by: Kristy Duke
Shawn Graham’s dark green eyes cautiously scans across the open farm land that surrounds the dusty dirt road as dark moody storm clouds sends dark shadows spreading across the green land. For a moment, he watches the darkness steadily growing before a dented forest green road sign catches his attention several feet away to awaken a rush of adrenaline to race through his numb body. “Welcome to Hazzard,” he hears himself speaking aloud, breaking the silence that had entered the car upon leaving Atlanta. “Home.” Surprise registers deeply within him as pride and excitement washes over him, pride and excitement towards returning to the place he had so eagerly left behind over twelve years ago. Watching the old familiar sign passing by his passenger window, big droplets of rain begin to rhythmically drop from the dark threatening sky to land harshly upon his windshield, only to remind him even more of the day he had left town without looking back. It had been dark and raining as he had climbed into his old muscle car on his way to a new life full of adventure. . .
Abruptly, his thoughts of his past are interrupted by the loud shrill ring of his small black cell phone that rests tightly in it’s holster upon his belt to send his heart racing in surprise at the interruption. “Damn it,” he cusses in annoyance as he grabs the phone from his hip to reluctantly glance at the caller ID screen to send dread and guilt drowning out the excitement and pride he had momentarily felt. “Shawn,” he hesitantly replies after flipping the phone open and placing it to his ear, his thoughts swiftly changing from his innocent past to the dreaded future. “I’ve just reached Hazzard.”
“You just reached Hazzard?!” the caller hisses angrily over the phone to send chills climbing up Shawn’s back, “You told us that it would take an hour to get from here to Atlanta. . .you left an hour and a half ago!”
Shawn sighs heavily as he watches an old and rusted car pass him by to send irony racing through him, irony of how much he has changed and how little things has seemed to have changed in Hazzard since he had left. “I know what I told you and it normally takes an hour to get from there to here. That is if there isn’t anything slowing you down,” Shawn slowly goes silent as the small town of Hazzard comes into sight and his excitement slowly re-grows within him, “I got slowed down by a traffic jam just outside of Atlanta. There was a bad accident and the road was cut down to one lane as the ambulance and police had the other blocked off due to the accident. And then there was a detour half way here that I had not anticipated.”
The caller goes silent to send an eerie silence over the phone and in Shawn’s mind, he vividly pictures the caller nervously walking back and forth while watching the clock slowly ticking forward. “We had a plan, Shawn,” he finally breaks his silence.
“I know about the plan. I helped create it, remember?” Shawn asks, forcing a smile, “Look Landon, there’s still no problem with our plan. I’m only a half hour late,” Shawn pauses as he comes to a halt behind the red stop sign, where the dirt road leads into Main Street, the only cement street leading in and out of Hazzard. In front of him, the open farmland and countryside turns into the small town of Hazzard, built of small business and old shabby buildings. “No one is expecting me here. . .I’ll still show up in surprise fashion. I’ll do my thing tonight and tomorrow at nine I will meet you at our hide out. Just as planned.”
As Landon goes silent in his own thoughts, Shawn remains stopped at the stop sign, taking the small town in while quietly comparing it to how he remembers it being the day he had left so many years ago. Noting again, that nothing has changed. “OK, fine,” Landon slowly breaks his silence, his voice lighter and anger free, “I’ll trust you about that.” He goes silent once again and Shawn watches a couple of older people walking in front of him, holding hands and they curiously glance in at him before they reach the sidewalk and continue on their way. “We’re camping out tonight and will head out for Hazzard, using your directions, at eight tomorrow morning. Just as planned. We’ll give you a call when we reach our destination.”
“Just as planned,” Shawn thoughtfully responds as the rain begins to quicken and a roll of thunder softly roars outside. “I’ll be ready for your call.”
“I hope so,” Landon gruffly responds before hanging up on Shawn.
“Bye to you, too,” Shawn grunts as he tosses the phone onto the passenger seat and as he glances up he laughs out loud as an older muscle car painted reddish orange turn and drives down the dusty dirt road past him. “Orange,” Shawn shakes his head as he watches the car disappear from his rear view mirror before glancing ahead at the town before making a right turn to drive by a few buildings before reaching an small shack like building with four gas pumps outside. Taking a deep breath, Shawn slowly turns up the small drive way before parking in front of the closest pump to immediately throw the car into park and opening the door and stiffly stepping out of the car. A small smile crosses his face as he takes in the small building with the garage door open and dark shadows deep within the garage, a faint hint of music comes from within the garage.
“Be with you in a sec,” a southern voice calls out of the garage and through the shadows, he sees a shadowy figure walking within the garage. Shawn nods to himself before turning around to eye the tall and proud brick court house standing tall across the street, a white dirty patrol car is parked on the corner behind an older Cadillac with horns on the grill. “Need gas, I assume?” the voice breaks the silence and Shawn slowly turns around to face his old friend from high school and the pride and excitement once again burst through him. “Shawn Graham!” Cooter yells in excitement, wiping his greasy hands upon a grease stained towel. “What are you doing in town?”
Shawn shrugs silently while suppressing a smile before replying, “Thought I’d sneak up and surprise y’all. Did it work?”
“Heck yeah. You don’t call or write for twelve long years and bang just like that here you are,” Cooter shakes his head while laughing, “it’s great to see you, Shawn. What you been up to? Must have a good job to have a nice ride as that.” Cooter states while eyeing Shawn’s new shiny black Mercedes with a hint of envy in his crazy brown eyes.
Shawn shrugs while attempting to fight back the mixed emotions that continues to spar within him, emotions of pride and excitement at being back to his home town with guilt and dread towards the person he has became over the past twelve years. “Nice enough job. I work at a big car sales place in Atlanta, I’m ahead of their garage,” Shawn breaks his silence before a couple of running figures catches his attention and he turns to find Rosco and J.D. “Boss” Hogg running through the rain to their cars. Shawn laughs at seeing the law he had often ran from while growing up down the road. “Hogg and Coltrane still in charge of the law?” he questions, squinting through the rain, “Boy, things didn’t change a bit since I left town.”
“Not a whole lot. . .but I don’t think people would want things any other way around here. At least with Hogg and Coltrane we know what we are up against,” Cooter quickly responds while motioning towards the garage, “Wanna hide out in the garage from the rain?”
Shawn slowly follows Cooter into the garage where a lime green Camaro sits parked within the stall, it’s hood up and a dim light hanging above it while the radio plays lightly in the corner. “Already soaked as it is,” Shawn states to break the silence as he wipes the rain off of his face only for more water to drip down from his sandy brown hair that is shortly cut. “Hey Coot,” Shawn says after a brief moment of silence as he had watched Cooter make his way back to the open hood of the car, “you busy tonight?”
Cooter glances up thoughtfully for a brief moment before replying, “Nothing that I’m committed to at least.”
“Well you are now,” Shawn grins up at his old friend before glancing at his expensive Rolex, “I have yet met up with Luke, but how about later tonight, we meet up at The Boar’s Nest? Catch up on old times and all.”
“Sounds great to me,” Cooter nods while grabbing a tool off of the shelf resting against the wall behind him, “I kinda figured you hadn’t met with Luke yet,” Cooter pauses to readjust his position before bending over and begin working upon the old car, “on the account he was just here and he didn’t say one word about you. And trust me, he would be too excited to keep it a secret.”
Shawn lends Cooter a small smile as he falls back into silence, taking in his old friend and the dark garage that surrounds him before his attention slowly falls towards the open garage door as an old brown tow truck pulls up. Shawn watches silently as the door is thrown open and a medium height, lean man steps out and quickly slams the door shut before running into the garage to get away from the rain.
“Damn, that rain is cold,” the lean man complains as he takes off his wet ball cap to shake the rain water off of it before replacing it back onto his thin head, a few copper brown curly hair protrudes from under the hat. After a brief moment of silence, the lean mechanic glances away from Cooter and the dark shadows that surround the old garage to curiously glance at the tall stranger that stands in the far corner, a few feet away from Cooter. “Hi there. I take it the Mercedes belongs to you. Nice car.”
Shawn slowly nods his acknowledgment before replying, “Yeah, it’s my car. Thanks.”
“Hey LB, this here is Shawn Graham. We were friends back before he thought he was too big for Hazzard and ran off to the city,” Cooter takes a step forward, pointing to Shawn before turning to LB, “Shawn this here is my cousin, LB Davenport.”
“Too big for Hazzard?” LB questions with a smile as they both take a step forward to shake hands with each other, offering the other a smile.
“Something like that, I guess. Needed something different,” Shawn slowly replies as he takes a step towards the open garage door, the icy rain tickles the back of his neck. “Hey Coot,” he pauses as he looks back at Cooter who stands in front of the old car, “I think I’ll run out to the Duke farm to catch up with Luke. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Ten – four,” Cooter nods at Shawn, waving at him, “You remember the way?”
Shawn shrugs while glancing at his rain soaked car, turning back towards Cooter, he replies, “Well, one way to find out. Bye y’all.”
* * * * *
Dark angry storm clouds shadow over the wet and mud covered earth as thin drops of rain quickly begins to fall from the gray clouds and onto the mud splattered windshield of The General Lee. “Better hurry it up, cuz,” my cousin dryly says from the passenger seat to interrupt the thick silence that had built between us since leaving Cooter’s a few minutes ago, “the storm seems to be getting worse as Elton had predicted this morning, it would.”
I slowly nod in silent agreement as a bright flash of lightning abruptly lightens up the angry sky to be quickly followed by a loud crack of thunder to send chills racing up my back. “I got the petal to the -” I begin to say before being interrupted by a loud shrill from behind and I reluctantly glance in my rearview mirror to find a Hazzard patrol car on my bumper, his red and blue lights flashing angrily back at me. “Enos,” I sigh heavily as I routinely glance down at my speedometer, “What could he want now? We’re not even at fifty-five, so it can’t be for speeding.”
“Who knows, but at the speed you are going, you are going to have a chance to ask him here in a second,” Luke sarcastically throws back at me before he turns around in his seat to glance back at the patrol car that continues to follow us, “Dang it Enos,” he gripes while turning back around in his seat while I press harder upon the accelerator to quickly speed away from the patrol car for a moment, “we don’t have time for this. We’re already late.”
“No thanks to you,” I slowly reply while speeding forward while watching the dirty white patrol car fighting to stay up with the powerful General, “you were the one that wanted to stop by Cooter’s for a short word. You should know by now that if you stop at Cooter’s, you’ll bound to be there longer than the minute or two you had planned on stopping for. I tried warning you.”
I glance over at him to catch him rolling his eyes at me before he sends a muscular hand through his thick dark curly hair while letting out a frustrated breath as he returns his attention to the side mirror to watch Enos. “Will you wake up and drive?” he abruptly lets out, “He’s gaining on us!”
“I am awake,” I slowly state before falling quiet as I am struck with an idea and I slowly glance back at Luke while thinking of whether or not I should speak it aloud before following through with it. Upon deciding not to say anything, I abruptly jerk the steering wheel to the left and shove harshly onto the brake to force us to an abrupt halt upon the side of the muddy road.
“What are you doing?!” Luke angrily snaps at me as I watch Enos swiftly lose control of the patrol car as he attempts to bring his car to an abrupt halt and his car slides nose first into the ditch before stopping. “Have you lost your mind?” Luke goes silent once again as he watches Enos angrily throw open his car door, “If you haven’t noticed, we don’t have any extra money laying around to pay off any more of your speeding tickets or to bail our sorry behinds out of jail if it comes to that! In fact, we had just spent the last of our extra money on the groceries that Daisy had sent us into town for, just a few minutes ago!”
“Will you relax, Luke? I know our current financial situation and I do know what I am doing. Just watch a genius at work here,” I grin largely at him and he quickly sends me an angry look that declares we’re not through with this conversation. I shake my head at him before looking away to watch Deputy Enos Strate approaching my open window with his leather notepad out along with his pen. “Well howdy Deputy,” I grin at him as he stops outside my window, “what can I do to be of an assistance to you today?”
He gives me a quizzical look before he glances down at his notepad and opens it up to the first unwritten page. “Hey Bo, hey Luke,” he sends a sympathetic look at us, “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to write you up for speeding. Now if you’d be nice and sign -”
“For speeding?” I shoot back and he silently nods at me, “I was going fifty in a fifty-five mile per hour speed zone! How is that speeding?!”
He takes a deep breathe as he eyes Luke and then me before shrugging. “Hogg had the sheriff change the speed limit to forty-five miles per hour on this road yesterday in attempt to avoid more accidents occurring on this road.”
“Accidents?” I ask, my voice rising in disbelief and Enos once again silently nods at us, “There hasn’t been any accidents on this road in a long time!” I glance over at Luke who gives me an impatient look as if to say it is I who has gotten us into this. Sighing heavily, I glance back at the deputy and state, “Never mind. I didn’t see any speed signs leaving town, you Luke?”
“Nope,” Luke shakes his head, “this is totally bogus Enos. I can see Rosco or Hogg pulling this trick, but you?”
“Don’t do this to me, boys. You know I’ve got orders that I have to follow,” he says as he scribbles something down on the paper, “as for the sign, I think Rosco put one up yesterday. You must not have noticed it when you drove past it. Here’s your ticket, Bo. I’m real sorry.”
“Yeah, I bet you are,” I slowly reply rolling my eyes as he tears the ticket out of the notepad and extends his arm to hand it to me. Sighing heavily, I slowly go to take the ticket before letting it go just as soon as Enos had removed his hands from the small ticket. I fight back a smile as I watch the wind grab the light paper and it rolls a few feet back before landing in the muddy dirt road with rain quickly running down upon it. “Oops. Sorry Enos, I didn’t have a tight hold on it when you let it go.”
He eyes me suspiciously before he glances back at the damaged ticket that lies in the road and back down at his note pad for a short moment. “Yeah,” he finally eyes me before he slowly steps away and then quickly walks over to where the ticket is at. With his back to us, I quickly press upon the accelerator to feel the power to race through the car as we jump forward and as I speed down towards the farm, I watch Enos yelling something at me from the middle of the road.
“See Lukas,” I grin back over at Luke who is once again shaking his head in disbelief, this time with a look of surprise written across his face instead of anger, “I know what I’m doing.”
“Well, cuz, I’ve got to give it to you,” Luke says with a hint of laughter in his voice as his relaxed hand lands upon my shoulder, “you pulled it off. Luckily. Jesse would have your hide if you were to take home another ticket.”
I glance over at him for a short moment before stealing another glance into the rear view mirror to watch the deputy sulkily walking over to his patrol car to take in the damage. “I did,” I smile back at my cousin before glancing ahead at the rain beaten road that lies ahead, silently watching the rain pounding down upon us. After a brief moment of silence, I glance back over at Luke to ask, “Didn’t I?”
“Don’t get too full of yourself there, Bo. If it weren’t for your fancy driving, we wouldn’t have gotten pulled over to begin with,” Luke rolls his eyes playfully at me before he quickly glances out through his passenger window. “Damn. Whoever is driving that there car is sure in a hurry.”
Silence slowly filters between us as I momentarily glance away from the open road to glance out through his window to find an expensive black car speeding down another dirt road that adjoins to our road a mile away. “Yeah. Well,” I nervously begin to say as I force my attention back to the road ahead of us as another flash of lightning lightens up the angry gray sky, “he better start moving his lead foot off of the accelerator and onto the brakes here real quick if he don’t want a collision.”
A low roll of thunder momentarily echoes across the clouded sky as I once again glance through Luke’s window to find the car continuing to speed towards the stop sign. “Bo,” Luke nervously states as he shoves himself up in his seat, his hand reflexively pulling out to grab a hold of the handle on the door. “Bo!” Luke repeats, his voice higher in panic as he nervously stares through his window, “He’s not stopping, Bo!”
Feeling my heart growing heavy within me due to the panic in Luke’s voice, I quickly glance through Luke’s window once more to find the black car approaching the stop sign at full speed. “Damn!” I hear myself aloud as I forcefully shove the brakes down and The General angrily screeches out as we dramatically slow down before I quickly turn the steering wheel in an attempt to avoid hitting the oncoming car. The General abruptly slides sideways for a couple of feet before coming to an abrupt halt a moment before the black car violently hits The General in the bumper to create a loud thunking noise and shoving us a couple of feet forward onto the shoulder of the road. “Damn,” I silently repeat as I angrily stare forward before glancing through Luke’s window once more to find the black car pulling up to a halt besides us.
“You OK, Bo?” Luke reluctantly glance away from the black car to glance back to me, concern in his bright blue eyes as he watches me for a long moment.
Feeling the pressure building in my lungs, I numbly nod at him while continuing to stare past him and at the expensive car that is now parked a couple of feet away from us. Through the darkly tinted windows, the driver remains only a dark black shadow that leans forward to pick something up or to take the keys out of the ignition. Taking a couple of forceful breaths, I slowly roll down my window and the chilly rain angrily blows in at me as I begin to pull myself up onto the window sill. “I’ll be better once I get my hands on him and knock some common sense into him!” I angrily yell in at Luke as pain ignites within my lungs to install dread within me. Dread at being slowed down by my asthma once again. Dread at the oncoming attack that is quickly sneaking up on me due to my emotions and of what had just happened.
Luke silently nods at me as his hand lands upon the window lever, though remains still as he watches me climbing the rest of the way out into the rainy afternoon. He watches me a moment longer before he quickly turns to his window as the car’s door slowly opens a foot before coming to a halt, an expensive looking boot steps out onto the rainy dirt before the driver goes still behind the partially open door.
Ignoring the chilly rain that beats down upon me, I quickly move around the bumper of The General before coming to a halt to inspect the damage he had created upon the bumper of The General. My anger is thickly fueled once again at the large area of orange paint that had been scraped off along with the thick indent where the black car had made contact with it. “You idiot,” I say before glancing up to find a man an inch or so shorter than I stepping out of the car with thinly cut light brown hair with thin side burns. “You idiot!” I yell out loud as I quickly approach him to step in front of Luke’s window, stopping him from climbing out. “You got your damn windows so tainted so dark you can’t see the damn stop sign?!” I ask, my arm outstretched to the stop sign he had just ran, “Look what you did -“
”Bo,” Luke calmly states in my ear as he places a protective hand upon my shoulder to stop me, “calm down. You’re gonna set off your asthma.”
“Hey look,” the man ahead of me states and I reluctantly turn towards him to find him eyeing me with intense green eyes, “I’m real sorry. I didn’t see you coming.”
“You didn’t see us coming?!” I ask in disbelief before being forced to go silent to struggle to breathe, “Perhaps if your windows weren’t so tinted, you’d be able to see us!”
The man nods. “Your point is well taken,” he pauses as his attention falls upon our car, “though I can see well enough through my windows.” He looks up at me and I feel Luke’s hand land upon my shoulder once again, “Never saw an orange car before.”
“Yeah, well, now you have,” I throw back at him before glancing back at Luke who motions for me to move out of his way. I slowly nod at Luke before turning back to eye the driver of the car angrily once again before slowly moving to the side a couple of feet to allow Luke room to climb out of The General.
Luke swiftly pulls himself onto the window sill, his back towards us, before he pushes himself back and turns himself around to climb the rest of the way out. “Thanks Bo,” he softly says as he turns around to face the driver, the look of worry and concern that had momentarily filled his eyes towards me fills with excitement. “Shawn Graham!” Luke yells and the driver’s eyes brightens up in his own excitement at seeing Luke.
“Luke!” the man Luke had momentarily called Shawn responds with a broad smile across his handsome face, his hands quickly leave his pockets of his jeans and he forcefully hugs Luke and Luke excitedly returns the hug. Letting go of each other, they both take a step back and they both reflexively turn towards me as my mind rewinds back twelve years ago of happily telling Shawn good-bye, rewinds past twelve years and of how badly Shawn had picked on me while growing up. “That means,” Shawn breaks the momentary silence, continuing to wildly eye me, “you must be Bo…a grown up Bo.”
I eye him harshly for a long moment before reluctantly nodding while the pain in my lungs intensifies within me and breathing abruptly grows hard. “Leave it to you to be too stupid to stop at a stop sign,” I slowly respond, my wheezing becomes loudly audible, “You do know that the red octagon sign back there with the large and bold white letters that reads stop in the middle, means that you stop your car until there is no more oncoming traffic, right?”
“Bo,” Luke angrily states, elbowing me in the ribs to grab my attention to send me an angry look, “I can’t believe you would be so rude to say that to him! I am sure Shawn didn’t mean to run the stop sign and has his reasons.” Luke goes silent as his attention goes from me to Shawn. “Hey Shawn, I’m sorry for my cousin’s rudeness. He’s just upset about The General here getting hit, he seemed to have forgotten his manners.”
“Nah, it’s alright, Luke. The squirt has his reasons for being upset,” Shawn says with a smile on his face as he eyes me and then Luke before he goes silent and he slowly walks over to the front of his car to look at the damage he had obtained from the accident. “Well, I now have an orange and black car.” He dryly states as he makes his way back to us before he walks past us and to our bumper to take in our damage for a long moment and then once again joins us where we stand. “Damn, I’m real sorry about your car. I will fix your car…I’ll pay full price for the damages.”
“Damn right you will,” I quickly throw back at him before I momentarily am thrown into a coughing fit, my lungs engulfing in pain.
“Bo,” Luke slowly states, his voice thinly tainted with anger and concern, both towards me, his hand protectively lands upon my shoulder. “Your inhaler,” he whispers in my ear as I slowly finish coughing, my coughing residing into a painful fight for air.
I slowly nod at him as I shove my hand into my right jean pocket before reluctantly grabbing my emergency inhaler out while I slowly walk away from them. As I reach the bumper, I hear Shawn stating, “I see he still has problems with asthma.”
Closing my eyes, I slowly puff a long puff of medicine into my mouth before I force myself to take five painful breaths before taking another inhale of medicine. As I go through my five rounds of inhaling one puff of medicine to five breathes, my thoughts flash back to the past and of fearing Shawn. Luke had protected me from anything and anyone who would wish me harm or would give me a hard time. Everyone, but Shawn. Luke would either join in with Shawn, seeing what he was doing as only playing around and joking or would look away and ignore what Shawn was doing to me. Too afraid of losing Shawn’s friendship if he were to intervene to help me. Now that he is back in Hazzard, I am left to wonder if everything will resume to the way things had been before Shawn had left twelve years ago.
“You OK?” Shawn asks as I reluctantly walk around the bumper towards them after pocketing my inhaler. Pain continues to linger in my lungs with each breath, but breathing has became easier.
I eye him momentarily before glancing over at Luke who watches me expectantly, awaiting my answer with worry wrote across his face. “I’ll be fine,” I finally respond, “though both of us won’t be for very long…seeing how we were suppose to be home twenty minutes ago.”
“Damn,” Luke cusses under his breath as he eyes me and then up at Shawn, “We gotta get goin’ home. Daisy and Jesse are waiting for us to return so that Daisy can start on her famous chili. Wanna come out to the farm? I’m sure they’d all love to see you again…and trust me, you’ll love Daisy’s chili.”
A broad smile flashes across Shawn’s face as he leans back against his car before he wipes the rain out of his face. “Truth be told, that is where I was headin’ when I accidentally ran into you,” he finally responds as he moves over to reopen his car door, “and if I’m invited, I’d be glad to taste Daisy’s chili. If I remember right, she’s an awesome cook.”
“That she is,” Luke smiles at him as he once again places his hand upon the back of my shoulder, “and you are invited. We’ll see you there.”
“See you boys there then,” Shawn echoes Luke as he steps back into his car and slams the door shut on us and restarts his car, though remains parked.
“He’s waiting on us. Want me to drive?” Luke asks, eyeing me with concern once more.
“I’m fine,” I stubbornly reply as I yank the keys out of my pocket before beginning to walk back around the bumper of the car before he can argue farther with me about it. He slowly shrugs at me as he climbs back into the cark through the open window while I eye the damage upon the bumper once more. Taking a deep breath to control my emotions, I quickly walk forward to the open driver’s window and before climbing back into the car, I wipe the chilly rain off of my face.
“What in the world is wrong with you, Bo?” Luke angrily asks me as I roll up my window and restart The General and as I go to back out, I find Luke eyeing me angrily. “I understand you being upset about The General. So am I. But we both know Shawn. He wouldn’t do that on purpose!”
Moving forward, I watch Shawn’s black car pass us by before watching him backing out behind us before he quickly begins to follow us. “If you say so,” I finally respond, wishing to drop the subject; knowing Luke will defend Shawn no matter what I have to say.
“I do say so,” Luke spits back at me as he seems to relax back in his seat as we begin on our way back home to hand over Daisy her groceries we were sent into town for.
***LUKE DUKE***
Chills icily climb up my back as the thin drips of rain washes steadily over me and upon the wet earth, the once dry grass that lies beneath my boots has now turned to mud. The dark angry gray sky seems to echo the harsh emotions that rips violently within me. Heavy emotions of sadness, fear, and worry accumulates within me as my mind numbly wanders through the past several years that had seemed to pass so slowly while living them, now seems to have gone with the blink of an eye. Years of being entrapped in school and bound with rules and home work, only to be followed routinely with hard chores that always needed to be done around the farm. Life had seemed to be controlled heavily by the strict rules placed upon us by the school and by those of authority, home work, and hard work on the farm.
Yet, now standing here in the rain, a week past graduation, school and life had been much more than just rules, school, and the hard work we placed daily upon our farms. It was built around well intended rules, learning at school, and the discipline that hard work had placed upon us, it all helped build us to who we are today. It was full of memories; memories of good and bad times, happy and sad memories, painful memories, and memories of all the fun times we have had while growing up in Hazzard, memories of learning and growing as we went day to day, year to year. Looking back, a lump of sadness forms within me to see it all come to an abrupt halt, to see this chapter of our lives closing as we move onto the next chapter of our lives.
“Hey Lukas,” his thick voice catches my attention as it penetrates through the thick silence that had built between the three of us moments after meeting up at the end line of Hazzard County. I slowly glance away from the adjoining county to look up at Shawn who’s beloved Braves hat is darkened by the rain. “You gonna be OK? Don’t go sentimental on me, now.”
I shake my head at him while offering him a smile. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I slowly state while running a hand through my thick hair in attempt to chase the rain out before wiping my face, irritated by the cold rain that pours down upon us, “I was just thinking of the fun we had. Hate to see it all come to an end like this.”
Cooter’s heavy hand lands upon my tense shoulders and I glance over at him to find him nodding in agreement. “I think what Luke here is trying to say is,” he speaks up, “that you will be missed. By all of us. You won’t be forgotten around here, just don’t you go forgetting us or who you are in that there big city. Another thing to remember,” Cooter drops his hand to take a step closer to Shawn who rests against his wet Trans AM, “while you’re in the ‘big city’ you won’t be in Hazzard any more. You get yourself in trouble with the local cops, you will be looking at some serious trouble…not just a little car chase as you would here in Hazzard. You won’t be dealing with the likes of Rosco and Hogg any more, you’ll be dealing with the big boys.”
Shawn nods before turning around to check his packed car once again before turning around to face us once again, his face clouded in rain. “Your point taken. And no, you won’t be forgotten about. I’ll visit,” he pauses as he glances down at his watch his father had given to him for graduation, “Hey, y’all should come and visit me in Atlanta. Come see my new apartment! It’s huge!”
Cooter nods silently besides me, lost in his own thoughts and emotions. “Maybe someday, Shawn,” he finally answers, “I hope you the best of luck in Atlanta, Shawn. With your new apartment, your schooling, and with your job. But hey, if by chance, it don’t work out, you will always be welcomed here in Hazzard.”
Shawn nods. “So everyone says. But it is going to work out, I am going to make it work out if need be. I will miss you and Luke, but that’s about it. I hate farm life. I hate life here in Hazzard and all that Hazzard stands for. I can’t take it any more. I just can’t,” he firmly states shaking his head as he takes a look back at Hazzard, “I’ll keep in touch.” His voice trails off for a short moment and I begin to wonder if he means the last part or if it is just something that sounds right to say at a time like this. If this new beginning of his is his way of moving on and shoving his entire past behind him for good. “Well Lukas,” Shawn breaks the awkward attention and I look attentively at him, “I wish you the best of luck with your boot camp and what all lays ahead of you with the Marines. You take care. I don’t want to be reading about Hazzard having a war casualty, you hear? Just because they’ll be giving you intense training and hand you and y our buddies the big guns, don’t make you invincible. OK?”
I slowly nod as my thoughts swiftly change from our past that has now come to an end to my unknown future and a new sense of dread and regret filters through me. Dread and regret towards the choice I had made six months ago of signing up with the Marines. It had been something I had felt strongly about, something I felt I had to do; that I owed the country I’ve grown up freely in some of my time. Though now as I face the reality of the choice I had made, dread fills me of what may lie ahead of me as the nightmares that had plagued my dreams since signing up vividly returns to me. Nightmares of being shot and killed without telling Bo or the rest of my family good-bye, of leaving for war and not being able to see my family or my home ever again. Fear fuels my regret towards my choice of the Marines despite deep down I know I made the right choice, it is something I have to do no matter what the consequences may be. It is my time to show everyone who Lukas Kenneth Duke really is, of what I am made of. It is my time to pay my respects for my country and to stick up for what I believe in.
“Well, for now I am only getting ready to go to boot camp,” I hear myself finally state as I hear Bo’s soft voice pleading me not to go echoing in my mind, his innocent eyes begging me to stay home, not to leave him.
He eyes me questionably. “Well either you have forgotten or they didn’t inform you well enough, but being sent off to war usually follows boot camp. That is what boot camp is about, isn’t it? Preparing you for war,” Shawn bluntly states before shaking his head in disbelief, “I still can’t believe that our on Luke Duke was foolish enough to sign up with the Marines and will be preparing for war. I know you said it is something you ‘felt’ you had to do, but I still think there has to be something else you can do that you feel you need to do. Something not so dangerous!”
“You sound like Bo,” I slowly state as a bolt of lightning lights up the early evening sky to be quickly followed by a loud roll of thunder, “but your point is taken. It is dangerous , but agree with my reasons or not, it is something I feel I should do.”
“Yeah, so you say. Just like moving to Atlanta is something I feel I need to do before I go crazy here in Hazzard,” he shakes his head, “if it isn’t already too late.”
Cooter offers a nervous laugh before saying, “Damn, I can’t believe it is coming down to this. You both are leaving me!” he pauses for a dramatic moment, “First Shawn and then I’ll have to do this all over again with Luke in a month. I can deal with Shawn moving to Atlanta, he’s not the only one to think they’ve outgrown Hazzard,” he goes silent again, eyeing me with emotion filled eyes, “But you leaving us for the Marines? I know you’ve heard over and over again from Bo of his fears of you not returning, but he has a right to be afraid. As does everyone else in Hazzard.”
I shake my head while once again wiping the rain from my eyes. “Look, for right now, I am just going to boot camp…there has been no word of sending me to war. So how about you place your fear on the back burner until it becomes a reality, which it might sooner or later, but not yet,” I slowly reply before changing the topic, “Good luck Shawn in Atlanta, hope it meets your expectations you’ve had over the years.”
He smiles broadly at me. “Oh it shall meet my expectations and beyond. How couldn’t it? I have my place already located, a good job that pays well for my age, and school in mechanics. If all goes well, before too long I’ll be able to catch a few Braves games and perhaps catch a race or two. Atlanta offers so much more than Hazzard,” his smile remains spread confidently across his face, confidence I wish I had with the choice I had made those several months ago, “talking of which,” he glances at his watch, “I should get going. I had told my new room mate I’d be there around seven tonight, since he had offered to help me move in and to get situated and perhaps take me out to show me around. Show me all the fun places to hang out at.”
“Why so late?” Cooter asks, “When you could start up tomorrow morning and have all day to get settled in and do your sight seeing.”
Shawn shrugs. “Perhaps he works or has class tomorrow. I don’t know, this is just the time he said would work best for him and I’m not going to turn down help and the chance to get to know him better. If he’s as cool as he was when I met him last month, I think he would be the one to be friends with and who would help me to fit in and all that fun stuff.”
I sigh heavily as my thoughts shift back from the Marines to the life Shawn is leaving us for to insert worry through me. “Cooter’s right, Shawn. Be careful,” I pause as he eyes me suspiciously, “I know what you are going to say, it is I that is going to war and not you. But you have as much to worry about as I do going into a big city as Atlanta, life will be different in Atlanta as will the people. You get yourself into trouble with the law, you will be answering to the real police with real guns and real authority. Not some hick sheriff and his deputy you have here.”
“Ten-four Lukas,” he responds with a grin as he slowly takes a step forward to open his car door to display his packed car to us, “I am now off. Y’all take care and don’t get into trouble without me.”
“What fun is that?” Cooter slowly asks as he takes a step forward to give Shawn a hug before stepping back, “Bye Shawn.”
“Good luck,” I smile at him as I take a step forward to give him a friendly hug, “Bye Shawn.”
He grins broadly at us once more to display his deep dimples and the sparkle in his eyes that had won him over with a lot of girls over the years. “Bye y’all,” he finally says as he climbs into his car and starts it up and slams the door shut. Driving off, he waves at us as we are left in the rain, watching him drive out of Hazzard with thoughts wondering if and when we’ll see him again now that his dreams have seemed to finally have come true. The dreams he had talked about nonstop for the past couple of years as he waited impatiently to get out of school and beyond his father’s farm and reach. . .
The sudden halt of The General abruptly snaps me out of the past and back into reality to find us to be stopped at the red octagon stop sign that stands only a few miles from the farm. Sitting up in my seat, I steal a glance into my rear view mirror and a small smile forms upon my face at the sight of Shawn’s car coming to a halt behind us. Despite the sight of the tinted windows and the fresh memory of Shawn standing in front of me, disbelief thickly builds within me, disbelief that my best friend from school has returned to Hazzard after twelve years of not a word. As The General swiftly lurches forward, I silently glance over at Bo who sits tensely behind the wheel, the look of anger and determination spread across his face while his thin chest heaves in and out. Heaves in and out in his struggle for air. Something I have always taken for granted.
“What had gotten into you, back there?” I abruptly snap to interrupt the thick silence that had built once we had left after the accident, shoving my worry of his asthma aside as anger takes over. “You think Shawn would run into us on purpose or what?”
He eyes me with tired angry eyes for a long moment before his attention goes back to the road. “I wouldn’t put it past him,” he slowly respond before coughing harshly for a short moment before his breathing resides back into wheezing, “as for what has gotten into me, nothing has gotten into me. Look what he done to The General!”
“And he said he would fix it!” I yell back at him, “Look, I remember from before that you didn’t care too much for Shawn. Fine, that is of your own opinion. But he’s my friend and you will respect him! You understand?”
For a long moment he goes silent as he slowly turns the wheel to lead The General down into our drive way before pulling it to a halt and throwing it in park besides Jesse’s old truck. Looking over at me, he says, “He respects me,” he huffs forcefully as he opens his car window and rain washes in on him, “and I’ll respect him.”
I shake my head in disgust at him as I roll down my window as Shawn pulls up to a halt besides me and slowly opens the door after placing his car into park. “Damn the rain is cold,” he mutters as he watches me climbing out of the car, “wouldn’t it be easier to open the door?”
I shrug as I attempt to shove my anger towards Bo aside before saying, “Yeah, I ‘spose it would be, if they did open. Their welded shut.”
“Ah …let me guess. Like a race car,” he grins at me as we join Bo at the steps of the porch, “I saw y’all heading out of town as I was heading into town and instantly realized the car must be unique. I mean, orange? Whose idea was it anyway?”
With that, Shawn eyes Bo suspiciously who eyes Shawn with fire of anger in his eyes and for a moment, I begin to think Bo is about to attack Shawn. “It was the only color Cooter had enough of in the garage when we built him,” I quickly intervene, vividly recalling how much conflict had erupted between the two of them before Shawn had left. “And yeah, a lot of the ideas in that there car was Bo’s idea. Something wrong with it, Shawn?”
He slowly shakes his head while throwing his hands up in a surrendering motion before a nervous smile crosses his face and he moves towards Bo to place a hand upon Bo’s shoulder. Bo instantly shoves the hand away before turning his back to Shawn and walks to the door. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. I was just stating how unique it is from any other car I’ve seen. It’s great to be unique,” Shawn states as Bo opens the screen door and then shoves open the wooden door to step inside, “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Yeah well…may I suggest something to you?” I ask, holding Shawn outside for a moment, “I wouldn’t say anything else negative about The General if I were you, Bo will take it personally. Especially it coming from you…never understood his distaste about you. Nonetheless, please give him space.”
Once again, he puts his hands up in surrender. “OK, no more comments about The General. It has a name? Never mind…your point taken,” he responds as a confident smile spreads across his face. I nod and we walk to the door and as we get to the open door, Shawn states, “I see you’re just as protective of him as you were twelve years ago.”
I shrug silently at him as I hear Jamie excitedly yelling, “Uncle Bo!” from somewhere within the kitchen or the living room. Looking back at Shawn, I state, “I have my reasons. Now let’s get out of the rain.”
He nods for a short moment as I step into the kitchen. “Uncle Bo?” he questions quietly into my ear as he comes to a halt at the entry way.
“Yeah, Uncle Bo,” I sigh heavily before motioning him in, “come on in and I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
He silently nods as he follows me into the empty kitchen before closing the door behind him and wiping his feet off on the thin rug that lies by the door. Once in, he quietly follows me into the living room where Bo stands on the opposite end with Jamie hugging onto his leg while Kristy and Garrett sit in front of the TV with Shay sitting in between them. Jesse and Daisy sit on the couch watching Shay stack the blocks before he purposely knocks them over to begin laughing and clapping his hands at his achievements. After a silent moment of standing in the door way, Garrett slowly looks up and eyes us coldly to grab Daisy’s attention and a look of anger crosses her face before excitement settles in. “Please tell me I am seeing correctly,” she states as she stands up to walk past Jesse, “Shawn Graham! When you get into town?”
“Earlier this afternoon. I stopped by Cooter’s to fill the ol’ gas tank first,” Shawn says as Jesse quickly stands up to join us at the entry way and out of the corner of my eye, I see Bo gently tearing Jamie from his pants and disappearing down the small hallway that leads to our room, “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I don’t want -”
“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re welcome here anytime, Shawn!” Daisy smile as she hugs Shawn, “I’d have chili made and ready by now if the boys weren’t so late delivering my groceries,” with this she stops to eye me angrily, “but if you can wait, you can even join us for dinner.”
“Luke here was saying how good your chili is…so I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. Thanks Daisy,” he grins before turning to Jesse, “Hey Uncle Jesse.”
“I ain’t your Uncle Jesse!” Jesse says half playfully before putting a caring hand upon his shoulder, “How’ve you been? You don’t look much different than you did the last time I seen you.”
“Thanks for the compliment. I may not look any different, but I feel ages older,” he smiles, “I’ve been fine. Had enough time off of work, so I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane. So here I am.”
I pat him on the back with pride and excitement as my thoughts slowly falter back to the past we had shared together. “Well, I think I can speak for most of us, by saying we’re glad to see you,” I pause as I glance down at Shay as he knocks his newly built tower down and laughs again. “As for that introduction, I had promised you,” I turn back to Shawn before turning to Kristy and pointing to her, “That there is Kristy Duke. Bo’s older half sister. That is her one year old son, Shayne Michael. Shay for short. And that there,” I point to Jamie who sits dejected on the couch, “is her four year old daughter, Jamie.” Silence builds for a short moment as I turn my attention to Garrett who attempts to ignore us by helping Shay stack the wooden blocks. “And the man building with Shay, is Garrett Duke. Bo’s twin brother.” I pause once again, this time turning to Shawn, “Everyone, this is Shawn Graham. He was my best friend back in high school. That is before he thought he was too good for us and moved to Atlanta. The big city.”
Shawn elbows me playfully. “Too big for you…who left Hazzard a month after I did?” he asks before going quiet and I glance over at him to find him eyeing Garrett while Garrett slowly catches Shawn eyeing him to stare angrily back at him with intense cold gray eyes. Turning away from Garrett, Shawn asks, “He’s Bo’s twin?”
I silently nod, feeling odd and out of place with everyone watching us. “Yeah, Bo’s twin. They moved to Hazzard six months ago after living in Knoxville, Tennessee. Kristy is Hogg’s secretary and Garrett has found himself a job driving a semi for Hogg. So, I guess they will be staying around for a while.”
“Sadly,” Garrett says under his breath and Kristy nudges him to give him a dirty look.
“Don’t mind him any,” Kristy smiles friendly as she stands up to move slowly around Shay’s tower to walk over to Daisy, “he’s not too big on living in the country. He’d rather be back in his big city of Knoxville. Sooner or later he will grow to like Hazzard…or should I say, sooner or later he will grow to show he likes Hazzard instead of hiding the fact.”
“You’ve been hanging around Hogg too much,” Garrett throws back at to Kristy, half serious and half joking, “you don’t know your lies from your truths…there’s nothing to like about Hazzard. Unless you like be bored to death.”
“He’s kinda grouchy, too,” Kristy adds before following Daisy into the kitchen to get things ready to start making her chili.
For a long moment silence builds within the living room as everyone seems to eye Shawn and I curiously before Shay’s laughing breaks the silence and gathers everyone’s attention back upon him. His green-blue eyes bright up with innocent pride as he eyes his fallen tower before he falls back upon his knees to grab a green wooden block to begin rebuilding his tower again. “Hey Luke,” Jesse’s worried voice catches my attention and as I glance up, I am startled to find him standing a foot ahead of me. His crystal blue eyes sparkle deeply in worry and concern as he eyes me for a long moment and then glances questionably over at Shawn who quietly watches the scene ahead of him.
“Uh, yeah,” I slowly respond to Jesse as dread of his concern quickly builds within me, the same dread I had felt as in the past when Jesse would speak my name after I had knowingly done something wrong. Turning back to Shawn, I place a hand upon his shoulder to grab his attention before saying, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to help Jesse grab the groceries from the car.”
Shawn slowly nods at me, before asking, “You want any help?”
I shake my head no at him before slowly turning around and walking into the kitchen with Jesse close behind me, his worry and concern readable through his tense body. Worry and concern no doubt based on Bo and how upset he had been when he had walked through the house on his way to our room once he had entered the house. Taking a deep breath, I attempt to ignore his concern and worry and to shove Bo’s anger aside as I walk through the kitchen before shoving the screen door open. Walking out onto the front porch, I am surprised to see that the rain has slowed to a drizzle while a hint of sun shines through the gray clouds that remain spread across the afternoon sky.
“Luke,” Jesse slowly states after closing the wooden and screen door shut behind him to stop me at the stairs of the porch. Leaning against the wooden post and railing, I slowly turn around to find him a foot away from me, eyeing me with wise old eyes demanding answers. “What’s going on?”
I slowly shrug as I think through my answers while remembering how much Bo and Shawn had despised each other before Shawn had left. Of how protective Jesse was and is of Bo. Always seeming to listen and to side with Bo over any dispute that had arisen between the two. “Shawn has returned home for a visit. Just as he said,” I finally respond, knowing Jesse won’t take that for an answer.
He silently nods for a long moment. “So Shawn has said,” Jesse finally replies as he takes a few steps to wooden post and railing that stands a few feet away on the other side of the stairs, “but that’s not what I am asking and I know you know what I mean. I don’t want to play games here, Luke.”
“Yes sir,” I slowly reply as I watch the drizzle slowly falling down beyond the roof of the porch for a long moment before looking back at Jesse who remains watching me. “Shawn had accidentally ran into us as we were going home and he was on his way out to the farm to see us. Shawn didn’t see us and ran the stop sign to hit The General in the bumper. On accident. Bo’s upset about it…either at the accident or to see Shawn back in Hazzard. You’ll have to ask him.”
Jesse nods while eyeing me before his attention goes out to The General that is parked a few feet away, silently thinking of what I had just said. “Them two never got along in the first place,” Jesse finally states as he takes a couple of steps forward to walk down the steps and out onto the drive way.
“Nor will they ever by the look of things. Bo just needs to give Shawn a chance,” I slowly add as I follow Jesse down onto the driveway and around to the bumper where Jesse bends over to look at the damage Shawn had did. For the first time, I get to see the damage the accident had induced upon The General’s bumper, the thick dent and the torn off paint to ignite my own anger. Ignite my anger until my thoughts fall upon Shawn to instill understanding upon the accident. “Bo never gave Shawn a chance. Never liked him, so how is Shawn suppose to like someone who don’t like him?”
Jesse eyes me sternly for a brief moment before he motions towards the trunk and I slowly yank a set of keys out of my pocket to open the trunk. “How you so sure it’s not the other way around?” Jesse finally asks as he bends in and grabs a paper bag and I follow suit to grab the last two bags.
I shake my head at him as I shut the trunk while Jesse remains standing still, demanding an answer for his question. “Bo didn’t like Shawn from day one, Jesse. Always complaining about him, telling lies about him,” I finally respond as anger registers within me towards Jesse questioning Shawn and not Bo. “He was too jealous of Shawn to like him, too jealous to give him any respect.”
“Jealous?” Jesse questions while giving me a disbelieving look.
“Yeah, jealous. Jealous of Shawn because I chose to spend time with him and not Bo. The times we had invited Bo, Bo spent the whole time arguing and fighting with Shawn, spent the time crying or complaining about something. He went out of his way to make sure we weren’t having fun,” I firmly state before walking around Jesse. Turning back to Jesse, I state, “I don’t care how Bo feels about Shawn, if he don’t like him, that is his problem, but he better keep it his problem. He will show Shawn respect, unlike he done today. He’s not going to ruin Shawn’s visit…for Shawn or for me.”
“You threatening him, now Luke?” Jesse asks and as I turn around to face him, I see anger beginning to flair in his eyes, “Because I am not going to have the two of you fighting over Shawn’s visit, either. He will show you and Shawn respect and you both will respect him and what he wants. It works both ways, Luke.”
I nod. “It’s not us you need to worry about, Jesse,” I state before turning around to walk back to the porch.
Walking into the kitchen, Daisy smiles at me broadly as she walks over from the far counter to me before grabbing my bag. “Thanks. We’ll need them to cook anything,” Daisy finally says, her smile slowly falling from her face as she notices my serious look. “Anything wrong?”
Returning her smile, I reply, “Nope. All is fine.” I nod at her before walking past her and into the living room where I find Shawn sitting on the couch, quietly watching Shay rebuilding his tower once again. “You’ll be here forever, Shawn, if you keep sitting here watching him. The kid’s obsessed with building towers and knocking them down.”
“Nah, just waiting on you,” Shawn offers me a smile as Jesse slowly walks past behind us before walking down the small hall way that leads to Bo’s and my room, on his way to see Bo. “Hey, I talked to Cooter,” he says to redraw my attention back onto him, “and we were thinking of hanging out tonight at The Boar’s Nest. Just the three of us.”
“You know you can count me in,” I smile back at him before tapping him on the knee, “sounds like fun…like the old days.”
Shawn nods. “Just like the old days,” he echoes with a smile wrote across his face before standing up and I slowly do the same, “Hey,” he goes quiet again as Shay laughs loudly as he points to Garrett at the mess of blocks he had knocked down. When Shay goes quiet again, Shawn says, “How about we go for a ride while we wait for the chili? I have only been to the garage and here, so it’d be nice to have a look around.”
“It’d be something to do,” I nod as I motion to the door.
“You think Bo would mind if we take The General?” he asks as we walk through the kitchen and both Kristy and Daisy eyes us while we walk to the door.
Walking back out onto the porch and closing the doors behind us, I turn to Shawn to slowly reply, “Well if he does, that’ll be his problem. It’s half my car as well, so he only has half the say.”
***UNCLE JESSE***
Luke eyes me angrily for a short moment before he stiffly nods an answer at me while a low roll of thunder echoes across the lightening gray sky. “It’s not us you need to worry about, Jesse,” Luke firmly states after a moment, eyeing me sternly before turning around to begin to walk back to the front porch. Feeling the icy sharp droplets of rain slowly landing upon me to roll down my face, I blankly watch Luke climbing the few stairs up to the porch before angrily opening the front door and walking in, to slam the door shut behind him. His words spoken of anger slowly and repeatedly echoes in my mind as I attempt to distinguish the true meaning behind his statement, of who and what I need to worry about. Only to remind me of the past and of how Bo and Shawn never had gotten along for one reason or another to make me wonder if Luke did have a point about Bo being jealous of Shawn.
Taking another look upon the dented bumper of The General, questions slowly unravel within me of Shawn and Bo, the past and the future. Questions of what Shawn’s visit will produce upon our family, of Hazzard, and if there will be peace at the farm if Shawn stays at the farm between him and Bo. Taking a deep breath, I slowly walk to the front porch and back into the warm kitchen where I find Daisy and Kristy unloading the bags that Luke had brought in a moment or two before me. “Ah there’s the missing bag,” Daisy grins at me as she takes the bag from me, her grin shrinking as she eyes me. “What’s wrong, Jesse?”
I shake my head at her. “I don’t know. Nothing,” I slowly say as I force a smile at her as I pat her on the back, “I’m going to go check on Bo.”
She nods before turning back to Kristy who says something from behind her and I slowly walk past them to find Luke and Shawn sitting on the couch, talking while watching Shay building his tower. I watch momentarily before continuing my way to the far back short hall way where I find the white painted door tightly shut. Slightly knocking on the door, I say, “Can I come in, Bo?”
I am momentarily met with an air of silence and as I begin to wonder if he had fallen asleep, Bo finally responds, “OK.”
Opening the door, I walk in to find him sitting on his bed with a car magazine lying open in front of him and he attempts to pretend to read it while I slowly shut the door. Turning back around to face him, my heart abruptly grows saddened at hearing his loud wheezy breathing and at the sight of his thin chest heaving heavily in and out. Heaving in and out in his intense struggle to breathe due to his asthma, either to an attack he already has and is still feeling the pressure or an attack that is working it’s way to him. “You’ve had an attack today,” I slowly state, deciding that the emotions triggered by the accident and at seeing Shawn back in town to be of the culprit.
He slowly looks up at me to eye me with tired and pain-filled eyes for a long silent moment before shrugging at me before he looks back down at his magazine to close it. Looking back up at me, he slowly and wheezily responds, “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You guess so?” I sternly ask as I walk over to sit down upon the edge of Luke’s bed a foot and a half away from him, “There’s no guess so about it, you did and by the sounds of your wheezing, it was a pretty bad one. You want to explain why?”
“I don’t -“ he slowly begins to say before abruptly going quiet and looking away from me before continuing, “I got upset over Shawn hitting us.” He looks back at me after explaining the truth and I am reminded of Luke telling me it was Bo I had to worry about respecting them.
“You got that upset at a fender bender?” I ask to instantly regret my words as Bo eyes me with fiery anger in his eyes and his wheezing seems to increase with the anger I had installed within him. “Relax Bo before you throw yourself into another attack. Another attack that may lead you to the emergency room if you don’t stop it,” I eye him sternly and he quickly looks away as the sound of The General being started up grabs his attention and I slowly follow his stare to find Luke climbing into the driver’s seat while Shawn climbs into the passenger window. “Look Bo,” I firmly state as I place a hand upon his knee and he quickly looks back at me, anger and distaste thick in his eyes towards seeing Shawn in The General. “We all know how you didn’t like Shawn before he had left Hazzard all those years ago and I can only imagine the reasons why you didn’t like Shawn. But please respect him while he’s in town. I don’t care if you have to stay as far away from him as possible, but please respect him and Luke.”
He quietly nods at me as Daisy and Kristy laughing from the other room becomes audible in the boys’ room to slightly break the tension between us. “I’ll respect him when he respects me,” Bo finally states as he attempts to hide the pain that his asthma is giving him, “and I’ll be glad to stay as far away from him as I can.”
“I guess that is all I can ask for,” I force a smile at him while I sadly watch him struggling painfully for air. “You use your emergency inhaler?” I finally ask, no longer to keep my concern at bay from him.
“Yes sir,” he slowly responds as his eyes drop back down to his closed magazine.
“Maybe we should call and make another appointment with Doctor Applebee in the -“
”No!” he abruptly yells, looking alertly up at me before he is thrown into a harsh coughing fit for a short moment before his coughing resides back down into his heavy wheezy breathing. “I’ll be fine,” he slowly and unsurely states.
I watch him for another moment, taking in the emotions that clouds his baby blue eyes as he nervously eyes me before looking away. “Well, OK,” I unsurely respond the answer he is hoping to hear in hopes to calm his emotions. Patting him on the knee, I slowly state while standing up, “I am here if you want to talk about anything. Just as always, you know that right?”
“Uh, yes sir,” he slowly responds, looking up at me.
“OK. Daisy and Kristy are making chili,” I slowly respond as I walk back to his closed door, “it smells good, so you don’t want to miss it.”
“OK,” he shrugs at the bed before he goes back to opening the front cover of his magazine while I open the door and as I walk out, I am hit with the strong smell of Daisy’s good chili. I force a smile on my face as I close the door and walk back out into the living room to find Jamie sitting down with Shay, helping him to build his tower.
“Uncle Jesse!” she grins as she jumps up and runs to me, “Where’s Uncle Bo?”
“In his room,” I slowly state as Daisy eyes me from the entry to the kitchen, “he wants to be left alone…he’s kinda tired. I bet hungry too. He might be ready to play with you after supper is done and he gets some warm food in him.”
“Ok,” she smiles as she wiggles down and she runs over to knock Shay’s building down and he giggles in enjoyment. I watch momentarily before walking behind the couch once more and back into the kitchen where both women look at me questionably.
“Where Luke and Shawn go?” I question as I walk to the sink to look out the window that hangs above the sink.
“I overheard Shawn wanting a ride while he waited,” Daisy slowly states, “in The General. So Luke took him for a ride.” She goes silent as she looks up from her pan of chili with worry in her eyes. “How’s Bo?”
“He claims he’ll be fine, but he had an attack. A pretty bad one by the sound of his breathing,” I slowly state, falling silent as I watch the reddish orange car come into sight a mile down the road, on their way home, “If he don’t sound any better by morning, I’m calling Doctor Applebee; even if we have to trick Bo into going and seeing the doctor.”
The kitchen is instantly struck with silence as I have seemed to install worry within both women who work upon our supper while The General grows closer upon the dirt road. Watching the beloved stock car, questions once more explode within me to reinforce worry and fear within me of what the unknown future will hold upon my family.