Further Adventures (34 page)

“They took it away from me. Wayne. He had to for his own safety.”

“You shoot anybody?”

“He stopped me in the nick of time.”

“I’ll make sure you get it back. And with a license. Make it official.”

“Aren’t you nervous I’ll use it on you?”

“You’re going to move out of the area. Out of the state. I want to watch you live to a ripe old age Ray.”

“I am a ripe old age.”

“Riper. Older. This is how it’s going to happen. You’ll forget about Amelia and Tio. Forget about Dolores. Forget about me. We never came into your life.”

“I can’t,” I said very weak in my Voice but very Strong in my feeling. “When somebody comes into a person’s life—maybe you’re too young & you don’t understand this yet—they stay in no matter what you do. Or what they do. Even when they die. Maybe that’s when they’re with you more than before.”

“Make us the exception.”

I got my Voice back & said to his grinning face, “I’m going to fight you.” And my Strength came back with the words coming out of my mouth so I spelled it out for me. “I’m going to fight you for it. For which one of us is going to tell his story to the judge.”

Sympathy made his laugh soft. “Honest to God. It’s not your play here. What kind of
proof
have you got honey?” He tipped the briefcase shut. “Don’t you think I did my research? I’ve got a statement from your barber Salvatore Puccalono testifying to your
obsessive
concern about moral decline and illegal immigration into the United States specifically of Mexican nationals. And Dr. Eugene Godfrey made a few enlightening observations about your general state. So did a classifieds advertisements clerk on the
Mason Examiner
. Then there’s the whole ugly business about abducting that teenage girl. For all I know you might make a habit of abducting children off the street.”

“Shut your rotten mouth.”

“I’m just making a point.”

“Shame on you.”

“Use your imagination. You can see where this line can lead. How everything connects. And I’m not finished digging Ray. All the way back. You’re my hobby. Who knows what I’ll uncover.” Newberry leaned in & let me in on a piece of Confidential Information. “I can prove you’re capable of doing absolutely anything.”

“That’s
you
you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything wrong! I stay inside the human limits. Not like you! Or Nilo! Which is a fact certain authorities are going to
appreciate
when I tell them.”

“You can try to tell any story you want. It’s a stupid waste of energy. Yours and mine. You’re playing in my ballpark Ray so my advice is bench yourself. You can’t do anything else and survive this.”

Look at me—the Champion of Helpless Victims! “I feel a little funny. Can I get a glass of milk?”

He went right over to the refrigerator & poured me one. “What is it? Your stomach?”

“Yes.”

“It’s just the tension. You feel like you want to throw up?”

“Give me a minute.”

“Emotion does that to you. I see it all the time.” He watched me drink my milk down. “I don’t suffer from that at all. Funny thing.”

Newberry did not bring me over a napkin so I had to wipe my mouth on the back of my sleeve a vulgar Gesture of low manners I never use but I did not want to have a milk mustache when I said, “I’ll fight. What’s the worst that can happen to me?”

If he was going to describe the exact Details of my suffering ahead he stopped himself short when he saw Dolores standing behind me. Newberry put a definite end on the conversation this way: “What happens to the hole when you eat a doughnut?” He clapped his hands together & abracadabra he was a proud Papa showing off his pretty little girl. “Look at her. Isn’t she a real lady?”

The black dress went down a few inches above her ankles & she had to wear a black tie on her navy blue shirt. Dolores looked closed in by those dark clothes. At least he let her keep that Pink Purse of hers she had the plastic strap around her wrist.

“Say ’bye to Uncle Ray. You can give him a kiss on the cheek.”

Dolores let her little plaid suitcase drop on the floor & I leaned over
to Receive a kiss from her. “Bye Uncle Ray,” she said & hugged me around my neck & did not let go until the bus outside beeped. Newberry walked her over to the front door & when I saw Dolores with him that way in her Catholic School uniform & silent & obeying then I saw what he was doing to her it was a Perversion of her Nature.

Like a normal Daddy he stood & waved Dolores by-bye & he said to me, “I’m sorry Ray. I don’t think you’ve got time for that shower.”

Here is why—

We are driving strictly by the Speed Limit and we pass a sign that says Deming 14 Miles. This is 45 Minutes after we pull out of his secret house. “How come I don’t have to wear a blindfold?”

“Mutual trust,” he said.

After a stretch of red rocks and scrub brush we only stopped in Deming for a few Minutes to fill the tank then back on the asphalt tongue of the Interstate: next stop Mason. He drove me from the West Side of town & a lump swole in my throat when he turned left on Aurelio Blvd. The red light caught us a block from Bea’s Bakery & I pondered what did he get Bea to say against me? Can I ever go in & buy lox again?

“I live around the corner here.”

“I know it.”

“You can drop me off at the corner,” I said. “I can walk to Pecan from here.”

Newberry shook his head & shook his smile loose. “I’m taking you to your car.”

In spite of his behavior I will say I believe he did respect me & regard me as high as he said he did. I judge this by the fact he only pulled 1 Single rotten Stunt on me plus 2 Dirty Tricks but he did not tell me lies. Dangling my apartment in front of me by driving around the back was his Psychological Tactic to remind me how safe & sound I will be in my nest how I do not want to be in the World Of Trouble anymore
& this worked on my mind I hereby confess. When I looked at the blue fiberglass roof of my garage go by & my kitchen window I thought of my green leather chair how it is waiting in front of the T.V. etc. it was the sad Sight of my home without me inside it. Gone from me & from its point of view watching me go.

We stopped 30 Miles away in the Desert where there is a low building with a double gate & chain-link fence around it. No Raymobile anywhere I could see. I waited in the car when he unlocked the chain also when he locked it up behind us. Empty acres stretching around. A road goes up a hill behind to somebody’s private property & one of those shut down Silver mines I believe. Nothing growing below except a crop of sticks with plastic flags fluttering on top they mark where the Streets are going to be. And the vacant Lots for houses. Yes Amelia told me about this place no she did not lie about Newberry’s development plans.

Inside the fence a Quonset Hut it was the only survivor of some Army base of yesteryear. Wayne’s car out in front baking in the sun like a lizard. If I know John Newberry you should not waste your Energy in the desert looking for this Quonset Hut it is gone by now likewise I am 100% sure he scraped the ground after so you will not find a nail or a hair or speck of Blood. My advice is look in a junkyard for a metal sink about 3 Feet long x 2 Feet wide x 2 Feet deep. Also look for a metal table you can not miss it it is as big as a door. With the Extra Added Attraction of gutters down both sides & a drain sunk into the bottom end. If you find these pieces I hope you can connect them & Newberry. He is very smart about types of Evidence so you should be smarter.

We walked inside & Wayne was leaning on the metal table with his eye on the Mexican gentleman from his car who sat very Contented on a stack of cardboard boxes in the corner. He stood up when he saw John Newberry.

“Where’s Nilo?” Newberry asked Wayne.

“Around. Thinks he’s his own boss I guess.”

“He’s got Ray’s gun?”

“I got it here.” Wayne lifted the Snubnose .38 out of his pocket.

“Any rounds in it?”

“Nope.”

Newberry ordered him to load it & give it back to me. Wayne held it out on his handkerchief so I took it by the handle. “Safety’s off,” he alerted me.

I Psychoanalyze a big part of John Newberry’s character is he is a addict of Risks. He will push everybody to their Personal Limit to see what will happen. He will push Events as far as they will go to show off he has the masculine power to be their master. He shares this trait with Richard M. Nixon also Casanova and Adolf Hitler I believe.

“Put the gun in your pocket Ray,” he aimed his Voice very steady at me from across the metal table. “You don’t have to shoot anybody to get your car back.”

As if I was doing him a personal favor I dropped my hand & I let the Snubnose cartwheel off my finger down toward my front pocket. I only missed the corner of the seam by a fragment of a inch & the gun clattered on the floor so I bent over to get a grip on the handle part which by extreme accident my toe kicked it so the gin went spinning around like a roulette wheel by my foot. I was still down there trying to pick it up & not throw my back out when the back door opened & 2 pairs of cowboy boots stomped in. And another pair came in behind them.

“Hey hey! The gang’s all here!” Up above the dirty boots Nilo’s face mooning over me.

Newberry did not waste his breath on any Hello. “You bring Ray’s car back in one piece?”

“Set to go,” Nilo reported back.

In Español Newberry offered the duet of Mexican boys they should sit down on the boxes & from the shelf under the sink he pulled out a folded
sheet of white plastic. “You didn’t say hello to Ray,” he reminded Nilo.

Who nodded at me, “How ya doin’?” & wandered over to scrape the side of his boot on a corner of a cardboard box.

Newberry wanted something else out of him. “Tell Ray you’re sorry about the blindfold.”

“Huh?” Nilo turned around with a stiff grin that practically split his face. He was not sure if the joke was on him or me.

“What did I tell you about blindfolding him?”

“Nothing.”

“Right. Nothing.” Newberry unrolled the plastic & it was not a sheet it was a pair of coveralls & he stepped into them. “So tell Ray you’re sorry about it.”

“I’m sorry about the blindfold,” Nilo said as if it was a foreign language he was learning & he said it to Newberry not to me.

Those coveralls must be from a Atomic Powerplant they must be for keeping out Radioactive contamination with their built-in gloves & shoes with a hood on top of it. Newberry slid the long zipper up to his chin & gave me a look from in there. He flung his arm in Nilo’s direction & said, “Satisfied?”

Confusing me by kindness again. It is the bait he used to keep me calm & quiet to trap me & turn me into a Criminal—

NEWBERRY: Nilo.

NILO: Uh-huh?

NEWBERRY: Tell Ray what you did while you were in Mexico.

NILO: When?

NEWBERRY: Day before yesterday.

NILO: Right. Right.

NEWBERRY: Did you see me there?

NILO: No I did not.

NEWBERRY: Did you handle everything by yourself?

NILO: It was my job all the way.

Newberry raised his arm to show me I Told You So. Nilo had a proud smile shining on his face & he looked right at me since he realized he was not in Danger & the joke was on me.

NEWBERRY: Tell Ray what happened. Don’t leave anything out.

NILO: Jimmied the lock. Saw your daughter sleeping on the floor.

NEWBERRY: Skip that part.

NILO: O.K. Went in—

ME: I don’t want to hear any of this.

NEWBERRY: Shut up Ray. Listen to what Nilo’s saying.

NILO: What happened was Amelia was in the kitchen. Lucky she didn’t hear me come in.

NEWBERRY: What did she have on? Details please.

ME: I remember what she was wearing.

NILO: That nightie. That short nightie. Only came down to the top of her legs.

Newberry shoved Nilo over toward me toe to toe so I did not miss a sour word.

NEWBERRY: Tell him what you could see.

NILO: Every hair.

NEWBERRY: Every hair.

NILO: Every hair on her. Up her legs & all. Saw everything when she took a swing at me with that fry pan. But I got on top of
that
.

ME: You deserve a medal.

NEWBERRY: So you’re on top of Amelia while Ray’s snoozing in bed.

NILO: On the kitchen floor that’s right. Got me horny.

NEWBERRY: Tell
him
. Tell
Ray
!

NILO: She wouldn’t let go of me. Kept squirming around. Helluva lot of fun till she poinged her nails into my neck & scratched up my arms. Then I got mad at her for real.

I doubt if the Mexicans knew what Nilo was saying but they did get a kick out of his Gestures. Unless they were laughing at Newberry in his Radiation Suit.

NEWBERRY: Silencio! Por favor! Go on Nilo.

NILO: I dragged her outside by her hair. Her nightie too. And the damn strings broke right off.

ME: Get away from me.

NILO: You don’t want to miss this part.

NEWBERRY: Come on Ray. You slept right through all this.

NILO: Then he coulda slept through a damn earthquake.

ME: Nuts to that.

NILO: Listen. Don’t talk.

ME: And nuts to you.

NILO: You pissy little coward.

ME: And to you. Double.

NEWBERRY: Tell him everything.

NILO: I got her on the ground. I put my hand over her mouth like this.

Nilo laid his salty mitt over my mouth & my animal Instinct com
manded me “Bite him!” but I did not give him the satisfaction & lower myself.

NEWBERRY: What did she have on then?

NILO: Skin and hair. Rubbing her hair pie on me.

NEWBERRY: Amelia was…was
naked?

NILO: Bareass as a baby.

NEWBERRY: She had a terrific ass on her. Didn’t she Ray?

He pulls Nilo’s hand off my mouth so I can reply.

ME: Peachy.

NILO: Brown peach. That’s it. A coffee bean ass. I had her down see & she still wouldn’t quit. I guess she kinda liked what was goin’ on so then I got her in the bushes. Up the back of the house. On the little hill there?