by: Kristy Duke
Pain continues to ripple harshly down my aching body as I nervously glance into the rear view mirror to watch thick wicked reddish orange flames clawing desperately at the dark cloudy night sky. My swollen heart sinks deeply within my chest at the sight of my beloved garage being harshly eaten away by the large evil flames and the thick black smoke that swirls up into the dark sky. Once again salty tears sting my blue eyes as I stare momentarily memorized by the horrifying sight of my vulnerable garage being swallowed whole by the dancing flames that brighten up the dark cloudy night. My mind flickers like a burning candle, from one terrifying though to another, the scenes of what had led me to where I sit now plays like a bad horror movie that won’t turn off.
Staring once more into my rear view mirror at the dancing flames that has engulfed my garage I am abruptly awaken to the severity of my troubles once again as the recognizable 2002 black Mustang quickly swings out of a black alley with a squeal of his tires. “Damn it!” I mutter silently to myself as fear swells deeply in my chest at the sight of the tinted windowed sports car begins to follow me. Quickly I press harshly upon the accelerator to send more harsh pain rushing through my throbbing body only to find the sports car to be quick to reach the bumper of my old rusty tow truck without any trouble.
Large droplets of rain begin to splatter upon my dusty windshield as I force my truck upon one of the many dusty dirt roads off of the sole cemented road that leads in and out of town. For the last time before it goes out of sight I glance into my rear view mirror and watch the dark evil flames greedily swallowing my beloved garage with thick black smoke dancing up into the night’s sky. Watching my burning garage leave eye sight behind business buildings and trees, anger, hatred, and fear burns vividly within me as my body continues to throb in unbearable amounts of pain. Glaring ahead at the empty dirt road that is surrounded by farm land, the rain begins to pick up along with the wind as I fight for speed or for knowledge on how to loose the Mustang that rides my bumper.
“Damn it!” I yell out in shock as the sound of metal hitting metal thunders loudly from behind me and my truck is instantly thrown forward. Fear quenches my heart as I force myself to glare into my rear view mirror to find the Mustang on my tail as before, but this time threatening to run into me once more. Bracing myself, I watch as he runs into my bumper and for the first time since he spun out of the dark alley I notice there is only one shadow lying in the car and that lies behind the steering wheel. My heart races in fear at the sight of only of the three brothers in the car behind me as my mind wonders fearfully from thought to thought of where the two other brothers may be waiting for me at. “Damn,” I mutter once again as I come to realize I have no hope of escaping the Mustang, that only holds one of the three large brothers, not alone have a chance escaping from all three brothers.
Off in the distance the piercing sound of sirens begin to wail off and I sigh knowingly it is the fire department fighting to rescue my garage that has already been swallowed by the evil flames. Lightning flashes across the sky as the rain steadily picks up as something thick rolls down my forehead and drips into my right eye and when I rub my eye with the back of my right hand, I find the back of my hand smeared in blood…more blood. More pain streaks harshly down my throbbing body as the black car once again thrashes against the back of my truck and as I glare back into my rear view mirror I find him starting to pass me.
Fear multiplies within me as I search for answers on a way out in knowledge if he gets besides me I am as good as dead. For a long moment I stare at the CB radio in hope of reaching the police or a local friend that would be willing to help me out of the trouble I am in, before I realize that all three brothers have CB radios in their vehicles and one of them is sure to hear me if I dare call in.
I gulp in fear as I glance over in time to find the black muscle car right besides me and as he electronically rolls down his passenger window I recognize him as being Nathaniel, the older and taller of the three brothers. “You better have been sayin’ your prayers grease monkey. . .if not, there is no one to save you now!” his husky voice yells out and for a long moment I take in his dark brown eyes, his light complexion that hides behind his thin beard and mustache. Holding tightly onto the black leather steering wheel and holding down the accelerator I fight for a way to escape, but fail to do so before his black power car harshly thrashes against the side of my truck. I fight for control over my vehicle as the car moves away and before I can gain control the black muscle car smacks harshly against my truck, harshly throwing my truck down the steep weedy rocky ditch. I yell out in pain as my truck rolls roughly down the rocky and weedy ditch, each movement sending harsh chills of pain through out my body.
After a long moment of the long painful ride down the ditch, my truck slowly comes to a complete stop after running into a tree and I am relieved to find my truck standing on all four tires. Abruptly I force myself to look up to find Nathaniel throwing down his CB handle while he jumps out of his car letting out a large rebel call out in his excitement. Quickly, I shove myself across my seat and throw open the passenger door and through out my pain that throbs my body, each moment worsening the pain that flairs within me. Running down the deep rocky ditch through trees and rocks as I hear him behind me running down the hill in hope of tackling me down and giving me another torture beating as they had done before burning down my garage.
“You may run grease monkey, but you’ll never escape!” his laugh echos through the forest as I throw a quick glimpse behind me to find him near my truck. Looking a head as I run a small smile reaches my blood stained face at the sit of a small cliff and I let out a long sigh in fear of not being able to make it.
I yell out in harsh pain and fear as Nathaniel tackles me upon the floor of the weedy ditch that holds large brownish tan rocks and he laughs out loud at my yell of pain. From behind me I feel him harshly punching my back in his hatred and his anger towards me until he abruptly stops to roll me over. Pinning me tightly to the ground he smiles at me through his thin dark brown beard while saying, “Your chances of survival are long over grease monkey…my brothers will be here any minute and we’ll put you out of business just as we done your garage!”
I listen to him laugh greedily as his imagination of torturing me plays vividly in his dark brown eyes and I slowly begin to look around me, of what surrounds the area that I am at in hope of finding a way of gaining back my freedom. A slight twitch of relief fills me as I see a large rock within my right arm’s length and I force myself to look at the broad shoulder man that holds me down tightly. “I’m sorry to disappoint you!” I grunt out as I shove my right hand free of his hold and I quickly grab a hold of the large rock and I harshly pound it against his forehead before he can grab my arm away. He cries out in great pain as I harshly hit him in the head with it a second time and his tight hold of me lightens up. Guilt swells my heart as I hit him a third time, this time drawing blood from his forehead and his body goes limp on top of me. Quickly I roll his body off of me and painfully get on my knees to roll him on his back and for a long moment I check to make sure he is still breathing and still alive. I sigh in relief to find him only to be unconscious as I painfully throw the rock down besides him as I slowly stand up.
Tears of great pain and of fear streak my face as I slowly limp up to his car where I cut off his CB handle and quickly flatten his tires. Fighting back the blackness that has haunted me ever since they had beaten me so badly in the garage, I move as quickly as my throbbing body allows to my truck in hope of hauling me out of here before more trouble arrives. I pray silently to myself as I slowly begin to drive through the dense ditch until the ditch comes to the shoulder of a fenced in cow pasture and I sigh in relief as I force my car back upon the dirt road.
My windshield wipers quickly chase each other back and forth in attempt to fight off the quick down pour of the chilly rain as I fight for speed in my old tow truck. Staring at the dark night ahead of me my anger explodes within me towards the McKleen brothers and all they have done to me as I fight against the blackness the great pain threatens to bring. Never before have I felt this harsh of throbbing pain throughout my whole body nor have I felt this angry at anything or anyone. Clenching tightly onto the steering wheel I glance behind me to make sure there is no one following me and at the same time looking back at the life I have to leave behind in Capital City. I no longer own anything but the truck I drive and the clothes I wear, due to me living and working in the garage, now all burned down and left as dust. Glaring ahead at the rain soaked dirt road I begin to wonder what my new life will hold in Hazzard County in hope that my cousin and his town folk will welcome me as they had done last year, but this time more permanent of a stay. Glaring a head, fighting back tears of pain, fear, and anger, I hope my cousin had gotten the note I sent him the other day, because I am now faced on entering my new life sooner than was expected.
-GARRETT DUKE-
Anger continues to fuel my temper that races wildly within me as my resentment continues to grow within me towards my own father. His words that he had spoken so sincerely at the hospital only hours ago runs repeatedly through my head, his voice quivering with such strong emotions. Emotions he had never shown so freely before. Guilt soars within me for my selfish behavior I had displayed this morning as I had displayed my anger towards my dad for even suggesting that I help my sister down to his small home town, the home town that remains golden in his heart. After all that had happened last night, I should have been more helpful and less selfish as I was; thinking of myself over the safety of my own sister and her children. My guilt quickly resides into intense anger as my thoughts quickly switches from my dad to last night’s events of Trevor attacking Kristy in front of her children.
My heart seems to accelerate with rage at thinking of my niece and nephew having to witness what they had last night due to their own father. Their innocent faces flash behind my eyes, their soft eyes filled with shock and in intense fear, not for themselves, but for their mother; Jamie’s cries of fear towards her father echoes loudly in my ears. “Damn it,” I mutter silently to myself as I notice my knuckles white as snow as I grip tightly onto my black leather steering wheel as my anger grows with in me. Hatred is quick to take my anger as it’s dance partner as last night’s events clearly plays itself in my mind, feeding into my sudden urge to throw something, break something, or to hurt someone out of my anger towards Trevor.
Feeling freedom with the press of the accelerator, I slowly let out the long breath I had been holding in out of my anger as I force myself to fight off the anger that resides heavily within me. Keeping a steady eye on the bumper of Kristy’s big four by four Silverado truck, I slowly reach down where my pack of Marlboro Lights rest in the black leather passenger seat and force out a single white cigarette. As I slowly light the cigarette with my midnight blue lighter, I make a sharp left turn to leave the concrete road and to enter upon a dry dusty dirt road. Driving upon the dirt road my mind slowly relaxes to thinking of what my new life will be like of living in a small country town surrounded by acres of farm land and miles away from a big city. Letting out a large cloud of thin grayish blue smoke, I allow myself to think of the family I never knew I had, especially of my twin brother.
I sigh in disbelief as my dad’s emotional story floats freely in my mind of his past that has him hiding from his own brother, the brother he talks so much of. My mind spins from thought to thought of what my dad had said to the new life that lies only miles ahead of us. I sigh tiredly as I take in a large pasture of horses on the right side of the road while on the left side of the road stands a few large trees before emptying out to hilly grassy land. Watching Kristy with one eye and the empty open land, I continue to wonder what my dad had found so wonderful with Hazzard compared to Knoxville where he seemed to have it made.
Abruptly, my thoughts are interrupted as an red Dodge Viper with thinly tinted windows quickly appears out of nowhere upon an adjoining road to cut sharply in front of Kristy upon our road, barely missing hitting her. Sighing a premature sigh of relief I force myself to glance over at the dirt road to the left that tees off onto our road only for thick fear to take the place of my relief. Fear instantly hits me as a large black Jaguar with thickly tinted windows appears upon the left adjoining road, racing after the small Viper; racing quickly towards Kristy. A sharp shrill of breaks squeal out from under the expensive Jaguar as the driver attempts to avoid hitting Kristy only for it to spin quickly out of control where it skids harshly into the driver’s side of Kristy’s black truck; sending a loud piercing echo off of metal hitting metal.
“Damn it,” I yell out in frustration and fear as I press harshly upon my own breaks to stop a second short of running into Kristy’s bumper. Looking up, fear increases steadily within me as five large muscular men climb out of the interior of the Jaguar, a thick trace of anger and hatred remains etched in their ugly faces.
“Get out of the damn truck!” a tall thin, but muscular, black man yells angrily moving threateningly close to the truck and as the door slowly opens, he bangs upon the door impatiently, “Doesn’t anyone around these parts know how to drive?!”
Quickly I open my own door to jump out for the hot humid summer day to pound forcefully down upon me as the man’s boney hand grabs a tight hold upon Kristy’s bare upper arm before they see who it is. My fear quickly accelerates into anger as the man forces Kristy out of her truck and shoves her harshly into the back door of her four door truck. “It’s a woman,” a tall burly white man states while he places his meaty hand upon his thick reddish brown hair in his disbelief, “no wonder it’s driving so poorly.”
“Let me go!” Kristy struggles against his grip while glancing around the crowd that swarms around her, “It’s not me who doesn’t know how to drive, but you! You are the ones that ran into me. . .so let me go!”
“Feisty too,”a thin muscular man with a dark tan complexion and a buzzed cut to his thin black hair.
Running quickly up to the group of large muscular men I throw my fear aside as I budge in between the large burly man and the thin muscular Mexican to lie my angry hands upon the too large shirt of the tall man that holds a tight hold upon Kristy. “Get the hell away from her!” I yell shoving him upon down upon the dusty dirt road and I give him a couple quick sharp kicks before the large burly man’s meaty sweaty hands grip a tight hold upon my shoulders. I let out a small yell of pain as he thrashes me into Kristy’s truck and he begins to shove his meaty fists into my stomach as he cusses me under his breath.
“Enough!” shouts a thickly southern accented voice and the man slowly stops with the punches to turn around to face another muscular man that had been standing silently in the shadows of the expensive car. His dark black hair is thickly greased back to display his deceptively handsome face as he glares from Kristy to me with his light green eyes that are set a flare with evil. “Let him go.” I sigh in relief as the tall man that looks to be a professional line back slowly complies with the man’s orders.
An thin smaller guy in an expensive tux slowly moves away from the driver’s door to join the man giving orders to slowly whisper in his ear, loud enough for us to hear, “I tried to stop sir.”
“Shut up,” the man who seems to be in charge growls at him before moving in on us to stop a foot a head of Kristy taking her in with his deep green eyes that shine with evil lust. “If you knew what was best for you, you would have known to stopped!”
“What was best for me?” Kristy asks disbelievingly, “You have some nerve running into me and then suggesting that it was me that ran into you! Why don’t you take a look?” Kristy points to the dirt road to the left that they had came from, towards the stop sign, “That there red and white octangular shaped sign there, that reads STOP was for you dear. That sign is an universal sign which means for the traffic heading on that road, in that direction to stop and wait for their turn to go,” anger floats thickly in her voice, “that sign was for you to stop, not me; meaning I had the right away and you didn’t. You may want to reconsider, dear, who is at fault here.”
“And why’s that?” the tall muscular man with a light tan complexion and evil green eyes asks in amusement, “We were on a mission and thanks to you, we have lost it!”
“Why’s that? You men are full of surprises here aren’t you? First you want me to believe that it all is my fault and now you want me to believe that you don’t know why I should think it is not my fault. Perhaps you all were born without a brain in those ugly heads of yours!” Kristy yells to receive several hard looks of anger, “Oh you mean why you should reconsider why you should reconsider who is at fault here? Well let me try to explain in such a way you may just understand. . .I will call the cops and they will come down and they will investigate and at the end, they will conclude that it was at your fault and not mine. In which case, while the cops are down here I will explain that you and your pal there in the red car was doing way over the speed limit. . .hmmm perhaps racing. . .which was why you couldn’t stop to avoid hitting me? In that case, they would find you doubly at fault here than before.”
Silence quickly falls over the five large men as they stare back and forth at one another before staring coldly at Kristy and me, their eyes full of harmful threats. “No need to go to the authorities,” the leader of the pack finally replies taking in the damage upon Kristy’s truck compared to their expensive Jaguar whose passenger side of the car remains harshly scraped and dented, much like Kristy’s driver’s side of her truck, “my driver must not have seen the stop sign there, but now that you so kindly have pointed it out to us, we see it and recognize that we are at fault here.”
“I should say so,” I speak up still holding a tight hold upon my stomach that still screams of pain from the meaty hand of the linebacker.
“With that said,” the leader says giving me a cold glare before looking at Kristy, “we would like to make it right with you. How much do you think it would take to fix the damages upon your truck there?”
Kristy looks at me with unsure eyes before she slowly steps back to take in the damages upon her expensive four by four truck with extended cab and bed. The front left side near the hood is dented and scratched as well as both of the doors with the windows broken in both doors, winding into a spider web, the left side of the windshield spirals into a larger spider web and her front left tire remains as flat as a pancake. I glance over at Kristy who’s whole body seems to tremble with emotion that surges through her at the damage that they had done to her beloved truck before she turns around to glare at them and back to me. “I don’t know,” she finally replies, her voice quivering before looking questionably at me.
“It shouldn’t be too much to fix that all up, should it?” the leader asks, looking at his driver who stares at the damage as if in disbelief that he could do all that with his own car, “I mean all it needs is a new tire, a new paint job, a few windows, and to -”
Abruptly he cuts himself off as a light brown truck slowly comes into sight upon the road we were taking and as it climbs closer we all notice that it is not only a truck, but a tow truck. “He’d know,” I mutter as I watch his truck slowly inching towards us and disappointment rushes through me as he slowly passes us only to come an abrupt stop in front of Kristy’s truck, blocking their Jaguar.
“Damn it,” the leader of the bunch says loudly looking for help from his men as the driver’s door of the tow truck slowly opens and a thin lanky man standing four inches or so shorter than I steps out wearing a red under long sleeved under shirt and a greased stained faded jean overalls. We all seem to grow silent as we watch the thin man walking silently to us taking in the damages upon both of the cars and most likely seeing who exactly was at fault here.
Reaching Kristy the mechanic slowly comes to a stop for me to notice the dark bruises that shine on his right eye and upon his left cheek and I slowly glance over to Kristy who holds dark deep bruises upon her left eye, her chin and upon her right cheek and right temple from Trevor’s attack last night. “I’m LB Davenport,” he finally introduces himself to slowly take off his grease stained dark blue hat to show us his thick reddish brown hair that curls at the ends before replacing his hat, his hair over flows under neath it before he scratches his thin reddish brown beard below his chin, “What’s goin’ on here?”
The leader of the five muscular men just glares at LB as if LB had said some repulsive thing to them to create anger and hatred amongst them. “They was speeding after some hot rod car, I think it was Viper, or some kind of car of the sort,” Kristy finally speaks up, glaring into LB’s bright blue eyes, seeming to get lost in them, “when they ran that there stop sign and skidded into my truck. Now they want me to believe it was my fault instead of theirs!”
“I think we already got that covered darlin’,” the leader grins sarcastically at her, “we already agreed we were at fault here. My driver there didn’t see the stop sign and drove through it and when he pressed on the breaks, we skidded into her.”
“I see,” LB finally says still looking at Kristy before stepping back to re-evaluate the damages done to the vehicles, “well at least y’all got that covered. . .now onto damages. I can tow someone to my cousin’s garage here in Hazzard and call for another one if you both need a tow into a garage. . .this here truck ain’t movin’ no where with a tire that flat.”
“We don’t need no tow!” the leader says impatiently as he runs his hands through his thick black hair, “You’re a mechanic. . .how much do you think her damages will cost?”
“Y’all are still missing the point here. . .due to your racing, she coulda gotten hurt!” I yell besides Kristy, trying to keep myself noticeable.
“No one did,” grunts the linebacker as he steps another step closer to me as if in a threat, “did they?”
“Um perhaps we should call the sheriff,” LB cuts in as he sees or feels the threatening air amongst the large men and I can’t help to feel that they have some sort of weapon amongst them, “he’d be able to straighten all – ”
“No!” the leader yells before recollecting himself, “There is no need to call the police. . .it’d just be a waist of their time and of ours. We are tryin’ to be cooperative here. How much will her damages cost to be fixed?”
LB looks at them as if to ask them if they are serious before glaring Kristy’s truck, taking in her damages, he scrunches up his nose as he fights for an estimate on the price. “I’d say around six hundred dollars,” LB finally says looking back at the five men, the leader glares angrily at him for answering his question as he digs his fists deeper into his pockets of his tight dark jeans, “that is just from the looks of things. A new tire will cost a hundred and fifty or so, the dents would cost another hundred, another paint job would cost probably around fifty or seventy-five dollars. For two smaller sized windows would cost around eighty dollars each while a new windshield will cost her a hundred and fifty or so. Plus if she has any internal damages, that would calculate to even more. So yeah, around six hundred dollars, plus any internal damages to her truck. . . maybe more if my cousin doesn’t have the parts for her truck here in town.”
“Damn! That’s highway robbery!” the leader cusses as he glares over at the tall black man that had pinned Kristy to the truck, “He barely even hit her!”
“Doesn’t seem to be the case, sir,” LB shrugs taking everyone in slowly, “you asked and I just say it how I see it. . .we could always tow her truck in and ask Cooter himself what he thinks? He’d be glad to give you guys an estimate for her truck.”
“We don’t have the time for this crap,” he snaps back at LB as his body guard seems to step in threatenly to LB, as if to expect his estimate to lower with force. Silence begins to add up between us before he turns to the dark tan muscular man who has remained quiet for most of the time before saying, “Get in the car and get out seven hundred dollars and give it to her.”
“But he said only six hundred dollars for the damages,” he argues with a thick Spanish accent.
“Don’t argue with me, just do it!” he yells and the man he stares at jumps before running back to the large Jaguar and opens the back door to send something black to fall out as he leans in to grab the money. Turning back to us, the leader says, “I am sorry for the inconvenience miss. . .I will make sure my driver will pay better attention from now on. . .this sort of thing is un-called for.”
“It sure is,” I spit out at him, “not only does she get her truck damaged due to poor driving, she gets attacked and accused of the whole thing. I think you should be paying her for compensation for all that you forced her to go through!”
I get more hard looks all around as the man with the money slowly returns to hand the money to his leader who slowly approaches Kristy who stiffens up in fear before relaxing. “Here is seven hundred dollars in cash, I hope it is enough for your truck,” he finally says handing her the money before stepping back and turning to his crew of men, “get in the car, we need to go.”
Silently we watch as they all pile into the Jaguar the same as they had exited the car before he starts up the car with powerful purr to slowly back out before driving upon the grass to get around the tow truck. Watching them drive away, I slowly turn to Kristy to ask, “Are you OK? How’s Jamie and Shay?”
“They’re fine…I’m fine. They are still sleeping,” she gives a weak smile to me before turning to the mechanic that had arrived who only studies her truck, “Thank-you for stopping and helping us like that. . .that was very kind of you.”
He gives her a kind smile that is filled with a type of craziness before replying, “Just doing my job. . .besides, I’d love to be able to help someone as lovely as you out.”
Kristy seems to blush as I roll my eyes before peering through her slightly tinted windows to watch my nephew and niece sleeping within the truck. “Thank-you,” Kristy finally says as LB moves closer to his tow truck and begins to work the chains.
“Let me set the tow in gear and then I can tow you to my cousin’s garage in town and he’ll be able to set you up in no time at all. . .he’s a genius when it comes to cars,” he replies from the road as he fights to hook Kristy’s truck up to his tow before standing up, “there we go. . .you can ride with me or you can ride with your boy friend there.”
She looks up from staring into her tinted windows as he says this to bring a small laugh from her and she receives a quizzical look from the thin mechanic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh,” she apologizes to him before looking at me, “he’s not my boyfriend, but my younger half brother. . .pretty pathetic I have to drag my little brother around for protection, eh?”
“Well that’s a relief,” he smiles at her before glancing over at my red and black 1970 Mustang Mach I before motioning to it,
“Your car?”
“My car. . .and my motorcycle,” I smile with pride as I look at my model muscle car that holds a carrier for my motorcycle at the back, “helped fix it up myself, with the help of my dad.”
“Very impressive,” he smiles at me before returning to Kristy, “You ready?”
“Ready already…that was quick,” Kristy smiles nervously at him before opening the driver’s door to open the back door, “you’ll have to give me a moment to get my kids out with their car seats. . .I hope you don’t mind helping me Garrett to put them in your car.”
“Sure thing,” I smile at her as I quickly walk behind her truck to open the driver’s side door before opening the back door and slowly climb in. I smile slightly as I watch Jamie sleeping silently in her car seat, hugging tightly onto her yellow blanket and upon her blond haired doll that she calls Casey. Slowly, I begin to un strap her from the seat buckle before un strapping her from her car seat to awaken her and she glares tiredly at me with her soft bluish green eyes. “We’re there?” she asks.
“Not yet sweetie,” I smile at her as I hold onto her while grabbing her big car seat, “mommy had a slight accident and we have to put you into my car so you can ride with me. Can we do that?”
Slowly she nods as I walk over to my car and open the driver’s door to pull the seat forward before letting her stand besides me. I struggle momentarily to be able to fasten her dark blue car seat into the seat as LB welcomes himself into my car to open the passenger door to push back the seat to slowly attempt to put in Shay’s into the seat across from me. I look to find Kristy holding onto the nine month old Shay whose thin blond hair are dampened onto his head as he sleeps upon Kristy’s right shoulder, while hugging desperately onto her. Slowly I finish placing Jamie’s preschool sized car seat into it’s seat and I slowly place her into it as she continues to cling onto her doll and blanket as I finish fastening her in to help LB with Shay’s car seat. I watch momentarily as Kristy slowly bends down into my car to set Shay down upon his black car seat only for him to awakening, clutching tightly onto her tight red tank top as he lets out a loud scream behind his Tigger pacifier.
“Shh it’s OK Shay,” Kristy says softly as I help her un-pry his small fingers from her shirt and I help her buckle him tightly into his seat and as she leans over to give him a kiss upon his sweaty head he slowly quiets down to suck noisily upon his pacifier. Standing up besides the car she says, ” I need to go get their diaper bag from the truck, I’ll be right back.”
LB nods as we watch her slowly walk over to her black truck only to start to walk away towards where the car had been parked diagonally to pick up something black, looking like a video tape. “Very impressive,” LB says from besides me as he takes in my car, “and a motorcycle?”
“Yeah it’s a 2003 Harley Davidson,” I reply as I brush off a piece of dirt that had floated upon the roof of my red car, “yeah got this car for my sixteenth birthday, though at that time it looked like a piece of garbage. Dad and I got to work and replaced a lot of parts, a new paint job, new tires; made it look like new within several months. The motorcycle I had gotten last year through a deal. . .I worked with my dad at his garage when this guy my dad came in with his car wrecked to pieces. The guy lost all his money due to medical bills of his son. . .they had gotten in a car accident, which was why the car was wrecked. . .the son was OK, just a broken arm and a slight concussion, but the hospital charged him an arm and a leg if you know what I mean. Hell, he loved that car as much as he loved his boy. . .but with medical bills they were forced to move into an apartment, sell his house; meaning he couldn’t afford to fix his beloved car. The deal was that if I fixed his car to look and to run as it did before the accident, that I could buy his also beloved motorcycle for only five hundred dollars.”
“That’s a sweet deal,” LB smiles as he moves back to my strapped in motorcycle that is big and painted black with silver metal over the wheels.
“Yeah. . .dad thought I was crazy since his business would loose out on the money for the parts and all, but I couldn’t pass it up. A brand new Harley. . .rides as well as the car,” I smile with pride.
“Don’t tell me he’s got you listening to the same old story he loves to tell everyone?” Kristy asks walking up behind LB on the opposite side, “About his old car and his brand new bike? Never knew boys his age to still like playing with toys.”
LB lets out a long laugh as he touches the handle bars on the bike and the leather seating before turning to her to respond, “Sounds like a fairy tail to me. . .one with a happy ending and all. How could he not tell it?”
“If you say so,” she shrugs Shay’s large diaper bag weighing into her right shoulder while her leather purse weighs in on her left shoulder, “on any account, my truck is ready for the towing as long as the tow person is ready for the towing.”
“Of course,” LB smiles as he begins to walk along side my car, still taking it in, “just follow me, I’ll take you into town to my cousin’s garage.”
“Sure thing,” Kristy responds as she opens the passenger door to throw the bag and the purse down on the floor before stepping and buckling herself in.
“Wow, Hazzard actually has a real road!” I exclaim as I follow the thin mechanic off of the dry dusty dirt road and onto a cement road that is in desperate need of repairs only to receive a stern look from Kristy, “Well it does. . .just stating the facts.”
“You want facts? OK. . .fact is, is that you agreed to come here willingly and to give it a chance; a real chance,” she glares over at me as I follow the road past a small town square that is fenced in with white fence with a side walk that circles it. I watch silently as a couple elementary aged children ride their bikes upon the side walk after one another before I take in the small town. For a brief second a few town houses are lined on each side of the street before it turns into rotten wooded shops on my left before it reaches a tall brick building, the bricks a light reddish brown color. While on our right, the couple of town houses slowly turn into some run down stores for one thing or another as well as a couple of thick alleys filled with garbage cans.
Straight head reaches a T while a large brightly painted white church that looks well cared for, a sign lies proudly in front of the cement steps which holds the times of masses. “There it is,” I finally say to break through the silence, pointing to the small wooden structure that stands on the right corner, across from the church. A cement driveway widely surrounds the wooden building with four gas pumps sit in the middle of the drive way, a large garage door remains open to allow fresh air into the garage.
“How’d you guess that?” Kristy questions sarcastically as the tow truck slowly drives into the drive way, pushing his truck to park in front of the regular sized door. For a moment I watch as a couple of town people slowly walk across the drive way upon the sidewalk that runs across it before I slowly drive my car up and around to park a couple feet away from his tow truck that holds Kristy’s truck in the back.
“Give me a sec, I’ll be right with you,” comes a voice somewhere in the dark garage as we all slowly step out of our vehicles, while I keep my car running to keep the children cool in the air conditioning.
“OK,” LB shouts back while leaning back upon his truck, spitting a wad of spit into the bushes that line the edge of the garage,
“I am LB Davenport. . .I know I already introduced myself, but not formally. I own. . .well I had owned a garage in Capital City, but that went up in flames, so here I am.”
“How rude am I?!” Kristy exclaims covering her mouth in surprise of her own rudeness, “I’m Kristy Duke and that there is my younger half brother, Garrett Duke. I am divorced. . .and they are my children, Shay who is nine months and Jamie who is four.”
“A Duke?” he questions rubbing the small beard that runs under his chin with only a line of a beard upon his chin lead down from his lower lip to his chin, “I shoulda guessed.”
I look at him for a long moment before shaking his hand that he has out held for me to shake before he shakes Kristy’s hand.
“Shoulda guessed?” I ask as LB sniffles before running the back of his right hand under his nose, above his thin mustache that connects to his beard.
“Yeah well,” LB shrugs to glance around the small town as an old fashioned patrol car comes to an abrupt stop a cross the street at the tall brick building and a tall man stiffly steps out wearing a dark blue uniform top, black pants, and a black cowboy hat to stiffly walk up the cement stairs, “the Dukes are very well known around these parts. . .you can’t live here without hearing the name Duke come up or miss seein’ them.”
“Of course…no place to hide in such a small town,” I grunt under my breath to be elbowed in my bruised stomach by Kristy, “I mean. . .I guess we’ll be joining the Duke population of Hazzard County.”
LB lets out a laugh as he readjust his hat, his blue eyes continue to scan the small town as they are filled with excitement almost making it impossible for him to remain still. “Ahhh it may be small, but there are plenty of places to hide,” he grins as he catches my drift of sarcasm, “it is a great place to live, y’all just have to give it a chance. I take it you are new to these parts. . .or at least to Hazzard?”
“Our first day of being here,” I smile while giving him a brief nod, “and we’re already in trouble.”
“First day? Well that was quiet the welcoming you received,” he laughs at his own statement as a small drift tickles the back of our necks as medium sized man with a greasy red hat that covers his light brown hair that flows under his hat, wearing grease stained tight dark blue jeans and a cut off tan shirt appears out from the garage, “Hazzard’s full of surprises.”
“LB Davenport! What are you doing here?” the man at the garage says, his brown eyes lit up in excitement at seeing LB as he races towards us. LB quickly turns around in time to receive a large bear hug that lifts him off of his feet as the other man lets out a yell of excitement, “Talk about surprises!”
“You didn’t get my letter?” LB questions as the let go, “Well I figured I’d stop by for a surprise visit. . .I mean after all it has been awhile since I was last here to cover for you at your garage. I believe it has been two years now.”
“I think so…when I went to that car show in Tennessee,” he nods in agreement as he slowly takes us all in, “boy it’s great to see you! How’ve you been? How’s the garage?”
LB goes silent for a long moment before he truly looks up at the excited man, to show off his dark bruises. “I’m fine.”
“Like hell you are!” he yells as worry covers his face, “What happened to you?” he looks over at Kristy and me, “They givin’ you a hard time?”
“No not them,” LB shakes his head quickly.
“Then who? Why?” the man is persistent to know the facts of what had happened to LB to create such ugly bruises.
“It’s not important. . .really I’m fine,” LB shrugs with embarrassment as he glances back at the cement, “I just lost a fight. . .you know how that goes.”
“Musta been some fight,” the man covered in grease finally releases his anger for LB’s pain, “next time, hand out the punches instead of running into the punches.”
“Thanks for the advice. . .but hopefully there won’t be a next time,” LB speaks up looking back up at the mechanic who still looks worriedly at him while he scratches at his own beard and mustache that covers his grease stained face, “but really I’m fine.”
“If you say so,” he remains skeptical, “you runnin’ from something, someone?”
“Hey, I’m just here for a surprise visit,” LB takes on the defensive, “I can go back if you want me to.”
“No, no don’t go,” the mechanic says giving in, “I’m just worried. . .never knew you to be one to loose a fight so poorly.”
“As they say, their’s a first for everything,” LB smiles before he glances back at Kristy and me, “Oh and I brought a little business here for you.”
“I see that,” he smiles, “business is good. . .I can always use business.”
“I figured that,” LB shrugs as he figures out a way for introductions, “Um Cooter, this here is Kristy Duke and her half brother Garrett Duke. Kristy, Garrett this here is my cousin, Cooter Davenport that runs the only garage in Hazzard.”
“Dukes?” he questions after wiping his hands off to shake our hands, “Wow and I thought I met them all. You must be new to the area.”
“As Garrett there told LB, today’s the first day,” Kristy speaks up glancing into my car to check on her children where Jamie has awakened to play with her doll while Shay remains asleep, sucking on his pacifier, “and we’ve already ran into trouble.”
“Dukes seem to attract trouble. . .at least the Dukes I know, the Dukes that live here,” Cooter replies to step back to take a look at Kristy’s truck, “and that does look like trouble. What happened?”
“That’s my truck,” Kristy speaks up looking at it herself, “we were on our way here when a red Viper…some fast car cut in front of me from another road; ran right through the stop sign. Well a second later this expensive Jaguar with darkly tinted windows appears going as fast as the other car and obviously wasn’t going to stop, but before I could stop my truck, their car skidded into my car.”
“A Jaguar and a Viper in Hazzard County? Wow,” Cooter says looking at her truck, “I don’t think Hazzard has had this many new vehicles in it at the same time. Well, I’ll be glad to look at it and do all that I can do to it to fix it up.”
“That would be very much appreciated,” Kristy smiles digging in her pockets to bring out the wad of bills that the leader had given her, “at least they gave me money for it. . .even if it is cash. It’s all odd if you ask me. . . five large men fitting into that car, no names, and they attempt to blame me.”
“Well the police station is right there across the street if you want to report it,” Cooter suggests stepping back, “though I doubt Sheriff Rosco Coltrane would do much about it.”
“As long as that money there covers the cost to send Silver Bullet, my truck, back on the road working and looking the way it did this morning, I’ll be happy,” Kristy states glancing back at her children, “Is there an motel around here?”
“Yeah the Notel Motel,” Cooter replies before pointing to the tall building a building down on the right side of the road, “don’t look like much, because it ain’t much. Six motel rooms on the floor and six apartments on top. . .though I wouldn’t suggest moving in for permanently.”
“We just need something to get us going for now at least,” I join in, “somewhere to stay tonight before focusing on what we want to do.”