Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 12

She packed up her room, paid her bill, and walked out to her new home. She went to the local grocery store to fill up her refrigerator, and pantry. She went to the gas station and filled up the 150-gallon diesel fuel tanks. She asked the 650 HP Cummins Engine where it would like to take its first trip. It replied, "You're the human, you decide."

She replied, "We have 1000 miles worth of fuel on board, let's see where we wind up."

For the first 50 miles, it was fun. For the next 50 miles, she listened to the SIRIUS radio as she traveled South on Interstate 4. She turned West onto Interstate 89, Southwest on Interstate 91, and West again on US 35. She was not paying attention to where she was going. She was not paying attention to the signs. She was not paying attention to anything at all, or so she thought; until she brought the motorhome to a stop, in front of her property in Glens Falls, New York. When she realized what she had done she screamed at herself, "No, I don't want to be here. It hurts too much to be here. Why did you come here Patty? Why did you do this to yourself?"

She went to restart the motorhome and it would not turn over. She screamed at the motorhome. You cannot do this to me. You are brand new. We are leaving this place. You have to start. She tried it again and again, and the motorhome would not restart. She had forgotten the instructions on how to start a diesel engine. She was trying to start it like a gasoline engine, and it just doesn't work that way.

Crying, she sat in the captain's chair looking out at the barn, and the vacant slab, where the beautiful house once stood. Through her tears she saw a vision of her mother running around the property, with her chasing after her. She saw the good memories pass before her eyes. She saw her mother standing in the driveway waving at her to come in.

Patty shook her head and yelled, "No, you're not really there."

Her mother replied, "I've always been here Patricia, I have always been here waiting for you to come back."

The ghostly figure opened the metal large gate protecting the property, and the Cummings diesel engine sprung to life.

Patty drove the bus, following the apparition of her mother beyond the barn and parked it where electric, water and sewage hookups were available. It was an area made for a motorhome the size of hers. Patricia did not remember it ever being there before. She did her hookups, stabilized her new home on the concrete mounts, and walked inside the barn. She was not happy with what she saw. All the horses seemed neglected. They had no water and they had no feed. She immediately let them out of their stalls to let them graze on the grass in the fields. She pulled out a hose and filled the troughs with water and the horses immediately came over to drink. They were in sad shape. She would take care of that immediately. She looked for her mother, but she was no longer there. Maybe she just wanted her to come in and take care of the horses. She always loved our horses, Patty thought. She would stay for a while, until she could hire another caretaker, who would properly take care of the property and the horses. Then she would go on the road again. She went into the motorhome but did not use her computer to look up the local grain and feed store. The motorhome was equipped with everything from computers to satellite communication and televisions. When she spoke to the manager at the Grain and Feed store, she found out that the former caretaker of her property had not paid the bill for the ranch supplies for the past six months and had disappeared with her money. She told him that she wanted 1000 pounds of feed, 50 bales of hay and the local veterinarian out at her place as soon as possible. The horses looked terrible and she needed them taken care of immediately. She would bring her bill current, when the supplies arrived. She would pay a 20% premium if it happened today.

The owner said her supplies would be there in three hours, but could not guarantee when the vet would be there. ***************************************************************************

Fred's parents had been down to see him every weekend, but they were getting disheartened because they got the same response from their son. He did not remember them. He appreciated their coming to see him, but could not remember their faces or their relationship to him. He asked them questions to try to jog his memory but to no avail. He asked his father what type of work he did.

His father answered that he owned a garment factory.

Fred said, "I thought all of those had moved to the Far East?"

"I have one of the few remaining factories in New York City."

"Do you have union or nonunion workers?"

"We have union workers Fred."

"Haven't their wage demands outstripped your ability to make a profit?"

"We have been very fortunate in that area Fred. They know our profit margin is very low, and we have not had a strike in 18 years."

"You must have a very good rapport with the union representatives. I don't know of any other company that can say that."

"We are completely honest with the union. When we go to negotiate with them, we open our books to show them what we make and how much we can afford to give them."

"You are a wonderful businessman Mister Hastings. There are not many business owners that would do what you do."

"Mrs. Hastings, do you work at the factory?"

The questioning went along this line every time they came down, and although Fred was very complimentary to them, he did not show any further improvement in recognizing who they were. After Fred was in the hospital four months in the hospital, they decided to stop coming to visit him. They asked Sharon to keep in touch with them if there was any change.

At five months, Sharon came into the hospital with a large white envelope sticking out of her purse. When they took Fred to physical therapy and put him between the parallel bars the therapists normally had to help him make it through.

This time as he grasped the bars she said, "Fred, look at me. I have something in this envelope that you will be very interested in. The only time you'll get to see it is if you walk to me, without any assistance. Do you understand me Mister Hastings. You have been lazy enough these past few months. Now you do it on your own or you don't see what's in this envelope. The girls know, the Attorney General knows, Lisa knows, Paul knows, and I know. The only person that doesn't know what's in this envelope is you. If you want to know what is in this envelope, you better move your ass and get over here."

"The girls got scholarships into college."

"Maybe!"

"You are pregnant!"

"By who, I know you've been lying down a lot, but there is another part of you that has not been up to the job."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that."

"Fred, I am tired of waiting. Walk or I am leaving."

"Sharon, walking is not all it's cracked up to be."

"Girls we are leaving."

"Stay where you are, I'm coming." It took him 10 torturous steps and almost 2 minutes to do it, but Fred was standing exhausted and sweaty in front of Sharon.

He said, "Open the damn envelope, after you kiss me."

Sharon's kiss nearly sent him through the parallel bars and to the floor. If it were not for the strength of Lisa and Paul, he would have made it.

Paul said, "Maybe we should put him in a wheelchair before you open envelope."

Fred took the envelope from Sharon's hand and when he opened it he saw the great seal of the State of New Jersey. He asked, "Who lives in New Jersey?"

The girls answered, "We did before we met you."

"That's right, you did live there. I saved you from the Garden State, or is it the Chemical Garden State."

"Fred, you are so close to getting hit, read the paper before I let the girls loose on you."

"Don't you threaten me that way, I could die at the thought of it."

Fred continued to read the paper until he got to the large words in the third paragraph, which read, "Permanent Divorce Decree."

Fred's head popped up with a huge smile on his face. "You're free?"

"Yes Fred, I am free to marry you, as soon as you can dance with me and our girls, at the wedding."

"Lisa, I want those things that the baseball players take to make them bigger, stronger, and faster. I want to get married tomorrow if possible. Tonight would be better."

"That is not going to happen, Fred. The only way you are going to get married is through hard work in this room."

"Children, would you leave the room for a minute. I want to use a few of the words you are not allowed to use to convince my physical therapist that I want to get better quicker by the use of substances that are not approved for the common man."

Danni said, "Dad you are as uncommon as they come. Get better so we can get you home. There is something that you never got to take care of and I want to join the other girls so we are equal."

"Sharon, you have the most marvelous children in the world. They are truly treasures to behold. Take them home; college is getting closer every day. I have work to do. Start planning for a Christmas wedding, and tell Clark he is paying for it."

"Who do you think is giving me a way?"

"I knew it was not going to be your father."

"Girls I love you all; go home and study. Danni go home and do your stretching exercises. One day soon you will need it."

Danni replied, "Promises, daddy, that's all I ever get from you, promises."