by: Marty Chrisman

  Bo sat by Luke’s side talking to him, just like he’d been doing for the past two hours. “Come on, Luke…” Bo said, trying to coax him into opening his eyes. He could sense that Luke was right on the verge of waking up from the coma, all it would take was a nudge in the right direction. “Unless you wanna keep listening to me, you better wake up. Cause ya know I can go right on talking all day….”

Luke tried to open his eyes but it felt like his eyelids were glued shut, he just couldn’t get them open. If he could, he would have just to get Bo to shut up. It was giving him a worse headache than he already had.

            Bo had seen Luke’s eyelids flutter a couple of times but he still wouldn’t open his eyes. So Bo kept talking. Then he saw Luke’s eyes open, not much, just a crack but he was tryng. “Come on, Luke” he coaxed “You can do it….open your eyes, cuz.”

Continue reading →

by: Marty Chrisman

Doctor Malone finished his examination and looked at the anxious faces of the other members of the Duke family. He smiled encouragingly and said, “It does look like Luke is trying to come out of the coma. But it could take a few days yet, maybe longer.”

“Oh, thank god!” Daisy said, burying her face against her Uncle’s shoulder and beginning to cry softly. Jesse smiled through his own tears and tightened his arm around his niece’s shoulder comfortingly. Bo grinned broadly. The doctor didn’t need to tell him something that he already knew.

“He’s still in a lot of pain.” Bo told the doctor “You gotta give him something for it. I ain’t gonna have him suffering.”

Continue reading →

by: Kim

Over the next few days, Bo continued to believe that Luke set the fire and became angry with his cousin for almost killing him. Bo began to believe the rumors about his cousin starting the fire when they found out that Luke was in the state prison. One student came up to Bo and said,” Bo, ain’t it true that your cousin set the fire because he wanted to get rid of you.” Another student said to Bo,” You know Luke deserves to be in jail.” Luke called from the jail to talk with his family, especially to his cousin Bo. Everyone was happy to hear from him except for Bo. Daisy asked,” How is it going, Luke. Luke answered,” I am okay, Daisy.” Daisy said,” We are all trying to get your case to trial to prove that you are innocent.” ” We will help you all the way and Uncle Jesse wants to talk to you.” Daisy handed Jesse the phone and he said, “Luke how are you doing?” Luke replied,” I am doing okay, Uncle Jesse. How is everyone there at the farm?” Jesse answered,” We are doing fine.” Luke asked,” Is Bo there, I would like to talk to him.” Jesse started to feel unsure on how to tell Luke about his cousin’s attitude towards him. Then he said,” Luke, Bo is in his room and he had said as he left the family room that he does not want to talk to you. He believes that you had started the fire and I know in your heart that you would never do it. So don’t be sad about it, give him some time to heal.” Luke replied,” I understand, Uncle Jesse. I have to go and I will call as soon as I can. Bye Uncle Jesse and give my love to Daisy and Bo.” Luke found out that in three weeks would be his trial to prove he didn’t burn down the barn.

It was a couple of weeks before Luke’s birthday that the family decided they were going to the prison to visit Luke and celebrate his birthday. Bo had gotten Luke’s present a couple of months earlier since he wanted to make a special present to give him and he had hidden the present so Luke wouldn’t find it. It was a picture of Luke with his parents at a young age. Bo had the picture reproduced because he had accidentally ripped the picture several months earlier. Bo had said, ” What you looking at Luke.” Bo grabbed the picture and he accidentally ripped the picture in half. Luke yelled at Bo,” Why did you ripped the picture that I was looking at. You grabbed it out of my hands, causing it to rip it and that was my only copy of the picture.” Bo said, “I’m sorry.” This gave Bo the idea for Luke’s present so he went to the photo store and asked the owner if he could get another print. The owner of the store said,” Yes and it would cost about ten dollars.” So Bo paid for the photo to be reprinted and brought a frame to put it in. When Jesse wanted to visit Luke, he went to ask Bo if he wanted to go, but when Jesse went to the boys’ room Bo had gone to his secret place to spend some time away from the family. This would make Jesse angry that Bo refused to go see his cousin and he would have to tell Luke that his cousin wasn’t home when he asked him if he wanted to go. Luke looked upset every time Jesse came to visit and he expected Bo to be there with him. This caused Luke to believe that his cousin didn’t care or loved him anymore. Luke began to believe that he had started the fire when he stomped out his cigarette and thought it was out. He also hoped to make his cousin believe that he would never hurt him on purpose.

When Luke’s birthday came, Jesse wanted the family to go visit Luke and to celebrate his birthday with him. Daisy came out of her room with her present for Luke and asked, “Uncle Jesse, is Bo getting ready to go celebrate Luke’s birthday.” Jesse replied,” I will go ask if he is ready to go.” Jesse went to the boy’s room and knock on the door. When Jesse did not get a reply, he opened the door and said, “Bo are you ready to go visit Luke.” He saw that the room was empty and this made Jesse mad. He thought to himself.” Why would Bo leave the house without telling me? I can’t believe that he would leave and not care at all about his cousin. Does he not care enough to show up to the prison to celebrate his cousin’s birthday.” Jesse walked back out the family room saying,” Daisy it looks like Bo ran off again and I don’t know where he is and we only have a few hours to visit Luke, so it looks like its just the two of us.” Then Cooter drove up to the farmhouse just as Jesse and Daisy were getting into the truck. Cooter said, ” Ready to go visit Luke to celebrate his birthday. Where is Bo? Uncle Jesse.” Jesse replied,” I think he went to the same place that he has been going to and I am not sure where it is.” Cooter asked,” Do you want me to go find him and get him to reason about missing out on visiting his cousin.” Jesse said,” I would really like it if you could and help explain to Bo that it is not Luke’s fault.”

Cooter left and looked at several places that the boys went to hide out at and he went to the third still site and as he pulled up he thought he saw Bo in the window of the building. Cooter got out of the truck and ran to the door of the building. He opened the door and he saw Bo sitting on the bed with a magazine. Bo had been so busy reading the magazine that he did not notice Cooter coming into the building. Cooter walked up to the bed and put a hand on Bo’s shoulder and asked him,” Bo, why are you not going to see your cousin today.” Bo didn’t answer at first and Cooter sat down on the bed and asked again, “Bo, why don’t you want to see Luke today. Bo replied, ” I hate him because he started the fire and did this to me.” He pointed to his hands and face. “He lied to me and maybe that is why he did not visit me in the hospital. I look so ugly and the kids make fun of me and say Luke belongs in jail.”

Cooter replied,” Bo, your cousin would never hurt you and he was not even near the barn at the time the fire occurred. How could you be so mean towards Luke? It’s his birthday and you are telling me that you don’t care one way or another about your cousin to celebrate it with him. When Bo heard Cooter speak about Luke’s birthday, he begins to cry and said,” I can’t believe I had forgotten all about his birthday. I can’t believe that I would forget his birthday because I didn’t realize that today was the fourteenth of March. Cooter can we go by the farm and pick up the present I got for Luke.” Cooter replied,” Sure buddyro, we can do that and go visit that cousin of yours.” He gives Bo a hug and let Bo cry on his shoulder for a few minutes. Then they both left the building and drove over to the farm to get the present.

When Jesse and Daisy arrived at the prison, it was visitor’s day for all the inmates, They sat all the food, cake and presents on the table and waited for Luke to come out with all the other prisoners to visit with their families. When Luke came out to greet his family, he noticed that Bo wasn’t there and Luke thought that Bo didn’t care enough to be there for him to celebrate his birthday. Luke put that thought aside and went to hug Jesse and Daisy. Daisy and Jesse say,” Happy birthday Luke.” Luke gave both of them a hug and he asked,” Where’s Bo, Uncle Jesse?” Jesse replied, “He ran off again and I don’t know where he went to, but Cooter says he would go look for him.” This made Luke sad that his cousin didn’t want to see him and he also thought that deep down that Bo hated him that he thought he had purposely starting the fire. As Jesse began to get out the cups, plates, and silverware that he noticed Cooter coming up to the table. Cooter says, “Hi.” Luke replied, ” Hey Cooter, it’s been a while since I seen you.” Jesse then walks over to Cooter to ask if he found Bo and Cooter replied, ” No, Jesse.” and he wrinked his left eye telling Jesse that he did and Jesse figured that it was a surprise.” Jesse says,” Okay Cooter you tried.” Then everyone sat at the table and Bo started walking out towards his family and he walks up behind Luke. He puts his arms around Luke to give him a hug. Luke felt someone come up to him and put his arms around him and he notices a present in the person’s bandaged hands and realizes it was Bo. Bo whispers into Luke’s ear,” Happy birthday, cousin.”

by: Kim

A week later, Bo’s burns began to heal, so he was ready to come home, but he would need plastic surgery to remove the area of skin that was burned by the fire. Luke kept his promise to his uncle that he would visit and help take care of Bo once he came home. When Bo came home from the hospital, Luke helped his cousin while he healed. One day when Bo was getting ready for school, he was having a hard time gripping the buttons on his shirt. Every time he had the button almost in the hole, it would slip out of his hands because he could not grip them very well.

After several times, he was about to give up when Luke came in to see what was taking his cousin so long to get ready because they were going to miss the bus. Luke said,” Bo, do you need some help with your shirt.” Bo replied,” Yes, Luke can you help me, please.” Luke went over to where Bo was sitting on his bed and finished buttoning his shirt and Luke told him, “Let’s go Bo.”

When they arrived at school, Luke told Bo that he had to go to class and he will be there to eat lunch with him. Bo said,” Okay Luke I will see you later at lunchtime.” After Luke left, some of the students knew the situation of Bo’s accident, but had often tease him for several years, began to tease him again.

Several students came up to Bo and said,” Hey Bo, with your looks you can star in a freak show. Bo, you know that Halloween has been over for three months, you can take off your mask now.” That is when one student started to grab at Bo’s face where it had been burned, it caused Bo to scream while another student push him down onto the ground and it forced him to fall down with his hands hitting the ground hard. Then Bo managed to get up and ran to his first class. This continued through out the day till lunchtime. When Bo met his cousin at lunchtime, he noticed that Luke was very quiet and he noticed some bruising on his left cheek. He asked, “Luke, what happen to your face?” At the same time he was asking the question, he moved his hand up to his cousin’s face and Luke suddenly slapped his hand very hard. Bo cried, ” Ouch, Luke that hurt.”

Then Luke realized what he had done and said, “I’m so sorry Bo, please forgive me, I did not mean to have slapped your hand, it’s just that you spooked me that’s all” Then Bo says to Luke, “I know Luke, don’t worry I still love you and forgive you.” Luke said,” I had a run in with a couple of guys and I don’t want to talk about it Bo.” Bo said, “Okay.” Luke didn’t want to tell Bo the truth that their uncle had slapped him. Luke asked,” How was your day so far, Bo?” Bo didn’t answer at first, but he finally said,” The kids here are making fun of me because they say I am a freak and to take off my Halloween mask.” Luke just put his arms around him to give him a brotherly hug and said,” Don’t worry about them and I am here to listen when you want to talk more.” Bo just put his head on Luke’s shoulder and began to cry. He whispered into his cousin’s ear,” Please don’t tell Uncle Jesse about what happen.” Luke answered Bo,” I promise I ain’t going to tell him anything.”

The state police had drove up to the Duke farm to investigate the ruins of the barn. The police came up to knock on the door of the farmhouse and Jesse answered the door. He asked, “How can I help you sir.”

One of the policemen answered,” We believe that this barn fire could had been done on purpose and since your nephew almost died, it is our responsibility to find out what happen. Can we take a look at the site and so we can find any evidence for this case.” Jesse said, “Sure, I would really would like to find out what had happen to cause the barn to burn down.”

The police went to do their investigation of the barn site and after a couple of hours, they came back to talk with Jesse. One of the policemen knocks on the door again. When Jesse answered the door, one of the men asked,” We believe that we have found something that could have caused the fire in the barn. He brought the bag from behind his back and pulled out a burnt lighter. He asked, “Does this belong to anyone in your family.” Jesse answered,” Yes, it belongs to my other nephew, Luke. I recognized it because I can see some of the design where his initials are on the one side of the lighter”. The policeman said,” We need to talk to Luke about this matter and if he had caused the fire, then we have to arrest him and take him to the state prison in Atlanta.” What everyone did not know that the real cause of the fire was the gas can that was hidden in a pile of burn wood which the police didn’t go through to make sure that they investigated the whole site. One of the policemen asked Jesse,” When do you expect him to be home.” Jesse answered,” At about three this afternoon after they come home from school.” The policeman said,” Okay, we will be back at four this afternoon since its only eleven in the morning and it will give you time to talk with your nephew. Please talk to your nephew about this situation. After the state police left the farm, Jesse began to wonder if this is the truth, then why did he lie to me and say he did not burn the barn that had nearly killed his cousin.

When the boys came home, Jesse asked Luke if he could talk to him. Luke said,” Sure, Uncle Jesse, what is it?” Jesse answered, “Luke, the state police were here this morning and are coming back in one hour. The had said they found some evidence that maybe the cause of the barn fire.” Luke asked, ” What did they find in the barn ruins.” Jesse replied,” They found your lighter.” Luke paled when he heard Jesse say it was his lighter. Luke replied,” I had some of my things in a box in the barn, but you know that I would never burn down the barn.” Jesse answered,” Well, Luke, Daisy had found your cigarettes in your room by accident. Why do I find it hard to believe that you didn’t cause the fire.” Luke became upset by his uncle’s remark,” You know I would never do anything to cause harm to Bo or anyone here. You know that I had gone into town to get the supplies and Cooter told me on the way back what had happened. Why don’t you believe me, Uncle Jesse.” Jesse said,” Luke I like to believe you, but with what happen to your cousin, I am not sure what to believe.” Then a car pulled up to the farm and Jesse and Luke saw it was the state police.” One of the men got out of the car to ask if he was Luke. Luke answered,” Yes,” Then he said,” I have talked to your uncle about the situation of the barn burning earlier today and I am sorry to say that you will be charged with the crime from the evidence we had found and you need to come with me to the state prison.” He grabs his handcuffs and tells Luke to place his hands on his head. Luke does what he is told and the policeman grabs one of his hands behind his back to put on the handcuffs and does the same with the other hand. Once he has Luke’s hands secured, he opens the back car door and tells Luke to get inside and drove away from the farm.

Bo came out of his room to see who had driven up to the house and he saw the state police handcuffing Luke and placing him in the car and heard the conversation between his uncle and Luke. Bo asked. ” Why are they doing it, Uncle Jesse?” Jesse replied,” Bo, I am sorry you had to see this, but the state police are here to arrest your cousin.” Bo became upset when he asked his uncle.” What for?” Jesse answered, ” He is charged with burning down the barn because they found his lighter in the ruins of the barn. I am so sorry, Bo.”

When Bo heard that his cousin was going to jail, he ran back into the house to his room and lied down on his bed with his head faced down into the pillow. He began to cry because he realized that his cousin may have had started the fire that almost killed him. When his uncle knock on the boys’ bedroom door, he didn’t get a reply so he quietly opened the door and saw that Bo had cried him self to sleep. Jesse saw Bo lying on his bed facing the door, he could see the dried tears on Bo cheeks. Jesse began to wonder how the family is going to survive and how will Luke fight for his freedom for a crime he may not have committed. He slowly left the room and closed the door. When Daisy came home from work, Jesse told her what had happen and why Luke was in jail. She said, ” We have to fight for his freedom because he didn’t or could have ever burn down the barn especially when Bo was in the hayloft. ” Jesse answered, ” I know baby, I know and we need to stick together to bring Luke home. But I feel that Bo believes that Luke did it, since he heard me talk to Luke about you finding his cigarettes and we need to prove to Bo that his cousin would never harm him. Let’s go to bed now Daisy.” Then they both went to get ready for bed.

by: Marty Chrisman

Pain. That was the first thing he was aware of as his mind slowly fought it’s way out of the darkness. Unrelentingly pain. And a sense of loss that he couldn’t immediately identify. Bo? Had Bo been here? Somehow, he seemed to remember hearing Bo’s voice and feeling his touch. A touch that somehow reassured him. Bo was alright. He wasn’t dead and he wasn’t here, locked in this hell with no way out. He felt himself slipping back towards the darkness and he let himself fall back into the silence where the pain couldn’t reach him at least for a little while.

            The nurse frowned and reached out to adjust one of the dials on the machine. She wondered what made it jump like that. The patient had been comatose for almost three weeks, ever since being admitted to the unit. He had life threatening injuries that should have killed him and he had already had 4 major surgeries and suffered a stroke.

She let her gaze rest on his face for a moment, so still and immobile. He was a ruggedly handsome man and relatively young. These were the kind of cases she hated the most. To see someone so young in a place like this fighting for their life. From professional experience she knew that even if he survived, he would never be the same man again. His body had simply been through too much trauma and his head injury combined with the stroke almost guaranteed some kind of brain damage.

Continue reading →