Will of Man - Part Two (3 page)

I was scared for Dad. He’s too nice of a guy and avoids trouble when he can. The three men were obviously drunk and looking to give my Dad trouble. They were calling my dad a coward for calling for help that day. Saying a real man would have dealt with them alone.

They were teasing him, saying there’s no flare gun now. And asking him what he was going to do with no flare gun to signal for help.

My mom was scared and was telling the men to leave my dad alone. My Dad told her to go find us and head to Kendrick’s house in town. Dad was standing his ground but looked worried. I think he was more worried about Mom than himself.

The men were walking in circles around Dad like sharks circling their prey. My Dad just stared at Mom making sure no one touched her. One guy threw an empty beer can at my Dad and hit him in the back of the head. My Dad didn’t take his eyes off Mom.

Dad kept telling Mom to find us. But Mom wouldn’t leave him and kept yelling at the three men. I ran to Mom and told her we were there and that we could go.

Dad saw that Mom had us and he began to walk towards us and out of the three men’s circle. The big one named Tyson jumped in front of Dad and pushed him back. That guy was big and mean looking.

Dad said “I’m leaving now. Find someone else to bother.” But the man wouldn’t let Dad leave. Mom yelled at the man and the man turned to Mom and told her in a very impolite way to shut up.

I guess Dad had enough (remember, he was a really good boxer in his youth), because when the man turned around, Dad let him have it. Dad always said, “In a street fight, you hit hard and fast and you don’t let up until the other man gives up or can’t fight anymore.” 

And that’s what he did. I knew Dad had some skills back in the day, but he was moving like I’d never seen him move before.

BAM! BAM! BAM! He hit that guy so fast and hard and so much I thought he killed the guy. The guy would fall down, and every time he’d try to get up, Dad would lay into him again.

Then the other two grabbed Dad from behind.

I don’t know if they were trying to pull Dad off or wanted to take their turns, but Dad let them have it too. He grabbed one by the shoulders and pushed him back against the side of a shed and just started swinging away.

His hands were moving so fast, I could barely see them. When the man tried to swing, Dad would duck and weave then pop back up and start pounding away again. It was amazing!

By the time Dad was done with the second guy, the third wanted nothing to do with Dad. He held his arms up and backed away as fast as he could.

Dad had a look of determination. Nothing was stopping was him. He was in a zone. It was actually kind of scary seeing Dad like that.

The three men left and didn’t say a word to Dad. He stood his ground with his fists up around his chest till they were well enough away.

Mom didn’t know whether to hug him or stay away. Dad looked insane like he was possessed. But Dad took a deep breath, then blew it out and was back to being calm ole Dad.

He seemed embarrassed by the whole thing and just wanted to get home. He didn’t say much on the ride back. Mom kept rubbing his back and lecturing us that what Dad did was necessary.

She seemed proud of him and got a little mushy with him - yuck. I wonder if Dad will talk to me about it. I’m wondering what’s going on in his mind right now. Knowing him, he’s forgotten about it and is thinking about a new gadget we can tinker around with. What a crazy night.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 287

Date: November 09

Day: Tuesday

Weather: Cold

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 4 months, 8 days

The three men that attacked Dad did it again. This time they beat up the bartender at the local bar. I guess they hadn’t been paying for their drinks and had been running a tab. The bartender refused to serve them anymore and they decided to help themselves to the liquor.

The bartender told them “no” and ask them to leave. The men turned on her and smacked her around pretty bad. People in the bar tried to help, but there were only a couple old guys there. They were also beat up.

We don’t have a sheriff or any police. The community is the police and we run to each other’s rescue when needed. However the bartender was unable to call for help and as a result was hurt really bad.

A town meeting was held the next day to discuss how to handle the three men. They needed consequences for what they did. Everyone agreed they needed to be expelled from the area after they received their punishment.

The community decided to jail them for a significant time and then release them a month apart. They decided to release them and banish them a month apart so they couldn’t regroup and cause more trouble.

The man named Tyson would be the last to leave since he’s been causing the most trouble.

Some people wanted to shoot them on the spot. But most everyone agreed we’d stay civil and punishment them humanely.

The men were found and had to be taken by force. There was no shooting or anything, but it took ten men to take them down and tie them up. They were paraded through town on their way to the local jail. People were outraged and angry at the three men.

Some people were throwing garbage and horse poop at them. By the time they reached the jail house, they were filthy and needed to be scrubbed down.

That night at the jail house, four men with masks covering their faces stormed in and killed the three men. The volunteer guard was pushed to a corner and never harmed. But the three men were all shot dead.

Many think it was the family of the bartender, but no one really knows or is saying. I guess justice is different now. I asked Mom what she thought about what happened to the men. She says they were bad men, but doesn’t agree they should have been killed.

Dad thinks there will be a town meeting and concerns will be spoken and heard. But he thinks, in the long run, nothing will be done about the killings.

Their bodies are being buried in an undisclosed area.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 317

Date: December 19

Day: Tuesday

Weather: Winter Storm

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 5 months, 18 days

Winter is hitting us hard. Fortunately Dad has been stock piling wood all year and has stacked it close to the house. The storm is hitting from all directions, but our potbelly stoves are keeping the house cozy warm. We have a potbelly stove for each floor. Preparing for the worse has become a way of life and if you’re not prepared, you’re in trouble.

Dad brought up the Christmas tree (fake tree) from the basement last week and every day we add a little more to it. Mom still has our decorations and has done a great job decorating the house. Presents will be moderate this year, but just being together and all of us healthy is what’s important.

Mom keeps reminding me that last year during Christmas I was still in a coma. She gets teary eyed sometimes and gives me big hugs. I often wonder what happened to that guy who hurt me. I’m not sure if I forgive him. I only wanted to help him and he nearly killed me for it. Was he evil or just crazy?

Tanner, Dad, and I are working hard to keep up with the snow. It’s reached the bottom of our first floor windows and hasn’t let up. We keep shoveling around the doors and the path leading to and from the woodpile. Dad said to not worry about the chicken coup and livestock barn. We’ll deal with them later. Dad walked out a couple times to check on the livestock and nearly got lost on his way back. The snow is coming down so hard that visibility is nearly zero.

After a while, Dad said to just focus on the short path to the wood pile. He said warmth will be our priority until the storm ends. After the storm, we’ll worry about the other stuff.

With the storm raging on, my family has been spending a lot of time inside the house. We spend our time playing board games and goofing around. Everyone seems to be in a good mood. I think we are getting use to life after the LAST DAY.

Our supplies are stocked and we have plenty to get us through. The livestock is producing well. There is peace in the community. Things are going well. I hope it stays this way.

Summer used to be my favorite time, but winter has become the relaxing period. We aren’t planting or working in the fields. The canning, smoking, and preserving is all done. The wood is all cut and stacked. We don’t worry about strangers roaming into town as much. We just spend our time being together, playing, hunting occasionally, and just being happy.

I love the winter time. It’s the new summer vacation we used to enjoy when we went to school before the LAST DAY.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 287

Date: January 23

Day: Monday

Weather: Surprisingly Warm

Days since the LAST DAY: 1 year, 6 months, 22 days

Today Dad and I had a scare. We had hiked the four miles to Lake Victoria to do some ice fishing. Dad has a friend on the lake that lets us use his ice shanty. An ice shanty is basically a small shed fisherman put on the lake. Inside the shanty is a hole in the floor that is over a hole cut in the ice.

The weather has been unusually warm for this part of the year and much of the ice is melting. Dad and I both wear our triathlon wetsuits under our clothes to keep us warm. Not only do the wetsuits keep us warm, they also help us float if ever we fall through the ice.

Competition triathlon wetsuits are allowed to be up to five millimeters thick. Dad always spent the extra money to make sure we had the best wetsuits for racing. Not only could we still swim in open water in mid October, they also made us very buoyant. More buoyancy meant faster speeds in the swim phase of our triathlons.

Anyways, we were setting up our gear inside the ice shanty when we heard a cracking sound. The sound of ice cracking is not uncommon when ice fishing and we didn’t pay much attention to it.

But within seconds the shanty, with us in it, fell through the weak ice. Dad tried to open the door but it was blocked by surrounding ice. The shanty was constructed so the door swung to the outside and couldn’t open to the inside.

With the door wedged and unable to open, we couldn’t get out. We were trapped! The shanty didn’t sink fast, but very slow. Dad got a really worried look on his face after trying unsuccessfully to break out. I could see his face from the light shining up through the hole in the ice.

The water was around ten feet deep. I could hear air escaping the shanty and feel the shanty sinking slowly under the ice. The water was entering slowly but consistently. I lost my breath and began hyperventilating once the frigid water hit my waist.

Dad tried to calm me but was also looking for a way to get out. The shanty was too well built to break out. The only way out was out the hole in the floor that led to the water underneath. However, once we swam out the hole, there was nowhere to go since the shanty was blocking our way to the surface.

Dad peeked out a small hole in the shanty and saw another shanty about twenty yards away. He told me he was going to make a dash for the other shanty under the water. I yelled at him to forget about it. He said it was our only chance.

Dad stuck his head under the water for a few seconds and came back up. He did it two more times. I knew what he was doing. He acclimated himself to the water. Triathletes do this when swimming in cold water. If you jump into water without acclimating first, your body reacts by hyperventilating, your lungs instantly burn, your muscles contract, and you are forced to come up for air.

After acclimating and without saying anything, Dad took the plunge and disappeared into the hazy water. I know Dad was a skilled swimmer, but that was a long ways to go under frigid water wearing all his clothes.

It seemed like forever before I finally heard Dad yell out that he had made it. I so relieved. Dad quickly ran from the nearby shanty carrying an ice spud (a tool for cutting holes in the ice) he found inside the shanty.

By now the water was nearing my chin and I was getting really scared. Dad began hacking away at the shanty with the ice spud. He kept yelling for me to talk to him so he could tell where I was and that I was ok.

He was making a hole but also pushing the shanty deeper with each strike. Soon the shanty was under water along with me. I took my final deep breath and contemplated making the same swim Dad did.

Fortunately Dad reached into the hole he made and grabbed me. He pulled me out fast and dragged me away from the sinking shanty. He hugged and squeezed me for a long time.

We grabbed what gear we could and slid ourselves to the edge of the lake. Dad’s friend lived not too far from the lake so we walked there to tell him about the shanty and to get warm.

Dad’s friend was glad we were safe and gave us a ride back home with his horse and buggy. I never was so happy to see my house. That is one story Dad and I will tell for a long time.

Tyler’s Journal Entry: 351

Date: May 13

Day: WEDNESDAY

Weather: Sunny and Warm

Days Since the LAST DAY: 2yrs, 10 months, 12 days

The ROAMERS arrived in the afternoon. I was working in the family garden near the edge of our property along the pines my dad had planted our first year here.