by: Essy Jane

Three weeks later…

There was a curious doctor strolling through the hospital with his mask on.
He inspected the rooms of the hospital and looked at Jesse’s room. There was
only one person in there. His name was Leonard and he had the same mop of
blonde hair as Jesse.

A lot of times people had mistaken them for brothers. Jose pulled the
curtain around Jesse’s bed and looked at him with his deep russet eyes.
Leonard wondered what was going on. Jose removed his mask. “Hey aren’t you
like wanted by Rosco and stuff?” Leonard asked. Well they looked like
cousins I didn’t say he was smart.

“No I am wanted by my Mom and Dad,” Jose replied.

“Oh okay.”

“Did you know that chocolate cures pimples?” Jesse looked at Jose with
sarcasm in his face. Jose knew not to try to tease Lenny.

“Oh wow! There’s something I never heard of. I think I am going to give that
a try. I mean think about being full of pimples I don’t want that to
happen.”

“Who would?”

“I don’t really know Jose. I mean in all honesty my brother pops his all
over the place. It entertains him for hours.”

“Did your parents drop you on your head when you were a baby?”

“Golly I don’t know, maybe I should ask my mama.”

“Not now though. I don’t want to see you move a muscle.”

“Is that a new game or something because I would love to play with y’all?”

“It is a game. I bet you’ll win.” Jose rolled his eyes and sat on the edge
of Jesse’s bed. He looked into his cousin’s deep blue eyes and wondered if
he was okay. Jose didn’t have to say a word. Jesse could almost read his
cousin’s mind. Now that my friend is how close to people can be. These two
cousins seemed like they had known each other all of their lives when it had
only been for a little while.

“I am fine. Look we have to find something on Boss. That’s the only way to
clear you of jail time,” Jesse stated.

“But how would we be doing that? It all honesty I still don’t know this
town. I mean I know it but I don’t know where Boss keeps all his goods and
hides his industry. I am good about finding stuff out about people. I just
need to know where to find it that’s all,” Jose answered.

“Well we just need to figure a way out of here without my dad knowing.” Jose
took out another pair of medical scrubs with a mask. “Hey Leonard, we have a
job for you.”

Ten minutes later…

Jesse and Jose were all masked and ready to go. They stepped outside and saw
Luke and Bo out in the hallway talking to each other. Jesse put his eyes
straight to the ground as he knew that Bo was familiar with his eyes.
Nothing would give him away except Jesse’s eyes. Jose bumped into his Dad
accidentally. “Sorry doctor, I didn’t mean to bang you,” Luke said.

“Just watch your step next time little lady,” Jose replied in his best John
Wayne voice. That was one thing that Luke didn’t know about his son, Jose
was a voice actor. He could do an assortment of different voices.

“You just called me a lady, I am a guy fella.”

“Sorry.” Jose walked away and prepared to get out the door. Luke stared at
the small doctor as he walked out the side door.

“There was something about those two doctors that seemed kind of fishy,” Bo
remarked. He tilted his body to see if Jesse was still in bed. There was the
blonde mop of hair that Bo always looked for when he tried to find his son.

“Well your son’s still there so I don’t see how there can be any problems
associated with it. I mean how could Jose possibly get in here without being
spotted?” Luke reacted. He suddenly paused and thought about the time Uncle
Jesse was sick and those boys were in trouble for moonshine carrying. They
snuck in anyway.

“There is no way they could be as crafty as us is there? I mean they haven’t
turned into us have they?” Luke glared at his cousin. He knew that Jose
would rather not sit around and do nothing.
“That ain’t Jesse.”

“What do you mean by that? He wouldn’t just up and leave the hospital…would
he?”

“They’re out searching for clues and you know it.” Bo didn’t like the sound
of that. If this were true then the boys were headed out to find black mail.
Something that could hook Boss Rosco in jail for a very long time; it was
exciting wasn’t it? It proved that their sons became more and more like them
at every passing moment.

Bo walked over towards the room and pulled off the sheets. Lenny popped up
and started waving. “I lost the game didn’t I?” Lenny asked.

“Leonard! You have to be the weirdest child I know. Now go home and eat some
candy!” Bo exclaimed.

“Yee-ha Bo, my pimples will be gone.” Bo wondered what in the world Lenny
was talking about. He didn’t care to ask. Well they had to do something
about their boys. Going after them was the only way. How would they find
them? Well where there is trouble there is Dukes. Where there is big trouble
there is Boss Rosco.

At an old barn next to the Duke Farm…

Boss Rosco was doing a happy dance as the metal was cut and shaped into
dollar coins. Now friends, it looked like the mint had landed in Hazzard. It
was so amazingly stupid but it seemed to be making Boss Rosco money. He was
making commercials and ads on the internet. The customers really did receive
old money. Well old in the sense of metal from scrap cars he couldn’t sell
in his used car lot. Boss made $119.97 every time he got a sale. Now Boss
was charging three payments $39.99 for pieces of scrap metal that you could
by for $50.

“My money has many names. I love my Benjamin Franklins. Lots of little
hundred dollar bills just for me. I mean…for all of you too,” Boss Rosco
stated. He looked at all his sour workers. But giving them a small piece of
the pie wasn’t any skin off of Rosco’s butt.

Jose and Jesse were watching up from above. They had the bodies leaning
against barrels of hay. “What a dork. He just wants his millions,” Jesse
whispered.

“Well my Dad said that Rosco is a dumber version of Lilly-Rose’s dearly
departed Uncle. Though if this Boss Hogg creature would’ve thought of this
it might have driven our parents’ totally up the wall,” Jose replied
quietly.

Outside…

Bo and Luke drove around looking for Boss Rosco’s car. “There it is BMW 330
CI, Rosco’s car,” Bo commented.
“Oh goody, now to get inside,” Luke replied. From the opposite side from the
other boys, Bo and Luke climbed through the window. “I’m getting too old for
this.”
“You’re joking right? Has the city really done that much damage to my
cousin?” Bo questioned.

“No it hasn’t. I was jokin’.” Bo gave Luke a stern look and Luke shrugged.
He propped himself flat on the wobbly boards.

“This don’t seem too stable.” Luke jumped on the boards a little.

“If we lay flat we’ll do fine.”

“Well I will stay down but if these boards break you owe me $20.” They shook
on it. Bo always knew when to make the deal. “Hey look over there. That
black curly hair sticks out funny.” There was another thing Bo was good at,
making crack jokes. But sometimes what jokes you make are used against you.

“Well look at your boy’s hair. He’s basically camouflaged. I mean he matches
with the hay over there. That’s why I used to send you into places like that
first. If they looked towards you that yellow shirt would blend in along
with your hair.” Bo just nodded his head and smiled. They looked at their
sons and as they did, Bo and Luke both heard that little creak in the
boards. The beams broke and the two both went falling down on the sticking
boards. Hay flew everywhere. Jose and Jesse watched their Dad’s and wondered
how they ever found this place out.

“Well I’m going down. I mean my Dad’s there and all. You want to stay up
here? I mean you were shot,” Jose mumbled.

“I wasn’t shot up in the fists. I can fight just fine,” Jesse retorted.
Rosco looked at Bo and Luke as they got up from the ground. He glared at
them with his sapphire eyes twinkling like they always did when he caught
the Duke boys.

“Y’all don’t know when to stop meddlin’ huh? Bo and Luke Duke, you would
think you men had grown up by now. But no, you’re still boys,” Rosco stated.

“You have certainly changed Rosco. You’re certainly the big man on campus
now. You’re giving people charges and to top it off my own son? Rosco
that’s sinking pretty low,” Luke said. Jesse was about to jump off the ledge
when Jose grabbed him by the shoulder. Somehow Jesse was as impatient as his
father. Jose was a Luke just trying to be cool and natural without breaking
the law.

“Well Luke, you know these sales are finalized and I won’t have you Dukes
interfering where you don’t belong. Tie them up Larry and Mitch. When you’re
done that, stick them in the back room of the bank.” Rosco’s henchmen took
out their pistols and looked at Bo and Luke with worn eyes. Bo kept
eyeballing up wondering when their sons would create a diversion so that
Luke and himself could grab guns.

“Okay, now we jump,” Jose whispered. Both boys leaped off the edge of the
boards and ended up on the bad guy’s shoulders. Both Jesse and Jose covered
the men’s eyes. Bo and Luke grabbed the guns and emptied the bullets out of
them. They began punching the other two men in the face.

Jesse and Jose went flying through the air as they both were flung off the
two henchmen’s shoulders. Jose was stunned but Jesse got right back up. He
head butted Mitch in the stomach.

“Dukes are better seen and not heard,” Larry grumbled as he went for Jose.

“Well I say henchmen can’t do their job right unless they’re buying
groceries,” Jose exclaimed. He did a jump kick making poor old Larry land on
his face. He tried to get up but Mitch landed right on top of him.

“That’s the only way to take out the garbage,” Jesse remarked as he gave his
cousin a high five.

Bo and Luke were busy team fighting two other men, Ryan and David. They were
doing quite well. Bo got the guy a few times in the stomach. Luke caught the
guy in the face. All the fighting came to a stop as a gun shot went off.
There was another man to the party now this guy was mean. Pete was his name.

“Well y’all can stop what you’re doing. Mitch, Ryan, David and Larry grab
your guns. These guys could kill you,” he said as he gave them their loaded
guns. The Dukes put their hands on the back of their heads. “We better cuff
them together instead of tied knots. They’s seem tricky.”

As Larry got all the Dukes in handcuffs, they heard a faint noise. It was
revving and slowing down about every 10 seconds. They wondered what it was.
Everyone heard the sound get louder as it went right over their heads. There
was a crash landing followed by a stop. The Dukes moved towards the door a
little. Somehow they knew what was going to happen. There was the nose of
the engine once again. One whole wall was completely torn down as the big
tow truck ran through it. It was Lilly-Rose to the rescue. She backed up to
clear off the access debris. “Hey family, how are we in trouble this time?”
Lilly asked.

“Well…” Luke started to explain.

“No time for that now. Two in the front two in the rear and let’s get out of
here.” Luke couldn’t think of anything else to say so he just got in. There
were two sudden jumps as they all got in the car. Jose kept pushing on his
Dad and Bo couldn’t stop smacking Jesse in the nose. It was a little cosy
and Lilly knew it too.

“Where are you going Lilly?” Luke questioned the young mechanic.

“Well to my garage,” Lilly-Rose remarked. She kept on driving trying to make
sure they weren’t being followed. Bo gave Luke a sour look. He knew what
Luke was thinking before he even opened his mouth.

“You’re right Luke; they’ll be looking for us. Lilly, go to the side
entrance of the Duke farm,” Bo commanded. Everyone looked at Bo funny. They
wondered why they were going back to the farm when that was the first place
they would look. But Lilly-Rose knew not to argue with her cousin. Bo was a
man that liked things done his way. Besides that, Bo was her elder and Daisy
taught her well about things like that. A Duke always has manners taught to
them whether they take it with them or not. Jose used to live them and now
he was beginning to use them again.

“Are you going off the deep end Bo? I am sorry to be rude but isn’t that
where Cletus will look first?” Jose questioned.

“That’s where they will think we won’t be.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well usually we go somewhere else thinking that he will be looking out for
the Duke farm. The law never seems to show up because they know what we’re
thinking so what is the point of that?” For once Bo had a very logical
answer.

Bo and the rest of the handcuffed gang slipped out of the tow truck door. Bo
didn’t like being handcuffed to someone else. He enjoyed his freedom. But
being cuffed to his son wasn’t so bad. The men slid along the slender stalks
of grass. They moved along like slithering snakes aiming towards their prey.
It wasn’t an easy job to stay out of sight but it was working. The men
worked in sync to try to stay on the right path.

As they reached the doors of the house, there stood Jo Anna striking Luke’s
head with strong force. Luke fell unconscious. “Nice job Wonder Woman, you
just knocked my dad out. My dad is handcuffed to me so I have to drag him
across the room. It’s your fault,” Jose mumbled. Jose tried to get up but
his father naturally weighed him down. “Bo I can’t get into the house. Kung
fu princess decided to crack my dad’s skull.”

“That’s not funny dork burger,” Jo Anna grumbled as she yanked Luke and Jose
in the house. She wasn’t too please with Jose so naturally she stepped on
his chest. Bo and Jesse were the next to come in. They slithered on the
ground and got up as the door was closed. “Jo go and get my bolt cutters. I
have to get out of these before I go nuts,” Bo said.

Jose was slapping Luke’s face trying to get a response from him if nothing
else. But Luke was out cold. “Why does your sister have to hit that hard?”
Jose asked Jesse. He just laughed. Jesse didn’t know what to say to his
cousin.

“I have been asking myself the same question for 16 years. She has always
been a little bit tougher. I hate that. I was the one that was wrapped
around the chord. I was the one that was in ICU and I was the one that
almost died. She had no problems. She got to go home with Dad while I was
stuck in a hospital,” Jesse complained.

“Well I was in the hospital with Juntas if that makes you feel any better.”

“At least you were yellow. I was hooked up to breathing machines.”

“Well I am so glad you lived. If it wasn’t for you I would have run away
ages ago cousin. I just hope you’ll always be nice to me. I mean I wasn’t
too nice to you.” Bo looked at Jesse wondering what his son would say next.

“You know Jose I don’t judge people on first impressions. You’re one
interesting person and I think that you’re going to become something great.”
Jose looked at his Dad. The words Jesse said were the exact same words Luke
had used on him many times over. Jose never believed it. He always thought
he was too stupid. But now somehow Jose knew he could do better. Maybe it
was a wish to become something more than a drug dealer.

Luke’s eyes fluttered open just as Jo walked in with the bolt cutters. Luke
stared at his son and wondered why his smile was so big though he didn’t ask
because of the throbbing headache that he had. Luke wondered about that
boy. He had seemed to change since Luke last set eyes on him. Jose had
changed a lot too. He got a lot smarter.

Jo cut off the handcuffs and everyone rubbed their wrists. “It’s a shame we
didn’t get it taped. I mean if we had proof then we could’ve had at least
Jose not in jail anymore,” Bo grumbled. Jesse and Jose looked at each other
with mischievous grins. They brought out the small disposable cameras they
had in their hands. Jesse also took out the little tape recorder from out of
his coat pocket.

“Is that enough evidence for you?” Jose asked. Bo let out one of his famous
yahoos and jumped up and down.

“Y’all are smarter than you look. This is perfect. I think they’re just like
us after all.” Luke sat up and hugged his son. He knew that Hazzard was
going to change him for the better. Well the better Jose got the better Luke
felt about leaving him there.

Well as the Dukes threatened Boss Rosco with the state police, the charges
were dropped against Jose but Boss refused to take the probation off of
Jesse. This was for a reason. Dukes with guns are worse than Dukes with Bow
and Arrows. Even Rosco knew that. But one thing was for sure, he hadn’t seen
the last of the Duke boys. They may have had different names but the General
was still around.

Well Jesse didn’t mind much with being on probation much. He just had to
learn how to get better with shooting arrows. It would also bring Jose and
Jesse closer together than ever before.

Sometimes bad things happen. But those bad things bring people closer
together. The General had the lost sheep. With Bo and his family what could
go wrong? Well anything can go wrong. That’s Hazzard for you. It’s full of
mistakes. But people come out of Hazzard with twice the amount of sense as
any person in the city.