on the Res."

WB sighed, "I guess your blow up with your father was so complete that neither he nor your brother, who we have to talk about next, wanted to contact you. Then, last year they tried, but you were nowhere to be found, according to the government. Then last week you call and say you are going to be here tomorrow on Friday and you surprised us getting here today. Might I ask why you even went into the HELLCAT anyway?"

"I guess I had an idea of what it would be by the way the place looked and had to see for myself. I noted the other places to get a drink and it was closest, but back to the girls, WB."

"Ok, well, my Karol had to move off the res when my parents died, but what I did not know was she had started doing drugs and drinking on the Res. Next thing I knew, I was taking care of Little Bill and she's working there. This all happened around the time your pop sent the first letter."

Junior closed his eyes thinking of where he was when the letter found his 'home' at the time, which was halfway around the world from where he actually was. The first letter, in his pocket, actually caught up with him at Pendleton about a day before the rest of the letters arrived. "And what about Mary? Why is she there?"

WB pondered his reply for a moment and decided to pass the buck. "You will have to ask your brother about that, and speaking of which, I can clue you in on why your father wants you back."

"Which is?"

"Your brother is sick."

"Sick?" Junior asked.

"Yes, but I will let your father explain."

Knowing WB as he thought he did, he knew the man wanted to say more, but felt it was not his place.

They soon passed under the main gate of the ranch and passed right under the sign that was so simple, yet for many, made no sense. The sign read:

FIADHAICHEAD

It had been put up by the first of his family to claim this area, a ranch that now spanned nearly 18,000 acres with cattle, hay and the occasional puma and wolf. It was his home for the first 17 years of his life and until recently, he had not thought of returning.