The Eye of Fire: The Third Gate (Episode 1) (2 page)

              “Well you never know.  I am good at finding work, and I have a real good way with people. It should be easy to find work.”

              “God Willing honey.” Alicia said, “This must be the place,” Alicia said.

An older man with white and gray fuzzy beard appeared near the peeling, black painted gate. He was stooped over with a hunch, and wore overalls with a white t-shirt underneath. He fumbled with a key the size of his large hands to unlock the gate.  As his hands shook with unsteadiness, the sound of the keys on the ring began to clangor sharply and noisily.

              Sam turned to look at his wife, and seemed nervous. “Honey, don’t worry. We just have to live here for a little while, until we get on our feet once again. It will be ok. Haven’t we been through worse than this?”

              “Yeah, it beats living with your parents,” she smiled a little when she said it.

              “Oh honey, that’s not what I meant. You remember we had to live out of the car after me and father got into it. I told you I wouldn’t let him come between us,” He paused, and looked at the man still struggling with the key, then he continued, “We might be in a rough patch right now, at least we still have each other.”

              “I know baby. I am fine, “she managed a small smile through her nervousness.

              “Sir, would you like my help?” said Sam to the old man.

              “This old lock it seems stuck. Why, I haven’t opened it in 130 years.” Mumbled the old man.

              “What did he say?” whispered Alicia to her husband.

“I will tell you later honey. I think he is a little out of his head,” whispered Sam to Alicia.

Finally, he got the gate open. “Hurry, hurry inside. I must lock it back. I have a key you can use, though you won’t need it.”

              Alicia looked at her husband puzzled, and he looked back at her with an equally puzzled look, and he shrugged his shoulders. Sam grabbed the large suitcase from the trunk space of the car, and they went through the gate.

              The old man relocked the gate, “Sir, is that really necessary to lock the gate?”

Well, I don’t unwanted visitors to bother you.” Said the old man. His voice quaked and he cleared his throat and he spat on the ground.

              “Does anyone else live here?” Sam asked, he now was filled with curiosity.  The man was strange about the gate, maybe he could clear up a few things by asking questions.

              “Well, they all come back now and then. It’s ok though, they won’t bother you any. They all lived here before. Just got to keep out the others. They are not good.”

              “What others do you mean?” Sam asked.

              “No matter my friend. Just keep the gate locked. You won’t find trouble. This area is safe. That’s my job, keeping everything safe. You don’t worry.”

              “How can we leave if you keep the key? We need to go buy food today or tomorrow.” Sam said.

              “You won’t need a key. Let me show you the place. You will understand.”  As they spoke, Alicia studied the old building. It was huge old school house. The outside was white with paint peeled off all over it. A few of the windows were boarded and there was a bell at the very top of the building. When the wind blew she could hear a very faint tinkle ring in the air. Maybe she was tired, so she imagined it.

              As they stepped inside the building, immediately, she could feel the warmth of the air change. The warmth felt good and inviting. The inside hallway was dimly lit. And she could see the wood floors gleaming. The interior walls were freshly painted with a bright yellow. And all along the hallway was photos on the wall. It showed class photos from every year the school had been opened. It started from 1896 until 1907. Alicia looked at the women in the pictures as they passed them. She admired the elegance of the women in those days.

              “The inside is certainly nicer than the outside of the building,” said Sam.

“Yes, I keep up all the entire building. There is a lot to do around here. It is hard to keep up with sometimes.” Said the old man.

              “I am looking for work, if you are looking for a helper.” Sam said to him.
 

              “Yeah, I suppose so son. I could use help around here. Have you ever worked as a handy man?” asked the old man.

              “Yes I used to work on construction in the city, and I can repair almost anything.” Sam said to the old man, who had begun to walk briskly down the hallway leading them to their new quarters.

              “You’re hired son. You can start tomorrow.”

              “Excuse me but, what is your name sir?” Sam asked him.

“I am just known as the Gate Keeper around here, but if you want to call me Yates that is fine with me.”

Yates opened up the door to their new quarters, it looked like two class rooms that were adjoining had been converted into a small apartment. There was still the remains of a black board on two of the rooms. The first room they were in was the living room area, and it had a small couch, a wood coffee table, a floor lamp, a small round wooden table, and a large wooden desk that was used as a kitchen counter top. It had been placed against the wall, there was a two burner stove, and a coffee maker. Below the opening of the large wood desk was a mini refrigerator. In the corner of the class room there was a door leading to a bathroom. And an opening to another classroom that was the converted bedroom. It had another lavatory in that room also. The room was painted a light brown color, and all the colorful wall art decorations had been painted over, but were still partly visible under the thin layer of brown paint. There was a small fake plant in the corner of the room, and several book cases with many books. There were small wooden chairs near the book shelf arranged near it. And a few brightly colored rugs of red, green, and blue were in several places in the room, covering over the wood floor.

              “This place is not that bad.” Alicia said.

“I tried to make sure this place was comfortable for you. I brought some books for the shelves just today.” Yates said to them.

              “I appreciate that so much, I really enjoy books,” Alicia said.

“I know,” Yates said softly.

“Excuse me, what did you say?” Sam said.

I said, “I know. I am sure every woman loves to read.” Yates said to him. “Now let me show you where you can find food.”

Yates led Alicia and Sam down the long school corridor to a cafeteria. “You have full use of the kitchen in here, if you like. There is a freezer and fully stocked food pantry. You won’t ever run out I promise. Just take what you like.”

              Yates led Sam and Alicia into an immense pantry that looked like a military supply surplus of food. It had everything, canned foods, packages of noodles, canned soups, dried milk, cans of meat, canned vegetables, oil, flour, sugar, and he showed them the freezers full of meat, and pastas, packages of frozen prepared food. “Don’t worry, everything is Halal.” Yates said.

              Sam looked extremely puzzled then, he wanted to ask, “How did you know?” but he was embarrassed to ask. Instead he looked at his wife knowingly, and she shrugged her shoulders.

              Yates led them back to their new quarters, “If there is anything else you need, just ask.”

“Does anyone else live in this building?” Asked Sam.

“Yes, now and then. There are plenty of rooms here. No one will bother you though. I can let you through the gate if you need to go. We can talk more about that later. You should rest though.” Yates continued on down the hallway, he picked up a dust broom and began sweeping the floors, then he called out to Sam, “Be ready to wake up by Nine tomorrow, we have some painting to do.”

              Sam shook his head affirmatively, then he shut the door.

“Welcome to our new home love,” he drew his wife close to him, and kissed her full on the lips.

“What do you think about this strange place honey?” Alicia asked him.

              “I don’t know baby. I have more questions than answers right now. Maybe working with Yates will answer all my questions tomorrow.” Sam said to her.

              “I hope so honey, believe me, I don’t remember Potts like this when I was young. Our farm house was on the other side of the main strip of town. I had to take a bus to the next nearest town to go to school, but I was only eight years old. My parents both died by that one unfortunate accident, and I went to go live with my aunt in Dallas. I never heard any more about this town after I left, so I don’t know what happened here after that. At least with the fence, we don’t have to worry about gang criminals from the city.”

              “Yes, but Yates said it was safer within this gate than outside of it. I don’t understand that. Maybe he has more experience watching over the place than the police officers. I do feel safer here in this place than outside that gate. I don’t know why.”

              “Yeah me too. I don’t understand why.” Sam said, “It’s just like a feeling I get.”

“Me too, I feel that also. Let’s turn in early tonight. The drive was exhausting.” Alicia said to her husband, but first, I want to see if there is any food in the refrigerator over there. I am so hungry.

              She opened up the refrigerator, and seen some milk, cheese, yogurt, and strawberries.

“Oh this is so weird.” She said laughing, “Just what I wanted.” She found a spoon in the desk drawer and in another she found a bowl. She made yogurt and strawberries for her and Sam. They clinked bowls together like they were making a toast.

“Mmm this is delicious. I never heard of this brand before. It had a blue cloud on it. It said “Heaven’s best.”

“Isn’t that the truth!” said Alicia, “This is great yogurt. Maybe it’s imported or something.”

After they had eaten, Alicia and Sam got ready for bed. Alicia slipped on her long white gown that always made Sam go wild. He began to kiss her exposed shoulders and arms. “Hmmm your arms are tastier than the yogurt.” Sam nibbled on her arm and then began to kiss her passionately.

They crawled into bed, and they enjoyed beautiful lovemaking before they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

*                            *              *              *              *              *              *              *              *

The next morning, Sam rose early feeling really refreshed. He let his wife continue sleeping, and went to the make shift kitchen and proceeded to brew some coffee. The container for coffee was stored in a gleaming stainless steel container, with beautiful gold etched lettering. There was also a larger one for sugar, and a smaller one for loose tea. He opened up a cupboard and found copper colored small cups with matching lids on them. The lids were as intricate as the cups, with Turkish ottoman design, with a star and crescent atop the lid. He brewed the water in a stainless kettle and was careful to remove it from the burner before the kettle had begun to make a high pitched whistle.

Alicia had woken up anyway from the delightful smell of roasted coffee. “Hi baby.” She said to him,”

“Good morning darling. We have about 30 minutes until early morning prayer, would you like your coffee now?”

“Yes, yes please. That is what woke me up.” Alicia brushed back her long chestnut hair which fell upon her creamy white shoulders.

“Oh don’t do that honey.” Sam smiled at her.

“Do what baby?” Alicia teased.

“You know, play with your hair like that. I would love to devour you this morning, but there is no time.” He brought the coffee to Alicia and put it on the night table. Then he smacked her bottom with a playful slap, “Well maybe we can find the time.” He reached forward and their lips met. Their lips parted, and their tongues played with each other, as their bodies melted like fire, the intensity of their kisses increased with every moment. Sam carefully removed her gown, and kissed her body in every place. He gingerly peppered her shoulders, and neck with kisses. He loved the taste of her skin, and her exhilarating fragrance of lavender that she always put in many secret places for him to discover by smelling and kissing her. It was a delicious game she made with him, and he loved that. Alicia was every bit of a woman with full breasts, and a little bit of meat that made him crazy. He wanted to nibble her all over.

Alicia returned Sam’s kisses with hearty passionate desire. She hungered for him as well. Just touching his skin made her belly full of fire and hot desire. He was her first real love in her life, though she had experienced a crush in her life, which had resulted in a bad marriage. It was a kind of summer love that was not real and had no meaning at all, her mother had called it, “In love with being in love.” So when she met Sam, after her bad divorce, she fell head over heels, and deep in love.

Alicia’s mom had been cynical though, thinking it would not last, like the first one, but they quickly got married, and she left the farm for the second time. She stayed with her parents and helped them out, after her divorce. Then when she got married again, she went to live in the big city. She had gone back a few times to see her parents, but the last time. It was unusual. Her mom had called Alicia and asked her to come back quickly, but she did not say why. At the time, Alicia figured maybe one of the cows was having a difficult birth, and she had always assisted with those, so she was happy to drop what she was doing and make the long drive to Potts.